Green Gaia
Veteran Member
One last claim we'll look at that Dr. Dobson and Focus on the Family makes about BGLT people: Gays and lesbians are sick, ungodly people who want special rights not civil rights.
The apostle Paul described a similar society in Romans 1, which addressed the epidemic of homosexuality that was rampant in the ancient world and especially in Rome at that time. He wrote, They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips, slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents; they are senseless, faithless, heartless, ruthless (v. 29-31, NIV). It appears likely now that the demise of families will accelerate this type of decline dramatically, resulting in a chaotic culture that will be devastating to children. - Dr. James Dobson, Focus on the Family Newsletter, April 2004 (mailed to over two million people and read on his March 24, 2004 radio broadcast).
Communities do not let prostitutes, pedophiles, voyeurs, adulterers, and those who sexually prefer animals to publicly celebrate their lifestyles, so why should homosexuals get such privileges? - James Dobsons War On America, Gil Alexander-Moegerle Prometheus Books, 1997.
Is it possible to be a totally healthy person who is also homosexual? NARTH did a very extensive study . . . and found everything from cigarette smoking, drug abuse, alcohol abuse, greater depression, anxiety, poor longterm relationships, sadomasochism, anonymous sexual encounters, lesbians are more unfaithful to their partners than heterosexual women . . . it goes on and on and on. - Dr. Joseph Nicolosi, Focus on the Familys Love Won Out conference, Oklahoma City, 2003.
Solid, irrefutable evidence proves that there are lethal consequences to engaging in the defining features of male homosexualitythat is, promiscuity. - Straight Answers, Exposing the Myths and Facts About Homosexuality, Focus on the Familys Love Won Out series, p. 12.
It is not glamorous or exciting. It is not thrilling or fulfilling. Instead, its lonely, confusing, and in the end, often leaves the individual hopeless and, in some cases, terminally ill. - Teaching Captivity, Focus on the Familys Love Won Out series, p. 3.
Scripture tells us that Satan is the great deceiver and the father of all lies. I believe that Satan uses the gay activist movement to further his goals here on Earth. Satan would love nothing more than to destroy the traditional family. And if our government redefines marriage to include same-sex relationships, I am certain Satan would be just delighted. So, I think, as believers we always have to differentiate between that homosexual individualwhom God loves so dearly and who is made in His imageand the gay activist movement, which I believe is a tool of Satan. - Dr. Bill Maier in an interview with Pete Winn, The Unhappy Truth About Being Gay, Focus on the Familys Citizenlink, July 16, 2004.
Slowly but surely, it seems the government is embracing this view and granting special rights to the homosexual community for what is behaviorally based identity rather than a true genetic one. - Ibid. p. 8.
What others, including other Christians, have to say:
Coretta Scott King
Congressman John Lewis (A young civil rights leader who was twentythree years old when he spoke at the 1963 March On Washington):
The apostle Paul described a similar society in Romans 1, which addressed the epidemic of homosexuality that was rampant in the ancient world and especially in Rome at that time. He wrote, They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips, slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents; they are senseless, faithless, heartless, ruthless (v. 29-31, NIV). It appears likely now that the demise of families will accelerate this type of decline dramatically, resulting in a chaotic culture that will be devastating to children. - Dr. James Dobson, Focus on the Family Newsletter, April 2004 (mailed to over two million people and read on his March 24, 2004 radio broadcast).
Communities do not let prostitutes, pedophiles, voyeurs, adulterers, and those who sexually prefer animals to publicly celebrate their lifestyles, so why should homosexuals get such privileges? - James Dobsons War On America, Gil Alexander-Moegerle Prometheus Books, 1997.
Is it possible to be a totally healthy person who is also homosexual? NARTH did a very extensive study . . . and found everything from cigarette smoking, drug abuse, alcohol abuse, greater depression, anxiety, poor longterm relationships, sadomasochism, anonymous sexual encounters, lesbians are more unfaithful to their partners than heterosexual women . . . it goes on and on and on. - Dr. Joseph Nicolosi, Focus on the Familys Love Won Out conference, Oklahoma City, 2003.
Solid, irrefutable evidence proves that there are lethal consequences to engaging in the defining features of male homosexualitythat is, promiscuity. - Straight Answers, Exposing the Myths and Facts About Homosexuality, Focus on the Familys Love Won Out series, p. 12.
It is not glamorous or exciting. It is not thrilling or fulfilling. Instead, its lonely, confusing, and in the end, often leaves the individual hopeless and, in some cases, terminally ill. - Teaching Captivity, Focus on the Familys Love Won Out series, p. 3.
Scripture tells us that Satan is the great deceiver and the father of all lies. I believe that Satan uses the gay activist movement to further his goals here on Earth. Satan would love nothing more than to destroy the traditional family. And if our government redefines marriage to include same-sex relationships, I am certain Satan would be just delighted. So, I think, as believers we always have to differentiate between that homosexual individualwhom God loves so dearly and who is made in His imageand the gay activist movement, which I believe is a tool of Satan. - Dr. Bill Maier in an interview with Pete Winn, The Unhappy Truth About Being Gay, Focus on the Familys Citizenlink, July 16, 2004.
Slowly but surely, it seems the government is embracing this view and granting special rights to the homosexual community for what is behaviorally based identity rather than a true genetic one. - Ibid. p. 8.
What others, including other Christians, have to say:
Coretta Scott King
I still hear people say that I should not be talking about the rights of lesbian and gay people and I should stick to the issue of racial justice . . . But I hasten to remind them that Martin Luther King, Jr., said, Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere . . . I appeal to everyone who believes in Martin Luther King, Jr.,s dream to make room at the table of brotherhood and sisterhood for lesbian and gay people. - Coretta Scott King, 25th anniversary luncheon for Lambda Defense and Education Fund, March 31, 1998
Gay and lesbian people have families, and their families should have legal protection, whether by marriage or civil union. A constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriages is a form of gay bashing, and it would do nothing at all to protect traditional marriages. - Coretta Scott King, speech at The Richard Stockton College of New Jersey, USA Today, March 24, 2004
We are all tied together in a single garment of destiny . . . I can never be what I ought to be until you are allowed to be what you ought to be, she said, quoting from her husband. Ive always felt that homophobic attitudes and policies were unjust and unworthy of a free society and must be opposed by all Americans who believe in democracy. - Coretta Scott King, 25th anniversary luncheon for Lambda Defense and Education Fund , quoted in the Chicago Sun Times, April 1, 1998
Gays and lesbians stood up for civil rights in Montgomery, Selma, in Albany, Georgia, and St. Augustine, Florida, and many other campaigns of the Civil Rights Movement. Many of these courageous men and women were fighting for my freedom at a time when they could find few voices for their own, and I salute their contributions. - Coretta Scott King, 25th anniversary luncheon for Lambda Defense and Education Fund, quoted in the Chicago Tribune, April 1, 1998
We have a lot of work to do in our common struggle against bigotry and discrimination. I say common struggle, because I believe very strongly that all forms of bigotry & discrimination are equally wrong and should be opposed by right-thinking Americans everywhere. Freedom from discrimination based on sexual orientation is surely a fundamental human right in any great democracy, as much as freedom from racial, religious, gender, or ethnic discrimination. - Coretta Scott King, Opening Plenary Session, 13th annual Creating Change conference of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, Atlanta, Georgia, November 9, 2000
We have to launch a campaign against homophobia in the black community. - Coretta Scott King, Reuters, June 8, 2001
Homophobia is like racism and anti-Semitism and other forms of bigotry in that it seeks to dehumanize a large group of people, to deny their humanity, their dignity and personhood. This sets the stage for further repression and violence that spread all too easily to victimize the next minority group. - Coretta Scott King, a speech at the Palmer Hilton Hotel, quoted in the Chicago Defender, April 1, 1998
Rev. Dr. James Lawson (A distinguished United Methodist pastor who worked with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., to train the young people who staged the lunch counter sit-ins and Freedom Rides):Gay and lesbian people have families, and their families should have legal protection, whether by marriage or civil union. A constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriages is a form of gay bashing, and it would do nothing at all to protect traditional marriages. - Coretta Scott King, speech at The Richard Stockton College of New Jersey, USA Today, March 24, 2004
We are all tied together in a single garment of destiny . . . I can never be what I ought to be until you are allowed to be what you ought to be, she said, quoting from her husband. Ive always felt that homophobic attitudes and policies were unjust and unworthy of a free society and must be opposed by all Americans who believe in democracy. - Coretta Scott King, 25th anniversary luncheon for Lambda Defense and Education Fund , quoted in the Chicago Sun Times, April 1, 1998
Gays and lesbians stood up for civil rights in Montgomery, Selma, in Albany, Georgia, and St. Augustine, Florida, and many other campaigns of the Civil Rights Movement. Many of these courageous men and women were fighting for my freedom at a time when they could find few voices for their own, and I salute their contributions. - Coretta Scott King, 25th anniversary luncheon for Lambda Defense and Education Fund, quoted in the Chicago Tribune, April 1, 1998
We have a lot of work to do in our common struggle against bigotry and discrimination. I say common struggle, because I believe very strongly that all forms of bigotry & discrimination are equally wrong and should be opposed by right-thinking Americans everywhere. Freedom from discrimination based on sexual orientation is surely a fundamental human right in any great democracy, as much as freedom from racial, religious, gender, or ethnic discrimination. - Coretta Scott King, Opening Plenary Session, 13th annual Creating Change conference of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, Atlanta, Georgia, November 9, 2000
We have to launch a campaign against homophobia in the black community. - Coretta Scott King, Reuters, June 8, 2001
Homophobia is like racism and anti-Semitism and other forms of bigotry in that it seeks to dehumanize a large group of people, to deny their humanity, their dignity and personhood. This sets the stage for further repression and violence that spread all too easily to victimize the next minority group. - Coretta Scott King, a speech at the Palmer Hilton Hotel, quoted in the Chicago Defender, April 1, 1998
Gays and lesbians have a more difficult time than we did. We had our families and our churches on our side. All too often, they have neither. -www.soulforce.org/clevelandmarch.html.
Rev. Dr. Lewis Smedes (Biblical scholar, teacher, and author for over fifty years):
I believe the Churchs treatment of homosexuality has become the greatest heresy in the history of the Church. Its living heresy, because its treating Gods children as if they werent Gods children. - Theres A Wideness In Gods Mercy, Rev. Dr. Lewis Smedes, Video on Romans 1, Soulforce, Inc.
Congressman John Lewis (A young civil rights leader who was twentythree years old when he spoke at the 1963 March On Washington):
We hurt our fellow citizens and our community when we deny gay people civil marriage and its protections and responsibilities. Rather than divide and discriminate, let us come together and create one nation. We are all one people. We all live in the American house. We are all the American family. Let us recognize that the gay people living in our house share the same hopes, troubles, and dreams. It is time we treated them as equals, as family. - www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2003/10/25/
at_a_crossroads_on_gay_unions/.
We cannot keep turning our backs on gay and lesbian Americans. I have fought too hard and too long against discrimination based on race and color not to stand up against discrimination based on sexual orientation. Ive heard the reasons for opposing civil marriage for same-sex couples. Cut through the distractions, and they stink of the same fear, hatred, and intolerance I have known in racism and in bigotry. - The Boston Globe, Nov. 25. 2003.
at_a_crossroads_on_gay_unions/.
We cannot keep turning our backs on gay and lesbian Americans. I have fought too hard and too long against discrimination based on race and color not to stand up against discrimination based on sexual orientation. Ive heard the reasons for opposing civil marriage for same-sex couples. Cut through the distractions, and they stink of the same fear, hatred, and intolerance I have known in racism and in bigotry. - The Boston Globe, Nov. 25. 2003.
