Truth Wins Out praised the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America (ELCA) today for voting to allow gay and lesbian clergy in committed same-sex relationships to serve as ministers. The vote, 559-541, was historic and follows similar action by the Episcopal Church.
“The old prejudices and prohibitions are falling and religion can no longer be used to rationalize discrimination,” said Wayne Besen, Executive Director of Truth Wins Out. “We applaud The Evangelical Lutheran Church of America for their courage and wisdom and urge other faiths to follow their example.”
In its vote, the church elected to “allow congregations that choose to do so to recognize, support and hold publicly accountable, lifelong, monogamous, same-gender relationships.” The church also voted to approve a social statement on human sexuality to acknowledge without judgment the wide variety of views within the ELCA regarding lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender inclusion.
“This is a wonderful, joyous occasion that captures the heart of Christ – which is about love,” said Rev. Jerry Stephenson, who advises Truth Wins Out on religious issues. “This vote was moral, just and in the spirit of justice.”
In the Chicago Tribune, writer Steve Chapman asked opponents of same-sex marriage to predict what will happen with general marriage trends in Massachusetts, Connecticut, Iowa, Vermont, Maine and New Hampshire, now that these states permit gay people the freedom to wed. In the past, these anti-gay attack dogs have basically said it would cause the downfall of marriage and even threaten civilization.
But, now that these states provide tangible, real-life examples of gay couples tying the knot, these charlatans won’t offer specific predictions. The telling silence by such vocal adversaries proves that they know they are frauds. They understand that they have been lying and trying to scare the American people for no good reason – except to cash in on their alleged convictions.
Nothing will change when it comes to measurable social indicators — marriage rates, divorce, out-of-wedlock births, child poverty. The only reason for these anti-gay crusades is to promote prejudice and force gay people, against their will, to adhere to conservative religious beliefs. I can’t think of anything more fundamentally anti-American than such coercive and corrosive campaigns.
I think this video clip illustrates just how low social conservatives are willing to go to promote their lies and spread misinformation. They talk a good game on “personal responsibility”, “morality” and “ethics”, but they seem be the first to abandon their alleged principles when it is convenient to do so. Truth be told, there is nothing people like Rush Limbaugh won’t do or say in their efforts to misinform their listeners.
In the not too distant past, most Americans couldn’t tell a Pashtun from a cartoon, a Sunni from a Moonie or a Kurd from bean curd. Then came 9-11 and we learned our very survival depended on securing freedom for people we barely knew existed. Exorcising the region’ demons through democracy was so important, we were told, that America would pay for the effort in blood and bankruptcy.
Despite the bumbling and fumbling of the war effort, the bitter divisions in our country and the wheelbarrows of dough dumped in the desert, there was always the faint hope that a better Middle East might just emerge from the mess. And, whatever one thinks of the two wars, Saddam Hussein and the Taliban were real villains who were vanquished.
The idea, of course, was that once these monsters were slain, they’d be replaced with the sane. But, the monsters have multiplied and Sasquatch has morphed into a bevy of Big Foots (or is it Big Feet?). It appears that for all of our sacrifice — and that of the secular Iraqi and Afghanistani people — the crazies are back in control. Or, at least fanatics have instilled enough fear that “mainstream” Iraqi and Afghanistani politicians are tripping over themselves to please and appease. (Read More)
The Roman Catholic Diocese of Providence on Sunday hosted the National Organization for Marriage’s rally for antigay heterosexual Christian couples. The Providence Journal covered the event.
Antigay couples in attendance listened to Christian music, attended a worship service, and “renewed vows” against gay couples and their children.
One couple in particular, Paul and Lori Thomsen, traveled from out-of-state to convey the message that gay couples don’t love God, their families, or their partners:
“I came because I love God. I love my family. And I love my wife,” said Thomsen, a Warren native who now lives in Mansfield, Mass., with his wife of 21 years, Lori.
These couples implicitly declared to about 20-30 gay people in attendance:
“Marriage is for US and not for YOU.”
Some gay couples who attended opted not to bring their children, for fear of the children’s safety. (Read More)
Today’s e-mail alert from the National Organization for [Heterosexual-Only] Marriage offers a glimpse of the organization’s efforts to merge religion with partisan politics — and to subject civil marriage to control by conservative Christian political activists.
Here’s an excerpt from the end of the alert, which was signed by Brian S. Brown, executive director:
More news: This Sunday NOM president Maggie Gallagher will be speaking at the first annual Celebrate Marriage and Family Day sponsored by our Rhode Island chapter. This day is not intended to be a political event; it’s an opportunity for husbands and wives and their families to come together for an ice-cream social, listen to a nationally-recognized Christian band, renew their vows with pastors standing by, and celebrate the vision of marriage as the union of husband and wife.
But when gay-marriage advocates found out, what did they do? They organized a boycott against a company that donated a few hundred cups of coffee to the event. All Canadian media was agog! Give coffee to bigots!?! (Translation: by “bigot” they mean people like you and me and the majority of Americans, who support and promote marriage as a union of husband and wife.) On the one hand this kind of thing is small potatoes, more bemusing than outraging. …
Then again, here’s what I keep wondering: What kind of movement would threaten to hurt people’s jobs for a few cups of coffee donated to an event to celebrate traditional marriage?
We expect a great event on the beautiful Narragansett Bay on Sunday. But for people who think gay marriage is just about helping two individuals lead their own private lives the way they choose, this kind of thing is a real eye-opener, isn’t it? If gay-marriage advocates act this way while marriage in Rhode Island remains a union of husband and wife, how will they treat traditional faith communities and other marriage supporters, if they succeed in getting the power of the law on their side?
Here, we see a supposed defender of marriage protesting against gay couples who don’t want to consume coffee served by a company that would support discrimination against them and their children. Brown seems outraged that gay couples might make their own decisions about the businesses that they determine to be ethically operated.
That sounds political to me. But if any doubts remain about the intent of NOM’s rally, take a look at the main topic of this very same e-mail. The e-mail begins:
Does the Republican Party in New York want to commit political suicide? Is the national party going to help them?
New York’s 23rd Congressional district has a special election. NY 23 is what Manhattanites would think of as “way upstate NY”–the northeastern corner. The sitting Congressman, John McHugh, is a Republican whom Obama just named to be Secretary of the Army.
We are talking solid GOP territory. But for some reason (a deal with Tim Gill?) some New York Republican leaders decided that out of all the people they could choose to carry the GOP flag, they would pick Assemblywoman Dede Scozzafava, one of the very, very few Republicans who have ever actually voted for gay marriage. (Oh, and she’s pro-abortion too, naturally.) This makes the New York Daily News describe her as a “moderate” Republican. But really, is “moderate” the word for a GOP politician who passionately advocates for gay marriage as a “civil right”? (Fight back by donating to NOM’s New York PAC!)
Most of the e-mail alert is a call-to-arms among NOM’s Catholic and Mormon Republicans to write letters to GOP leaders in opposition to GOP chairman Michael Steele — and to “fight back by donating to NOM’s New York PAC!”
In the view of NOM, it sometimes seems that gay couples aren’t the only people who are treated as second-class citizens: Democrats and independents appear to be kicked to the sidelines, too.
Jim Burroway at Box Turtle Bulletin reports today that San Diego hotelier Doug Manchester, whose $125,000 donation to support California’ Prop 8 sparked a boycott against his Manchester Hyatt and San Diego Marriot hotels, is divorcing his wife of 43 years. He cited his Catholic faith to justify his large Prop 8 contribution.
Perhaps, he thought that the clunker program meant he could return his wife for a newer model? It could be only a matter of time before we see Disco Dougie cruising the nightclubs in San Diego, while zooming to the valet in an exciting, new convertible red Corvette.
As Burroway pointed out, the Pope would frown upon his sinful lifestyle and his wanton disregard for the sanctity of marriage. But why let a little thing like religion stand in the way of doing what feels good?
Last week, Truth Wins Out released a video by ex-gay survivor Patrick McAlvey of Lansing, Michigan. He has spoken out on local radio and will join me on Culture Shocks radio with Barry Lynn TODAY at 4PM (ET). I hope you will tune in and listen to the live broadcast on the Internet.
Focus on the Family will shed its controversial Love Won Out program for transforming homosexuals into heterosexuals because of budget troubles, the conservative media ministry said Tuesday.
The Love Won Out conferences on “leaving homosexuality” will be handed over in November to a longtime ministry partner, Orlando, Fla.-based Exodus International.
“The economic challenges led us to this strategic decision,” Focus vice president Gary Schneeberger said Wednesday. “Love Won Out is not an inexpensive event to stage, and rarely, in over 50 cities where it’s been held, have we ever made back our investment, despite good attendance.”
Focus on the Family, which held its first Love Won Out conference in 1998, will lead its last on Nov. 7 in Birmingham, Ala. A $6 million shortfall in the $138 million budget also caused Focus president Jim Daly to send out a fundraising letter to 800,000 donors.
“Right now we’re facing a serious budget shortfall that threatens our ability to reach out to parents, families and married couples who count on our help,” Daly wrote. “I want to assure you we’re committed to good stewardship and living within our means, just as so many families are today.”
Schneeberger said one staff position will be eliminated and further cost-cutting measures are under consideration.
Wayne Besen, a gay activist with the group Truth Wins Out, said conference crowds are getting smaller and drawing less media attention.
“There is a shrinking market for their product,” Besen said. “This is a very positive development, because it shows Focus on the Family wants to get out of the ex-gay business ‚Äî though not completely. But if this were something they were really vested in, they would have kept it in-house.”
With a gift of $35 to Truth Wins Out, you can receive an autographed copy of "Anything But Straight: Unmasking the Scandals and Lies Behind the Ex-Gay Myth."
The Roman Catholic Diocese of Providence on Sunday hosted the National Organization for Marriage’s rally for antigay heterosexual Christian couples. 
