Illinois

Last month, anti-gay groups in Illinois formed the Coalition to Protect Children and Marriage to oppose impending legislation to legalize same-sex marriage in the state. Coalition leader Paul Caprio of Family-PAC spoke to Sandy Rios today and warned that the gay rights bill will cause more children to go into foster care and seek state assistance. He even pointed to the city of Chicago’s murder rate as a reason to oppose marriage equality.

Listen: 

We think it’s important that we block this in the state of Illinois. We know that there have been several referendums recently in other more progressive states, frankly more liberal states, where this has passed by narrow margins, but we feel that it’s very important to stand up. You know, it’s interesting, when you stop to think about it what should the interest of the state be relative to the issue of marriage? The state, more than anyone, should be looking at marriage in terms of protection of children if for no other reason that if children are not protected, and children need foster care or they need DCF [Department for Children and Families] assistance, it costs the state so much more money. Just looking at it from the point of view from the state, not the point of view that we look at things from, including the moral perspective of this issue, but it’s really interesting when you stop to think about it. Chicago, it was announced yesterday, is murder capital of the United States: 506 murders. We have the second highest unwed—or children out of wedlock birth rate, of any major city in the United States, right behind Detroit. All of these things are for reasons and one of the major reasons is the breakdown and the lack of a stable family for children.

Americans for Legal Immigration PAC (ALIPAC) is urging activists to contact members of the Illinois State Senate to oppose legislation that will allow undocumented immigrants to obtain drivers licenses. But ALIPAC’s strategy may not be the best, as it is telling members to “yell” at Illinois officials and begin “asking them if they have lost their minds.” “Be careful with your wording and be prepared for a liberal illegal alien supporter to claim you were too threatening,” the group noted. Maybe this isn’t so much a surprise from a group whose head floated the possibility of armed revolution and an anti-Obama coup.

You need to yell at these politicians today before they do something stupid The Illinois State Senate is poised to pass a bill granting a new form of drivers' licenses to approximately 250,000 illegal aliens!

77% of American adults are opposed to making drivers' licenses available to people who are in the country illegally, according to Rasmussen polls conducted in November of 2007. A local group called Safer Families Coalition is protesting at the Illinois legislature today against this bill and they need our support.

Regular calls are not enough. We need you to make emphatic calls, raise your voice a little, don't go over the top, but start calling as many of these numbers and asking them if they have lost their minds. Call as many as you can to make a big impact today!

Sample messages

"Have Illinois state lawmakers lost their minds? Why in the world would you even be considering a bill that does something 77% of Americans oppose like giving aid and licenses to illegal aliens? Why are you focused on helping illegal aliens instead of helping the Americans you are supposed to serve?"

"I just read that you are considering a bill to give licenses to illegal aliens, is that true? I want to know if Senator _________ supports giving licenses to illegal aliens to help them work jobs it is illegal for them to steal from Americans? What other taxpayer benefits for illegal aliens does Senator _____ support? Is Senator _____ aware that three out of four of his/her constituents oppose licenses for illegal aliens?"

We need to really let them have it today. By this afternoon, we need the Illinois Senate offices grumbling and complaining about the large volume of angry calls they received opposing licenses for illegal aliens.

Be careful with your wording and be prepared for a liberal illegal alien supporter to claim you were too threatening.

UPDATE: Apparently all that yelling did not work, as the State Senate approved the measure by a 41-14 vote, making ALIPAC even angrier:

GOP lawmakers in Illinois caved. The biased media and Associated Press are using two major lies to advance the invasion. They are making the false claim that most Americans support a path to citizenship for illegals to justify giving illegals licenses. We know from accurate polling data that at least 66% of Americans wisely oppose a path to citizenship for illegals and more than 77% oppose licenses for illegal aliens.

The other thing that is allowing the invasion to succeed is American apathy and those who failed to take just a few minutes to call the Illinois Senate yesterday despite the best efforts of those of us who were fighting contributed to the loss.

We need all of you to pick up the nearest phone RIGHT NOW and click on this link to pull up the contact numbers for the IL State House...

Make a commitment to call a minimum of 5 numbers at random. Call more if you can spare the time.

Call and tell staff or leave voice messages modeled after our sample message....

"I just heard the ridiculous news that the IL Senate is trying to give licenses to illegal aliens even though 77% of your constituents oppose such a measure. Please argue against and defeat this bill to give licenses to illegal aliens. Giving licenses to illegal aliens will help them to break other laws, take American jobs, take taxpayer resources all to remain in the US unlawfully. Don't let Illinois become the first state in America to grant licenses to illegal aliens when 46 other states have all acted to STOP illegals from getting licenses!"

Peter LaBarbera of Americans for Truth about Homosexuality joined the American Family Association’s Sandy Rios yesterday to discuss a lawsuit in Illinois challenging the state’s ban on same-sex marriage and the decision by the Boy Scouts of America to reaffirm their anti-gay policy. LaBarbera said that gay rights advocates are just like a school bully, and “like the little weakling in school who keeps giving up his lunch, we keep giving up our lunch to the bully and the bully is getting stronger and bolder and more vicious.” He warned that if Americans do not push back against “the homosexual lobby” then “they will run right over the country,” and praised the Boy Scouts of America for refusing to “cave into this latest pressure campaign by the homosexual lobby” and standing “with the silent majority.”

LaBarbera: With the homosexual movement, if you don’t stand up to the bully, you encourage the bully and what’s happening is America is caving into the bully. Like the little weakling in school who keeps giving up his lunch, we keep giving up our lunch to the bully and the bully is getting stronger and bolder and more vicious. We’ve got to stand up to the homosexual lobby, if we don’t they will run right over this country.

Rios: I know that that’s true, sad but true. Peter, we had some good news this week…I want your thoughts about the Boy Scouts holding firm on their resolution not to allow homosexual Boy Scouts or leaders, your thoughts about that?

LaBarbera: Yes, Sandy, it’s great news. The Boy Scouts didn’t cave into the bully, they stood with the silent majority who are with them and they refused to cave into this latest pressure campaign by the homosexual lobby, which by the way Sandy, included a high profile executive with Ernst & Young, a guy named Jim Turley, who was on the Scout executive board and he also tried to pressure the Scouts into going pro-homosexual and thank God they stood strong and they reaffirmed their longstanding policy.

Bishop Daniel R. Jenky of the Catholic diocese of Peoria, Illinois, likened President Obama to Adolf Hilter and Joseph Stalin, along with past French Prime Minister Georges Clemenceau and German chancellor Otto von Bismarck, on Sunday while condemning Obama’s “radical, pro-abortion and extreme secularist agenda.” He said that Catholics in America are in a “war” as a result of the administration’s mandate for religiously-based institutions to cover contraceptives, and compared politicians who back the mandate to Judas Iscariot.

Listen:

For 2,000 years the enemies of Christ have certainly tried their best. But think about it. The Church survived and even flourished during centuries of terrible persecution, during the days of the Roman Empire.

The Church survived barbarian invasions. The Church survived wave after wave of Jihads. The Church survived the age of revolution. The Church survived Nazism and Communism. And in the power of the resurrection, the Church will survive the hatred of Hollywood, the malice of the media, and the mendacious wickedness of the abortion industry.

The Church will survive the entrenched corruption and sheer incompetence of our Illinois state government, and even the calculated disdain of the President of the United States, his appointed bureaucrats in HHS, and of the current majority of the federal Senate.

May God have mercy especially on the souls of those politicians who pretend to be Catholic in church, but in their public lives, rather like Judas Iscariot, betray Jesus Christ by how they vote and how they willingly cooperate with intrinsic evil.

As Christians we must love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us, but as Christians we must also stand up for what we believe and be ready to fight to defend our faith. The days in which we live now require heroic Catholicism, not casual Catholicism. We can no longer be Catholics by accident, but instead be Catholics by conviction.

In our own families, in our parishes, where we live and where we work – like that very first apostolic generation – we must be bold witnesses to the Lordship of Jesus Christ. We must be a fearless army of Catholic men, ready to give everything we have for the Lord, who gave everything for our salvation.

Remember that in past history other governments have tried to force Christians to huddle and hide only within the confines of their churches like those first disciples before the Resurrection locked together in the Upper Room.

In the late 19th century, Bismark waged his “Kulturkamf,” a culture war against the Roman Catholic Church, closing down every Catholic school and hospital, convent and monastery in Imperial Germany. Clemenceau, nicknamed “the priest eater,” tried the same thing in France in the first decade of the 20th Century.

Hitler and Stalin, at their better moments, would just barely tolerate some churches remaining open, but would not tolerate any competition with the state in education, social services, and health care.

In clear violation of our First Amendment rights, President Obama – with his radical, pro-abortion and extreme secularist agenda, now seems intent on following a similar path.

Now things have come to such a pass in our beloved country that this is a battle that we could lose, but before the awesome judgement seat of Almighty God this is not a war where any believing Catholic may remain neutral.

After bowing out of the presidential campaign, Sarah Palin will now keynote a conference at Liberty University for a Christian women’s conference. Palin, the professional Fox News commentator and speaker, previously headlined events for anti-abortion groups including one gathering with Planned Parenthood smear artist Lila Rose:

A sell-out crowd of over 10,000 women are expected to pack the Liberty University Vines Center and Thomas Road Baptist Church facilities this weekend, October 7-8, for the annual Central Virginia Extraordinary Women (EW) Conference, with special featured guest Governor Sarah Palin! Thousands of women will also be joining live via simulcast at churches all over America and Canada.

"This is shaping up to be one of the most electrifying and meaningful conferences we have ever had," said Julie Clinton, EW Host and President.

An explosive national Christian women's movement, EW exists "To help women draw closer to the heart of God" everyday. The 2011 Extraordinary Women "Everlasting Hope" tour also includes New York Times best-selling authors Lysa TerKeurst and Donna VanLiere, and noted Bible teachers Jennifer Rothschild and Carol Kent, along with inspiring music from awarding-winning Christian artists, Michael O'Brien, Meredith Andrews, Jeremy Camp, and Female Vocalist of the Year, Francesca Battistelli. Filled with times of praise and worship, biblical teaching and entertainment, "This conference is our way to encourage and inspire the hearts of women," Clinton said.

The pace only picks up for the Extraordinary Women movement (www.ewomen.net), with events planned for later this fall in Fort Wayne, Indiana, Tupelo Mississippi, and Rockford, Illinois. Thirteen more major arena events are already slated and planned for 2012.

You have to give credit to Laurie Higgins and the Illinois Family Institute for coming up with a truly unique rationale for opposing the repeal of Don't Ask, Don't Tell, arguing that the fact that gays enlisted and served in the military prior to the repeal proves that they cannot be trusted to obey orders ... because they engaged in "deliberate deception" by joining the military in the first place:

Supporters of the repeal make the case that since what distinguishes soldiers is their unquestioning commitment to obey orders, this radical change in military policy will have no effect on troop morale or military readiness. Ironically, they simultaneously offer demagogic accounts of homosexual soldiers who have concealed their homosexuality, which constitutes deliberate deception on the parts of soldiers who should never have enlisted in the military. Their primary act of enlisting constituted a violation of Article 125 of the Military Code of Justice and U.S. Code - Section 654 that strictly prohibits those who engage in homosexual acts or those who state that they are homosexual from serving in the military.

Despite what supporters of the repeal claim, military prohibitions against homosexuals serving in the military no more encourage deceit, than do laws prohibiting stealing encourage deceit. To claim that laws that prohibit certain behaviors encourage deceit is another way of saying people are always going to break laws. In this twisted logic, all laws encourage deceit because those who don't want to abide by them willfully engage in deceit in order to do what they want without incurring the consequences.

Tony Perkins of the Family Research Council is arguing that a Christian college’s effort to boost its LGBT student community is “incentivizing sin.” Elmhurst College, which is affiliated with the United Church of Christ, added an optional question to its application: “Would you consider yourself a member of the LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender) community?” Other optional questions include the applicant’s religious affiliation and the language spoken at home. In today’s Washington Watch radio alert, Perkins mocks the college’s religious affiliation, using scare quotes to describe it as Christian. Perkins goes on to imply that students will lie on their applications, claiming that they identify as LGBT in order to compete for enrichment scholarships for underrepresented groups. The school found no evidence that would occur.

Elmhurst president S. Alan Ray responded to criticisms last week, saying “Creating a positive, welcoming environment for all of our students is part of our mission. The UCC describes itself as ‘extravagantly welcoming.’ We are, too.”

Perkins: What happens in the bedroom might decide if you have a seat in the classroom. At least in one Illinois college. Hello, I'm Tony Perkins of the Family Research Council in Washington, D.C. At Elmhurst College, it pays to be sexually deviant. Literally. As part of the application process, the quote-unquote "Christian" school is asking prospective students if they're gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender. Anyone who answers "yes" will be eligible for the school's Enrichment Scholarship. "Increasing diversity is part of our mission statement," the Dean said. But this isn't increasing diversity--it's incentivizing sin! Considering the risks, no school--whether it's religiously affiliated or not--should be encouraging sexual activity of any kind! Nathan Harden, at NRO, asks if heterosexual students, who are facing big loan burdens, might be compelled to "broaden their sexual horizons." Or what's to keep a student from lying if they know admissions will knock 33% off sticker price? This is nothing more than higher education pandering. And if you ask me, Elmhurst should be the one making admissions...about their agenda.

Yesterday Tea Party Nation president Judson Phillips sent to TPN members a post by activist Kevin Lehmann titled “51 Bullet-Pointed Facts That Dispute Barack Obama's Identity & Eligibility to be President!” Phillips has consistently praised the ‘birther’ movement, and Lehman’s “facts” were mostly a long list of discredited claims about President Obama’s eligibility to serve as president that were put to rest with the release of his long form birth certificate. Lehman’s diatribe against Obama includes accusations that the president is the product of a Hawaiian communist conspiracy and may have been involved in murder. He also republishes the claims of Larry Sinclair, who failed a polygraph test over his claims that he had sex and used cocaine with Obama:

The American public was essentially made nationally aware of Barack Obama following his 2004 speech at the Democratic National Convention. Obama’s emergence into national politics was not a gradual inception. It was a sudden, covert ascendance to power seemingly assisted by foreign-like forces as an assault on vintage American conscience.

…

Based on investigations in the 1950’s and 1960’s, a disproportionate concentration of pro-communist activity was found to have become a part of Hawaiian culture. This is substantiated by an increase in the population and activity of communist sympathizers identified by the House Committee on Un-American Activities hearings conducted after WWII, during the beginning of the cold war between the U.S. and communist Russia. Evidence of pro-communist presence in Hawaii can be found in publications like the Honolulu Record in which one of Obama’s communist mentors, Frank Marshal Davis was a columnist.

…

To date, no administrator, or official of the Obama administration has ever confirmed that Obama was born in Kapi’olani Medical Center.

To date, Obama’s operatives have failed to identify the identity of Obama’s actual birthing doctor.

…

To date, no living eyewitness of Obama birth exists. It is assumed that his birth was witnessed by at least three people including his doctor and his mother. However, no documentation of the birth has been provided containing the name of the doctor or eyewitnesses.

…

Quarles Harris was a key witness in a federal probe into charges that Obama’s passport information was stolen from the State Department, when he was fatally shot in front of a Washington D.C. church. Harris had been working as a contractor at the State Department and was cooperating with federal investigators when he was murdered.

In December, 2007, Donald Young was a choir leader at Obama’s church, First Trinity Baptist, and school teacher, who many believe had carnal knowledge of Obama’s past. Young was found shot to death in his Southside Chicago apartment.

…

Of all the sordid stories circulating about Obama’s past, the one told by Larry Sinclair is the darkest. Sinclair posted a YouTube video alleging that he and President Barack Obama engaged in sexual acts and drug use together in 1999, when Obama was an Illinois State Senator. He claims that then-State Senator Obama procured powdered cocaine for Sinclair, and crack cocaine for himself, which Obama allegedly smoked.

Sinclair also alleges that their drug use was followed by sex acts that included Sinclair performing fellatio on Obama. These acts were alleged to take place in a limousine from which Sinclair provided cell phone records to prove his location on the dates in question. Testimony from the limosine driver has never been publicly published. Sinclair was asked to provide “intimate details” about Obama’s physical features which would prove Sinclair’s claims. His testimony has never been published or made public. Sinclair confesses openly that he is a convicted felon having served time for check fraud and drug possession.

When the Chicago Cubs made an It Gets Better video to send an anti-bullying, anti-suicide message, Peter LaBarbera of the Illinois-based Americans for Truth About Homosexuality was unsurprisingly outraged. Already numerous Religious Right groups such as the American Family Association, Concerned Women for America, the Christian Anti-Defamation Commission and Mission America have condemned the It Gets Better project, which works to prevent suicide particularly among LGBT youth, and now LaBarbera wants to tell LGBT youth: “it doesn’t get better.” The anti-gay activist tells WorldNetDaily that baseball teams like the Cubs “are using that stature to encourage kids to practice an immoral and destructive behavior”:

Peter LaBarbera, president of the ministry Americans for Truth, told WND the slogan may sound nice, but it "doesn't match the reality." "It doesn't get better. … There are not just the physical complications. We can't ignore the biblical reality that we're dealing with eternal judgment," he said.

"Whether they like it or not, professional athletes are role models for young men and now many yong women. They basically are using that stature to encourage kids to practice an immoral and destructive behavior."

He said the other complications are that baseball, previously associated with wholesomeness and competition, now is "rushing headlong into the embrace of immorality."

"Think of all these kids, with their sports heroes telling them it's okay to be gay, with no connection to the reality. They're all caught up in pretend propaganda that has no relationship to the lifestyle," said LaBarbera, whose ministry is in the Chicago area.

…

LaBarbara said he's already heard complaints about the campaign from traditional families, who plan to no longer patronize the Cubs.