Dear Marriage Supporter,
Same-sex 'marriage' radicals are at it again... the latest example comes from Chicago.
In what Laurie Higgins of the Illinois Family Institute called "a stunning admission" openly homosexual Democratic State Representative Greg Harris of Chicago, outright admitted in a public debate that the proposed law in Illinois redefining marriage did NOT provide religious liberty or conscience protections for individual Christian business owners.
Higgins' article continued, saying that "it was clear that both he and homosexual Chicago Alderman Deb Mell (a former state representative and co-sponsor of SB 10) oppose any such protections." (emphasis added).
Earlier this year, when trying to force the bill through the legislature, Alderman Mell claimed that warnings about future religious persecution were dishonest "scare tactics."
And so the script repeats... promise that nothing will change when marriage is redefined while knowing that religious liberties will be necessarily suppressed and people of faith are sure to be punished.
Remember, if you donate today, your gift will be matched, dollar-for-dollar by a generous donor who has pledged to match every donation to NOM before the end of the year, up to $1,000,000!
It's especially important to act now because the past few months have seen numerous examples of the kind of anti-religious abuse that will increase as same-sex marriage becomes more widespread.
In Washington state, a florist had to file a counter-suit against the state attorney general, after being charged with a violation of the state Consumer Protection Act for refusing to provide flowers for a same-sex wedding.
In Minnesota, the Department of Human Rights recently released new rules governing individuals who believe in traditional marriage. Despite many, many promises to the contrary when pushing the marriage redefinition bill through the legislature, they decreed that "the law does not exempt individuals, businesses, nonprofits, or the secular business activities of religious entities from non-discrimination laws based on religious beliefs regarding same-sex marriage."
And the worst part? None of this is accidental! It's by design!
I want you to read what Chai R. Feldblum, a professor of Law at Georgetown Law School, and an Obama appointee to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), has to say:
"I believe the burden on religious people that will be caused by granting gay people full equality will be justified. . . That is because I believe granting liberty to gay people advances a compelling government interest, that such an interest cannot be adequately advanced if 'pockets of resistance' to a societal statement of equality are permitted to flourish, and hence that a law that permits no individual exceptions based on religious beliefs will be the least restrictive means of achieving the goal of liberty for gay people."
Can you believe that?! Religious liberty is a guaranteed right under the US Constitution; gay marriage obviously is not. Yet in left speak, our constitutionally guaranteed religious liberty to live out our faith in our daily lives is a "pocket of resistance" to a "compelling government interest" to establish a "societal statement of equality!"
In other words... my belief and yours... my Church's teaching and yours... that marriage is the union of one man and one woman... is contrary to the interests of government and must be suppressed!
Won't you please help us put a stop to this insanity by making a generous donation right away?
This is even taking place in states where the laws on marriage recognize it as the union of one man and one woman! Consider:
- Albuquerque, NM: In August, the New Mexico Supreme Court ruled it was illegal for a photographer to refuse to accept clients celebrating a same-sex commitment ceremony. The case is being appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court.
- Gresham, OR: Also in August, a same-sex couple filed a discrimination complaint against a bakery that refused to decorate a wedding cake for their celebration. Oregon Labor Commissioner Brad Avakian announced that the goal of the law is to "rehabilitate" offending business owners, rather than shut down their businesses.
- Denver, CO: In a claim brought to the Colorado Civil Rights Commission, a baker faces up to one year in jail for refusing to decorate a wedding cake for a same-sex wedding ceremony.
NOM is working all across the country to wake people up to the fact that redefining marriage poses an enormous and imminent threat to our precious religious liberties. But we need your help to reach more people and build the grassroots coalition needed to stop these abuses in their tracks.
Thank you!
Faithfully,
Brian S. Brown
PS: Redefining marriage isn't about hollow claims of "equality" and "civil rights." It's about changing the core, foundational institution in our society — turning it into a vehicle stripped of gender which exists purely for the satisfaction of adults, and away from one intrinsically ordered toward gender complementariness and geared toward the good of children.
And right now, it's the weapon of choice being used by a small but extremely well funded group of extremists in a fight to strip away our First Amendment religious freedoms. We cannot let that happen! Won't you please stand with me today by making a generous donation to NOM to advance our critical work? Remember, whatever you give today will be DOUBLED, thanks to our generous donor who established a new matching gift challenge. Help us draw a line in the sand and stand up for marriage... for the rights of children... and for our most precious religious liberties.
[An earlier version of this message misattributed statements on the Illinois Family Institute blog to the Chicago Tribune. These errors have been corrected. - Ed.]
