In an era of growing intolerance to Christian beliefs and corporate skittishness to pressure from gay activists, the world’s largest global electronic payments service provider says its clients’ religious freedoms trump homosexual activists’ preferences.
AllOut.org — a gay activist petition site — recently targeted PayPal, taking umbrage at the fact that nearly a dozen ministries and charities that don’t endorse homosexuality use PayPal in their fundraising efforts. “We won’t stop speaking up until they drop [the] 10 sites and ban all anti-LGBT extremist groups,” All.Out.org writes in its petition. The accounts in question are predominately U.S.-based nonprofits.
The petition states that it’s “PayPal’s responsibility to make sure this technology doesn’t fall into the wrong hands.”
A PayPal spokeswoman said the company prohibits the use of its services to promote acts of hate and violence. “However, we also take into account the rights of free speech and freedom of religion,” she said. “Balancing these conflicting rights is often difficult, and so we assess possible infringements objectively against our Acceptable Use Policy.”
PayPal Won’t Concede to Gay-Activist Pressure to Close Faith Groups’ Accounts
Toronto Government Doubles Down on Forcing "Sexual Diversity" Education on All Schools Over Objections By Parents and Churches
Ontario’s Liberal government will not back down from imposing its homosexualist equity and inclusive education (EIE) strategy on Ontario’s schools, insists Transportation Minister Kathleen Wynne, who oversaw the controversial policy’s development.
In an interview with Xtra last Wednesday, Wynne said the education system is the “single most important” means of tackling “homophobia” among today’s youth.
... public school boards such as Toronto andHamilton have moved to integrate their “sexual diversity” instruction throughout the curriculum while at the same time forbidding parents from removing their children from the classroom during controversial discussions. McGuinty’s government has failed to enforce a clear Ministry policy allowing exemptions from material deemed offensive by parents.
The government has also forcefully imposed its equity policy on Catholic schools. In July, McGuinty said implementing homosexual clubs is “not a matter of choice,” while the Ministry of Education has insisted such clubs cannot help students “reform their sexuality.”
Glenn Close: "Those who are either too old, or too blinkered, to accept the beauty of difference will just have to 'die off.'"
Including we would add, although she seems blind to the implications of her words, gender difference. Viva la!
Discussing her gender-bending role in the new movie Albert Nobbs, American actress Glenn Close has said that gender “doesn’t matter” and all those too outdated to reject natural gender and gender roles will just have to “die off.”
... “Gender is irrelevant. It basically should be irrelevant,” Close told the National Post.
... Close married longtime boyfriend David Shaw in February 2006 after two previous marriages.
Partially paraphrasing Close, the Post concludes that “Some people will change their point of view, and those who are either too old, or too blinkered, to accept the beauty of difference will just have to ‘die off.’” --LifeSiteNews
Scottish Catholic Bishops Fight Back!
The bishops of Scotland have pledged their “strenuous opposition” as the Scottish government considers a proposal to legalize same-sex marriage.
“At the heart of this debate however there is one perspective which seems to be completely lost or ignored, it is the point of view of the child,” the cardinal wrote.“Same-sex marriage means same-sex parenting, and same-sex parenting means that our society deliberately chooses to deprive a child of either a mother or a father.”
...On September 12, Bishop Philip Tartaglia of Paisley issued his formal response to the government consultation.
"A Government which favours and allows for same sex 'marriage' does wrong. It fails in its duty to society," he wrote. "It undermines the common good. It commits an act of cultural vandalism. Such a government does not deserve the trust which the nation, and including many in the Catholic community, has shown in it.""Government should not be persuaded by voices which declare that any opposition to same sex 'marriage' is the result of homophobic bigotry," Bishop Tartaglia added. "This is not only false, but is itself an illiberal and undemocratic intolerance which only seeks to close down rational argument and to intimidate people into acquiescence."
Study: Social Sites Censoring Christians On Gay Topics
The Christian Broadcasting Network reports:
One of the biggest promises of the Internet was that it would have unfettered free speech for all.
However, a new study released Thursday revealed that Christians are one of the few groups being censored online.
The new media platforms of our world -- Facebook, Google, Apple, and MySpace -- all promise a world filled with much more free speech and democracy.
But the National Religious Broadcasters has warned these platforms could well be the new anti-religious censors of our day.
The NRB conducted a study of the social networking websites that showed even among the largest of the sites, only Twitter hasn't censored Christians.
Rush Limbaugh on NY-9: "The Anti Gay Marriage Position is What Emerged as Victorious"
From his nationally syndicated show this Wednesday ("The Lessons of the NY-9 Election"):
Maggie's Column: How Marriage Sunk Weprin in NY-9
NOM Chairman Maggie Gallagher's latest column discusses the events in New York's special election this Tuesday:
Tuesday, Sept. 13, 2011, was a good day for marriage.
North Carolina legislators voted to send a marriage amendment to the people of that state in 2012.
And in New York, the first clear Democratic casualty of gay marriage emerged: David Weprin.
Bob Turner, a Republican whom nobody gave a chance of winning two months ago, is sitting in the seat held by Anthony Weiner, Chuck Schumer and Geraldine Ferraro.
Yes, economic collapse was a huge issue. Yes, Obama's disrespect for Israel, which led former New York City mayor Ed Koch to endorse Bob Turner, was another very big deal. Yes, as my colleague and friend Brian Brown put it, "David Weprin was not able to defend himself against his vote to support same-sex marriage in New York, and his constituents made that clear."
Continue reading at Human Events.
"Jews or Gays?" Shocked Pundits Continue Debating SSM Role in NY-9
FrumForum (whose founder David Frum recently announced he's pro-gay marriage) wistfully hopes gay marriage was not the issue for Jews in NY-9:
I guess that NY-09 has something fundamental to it. Either NY-09 Jews are so fed up – like everyone else – with the economy that it trampled their normal allegiances, or President Obama has sunk to the level of President Carter and gone beyond acceptable “tough love” for Israel. Liberal, pro-gay marriage Democrats have run in NY-09 before, and they have won the support of the majority of NY-09 Jews. This time, however, most of the black hats (Orthodox Jews) showed up at the Republican victory party. I say the Jewish vote is changing; look for it to drop as low as 65 percent Democrat in the 2012 election (allowing for the right Republican candidate).
But over at the Washington Times, another Jewish Republican Eric Golub admits that gay marriage was the big issue for Orthodox Jews:
Yes, as stunning as it sounds, gay marriage was quietly an issue in this race. Most Jews are secular, and support gay marriage. Orthodox Jews are mostly against it. While Orthodox Jews are only 10% of the total Jewish population, they make up a large part of this one congressional district.
A Special Victory Message about NY-9 from Brian Brown
Dear Marriage Supporter:
By now you've probably read the headlines that NOM played a huge role in helping to defeat Democrat David Weprin and elect Republican Bob Turner in New York's 9th Congressional District. This is an amazing victory because the marriage issue was front and center and became a major factor in the outcome of the race. Turner becomes the first Republican to hold this seat since the early 1920s!
Time: "In an area that includes large pockets of conservative Orthodox Jews, the 55-year-old Weprin—who is himself Orthodox—was hurt by his vote in favor of New York's gay-marriage law."
Politico:
"The socially conservative [National Organization for Marriage] helped to sow unrest with Weprin and Orthodox Jewish Democrats over his support for same-sex marriage."
National Review: "The Turner campaign's success in garnering Jewish votes was, no doubt, aided by the conservative instincts of the Russian and Orthodox communities, many of whose members were angered by Weprin's New York Assembly vote to legalize same-sex marriage..."
The Wall Street Journal: "…Some conservative Jewish groups attacked Mr. Weprin, a state legislator, over his vote earlier this year in favor of gay marriage."
The Jewish Week: "As he left P.S. 255 on Avenue S in Midwood, Brooklyn, Tuesday morning, Albert Tebele said he voted against Democrat David Weprin because of the candidate's vote in the state Assembly to allow gay marriage in New York."
The New Republic: "The district has a large Catholic and Orthodox Jewish population, which makes issues like same-sex marriage (which Weprin voted in favor of it as a New York state assemblyman) [...] hot button issues."
The Nation: "Brooklyn's Orthodox power broker Democratic Assemblyman Dov Hikind cited as his main reason for endorsing Turner [...] Weprin's support for gay marriage."
FoxNews: "There was also the fact that Democrat David Weprin was a proponent of a new law allowing same-sex marriage in New York."
Reuters: "The National Organization for Marriage said in a statement that voters have been unhappy with Weprin's vote to approve gay marriage in New York State."
When legislators in Albany voted to redefine marriage, including Assemblyman David Weprin, NOM vowed to hold them accountable. David Weprin had the misfortune of being the first legislator to face voters since the marriage vote, and he got crushed because of it.
NOM commissioned a "flash" survey on election day by QEV Analytics of voters in the 9th Congressional District that demonstrates how important the marriage issue was in Weprin's loss to Turner.
The survey by QEV Analytics interviewed 251 actual or highly likely voters in the NY 9th Congressional District on election day, concluding just as the polls closed last evening. It found the following:
-
Fifty percent of district voters believe that marriage should only be between one man and one woman while only 38% of voters disagree (13% didn't express an opinion).
-
Marriage supporters include 88% of Orthodox Jews, 53% of Catholics and 47% of other Christians.
-
There is a high correlation between a person's position on marriage and their vote between Turner and Weprin. Those who agree marriage should only be between a man and a woman voted for Turner 81% - 19%.
-
Turner won Orthodox Jews 91%º - 9%; Catholics by 72% - 28%; Other Christians 53% - 47%. Weprin won among non-Orthodox Jews 69% - 29%; among Other/None/DK 76% - 24%.
-
Moreover, among those who agree with the traditional definition of marriage, 44% said Weprin's position was a factor in their vote, while 29% of those who disagree said his position was a factor.
-
Voters told the pollster that David Weprin's position on same-sex marriage was a specific factor in the voting decision of 72% of Orthodox Jews, 29% of Other Jews, 27% of Catholics, 33% of Other Christians, 27% of Other/None/DK.
Remember when the vote to redefine marriage happened last June? There was Andrew Cuomo telling the media that supporting same-sex marriage would be a great political asset to legislators and that he would provide political protection for those who voted the way he, Michael Bloomberg and the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) had requested.
"What I've said is I believe the legislators who voted for marriage equality, this is actually going to be an asset to them in their campaign; I believe that…And I told them I'm willing to stand up and say that."
– Governor Andrew Cuomo
Some help Cuomo, Bloomberg and HRC proved to be for David Weprin!
NOM budgeted $75,000 to hold David Weprin accountable, ultimately meeting our goals while spending just over $65,000. We sent three mailers into the district, and launched follow up telephone calls as well.
You can read our mailer to Jewish voters, Hispanic voters, and other voters, or you can see all of them on the NOMblog.
We are very grateful to Rabbi Zecharia Wallerstein and Sen. Ruben Diaz for voicing automated phone calls to tens of thousands of Orthodox Jewish and Hispanic households in the district. You can listen to
NOM's involvement in the 9th Congressional District is part of our $2 million pledge to make sure that the voters of New York can hold legislators accountable who voted to redefine marriage. In addition to defeating David Weprin, we have funded four massive rallies as part of www.LetThePeopleVote.com and direct mailers into districts of four State Senators.
NOM will not rest until the people of New York have the right to decide for themselves how marriage will be decided. You can get involved at www.LetThePeopleVote.com. And won't you please make a contribution so that we can keep our work in New York and elsewhere going forward?
Tuesday was a great day for NOM and for marriage. Not only did we prevail in the pivotal NY 9th Congressional District, but we also helped pass a Marriage Amendment through the North Carolina legislature. NOM reached out to 100,000 voters to make sure they let their representatives know: the people want the right to vote! (Kudos to Family Research Council, North Carolina Family Policy Council and the North Carolina Values Coalition, for all their hard work on this too!)
Next May, North Carolina voters will finally have the chance to protect marriage and become the 31st state to enact a state marriage amendment.
Thank you for all you have done to support NOM. You are making a huge difference!
The pundits who predict defeat—who say this debate is done—are wrong. Together you and I have proved that again and again.
This week, praise God, in places as diverse as North Carolina and New York (!), the people have proved once again they do not want the government messing with marriage. The people of this country do not want to be branded by their own government as bigots or haters for standing up for Biblical values.
Together, let me promise you, with your help and God's, truth and love can and will prevail.
Keep fighting the good fight!
Brian S. Brown
President
National Organization for Marriage
P.S. Doing what we do takes not only guts, but money. We spent nearly $75,000 in New York City alone, sending mailers to the homes of voters who disapprove of gay marriage, reminding them of David Weprin's words and votes for gay marriage. We paid for Sen. Rev. Ruben Diaz to send robo-calls into the homes of the many Christian Latinos in the district, as well as getting prominent Orthodox Jewish Rabbi Zechariah Wallerstein's voice to Orthodox Jews saying he was endorsing Bob Turner because David Weprin had disgraced Torah values. We were the first ones into the race and played a pivotal early role in helping drive down Weprin's polling numbers, enticing others to help defeat the pro-gay marriage Democrat. We don't stand for marriage only with words, but with organizing know-how and key resources. We didn't plan for this fight, it arose, and NOM spotted the opportunity and responded. Can you help us be in a position to respond the next time we have the chance to change history, to prove to politicians it doesn't pay to be for gay marriage? Your donations are critical: $20 today will help demonstrate the lie that the American people are fine with gay marriage!
Times are tough. I know how valuable your $20 is, and I promise to take my stewardship responsibility seriously, to use your precious gift wisely and thriftily, to make God's truth of marriage known—and triumph—throughout the land. Please, if you can spare $20 for marriage this week, help us win more victories!
CNSNews: Same-Sex Marriage Played Role in NY-9 Upset
Penny Star reports:
The National Organization for Marriage (NOM) released results of a survey Wednesday that shows that the same-sex marriage law passed recently in New York played a role in the Republican win in the congressional race to replace Anthony Weiner.
... Weprin supported the same-sex marriage law, and voters reacted, according to a survey conducted for NOM.
“This survey demonstrates what many people have been saying for a long time – David Weprin’s vote in favor of same-sex marriage cost him election to the U.S. House,” said Brian Brown, president of the National Organization for Marriage. “NOM funded a major independent expenditure campaign in this race and the survey shows that marriage was a major factor in the race and cost Weprin the election.”
Local TV Surveys Battle Lines in NC: Black Church vs NAACP
Local TV reports on the N.C. marriage amendment, the day before the Senate approved it for the people's vote next May:
Weprin Effect: Early Turner Supporter May Challenge Pro-SSM Senator Kruger
New York Capitol News reports that Turner's victory and the mobilization of the Orthodox Jewish community may encourage a Republican challenge against disgraced pro-SSM NY Senator Carl Kruger:
One of Republican Rep.-elect Bob Turner‘s earliest supporters in the Orthodox Jewish community, Chaskel Bennett, is now rumored to be interested in running as the Republican candidate in the prospective race for indicted State Sen. Carl Kruger‘s seat.
The Orthodox blog the Yeshiva World floated Bennett’s name yesterday, declaring him the “front-runner” for the Republican nomination in a possible race against Democratic New York City Councilman Lew Fidler. In an interview, Bennett did not rule out a run, but sought to focus attention instead on Turner’s victory Tuesday night. “I’m not making any comment on that,” said Bennett, who has close ties with the influential Jewish social services organization Agudath Israel.
NC Marriage Vote the "Culmination of Over 10 Years of Intensive Work"
These things don't happen overnight, as the Baptist Press reports:
After years of watching their neighbor states pass constitutional amendments protecting the natural definition of marriage, North Carolinians finally will get to vote on the issue in 2012.
...All four states that border North Carolina passed constitutional marriage amendments in 2004 or 2006, but leaders in the then-Democratic-controlled North Carolina legislature blocked an amendment from even coming to a floor vote. That changed last year when Republicans took over both chambers for the first time in more than 100 years. North Carolina also is the only state in the Southeast without a marriage amendment. State polls and experience in other states, though, show the issue is far from a partisan issue and likely will get support from significant percentages in both parties. Marriage amendments have passed in Democratic-leaning states such as California, Michigan, Oregon and Wisconsin.
"It's the culmination of over 10 years of intensive work," Mark Creech, executive director of the Christian Action League of North Carolina, told Baptist Press. The organization supports the amendment and works with Christian organizations, including the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina. "Every year that that legislation was put forward, the leaders in both chambers would not even allow it even to be heard. But when the leadership changed at the last election, we knew we had hope that we were finally going to get a hearing on it, and if we could get a hearing, that it would pass."
Sen. Grisanti Considering Flip-Flopping to "Independent Democrat"
Things aren't looking good for pro-SSM Republican Senator (for now) Mark Grisanti in Buffalo...
Just days after local polling tested his viability in both major parties, Republican State Sen. Mark J. Grisanti of Buffalo says that “all options are open” on whether he will stick with the GOP or return to the Democrats for the 2012 election.
Grisanti, who ran for the Senate in the Democratic primary in 2008 and then upset Democratic incumbent Antoine M. Thompson as a Republican in 2010, also did not rule out joining the Senate’s Independent Democratic Caucus, which has often bucked the Democratic hierarchy.
... Grisanti’s comments are the closest he has come to indicating his election plans for next year after he refused to rule out running as a Democrat following his controversial support of same-sex marriage last spring. -- Buffalo News
IL Catholic Foster Care Ruling Endangers Status of All Foster Care Agencies
Last week, the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) informed the Evangelical Child and Family Agency (ECFA) — a 61-year-old group that has been contracting with the state to place foster children in homes since 1965 — that its contract will not be renewed in the new fiscal year, since the agency won’t place kids with same-sex couples.
... “They’re saying all agencies that contract with DCFS need to be an ‘agent of the state,’” said ECFA Executive Director Ken Withrow. “Til now, the understanding was that we would be partners with the state — in our case, recruiting evangelicals to become foster care parents.”
... Tammy Schulz, an Oak Park mother whose four adopted children came to her as foster care cases through ECFA, said the trend smacks of religious discrimination.
“They’ve been blatant about their evangelical Christian beliefs and have a great track record,” she said. “Why else would they do this to a group that’s worked with the state for 45 years?”
-
Categories
- Adoption
- Ads
- Africa
- Alerts
- Australia
- Canada
- Catholic Church
- Chick-fil-A
- Children
- Civil Unions
- Civility
- Cohabitation
- Congress
- Corporate Ethics
- Culture
- Debating Marriage
- Divorce
- DOMA
- Dump General Mills
- Dump Starbucks
- Economics
- Education
- Election 2010
- Election Watch 2012
- ENDA
- Ethics
- Europe
- Events
- Featured
- Federal
- France
- Free Speech
- Gay Voices
- GOProud
- Human Rights Campaign
- Humor
- IRS
- Law
- Let The People Vote
- Manhattan Declaration
- March for Marriage
- Marriage
- Marriage Election Watch
- Marriage Moment
- Marriage Update
- Marriage Victory
- MarriageADA
- Media
- Mexico
- Military
- Mitt Romney
- New Zealand
- News
- NOM Marriage News
- NOM on Facebook
- Offbeat
- Parenting
- Pedophilia
- Politics
- Poll
- Polling
- Polygamy
- President Obama
- Press Releases
- Pro-Life
- Prop 8
- Religious Liberty
- Research/Study
- Ruth Institute
- Same Sex Marriage
- Science
- Scotland
- SFMA
- Social Media
- South America
- SPLC
- States
- Arizona
- Arkansas
- California
- Colorado
- Connecticut
- Delaware
- Florida
- Georgia
- Hawaii
- Illinois
- Indiana
- Iowa
- Kansas
- Kentucky
- Louisiana
- Maine
- Maryland
- Massachusetts
- Michigan
- Minnesota
- Mississippi
- Missouri
- Nevada
- New Hampshire
- New Jersey
- New Mexico
- New York
- North Carolina
- Ohio
- Oklahoma
- Oregon
- Pennsylvania
- Rhode Island
- South Carolina
- Tennessee
- Texas
- Utah
- Vermont
- Virginia
- Washington
- Washington DC
- West Virginia
- Wisconsin
- Wyoming
- Statistics
- Supreme Court
- United for Marriage
- United Kingdom
- Women
- Youth
-
Archives
- June 2021
- April 2021
- December 2020
- October 2020
- September 2020
- July 2020
- May 2020
- August 2017
- November 2013
- October 2013
- September 2013
- August 2013
- July 2013
- June 2013
- May 2013
- April 2013
- March 2013
- February 2013
- January 2013
- December 2012
- November 2012
- October 2012
- September 2012
- August 2012
- July 2012
- June 2012
- May 2012
- April 2012
- March 2012
- February 2012
- January 2012
- December 2011
- November 2011
- October 2011
- September 2011
- August 2011
- July 2011
- June 2011
- May 2011
- April 2011
- March 2011
- February 2011
- January 2011
- December 2010
- November 2010
- October 2010
- September 2010
- August 2010
- July 2010
- June 2010
- May 2010
- April 2010
- March 2010
- February 2010
- January 2010
- December 2009
- November 2009
- October 2009
- September 2009
- August 2009
- July 2009
- June 2009
- May 2009
- April 2009
