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Is Banning Same-sex Marriage Like Banning Interracial Marriage?

Here.

Let me be blunt: denying same-sex couples from marriage is not the same as denying interracial couples from it. Although anti-miscegenation laws were immoral, the same mistake is not happening today. And despite the rhetorical force of making the comparison, merely claiming it’s the same does not make it so.

In the beginning he made them…..

PlugsAndSockets

Evolution’s End? President Obama Calls for Same-Sex Marriage

From Albert Mohler: www.albertmohler.com/2012/05/10/evolutions-end-president-obama-calls-for-same-sex-marriage/

Is President Obama’s “evolution” on same sex marriage finally complete? His call for the legalization of same-sex marriage yesterday is an historic and tragic milestone. An incumbent President of the United States has now called for a transformation of civilization’s central institution. And yet, no observer of this President could be surprised. The arrival of this announcement was only a matter of time.

Should Homosexuals Be Able to Marry Whom They Love?

From Stand to Reason’s blog here.

Are we really depriving homosexuals the right to marry the person they love? Yes. But there’s nothing unusual about that. Nobody has the right to marry any person they love. Everyone has restrictions.

When you take an honest look at the marriage law, it turns out that there is nothing unfair about it. Homosexuals have the same rights and the same restrictions as heterosexuals. For example, there is no legal right granted to a heterosexual that does not apply in exactly the same way to every homosexual. Both can marry in any state. Both can marry someone of the opposite sex. Both can receive the benefits that come with legal marriage. Heterosexuals and homosexuals are treated alike.

There is also no legal restriction for homosexuals that does not also apply in exactly the same way to every heterosexual. Neither one can marry their sibling. Both are prohibited from marrying someone already married. They can’t marry a child. And neither has the freedom to marry someone of the same sex.

The marriage law applies equally to every person, whether they are homosexual or not. Everyone is treated the same.

Read more here at Stand to Reason’s blog.

Oh yeah, drink in the tolerance with Mark Driscoll

Gotta love this one from Wintery Knight from the Washington Post:

Hate crime: gay activists vandalize Mark Driscoll’s Mars Hill Church

A satellite church affiliated with controversial Seattle pastor Mark Driscoll was vandalized early Tuesday (April 24) and a group calling itself the “Angry Queers” has reportedly taken responsibility.

Stained glass and other windows were broken at the Mars Hill Church, according to a post on the Facebook page of Pastor Tim Smith.

“Neighbors of the church reported seeing several young adults in black masks throwing large rocks into the windows,” a church news release said. “Police stated that a bank in the area was also vandalized in the same way and that they believe the vandalism was planned ahead of time, most likely by an activist group.”

On Tuesday, KPTV FOX 12 reported it had received an email from someone using the name “Angry Queers” and claiming responsibility.

Driscoll should not feel special — he is not the only one the intolerant tolerants are persecuting.

The Post-Christian Condition — Anders Breivik and the Limitations of Justice

Al Mohler writes:

Breivik has celebrated his murderous actions in court, calling his massacre the most “spectacular” event in recent European history. Having admitted to the killings, Breivik told the court, “I would do it again.”

He may have an opportunity to do so. Norwegian law allows Breivik to be imprisoned for only 21 years, even if found guilty of all 77 killings. Officials in Norway have attempted to assure their fellow citizens that Breivik is unlikely to be released, but the law allows criminals to be held in captivity after their sentence only on psychological grounds that represent a threat, and Breivik has been found sufficiently sane to stand trial.

How can this be? What sane nation would allow for a maximum sentence of 21 years in prison for premeditated murder — much less the calculated killing of 77 people?

Great interview with Prof. John Lennox

“There is no need at all to be ashamed of the Gospel of Christ, of the Good News, because it fits with science and there are answers”

Justin Brierley meets Oxford maths professor and Christian apologist John Lennox

The Times newspaper recently labelled John Lennox as “Christianity’s new poster boy”. It’s a description Lennox greets with his infectious Irish chuckle, readily admitting he doesn’t exactly have the physique of a male pin-up.

How then, did the Oxford mathematician and philosopher of science earn the label? Because he fought Dawkins and won (according to many, at least). John Lennox isn’t just a good academic; he’s also an excellent communicator. Affable, fluent and with a smile in his eyes, he draws the listener in, an evangelist for both science and Christianity.

Read more here.

Great book, great price

$2.99 USD on Kindle.  I have read about 50% of True Reason: Christian Responses to the Challenge of Atheism (Amazon) so far and it is excellent.  It’s not too big, not too heavy, and has an excellent tone that confronts the new atheism in a respectful but intellectually rigorous manner.

True Reason book Gilson Weitnauer

The book has an accompanying website here.

After Birth Abortion

MandM hit the nail on the head here.  The secular worldview leads inevitably to the dilemma described below.

“Oh, it will never happen…”

Really?  Where have we heard that one before, then one or two years later…

Minerva and Giubilini propose a morally outrageous conclusion that it is permissible for women to kill their newborn infants for any of the reasons by which society currently permits abortion – which in reality is almost any reason at all. This is obscene. Yet the argument flows logically and quite naturally from the claims upon which the philosophical case for legal abortion has been based. These assumptions are taken for granted going by New Zealand’s current stance. New Zealand faces a dilemma; if it accepts these assumptions then it must logically accept child-killing. If this is unacceptable then those assumptions are mistaken and legal abortion needs to be rethought. Burying ones head in the sand and chanting “keep your rosaries off my ovaries”, or putting sappy uninformed sound bites out into public debate does not cut it. (Emphasis added.)

Starbucks Coffee Co. Officially Support Sodomy and Gay “Marriage”

Media Release — 3 February 2012

Right to Life is disappointed that Starbucks are officially supporting sodomy and gay marriage.

Starbucks executive vice President, Karen Holmes in a letter dated 24 January 2012, to United States partners expressed enthusiastic support for homosexual marriage legislation in Washington State. The “important legislation” says Karen Holmes “is core to who we are and what we value as a company.”

Customer Relations at Starbucks stated that “Starbucks is proud to join other leading Northwest employers in support of Washington State legislation recognising marriage equality for same–sex couples. From our very earliest days, Starbucks have strived to create a company culture that put our people first and our company has a lengthy history of leading on and supporting policies that promote equality and inclusion.”

It is disappointing but not surprising that Starbucks wish to re-define marriage and believes that support for sodomy and homosexual marriage is a core value.

The family is at the centre of a culture of life, it is the foundation of a stable society. It is the family that brings forth children, future citizens who are essential for the continuance of society. The promotion of same sex marriage is an attack on the institution of marriage and on society itself. Right to Life supports the human rights of the homosexual members of our community, however there is no human right to homosexual marriage.

The support of Starbucks for homosexual marriage is no surprise, as the company has been putting pro-homosexual messages on its take-away cups since 2006. Starbucks claims in its mission statement to embrace diversity. It promotes gay pride events but refuses to support events celebrating heterosexual marriage.

Pro-family leaders in the United States are now calling for an international boycott of Starbucks.

The Starbucks brand is managed in New Zealand by Restaurant Brands NZ Ltd which has 32 Starbucks Coffee shops in New Zealand.

Those in the community who believe that marriage is exclusively for one man and one woman will be offended by the attack of Starbucks on the family. They are encouraged to boycott Starbucks Coffee shops and to take their business to coffee shops that support the family and who do not support sodomy and homosexual marriage.

Right to Life requests Restaurant Brands to publicly dissociate itself from the support for homosexual marriage expressed by Starbucks USA.

Ken Orr
Spokesperson,
Right to Life
Phone +64 3 385 6111

William Dembski Interview

Get it here: www.thebestschools.org/blog/2012/01/14/william-dembski-interview/

I love Dembski. He is an intellectual genius, and honest to the heart. With the persecution he has faced both inside and outside the church, he is also like a modern Galileo.

Christopher Hitchens, April 13, 1949 – December 15, 2011

New Atheist Christopher Hitchens has passed on.

Hitchens, who wrote for publications such as The Atlantic Monthly, Slate and Vanity Fair, rose to prominence for his divisive opinions, his unabashed atheism, his scorching critiques of popular figures like Mother Teresa Henry Kissinger, and, above all, his razor wit. (Reuters)

I personally admire Hitchens for having the guts to stand up for what he believed, even if I would disagree with him as his brother Peter Hitchens did (blog, Amazon book “The rage against God”).

Our condolences go out to his family.

From those I follow on Twitter…

  • C Michael Patton: Christopher Hitchens died today. #verysad vnty.fr/vFD9TU Prayers are with his family and brother.
  • Lee Strobel: Feeling grief at Christopher Hitchens’ death. I was among many who shared Christ with him; so sad he rejected Gospel.
  • Douglas Wilson: How to think about the death of the outspoken atheist.
  • Albert Mohler: The point about Christopher Hitchens is not that he died of unbelief, but that his unbelief is all that matters now. Unspeakably sad.
  • Rick Warren: My friend Christopher Hitchens has died. I loved & prayed for him constantly & grieve his loss. He knows the Truth now.
  • Joe Fleener: Christopher Hitchens has died. Let’s pray for his family & those who he’s influenced that they may repent & trust Christ.
  • Larry Taunton: I am truly saddened to hear that my friend and debating opponent Christopher Hitchens has passed away. Our thoughts are with his family.
  • Hugh Hewitt: I am at a loss of what to say about Christopher Hitchens except that he was towards me and my audience unfailingly gracious –and dazzling.

A small book by Hitchens and friend Doug Wilson is available here:

What same-sex “marriage” has done to Massachusetts

Read all about it…

www.massresistance.org/docs/marriage/effects_of_ssm.html

The “Gaystapo” in Australia

Here.

In the past two days two prominent Labor personalities have come out crystal clear on the idiocy of Labor’s move to the loony left, and its subservience to the Greens on issues like same-sex marriage. Both have guts, common sense, and a strong moral compass. I just wish many more of our leaders – including church leaders – would be like this.

Yesterday in the Australian former heavyweight Labor leader Barry Cohen blasted his own party for their reckless direction and their dereliction of duty. The former Hawke Government minister pulled no punches when he stated that a “tsunami-sized backlash on same-sex marriage looms”.

and

He continued, “I believe that marriage is between a man and a woman – full-stop. Neither my first lady nor I will budge on this and we will vote accordingly. Why? Because we believe that marriage as now defined is the basis for family life and has been for thousands of years. We want it to remain so.

“We are told everyone has the ‘right’ to marry whomsoever they wish. In fact, the ‘progressives’, as they like to describe themselves, seem to believe that they have a ‘right’ to do whatever they wish. Rights apply only to them. Does anyone have a right to have sexual relations with a 13 year old? Not when I last looked. How about polygamy and four wives or husbands. Not now, but give the “progressives” time and I have no doubt it will be proclaimed as another ‘right’. We don’t want to discriminate, do we? I could continue to list many other examples, but I’m sure you discern my drift.

“Moving forwards, as the ‘progressives’ like to say, let us ponder for a moment how human rights will affect our education system. How long will it be before the ‘progressives’ insist sex education be expanded to incorporate the glories of homosexuality and how to imbibe safely. Some will say, ‘Oh, that’s going too far.’ Some will, but others will demand it.

“Imagine dad’s reaction when little Johnny describes in graphic detail what happened in his sex education class. Choke is the word that comes to mind. Once heterosexuality and homosexuality are considered ‘natural’, how can it be otherwise?”

and

All three individuals are of course coming under a huge and ugly attack by the militant gaystapo. One simply has to read the poisonous and hate-drenched comments under the Age article for example to see the real demonic rage which emanates from this camp.

So I encourage all of you to support these three courageous and principled individuals. They certainly need our support at this time. They deserve heaps of praise, especially considering that most of our church leaders and celebrity pastors are not saying a word on this. They ought to be ashamed of themselves.

Most of these leaders who claim to be Christians are far too concerned about raking in the praises of men (and raking in their members’ hard-earned bucks). They should be shouting from the roof tops and their pulpits what God’s design for human sexuality and marriage is all about.

Instead, most remain silent – deathly silent. They are gutless wonder who will face the music one day. As Alan Sears has written recently, “It doesn’t take courage to ride the wave of support for same-sex ‘marriage.’ It takes courage to stand against the surging tide.”

Well said !

See also Bill’s book: Strained Relations: The Challenge Of Homosexuality

Steve Jobs Changed the World: His Adoption a Gift to the World

Steve Jobs was a creative genius who changed the world with his visionary work. He was the founder of the revolutionary Apple Company that has changed the way we communicate forever. He must rank among the greatest industrial innovators the world has seen. His contribution to society is immense. Steve Jobs was born in 1955, his destiny and his ability to affect people globally, may never have happened.

Steve Jobs was born out of wedlock and adopted into a loving home by Clara and Paul Jobs. Today as we commemorate the passing of Steve Jobs we should remember with gratitude the heroic birth mother who in the face of possible pressure to terminate Steve’s life chose life. We should reflect with gratitude on his adoptive parents who provided Steve with a loving home and nurtured his outstanding talents. His life is a reminder of the value of every human being made in the image and likeness of our Creator, a unique and unrepeatable miracle of His loving creation sent into this world with a special plan to fulfill.

It is an appalling tragedy that in New Zealand nearly 18,000 unborn children each year have their lives terminated in our nation’s hospitals. They are deemed to be of little worth. How many of these children would have made an outstanding contribution to society if only they had been allowed to live. Each one of these children came with special gifts to enrich our society. We should in sorrow mourn our irreparable loss. In 2009 there were only 43 babies adopted in New Zealand i.e. one adoption for every 408 abortions. Why do we as a nation have such antipathy to adoption? Abortion, the killing of the child in the womb is part of a culture of death. Adoption the positive option is part of a culture of life, let us be inspired by the life of Steve Jobs and make the promotion of adoption a national priority.

Ken Orr
Spokesperson,
Right to Life New Zealand Inc.