Homosexuality is Not a Civil Right by Peter Sprigg

Early in 2004, San Francisco mayor Gavin Newsom began giving out marriage licenses—illegally—to same-sex couples. One of the homosexuals who traveled to San Francisco in search of a marriage license explained his rationale succinctly: “I am tired of sitting at the back of the bus.”1

The allusion, of course, was to the famous story of Rosa Parks. Parks is the African-American woman who, one day in 1955, boarded a racially segregated city bus in Montgomery, Alabama, sat down near the front, and refused the driver’s order to “move to the back of the bus.” Parks’ act of civil disobedience violated one of the “Jim Crow” laws that enforced racial segregation in various public services and accommodations in some states.

Parks’ arrest for her courageous defiance sparked the Montgomery bus boycott, led by a young minister named Martin Luther King, Jr., which is generally viewed as the beginning of the great civil rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s. It culminated legislatively in the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, banning racial discrimination in employment, housing, and public accommodations.

The stories of Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King, Jr. have become an inspiring part of American history. It’s not surprising that homosexual activists have tried to hitch their caboose to the “civil rights” train. They do this in the context of efforts to change the definition of marriage in order to allow same sex “marriages” (by comparing same-sex “marriage” to interracial marriage) and efforts to pass “hate crime” laws (which stigmatize opposition to homosexual behavior as a form of “hate” comparable to racism). The arguments in this essay are relevant to those debates, but focus particularly on laws that would ban employment “discrimination” on the basis of “sexual orientation” (such as the federal Employment Non-Discrimination Act, which is regularly introduced each Congress).

This essay is not a legal treatise, but an exploration of the philosophical justification for including various characteristics as categories of protection under historic civil rights laws—and why “sexual orientation” simply does not compare with them.

Defining Terms: What Are “Civil Rights,” Anyway? …

Read the rest of the article here:
“Homosexuality is Not a Civil Right” by Peter Sprigg, Senior Fellow for Policy Studies at the Family Research Council

Scandal and the New Media – How Should Christians Respond?

By Jay Rogers

(Originally posted on http://www.forrunner.com on November 11, 2010. Note: This article is not copyrighted and may be reproduced in any form without permission.)

I got an email recently notifying me of an advertisement that U.S. Representative Bob Barr (R-GA) is appearing as a speaker on the Cruise for Liberty in January along with a couple of Christian authors whose work has greatly influenced me. The problem is that Barr, a former Libertarian candidate for president, brings a new meaning to the slogan, “Cruise for Liberty.”

Controversies over Bob Barr’s personal conduct

In 1999, during Clinton’s impeachment trial, Hustler publisher Larry Flynt offered money to anyone who could provide evidence that a prominent Republican had engaged in an extramarital affair. According to the American Journalism Review investigators for Flynt said that Barr was “guilty of king-size hypocrisy.” According to a sworn affidavit by Barr’s ex-wife Gail: Barr (a longtime outspoken opponent of abortion) had acquiesced to and paid for the termination of his then-wife’s pregnancy in 1983. In accordance with his public offer: Flynt subsequently paid a sum of money to Gail Barr after she had made her sworn affidavit. Barr never publicly disputed the contents of his ex-wife’s affidavit. Investigators also reported that Barr invoked a legal privilege during his 1985 divorce proceeding, so he could refuse to answer questions on whether he’d cheated on his second wife with the woman who is now his third.

In the early 1990s, Barr was photographed at a fundraising event licking whipped cream off of a woman. According to the Washington Post, “Two people who observed the act say it wasn’t exactly a bosom lick but more like a neckline lick, at the sort of event where business and civic leaders perform dares to raise money. ‘Not exactly Mr. Effusive’, says Matt Towery, the former chairman of Newt Gingrich’s political organization, who observed the brief and awkward licking. ‘You can hardly get the guy to smile.’”

I realize that conference speakers sometimes have to appear on a platform with people who they don’t agree with. However, this is billed as a Christian event with speakers who supposedly uphold God’s Word as a blueprint for liberty. It’s ironic that they feature Bob Barr, a man who is on his third wife and was accused by his second wife of having committed adultery and having paid for an abortion.

Or am I just being a busybody? Am I participating in scandal-mongering by posting this? Even if I knew nothing about the abortion and adultery allegations, it would still irk me that a man on his third wife is lecturing Christians about liberty.

The epistemologist (one who studies belief systems) should understand how compromise works to hijack our worldview. We end up allowing the worst demons of our own depravity to share a platform with the angels of our better nature. We wink at a little indiscretion from time to time due the excuse that we are “all sinners saved by grace.” We slowly allow this to turn slowly into an egregious violation of God’s moral law. In this case, the other conference speakers are winking at an allegation of adultery and murder through abortion. I don’t know if the allegations are true, but I also don’t see where other Christian speakers have addressed the propriety of appearing alongside this man.

To be completely fair, I should address that fact that the “dirt” on Barr was uncovered by Larry Flynt, a pornographer with an open political agenda, during the Bill Clinton impeachment hearings. However, it appears that the allegations were substantial and had enough traction to make it into the mainstream press. Here is an interesting article from the American Journalism Review that discusses the propriety of the “main stream media” exposing the Bob Barr scandal. It also discusses the role of the Internet as the driving force behind the “new media.”

The conclusion I have drawn after 15 years of administrating Forerunner.com is that the Internet is no different than a newspaper press except that it requires no money or training to publish. Therefore, scandal in the new media is so common that most take it with a grain of salt. The downside of this is that nothing is shocking anymore. If scandalous behavior becomes Internet “news” or is already part of public record for those who will connect the dots, then we are repeating what may already be found elsewhere. We should realize that allowing others to read public record and draw their own conclusions cannot be avoided. Most of the time people are commenting on what has already been commented on a thousand times before – Mel Gibson, Tiger Woods, Bob Barr, and so on – even before a civil suit can be written or jury can render a verdict. For better or for worse, the new media is the police, judge, jury and executioner of human character.

For many years, people found it acceptable for journalists to blow the lid off political and private life scandals if the story made it through the rigorous grid of ethical procedural journalism. This was their job. They knew best. Or did they? Now with the Internet, anyone may by pass through this ethical grid with no rigor. As Christians, we are dealing with a new species of animal with the ability to reach thousands at our fingertips in a few microseconds.

The ethics of doing so needs to be examined, but we’ve passed into a time when the genie is out of the bottle. By the time of the Cruise for Liberty in January, many of the attendees will know all about Bob Barr due to the Internet and they will have drawn their own conclusions.

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Jay Rogers is the Founder of The Forerunner International (a/k/a Media House International) and has been writing since the 1980’s. Jay has also acted as script writer and associate producer for several Christian videos, including The Real Jesus and God’s Law and Society. He has a heart for Missions, is a fierce pro-life advocate and activist, and is currently the Director of The Forerunner – http://www.forerunner.com . He and his lovely wife Kalia now live in Kissimmee, Florida.

Free Speech Rights Under Fire – Harassment and Death Threats Against Prop 8 Supporters

Source: Mapping Political Persecution by Chuck Colson

Posted 2/24/2009
http://www.breakpoint.org/

Dotting the streets on a certain online map are hundreds of red teardrops. Click on a teardrop at a particular address, and come up with the words, “Patricia Greenwood. Insurance agent. $100.”

Miss Greenwood had better watch her back. Angry supporters of same-sex “marriage” are using Google Maps to tell the world exactly where she lives, and that she donated money to support Proposition 8—the California initiative banning same-sex “marriage.” Now, I made up the name Patricia Greenwood, but the names and addresses on this map belong to real people.

The only point of identifying Proposition 8 supporters is to encourage people to harass them. And the tactic is working.

Opponents of traditional marriage have sent threatening emails and vandalized churches. They have forced supporters out of their jobs and boycotted their businesses. They’ve made abusive telephone calls and even threatened their neighbors with death. Hundreds of cases of harassment have been documented.

Ron Prentice, chairman of the pro-Proposition 8 group ProtectMarriage.com, says the message of the maps “is unmistakable: Support traditional marriage, and we will find you.”

This is unbelievable in a democracy. In fact, domestic terrorism is not too strong a word to use for what’s occurring in California—and it’s a reminder of what happened when citizens allowed similar tactics to go unchallenged in another time and place.

Seventy-odd years ago, Adolf Hitler turned loose his brown shirts on Germany. These vicious young thugs went street by street, seeking out Jews and communists and trade union leaders. They beat them up and destroyed their places of business. In this way, Germany, a strong country, was taken over by an evil man and regime.

How much easier the brown shirts’ job would have been with a Google map! If vigilante-type movements are allowed to bully their opponents, we’re not just talking about suppression of religious freedom. We’re talking about the undermining of the very character of democracy. Political zealots of every stripe will learn that if they cannot persuade their fellow citizens by reason, they can “persuade” us another way—with clubs, scorn, and social ostracism.

It could get to the point where people will be afraid to get involved in politics at all—and if that happens, it will sound the death knell of representative liberal democracy. This is precisely why laws were passed giving Americans the right to a secret ballot.

ProtectMarriage.com and the Alliance Defense Fund have gone to court to protect the privacy and free speech of those who contribute to future campaigns—and to protect them from harassment. They are challenging state campaign finance laws that force disclosure of personal information of those who donate even small amounts of money to political campaigns.

Campaign disclosure laws must balance the public’s right, of course, to know who is donating money to political campaigns with an individual’s right to privacy, freedom of expression, and the freedom not to be threatened for their beliefs.

And we need vigorous law enforcement. If we prosecute hate crimes, why shouldn’t federal and state prosecutors go after those thugs who are abusing innocent people for exercising their right to vote?

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Now a syndicated columnist, Charles Colson was once labeled a “hatchet man” during his tenure under former President Nixon and was feared in Washington and elsewhere by many in politics. Now as a repentant and devout Christian, Colson preaches a message of reconciliation to “the least of these” – prisoners and their families as well as crime victims and their families all over the world. PFM (formerly Prison Fellowship Ministries) was founded by Colson in 1976 and continues to minister to millions worldwide today.

The Day After the Elections – A Biblical Perspective

The cultural shift toward Darwinian humanism was displayed in its fullest form yet in the elections of 2008 in the US. Here is one theologian’s perspective that I HOPE will be the normal reaction from professing Christians to this year’s presidential election.

Since you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth. For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ, in God. Colossians 3:1-3

Discerning Ideologies in Political Positions – Reagan and “Spreading the Wealth”

How do you tell the difference between Democratic and Republican principles and those of the socialist and communist caste? What’s the difference between a private organization giving grants to individuals or other organizations and the government doing it? What is the role of government in people’s lives? Who are the government servants suppose to serve – themselves or the people?

This video is a brief but outstanding examination of the current competing ideologies at war for the right of entrance into the White House. Take some time to educate yourself on them. Compare them to your Constitution… how do they measure up?

“MAN IS NOT FREE UNLESS GOVERNMENT IS LIMITED.” Ronald Reagan in his farewell address to the nation.

(Video) Obama Blocked a BAIPA Bill in the Illinois State Senate – 4 times!!! How Will YOU Vote on Nov. 4th??

You Tube URL: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=suTvLe7kYDE

Senator Barack Obama voted to block a BAIPA bill – Born Alive Infant Protection Act – in the Illinois Senate… 4 times. Is this the kind of man we want sitting in the Oval Office? Or do we want someone sitting there who will affirm life? You decide this Nov. 4th… with your vote. Don’t stay home and essentially vote present… cast an early ballot, or go to the polling place on election day.

Please repost this video on your personal blogs, and send it to your friends and family via email. Be sure to go to the You Tube page and rate it and feel free to leave a comment…

“Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves,
for the rights of all who are destitute.” Prov 31:8 NIV

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Related posts:
Massacre of Innocence

True Colors – The Blatant Arrogance of Eugenics

The Quick and the Dead

Abortionist Indicted in 2007 Abortion Death of 22 Year Old Woman

A Barnstable County, Massachusetts grand jury has indicted former Massachusetts abortionist Rapin Osathanondh in the abortion related death of 22 year old Laura Hope Smith. The grand jury investigation discovered attempts by Osathanondh, who was a Harvard Fellow, to cover up his neglect of safety procedures that resulted in the death of Miss Smith on September 13th, 2007.

Eileen Smith, Laura’s mother, spoke with CWA Policy Analyst Martha Kleder about this latest development.

Abortion Doctor Indicted in \"Legal\" Abortion Death. Evidence Shows Cover-up.

It’s time for the church to wake up on this issue. It’s not just the babies lives that are at stake.

Death By Legal Abortion

You might have thought when you read the title of this post that I was referring to the babies involved in the abortion procedure. Everyone knows that an abortion ends the life of a human being (and I am using scientific terminology when I call a “fetus” a human being. Check your biology textbooks…), but I was actually referring to deaths involving the patient… women seeking legal abortions dying along with their “fetus” (baby).

A great majority of the public has a very limited understanding about abortion and everything it entails. Many consider it the “right” of a woman to determine what she does with her own body, and unless you are thinking truly in biblical terms, I suppose that it is the right of a woman to do what she wants to with her own body… but what about someone else’s body? But I’m not even going to get into that here. I’m talking about women who have died at the hands of abortionists… as a direct result of seeking out a legal abortion.

These women were not seeking out a back-alley abortionist. They went to storefront abortion clinics and licensed hospitals. They went in thinking they were making their lives easier and ending unwanted pregnancies. They exited either in ambulances or body bags. These are REAL WOMEN, making a choice they believed in enough to walk into a clinic, thinking that abortion is always safe.

They were wrong.

THE TOMBSTONE PROJECT is a list of women who have died from an abortion procedure. Life Dynamics sells a poster of this list with these tragic occurrences up to the year 1998. This is not a complete list, and the list has been lengthened since the poster was designed and printed.

So, if you think that no one gets hurt by legal abortion, think again. The life you save may be your own…

“Health” Abortion Kills Two Instead of One – A Look Into One Tiller Abortion and How It Effected A Woman’s Life… Forever.

It is said by many pro-lifers that when a woman gets an abortion, two walk into the clinic, but only one comes out alive.

In January of 2005, an ambulance was called to one of George Tiller’s clinics. The body of a 19 year old down syndrome woman was taken by that ambulance to a local hospital, but it was too late. She was dead before she ever left Tiller’s clinic. (Please! No Sirens! was the plea of the clinic worker calling for an ambulance… those kinds of things draw too much attention, don’t they?)

The clinic apparently showed considerable negligence when contacting EMS, claiming the patient was not in any serious, life-threatening danger, when in fact she had already gone into septic shock and was well on her way to death’s door… she was in cardiac arrest and the person trying to revive her was performing CPR on a clinically dead patient.

Christin Gilbert is just one example of a women who went into an abortion clinic for an “elective” abortion who was irreversibly harmed by the abortion she “chose”. One must note that Miss Gilbert, although 19 years old and considered an adult, had down syndrome and was considered incompetent and so her parents made the decision to abort her child. Unfortunately for the child, it was the product of a sexual assault. I’m sure the parents reasoned that the child’s birth would have been too traumatic for their daughter.

One must also make a note (and highlight it in very florescent yellow ink) that in order to do a late-term abortion as Tiller was once able to legally perform until the Supreme Court upheld a federal ban on them, the parents (or husband, friend, or other caretaker) are charged with the care of the individual (NOT a medical professional) in a hotel room for the entire three day abortion process, with the exception of the short period of time the patient is actually undergoing the direct “medical” procedures, such as the injection of a lethal substance into the heart of the pre-born “fetus”, premature dilation of the cervix, and labor induction.

The facts in Christin’s case show the flimsy logic of many pro-abortion proponents who argue that abortion should be allowed at any stage for the “health of the mother”, claiming that if a woman’s health is at stake, she should be able to get an abortion, even if the fetus is at a viable stage. This abortion was stamped big as day with an okay for health reasons. Perhaps Christin’s loss is an acceptable one for them, but I doubt her poor parents felt the same way once it was all over.

Christin was healthy and had no other disorders or health issues other than being a down syndrome person. She was not in any immediate danger because of her pregnancy. The child’s DNA was not tested to determine whether it would also have Down Syndrome… but even if it were tested, is a person’s value based on whether or not they have Down Syndrome? Was Christin less valuable because of her condition? And WHY was this not NATIONAL NEWS considering the charges that have been leveled at Tiller and his clinics?

Read more about the details of this case at REAL CHOICE.

This incident gives new meaning to the term assigned to George Tiller by many pro-life workers… Tiller the Killer, and for this case especially, that unsavory moniker rings so very true.

Governmental Acknowledgment of The Divine: Do you know the Preamble for your state?

Do you know the Preamble for your state? . . .

Alabama
1901, Preamble
We the people of the State of Alabama , invoking the favor and guidance of Almighty God, do ordain and establish the following Constitution..

Alaska
1956, Preamble
We, the people of Alaska , grateful to God and to those who founded our nation and pioneered this great land.

Arizona
1911, Preamble
We, the people of the State of Arizona , grateful to Almighty God for our liberties, do ordain this Constitution…

Arkansas
1874, Preamble
We, the people of the State of Arkansas , grateful to Almighty God for the privilege of choosing our own form of government…

California
1879, Preamble
We, the People of the State of California , grateful to Almighty God for our freedom…

Colorado
1876, Preamble
We, the people of Colorado , with profound reverence for the Supreme Ruler of Universe…

Connecticut
1818, Preamble.
The People of Connecticut, acknowledging with gratitude the good Providence of God in permitting them to enjoy.

Delaware
1897, Preamble
Through Divine Goodness all men have, by nature, the rights of worshiping and serving their Creator according to the dictates of their consciences.

Florida
1885, Preamble
We, the people of the State of Florida , grateful to Almighty God for our constitutional liberty, establish this Constitution…

Georgia
1777, Preamble
We, the people of Georgia , relying upon protection and guidance of Almighty God, do ordain and establish this Constitution…

Hawaii
1959, Preamble
We , the people of Hawaii , Grateful for Divine Guidance … Establish this Constitution.

Idaho
1889, Preamble
We, the people of the State of Idaho , grateful to Almighty God for our freedom, to secure its blessings.

Illinois
1870, Preamble
We, the people of the State of Illinois, grateful to Almighty God for the civil , political and religious liberty which He hath so long permitted us to enjoy and looking to Him for a blessing on our endeavors.

Indiana
1851, Preamble
We, the People of the State of Indiana , grateful to Almighty God for the free exercise of the right to choose our form of government.

Iowa
1857, Preamble
We, the People of the St ate of Iowa , grateful to the Supreme Being for the blessings hitherto enjoyed, and feeling our dependence on Him for a continuation of these blessings, establish this Constitution.

Kansas
1859, Preamble
We, the people of Kansas , grateful to Almighty God for our civil and religious privileges establish this Constitution.

Kentucky
1891, Preamble.
We, the people of the Commonwealth are grateful to Almighty God for the civil, political and religious liberties…

Louisiana
1921, Preamble
We, the people of the State of Louisiana, grateful to Almighty God for the civil, political and religious liberties we enjoy.

Maine
1820, Preamble
We the People of Maine acknowledging with grateful hearts the goodness of the Sovereign Ruler of the Universe in affording us an opportunity .. And imploring His aid and direction.

Maryland
1776, Preamble
We, the people of the state of Maryland, grateful to Almighty God for our civil and religious liberty…

Massachusetts
1780, Preamble
We…the people of Massachusetts, acknowledging with grateful hearts, the goodness of the Great Legislator of the Universe In the course of His Providence, an opportunity and devoutly imploring His direction.

Michigan
1908, Preamble.
We, the people of the State of Michigan , grateful to Almighty God for the blessings of freedom, establish this Constitution.

Minnesota
1857, Preamble
We, the people of the State of Minnesota, grateful to God for our civil and religious liberty, and desiring to perpetuate its blessings:

Mississippi
1890, Preamble
We, the people of Mississippi in convention assembled, grateful to Al mighty God, and invoking His blessing on our work.

Missouri
1845, Preamble
We, the people of Missouri, with profound reverence for the Supreme Ruler of the Universe, and grateful for His goodness . Establish this Constitution…

Montana
1889, Preamble.
We, the people of Montana , grateful to Almighty God for the blessings of liberty establish this Constitution ..

Nebraska
1875, Preamble
We, the people, grateful to Almighty God for our freedom . Establish this Constitution.

Nevada
1864, Preamble
We the people of the State of Nevada, grateful to Almighty God for our freedom, establish this Constitution…

New Hampshire
1792, Part I. Art. I. Sec. V Every individual has a natural and unalienable right to worship God according to the dictates of his own conscience.

New Jersey
1844, Preamble
We, the people of the State of New Jersey, grateful to Almighty God for civil and religious liberty which He hath so long permitted us to enjoy, and looking to Him for a blessing on our endeavors.

New Mexico
1911, Preamble
We, the People of New Mexico, grateful to Almighty God for the blessings of liberty..

New York
1846, Preamble
We, the people of the State of New York, grateful to Almighty God for our freedom, in order to secure its blessings.

North Carolina
1868, Preamble
We the people of the State of North Carolina, grateful to Almighty God, the Sovereign Ruler of Nations, for our civil, political, and religious liberties, and acknowledging our dependence upon Him for the continuance of those…

North Dakota
1889, Preamble
We , the people of North Dakota , grateful to Almighty God for the blessings of civil and religious liberty, do ordain…

Ohio
1852, Preamble
We the people of the state of Ohio, grateful to Almighty God for our freedom, to secure its blessings and to promote our common.

Oklahoma
1907, Preamble
Invoking the guidance of Almighty God, in order to secure and perpetuate the blessings of liberty, establish this

Oregon
1857, Bill of Rights, Article I Section 2. All men shall be secure in the Natural right, to worship Almighty God according to the dictates of their consciences

Pennsylvania
1776, Preamble
We, the people of Pennsylvania, grateful to Almighty God for the blessings of civil and religious liberty, and humbly invoking His guidance….

Rhode Island
1842, Preamble.
We the People of the State of Rhode Island grateful to Almighty God for the civil and religious liberty which He hath so long permitted us to enjoy, and looking to Him for a blessing…

South Carolina
1778, Preamble
We, the people of he State of South Carolina grateful to God for our liberties, do ordain and establish this Constitution.

South Dakota
1889, Preamble
We, the people of South Dakota, grateful to Almighty God for our civil and religious liberties .

Tennessee
1796, Art. XI.III. That all men have a natural and indefeasible right to worship Almighty God according to the dictates of their conscience…

Texas
1845, Preamble
We the People of the Republic of Texas , acknowledging, with gratitude, the grace and beneficence of God.

Utah
1896, Preamble
Grateful to Almighty God for life and liberty, we establish this Constitution.

Vermont
1777, Preamble
Whereas all government ought to enable the individuals who compose it to enjoy their natural rights, and other blessings which the Author of Existence has bestowed on man .

Virginia
1776, Bill of Rights, XVI Religion, or the Duty which we owe our Creator can be directed only by Reason and that it is the mutual duty of all to practice Christian Forbearance, Love and Charity towards each other

Washington
1889, Preamble
We the People of the State of Washington, grateful to the Supreme Ruler of the Universe for our liberties, do ordain this Constitution

West Virginia
1872, Preamble
Since through Divine Providence we enjoy the blessings of civil, political and religious liberty, we, the people of West Virginia reaffirm our faith in and constant reliance upon God …

Wisconsin
1848, Preamble
We, the people of Wisconsin, grateful to Almighty God for our freedom, domestic tranquility…

Wyoming
1890, Preamble
We, the people of the State of Wyoming , grateful to God for our civil, political, and religious liberties, establish this Constitution…