Dear Marriage Supporter,

Good news!

The fatwa against Jerry Buell—a Florida schoolteacher who was suspended by a public school for posting on his Facebook page that he was repulsed by gay marriage in New York—has just failed!

Here's a new Fox News video of the school board hearing, in which hundreds of people showed up to defend Jerry Buell's rights—even many who don't agree with his views!

Kudos to Liberty Counsel for defending Jerry in the extraordinary world gay-marriage advocates have sought to create: a world where children do not need a mom and dad, but instead need to be protected from adults who believe and speak for the great truths of Genesis.

Jerry won a battle, but the jihad continues.

Forgive me for making this letter more personal than usual. I really believe this is a crucial moment in the country we love and share. Together we need to face what has come upon us and together move forward, past the fear inside and the hatred outside, to rebuild America's marriage culture.

Together you and I have won many great victories for marriage—victories which the pundits declared impossible—and truthfully, I expect them to continue!

I promise you: The mainstream media and the conservative pundits (like Michael Barone!) predicting doom and gloom on marriage are going to be shocked and surprised over and over again. They'll be shocked and surprised at what good people of every race, creed and color can do when we come together on behalf of God's truth about marriage!

But you and I have always fought together under the banner of truth. Together, truth and love will prevail, as Maggie says. Not Truth without the love of God and our neighbor in our hearts. Nor a Love which is afraid to speak truth for fear of being labeled a bigot or a hater by those who wield scorn and hatred as a weapon to suppress the truth and those who speak it.

They win by making us afraid to speak and to act for marriage in the public square.

They can only win if they can get us to accept and internalize the second-class status they propose for us. To accept our own marginalization, to be quiet, to stand down and keep our heads down. To live in fear, instead of acting, with courage, out of hope.

They do not know us. They do not know the One whom we know.

(To all my friends and comrades in this battle who are not believers, thank you for joining with us— standing on the firm ground of the common wisdom of humanity, the cross-cultural consensus that with marriage we bring together male and female to make the future happen!)

In Illinois, gay rights groups are using the courts to shut out religious adoption agencies. More than 2000 children, battered, abused, neglected, will have to be moved in order to accommodate the new gay morality, backed by the government: If you "discriminate" between same-sex and opposite-sex unions, you are a bigot and a hater. The public good is to be served by excluding you, even if children suffer.

(They pretend to the public that this is all about making sure there are enough foster parents for children—as if excluding religious people and their organizations would ever serve that goal!)

As David French put it on National Review Online:

The consequence [of the IL judge's decision to shut Catholic Charities out of foster care]? More than 2,000 children are in danger of removal from Catholic Charities' care—without any evidence that its care is deficient or harmful to these children. …

I had to chuckle when I read this quote from Kendall Marlowe, a state spokesman: "It's in the best interest of children that we have an orderly transition." Really? It's in their best interest that they move from the care of a faithful and loving Catholic institution? In reality, the state only started to think about children's interests after it made the decision to end its relationship with Catholic Charities. The transition itself driven by ideology, only its manner is dictated by child welfare.

A statement from Bishop Daniel Jenky of Peoria responded to the judge's ruling that the state can remove children from Catholic Charities this way: "The Bishop, his Priests and the faithful of the Diocese of Peoria, are simply astonished that the politicians of the state of Illinois seem to be unwilling to grant the same kind of religious accommodations that have been granted in the states of New York and Rhode Island regarding their establishment of civil unions. Bishop Jenky is sad to observe that important elements of the political establishment in the state of Illinois are now basically at war with the Catholic community and seem to be destroying their institutions."

Bishop Thomas Paprocki of Springfield, IL wrote:

"The message from the state of Illinois is simple: Organizations that only place children in accord with their religious beliefs are barred from state contracts—Catholics need not apply."

In the military, a chaplain asked Joint Chiefs Chairman Admiral Mike Mullen, "Will those of us who hold biblical orthodox views concerning homosexuality be protected in this new environment to speak about those views?" And the response he received was, according to former military chaplain Col. Ron Crews (USA-Ret), who heads up Chaplain Alliance for Religious Liberty, "Chaplain, if you can't get in line with this policy, resign your commission."

In Vermont, two decent, loving, law-abiding Americans who run a small inn and declined to personally host a same-sex wedding reception released this statement:

"We have never refused rooms or dining or employment to gays or lesbians. Many of our guests have been same-sex couples. We welcome and treat all people with respect and dignity. We do not, however, feel that we can offer our personal services wholeheartedly to celebrate the marriage between same-sex couples because it goes against everything that we as Catholics believe in."


The ACLU immediately denounced them. "The Wildflower Inn owners do not deny that they refused to host Kate and Ming's wedding reception," Allen Gilbert, executive director of the ACLU chapter, told the Associated Press. "Instead, they continue to claim a right to discriminate against the couple, which is in violation of Vermont law. We are confident that the owners' claim that they have a First Amendment right to discriminate will be found meritless by the courts."

All this happened just this week, in our beloved United States of America.

The mask of tolerance has been cast aside. We are looking into the face of a movement which wants, in the name of equality, to take away your rights and the rights of millions of decent, loving, law-abiding Americans who "cling"—yes, I'm not afraid to call it that!—to God, common sense, and the best of America's long traditions of respect for Judeo-Christian values.

Minnesota-based, nationally-syndicated radio talk show host Jason Lewis put his finger on the pulse of something really big this week, when he wrote about Michele Bachmann's rise to be a contender in the presidential elections this way:

For those political pundits still scratching their heads over Michele Bachmann's victory in last weekend's Iowa straw poll, here's a piece of advice. You owe it to yourself to get out a little.

Because if you get beyond the Beltway portrayals of the Tea Party—such as Newsweek's ridiculous cover story on Bachmann—you'd find the Minnesota congresswoman on the vanguard of a growing angst in middle America all but invisible to many of the cultural elite who cover politics.

It is the angst of a Nixonian silent majority who now fail to recognize the nation in which they were raised.

Millions of Americans who have seen their social norms vanquished on the alter of an absurd political correctness. Their social conservatism is branded as bigoted, fringe and, of course, hateful, but they no longer care, they've had enough.

Amen, Brother Lewis!

He goes on:

That's what Bachmann represents—a leader who will make, if nothing else, a last stand for traditionalism. Someone willing to unapologetically declare that, all things being equal, children need both a mom and a dad.

That the military is not a social program, that human life always gets the benefit of the doubt, and that though we may not be a Christian nation, we are still a nation of Christians whose public displays of faith need not be attacked by First Amendment revisionism.

Agree with her or not, Bachmann is riding a potentially potent backlash that has emerged from those Americans who see an activist minority imposing its version of morality on the nation.

I've never met Jason Lewis, but I know I'd like to shake his hand!

This is not an endorsement of any candidate for office, but it is an endorsement of the need for fearless leaders in all walks of life who will stand up for God's truth about marriage!

As Maggie points out over at The Public Discourse, contrary to the conventional wisdom, marriage is already playing a bigger role in U.S. presidential politics than it did in 2008—because the differences between the candidates are going to be big and clear, this time around.

Thanks to NOM's Marriage Pledge, voters are going to get the chance to make a clear choice between candidates willing to make a concrete commitment to act to support marriage—and those who are not so willing, as Maggie points out:

"The stubborn common sense of the American public in resisting same-sex marriage, even in the face of the mainstream media's approval, provides a platform for presidential candidates to seize, and thereby not only resist a radical transformation of the American tradition, but also help build a culture committed to a core American idea: moral truth exists, and our rights (including our right to marriage) are not gifts of government, but are grounded in and bounded by Nature and Nature's God."

Thank you for all the work you've made possible. Thank you for your fellowship, for your courage, and for your willingness to act on that great Biblical principle: "Be not afraid!"

Until next week, keep fighting the good fight.

Brian S. Brown
President
National Organization for Marriage

P.S. Can you act today to defend marriage for your children and grandchildren? Whether you can give $20 or $200—or perhaps a monthly donation of just $10—know that you are making a difference, and your voice will be heard.