Local WREG news reports:
Memphis pastors want Obama to know that the same-sex marriage issue is "hijacking the civil rights movement."
Monthly Archives: May 2012
Video: African American Pastors and Civil Rights Ministers Condemn President Obama on Marriage
May 22, 2012 – 4:00 pm
Star Parker: Obama's SSM Support Forces Black Churches To Choose Priorities
May 22, 2012 – 3:00 pm
Star Parker in TownHall:
Perhaps history will show that the first black president’s biggest contribution to black America was forcing this community to come to terms with its own identity and priorities.
By formalizing his support of same sex marriage, President Obama has pushed blacks to decide what is most important to them. The Biblical message they hear in church every Sunday, or the big government liberalism that they regularly vote for on Tuesday of Election Day.
I’ve often talked about what I call the “Sunday-Tuesday Gap’ in black America.
The black church has always played a central role in black American life. Blacks attend church with greater frequency than any ethnic group in the nation. In church, they hear from pastors who preach the Bible in a most literal fashion.
According to a 2010 Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life survey, 34 percent of the general public sees the Bible as the literal word of God. However, 57 percent of blacks and 61 percent of black Protestants say the Bible should be read as God’s literal word.
This helps explain why in responding to surveys on so-called “social issues,” – abortion, marriage, family, infidelity, homosexuality – blacks poll like white conservatives.
However, when blacks go to vote on Tuesday, they certainly don’t vote like white conservatives. They vote like white liberals.
NAACP Endorses SSM, Claims it is a Civil Right
May 22, 2012 – 2:00 pm
The Washington Blade carries their statement:
“The NAACP Constitution affirmatively states our objective to ensure the ‘political, education, social and economic equality’ of all people,” the resolution states. “Therefore, the NAACP has opposed and will continue to oppose any national, state, local policy or legislative initiative that seeks to codify discrimination or hatred into the law or to remove the Constitutional rights of LGBT citizens. We support marriage equality consistent with equal protection under the law provided under the Fourteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution. Further, we strongly affirm the religious freedoms of all people as protected by the First Amendment.”
FoxNews: NOM Raised $100,000 in First 24 Hours After Obama's Announcement
May 22, 2012 – 1:00 pm
"...Gay marriage opponents are on an electoral roll. Same-sex marriage has been on a statewide ballot 32 times and each time, voters have turned it down. The National Organization for Marriage, which supports traditional marriage, has seen a spike in fundraising since Obama's comment. In the first 24 hours, the group collected $100,000 -- which is 10 times above the normal daily haul.
Expect those groups to spend it -- it's anticipated the gay marriage campaigns in the four states with votes in November will spend a combined $50 million."
Minnesotan Man Explains Why His Parents' Marriage Mattered to Him
May 22, 2012 – 12:00 pm
B. Gehling, a physical therapist and source in Minnesota Public Radio's Public Insight Network explains why his parents' marriage mattered to him when growing up and what this tells us about marriage:
"...My personal experience deeply affects my opinion on the proposed amendment. I grew up on a farm in southeastern Minnesota. If I was not in school or playing basketball, you would have found me doing livestock chores, hauling grain, baling hay or plowing the field.
I shared in this labor with my family, but most closely with my father, who was my role model. In fact, I was fortunate to spend a good amount of time with both parents on a daily basis. I was also raised Roman Catholic and willingly attended Mass every Sunday with my entire family. But none of these facts was as crucial to my development as this one: the marriage of my father and mother.
... One does not need to be Catholic, or follow any religion whatsoever, to understand why true marriage is, and always has been, between one man and one woman for the good of children and thus the whole of society. What is marriage, objectively speaking? My response will particularly keep in mind children. Children are most at risk if not protected by marriage and are the very hope of a stable and thriving society in the future.
... If marriage is redefined, fatherhood becomes no longer essential or even important. When marriage is no longer exceptional, the costs are high, and the children pay the price.
The implications of not accepting the marriage amendment would affect everyone legally and possibly result in a further loss of basic constitutional freedoms. The true definition of marriage, as it has always been implied, would be changed. Since the state has now given us the choice to define marriage as it is already understood, it is our duty and privilege as citizens to vote yes for the amendment. -- Minnesota Public Radio
Video Report: Poster Couple for CA SSM Gets Divorce
May 22, 2012 – 11:00 am
Lauren Gores of NewsyPolitics filed a report on YouTube back in February about the poster child for same-sex marriage in California getting a divorce that we found interesting:
New NJ Poll: Support for Gay Marriage Declining; Garden Equality Calls Vote of the People "Corrupting"
May 22, 2012 – 10:00 am
"...53 percent of those surveyed in the new Quinnipiac University poll said they would support a gay marriage law, and that is down 4 percent from a poll conducted in March.
67 percent said they agree with Gov. Chris Christie’s call for a ballot referendum on the issue.
...“I think the people should be given the right to vote,” the New Jersey Family Policy Council’s Len Deo told Putney. He’d prefer a vote on marriage, like he said southern states did.
He wants the question to be ”Should marriage remain as the union of one man and one woman?”
“That’s a bunch of hogwash,” said Garden State Equality’s Steven Goldstein. He said a public vote would just invite opponents to spend millions on advertising.
“[The advertising would] try to influence voters and corrupt the political system,” said Goldstein.
Franck Asks: On Gay Marriage, is Obama "Imposing His Religion"?
May 22, 2012 – 9:00 am
Matthew Franck points out that since Obama says his faith inspired him to change his views on marriage, then all people of faith are not "imposing their religion" when they act to protect marriage:
"...Well, one of the endlessly repeated arguments of the advocates for this revolution in the meaning of marriage is that the defenders of the only meaning of marriage ever known in human history (that it unites men and women to form families) are “imposing their religion” on people who disagree with them. This is supposedly un-American, unjust, unconstitutional, unconscionable—un-you-name-it.
As I have explained elsewhere, this criticism is shot through with errors about the Constitution’s requirements, logical fallacies about the relation of morality and religion and of faith and reason, and general thuggishness. That has not prevented it from being popular with same-sex marriage advocates, and even some judges in Iowa and California.
Here I will content myself with observing that every one of these wrongheaded criticisms is exactly on point as a criticism of President Obama and all other supporters of same-sex marriage who rely in any way on their faith, as they understand it, to justify their support. If the people of California can be faulted for “imposing their religion” on their fellow citizens by passing Proposition 8, then it is equally true that President Obama is “imposing his religion” on his fellow Americans when he says, as he did last week, that laws preventing same-sex marriage are unjust to gay couples desiring to get married. If he is not imposing his religion on anyone, neither is anyone else. -- The Washington Post's Guest Voices Blog
Christian Post: African-American Pastors Call on Obama to Reconsider Gay Marriage Stance
May 22, 2012 – 8:00 am
A group of influential black ministers – some of whom are connected with the fifth largest denomination in the U.S. – gathered Thursday in one of the nation's most famous civil rights cities to ask President Obama to reverse his stance on same-sex marriage.
More than a dozen pastors from the Coalition of African American Pastors joined in Memphis, Tenn., to speak out against Obama's support for gay marriage and to oppose the LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender) community's "hijacking" of the civil rights movement.
"Same-sex marriage I think, it's an abomination before God. It's a sin before God," said the Rev.Robert Morris, acting minister of New Jerusalem Church of God in Christ, according to Fox 13 News. "I don't see how anyone can compare that with civil rights."
... The black ministers who came together represent a wide spectrum of religious and political beliefs and many of the pastors have been ardent supporters of President Obama and Democratic causes. But same-sex marriage is where they draw the line.
Owens told The Christian Post that they are "very disappointed" in Obama's newly pronounced support for gay marriage.
"We ask President Obama to stand with the black church, on the Word of God and evolve again back to the common sense biblical view that marriage is the union of husband and wife," he said.
Submit Your Own Video, DumpStarbucks.com News
May 21, 2012 – 5:45 pm
Welcome to the DumpStarbucks.com News!
This past week a pastor in Colorado made a video of himself dumping a cup of Starbucks coffee down the street curb drain. Apparently he had purchased it on his way to work shortly before hearing of Starbucks position in support of same-sex marriage and the DumpStarbucks.com campaign and decided he couldn't go through with drinking it, but wanted to make a statement instead.
When I saw this I thought to myself—why not have a little fun?
What you can do this week:
Make an inventive and fun home video of yourself or a friend "Dumping Starbucks" and send it in. As many as we can we'll post online so everyone can see and have a good laugh.
If you don't want to buy a cup of Starbucks (remember we are protesting them) then grab an empty cup from a coworker or friend and use that instead.
Keep what you do safe and legal, and kids should get permission from their parents or guardian before making a video and sending it in to [email protected].
Thank you to everyone who wrote on the Starbucks Facebook page questioning why the company does not respect the views of those who believe that marriage is the union of one man and one woman. There is no telling how many Starbucks customers saw those statements and heard for the first time that Starbucks is advocating for same sex marriage. If you have not already done so, feel free to post a question on the Starbucks Facebook wall asking why they do not respect the views of all customers.
This past week we saw a couple of developments in the DumpStarbucks.com campaign. World Net Daily and the UK Christian Institute both published articles on our campaign as we saw over 3,000 new signatures added to the online petition. People support marriage—they are just looking for a way to show that support. Forward this along to your friends so they have an opportunity to support marriage too!
Have a great week!
Heritage's Hans von Spakovsky: It's Time to Investigate the IRS
May 21, 2012 – 2:00 pm
Hans von Spakovsky is a senior fellow at the Heritage Foundation's Center for Legal and Judicial Studies and writes in FoxNews:
"...Somehow, the Human Rights Campaign (HRC), a gay advocacy group, got its hands on Schedule B of the tax return filed by the National Organization for Marriage (NOM)—a conservative values organization that has sparred with the administration and liberal groups over homosexual marriage. The HRC – soon followed by scores of left-leaning publications, magazines, and blogs like the Huffington Post and Mother Jones – published the confidential document that revealed the names, contact information, and donation amounts of anyone who had given over $5,000 to NOM.
NOM has called for immediate investigations by the Justice Department and the Treasury Department’s Inspector General to determine how HRC gained possession of this document.
The posted documents contained original, official IRS markings that could only have come from individuals within the agency. Disclosing this confidential information by anyone at the IRS is a felony, punishable by fines of up to $5,000 and/or imprisonment for up to five years. Printing or publishing the schedule is also a crime, similarly punishable, which means that the HRC (and the Huffington Post) are potentially in deep legal trouble.
...Freedom of association (a basic Constitutional right) and the rule of law (a necessity of free and fair government) are being eroded by these underhanded, Chicago-style tactics. But for the ideological zealots within the federal government and their allies in left-wing advocacy groups, black letter law is apparently just another obstacle to re-election or to attacking one’s public policy opponents.
The IG and the DOJ need to undertake their investigations with utmost seriousness, swiftness and impartiality. And they should bring criminal indictments against anyone inside or outside of the IRS found to be responsible for these abuses of federal tax power. This kind of behavior is simply unacceptable, for it threatens the liberty and freedom of Americans who want to participate in the political process.
Video: Catholics Called to Vote to Reinforce (Not Redefine) Marriage in 2012
May 21, 2012 – 1:00 pm
This video is going viral on YouTube, with almost 1.3 million views. It aims to inspire Catholics to remember some issues are "not negotiable" -- including the fact that "marriage should be reinforced, not redefined":
What Obama's Gay Marriage Endorsement Hath Wrought
May 21, 2012 – 12:00 pm
Maggie Gallagher's column this week, "Obama's Gay Marriage Goof" is about the new dynamic unleashed by Obama's endorsement of gay marriage which will hurt him politically.
An example we just ran across, is this sermon from the First Baptist Church of Dallas, who said he was suddenly moved to preach on gay marriage:
Senior Pastor Gregg Matte of Houston's First Baptist Church in Texas explained that he felt compelled by God to change his May 13 sermon, originally focused on Mother's Day, to address President Barack Obama's endorsement of same-sex marriage.
... "When you lift man higher than God, human choices are higher than God's commands," Matte preached. "And so the issue of gay marriage has become a civil rights issue when it is truly a theological issue."
On the topic of how Christians should vote, the pastor explained: "We must first vote our theology. Then we vote our preferences on policy." -- The Christian Post
This is happening whether you or I or Pres. Obama likes it or not:
Obama, by endorsing gay marriage, has broken through the media silence imposed on those who oppose gay marriage, generating new, unexpected and highly visible expressions of opposition.
All of a sudden, pastors across America are preaching against gay marriage. Conservative talk radio shows are addressing it. People are hearing that their friends and neighbors disapprove.
A new dynamic is in play, set in motion by Obama's misjudgment: He believed the pundits and chose the money over the voters.
That's almost always a bad bet for a president. In November, unless he evolves again, he will find out just how bad a bet that was. -- TownHall
BET Opines Against Coalition of African Americans Pastors
May 21, 2012 – 11:30 am
They oppose but cannot ignore:
It’s been a whirlwind of press since President Obama said last week that he is in favor of gays and lesbians being allowed to marry one another. In the ensuing days, both rapper Jay-Z and pop icon Janet Jackson have come out in support of the president’s statement, and other Black Americans have also said they plan on sticking by Obama’s side despite the controversy his statement has created. But one group is not so cheery about Obama’s great proclamation, and they’re letting their displeasure be known.
In Memphis, a group of influential and well-respected Black pastors, led by the Rev. William Owens, who founded the Coalition of African American Pastors (CAAP), is coming together to decry Obama’s gay-marriage pronouncement. In a letter accusing gay people of “hijacking ... the civil rights movement". -- BET News Blog
Rev. Owens: "Not One Inch, Not One Yard for Gay Marriage"
May 21, 2012 – 11:00 am
In the AP story retailed here at RealClearPolitics, Rev. Bill Owens (who is NOM's liaison to black churches) announced he marched with Martin Luther King, but "not one inch, not one yard" for same-sex marriage:
A group of black pastors gathered in Memphis on Thursday to denounce President Barack Obama's support for gay marriage and call on him to change his views.
Some members of the black clergy, including the 13 Tennessee pastors who met Thursday, have taken offense at comparisons between homosexual rights and the civil rights movement of the 1960s.
The Rev. William Owens, founder and president of the Memphis-based Coalition of African-American Pastors, said he's offended by the comparison.
"I didn't march for same-sex marriage, not one inch, one yard, or one mile," he said. "Homosexuals have a choice, black people didn't."
Obama publicly announced his support of same-sex marriage earlier this month during an interview at the White House.
The coalition members said they have started a petition to urge Obama to change his views on homosexual marriage.
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