Dear Marriage Supporter,

This Thanksgiving, I'm grateful to live in a country that is still free. Party bosses cannot shut down the authentic voice of a free and good people.

Benjamin Franklin was asked as he left the Constitutional convention of 1787 what form of government the leading men had given to the American people. "A republic, madam, if you can keep it," he responded.

Keeping that republic, our precious inheritance from great and good men, requires respect for the Biblical values that underlay our two century old experiment in democracy, which is undergirded by rights that come not from government but from God himself — and therefore cannot be taken away from us.

That's what "unalienable" means.

Part of that democratic process was on display last week at the presidential Thanksgiving Family Forum hosted by The Family Leader, and co-sponsored by the National Organization for Marriage and CitizenLink.

I was there, and it was really an extraordinary experience.

Six men and women who would be President of the United States gathered around a table and bared their hearts, and their minds, on issues of grave importance, including marriage.

Here's an 8-minute video of the candidates answering the question of whether and how they would protect marriage (yes, that's me asking the question!):

And here, for those of you who want the complete experience, is the full and uncut version:

There are some amazing moments, like Rick Santorum talking about his baby Bella, and his realization that he had been withholding his full love from her because he feared the pain of losing her. That's not something you ordinarily see.

It really is a window into the souls of the men and women seeking the honor of serving as our President. I'm very grateful to have been part of it, thanks to your help and support of the National Organization for Marriage.

This Thanksgiving, I am humbled by all the blessings a great and good God has given me — including the treasure of your support, your notes of encouragement, and your steadfastness.

The Pew Forum released a report this week highlighting the fact that NOM is one of the fasting growing "religious advocacy" organizations in the nation, as Roll Call reports:

While the economic downturn has depressed spending by such groups overall, religious lobbying has spiked in some areas while tapering off in others.

The National Organization for Marriage, for example, more than doubled its advocacy expenditures from $3.3 million in 2008 to $8.6 million in 2009, the most recent data available, the group found.

That's one amazing thing you and I and thousands of other Americans working together have accomplished here at NOM.

God bless you!

And happy Turkey Day!

Faithfully,

Brian S. Brown
President
National Organization for Marriage

Dear Marriage Supporter,

When I sit down for dinner this Thanksgiving, I will have a long list of blessings on my mind.

I'm grateful to the Lord for so many things...my family, my country and my health are always at the top of the list.

But you know something?

This year, something else immediately comes to mind. I am incredibly appreciative of and thankful for your support.

The National Organization for Marriage is only as strong as our friends, and you have been such a strong and loyal friend and supporter...it really sustains and energizes me, along with everyone who works here in defense of marriage.

I cannot begin to describe how much you have done to protect marriage from being destroyed in America.

If not for you, the anti-marriage radicals — with their rich Hollywood friends and their campaigns of violence and intimidation — would have won a long time ago.

Thanks to you, not only are we standing up to them, we are winning.

And I hope you will enable us to win one more critical victory by making an urgent tax-deductible gift to the NOM Education Fund today.

Anything you can donate right now will help fund our high-stakes legal battle to uphold Proposition 8 in California. We've just won a key victory at the California Supreme Court, allowing the Prop 8 sponsors to defend Proposition 8 in court. This victory is crucial – it prevents Governor Jerry Brown from single-handedly vetoing the will of 7 million California voters – but it also sets us on a path that will be long and very expensive, likely culminating at the U.S. Supreme Court next year.

I recently wrote you a detailed letter explaining why this case is so critical (if the anti-marriage gang wins, it will destroy marriage not just in California, but throughout all 50 states) but so far I haven't heard back from you.

It's possible you mailed in a gift but it just hasn't been processed fully. If that's the case, as I said above, you have my profound gratitude. But I hope you will still make one urgent contribution, because we cannot afford to lose this fight.

We're winning at the ballot box and in legislatures nationwide, and so the activists pushing for same-sex marriage have turned to the court system. If we don't stop them, they will manipulate a small group of hand-picked judges into destroying marriage in America – forever.

And that is why, during this time of Thanksgiving, I am so incredibly grateful for your help.

But our fight continues, so please make one urgent, confidential, fully tax-deductible gift today.

Have a happy and blessed Thanksgiving!

Brian S. Brown
Executive Director
NOM Education Fund

P.S. Remember, the same-sex marriage crowd has tens of millions of dollars to use, working to destroy marriage in all 50 states. And they have focused much of that money on the legal system, where they can take advantage of sympathetic hand-picked judges (instead of using the democratic process, allowing people to vote on whether or not they want to protect marriage). We are resisting their efforts to impose gay marriage on you, but legal bills mount very quickly. So please help. Your gift is completely tax-deductible and will enable us to defend marriage in the courts.