psalm123

I'm getting so tired of this topic but I know the fight is long from being over. People consistently vote 'gay marriage' down while politicians and activist judges bring it back to life again and again. When engaging in discussions with 'gay marriage' activists it's a lot of the same rhetoric I hear when engaging those who support abortion. That's not very productive.

http://americanpapist.com/blog.html

Alert: Gov. Patterson plans to push gay marriage in NY next tuesday

No less than one week after the American people, for the 31st time, clearly rejected homosexual marriage when given a chance to vote on the issue, the highly-unpopular governor of New York is attempting to force it on his state before he leaves office:I'm trying to figure out a clear action item in response to this story, so papists can get involved, and when I find it, I'll post it.

Oh, how many times has that phrase been used against me when debating issues like abortion. During the course of a debate, these words usually prove contradictory to the person trying to espouse some sort of moral relativism. I just happened to think about that when I saw this story. Let me get this right... It's perfectly acceptable to have the homosexual lifestyle taught in our public schools but don't you dare be seen praying or be heard mentioning God. Hmmm. I wonder what our founding fathers would have to say about that? Heck, forget historical figures for the moment. Any clear thinking rational person can see the problem here.

I read about things like this quite regularly. I don't always post the stories. If you want to legalize so called "gay marriage" in this Country, then be prepared for the onslaught of 'education' in our public schools from the homosexual activists. You think it's bad now? Just think about the level of force feeding of the gay agenda you will be expected to endure in a country with legalized 'gay marriage'.  Want to see intolerance? Try and pull your child out of school during gay indoctrination programs. Try and show any disapproval of the gay agenda in a country with legalized "gay marriage'.  America, you had better think about what you want for this country. I would argue that if put up for a vote, most Americans do not want "gay marriage' and don't want their children indoctrinated by gay rights activists in our schools.

San Francisco, Calif., Sep 18, 2009 / 06:12 am (CNA).- A homosexual activist group is claiming that groups at dozens of high schools and middle schools in California, including at least one Catholic school, have signed up to show and discuss its explicit films. The films include one in which a boy “comes out” by wearing his mother’s bikini.

Another film uses Native American spirituality to depict lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people as being “two-spirit” people.

Parts of the discussion materials encourage students to question whether religious and cultural celebrations such as bar mitzvahs wrongly discourage homosexual and transgender lifestyles, the Pacific Justice Institute (PJI) reports.

PJI said it was not clear whether the films are being shown predominantly during class time or in meetings of LGBT student clubs.

“They are clearly being marketed for showing in class and in school assemblies,” PJI says in a press release.

The films and accompanying school materials are being distributed by Youth in Motion, a partnership between the Gay-Straight Alliance Network and the LGBT media group Frameline.

“Our goal is to give student activists and teachers new tools to educate their peers about lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender history and culture (and have fun doing it!). And we believe that an inclusive curriculum is one step to creating truly safe and welcoming schools,” Youth in Motion says on its website.

Trying to draw on the controversy of Proposition 8 in California, Youth in Motion promotes its videos on “hot topics” such as “marriage equality.”

The group claims over 250 schools have registered for the program.

The list of registered schools includes high schools throughout California and some middle and junior high schools. At least one elementary school is on the list. Many of the schools are located in the Bay Area and Southern California, but the Sacramento area and small communities are also affected.

Notre Dame High School, a Catholic girl’s school in Belmont, Calif. sponsored by the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur, is on the list of schools registered for the Youth in Motion curriculum.

“PJI will continue to investigate whether any opt-out laws are being violated by the showing of these films,” said PJI president Brad Dacus. “Any parents whose opt-out requests are denied by their child's school should contact PJI immediately.”

"This situation in Washington is part of a larger, concerted campaign of harassment and intimidation of supporters of traditional marriage by the gay rights lobby."

This is one of the tactics that many in the pro 'gay marriage' movement use. I think it's very telling that the same group of activists that tout 'tolerance' as the highest good, are often the most intolerant people you will run across.  Name calling, character assassination, intimidation, and the use of activist judges are the tools the pro 'gay marriage crowd' use to force their agenda on the American public. Gay marriage activists steer the debate away from rational discourse and stack the deck as a fight against hate and 'homophobia' rather than what supporters of traditional marriage are actually arguing. Then they use the names of people who support traditional marriage as a weapon. They work diligently to promote a presupposition of hate in order to gain public sympathy. So when gay marriage activists threaten to release the names of supporters of traditional marriage, it has already been pre-established that hate is motivating factor of those who oppose their views.

I would have no problem having my name released as someone who supports traditional marriage. This is nothing to hide from or be ashamed of. The more people realize this, the easier it will be to counter the underhanded tactics of the gay marriage lobby.

--Seattle, Wash., Sep 12, 2009 / 08:16 pm (CNA).- On Thursday a U.S. District Court judge issued a temporary order preventing the release of the names of Washington state citizens who signed a petition in support of a marriage defense referendum. Supporters of the referendum feared the information would be used to intimidate and retaliate against signers.

The Washington Secretary of State Sam Reed argued that the Washington Public Records Act required the release of the names. Advocates of releasing the names included several groups who wished to place the information on the internet.

Referendum backer Protect Marriage Washington and other plaintiffs argued against the release of the names, citing instances where supporters of marriage have had their property destroyed and have received harassing phone calls and even death threats.

“This situation in Washington is part of a larger, concerted campaign of harassment and intimidation of supporters of traditional marriage by the gay rights lobby,” reported a press release from the law firm Bopp, Coleson & Bostrom, which represented the plaintiffs. “The campaign has involved gaining access to the names of pro-marriage supporters, posting their names and addresses on the Internet, and inviting people to contact them.
 

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from http://americanpapist.com/blog.html

Tuesday, September 08, 2009

Orthodoxy FAIL: "A Catholic View Of Gay Marriage"

A letter to the Washington Post editor from Mark Clark, a member of the board of "Dignity USA, a national organization of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender Catholics and their families and supporters":

"A Catholic View of Gay Marriage"

As one of the 580,000 Catholics in the Washington Archdiocese, I object to the suggestion by Ronald Jackson, executive director of the D.C. Catholic Conference ["Wuerl Ups Opposition to Gay Marriage," Metro, Sept. 2] that we are all bigots.

Many Catholics support the right of all people to marry, whether to a person of the opposite sex or to a person of the same sex.

Church authorities should stick to the governance of religious wedding ceremonies and leave to civil authorities the responsibility of granting marriage licenses, a responsibility that should be exercised without discrimination.

Calling faithful Catholics "bigots"? Check.

Parents being opposed to gay-sex ed in the classroom = homophobia?  Huh?  Gee, thanks for the well thought out opinion Harry. This is a prime example of how gay rights activists, hollywood, and the mainstream media twist and reduce the issue of 'gay marriage' and 'gay sex-ed' to name calling and intimidation. He's only 20 yrs old so I guess I'll cut him some slack.

By John-Henry Westen

LONDON, August 13, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) - 20-year-old Harry Potter star Daniel Radcliffe has, in an interview with a homosexual magazine, expressed anger and intolerance for parents who oppose education about homosexual sex in the classroom.  "Then there's all this stuff at the moment, which is hateful, about people being up in arms about the idea of gay sex education in schools.  Hello!?!  Actually for the one or two gay kids in the class, it's f***ing vital!  It really makes me angry," he said in an interview with Attitude.

The magazine quotes Radcliffe continuing his tirade against pro-family parents saying: "I just loathe homophobia. It's just disgusting and animal and stupid and it's just thick people who can't get their heads around it and are just scared."

He concluded the point assuring his interviewer, "I'm not just saying that because I'm being interviewed for Attitude. I'd be using a lot stronger language if this wasn't on tape."

Radcliffe returned to the theme when asked about Potter author Rowlings' admission  that she intended one of the characters in the novels and film to be homosexual.  "The idea that there can't be a gay character in a kid's film," he said.  "It's the same thing, this terrible fear of exposing anybody below the age of consent to anything vaguely gay … it's ridiculous.  I just brushed those questions aside.  I'd never normally do that but some things I won't waste my time with."

Explaining his stance on the issue Radcliffe said, "I grew up around gay people entirely."

This short video speaks to what I have been experiencing when engaging the culture about hot button topics such as abortion and especially so called "gay marriage."  People who simply want to attack the Catholic Church refuse to see past the rhetoric and tend to want to marginalize Catholic teaching.  It's so difficult to get people to engage in respectful and reasonable discussion these days.

It's not productive to shout about the "homophobic and hateful" Catholic Church without following up those claims with fact and reasoned arguments.  Just about every debate about so called "gay marriage" and the Catholic Church inevitably ends up with someone predictably pulling the "homophobe" or "hate" cards. At this point I simply ask for specific examples from official Church teaching that is "homophobic" or "hateful".  Is in it the Catechism? or a papal encyclical perhaps? OR I would ask those blindly shouting about the "hateful" Catholic Church to provide a brief summary of what the Church actually teaches in regards to homosexual "marriage" such as the argument from natural law. From there I ask them to somehow draw out "homophobia" or "hate" from what the Church actually teaches.

That's usually a thread killer and debate stopper. I've seen quite a few good people be attacked as "homophobes" for simply believing in traditional views about marriage and sexuality. These traditional views are rational in nature and have nothing to do with hate. The belligerent radical homosexual agenda crowd should be engaged head on with love and charity.  They should be made to back up their hurtful accusations with fact and solid reason.

Going back to the video. I wonder if the company did anything about the crude remarks left on the flier? Honestly, it wouldn't surprise me if they didn't do anything. Anti-Catholicism seems to be an accepted bigotry in this country. Such a shame.