Family Research Council

After linking the Secret Service prostitution scandal to the end of the military’s Don’t Ask Don’t Tell policy, Family Research Council president Tony Perkins is doubling down on his anti-gay attacks by now launching a tirade against a student club at Norwich University in Vermont for organizing a Pride Week. A group of LGBT students and straight allies is planning to host “seminars on bullying, safe sex and HIV testing and discussions with veterans” along with a queer prom that will include speeches from Gov. Peter Shumlin and US Army Chief Warrant Officer Charlie Morgan. Student organizer Joshua Fontanez said that the week is meant to help create “a community here who will embrace you and love you and support you” in an interview with WCAX, whose news van was tagged with the word “Fags” while parked on campus.

Perkins, however, claimed in a radio message today that the Pride Week was all about the desire to throw a “party” for “a community that thinks promiscuity is something to celebrate.” Perkins also said that the Obama administration is “banning Christian speakers at military academies,” presumably referring to Jerry Boykin who decided to withdraw from a speaking engagement at West Point after his extremist anti-Muslim statements came to light.

Perkins: When students at Norwich University crowed their prom queen, something was missing. That something was a girl. Hello, I'm Tony Perkins of the Family Research Council in Washington, D.C. America's oldest private military academy says it prides itself on being unconventional--and last month's "gay prom" proved it. School officials said they wanted to have an "open dialogue" on homosexuality--but what they really had was a party. Unfortunately, this is America's new military. When the President wanted to overturn "Don't Ask, Don't Tell," he didn't talk about flying rainbow flags at Afghan bases or asking chaplains to perform gay "weddings." He didn't mention banning Christian speakers at military academies, tearing down crosses at Camp Pendleton, or pulling Scripture out of Army curriculum. What he said was it's time to let homosexuals be true to who they are. And who they are is a community that thinks promiscuity is something to celebrate. Norwich's "free love dance" and "condom Olympics" aren't tolerance. They're deviance. And a school of young, strong cadets deserve better.

With anti-gay organizations like the American Family Association, Concerned Women for America and Liberty Counsel urging students to walkout of schools on April 20th to protest the Day of Silence, a day when students in many schools remain silent to draw attention to anti-gay bias and bullying, the Family Research Council is now endorsing one Connecticut pastor’s efforts to have the school prohibit any student from participating in the Day of Silence.

According to the New Haven Register, Loomer’s campaign is based on material from rabidly anti-gay activist Linda Harvey of Mission America, along with debunked claims that the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network, which spearheads the Day of Silence, distributes pornographic material to children, pastor James Loomer of Milford is trying to convince his local school board to forbid students from partaking in the event. However, the school board’s own legal counsel and the American Civil Liberties Union notes that students have a right to participate in the Day of Silence during non-instructional time.

But Loomer’s unconstitutional and anti-gay ploy was rewarded with an interview on FRC president Tony Perkins’ radio show Washington Watch Weekly, where Loomer said that “parents will be so appalled at what the Day of Silence could lead their children into” and Perkins noted that while he opposed bullying, he also opposed anti-bullying efforts like the Day of Silence because it is “cover for the promotion of homosexuality” and commended Loomer’s efforts to ban it.

Loomer: If the board decides they don’t want to take any corrective actions we’re already making plans to call the city families together and just apprise them of the situation. I think the parents will be so appalled at what the Day of Silence could lead their children into that they’re going to want to stand up and say, ‘let’s get rid of this.’ There are alternative programs that focus on disrupting the bullying that goes on in schools but this is one that’s got a serious kickback to it.

…

Perkins: Look, bullying should not be taking place in our schools, every child in America should be able to go to school—public school, private school, wherever—without the fear of threat or being intimidated, regardless of what the cause is, whether they’re overweight, whether their religious viewpoints, no child should be bullied because they are effeminate or because of their sexual orientation or whatever, it shouldn’t happen, but we cannot allow these programs like the Day of Silence to come into our schools as a cover for the promotion of homosexuality. That’s what is happening with this so we appreciate Pastor Loomer and others who are drawing attention to this in communities across the country.

With Rick Santorum suspending his presidential campaign, far-right activists lauded Santorum for pushing his fellow Republicans to the right, particularly on social issues.

Family Research Council president Tony Perkins, who did not officially endorse Santorum but clearly favored his candidacy, applauded Santorum’s “message of faith, family and freedom”:

"Rick Santorum's historic run for president achieved remarkable success because his campaign was based not on money spent but on the message of faith, family and freedom that he carried. I commend his courage, boldness and tenacity in fighting for the values that made America great, and are fundamental to returning America to greatness.

"Millions of voters flocked to Rick not because he was a Republican, but because he passionately articulated the connection between America 's financial greatness and its moral and cultural wholeness. He realizes that real problem-solving starts with an understanding that the economy and the family are indivisible.

"This values message generated enthusiasm and drew many new voters into the process. If the Republican establishment hopes to generate this same voter intensity in the fall elections, Santorum voters must see it demonstrate a genuine and solid commitment to the core values issues," concluded Perkins.

Marjorie Dannenfelser of Susan B. Anthony List, who organized a bus tour on Santorum’s behalf, said:

“With great vision and passion, Rick Santorum reached the hearts of pro-life voters and allowed them to show the strength of their voting bloc,” said Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of SBA List. “The Susan B. Anthony List is proud to have mobilized those key voters.”

“Pro-life voters are a consistent and growing constituency, who proved invaluable to Senator Santorum in state after state throughout the primary elections. We will continue to reach out and mobilize those voters and millions more like them across the country. The political muscle of the pro-life movement will be critical to defeating President Obama in November.” Others were more plain in their disappointment.

Right-wing radio host Steve Deace tweeted that it is “time for a slate of new blood after Obamney loses in November,” and anti-gay activist Peter LaBarbera lamented that the Republican Party is “stuck” with the “pro-homosexual” Mitt Romney.

Conservative luminary Richard Viguerie, who yesterday made clear that he will never consider Romney a bona fide conservative, today urged Romney to pick a conservative running mate, but is disappointed in the current crop of potential candidates:

The demand that there must be some conservative vs. moderate balance on the Republican ticket is already starting to lead the media to engage in some comical contortions as various establishment commentators try to bend their favorite Republican elected official’s record and views to be conservative enough to place a Romney led ticket in the conservative camp if their favored candidate is picked.

The problem with this exercise is that by-and-large the names offered are either not movement conservatives or they are not yet power players in national politics with a strong movement conservative constituency of their own.

Chris Christie, Paul Ryan, Bob McDonnell, Nikki Haley, Susana Martinez and the rest of the names floated by the inside-the-Beltway pundits all have their good qualities – but none has established their conservative bona fides by being tested on the national scene and none brings a strong base in the conservative movement to add real grassroots conservative credibility to a Romney led ticket.

Viguerie also warned that Romney’s attacks on Santorum may hurt him with the conservative base:

To date Mitt Romney has spent some $100 million to drive the conservative candidates from the field, in some case through vicious personal attacks. However, he has spent little effort making the case for his own candidacy to grassroots movement conservatives.

The first great challenge facing Republicans is whether or not Mitt Romney can heal the wounds created by his negative campaigning.

The grassroots movement conservative voters who powered the Santorum campaign can not be taken for granted. During the 2006 congressional elections some 4 million conservative voters stayed home, producing one of the biggest defeats for the Republican Party in the modern era.

The next step is up to Mitt Romney. Romney is seriously behind with committed conservative voters, to catch up he must make the case that he merits the support of movement conservatives and that a Romney administration, if elected, can and will produce conservative government.

UPDATE: Gary Bauer of the Campaign for Working Families and a prominent Santorum supporter said his candidacy “will contribute to the end of the Obama Administration this November,” and Richard Land of the Southern Baptist Convention claimed Santorum successfully “resurrected himself once again as a major political figure in our nation” through his role “in the most important election in our nation since 1860.”

Another Santorum booster, Concerned Women for America CEO Penny Nance, urged Romney to “reach out to conservative women since they are the ones who get on the phones and do tons of volunteer work,” and on a similar note Liberty Counsel chairman Mathew Staver, who backed Newt Gingrich, said Romney has “to make some intentional steps to reach out to evangelicals and religious conservatives,” adding that “it would be a mistake to assume he has every vote from evangelicals and religious conservatives locked up.”

However, Michael Farris of the Home School Legal Defense Association and Patrick Henry College, who signed a letter of far-right leaders who described a Romney nomination as a “disastrous mistake,” told CNN that he may not back Romney in the general election:

Evangelical activist Michael Farris was not exactly surprised that Rick Santorum suspended his campaign on Tuesday. But that doesn’t mean that Farris, a longtime political organizer, knows what he’s supposed to do now.

“Right now my choice is to sit on my hands and do nothing or to actively try to find some alternative” to Mitt Romney, Farris said in an interview shortly after Santorum's announcement.

“Some of us just have a hard time supporting a person who said he was going to be more liberal on gay rights than Ted Kennedy,” said Farris, chairman of the Home School Legal Defense Association, referring to remarks Romney made in a 1994 letter.

Farris’ reaction is a stark emblem of the disappointment among religious conservatives over Santorum's announcement, and a reminder that Romney’s enthusiasm deficit among the conservative evangelicals who form the GOP’s base hasn’t gone away.

Family Research Council vice president Tom McClusky yesterday appeared on The Janet Mefferd Show to discuss a Politico article on how same-sex marriage has become “virtually a dead issue” among the senior brass of the Republican Party. McClusky denied concerns that opposing marriage equality will make the GOP more unpopular by arguing that polls which show growing support for legalizing same-sex marriage are “skewered” [sic] because people are likely lying in opinion surveys out of fear that they would be criticized for revealing their true views to pollsters. “The other side is taking up the cause of bullying and it’s kind of ironic because they’ve really mastered the art of bullying,” McClusky argued, saying that gay rights supporters are trying to “silence” groups like the FRC:

McClusky pushed back against Republican politicians who wanted to prioritize economic issues over social ones, warning that society will “crumble” if same-sex marriage becomes legal:

Mefferd: Ultimately, why do you think this is an issue worth fighting for even if they dub it in the media as a losing issue, the gay marriage issue, why is it worth fighting for?

McClusky: Even more so than the economic issue this is a generational issue. I look at my nieces and nephews, I look at my wife and the children that we hope to have and I understand what would happen to society if marriage were to go away or to be redefined out of existence. Societies that try to do away with marriage, they crumble, they fall apart. We need to emphasize more on the family and without that fight the U.S. will just not be the U.S. anymore.

Mefferd: I unfortunately agree with you on that.

He even floated the creation of a third party composed of disgruntled conservative Republicans and black and Hispanic Democrats who would come together in opposition to gay rights and abortion rights:

Mefferd: If the GOP continues to go in a direction where they will not get on the side of traditional marriage and be willing to fight for it, what do Christians do?

McClusky: I think you will—there are always threats of a third party—I think if something like that were to happen you would see a third party. It would be made up of more than just disgruntled conservative Republicans. On the marriage issue there’s African Americans who normally vote Democratic, there’s Hispanics, and the same on the life issue, and there are a lot of good Democrats like say in the state legislature of New York who fought against same-sex marriage and Maryland who tried to, I think what you see is a lot of people drifting from both parties into a third party or some sort of independent party that is more pro-life and pro-marriage.

The Family Research Council is predictably enraged that gay rights advocates are encouraging businesses and organizations not to partner with a t-shirt company that refused to print t-shirts for a pride festival, since “homosexuals will not be satisfied until they compel us to either spread their perversion or promote it”:

A Kentucky company called "Hands On" wishes liberals would keep their "hands off!" On Monday, homosexuals filed a complaint with the Lexington Human Rights Commission because the business turned down a request to print t-shirts for a gay pride parade. Co-owner Blain Adamson declined, saying Hands On is a Christian company, and as such, it is their "prerogative to refuse any order that would endorse positions that conflict with the convictions of the ownership." Now that the local commission insists on investigating, even the Lexington school district is putting a hold on all of its purchases. According to the commission, Hands On could be in violation of the city's anti-discrimination policy because it deals in "goods and services to the public."

But just because it sells to the public doesn't mean it has to surrender its private views. Like any business, Hands On has the freedom to establish its own criteria of conduct and conscience. The same applies whether the clients are Planned Parenthood, the Ku Klux Klan, or baby seal hunters. And in this instance, the Adamsons' Christian beliefs aren't the only thing opposed to the homosexual agenda. So is Kentucky law. Neither civil unions nor homosexual "marriage" are recognized by the state.

Not surprisingly, the Left still insists that personal morality take a backseat to its radical agenda. Whether it's a t-shirt company, wedding photographer, or the church, homosexuals will not be satisfied until they compel us to either spread their perversion or promote it. Unfortunately for these activists, the Constitution doesn't award its rights on the basis of political correctness. And until that changes, Blain Adamson has as much freedom to reject homosexuality as his customers do to endorse it.

Indeed, the Family Research Council’s brave stance against boycott campaigns and defense of the t-shirt company’s “freedom to establish its own criteria of conduct and conscience” would make more sense if the FRC itself wasn’t leading boycott campaigns of its own against the Girl Scouts. Tony Perkins of the FRC himself encouraged people to stop purchasing Girl Scout cookies and signing their children up to become members because of the group’s alleged ties to Planned Parenthood:

Someone else has their hand in the Girl Scouts cookie jar--and it's not who think. Hello, I'm Tony Perkins of the Family Research Council in Washington, D.C. There are plenty of politics behind that box of Thin Mints, and you should know what they are before you go buying one. As sweet as the girls are, a lot of that cookie dough goes to straight to the group's political agenda. When they aren't partnering with Planned Parenthood, they're promoting sexual "diversity." Last year, the Girl Scouts decided to admit boys who dress as girls--which shouldn't come as a surprise, says FRC's Cathy Ruse, since they have a cross-dresser in their front office. And that's not all. "Earlier this month, a Girl Scout Employee... made the mistake of stopping by the office to do extra work on her own time in a T-shirt [that said] 'Pray to End Abortion.' A supervisor ordered her to turn the shirt inside out or leave the office. She left, for good." So, says Cathy Ruse, should we all.

The group even asked for prayers calling on the Girl Scouts to repent, gloating that because of the boycott against the Girl Scouts “their cookie sales are suffering.”

The FRC also backed boycotts of McDonalds and Wal-Mart for their ties to the Gay & Lesbian Chamber of Commerce, and is now encouraging people to boycott Starbucks for supporting a marriage equality bill.

Essentially, the FRC believes it is absolutely improper and appalling for gay rights advocates to lead a boycott of a company over policies they find discriminatory and offensive, but when it comes to the FRC’s boycotts against the Girl Scouts, McDonalds, Wal-Mart and Starbucks then boycotts are perfectly acceptable.

Pierre Bynum, the Family Research Council’s National Prayer Director, is asking members to pray to “reverse laws and regulations that promote and reward homosexual practice.” The FRC, which said a State Department initiative to prevent anti-LGBT violence abroad was “exporting homosexuality by extortion,” criticized USAID for a policy which “strongly encourages” contractors to prohibit job discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation. Furthermore, the FRC asked for prayers against a decision by the Obama administration to ask Blue Cross Blue Shield to provide full benefits for a federal employee’s same-sex spouse following a ruling by a judge which found that the Defense of Marriage Act is unconstitutional. “It is not too late for God to reverse the momentum of the homosexual movement in America,” Bynum writes.

Homosexual Tyranny, Bureaucracy Style - Despite the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), which President Obama and the Justice Department have chosen to ignore, Federal agencies are now promoting same-sex partner benefits for those legally united and otherwise. Benefits are not being provided to opposite-sex unmarried partners. This month, the Office of Personnel Management authorized BlueCross BlueShield to give health benefits to the lesbian "wife" of a female government lawyer, following a District Court ruling DOMA unconstitutional.

We know that the State Department is promoting homosexuality overseas. Now the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) has sent World Vision a letter saying a new federal policy "'strongly encourages' all contractors to develop anti-discrimination policies covering employees' sexual orientation." It is not too late for God to reverse the momentum of the homosexual movement in America.

May God-fearing politicians, unintimidated by homosexual activists, speak truth with wisdom regarding homosexuality and its impact upon children, families and society! May God raise up leaders who will reverse laws and regulations that promote and reward homosexual practice (Ex 18:21; 2 Kg 22:1-23:28; Eze 33:7-9; Heb 13:4, 6; Acts 6:9-13, 51-60; Jude 7).

Kirk Cameron appeared on Washington Watch Weekly with Tony Perkins of the Family Research Council today to promote “Monumental,” where he praised the conservative movement and warned that Americans are forgetting the ideas of their forefathers. Just as Cameron told David Barton and Rick Green on WallBuilders Live that people must either choose whether they believe in God or put their “faith in the idea that we all from evolved from slime,” Cameron warned that “the anti-Christian agenda” wants to trick people into thinking they are “evolved amoeba” in order for them to lose their religious faith and liberty.

Cameron: The bottom line is we have so enjoyed sitting in the shade of the trees planted by our forefathers that we have gotten lazy, we’re sitting under the tree, enjoying the shade, and we’re not planting their seed with our children. That’s beginning to change, thank God, I love seeing the homeschool movement, I love seeing these conservative movements and the gospel being proclaimed boldly and fearlessly, not just in America but around the world. And then there’s an agenda to want to cut us off from our past, there are those who want to hide the past and our Christian heritage and if you can do so people lose their identity and they are looking for a new identity. If the anti-Christian agenda will say, ‘here’s your identity, you’re an evolved amoeba who ought to just go do whatever you want and don’t let anybody tell you different.’ Then they can get you to throw your faith, your character, your courage, and your liberty right out the window.

Prior to their interview with Senator James Inhofe (R-OK), who is promoting his new book on how science—and the Bible—expose the “Global Warming Hoax,” American Family Association president Tim Wildmon said efforts to combat human influence on climate change are led by “anti-capitalist, anti-American, anti-Christian” activists from “the Occupy wall Street crowd.” Cohost Tony Perkins, head of the Family Research Council, also dubbed them “anti-child.”

Perkins: We are abdicating our national sovereignty to the UN under some of these treaties on climate change, and it’s very troubling when you begin to see the entire agenda, Tim, that’s behind this global warming.

Wildmon: Yeah, I think what’s behind it is, and Senator Inhofe writes about this, it’s the people like the Occupy Wall Street crowd, it’s that kind of mentality. It’s anti-capitalist, anti-American, anti-Christian.

Perkins: It’s anti-child too.

Wildmon: Anti-child. I think quite frankly they are wanting to use the global warming scare, which has basically petered out with the American people, they’re not buying it anymore, people really aren’t talking about it that much anymore. Now those who are committed to their cause are and they are continuing to fight on Capitol Hill but most of the American people I think today don’t buy it anymore. But they are using this scare, globally, to try to control, as you say Tony and as Senator Inhofe says, to control America.

Such claims are nothing new from the Religious Right, and they even made an entire “documentary” explaining how environmental protection is “anti-Christian”:

Washington is aggressively moving to silence the influence and freedom of Christians in every sphere of society. Churches and ministries, charities, Christian bookstores, radio and television stations, Christian businesses will face coercion—censorship—silencing—denial of licenses—even being shut down.

 

Why? Because the Obama Left has made it clear they have a goal: marginalize Christianity, make it irrelevant and powerless to influence morality, the role of the family, and the course of our nation. And as the role of the Church is diminished—expand the federal bureaucracy.

 

They want to replace the effective work of churches and charities and essentially replace them with government programs—more constly, less effective programs.

 

They want to get religion out of the equation and make America utterly unrecognizable as a nation founded upon Christian principles. There is an unprecedented ideology of hostility toward the Christian religion in Washington today.

 

….

One prominent church leader has said, “what war and disease cannot do to the congregation, the government of the United States will. It will shut them down.”