The Christian Civic League of Maine's Mike Hein calls Pam's House Blend: "a leading source of radical homosexual propaganda, anti-Christian bigotry, and radical transgender advocacy."
He is "praying that Pam Spaulding will "turn away from her wicked and sinful promotion of homosexual behavior."
(CCLM's web site, 10/15/07)
Ex-gay "Christian" activist James Hartline on Pam:
"I have been mocked over and over again by ungodly and unprincipled anti-christian lesbians."
(from "Six Years In Sodom: From The Journal Of James Hartline," 9/4/2006, written from the "homosexual stronghold" of Hillcrest in San Diego).
"Pam is a 'twisted lesbian sister' and an 'embittered lesbian' of the 'self-imposed gutteral experiences of the gay ghetto.'" -- 9/5/2008
Peter LaBarbera of Americans for Truth Against Homosexuality heartily endorses the Blend, calling Pam:
A "vicious anti-Christian lesbian activist." (Concerned Women for America's radio show [9:15], 1/25/07)
"A nutty lesbian blogger." (MassResistance radio show [16:25], 2/3/07)
Pam's House Blend always seems to find these sick f*cks. The area of the country she is in? The home state of her wife? I know, they are everywhere. Pam just does such a great job of bringing them out into the light.
--Impeach Bush
who monitors yours Bevis ?? Just thought I would drop you a line,so the rest of your life is not wasted.
Apparently Frank Schubert and Brian Brown are tiring of their ineffective -meat puppet/ messenger, Roman CAtholic Diocese of Portland loaner Marc Mutty and using Oregon native/FRC Tony Perkins' buddy, Rev. Bob Emrich instead.
And as has become the norm in Maine, Yes on 1 has continued its horrendous and disgusting tactic, begun in its Calvary Chapel Christian Academy staff ads, of creating a dangerous position for LGBTQ students within schools (imo a CLEAR violation of the 2005 "Maine Won't Discriminate" Law!) by now focusing even CLOSER on the schools.
More specifically, previously proposed education within the schools for the safety of LGBTQ students.
There is an irony, as the Matthew Shepard Bill is now heading for the White House for passage into law, that Yes on 1 and their supporters are trying to not just deny over 1100 rights to Mainers, but to put children in our schools at risk for becoming victims of hate crimes.
What are they afraid of?
Why are they trying to hurt kids in Maine's public schools?
Are they trying to eliminate the good that has come from GLSEN and the many GSAs around the state, the various Civil Rights Teams that have served to help students understand their fellow classmates' lives and create an ambassadorship within the classes of understanding, compassion, fairness and respect?
I do not understand this at all and as a parent, it scares the hell out of me...
Dear Question 1 Supporters,
One local television channel last night reported on an issue we have brought to your attention, but too many Mainers likely know nothing about. It focuses on one of the most damaging consequences of the failure of Question 1, namely that homosexual marriage will become part of the teachings in Maine public schools.
WGME-13 informed its viewers about the state-sanctioned Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Questioning Youth Commission's recommendations to push the gay agenda to children in kindergarten through 12th grade, as well as introducing LGBT-focused books to infants through five-year-olds enrolled in Head Start programs.
Some of the recommendations by the LGBTQ Youth Commission include:
Identifying an "LGBTQ Youth Advocate" in every school building (Pre-K-12,),
Providing support for LGBT educators, school staff, volunteers and parents to be "out" in order to serve as role models for the youth they serve,
Creation of a Rainbow (the visual anthem of homosexuality) Star System, through which schools can attain Rainbow Stars by moving steadily from legal compliance to exemplary practice, and
Hiring a Gay Straight Alliance advocate in every secondary school, presumably at taxpayer expense
Yes on Question 1 campaign chairman, Marc Mutty, exposed the fact that – surprise, surprise – people on the LGBTQ Youth Commission are some of the very people behind the No on Question 1 campaign! Our opponent’s pushback was weak and predictable and, frankly, unpersuasive to the damage the Youth Commission report does to their cause.
Last night’s broadcast pulled the curtain back on the undeniable connection between the gay activists who want young children, including toddlers, to be exposed to homosexual relationships and understand them to be the social norm to those pushing for the next incremental step of teaching that "marriage" between two men is the same as marriage between a man and a woman and appropriate for teachers to instruct.
As we enter the final stages of the campaign to restore traditional marriage in Maine, your donation to keep our messages on the air are more critical than ever. We are battling hard, 24/7, and we are on a winning path. But we remain huge financial underdogs compared to the No on 1 campaign, who are raising millions from gay marriage activists in every corner of the nation.Every dollar we raise is being poured into our media and grassroots activities.Please consider a contribution today. It is urgently needed. Sincerely,
NOTE FROM PAM: The MSM puts Family Research Council honcho Tony Perkins on the air to represent the "family values" agenda, but seem to ignore his outlandish racist affiliations documented in this diary, including ties to the Council of Conservative Citizens, declared a hate group by the SPLC, and the KKK. More background, via Media Matters:
The Boston Herald reported in an October 16, 2006, article, "In 2001, [Perkins] gave a speech at a meeting of the Council of Conservative Citizens, which the Southern Poverty Law Center [SPLC] considers a hate group."
Indeed, a Fall 2004 article in the SPLC's Intelligence Report asserted that Perkins "spoke to the Louisiana Council of Conservative Citizens on May 19, 2001," during his tenure as a Louisiana state legislator. The SPLC characterizes the CCC as a "white nationalist" organization, and has reported that the group is "the reincarnation of the racist White Citizens Councils of the 1950s and 1960s." The CCC declares in itsstatement of principles:
We also oppose all efforts to mix the races of mankind, to promote non-white races over the European-American people through so-called "affirmative action" and similar measures, to destroy or denigrate the European-American heritage, including the heritage of the Southern people, and to force the integration of the races.
When confronted with this information, an FRC tool said Perkins has "cannot remember" speaking to the group, but Perkins himself told the Vancouver Sunthat he "could not recall what he said to the group and that he said he had been unfamiliar with the CCC's history at the time."
The family values organization head has also sidled up to former Ku Klux Klan Grand Wizard David Duke. While campaign manager for Louis E. (Woody) Jenkins's campaign for the U.S. Senate in 1996, forked over $82,500 to buy Duke's mailing list. Yes, Perkins wanted make sure to reach the white supremacist voting base.
Bricar1632's diary:
It's said that 'a picture is worth a thousand words.' So I can't help but wonder what Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council, must think knowing that this picture exists of him in the newsletter for the Council of Conservative Citizens, a well-known white supremacist group. It seems he was a guest speaker at the time, which he's done twice, once in 1997 and another time in 2001.
He could probably claim he had no knowledge of the groups interests, but he would be hard pressed to resort to this lame excuse.
In 1998, nearly three years before Perkins spoke to the CCC a second time, both Sen. Trent Lott and Rep. Bob Barr received widespread national media attention (and outrage) for speaking in front of the CCC—and both politicians used the “I-didn’t-know-their-politics” copout. The national tumult over Lott and Barr that year even prompted US Rep. Thomas Wexler to sponsor a House Resolution condemning the racism of the CCC.
Then there's the nasty detail of the white flag behind him at the podium, the one with the southern cross in one corner.
Update: Added some additional related information regarding Lindsey Douthit, who wrote the Concerned Women For America piece excerpted in this diary.
~~Autumn~~
Sometimes, the diaries write themselves. Of course since lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) civil rights are in discussion regarding the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) -- the hearing in the House Labor & Education Committee had a committee hearing regarding ENDA on September 23rd -- some conservative "Christian" organizations have already expressed their unhappy feelings related to the ENDA, and especially the ENDA hearing.
So let's feel our happy feelings in reading their unhappy feelings, shall we?
...Only one conservative voice was allowed on the panel: Craig Parshall, senior vice president and general counsel of National Religious Broadcasters.
"ENDA, if passed into law would impose a substantial and crippling burden on religious organizations," he said. "In the cases I reviewed recently where there's a clash between homosexual rights -- sexual orientation being protected under discrimination laws on one hand and Christian religious liberties on the other -- Christian liberties lose and the homosexual rights win." ...
Well, "we" (royal version of me) get tired of hearing this tired dribble. We have a First Amendment in the United States, and as long as they can self-fund their messages to their audiences, the government will not silence them and their messages.
[Below the fold, what the Family Research Council, the Traditional Values Coalition, and the Concerned Women For America have to say about ENDA/the ENDA hearings.]
When the dust settled, Ole Mikey managed to land a sweet national gig with an organization, the name of which sounds "somewhat familiar"...
See what you think.
Michael Heath Resigns
Michael Heath has quit his post as director of the Maine Christian Civic League amid a flurry of controversy. He made the announcement on September 28.
Heath led the successful (for now) February repeal of the gay rights law passed by the legislature May of 1997 and signed by Governor Angus King.
Within a month after the vote, Heath came under fire from Civic League board members, who accused him of keeping financial records from being made public. Heath denied the charges.
However, we haven't heard the last of Heath. He's accepted a position with another right-wing organization, the Family Research Council, a national group based in Washington, D.C. No word on Heath's replacement.
Family Research Council, Family Research Council...now, WHY does that name sound so damned familiar?
Did you check out our opponents' new TV ad yesterday?
If you did, I'm sure you are as angry as I am about their cynical and fear-mongering claims regarding Maine schools. They don't want to talk about treating loving, committed same-sex couples equally through marriage, so they distort, change the subject and incite fear.
But here's where you come in. We're coming up short on our budget to keep it on the air next week.
Right now, we're just $8,243 short of our goal for next week's ad buy—but we need the money in the next 24 hours or our ad will stop airing on some key stations. Can you help us buy next week's air time?
Our positive message about respecting families and protecting marriage equality will resonate with the voters of Maine—as long as we can get it in front of them.
Please watch the ad and chip in to help set the record straight.
Thanks for your support—together, I know we can win this!
Jesse Connolly Campaign Manager NO on 1 / Protect Maine Equality
PS—Did you miss yesterday's email with the other side's new TV ad? You can still watch it here.
It's not even a good commercial- obviously not filmed in Maine, the points they are trying to make are muddled, and right down to the music, it consists of nothing but pure scare tactics and "EEKS PROTEKT TEH CHILDRUN!" mentality.
Then click on the links below! Plenty of ways for folks to help others get to Maine, inlcuding donating your frequent flyer miles... the opportunites to help are amazing!
http://www.travelforchange.org/
No on 1 Maine
TravelForChange seeks to enable volunteers and supporters to help out with the No on 1 Maine Marriage Equality campaign by
1. Recruiting people to come organize in Maine; 2. Providing a platform for sponsors to donate through airline miles or fund travelers; 3. Organizing rideshares for equality.
Come to Maine
Volunteer for Equality We are looking for enthusiastic volunteers to come to Maine and organize for equality on the ground. We will match volunteers with sponsors. Come for the week or drive for the weekend. Find out more »
Be A Sponsor
Donate Your Miles Share your airline miles or buy a ticket to sponsor volunteers to come to Maine. Find out more »
Contribute
Donate Contribute to Travel for Change so we can get more volunteers to Maine. To donate via Act Blue, click here.
They still will NOT allow their shindig to be open to the public, but at least local media can peek in at them and ask a few quick questions before they are booted out of the Augusta Civic Center.
~Louise~
Religious Coalition for the Freedom to Marry in Maine to Respond to Marriage Equality Opponents' Rally at the Augusta Civic Center
NO on 1 to host first of a statewide series of "community conversations" at 6:30 p.m. TONIGHT at South Parish Congregational Church in Augusta
Portland, Maine (Sunday, September 13, 2009)---
Representatives of the Religious Coalition for the Freedom to Marry in Maine (SFMM) will be available at the Augusta Civic Center this afternoon at 4:00 p.m. to respond to the media availability by speakers at Stand for Marriage Maine Rally later this evening.
The NO on 1/Protect Maine Equality campaign also announced that it will hold the first of a series of "community conversations" around the state this evening from 6:30 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. at South Parish Congregational Church, 9 Church Street in Augusta. The purpose of these community conversations is to engage Mainers on this important question of fairness and equality.
"We have challenged the sponsors of tonight's rally to open it to the Maine media and the general public, as our community conversation will be this evening in Augusta" said NO on 1 campaign manager Jesse Connolly.
"Their 4:00 p.m. 'media availability' is the only opportunity Maine media will have to question the speakers SFMM has flown in from out of state to oppose the marriage equality rights of loving Maine couples and families. We are grateful to the Religious Coalition for the Freedom to Marry for speaking out today to show that thousands of Maine people of faith and their leaders support marriage equality and will vote no on November 3rd."
Who: Members of the Religious Coalition for the Freedom to Marry in Maine
What: Response to Speakers at Rally to Oppose Marriage Equality
Where: Second Floor of the North Wing of the Augusta Civic Center, Hallway Outside of the Maine Lounge
When: 4:00 p.m. TODAY (Sunday, September 13, 2009)
and
Who: NO on 1/Protect Maine Equality
What: Community Conversation on Marriage Equality
Where: South Parish Congregational Church, 9 Church Street, Augusta
When: 6:30 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. TODAY (Sunday, September 13, 2009)
Karen Ocamb is a SoCal journalist who covered last summer's Prop 8 referendum contest. As the Question 1 debate heats up in Maine, her analysis is important.
September 11, 2009
The Religious Right is Swiftboating Same Sex Marriage in Maine
By Karen Ocamb
News editor, Frontiers in LA
"God has no grandchildren," the evangelical ex-Marine father of my late friend Chip Howe said, explaining how he surrendered judgment and came to accept Chip's homosexuality. Chip, a Lieutenant in the Navy during the Vietnam War, was supposed to get married and provide his parents with grandchildren. Chip's father thought being gay meant that would never happen.
That was in 1990, before there was any real hope for marriage rights for same sex couples. Though Chip had known love before he died, he never got to experience the fruition of his constitutional right to pursue happiness - marriage and a family of his own.
The story is instructive because Religious Right professionals have succeeded in making it appear as if all people of faith are antigay and anti-marriage equality. Worse yet, they are using religion as an excuse to perpetrate lies and deception - to swiftboat same sex couples in the name of God, when in fact they are just advancing another end-justifies-the-means political scheme.
That's what happened in California and that's what is now underway in Maine as opponents of same sex marriage fight to prevent Maine's marriage equality law from taking effect though a referendum on the Nov. 3 ballot.
State Sen. Larry Bliss (D-South Portland) got to the heart of the issue in his Sept. 8 op-ed response to Rev. Bob Emrich's Aug. 26 Maine Voices column advocating passage of the anti-gay Question 1.
Bliss wrote:
"Do we want a Maine where Rev. Emrich and his supporters tell the rest of us who can be a family and who can love whom? Marriage equality upholds traditional Maine values of personal freedom and equality by respecting the right of every Mainer to marry the person he or she loves. That's the Maine I live in. Those are the values I hold dear."
Watch Out Maine
But that's not the Maine residents will recognize in the next two months as the Proposition 1 political campaign heats up.
This Sunday, Sept. 13, for instance, Maine Jeremiah Project's Emrich and the National Organization for Marriage with their Stand for Marriage Maine coalition (S4MM) are holding a rally featuring some of the big guns in the Religious Right professional world - Tony Perkins of the Family Research Council (FRC), Pastor Chris Clark from San Diego, and via video, Focus on the Family's Dr. James Dobson.
The purpose of the rally is to galvanize their conservative Christian base and help organize an army of volunteers and a network of churches to "Impact Maine Culture," as described on the Maine Jeremiah Project website. Apparently the media is not being allowed into the event.
California also experienced a pre-election onslaught of out-of-state Religious Right professionals - including Perkins and Dobson - for a massive rally in San Diego dubbed TheCall. (Religious Right watcher Bruce Wilson, who is straight, later described on the Huffington Post how TheCall's organizer Lou Engle is tied to violent Religious Right extremists.)
Perhaps the most widely publicized religious involvement in California's Prop 8 battle was by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS), more commonly referred to as the Mormon Church. Protect Marriage/Yes on 8 campaign manger Frank Schubert said members of the Mormon Church eventually contributed "somewhere in the $20 million range, so about half of what we raised - which we were very grateful for."
In fact, on Nov. 3, 2008, blogger hekebolos published a leaked internal memo on Daily Kos that seemed to indicate that Mormon leaders had been working to prevent marriage equality in California and Hawaii since 1997, recruiting local California Catholic bishops to serve as the front for the operation. The story was later picked up by blogger Jim Burroway at Box Turtle Bulletin, which expanded the reach to Arizona.
Not all Mormons backed Prop 8 or appreciated what the church did in their name. Famous former San Francisco 49er quarterback Steve Young, for instance, who is a descendant of Mormon founder Brigham Young, opposed Prop 8, posting "No on 8" signs in front of his Palo Alto home and his wife Barbara contributed $50,000. And many non-Mormon residents of Utah worried about whether a growing backlash over Mormon involvement might impact the state.
The rest of Karen's extraordinary post below the fold....
Please click whenever you see the green and white No On 1" emblem shown here and give what you can- every little bit is needed and every little bit helps! :)
==========================================
A beautiful bit of parsing out and exposing the lies of both Portland Diocese loaner Stand For Marriage Maine's Marc Mutty and Rev. Bob Emrich in this morning's 'Portland Press Herald'.
In his other life, as director of public affairs for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Portland, Marc Mutty has spent years navigating the complex legislative currents that run through the State House. It's the kind of job that requires a keen understanding of what a given law says - and what it doesn't.
But these days, Mutty is chairman of Stand for Marriage Maine, the group that is working to repeal Maine's same-sex marriage law. And if his latest fundraising pitch is any indication, Mutty's new gig has a lot more to do with fear than facts.
Indeed it does... so let's see how Nemitz tackles this.
You read that correctly. According to the leader of Stand for Maine Marriage, a man who undoubtedly knows better, the law passed by the Legislature in May makes "gay sex education" mandatory in classrooms statewide.
In case you didn't get it the first time, Mutty goes on to warn, again in bold-face, that "if marriage is redefined to be genderless, then same-sex marriage must be taught as being the same as traditional marriage."
And finally, the money pitch: "We need your immediate contribution of $100, $50 or even $25 to keep homosexual education out of Maine's classrooms."
All of which raises an intriguing question: Who really wrote this - and what have they done with the old Marc Mutty? Mutty was out sick Thursday and thus unavailable to explain what's causing him to see things in Maine's same-sex marriage law that, from any reality-based angle, simply aren't there.
Sick... yeah. Moving right along...
But the Rev. Bob Emrich of the Emmanuel Bible Baptist Church in Plymouth, a member of Stand for Marriage Maine's executive committee, said the group stands by Mutty's claim that the same-sex marriage statute will require "explicit homosexual instruction in the classroom."
One problem. Emrich and Mutty are wrong. Nowhere in the law do the words "school" or "classroom" even appear.
And if you're looking for phrases like "explicit homosexual instruction" hidden in some obscure statutory subsection, trust me - it's not there. Not even in code.
So, Pastor Bob, what gives?
Well, according to Ole Bob, Maine has a state mandated "comprehensive family life curriculum" and that the teachers would have no choice but to include discussion of same sex marriage in their classrooms.
A bald-faced lie and Nemitz says so:
For starters, Maine doesn't "mandate" a "comprehensive family life curriculum" for its schools.
Rather, Maine Revised Statutes Title 22 requires the commissioner of education to work with local family planning programs to develop "comprehensive family life education services" that any school district can choose (or choose not) to incorporate into its curriculum.
The statute also says that if any family-life education takes place in a school, "a parent may choose to not have (his or her) child participate" in the program.
As for "marriage" - heterosexual or homosexual - the word never appears in the statute. Not once.
Ditto for Maine's Learning Results, the broad standards upon which school districts build their curricula.
The simple truth is that school curriculum decisions in Maine are made not by the state, but by local school boards. And those school boards, being elected and all, answer directly to parents.
As someone who has been to a few of those school board meetings, I can attest that this is true in Maine.
Here's the thing- the opposition knows that honesty with the Maine voters and a real discussion based on facts will result a loss for them, as it should.
That's why the majority of those polled are showing overwhelming support for the marriage equality law here in Maine.
Which brings us back to the truth - or disturbing lack thereof - in Mutty's misguided fundraising appeal.
In a statement issued via e-mail Thursday, Jesse Connolly, campaign manager of No on 1/Protect Maine Equality, predicted that Maine voters will "see through these cynical campaign tactics" by Mutty & Co. as the debate heats up in the coming weeks.
"This is an attempt to divert attention and raise unfounded issues," said Connolly. "Question 1 has nothing to do with schools and no one is voting on curriculum in November."
Connolly is right - and anyone who's taken the time to carefully read Maine's same-sex marriage law knows it.
Including, of all people, Marc Mutty.
Below the fold, another story of public dishonesty for the sake of raising money against marriage equality...
Anyone hear about members of clergy protesting this?Yeah, I THOUGHT not...
Few guys can claim the backing of Starfleet officers when they stand at the altar, but Brad Siegel of Lyman is not your typical groom.
Siegel and his fiancee, Kate Erwin, will tie the knot Sept. 13 at Philadelphia's Franklin Institute in the ultimate "Star Trek"-themed wedding. The ceremony will be held on a replica of the Starship Enterprise bridge, which is part of a traveling exhibition that will be at the museum until Sept. 20.
Initially, the couple, who moved to Maine in December, hoped to marry at a "Star Trek" replica in Las Vegas. But while they were making wedding plans, the attraction was demolished.
Resigned to planning a traditional wedding, Siegel, 53, and Erwin, 34, happened to learn that the Franklin Institute, which is near Erwin's hometown of Phoenixville, Pa., was holding a contest to let one couple host their wedding inside the exhibit.
Siegel and Erwin entered, along with 15 other couples, and on July 21, the results of the public online vote, which followed the selection of the top three by a celebrity panel, revealed that the Mainers had won.
They were ecstatic and quickly began planning their big day.
"Everything we wanted to do in Las Vegas at the original 'Star Trek' exhibit, we can do in Kate's hometown," Siegel said.
Let's check out some of today's steaming pile writings, shall we? It's entitled "Same-sex marriage would be harmful to society"... good to see Ole Bob is keeping his bigoted and hateful mind closed as usual !
If we do not veto this proposed law, it will radically redefine marriage, one of society's oldest and most fundamental institutions. The changes that would result would be so fundamental and far reaching that we certainly should not tamper with it lightly.
... The truth is no society has ever given anyone an unqualified "right" to marry. Instead, they have always regulated marriage entirely for the benefit of society.
Oh, but "Think Of The Children!" (TM)
Children are literally the future of any society. A society that fails to do everything it can to protect and support children is literally risking extinction. This is why societies have always given marriage special status and benefits. They have found out the hard way that anything that encourages men and women to have and rear children within the bounds of a married family benefits society. Anything discouraging that relationship harms society.
So, the fundamental question, the issue really at stake in this people's veto vote, is whether legalizing homosexual marriage would harm this time-tested institution of marriage and thereby harm society as a result. Clearly it would.
It would take a social institution that has always been primarily child-centered and radically redefine it into something completely different, a new institution of genderless marriage. Because it is biologically impossible for two individuals of the same sex to produce children, this new genderless marriage institution would make "marriage" nothing more than an official recognition of two people's professed love for each other.
And certainly we can't have THAT, can we?
Okay, all you elderly newlyweds or childless couples (by biology or by choice)- listen up here!
Because you are NOT able/willing to procreate, YOU ARE HARMING THE INSTITUTION OF MARRIAGE AND BY EXTENSION, DAMAGING ALL OF MAINE'S CHILDREN.
You should be deeply ashamed of yourself and immediately acknowledge that your "marriage" is actually a selfish relationship of convenience; marriage is only for those heterosexual couples who ARE or HAVE procreated!
You PERSONALLY are ruining the very moral fabric of Society. How dare YOU???
Still no word of Peter LaBarbera's scheduled, then cancelled, then rescheduled supposed visit to Maine this month... still looking for some truth for the "TRUTH TOUR 2009!!!!!!! he and Mikey Heath went on and on about, back in May.
Maybe that's what Mikey and wifey are looking for in Tanzania, as they can't find any here in Maine.
Anyhoo...
Maine Jeremiah Project Director will be participating in the following event and we encourage you to join us:
Stand For Marriage Rally
Guest speakers include:
Tony Perkins, President of Family Research Council
Dr. Kenyn Cureton, VP of Church Ministries, FRC
Pastor Chris Clark, East Clairemont Baptist Church, San Diego.
Jordan Lorence, Senior Counsel, Alliance Defense Fund
Bishop Richard Malone, Portland Diocese
Charla Bansley, Concerned Women for America of Maine
Pastor Bob Emrich, Maine Jeremiah Project
Representatives from Stand For Marriage Maine
Special video message from Dr. James Dobson
DATE: Sunday, September 13th
TIME: 6 to 8:30PM
LOCATION: Augusta Civic Center
Join us as we encourage & equip one another to Protect and Promote Marriage in Maine.
If you need overnight accommodations, the Holiday Inn at the Civic Center has agreed to give a discount ($70 instead of the usual $109-119) if you ask for the Maine Jeremiah Project rate when you call (207-622-4751) or use this web link to make your reservations online.
Tickets are required and may be obtained free of charge via email at
mjp@midmaine.com
It's interesting that SFMM is denouncing "out-of-staters" coming in to help, in light of actions taken back last winter:
Stand for Marriage Rally - Augusta, Maine
Join us as we rally to defeat same-sex marriage in Maine!
When:
Sunday, February 15
6 - 8 PM
Where:
Augusta Civic Center
76 Community Drive, Augusta, ME 04330
Who:
Tony Perkins - Family Research Council
Charla Bansley - Concerned Women for America of Maine
Michael Heath - Maine Family Policy Council
The Hon. Rich Cebra - Maine House of Representatives
Bob Emrich - Maine Jeremiah Project
Admission is free, but ticket is required. To obtain tickets, visit www.mainemarriage.net
Second verse... same as the FIRST!!!
Looky what I found- a video of Family Research Council's Tony Perkins, addressing to Mainers last winter. Take a look:
Well, it takes two to play "Capture The Flag", Tony!
Perkins' words kinda goes against Ole Reverend Bob Emrich's screed regarding marriage's functions and what this is all about here in Maine, huh?
Well, the spiritual discussions held over cups of Folgers, discussed in a church foyer and retold at the Family Research Council Blog, seem as stale and acidic as a morning cup of mocha from a second rate coffee house. It's discussion over highly caffeinated brews where crazy worries are stoked in an atmosphere of total fear. From the FRC blog piece by Robert Morrison, entitled Coffee Conversations after Church:
It's not that unusual for me to have fellow worshipers come up to me after church, over coffee. Normally, however, we swap family stories, talk about children, grandchildren, hobbies, and common interests in our town. Yesterday, however, two friends sought me out with some urgency.
My first friend of the coffee hour was in anguish over his daughter's decision to live the gay lifestyle. He and his wife had raised two daughters in their loving Christian home. Their younger daughter married and has blessed them with grandchildren. Their elder daughter pursued an academic career. He described this daughter as a brilliant scholar, a Ph.D. candidate in philosophy at a major university. But he and his wife are heartbroken over their daughter's decision not only to live in a lesbian relationship with another woman, but also her plan to change her sex. Their daughter is beginning hormone treatments soon. Distraught over their daughter's choices, he appealed to me for help...
Naturally, Mr. Morrison directed his worshiper to PFOX -- Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays.
But, the fear just doesn't stop at the daughter announcing she's a lesbian! Oh no! suck down the caffeination and get ready for the tilt-a-whirl...
My friend was especially concerned that his lesbian daughter would take the extra step--sex change surgery--seeking to alter forever her sexual identity. Will "gender reassignment surgery" be covered under President Obama's health care takeover, he asked, explaining that his daughter does not currently have the money to cover such expenses. I told him I cannot see how such surgery would not be included in the Obama plan. And if the President or Congress does not include it, activist judges surely will. He pleaded for consideration of parents. "Our wills give our entire estate to the two daughters we gave birth to" he said poignantly. "Now, we will have only one daughter. Where are our rights?"
My head spins in this whirl of Looney Tunes thinking. We went from having a lesbian daughter to a trans son...to the "President Obama's health care takeover" to the federal government paying for genital reconstruction surgery, to activist judges, to wills, to parents' rights over adult children...all in one crazy, whirly, fear-stoking paragraph!
So why don't we have these kind of Looney Tunes discussions over coffee? I guess it's because we're just not that batsh*t crazy () and fearful enough...yet! Perhaps Mr. Morrison and his fellow worshiper should consider switching to decaf.
Ha! The last word I'd associate with the Faux News bully Bill O'Reilly is courage. But as we all know, the right-wing doesn't live in the reality-based world, so why not have KKK mailing list purchaser Tony Perkins had out the first Media Courage Award to him at the upcoming Values Voter Summit. The reason he earned this prestigious nod? His coverage of the assassinated abortion provider Dr. George Tiller, who was repeatedly referred to on-air by O'Reilly as "Tiller the Baby Killer."
Bill O'Reilly has never shied away from denouncing late-term abortions and the handful of doctors who perform them. In the aftermath of George Tiller's murder, O'Reilly became an easy target for the liberal media who tried to pin some of the blame on Bill, saying he incited the violence by decrying these unnecessary procedures on his show. Despite the unfair allegations, O'Reilly spoke the truth, bringing new light to a gruesome procedure. On behalf of our co-sponsors and millions of values voters, we want to express our gratitude to a culture warrior who uses his national platform to promote life--no matter what the personal or professional costs.
On the evening of September 18, FRC Action will recognize Bill at the Values Voter Summit with the first-ever Media Courage Award. Bill is scheduled to speak after the tribute. He joins a jam-packed line-up, which now includes Govs. Mike Huckabee, Mitt Romney, Tim Pawlenty (R-Minn.), Rick Perry (R-Texas), Joel Rosenberg, Stephen Baldwin, and many of Capitol Hill's brightest. The list of invited speakers includes: former Gov. Sarah Palin, Gov. Bobby Jindal (R-La.), Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.), Sean Hannity, Ben Stein, and others.
Think Progress applies the smackdown of reality-based documentation.
Tony Perkins and his homo-haters at the Family Research Council are so incensed that former president of the Gay, Lesbian, and Straight Education Network, Kevin Jennings, has been appointed to serve as head of the Office of Safe and Drug Free Schools at the Dept. of Education, that the org has launched a website, www.stopjennings.org to:
[E]ducate the American people about how Jennings' dangerous views make him unfit to protect our nation's schoolchildren. "Kevin Jennings' record shows he has neither the temperament nor the ethical standards needed for public service," said Family Research Council President Tony Perkins. "His history demonstrates disregard for our obligations to safeguard the health and well being of the student population. He is unfit for the post to which he's been assigned, and Secretary Duncan should withdraw his appointment at once."
Jennings and the organization he founded have been the leaders in promoting a pro-homosexual agenda in America's schools, beginning in kindergarten. His positions are extreme and narrow-minded, his rhetoric harsh and hate-filled, and his qualifications and ethical standards questionable at best. For all these reasons, Family Research Council has called upon Education Secretary Arne Duncan to withdraw Jennings' appointment. Here are some key reasons why we believe Kevin Jennings is unfit for public service.
1) Jennings' and GLSEN's concept of "safe schools" means special protections for privileged groups (especially homosexuals), rather than safety for all.
Undoubtedly the key reason why Jennings was appointed was because of GLSEN's long-standing commitment to what they call "safe schools." GLSEN has published "Model State Anti-Bullying & Anti-Harrasment [sic] Legislation." However, it protects against "harassment" only on the basis of "distinguishing characteristics" such as "race, color, national origin, sex, gender, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, [and] religion." It does not even include the category which GLSEN itself has identified as the most common grounds for harassment: "the way they look or their body size." Why not define "harassment" and "bullying" on the basis of the nature of the actual conduct, rather than the characteristics of the victim?
It goes on and on in that vein. And below the fold, the ad FRC plans to run.
The recent hostile acts of redefining marriage by our state legislators and Governor Gregoire is what has set the stage for Referendum 71. They carefully crafted and passed a bill using the guise of domestic partnerships, but revealed their true intent by infusing the phrase "marriage shall apply equally to state registered domestic partnerships" 180 times throughout the bill.
This assault on marriage in Washington State will not go unanswered.
It is downright un-American to characterize the deliberative actions of a duly elected legislature and governor as "hostile" and an "assault" when those actions are to secure the equal protection of the law for all citizens, as per Amendment 14 of the United State Constitution. Haven't we learned yet that inflammatory language kills?
Religious Right leaders' portrayal of the hate crimes bill as an attack on religious liberty is false; it reflects a larger political strategy to portray equality advocates as enemies of faith and freedom.
-- Right Wing Watch's report on the continual lies coming out of the mouths of bible-beaters, "Right Sounds False Alarm On Hate Crimes Legislation"
Isn't that the truth? This document over at People for the American Way's Right Wing Watch is a great primer to download and have on hand when you encounter anyone who has been fed the lies being e-blasted out there by the professional anti-gay set.
The fact is that the majority of Americans support expanding the federal hate crimes law, repealing DADT and anti-discrimination legislation, but the fundies don't have many cards left to play. So they've lately chosen to slow the pace of demonization rhetoric and focus on the phantom "religious freedom" argument (which ironically blew up in their faces recently with that hilariously mocked NOM "storm is coming" ad).
But as I said, it's really all they have left, and it isn't even true.
This is part of a larger political strategy by Religious Right leaders to advance their policy goals and mobilize supporters with alarmist claims that Christians in America are on the verge of being jailed for their religious beliefs.
As we have noted before, there's a dangerously cynical motive at the core of this strategy. It is easier to convince Americans to support discrimination - even to oppose laws designed to discourage violent hate crimes - if you have first convinced them that their gay neighbors want to shut down their church and throw their pastor in jail for reading the Bible.
Leading the way with the most laughably extremist, lying declarations of The Homosexual Agenda's war on faith has been Tony Perkins of the FRC:
When hate crimes legislation came before the House of Representatives in 2007, Religious Right leaders went ballistic. Family Research Council President Tony Perkins insisted that its only effect would be "to gag people of faith and conviction who disagree with the homosexual agenda." Perkins' ally Bishop Harry Jackson recruited other African American pastors to appear at a press conference and in a newspaper ad claiming that hate crimes legislation would "muzzle" black preachers and deny them the freedom to preach about homosexuality. Rev. Ted Pike of the National Prayer Network called a hate crimes bill "the most dangerous legislation ever to come before Congress." Not to be outdone, the Traditional Values Coalition's Andrea Lafferty said "Most Christians might as well rip the pages which condemn homosexuality right out of their Bibles because this bill will make it illegal to publicly express the dictates of their religious beliefs."
The same combination of misinformation and willful deception is being rolled out this year, led by Tony Perkins and the Family Research Council. One alert to its members on March 31 claimed that a federal hate crimes law "could lead to the criminalization of the biblical view of homosexuality in sermons and elsewhere." Said Perkins:
"A 'hate crimes' law is really a 'thought crime' law that punishes a person's beliefs - part of the Left's intolerant agenda to silence the voice of Christians and conservatives in America and eliminate moral restraint."
Perkins' messages to activists in March make it clear that the alarmist rhetoric against legislation to fight hate crimes is part of a larger political strategy to convince conservative Christians that President Obama and the Democratic Party are enemies of religion and religious freedom. One note urged activists to "Stop President Obama's Agenda to Silence Your Beliefs" and another spoke of an "Obama-Pelosi-Reid" agenda as "a blueprint of their dangerous vision of an anti-faith, anti-family vision for America."
Apparently, trans people and issues are the new, and apparently key focus of "traditional values" organizations.
This e-letter from the National Association for Research & Therapy of Homosexuality (NARTH) is the third attack from religious right/"traditional values" organizations this week -- the other two from the Family Research Council (FRC) and Focus On The Family Action (FOTF Action) (both of which used the crossdressed/transgender bathroom predator meme). This time the issue over medical and psychological treatment of gender variant youth.
And, along with the Focus On The Family Action e-letter, NARTH too engaged in fundraising over trans people.
I believe this is a sign of desperation -- they are losing the larger LGB basic civil rights "war," and so they are trying to build extreme hysteria over T's. And to them, this is a war -- the FRC said this...
Anyone who has predicted an end to the culture war needs only to look toward New Hampshire this week. There, state leaders are debating a radical menu of issues that could forever change the landscape of the family in New England.
And from FOTF:
Every year, Focus Action engages directly in several of these state battles to help stop such legislation in its tracks. If you've been supporting us for any length of time, then you've had a part in defeating these schemes. Your support allows us to activate pro-family citizens through mailings, e-mail blasts, telephone calls and advertising campaigns
And in the email below from NARTH, there's a section subheader entitled The Battle for GID Children -- They're even using war related terminology regarding trans and gay youth.
Next to marriage equality, it seems to me that trans people and issues are rising to the top of the "traditional values" organizations' memes against LGBT civil rights -- and these "traditional values" organizations have essentially declared war on trans people in the process.
The section of the findraising e-letter from NARTH that talks about transyouth is below the fold -- select the images of the e-leter to read a PDF of the whole e-letter. The PDF includes the request for funds by NARTH's president, Julie Harren Hamilton, Ph. D.
It was way back in September 1998, 
Well, the spiritual discussions held over cups of Folgers, discussed in a church foyer and retold at the Family Research Council Blog, seem as stale and acidic as a morning cup of mocha from a second rate coffee house. 
It's discussion over highly caffeinated brews where crazy worries are stoked in an atmosphere of total fear. 
From the FRC blog piece by Robert Morrison, entitled 
and get ready for the tilt-a-whirl...
the "President Obama's health care takeover" to the federal government paying for genital reconstruction surgery, to activist judges, to wills, to parents' rights over adult children...all in one crazy, whirly, fear-stoking paragraph!
) and fearful enough...yet!
Bill O'Reilly has never shied away from denouncing late-term abortions and the handful of doctors who perform them. In the aftermath of George Tiller's murder, O'Reilly became an easy target for the liberal media who tried to pin some of the blame on Bill, saying he incited the violence by decrying these unnecessary procedures on his show. Despite the unfair allegations, O'Reilly spoke the truth, bringing new light to a gruesome procedure. On behalf of our co-sponsors and millions of values voters, we want to express our gratitude to a culture warrior who uses his national platform to promote life--no matter what the personal or professional costs.
Tony Perkins and his homo-haters at the Family Research Council 
