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Monthly Archives: August 2012

3 Recent Examples of Pro-SSM Intolerance and Hate Backfiring

August 4, 2012 – 12:00 pm

The intolerance and hate of many pro-SSM activists began to backfire this week.

First, Adam Smith, a former CFO and treasurer for manufacturer Vante uploaded a video of himself verbally harassing a courteous Chick-fil-A employee:

His employer, Vante, let him go immediately after being made aware of his activities and issued the following statement:

The actions of Mr. Smith do not reflect our corporate values in any manner. Vante is an equal opportunity company with a diverse workforce, which holds diverse opinions. We respect the right of our employees and all Americans to hold and express their personal opinions, however, we also expect our company officers to behave in a manner commensurate with their position and in a respectful fashion that conveys these values of civility with others.

We hope that the general population does not hold Mr. Smith's actions against Vante and its employees.

This is position which echoes that of NOM's corporate fairness project. And the video above has already been viewed over 750,000 times, so word is getting out.

Second, proponents of redefining marriage attempted yesterday to launch a counter-protest against the wildly successful Chick-fil-A Appreciation Day with some activism of their own: a "kiss-in". Those efforts have already been marred, the Los Angeles Times reports, by "Tastes Like Hate" graffiti being scrawled on a Chick-fil-A location in Terrence, CA:

Third, this pattern of harassing Chick-fil-A's ability to do business was already set earlier in the week when a group of pro-SSM halted the grand opening of a Chick-fil-A location in Laguna Hills, CA:

View more videos at: http://nbclosangeles.com.

Examples of pro-SSM hate and intolerance like these are a reminder that we need to stay vigilant to demand that our rights to believe and support biblical marriage are not silenced by the other side.

Together, united, they can't drown out or silence our voice!

By Thomas Peters | Posted in Civility, Marriage, Media, Same Sex Marriage | Comments (50)

LSN: Democrat Admits, ‘Attack on Parental Rights’ is ‘the Whole Point’ of Banning Sex Orientation Therapy

August 4, 2012 – 11:00 am

Ben Johnson of LifeSiteNews:

The author of a California bill that would forbid minors from seeking therapy to overcome unwanted feelings of same-sex attraction has admitted his intention was to undermine parental rights.

State Senator Ted Lieu wants to undercut parental rights.

State Senator Ted Lieu wants to undercut parental rights.

“The attack on parental rights is exactly the whole point of the bill, because we don’t want to let parents harm their children,” said State Senator Ted Lieu, D-Torrance.

Senate Bill 1172 would ban anyone under 18 from receiving reparative or sexual orientation conversion therapy, even if requested by the teens or their parents. The bill would label the treatment “unprofessional conduct” and “therapeutic deception.”

The bill passed the state Senate in June. It is now being considered in the state Assembly.

After likening the therapy to allowing children to smoke cigarettes or drink alcohol, the 43-year-old Taiwanese-born legislator said, ““We have these laws to stop parents from hurting their kids. Preventive therapy hurts children, so this bill allows us to stop parents from hurting their children.”

By NOM Staff | Posted in California, Children, Education, Parenting | Comments (17)

UK Conservative Party Chairman: SSM Will "Cost Cameron Grassroots Support at Election"

August 4, 2012 – 10:00 am

The highest-profile party leader to date to warn PM David Cameron to change course on redefining marriage, according to the UK Telegraph:

Emma Pidding, whose organisation represents volunteers within the party, said she was concerned about the possible impact on the Tory election campaign if the plans for same-sex marriage go ahead.

The Government launched a consultation on the proposals earlier this year, and Mr Cameron was last week reported to have told gay groups he was determined to push the change through by the time of the election in 2015.

Ms Pidding today told BBC Radio 4's World At One: "My concern is that we are potentially upsetting our members and activists when I have one goal, and that is to obtain a Conservative majority government in 2015.

"Anything which upsets any of my members, I don't like to see that."

Ms Pidding said the issue of gay marriage was of passionate interest to "a few individuals" on either side of the argument but was not a priority for most Tories.

Conservative MP David Burrowes - a vocal critic of the proposals - said gay marriage was the kind of issue which might be a determining factor for a significant number of voters in crucial marginal seats, like his Enfield Southgate constituency in north London.

"The issue is one that is vote-defining for many people," Mr Burrowes told the programme. "Even in my constituency where they know that I am firmly opposed to the proposal, people say that if that does go through as legislation, then they won't vote for me.

"That must concern me and it concerns many other colleagues in marginal seats."

By NOM Staff | Posted in Marriage, Politics, Same Sex Marriage, United Kingdom | Comments Off on UK Conservative Party Chairman: SSM Will "Cost Cameron Grassroots Support at Election"

Gov. Huckabee: Gay Marriage "Sinking" Democrats

August 4, 2012 – 9:00 am

Ben Johnson of LifeSiteNews:

The Democratic Party’s decision to adopt a platform embracing same-sex “marriage” “may end up sinking” the party, and hand Mitt Romney the issue he needs to energize Republican voters in the fall, according to one of his former rivals.

Former presidential candidate Mike Huckabee told AFR Talk’s “Today’s Issues” yesterday the Democrats’ formal support for marriage redefinition “will be the best thing that’s ever happened to the Republican Party, especially in the South and the Midwest.”

“If there was any vestige of the Democrat Party in some of these areas, this may end up sinking the ship,” he told the hosts.

...Huckabee, who championed that constituency in 2008, agrees. “Once a major political party and a president of the United States has now openly declared war on Biblical marriage and the traditional concept of one man, one woman for life, they no longer are going to support that,” he said.

A host of other pro-life, pro-family leaders agree the Democrats may have gone too far for middle America.

By NOM Staff | Posted in Chick-fil-A, Mitt Romney, Politics, President Obama | Comments (2)

Brian Brown on FoxNews: Romney Is Pro-Marriage

August 3, 2012 – 3:00 pm

John Roberts of Fox News reports:

Our President Brian Brown tells him about Romney's record on marriage:

"If you go back to Massachussetts some people want to say '[Romney] wasn't strong on [marriage]' -- if you actually look at what he did he stood up for a state constitutional amendment. He's always said he knows in his heart that marriage is the union of a man and a woman that it's in the best interest of his state and of the country."

By NOM Staff | Posted in Election Watch 2012, Marriage, Marriage Election Watch, Massachusetts, Mitt Romney, Politics, Same Sex Marriage | Comments (5)

The Hill: Gay Marriage Could Turn Conservatives Out on Election Day

August 3, 2012 – 2:30 pm

Christian Heinze of The Hill:

In one of the most important years ever in the battle for gay rights, it would be remiss to overlook the electoral effects of the issue on the 2012 presidential race.

... a fast-food restaurant, Chick-fil-A, has become the latest cultural flashpoint in the battle after its president opposed, on biblical grounds, gay marriage earlier this month.

... For their parts, both Obama and presumptive GOP nominee Mitt Romney have remained silent on the Chick-fil-A fracas, but Romney’s allies and surrogates have fought back hard.

Former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty, who’s said to be a front-runner for the vice-presidential nomination, unloaded over the weekend on the prospect of the restaurant being frozen out of expansion into Boston and Chicago.

... Clearly, some Republicans see political gain in using the chain as a symbol for upholding conservative values like traditional marriage.

But could the battle over gay marriage help Romney in November?

There’s a strain of working-class whites who live in the heartland and are known, affectionately, as “Reagan Democrats.” These voters tend to be more fiscally liberal but socially conservative, and theoretically, the battle over gay rights could push them into Romney’s camp.

By NOM Staff | Posted in Election Watch 2012, Marriage, Marriage Election Watch, Mitt Romney, Politics, President Obama, Same Sex Marriage | Comments (1)

Mainstream Media Blacks Out Chick-fil-A Story?

August 3, 2012 – 2:00 pm

Michael Warren at Weekly Standard:

Wednesday was Chick-fil-A Appreciation Day, and Americans flocked to the fast food restaurant in response to criticism of COO Dan Cathy's opposition to same-sex marriage (as well as threats from the mayorsof some major cities). The photos of long lines and traffic jams reveal the extent of the restaurant's support--for some it's about traditional values and for others it's about freedom of religious exercise and speech in the face of government intimidation. There are even rumors that Chick-fil-A set a new world record for sales in a single day, though the company has yet to release any sales numbers.

But you wouldn't know anything about the national phenomenon by reading the front pages of most of the country's leading newspapers. There's no mention of Chick-fil-A on the front pages of the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, the Washington Post, the Chicago Tribune, the Los Angeles Times, the South Florida Sun-Sentinel, and the Boston Globe. The front pages of USA Today, theDallas Morning News, and the Houston Chronicle have small headlines about the restaurant, while Chick-fil-A's hometown paper, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, fits in a story below the fold under the heading, "Chick-fil-A Controversy." And the front pages of major news websites are quiet in their coverage as well.

By NOM Staff | Posted in Chick-fil-A, Marriage, Media, Same Sex Marriage | Comments (13)

Illinois LGBT Group Files Multiple Human Rights Compaints Against Chick-fil-A

August 3, 2012 – 1:00 pm

From their press release:

The Civil Rights Agenda (TCRA), Illinois’ largest lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) civil rights advocacy organization, working with cooperating attorneys and on behalf of claimants, filed multiple complaints against Chick-fil-A with The Illinois Department of Human Rights. Among other things, the complaints allege that Chick-fil-A’s “intolerant corporate culture” violates Illinois law, specifically Section 5-102(B) of the Human Rights Act, which prohibits a “public accommodation” from making protected classes “unwelcome, objectionable or unacceptable.”

“In our current high speed media and social media environment, Chick-fil-A has announced and caused to be published, to hundreds of millions of people, that LGBT people are unacceptable and objectionable,” said Jacob Meister, Governing Board President of The Civil Rights Agenda and the attorney who filed the complaint. “They have made it clear the lives of LGBT individuals are unacceptable to them and that same-gender families are unwelcome at Chick-fil-A.”

The names of the complainants are being kept confidential. “Given the extent of media coverage this issue has received, the current complainants have requested that their name be withheld from the media,” stated Anthony Martinez, Executive Director of The Civil Rights Agenda. “The complainants are a same-gender family with a daughter. Chick-fil-A used to be one of their favorite places to eat until Mr. Cathy’s latest statements were reported so widely. Now, they feel completely unwelcome in the establishment.”

By NOM Staff | Posted in Chick-fil-A, Free Speech, Illinois, Law, Marriage, Religious Liberty, Same Sex Marriage | Comments (19)

The Chick-fil-A "Marriage Cows"

August 3, 2012 – 12:30 pm

We posted this on our Facebook page but wanted to make sure our blog-only readers saw this as well!

By NOM Staff | Posted in Chick-fil-A, Humor, NOM on Facebook | Comments (6)

Video: Chick-fil-A Supporter Videotapes Day

August 3, 2012 – 12:00 pm

One Chick-fil-A supporter's view as she interviews people there in solidarity not just with Chick-fil-A's right to free speech but also with Dan Cathy's support for marriage!

By NOM Staff | Posted in Chick-fil-A, Marriage, Same Sex Marriage | Comments (3)

17 Representatives Send Letter Supporting Chick-fil-A

August 3, 2012 – 11:30 am

Congressman Alan Nunnelee:

Today, Congressman Alan Nunnelee (R-Miss) sent a letter to Chick-fil-A President Dan Cathy congratulating him on the dignity with which his company has conducted itself in the face of a vicious smear campaign.  The letter is cosigned by 16 of his colleagues in the House of Representatives.

“The criticism they have received has been appalling.  Elected officials that are now threatening to block new Chick-fil-A restaurants in their cities are acting in a manner that is un-American.  Demanding ideological conformity in order to be allowed to run your business is a dangerous precedent. It is like something that would happen in Soviet Russia.  Clearly, a lot of people who like to fashion themselves as open minded and tolerant are actually the most intolerant folks around if you don’t agree with them,” Nunnelee said.

By NOM Staff | Posted in Chick-fil-A, Congress, Corporate Ethics | Comments (2)

Ross Douthat on Defining Religious Liberty Down

August 3, 2012 – 11:00 am

New York Times columnist Ross Douthat asks for those who oppose religious liberty to drop the facade that they support it:

"...It may seem strange that anyone could look around the pornography-saturated, fertility-challenged, family-breakdown-plagued West and see a society menaced by a repressive puritanism. But it’s clear that this perspective is widely and sincerely held.It would be refreshing, though, if it were expressed honestly, without the “of course we respect religious freedom” facade.

If you want to fine Catholic hospitals for following Catholic teaching, or prevent Jewish parents from circumcising their sons, or ban Chick-fil-A in Boston, then don’t tell religious people that you respect our freedoms. Say what you really think: that the exercise of our religion threatens all that’s good and decent, and that you’re going to use the levers of power to bend us to your will.

There, didn’t that feel better? Now we can get on with the fight."

By NOM Staff | Posted in Debating Marriage, Marriage, Religious Liberty, Same Sex Marriage | Comments (36)

Rush Limbaugh on Reveling in the Chick-fil-A Revolution

August 3, 2012 – 10:30 am

He says:

"... So P. J. Gladnick is who wrote this for NewsBusters, and basically Sally Quinn is recommending that gays and lesbians infiltrate Chick-fil-A restaurants to the point where they become gay hangouts, to such an extent that even gay weddings would be performed there.  This is what Sally Quinn is urging in her On Faith blog at the Washington Post. Now, if you think that recommendation's absurd beyond belief, you won't be alone.

... But this is what she's suggesting, and it's an indication of how they were thrown for loops yesterday.  You're not supposed to be reminded of numbers like this.  And you're not supposed to be reminded of energy like this.  This was, as much as anything, a huge realization of where momentum is in this country, and where it isn't, and you're just not supposed to illustrate that. It's just not supposed to happen.  But the hatred, I mean the vile, disgusting hatred that comes from people on the left.

Nobody at Chick-fil-A did anything to anybody yesterday.  Nobody hurt anybody. Nobody raised anybody's taxes. Nobody said nobody couldn't do anything yesterday, just went in there and patronized the place to show solidarity, and that's got people all upset. So, just keep a sharp eye.

By NOM Staff | Posted in Chick-fil-A, Politics | Comments (5)

NewsBusters: Kirk Cameron Protest Dwarfed by 12,000 Supporters

August 3, 2012 – 10:00 am

Taylor Hughes of NewsBusters:

If the left’s response to Chick-fil-A proves anything, it’s that the left has a clear method of attacking anyone who supports a traditional definition of marriage. Label that person a bigot and then protest everything they do.

This of course is the same plan of action applied to actor Kirk Cameron. During his 'Love Worth Fighting For' conference held in Ocean City, N.J., July 27, over 6,000 married couples showed up seeking counsel on how to better their marriages. Instead they found themselves the target of a protest launched by Ocean City's LGBT community, Ocean Grove United.

But the protesters were protesting an event that had nothing to do with same-sex marriage. In a statement emailed to The Christian Post, a spokesman from the event stated that the sole focus was on “strengthening marriage” and the event “had nothing to do with gay marriage.”

When Cameron found out the group was going to be protesting he extended an offer stating, "I think everyone who comes to the 'Love Worth Fighting For' event in Ocean Grove or anywhere else we do this event will feel nothing but welcomed”. Instead the group declined his offer and stood outside with posters reading “"Kirk! Your Words Hurt Us!”

By NOM Staff | Posted in Free Speech, New Jersey, Religious Liberty | Comments (18)

LSN: Chick-Fil-A Confirms Record-Smashing Sales on Appreciation Day

August 3, 2012 – 9:30 am

Jean McCarthy of LifeSiteNews:

As Chick-fil-A Appreciation Day wrapped up Wednesday evening, it took a long time for the dust and feathers to settle.

Almost 700,000 people signed up for Mike Huckabee’s event on Facebook, and from all reports they made good on their promise to stand up for free speech and religious freedom by eatin’ “mo chickin.’”

The event was a record setter, according to a statement from Steve Robinson, Chick-fil-A’s executive vice president of marketing, who said: “While we don’t release exact sale numbers, we can confirm reports that it was a record-setting day.”

“We are very grateful and humbled by the incredible turnout of loyal Chick-fil-A customers on August 1 at Chick-fil-A restaurants around the country,” Robinson said. “We congratulate local Chick-fil-A Owner/Operators and their team members for striving to serve each and every customer with genuine hospitality.”

By NOM Staff | Posted in Chick-fil-A, Corporate Ethics, Economics | Comments (3)
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