NOM BLOG

NOM Marriage News: August 14, 2009

 

NOM Marriage News.

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Dear Friends of Marriage,

Does the Republican Party in New York want to commit political suicide? Is the national party going to help them?

ACTION ALERT!
Go right now and tell GOP chief Michael Steele: No backroom deals promoting pro-gay marriage politicians to Congress!  Not without GOP voters' consent!

Here's the background:

New York's 23rd Congressional district has a special election. NY 23 is what Manhattanites would think of as "way upstate NY"--the northeastern corner. The sitting Congressman, John McHugh, is a Republican whom Obama just named to be Secretary of the Army.

We are talking solid GOP territory. But for some reason (a deal with Tim Gill?) some New York Republican leaders decided that out of all the people they could choose to carry the GOP flag, they would pick Assemblywoman Dede Scozzafava, one of the very, very few Republicans who have ever actually voted for gay marriage. (Oh, and she's pro-abortion too, naturally.) This makes the New York Daily News describe her as a "moderate" Republican. But really, is "moderate" the word for a GOP politician who passionately advocates for gay marriage as a "civil right"? (Fight back by donating to NOM's New York PAC!)

Think about what a coup this would be for the Tim Gill/Ted Olson/Steve Schmidt wing of the GOP: The first GOP congressperson elected in the Obama era is a zealously pro-gay-marriage Republican! This would be breaking new ground for the gay-marriage movement. And Dede? She'd be a guaranteed media star! All of this is part of a deliberate, Gill-crafted new strategy to try to make it appear that opposition to gay marriage has crumbled.

But it's not true!

Nine NY Conservative Party committee chairmen have just sent a letter to GOP chief Michael Steele, begging him to reconsider this appointment: "But Ms. Scozzafava stood out as the least likely to reflect the principles we stand on based on her 15% conservative voting rating for 2008. There are many Democrats that exceed her 15% rating." The Conservative Party nominated Doug Hoffman, a strongly pro-life and pro-marriage voice, so that voters in the 23rd district will have a choice, not an echo.

Michael Steele really has a problem on his hands.

Because meanwhile Democrats, sensing a big opportunity, have nominated Plattsburgh attorney Bill Owens, who has been a registered independent and just told North County Public Radio that he opposes gay marriage.

Dede Scozzafava will let the Democrats get to the right of the GOP in a solid Republican district. And meanwhile, she will face an aggressive campaign from her right by a true social conservative champion, Conservative Party candidate Doug Hoffman.

The special election has been postponed until (most likely) November. Will GOP leaders take this chance to rethink this voluntarily self-inflicted wound? Take action and fight back: Send a message to Michael Steele and local GOP leaders that our voices and our values cannot be ignored!

Of course, in a primary, Dede Scozzafava would have as much right as the next Republican to become the nominee. But what kind of backroom, cigar-chomping, Albany deal-making line of thinking made local New York leaders decide it was a great idea to promote a gay-marriage supporter for national office? (Fight back against out-of-control politicians who ignore the people's priorities--send a message to Michael Steele!)

More news: This Sunday NOM president Maggie Gallagher will be speaking at the first annual Celebrate Marriage and Family Day sponsored by our Rhode Island chapter. This  day is not intended to be a political event; it's an opportunity for husbands and wives and their families to come together for an ice-cream social, listen to a nationally-recognized Christian band, renew their vows with pastors standing by, and celebrate the vision of marriage as the union of husband and wife.

But when gay-marriage advocates found out, what did they do? They organized a boycott against a company that donated a few hundred cups of coffee to the event. All Canadian media was agog! Give coffee to bigots!?! (Translation: by "bigot" they mean people like you and me and the majority of Americans, who support and promote marriage as a union of husband and wife.) On the one hand this kind of thing is small potatoes, more bemusing than outraging. I mean, just Google "Chris Plante"--our capable NOM Rhode Island executive director--and see all the news headlines from Vancouver to London.  It's a little silly really.

Then again, here's what I keep wondering: What kind of movement would threaten to hurt people's jobs for a few cups of coffee donated to an event to celebrate traditional marriage?

We expect a great event on the beautiful Narragansett Bay on Sunday. But for people who think gay marriage is just about helping two individuals lead their own private lives the way they choose, this kind of thing is a real eye-opener, isn't it? If gay-marriage advocates act this way while marriage in Rhode Island remains a union of husband and wife, how will they treat traditional faith communities and other marriage supporters, if they succeed in getting the power of the law on their side?

Hmm, maybe the way the gay press treats Sen. Rick Santorum right now? As you can read below in "NOM in the News," the gay press is going bananas because Sen. Santorum, the stalwart supporter of marriage and life, has signed a letter for NOM asking Americans to help us in this fight to protect marriage and religious liberty. You probably received Rick's stirring letter in the mail. (Stand with Rick in NOM's fight for marriage. Can you give $5, $50, or even $500 to protect God's truth about marriage?)

You can also see a few samples of the media coverage of NOM Rhode Island's celebration, and, best of all, a new essay by NOM Chairman Robby George (one of the nation's premier natural-law philosophers) in the current issue of First Things.

Thanks again for your help. We are going to do something that has never been done before. We are going to show the powerful people that they cannot just roll over us to get what they want. Marriage is not a partisan issue. It's not about Democrats or Republicans. It's about doing what is right, and making our values count.

Warm regards,

Brian BrownBrian S. Brown
Executive Director
National Organization for Marriage
20 Nassau Street, Suite 242
Princeton, NJ 08542
[email protected]

P.S. Pass this email on to two friends right now--ask them to go here to make our voices and our values heard! Alone they can isolate and intimidate us.  Together we can create an army of Americans willing to stand for truth and liberty in defense of marriage!

NOM FEATURED ESSAY
NOM Chairman Prof. Robby George on "What Marriage Is--And What It Isn't":
America's premier natural law philosopher, Princeton professor and Chairman of the Board of the National Organization for Marriage, in the latest issue of First Things. Excerpt:

"Even adultery is unproblematic under the lifestyle-liberal conception of marriage if, as in so-called open marriages, there is no deception of a spouse involved. Indeed, under the lifestyle-liberal conception, as defended by Elliston and many others, it is impossible to identify any reason--there are only subjective preferences--for spouses to demand fidelity of each other. Why should they 'forsake all others'? What is the point of sexual fidelity? There is no reason, strictly speaking, not to have an 'open marriage'--only emotions that some people happen to have and others happen not to have. ...Thus Andrew Sullivan, who once framed his case for altering the traditional understanding of marriage in conservative terms, now finds himself affirming the 'beauty' and even 'spirituality' of anonymous sex--sex among partners who do not even identify themselves to each other by name."

Read more here! And help us fight for the truth about marriage by contributing to NOM--your donations make a difference!

NOM in the News Aug. 10-14

"NOM: Tim Hortons Pullout Is 'Sorrowful'"
Advocate.com
August 10, 2009
After outrage that Canadian coffee and bakeshop Tim Hortons was slated to sponsor a "traditional marriage" event by the National Organization for Marriage, the company has pulled out of the deal.

NOM Rhode Island's Chris Plante interviewed
WPRO
August 12, 2009
Click here to listen.

"Rick Santorum Dips Anti-LGBT Toes into 2012 Presidential Campaign"
Change.org
August 11, 2009
Return of the Rick.  A few weeks ago, former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum -- a long a culture warrior on the anti-LGBT front -- sent a fundraising message on behalf of the National Organization for Marriage, pleading with people to preserve and strengthen the Defense of Marriage Act.  For Santorum, now a political pundit and lawyer, it was a trip back into the right-wing political playbook that made him so famous (or infamous, depending on your perspective) during his career in Congress.

"Davis: The Time To Start Mocking Rick Santorum Is Now"
365Gay.com
August 12, 2009
Oh, Goody. Former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum is back.

©2009 National Organization for Marriage.

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