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Pro-family activism that makes a difference! | ||||
Catholic Archbishop in Australia faces fines, punishment over marriage pamphlet that LGBT movt claims is “insulting.” Demanding “gay” diversity training in Catholic schools.Using “anti-discrimination” laws against us: Religious freedom becoming a thing of the past. A preview of what you can expect in the United States.POSTED: Dec 5 2015This is where the LGBT movement’s aggressive push for “anti-discrimination” laws across America is leading us:
A state tribunal in Australia has announced it is moving forward with a discrimination complaint against a Catholic Archbishop which will likely lead to further action. The crime? Last summer, bishops across Australia distributed a pamphlet describing the Catholic view of marriage to students in their Catholic schools. An LGBT activist subsequently filed a formal complaint against one of the bishops, charging that the pamphlet “offends and humiliates” homosexuals. The complaint also targets the members of the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference, as authors of the pamphlet. The Office of Anti-Discrimination has announced that the complaint has merit, and that Archbishop Julian Porteous, the Archdiocese of Hobart in Tasmania, the primary bishop in the complaint, is now being investigated for a violation of the Anti-Discrimination Act.
As a remedy, the complaint demands that all Catholic schools in Australia be required to implement LGBT diversity education. It also demands a formal apology by the Catholic Church to the LGBT community. The bishops named in the complaint could also face other court action and large fines.
What does the marriage pamphlet say?The 18-page pamphlet, titled “Don’t Mess With Marriage,” is written in a low-key style as a “pastoral letter.” It basically describes Catholic religious teaching on marriage. It says, for example: The Catholic tradition teaches that every human being is a unique and irreplaceable person, created in the image of God and loved by Him. Because of this, every man, woman and child has great dignity and worth which can never be taken away. This includes those who experience same-sex attraction. They must be treated with respect, sensitivity, and love … Same-sex friendships are of a very different kind: to treat them as the same does a grave injustice to both kinds of friendship and ignores the particular values that real marriages serve … But sociological research, as well as the long experience of Church and society, attests to the importance for children of having, as far as possible, both a mother and father. ‘Messing with marriage’, therefore, is also ‘messing with kids’. It is gravely unjust to them … Indeed, in this pastoral letter we argue that what is unjust – gravely unjust – is: to legitimise the false assertion that there is nothing distinctive about a man and a woman, a father or a mother … The pamphlet also addresses the way the term “discrimination” has been used for political purposes: The Catholic Church opposes all forms of unjust discrimination …Advocates for ‘same-sex marriage’ rarely focus on the real meaning and purpose of marriage. Instead they assume that equal dignity and the principle of non-discrimination demand the legal recognition of same-sex relationships as marriages. This appeal to equality and nondiscrimination gets things the wrong way around. LGBT movement files formal complaint against the ChurchThe pamphlets were distributed to students in Catholic schools across Australia in June. The homosexual movement was incensed and complained in the press. On Sept. 15, the formal complaint was filed by Martine Delaney, a cross-dressing man who is also running for national Parliament as a “Greens” Party candidate. Since Delaney lives in Tasmania, a province of Australia, it was filed there against the Archbishop in Tasmania. Tasmania was apparently also chosen because it has a favorable legal and political climate for such a filing (a strategy also used by LGBT activists in the US).
The complaint has been summarized in an article in the Tasmanian Times. In the complaint, Delaney claims the pamphlet breaches Section 17 of the Tasmanian Anti-Discrimination Act which prohibits offence and humiliation on the grounds of sexual orientation. Among the charges in his complaint: On page 9, the booklet says the “complementarity” of men and women means the union of a man and a woman in marriage “makes them whole”. This obviously implies same-sex attracted people can never be whole people, especially when viewed in the light of the booklet’s main message - that they should not be able to marry. This is deeply offensive, humiliating and insulting to same-sex attracted people because it says we, and our relationships, are inherently and irredeemably defective and second rate. It effectively says we are less human and less entitled to the respect every human being deserves. If the booklet said, unlike their white counterparts, mixed-race couples were not capable of wholeness, it would be considered deeply racist and there would be an outcry. The booklet’s claim about the incapacity of same-sex attracted people to be whole is equally offensive. This is similar – almost identical -- to the language and rhetoric used against pro-family groups in the US that the LGBT movement labels as “hate groups.” Australian Senate attempts to take actionThis issue has certainly caught fire among pro-family people in Australia. On Nov. 12, pro-family members of the Australian Senate filed a motion to support the Catholic Church’s right to free speech. But even that was considered “unacceptable” and it was blocked from being voted on by a coalition of left-wing Senators. The motion, filed by the Senator from Tasmania, simply stated: “The Senate, while not expressing a view on the contents of the booklet issued by the Australian Catholic bishops conference entitled Don’t Mess with Marriage, fully supports the rights of members of the Catholic church, including Archbishop Julian Porteous, to distribute it.” Nevertheless, at least one pro-family Senator made a blistering speech on the Senate floor about the “campaign of hate and discrimination to silence church leaders” that is now taking place! The Commission announces that the complaint has meritOn Nov. 13, the Commission on Anti-Discrimination announced that Delaney has a legitimate case against Archbishop Porteous and the Australian Catholic Bishop’s Conference, and that an investigation will begin. It will most likely proceed to a court-style tribunal hearing. The Catholic Church has 21 days to submit a formal response to the complaint. Archbishop holding firmThankfully, the Australian Catholic Church, and particularly Archbishop Porteous, Tasmania, are standing up to this fairly well. They are polite, dignified, and caring – but not backing down on their principles as they head into the lion’s den. He has told the press: In distributing the pastoral letter, Don’t Mess With Marriage, my aim was to assist the Catholic community in understanding the teaching of the Catholic Church, at a time when debate on this matter was widespread within the community . . . Fair-minded readers . . . would see it was a very carefully worded and indeed compassionate statement, not designed to provoke or hurt anyone. The concerted campaign that has followed its publication suggests that some people simply cannot tolerate Christian beliefs being held by anyone, spoken by anyone, influencing anyone. Fear across AustraliaMassResistance has been contacted by several people in Australia who are very fearful of where this is going, and for good reason. As an example, last week we got the following email from an activist in Tasmania, with more links from local newspapers: Hi Brian, I’m sure you have heard about this but I'm wondering whether you would consider publicising this please? PLEASE DON'T USE MYNAME ANYWHERE AS IT WILL MAKE MY WIFE VERY NERVOUS! He – and others – want Americans to know! What this means for all of usWe all remember when we were told that “same-sex marriage” would not affect anyone else. We’ll admit that we’re a little uneasy about writing this report in our usual straightforward manner. We need to address this clearly. This is a lunatic situation. From a reality-inversion standpoint, it’s getting beyond Orwellian -- "double-think," etc -- and moving into Solzhenitsyn territory -- incomprehensible oppression. And this is coming to America. Religions freedom or freedom of speech mean nothing to any of these people, if it gets in the way of their agendas. We see that over and over. Unfortunately, even our “good” politicians are largely useless in facing it, or even understanding it. These kinds of laws have been put in place across the U.S. for well over a decade while good people generally have done nothing to stop it. Over the past year, the Republican governors of Indiana, Utah, and Arizona actually successfully pushed for harsh LGBT “anti-discrimination” laws in their legislatures. The reasons these they gave ranged from “compromise” to “equality.” In each case, the Left celebrated as pro-family conservatives cringed. (In Utah, even the major “pro-family” groups caved in.) And it’s continuing. When the Massachusetts Legislature re-convenes in January, it will vote on an outrageous transgender public accommodations “bathroom bill”, which has large support right now. And there is a well-funded move in the US Congress to pass a very harsh national LGBT "non-discrimination" law! What can we say? Our side has been polite for far too long. We cannot let this aggressive movement continue against us. In their own way, these Australian Catholic Bishops are telling it like it is. We must not do any less. We all must turn up the heat in this fight. We have to block any new proposals for these kinds of anti-discrimination laws or local ordinances, and overturn those already in force. As we saw in Houston last month, victory can certainly be achieved. |
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