Category Archives: Traditional Marriage

May 2015 Newsletter

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Indiana RFRA Pits the Sexual Revolution against Christianity

In an April 21, 2015 speech in the Hillsdale¹ College Center for Constitutional Studies and Citizenship in Washington, D.C., David French outlined and expanded upon four critical truths that were obvious in the attack on the Indiana Religious Freedom Restoration Act. They are:

1. The battle is not between gay rights and religious liberty – although religious liberty is certainly at stake – but between the sexual revolution and Christianity itself.
2. Not a single orthodox denomination is making or even contemplating such changes, meaning tens of millions of Americans will remain – indefinitely – opposed to the continued expansion of the sexual revolution.
3. Cultural conservatism is showing increasing strength at the grassroots.
4. Conservative grassroots and conservative public intellectuals are united. There is no wavering among America’s most influential conservative writers and thinkers.

Conservative Muscle: Observations by Mr. French

  • Cultural conservatives answered the Left’s attempted Chick-fil-A boycott with a “buycott” that swamped stores nationwide, even causing some to run out of food for customers eager to show support for a beloved restaurant, owned by people who share their moral principles.
  • Leftist pressure against Hobby Lobby failed. Customers were either supportive of the owners or indifferent to politics, and boycotts had no effect on Hobby Lobby’s bottom line or its willingness to fight. Not only did Hobby Lobby win its Supreme Court case, its owners are set to open a massive new Museum of the Bible near the National Mall.
  • Efforts to drive Phil Robertson – of Duck Dynasty fame – off the air after controversial comments on sexual morality failed, giving cultural conservatives a victory in a medium (cable television) seen as almost uniformly hostile to orthodox Christianity. While Robertson has remained a polarizing figure (and often says things that make many of his supporters uncomfortable), there has been no serious repeat efforts to remove him from the air.
  • In Houston, leftist government officials were forced to backtrack within days after issuing subpoenas requiring area pastors to turn over the contents of their sermons and other communications. The public outcry was so swift and so great that the city capitulated even before a judge could rule on motions to quash.
  • Even in Indiana, as Republican politicians quickly caved to corporate and media pressure, the grassroots response in support of Memories Pizza soon swamped the Left. A GoFundMe (sic) account set up to support the owners raised more than $800,000 in small donations in a matter of days (including over $200,000 in one day), putting the pizza restaurant in a far superior financial position than it had enjoyed before the controversy. The message was clear: Cultural conservatives are not, in fact, culturally isolated but rather have the support of millions of Americans who oppose leftist bullying.

¹ “The Battle of Indiana and the Promise of Battles to Come,” by David French, Imprimis April 2015, Hillsdale College Reprinted by permission from Imprimis, a publication of Hillsdale College.

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May 15, 2015 Radio Commentary

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Marriage in Georgia & Elsewhere

Radio Commentary, 90.7, 91.7 New Life FM, May 15, 2015 – By Sue Ella Deadwyler

Because natural marriage was under attack nineteen years ago, Georgia Congressman Bob Barr (R) authored the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) and introduced it in the U.S. House of Representatives; Oklahoma Senator Don Nickles (R) introduced it in the Senate; Congress passed it with veto-proof margins and Democrat President Bill Clinton signed it. Therefore, since September 21, 1996 federal law has defined marriage as the legal union of one man and one woman and spouse as a “person of the opposite sex who is a husband or a wife.” But on June 26, 2013, the Supreme Court struck down Section 3 of DOMA.

Before 1996, Georgia law simply defined marriage as “an actual contract,” without explaining who could enter the contract. So, the Georgia General Assembly passed a bill in 1996 to clarify who could marry whom. As Governor Zell Miller signed it into law, he said, “H.B. 1580 defines marriage in Georgia as the union between a man and a woman. Further, the bill forbids the issuance of a marriage license to persons of the same sex or for the state of Georgia to recognize marriage licenses from other states which do not meet Georgia’s definition of marriage.”

Eight years later in 2004, the Georgia General Assembly passed S.R. 595 to amend the State Constitution with the language of the law and 72.6 percent of voters passed it on the 2004 General Election ballot. But, here we are eleven years later, facing nation-wide campaigns to redefine marriage, although the majority of voters always support natural marriage. Continue reading →

August 1, 2014 Radio Commentary

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Marriage

Radio Commentary, 90.7, 91.7 New Life FM, August 1, 2014 – By Sue Ella Deadwyler

Until now, the United States has never had a president who would give foreign aid only to nations agreeing to promote homosexuality.  Never in history has a U.S. secretary of state announced to her staff, “It’s okay to be gay,” but a recent secretary of state used her “stately” role to say just that.  Never has there been a U.S. tax-payer-funded refugee center, specifically, for foreigners claiming variant sexual orientations, but there’s one in Chicago now.

Never have so many decisions of voters been reversed by unauthorized officials posing as law-makers!  Now, almost routinely, judges abandon their duty to determine the constitutionality of laws.  Instead, they assume a legislative role to drastically transform U.S. culture.  Their current over-ride of voters in the redefinition of marriage portends a deathblow to cultural stability. Continue reading →

June 27, 2014 Radio Commentary

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Marriage Under Attack

Radio Commentary, 90.7, 91.7 New Life FM, June 27, 2014 – By Sue Ella Deadwyler

Good morning, Jim.  June used to be the month for brides, but for the last few years the administration has proclaimed it LGBT Pride Month to support alternate lifestyles.  Such efforts intensified after the Supreme Court struck down part of the Defense of Marriage Act, which was not defended by the attorney general.

Currently, every state in the union has been sued to overturn bans on same-sex marriage.  The last state sued was North Dakota on June 6, 2014, the same day a federal judge overturned Wisconsin’s ban against same-sex marriage.  On June 25th, the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver, Colorado ruled against Utah’s ban on same-sex marriage and so did a U.S. district judge in Indiana, where 50 marriage licenses were issued by mid-afternoon, with hundreds waiting in line for a license.  Reportedly, 19 states and the District of Columbia allow same-sex marriage; 71 lawsuits have been filed to overturn bans in 31 states or territories; and the Freedom to Marry movement claims victory for over-turning marriage laws in six states – Hawaii, New Jersey, New Mexico, Illinois, Oregon and Pennsylvania.

This is the situation in Georgia.  The 2004 Georgia General Assembly passed a proposed constitutional amendment recognizing marriage only as the union of man and woman and prohibiting the recognition of such unions performed elsewhere.  It passed the House 122-52, two over the required two-thirds vote for proposed constitutional amendments.  The Senate vote of 40-14, also, surpassed the two-thirds requirement, and voters ratified it by a simple majority on the November 2004 ballot.  Continue reading →