Change is not always a good thing

Thousands urge Obama to Uphold Traditional Marriage

By Katherine T. Phan, Christian Post

Thousands of traditional marriage supporters have contacted President Obama to voice opposition to his plan to repeal the Defense of Marriage Act. Almost immediately after the inaugural ceremony, the new administration updated the Whitehouse.gov website with a full outline of Barack Obama's agenda, which included repealing DOMA.

Read full article here.

President Obama's agenda for the LGBT community:

• Expand Hate Crimes Statutes: In 2004, crimes against LGBT Americans constituted the third-highest category of hate crime reported and made up more than 15 percent of such crimes. President Obama cosponsored legislation that would expand federal jurisdiction to include violent hate crimes perpetrated because of race, color, religion, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity, or physical disability. As a state senator, President Obama passed tough legislation that made hate crimes and conspiracy to commit them against the law.
• Fight Workplace Discrimination: President Obama supports the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, and believes that our anti-discrimination employment laws should be expanded to include sexual orientation and gender identity. While an increasing number of employers have extended benefits to their employees' domestic partners, discrimination based on sexual orientation in the workplace occurs with no federal legal remedy. The President also sponsored legislation in the Illinois State Senate that would ban employment discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation.
• Support Full Civil Unions and Federal Rights for LGBT Couples: President Obama supports full civil unions that give same-sex couples legal rights and privileges equal to those of married couples. Obama also believes we need to repeal the Defense of Marriage Act and enact legislation that would ensure that the 1,100+ federal legal rights and benefits currently provided on the basis of marital status are extended to same-sex couples in civil unions and other legally-recognized unions. These rights and benefits include the right to assist a loved one in times of emergency, the right to equal health insurance and other employment benefits, and property rights.
• Oppose a Constitutional Ban on Same-Sex Marriage: President Obama voted against the Federal Marriage Amendment in 2006 which would have defined marriage as between a man and a woman and prevented judicial extension of marriage-like rights to same-sex or other unmarried couples.
• Repeal Don't Ask-Don't Tell: President Obama agrees with former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff John Shalikashvili and other military experts that we need to repeal the "don't ask, don't tell" policy. The key test for military service should be patriotism, a sense of duty, and a willingness to serve. Discrimination should be prohibited. The U.S. government has spent millions of dollars replacing troops kicked out of the military because of their sexual orientation. Additionally, more than 300 language experts have been fired under this policy, including more than 50 who are fluent in Arabic. The President will work with military leaders to repeal the current policy and ensure it helps accomplish our national defense goals.
• Expand Adoption Rights: President Obama believes that we must ensure adoption rights for all couples and individuals, regardless of their sexual orientation. He thinks that a child will benefit from a healthy and loving home, whether the parents are gay or not.
• Promote AIDS Prevention: In the first year of his presidency, President Obama will develop and begin to implement a comprehensive national HIV/AIDS strategy that includes all federal agencies. The strategy will be designed to reduce HIV infections, increase access to care and reduce HIV-related health disparities. The President will support common sense approaches including age-appropriate sex education that includes information about contraception, combating infection within our prison population through education and contraception, and distributing contraceptives through our public health system. The President also supports lifting the federal ban on needle exchange, which could dramatically reduce rates of infection among drug users. President Obama has also been willing to confront the stigma -- too often tied to homophobia -- that continues to surround HIV/AIDS.
• Empower Women to Prevent HIV/AIDS: In the United States, the percentage of women diagnosed with AIDS has quadrupled over the last 20 years. Today, women account for more than one quarter of all new HIV/AIDS diagnoses. President Obama introduced the Microbicide Development Act, which will accelerate the development of products that empower women in the battle against AIDS. Microbicides are a class of products currently under development that women apply topically to prevent transmission of HIV and other infections.

Make your voice heard in defense of marriage.

MSM Fails to Cover Pro-Life March

Media Censors Huge Pro-Life Event (No Surprise Here!)

From William F. Jasper, The New American

Photo by Darwin Sayo/James McKenzie

Tens of thousands of pro-life supporters marched through San Francisco on January 24 to register their opposition to the continuing abortion holocaust unleashed by the Supreme Court's Roe v. Wade decision. However, the event was almost totally blacked out by the so-called "mainstream" media. Except for coverage by pro-life websites and the global Catholic EWTN television network, one wouldn't even know the West Coast Walk for Life had occurred, unless one had been there.

Read the full article here.

Prop 8 UPDATE: Militant Homosexual Rights Movement Keeps the Pressure On

From United Families International

It’s time to take our blinders off and throw away the rose-colored glasses.  If they’re getting busy, we need to be organized, united, and, more importantly, even busier than they.  If you haven’t done so already, be sure to join the DNA and receive daily actions items for blogging, Facebooking, contacting legislators, talking with neighbors, and writing letters to the editor for your local newspapers.  Whether you’ve got 30 minutes or four hours each day to be an activist, we need you.

Gay-Rights Boot Camp (LA Times):

Determined to avoid the mistakes of their last, losing campaign for gay marriage, gay rights activists are launching the first of what they hope will be many “marriage equality training camps” in Los Angeles this weekend.

The idea is to train activists in “the practical, hands-on skills to organize in their communities to restore marriage equality for same-sex couples to California.”

“The Camp Courage training, inspired by ‘Camp Obama,’ is based on grassroots organizing models that have developed leaders and nurtured progressive social movements for many years, including the fundamentals of community organizing; volunteer recruitment and management; voter persuasion and more,” according to a statement.

Prop 8 Opponents Distribute Maps of Traditional Marriage Supporters’ Homes:

Radical opponents of Proposition 8, the proposition that democratically amended the California constitution to define marriage as the union of one man with one woman, have used a variety of tools to alter, and then reject, the popular will of Californians. They tried running vile ads that unfairly targeted groups such as Mormons. When that failed, they resorted to violence and brutal assaults.

And now, they’ve crossed the line once again. They have posted maps online that very clearly show the addresses of those who donated money to the Prop 8 cause (supporting traditional marriage), including even small donors who gave $50 or less.

UFI blog EXCLUSIVE NEWS:

The UFI blog has learned that up to 1/3 of the Christmas packages that were sent to Californian missionaries of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (LDS) were not delivered. The LDS church has been widely criticized by the Militant Homosexual Rights Movement for their opposition to Same-Sex Marriage. It is suspected that the Christmas presents were stolen in retaliation to the passing of Proposition 8.

 

Technorati Tags: Gay Activists,Boot Camp,8Maps,Eight Maps,Proposition 8,Training,LDS Missionaries,Mormon Missionaries,Christmas Package,Same-Sex Couples,Same-Sex Marriage

Vote for Marriage "Equality" = Re-Election?

Please read the article before and then kindly write your state representatives a little email (or give them a phone call), to let them know how you feel about the importance of traditional marriage in society-- especially if you live in a state which is considering revising its marriage laws.

Study: Legislators Are Not Hurt by Voting for Same-Sex Marriage

--San Francisco Bay Times

 

Voting for same-sex marriage or against an attempt to ban same-sex marriage is a safe move for politicians, a new study by the group Freedom to Marry has found. A review of such votes in 21 states by more than 1,100 legislators found that the legislators were consistently re-elected. The report revealed:

* Legislators who voted to end marriage discrimination in California, New York, Connecticut and Massachusetts had a 100 percent re-election rate in all 499 instances in three consecutive elections.

* Legislators who changed their position from opposing to supporting same-sex marriage had a 100 percent re-election rate in consecutive elections.

* Legislators who voted for marriage equality in their state’s lower house and then sought higher office all won.

* None of 664 legislators from 17 states lost re-election after voting against a constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage.

“For politicians, standing up for marriage equality is not touching a third-rail; rather, it is a track to re-election,” said Freedom to Marry Executive Director Evan Wolfson. “Legislators should take the findings of this report as proof that there’s no reason to back down from supporting the freedom to marry and opposing anti-gay measures. And those of us outside the legislature should not be afraid to ask our representatives to do the right thing.”

15 Million Dollar Thought Tax!

by Beetle Blogger

Taxing the Church to Feed the State

In what amounts to a free speech fine reminiscent of a scene out of Robin Hood, San Francisco City government is assessing a 15 million dollar tax on a tax exempt church. This thinly veiled retaliatory move for church involvement in the passing of proposition 8 is outrageous and clearly steps over the line in the separation of church and state.

Government has no say in church affairs, including what morality gets preached or how church officials and their parishioners vote. It doesn’t matter how unpopular the prop 8 vote was in San Francisco, government tax agencies can not be used as weapons to beat churches into submission, or cow them into silence.

Noam Chomsky said: “If you believe in freedom of speech, you believe in freedom of speech for views you don’t like. Goebbels was in favour of freedom of speech for views he liked. So was Stalin. If you’re in favour of freedom of speech, that means you’re in favour of freedom of speech precisely for views you despise.”

Separation of church and state is just that, freedom for the church to speak and act independently from government authority, and free from reprisal. This action by San Francisco City to quash the free exercise of speech and religion smacks of intimidation and corruption at City Hall.

Is the economy so bad, are budget issues so dire that we have to raid the donation coffers of the local parish, Mayor?

—Beetle Blogger

[Read full article here…]

Technorati Tags: Right of Conscience,Freedom of Speech,Tax,Proposition 8,Catholic Church,San Francisco,Phil Ting

It is a Solemn Day

   

From United Families International

The air is crisp and cold. Flags are waving. People are cheering. The military salutes. Another President is inaugurated. And people who care about families, marriage between a man and a woman, the sanctity of life and religious liberty stand by the side and wait with baited breath.

Is he really going to abolish all abortion restrictions?  Will he repeal the Defense of Marriage Act?  Will he appoint judges who will strip churches of their right to preach their beliefs?  Will he ask Congress to ratify the most terrifying treaty to come from the UN?

It is a solemn day when a President is inaugurated who promises to oppose the values that this country was founded on.

It is a solemn day when the strident voices of feminism at the United Nations are cheering.

It is a solemn day when those who feel the State has more say over the education of a child than the parents are giddy with enthusiasm.

It is a solemn day when those who promote the taking of the lives of unborn children are counting how many more abortions will now be able to take place.

It is a solemn day.

Those of us who have fought so hard to achieve the victories of the DOMA, Proposition 8, the defeat of the ratification CEDAW treaty, the rights of doctors to refuse abortions, and the ban on partial-birth abortions are saying, “We will not give up!” We will not allow the family to be destroyed! We will not allow our children to be raised by the State! We will not allow the gay-agenda to define the environment in which our children will be raised!

The battlefield is being readied. The forces are assembling. Choose to become engaged. Decide that you will be a part of the fight. United Families International will help you. We will be the voice of thousands around the world who want to be successful in this battle. Together we will fight for the values we hold most dear. Together we will defend families, sanctity of life, traditional marriage and religious liberty.

Beverly Rice, UFI President

Technorati Tags: President of the United States,Inauguration,Oath of Office,POTUS,Barack Hussein Obama,Proposition 8,DOMA,FOCA,Abortion,Gay Marriage

O God of our Many Understandings: A “Prayer” for the Nation and Our Next President, Barack Obama

Today we celebrate the inauguration of the first black president of the United States of America. However, the ceremony has already been tainted by the words of openly gay Episcopal Bishop, Rev. Gene Robinson.

He claims his words are a prayer. But instead of words of sincere gratitude, sincere faith in God, sincere humility, Robinson’s words drip with pretentiously didactic cliches promoting his own agenda.

At one point during the prayer, people laugh-- not for their own irreverence, but for the irreverence of Robinson’s words.

A Prayer for the Nation and Our Next President, Barack Obama

By The Rt. Rev. V. Gene Robinson, Episcopal Bishop of New Hampshire

Opening Inaugural Event

Lincoln Memorial, Washington, DC

January 18, 2009

O God of our many understandings, we pray that you will…

Bless us with tears – for a world in which over a billion people exist on less than a dollar a day, where young women in many lands are beaten and raped for wanting an education, and thousands die daily from malnutrition, malaria, and AIDS.

Bless this nation with anger – anger at discrimination, at home and abroad, against refugees and immigrants, women, people of color, gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people.

Bless us with discomfort – at the easy, simplistic “answers” we’ve preferred to hear from our politicians, instead of the truth, about ourselves and our world, which we need to face if we are going to rise to the challenges of the future.

Bless us with patience – and the knowledge that none of what ails us will be “fixed” anytime soon, and the understanding that our new president is a human being, not a messiah. [Laughter from crowd]

Bless us with humility – open to understanding that our own needs must always be balanced with those of the world.

Bless us with freedom from mere tolerance – replacing it with a genuine respect and warm embrace of our differences.

Bless us with compassion and generosity – remembering that every religion’s God judges us by the way we care for the most vulnerable.

And God, we give you thanks for your child Barack, as he assumes the office of President of the United States.

Give him wisdom beyond his years, inspire him with Lincoln’s reconciling leadership style, President Kennedy’s ability to enlist our best efforts, and Dr. King’s dream of a nation for ALL the people.

Give him a quiet heart, for our Ship of State needs a steady, calm captain.

Give him stirring words, for we will need to be inspired and motivated to make the personal and common sacrifices necessary to facing the challenges ahead.

Make him color-blind, reminding him of his own words that under his leadership, there will be neither red nor blue states, but the United States.

Help him remember his own oppression as a minority, drawing on that experience of discrimination, that he might seek to change the lives of those who are still its victims.

Give him the strength to find family time and privacy, and help him remember that even though he is president, a father only gets one shot at his daughters’ childhoods.

And please, God, keep him safe. We know we ask too much of our presidents, and we’re asking FAR too much of this one. We implore you, O good and great God, to keep him safe. Hold him in the palm of your hand – that he might do the work we have called him to do, that he might find joy in this impossible calling, and that in the end, he might lead us as a nation to a place of integrity, prosperity and peace.

AMEN.

© Copyright 2004-2006 by The Diocese of New Hampshire, The Episcopal Church

 

Technorati Tags: Obama,inauguration,reverend robinson,gene robinson,prayer,gay agenda,opening inaugural event

Happy Martin Luther King Day: Fight the FOCA

Happy Martin Luther King Day! We have achieved so many dreams for civil rights in this country. We have a black president! Children of all races go to school together. No one has to drink from a separate drinking fountain.

Despite all of these beautiful advances, unborn children have no rights. Their lives are at the mercy of their mothers’ choice.

Came across this post at the Opine-Editorials blog. It has some compelling ideas about how to fight the Foca.

Newly Minted Federalists: Freedom of Choice Act

by Op-Ed

"Newly Minted Federalists" is what Opine contributor Fitz called foes of the Federal Marriage Amendment back in 2007. Then, several senators voted against bringing the amendment to a vote on the grounds that marriage was a social issue best left to the states. Fitz doubted their sincerity at the time, and perhaps with good reason. The proposed amendment was voted down primarily on party lines with the Democrats voting against. Democrats historically have not been known for their support of states' rights.

Federalism, it seemed, was simply a convenient fig leaf behind which senators at the time hoped to hide their opposition to marriage as currently constituted. Well now we have a chance to put these newly minted federalists to the test.

Democrats are planning to introduce a sweeping bill taking away what little latitude has been left to the states in that other contentious social issue of our time: abortion. Senate Democrats, flush from their gains in the 2008 election plan on reintroducing the Freedom Of Choice Act, a bill designed to crush existing state laws regulating abortion, many of which have already been found constitutional by the U.S. Supreme Court.

I have included below the names of all Senators who opposed the Federal Marriage Amendment in 2007. I cannot research myself all of these senators to see which gave "states' rights" as their reason, but I urge Opine readers to call their senators and ask if they voted for states' rights in 2007 whether they plan on voting the same way when it comes to federalizing abortion. While you're at it, feel free to call President Elect Obama's office and get his take. In 2007 he opposed the Federal Marriage Amendment on the grounds that it should be left to the states but he promises to vote against states' rights and sign the Freedom of Choice Act if it makes it to his desk.

Senators voting against the Federal Marriage Amendment:

Email links for senators: Family Leader Network Map

Akaka (D-HI)
Baucus (D-MT)
Bayh (D-IN)
Biden (D-DE)
Bingaman (D-NM)
Boxer (D-CA)
Cantwell (D-WA)
Carper (D-DE)
Chafee (R-RI)
Clinton (D-NY)
Collins (R-ME)
Conrad (D-ND)
Dayton (D-MN)
Dorgan (D-ND)
Durbin (D-IL)
Feingold (D-WI)
Feinstein (D-CA)
Gregg (R-NH)
Harkin (D-IA)
Inouye (D-HI)
Jeffords (I-VT)
Johnson (D-SD)
Kennedy (D-MA)
Kerry (D-MA)
Kohl (D-WI)
Landrieu (D-LA)
Lautenberg (D-NJ)
Leahy (D-VT)
Levin (D-MI)
Lieberman (D-CT)
Lincoln (D-AR)
McCain (R-AZ)
Menendez (D-NJ)
Mikulski (D-MD)
Murray (D-WA)
Nelson (D-FL)
Obama (D-IL)
Pryor (D-AR)
Reed (D-RI)
Reid (D-NV)
Salazar (D-CO)
Sarbanes (D-MD)
Schumer (D-NY)
Snowe (R-ME)
Specter (R-PA)
Stabenow (D-MI)
Sununu (R-NH)
Wyden (D-OR)

Full results of the vote can be found here. Votes on a house version in 2006 can be found here.

Technorati Tags: Civil rights,Martin Luther King Day,fight the FOCA,federal marriage amendment,senators,federalism,federalists,newly minted federalists

Google H8 Maps

Facilitating Dreams of Stormy Portent

by Beetle Babee

Martin Luther King had a dream…..but not all dreams aim as high as his did.  Some aim a little closer to home:

“I had a dream. In in I saw HATEFUL actions, but of course I would NEVER advocate any of them.

In my dream the LDS Temple, as well as Catholic and Christian Right churches were vandalized daily since gays decided they all have WAY TOO MUCH MONEY if they can purchase H8 and demonize gays; businesses who supported PROP 8 were also vandalized for the same reason.

White powder shows up in tithing envelopes.

People spray-painted HATE or H8 on the sidewalks outside with arrows pointing towards gay-hating church doors.

Death threats and bomb scares disrupted H8 church services every Sunday across the USA.

I am NOT advocating these measures…..but they would not surprise me either.”

******************

These are the words of one deranged and slightly off-kilter commenter who frequents this site and who obviously has some fairly intense emotional build-up over the passage of proposition 8.

Now, imagine this guy knew you, not personally, but imagine he knew you donated money to the p8 political campaign and decided you had deeply and personally offended him?  Imagine he decided to make it personal in return?  Imagine he knew where you lived, had your street address, including how to get there— and imagine all this information was freely provided on the internet for no other purpose than to harass you?

Welcome to www.EightMaps.com where we provide the h8 maps for you to vent your hate!  Welcome every crazy, loony whack-job and thrill seeker!  If you don’t like how the election turned out, take your frustration out on your good neighbors who voted for it!

Sounds pretty American doesn’t it?  Let’s ask Tom Hanks about that…..but while we’re waiting for a real man’s answer, who is going to stand up and stop this kind of harassment from happening?

Who is going to remind the slightly unhinged gay activists that the election is over, and that it’s time to begin promoting healing and unity?

Not the able Governor.  Not our illustrious Senators.  Not the powerful media watch dogs either, they’re all too busy watching…  All these have shamefully remained in stony silence throughout the ugly aftermath of the marriage campaign.

It is time to step forward and put an end to the ugly politics and personal destruction of people who have the right and freedom to vote their conscience, free from harassment and intimidation.

After all, this isn’t the mafia, Venezuela, or communist Russia, this is America.

—Beetle Blogger

 

Technorati Tags: prop 8,prop 8 maps,prop h8,google maps,violence,tom hanks

Indiana| Next Up For Marriage Amendment

 Next Up For Marriage: Indiana

by Charlie Butts, OneNewsNow

Indiana wants the people to decide on a constitutional amendment to protect traditional marriage.

The Indiana Family Institute is at the helm of the drive. Spokesman Curt Smith admits efforts in the past have not been successful.

"We've met with a lot of legislative roadblocks," he shares. "But not to be deterred, we submitted new legislation, working with several very courageous state legislators -- and [we] hope that the Indiana General Assembly will pass it this session and allow the voters in the future to decide that marriage should be given the full protection of Indiana's constitution."

Under Indiana law, the measure would have to pass in two separately elected legislative bodies to go to the voters, which means a minimum of four years before it would appear on a ballot.

"But we're not going back off, and we're not going back down," Smith promises.
He believes the residents of the Hoosier State want the chance to make the decision. "I believe if given a chance to vote on this, Indiana would overwhelmingly pass it -- as have about two-thirds of Americans in the states where they've had the privilege of voting on this."

Currently, 30 states have constitutional amendments protecting traditional marriage. Another 11 have statutes banning same-sex "marriage."

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Related Articles:

MSNBC: Some Want to Revive calls for gay Marriage Ban

Technorati Tags: Indiana,gay marriage,same gender marriage,marriage amendment,indian family institute,traditional marriage