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Published: May 15, 2009
“In-your-face, anything-goes, homosexual-bisexual-transsexual indoctrination”
California Senate approves ‘Harvey Milk Day,’ would require public schools to honor homosexual-rights icon
The California Senate yesterday approved a bill designating May 22 as an unpaid state holiday to honor Harvey Milk, the homosexual rights activist who was assassinated in 1978 while serving as a member of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors. May 22 is Milk’s birthday.
 The measure, which needed 21 votes to pass, was approved by a margin of 24 to 14 on Thursday morning. All 23 Democrats in the Senate voted yes, along with a single Republican, Sen. Abel Maldonado of Santa Maria. With the exception of Maldonado, all other Republican senators voted against the bill.
The measure, SB 572, was introduced by state Sen. Mark Leno, D-San Francisco, who put forward an identical measure last year while serving in the state Assembly. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger vetoed the previous measure, saying celebrations of Milk’s birthday were more appropriate “at the local level.”
SB 572 would require the governor to “proclaim May 22 of each year as Harvey Milk Day, and would designate that date as having special significance in public schools and educational institutions and would encourage those entities to conduct suitable commemorative exercises on that date.”
Pro-family groups were swift to react to the bill’s passage. "SB 572 could mean homosexual-bisexual-transsexual pride parades in public schools every May 22," said Randy Thomasson, president of SaveCalifornia.com, a non-profit, non-partisan organization representing children and families. "SB 572 pressures elementary, junior high and high schools to 'conduct suitable commemorative exercises' in support of the radical sexual agenda of Harvey Milk. Where are the boundaries? Where are the definitions? This in-your-face, anything-goes, homosexual-bisexual-transsexual indoctrination is definitely not what parents want for their children."
In a press release issued shortly after the Senate’s vote, SaveCalifornia.com said it “is very concerned that the California State Senate has passed SB 572 to institute ‘Harvey Milk Day’ -- essentially ‘Gay Day’ -- in every California public school, affecting children as young as five years old, with no parental consent required.”
According to SaveCalifornia.com, a statewide poll by Survey USA in early March found that 69 percent of Californians opposed the designation of Harvey Milk’s birthday as a statewide day of special significance. "Sadly, the California Legislature seems hell-bent on promoting the homosexual lifestyle as a role model for children," said Thomasson. "It's absurd -- the government school system teaches children not to smoke or use drugs, yet SB 572 would teach children as young as kindergarten that homosexuality is good and healthy and maybe even for them. That's just not true. Homosexual and bisexual behavior causes up to 82 percent of all HIV transmissions in California."
The bill now goes to the State Assembly, where it is expected to win approval easily. The big question is whether Gov. Schwarzenegger will again veto the bill, as he did last year. Homosexual activists this year have enlisted the support of actor Sean Penn, who on Feb. 22 won an Academy Award for portraying Milk in the recent motion picture of the same name. Penn attended a March 3 press conference in San Francisco held to promote the bill.
“I trust Governor Schwarzenegger is certainly a reasonable man,” Penn said at the press conference. “He understands passing on prejudice is poisonous to future generations. I believe Governor Schwarzenegger will sign and support this bill. I would never assume such ignorance of the governor that he would not want to revise his opinion.”
In 1977, Milk became the first openly homosexual man elected to an important political office in the U.S. when he won a seat on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors. Fellow Supervisor Dan White assassinated Milk and Mayor George Moscone the following year.
Posted Friday, May 15, 2009 1:08 AM By pete
If the Governor signs it, then civil disobedience against an unjust (immoral) law is required.
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Posted Friday, May 15, 2009 6:05 AM By St. Christopher
We will see if the Governor has become a "girlie man" or can step up and again veto this simply seditious bill.
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Posted Friday, May 15, 2009 7:14 AM By Sick and Tired
Just take the kids out of school on any day that you feel they are being exposed to this or similar indoctrination. I did it on the day they wanted to give sex-ed class to my fifth grader. Schools lose money with unexcused absences. On these types days make sure that the absence is just that. The only thing these places understand better than their agenda, is their money.
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Posted Friday, May 15, 2009 7:42 AM By Observant
Another moral mugging of children for Milk money.
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Posted Friday, May 15, 2009 7:55 AM By hosemonkey
If this abominable travesty is indeed passed and forced down the throats of decent Californians, I will indeed observe "Harvey Milk Day" by very carefully instructing my (Thank God) homeschooled children on the evil of homosexual practice and once again teach the Church's position on homosexuals. We may even raise the flag of our country, but I think that we will fly it upside-down, to remind us of how far this great nation has fallen from it's former glory.
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Posted Friday, May 15, 2009 8:21 AM By Kathy
Alot more worthy candidates for such an honor. How about any fallen firefighter or police officer? How about California servicemen? Just another gay agenda item. If Catholic schools were selling stock, I'd be buying.
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Posted Friday, May 15, 2009 8:44 AM By Legislative Expert
"Harvey Milk Gay Day" is just the cherry on the cake that homosexual activists have baked for children. Already, the most anti-family public school districts are holding pro-homosexuality "Diversity Days" and bringing in homosexual speakers to indoctrinate kids. Already, there are at least four laws -- AB 537, SB 71, SB 777 and AB 394 -- that pressure government schools to positively promote homosexuality, bisexuality and transsexuality, and any other "consensual" sexual activity. More public school practices disturbing to many parents include: 1) no effective discipline; 2) negative peer pressure; 3) less safety and less academic success, on average, than private or home schools; 4) distribution of condoms and birth control pills without parental consent; 5) "confidential" abortion referrals and outside counseling without parental consent; 6) no teaching children how to truly avoid STDs/"abstinence-only" education prohibited; 7) widespread rejection of religious and moral values; and 8) evolution training promoting unbelief in God. The verdict is in for a just jury of parents who have sworn to love their child and sworn allegiance to Jesus. Rescue your child NOW by choosing TODAY to homeschool or by getting your child into a church school.
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Posted Friday, May 15, 2009 9:20 AM By Tom Byrne
This is less about honoring Milk than creating a specific litmus test by which to demonize and (I think) ultimately criminalize opposition to this filthy behavior and its promoters. Just watch what happens to anyone found not honoring Milk on this day, say, a decade from now. Just watch.
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Posted Friday, May 15, 2009 9:22 AM By Fr. J
If you aren't already homeschooling or sending your kids to Catholic school now would be the time to start. If they must go to public school then keep them home that day or if they have the guts have them protest it. And next election vote for conservative candidates.
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Posted Friday, May 15, 2009 9:45 AM By Justina
Just one more clear reason why homeschooling will and should be the wave of the future for school age children that will be forced to drink the wrong type of milk.
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Posted Friday, May 15, 2009 12:52 PM By Matthew 18:6
"But he that shall scandalize one of these little ones that believe in me, it were better for him that a millstone should be hanged about his neck, and that he should be drowned in the depth of the sea."
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Posted Friday, May 15, 2009 1:00 PM By Fr. M.P.
More events to accelerate the coming fire and brimstone. Pray the Rosary every day, and keep your children home on milk day.
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Posted Friday, May 15, 2009 1:05 PM By Life Lady
As a grandmother of 13 children I am totally in agreement with the suggestion that parents keep their children out of school on those days that are slated honoring someone whose life that does not exemplify their values, especially those that spring from the hard-core homosexual agenda. Whether we like it or not, that agenda is being forced upon us all. The sound of money dropping into school coffers is heard more than the sound of parents who speak in support of their children and the values of those parents who object. If they hear less of it falling, perhaps they will tune thier ears to the parents. Civil disobedience is also more than called for. Stand firm and stand together. They can't take all of us out.
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Posted Friday, May 15, 2009 2:10 PM By Kristen
What exactly is evolution training promoting unbelief in God? The Catholic Church is not against evolution -- why are you? Many parts of evolution are a proven fact. Our bodies change and adapt to our environment. What do you teach your children. That our ancestors looked exactly like us? That our skin color always has been the same? Where do you get your information?
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Posted Friday, May 15, 2009 3:44 PM By Bob L.
Did we not go through this attempted 'Gay Day' just last year? Don't remember how our 'representatives' voted but I do remember Arnold vetoing
the legislation due to the immense calls/letters/ emails requesting he veto it.
The alternate life-style bunch are using the same techniques as our politicians by
pushing legislation again & again until the
voting public gives up.
Should be a law, wait! The same dipsticks
who voted to proclaim 'Gay Day' are the
ones instituting our laws!!!
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Posted Friday, May 15, 2009 3:54 PM By JLS
Kristen, you need to update your knowledge of "evolution". The Church does not teach evolution, never has. There is a good reason that the Church does not teach evolution; do you know what the reason is?
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Posted Friday, May 15, 2009 5:56 PM By Kristen
JLS-- why do you have evolution in quotes? The church does not teach evolution because it does not teach science class. The church DOES state that faith and scientific findings regarding evolution are not in conflict. This does not mean God did not create us in his image. But science does prove that animals adapt to the environment. Moths change their colors to blend in, humans gain pigment when they move to sunny climates (over many generations). That is all part of evolution. Do you believe the earth is 5000 years old, and dinosaur bones are phonies placed by the devil?
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Posted Friday, May 15, 2009 6:10 PM By Anne T.
Skin color is adaptation, not evolution, Kristen. Our ancestors's skins adapted to the climate in which they and their ancestors lived. People in sunny climates need more protection from the sun as those in cooler climates do not. Northerners's eyes are usually of a lighter color or blue because they need lighter eyes to let in Vitamin D from the sun, and their eyes need less protection from the glare. Neither I nor the Church rule out evolution, but it is still only a theory, and much of it has been debunked. My question is: where are the thousands of missing links that should have been uncovered by now if such a thing happened? Many bones of creatures that were thought to be missing links were found out later to be the bones of several existing creatures that were put together improperly or just the bones of one creature that is still in existence. Many pictures of pre-historic creatures are just speculation. Anyway, the Church teaches and I believe that we all are human and descended from one set of parents -- probably Middle-eastern or Northern African. I have lived long enough to know that what is presented as true one day can be an untruth tomorrow as far as science goes. Yes, there are certain things taught by science that are abosolute facts. Others are not. When I was in high school they told us it would take fifty years to get a man to the moon and back. Within ten years after they told us that, they got three men on the moon and back safely.
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Posted Friday, May 15, 2009 7:34 PM By Don
Anne T, vitamin D is not something in sunlight that your eyes take into your body. Vitamin D is produced by your skin in reaction to UVB rays. People with fair skin produce Vitamin D more readily than people with darker skin just as fair skin gets sunburned more readily than darker skin. Also, "cooler climates" can be just as sunny as "sunny climates", and this is especially so at higher elevations where the temperature is lower and the risk of sunburn is greater. Finally, your claim that "skin color is adaptation, not evolution" is neither science nor Catholicism. Evolution is a theoretical process by which adaptations arise. Science does not claim evolution to be absolute truth. Science says it's theory.
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Posted Friday, May 15, 2009 7:47 PM By Kristen
Anne T -- That is what evolution says -- that we adapt, that we change to adapt to our environment. I am not worried that schools are teaching evolution as fact. What they are teaching is what the proponderance of evidence shows at this time. Teachers and students know that accepted theories change over time. Research keeps pointing us in different directions. But applying the scientific method is important. Just like economics, researchers don't always agree, but the important thing is to keep on learning. "Creationists" try to block out all research that doesn't line up with their interpretation of the BIble. I'm not okay with that type of science class. If you are, feel free to homeschool or go to a Christian school. By the way, I am not so sure the Catholic church teaches we descended from one set of parents. Do you have a citation? And did we evovle from a different species? I don't know, and whether we did or not does not affect my faith one iota.
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Posted Friday, May 15, 2009 8:05 PM By MarkF
JLS, I think that there is no infallible teaching on evolution by the Church. Various Popes and people may have made statements, but I don't think there is one clear teaching on it. From my experience, the consensus in the Church is to accept some of Darwin's theory, but to reject the part that relies on randomness and to state that the soul can not be said to evolve but must be seen as a gift from God. The consensus in the Church is certainly not to believe in a young earth that is only three thousand years old. My own beliefs about evolution is centered around the Book of Wisdom and all the wisdom literature. Creation is ordered because it all comes from the Logos, which is Christ.
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Posted Friday, May 15, 2009 8:22 PM By JLS
Kristen, evolution is a theory, a belief system more than a science. Your examples of evolution are not correct, but represent what is called gene pooling, aka adaptation. There is no proof of the theory of evolution, only conjecture, which is why it is a theory and not a proven fact, ie not science. The facts of dinosaur bones do not evidence evolution, but rather are used by believers in evolution to support their theory. The facts themselves are also used by those scientists who hold that the earth is only a few thousand years old ... and if you'd bother to read these accounts, you'd find a significant scientifically supported challenge to your belief in evolution.
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Posted Friday, May 15, 2009 11:16 PM By JLS
Kristen, what you describe as evolution in your post to Anne T. is not what the theory of evolution proclaims. But what you really do demonstrate is the religious aspect of evolution, which is that you believe in something you call evolution without even knowing what it is about. That is cultism. Evolution is in fact a religion, based on faith, not a science based on fact.
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Posted Friday, May 15, 2009 11:18 PM By JLS
MarkF, there is plenty of Church tradition for creation being about sixthousand years old. There is no Church tradition for evolution. It does not matter what various opinions say; truth and even fact are not based on opinion.
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Posted Saturday, May 16, 2009 2:19 AM By Richard Flores
Do the legislators have NOTHING better to do while California is is in the middle of the greatest budget crisis in history? (Did the legislators in Louisiana do this sort of thing immediately after Katrina?) What a waste of lawmakers time during an emergency!
As a research scientist, the actual "theory" of evolution has terrible holes in it, including the lack of the "intermediate" species and the fact hat we have NEVER noted the evolution to a NEW SPECIES... EVER! The basic problem is one of terminology... While I certainly have noted "natural selection" (WITHIN a species!), I have never seen "Evolution of a species". (With the creation of a NEW species!) I believe that these people are confusing the two!
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Posted Saturday, May 16, 2009 7:33 AM By MarkF
JLS, boy this has come pretty far afield from the gay day topic, but I'll go with it. Before I came back to the Church I was a rock solid evolutionist, but now I have my doubts about some of it. You're right, it is more than a scientific theory. It has become something of a secular religion, part of a world view that denies God. On the other hand, I can't countenance the creationism of the Protestant fundamentalists. I can't believe that the earth is three thousand years old, not with evidence from astronomy and geology all around us. I am troubled however by some parts of the theory of evolution. Part of the theory is that all life is in a state of constant change. So how do they explain things that are called living fossils, life that has not changed in millions of years? Horseshoe crabs have not changed in millions of years. Neither has the coelocanth, a fish thought to be extinct for tens of millions of years, but now known to be alive and thriving off of the east coast of Africa. The same is the case for the dawn redwood, a tree thought to be extinct for even longer that has not changed at all. My other problem with evolution is that it seems to deny the order and beauty that is in creation, but only believes in meaningless randomness. I suspect that there is room for real science that is not creationism but that also supports the existence of order, reason and beauty.
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Posted Saturday, May 16, 2009 9:39 AM By Rick
One of the goals of liberalism is to transform the abnormal into the normal. Liberalism is responsible for nearly all of the social ills that our society faces today. It is a cancer on our society and it must be turned back or it will destroy us.
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Posted Saturday, May 16, 2009 9:51 AM By Kristen
JLS -- I never said I believe in or support the theory of evolution. I just said the Catholic Church is not against it. You did. Who is right? I hope a priest can weigh in. A theory is not proof -- I never said it was, but it is way beyond conjecture, which suggests there is not mounds of scientific evidence.
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Posted Saturday, May 16, 2009 11:26 AM By Fr. M.P.
Evolution, which is atheistic in origin, teaches that one animal evolves into another, like birds are left-over dinosaurs. More ridiculous is that humans are newer apes. The Church does not teach that you can believe that. Even if you think you are no more than an advanced ape and act such, you are not but rather made in the image and likeness of God. There are adaptations among creatures, like skin color or beak shapes for birds, but they are still of the same species. Many things are not defined by the Church, for example, how old the earth is. A Catholic is required to believe that God created man and woman in His image, who we call Adam and Eve, and that they are not a result of natural selection being morphed from other animals.
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Posted Saturday, May 16, 2009 12:02 PM By Anne T.
Kristen, in the Encyclical of Pius XII he seemed to think that Original Sin and polygenism (more than one set of first parents) might not be able to be reconciled with the Doctrine of Original Sin. It is in # 37 of that Encyclical. I don't know if that was a final decision (ex cathedra) or not. I will later try to find something from Pope John Paul II -- possibly in his encyclical Familiaris Consortium. I am too busy right now.
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Posted Saturday, May 16, 2009 12:22 PM By Kristen
JLS, are you seriously trying to say that evolution is unsupported by facts, but the earth being only a few thousand years old IS supported by facts? Really?
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Posted Saturday, May 16, 2009 6:25 PM By Anne T.
Kristen, from what I can find the Majesterium will only accept a theistic evolution, but it is still only theory, though a plausible theory at this time. See: Pope John Paul II 's address to the Pontifical Academy of Sciences on October 22, 1996. It seems as if monogenism and polygenism are stilling be debated. I quite frankly do not think any human descended from apes since the latter still exist, and many, if not most, respectyed scientists do not either. They are several theories of evolution since Darwin, and from what I have read, they are changing all the time.
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Posted Saturday, May 16, 2009 6:43 PM By Jim
“I trust Governor Schwarzenegger is certainly a reasonable man,” Penn said at the press conference. “He understands Sean Penn: "passing on prejudice is poisonous to future generations. I believe Governor Schwarzenegger will sign and support this bill. I would never assume such ignorance of the governor that he would not want to revise his opinion.”
Hey Sean ya hypocrite... what about your best friend Hugo Chavez... will he sign Milk Day into Law? You got some nerve saying what you do about Gov. Arnold yet your best buddy Chavez would hang a homosexual in his country... what about those apples... what a hypocrite; your gay allies need to think about your Penn Pals !!!
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Posted Saturday, May 16, 2009 7:41 PM By Talitha Kumi
How did we get off of Milk day to evolution? Give the slain mayor a Mascone day. Home school, catholic school. volunteer /work at school with your children. They are as precious and vulnerable as newborn lambs and we must protect them. No, there IS no easy way out we have to work at this. This is temporary. Eternity is forever.
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Posted Saturday, May 16, 2009 10:06 PM By Anne T.
I fear all Harvey Milk did was encourage some of the excessive behavior that has gone on in San Francisco just before and after his death. No, I do not think we should have a Harvey Milk Day. Let those who want to remember him do so privately as it is done with most murder victims.
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Posted Sunday, May 17, 2009 3:19 AM By Hazumu
"Only a theory" is a rhetorical fallacy arising from a contested meaning of the word 'theory'. To the scientific community, 'theory' means the way in which a system operates as deduced from observable phenomena. This way in which the system operates ('theory') can also be used to predict as-yet-unobserved behaviour given a set of circumstances which have yet to occur while being observed. Einsteins 'Theory' of Relativity is a good example. It predicted that mass warps space so that a sufficient mass will cause the straight path of light to appear to be bent. This behaviour predicted by the 'Theory' was observed by Arthur Eddington in 1919 when a picture he took of a solar eclipse showed a star that should have been hidden by the edge of the sun appeared displaced away from the sun by the amount predicted by Einstein's 'Theory' of Relativity. Since then, we have found gravitational lenses in space, measured time dilation due to velocity and mass, and all in quantity as predicted by the 'Theory'. Thus, in the world of Science, with it's hard facts and observable measurements, 'Theory' means fact. // Then we have the colloquial 'theory' that means conjecture or guess. In common usage it means a conjecture that is no more than a hunch, and is not backed up by solid observation. Nobody has a 'theory' that the sun will rise tomorrow, or that summers are hot and winters are cold -- that phenomena is easily observed and repetitive. However, that the apparent increase in number and severity of Atlantic/Caribbean-spawned hurricanes are due to God being angry at the moral decay of America IS a 'theory', although there may be some few who take that as just as factual as the sun will yet again rise in the east. // How many scientists have publicly stated that they do not accept nor believe in The Theory of Evolution? Please post your list of these scientists.
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Posted Sunday, May 17, 2009 11:54 AM By EDITOR
Please, do not post additional comments on the subject of evolution to this thread. They will not be published. This story was not about the theory of evolution. -- Editor
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Posted Monday, May 18, 2009 7:10 AM By Jenna
Tom Byrne Said: "This is less about honoring Milk than creating a specific litmus test by which to demonize and (I think) ultimately criminalize opposition to this filthy behavior and its promoters. Just watch what happens to anyone found not honoring Milk on this day, say, a decade from now. Just watch."
Why all the uproar about this anyway? It's meant as a day to remember and celebrate someone who stood up for human rights, stood against the Saducees, Pharisees and Romans of the modern day and said, "no more" to the denial of BASIC human rights. There's no *requirement" to celebrating Lincoln, Washington, Martin Luther King Jr., etc. no one's having a gun put to their head and being told they HAVE to honor and respect ANYONE.
There's certainly no point in criminalizing thoughts... that will just make things worse for everyone. The idea of Thought Police scares everyone, doesn't it? And if it can happen to one culture, it can happen to any culture.
Remember there was a time when it was not okay to be Christian. You could get arrested, murdered, denied rights in the country you lived, etc ... all because you believed in a message of love.
If you still believe in that message of love, then you will know that love is not possessive. Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
The moment you begin to show hatred AT ALL, the seeds of pride and prejudice take root in your heart until you find yourself spending all your time fighting instead of loving. You'll spend so much time fighting this you'll forget to spend time with the ones you're trying to protect. And all they will see in you is someone who was too busy with their own crusade to spend time with them.
If you truly have love in your heart, you will let this pass and rejoice that there is love in the world.
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Posted Monday, May 18, 2009 12:21 PM By Fr. M.P.
Jenna, the "Thought Police" and "criminalizing thoughts" are what the homosexuals want for those who say that homosexual behavior is unnatural and sinful, like any real practicing Christian will do. The "message of love" says the unnatural sexual acts are an abomination and can never be done. True hatred is encouraging someone to practice this mortal sin and go to eternal hellfire. This is true for heterosexual mortal sins such as fornication or adultery, but the people who practice those particular sins are not promoting so-called "laws" which make disagreement with said behavior a so-called "hate-crime," at least not yet. Of course bill HR1966 might be the step in that direction.
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Posted Tuesday, May 26, 2009 5:28 PM By JonJ
This homosexual day is simply a part of a larger problem: people who wish to use the power of government to engineer social values. When we try to turn government into a social engineering tool, we not only turn government into a social battle ground, we also grant enormous power to government to dictate our lives. We should oppose this sort of engineering on governmental theory grounds AND upon the social objection against sexualizing our children at far too young an age. For one thing, this sort of engineering infringes upon our freedom of religion, self determination, and pursuit of happiness. The problem is, we must guard against replacing gay social engineering with a religion based government agenda. We cannot use government force to compel people to come to God. We need to win "hearts and minds" on the grass roots level, not through strong arming them with state force.
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