Chris Plante, director of NOM's Rhode Island Chapter spoke with CBN News (full story here) about the SSM debate heating up - and about the surging support for marriage in the Hispanic Churches:
Chris Plante, director of the Rhode Island Chapter of the National Organization for Marriage, said he's optimistic the bill may stay bottled up in committee and never make it to a General Assembly vote.
Watch the full interview here:
For defenders of marriage, these are busy times!
Over 75,000 of you have contacted Congress since we began our defendDOMA campaign (THANK YOU!). After you've joined these tens of thousands of marriage defenders by taking action yourself, keep reading below to catch up on all the other marriage-related news that's happening!
Have you taken action? GREAT! Now, back to the news...
Religious Liberty & Activity:
Culture & Family:
Marriage & Politics:
Marriage Resources & Debate:
International News:
Just for Fun:
In this story by LifeSiteNews, a Virginia delegate (Bob Marshall) points out that the legislature has declined to add "orientation" discrimination to its statutes, and asks--where did Virginia Social Services get the authority to add sexual orientation non-discrimination to its licensing requirements for adoption agencies?
BTW, NOM readers ROCK! The opposing comments on the negative religious liberty effects of the proposed regulation soared ten fold in just a few short hours, from around 100, to over 1000.
A San Francisco Power Mommy Group, says, No:
"In a Clubby World of San Francisco Mothers, Men Needn't Apply." - New York Times
The Catholic World Report has published an inspiring interview with Bishop Thomas J. Tobin of Providence.
CWR: How has the Catholic community in Rhode Island responded to efforts to legalize same-sex marriage?
Bishop Tobin: Historically there has been some apathy about it among the citizenry of Rhode Island, including among the Catholic population. But recently, because our political landscape has changed, we’ve done a better job in getting our pastors involved, rallying the Catholic faithful against it. I’m proud of what our pastors and people have done, both in reaching out to our legislators and making their voices heard in the media, saying this is not something that is acceptable to us.
We need our people to understand that this is a serious issue. Our greatest danger as a Catholic community is apathy. If we’re not aware of the situation, don’t care about it or make it a priority, gay marriage will pass in Rhode Island. But if we’re galvanized and make our voices heard, we’ll keep it out of our state.
It is important to emphasize that this is not just an exercise in partisan politics. This is an expression of our faith. We have to be involved in this issue as disciples of Christ and members of his Church.
Recently, the Providence Phoenix, a liberal-leaning, gay-friendly newspaper here in Providence, ran a lead story by David Scharfenberg, “Will the Catholic Church kill gay marriage?” They gave us a left-handed compliment by saying that we’ve been rather effective in our opposition. We have a long road ahead of us, and a tough fight. I don’t know what the outcome will be. But we’re doing our best.
From the Vancouver Sun:
The B.C. Civil Liberties Association is calling for Canada's polygamy law that bans multiple marriages to be found unconstitutional and "relegated to the scrap heap of history."
In written submissions filed Thursday, the association urged B.C. Supreme Court Chief Justice Robert Bauman to find that the law offends fundamental freedoms.
The parties in favour of upholding the law have argued that there are numerous social harms associated with polygamy.
The association says that while harms can occur in plural relationships, there is no evidence that there are harms specific to polygamy.
Two reminders that the effort to redefine marriage to include same-sex unions represents just one way that revisionists are attempting to empty marriage of its meaning and purpose.
John Culhane, a professor of Law at Widener University proposes leveling marriage to make it little different from other types of unions:
Why should we continue to privilege marriage at all?
... what about those who will continue to be fenced out [if gay marriage were to become the law of the land], both from the benefits and from the dignity that we demand from marriage? By looking only at the narrow issue of our right to marry, we risk missing greater, more systemic injustices. We need to continue to project of reducing the differences between marriage and other forms of human relations. (www.365gay.com)
In 2002, Pamela Paul wrote a groundbreaking book that presented the novel idea of having what she called, a "Starter Marriage." This legal union would be a first marriage for couples in their 20's or young 30's who knew they would not have children and who did not necessarily expect the nuptials to last a lifetime. Much like a learner's permit for driving, a Starter Marriage would be a way for young people to "play house" without risking their entire lives.
The book did not make much of an impact in our social norms. Nearly a decade later, most people have never heard of a Starter Marriage. More mainstream terms include domestic partnership, common law marriage and civil unions and mean something a bit different.
Proponents of same-sex marriage say that redefining marriage will lead to a stronger, not a weaker, marriage culture. But those who argue for alternatives to the conjugal view of marriage find themselves on the side of those who also argue to make one man, one woman marriage less protected instead of more cherished.
Chris Gacek, JD, PHD, and a senior fellow at the Family Research Council, goes on a hunt for the real Obama when it comes to marriage:
Since the days when Obama ran for president, he has been slippery regarding his support for same-sex marriage. He has told America that he opposes same-sex marriage, but he has been quick to point out that he did not support the traditional definitions of marriage found in Prop. 8 or the Defense of Marriage Act. Prop. 8 and DOMA contain simple definitions of traditional marriage. Oppose them, and you really must not support true marriage. [Continue reading]
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Have you joined NOM's Defend DOMA effort? Visit our Defend DOMA website today and learn how you can protect marriage in 3 Easy Steps!
In 2008, Crystal Dixon was fired from the University of Toledo for expressing her view that equating gay rights with civil rights is wrong.
Now, Equality Michigan (funded by the Arcus foundation) is trying to get her fired from her next position, too—this one in Jackson, Michigan.
They say a "public leader" with a record like Crystal "is unacceptable anywhere in our state," and have mounted a campaign to get her fired for her views.
Click here to send a message to Jackson County Administrator Adam Brown. Thank him for standing firm, and for hiring employees based on their own merit, not the opinions of a small minority who believe those who disagree with them should be denied employment "anywhere in our state."
Driving religious foster care and adoption agencies out of business appears to be the purpose of new regulations proposed by the Virginia Department of Social Services.
Proposed Virginia Administrative Code section 22 VAC 40-131-170 provides that:
"[Private adoption agencies] shall prohibit acts of discrimination based on . . . sexual orientation, disability or family status to:
1. Delay or deny a child's placement; or
2. Deny an individual the opportunity to apply to become a foster or adoptive parent."
URGENT ALERT!
Please take action immediately! Public comment on this dangerous new regulation closes at midnight tonight. Click here to register your comment today!
Here's the message the DSS officials proposing this regulation need to hear:
Don't hurt needy children by driving religious foster care and adoption agencies out of business. If an agency provides good parents for children, they should be embraced, not rejected by the state of Virginia.
The message of exclusion you will send to children with strong religious identities, as well as to potential foster and adoptive parents is unconscionable and destructive.
The state of Virginia Social Services has no right to impose this strange new morality on other people, to the detriment of the neediest children in our state.
Please place your comment right away!
And now for something completely different ...
Rep. Anthony Weiner, whose primary hobby these days is to appear petulant and annoyed during FOX News interviews, was at the Congressional Correspondents' Dinner this week. Overall he did a good job, but one joke seemed to fall a little flat:
At least the new mayor of Chicago got a kick out of it.
We received this news from a reader:
The Virginia Department of Social Services (VDSS) has proposed regulations to require state licensed adoption agencies in Virginia, including private church-run adoption agencies, to not refuse to process adoption of children based on sexual orientation. If these new regs are adopted, even private, church-run agencies would be required to process adoption applications by same-sex couples.
The VDSS is requesting comments from the public on this proposal. The comment period ends tonight at 11:59 PM today. Please leave a comment and help us spread the word!
Driving religious foster care and adoption agencies out of business appears to be the only real purpose of new regs proposed by the Virigina Dept. of Social Services.
Write to the government of Virginia and tell them: Do not hurt needy children, by driving religious foster care and adoption agencies out of the business of helping needy kids. If an agency provides good parents for children, they should be embraced --not rejected-- by the state of Virginia.
The message of exclusion government will send to children with strong religious identities, as well as to potential religious foster and adoptive parents, is unconscionable and destructive.
The State of Virginia's Social Services has no right to impose this strange new morality regulations on other people, to the detriment of the neediest children in our state.
Write today and tell a friend.
Photo: www.catholiccharitiesofmadison.org
He says the GOP should honor their promises to voters:
Jim Jordan, chairman of the 176-member Republican Study Committee, is leading an effort by conservatives to press House leaders for floor votes in opposition to gay marriage.
“We want to advance marriage. That’s the pledge. Our party should be all about defending marriage as it has always been defined,” he said.
From the Catholic News Agency:
A survey claiming majority U.S. Catholic support for same-sex “marriage” shows some differences with the “gold standard” of social surveys and did not report important information like the margin of error.
A March 23, 2011 report from the Washington, D.C.-based Public Religion Research Institute included claims that Catholic support for same-sex “marriage” stood at 53 percent.
Mark M. Gray, Ph.D., director of CARA Catholic Polls and a research associate for the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate at Georgetown University, said the claim of majority support cannot be made “with any certainty, given the relatively small sample size here and the margin of error.”
The survey had interviewed about 3,000 people, including about 600 Catholics, Gray said. The margin of error for the Catholic population was plus or minus six percentage points.
“Any percentage here, for all Catholics, could be six points higher, it could be six points lower,” he explained. He criticized the institute’s report for not including either the margins of error or the numbers of Latino Catholics, which he said was “standard practice.”
Since it's Friday, I couldn't resist an offbeat observation....
Here's a photo of Archbishop Thomas Wenski of Miami that I stumbled across:
