January 13, 2016::End of the day round-up

I am watching from afar pondering the questions of "how can these individuals afford this" and "what of their families."  Robert Baty, in his dogged pursuit of the Sovereign Citizen angle concerning Kent Hovind, noted this:

Well, some of them might actually be better off by going and camping out with the demonstrators in such situations, but I was impressed by the number of $50,000 pick-up trucks and other vehicles many of them seemed to be driving in from out of state.

It might be interesting to learn more of the financial details behind some of those individuals.

Yes, it would indeed "be interesting to learn more of the financial details behind some of those individuals."  Especially those rumored to be collecting Social Security Disability.

Militants in Oregon standoff persist with small donations, spaghetti dinners and financial sacrifice

Hunkering down for days, weeks or months in a building in rural Oregon is unlikely to be a lucrative occupation.

So how can the people that make up the Citizens for Constitutional Freedom, a newly-formed group of about 20 self-styled militia that have occupied the federal headquarters at the Malheur Wildlife Refuge, afford to do it?

The answer, most likely, is that not many can.

"These guys are broke," said Mark Pitcavage, who has been researching far-right movements for 22 years and has studied the Harney County occupiers. "Right-wing extremists, generally speaking, have very little money."
,,,
That kind of devotion to a cause is what fuels most militia and anti-government groups, said Daryl Johnson, a former domestic terrorism analyst for the Department of Homeland Security.

"They'll think nothing about taking half their paycheck and using half of it to buy ammunition and guns," Johnson said.
,,,
Although it's impossible to know for certain whether major financial sources are funneling cash to the Citizens for Constitutional Freedom, Pitcavage said it is very unlikely.

"There's no large organization to give them money," Pitcavage said. "The right-wing extremist movement is broke."

Pitcavage, who has been researching the occupiers for the Anti-Defamation League, determined that two-thirds of the occupiers are part of the Patriot movement, and a third are part of the Wise Use Movement. The Patriot movement is an umbrella term for groups with antigovernment beliefs. People part of the Wise Use Movement take issue specifically with federal land ownership.

The two Patriot-movement groups that are relatively well-organized, the Oath Keepers and the III%, don't have money to donate to such causes, Pitcavage said. And even if they did, both have released statements opposing the occupation of Malheur Wildlife Refuge.

Neither is it likely the group is getting money from any religious organization, Johnson said.

I am by no means a fan of FAUX News nor Megyn Kelly. But every now and again, she actually does her job. I foresee a rabbit-hole.

Fox News host utterly demolishes antigay marriage guest

Brown’s appearance started off on the wrong foot when he claimed that the Supreme Court’s decision wasn’t binding on state courts, Host Megyn Kelly tried to explain the legal concepts already decided in Marbury vs Madison, but Brown refused to listen to reason.

Watch as Brown attempts to tell Kelly, a former attorney turned talking head, that she doesn’t understand one of America’s most basic legal concepts.

Two comments that stuck out in regards to Secular Coalition for America's FB posting concerning this situation.

1] There is no doubt that putting religious phrases or symbols on publicly funded property, including police cars, is absolutely a violation of the Constitution. Not only that, but it is a slap in the face of every Hindu, Buddhist, Atheist, Deist, Muslim, and non-Christian that pays taxes. It is is a belligerent gesture that tells 30% of America that they don't matter. The government was meant to be neutral to religion, not promote one above all the others.

Of course, what else would I expect from the Governor who bought the Jade Helm conspiracy hook, line, and sinker?

2] Of course Abbott backs them. It's another Dover trap. He can support his religion (rejecting others) and not face any consequences when they get sued. The Sherrif's office will be sued and they will lose. The precedents are clear.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott backs crosses on police cars

Gov. Greg Abbott, continuing his plunge into a range of religious debates, is backing the display of crosses on sheriff’s department vehicles in a West Texas county.

In this instance, Brewster County Sheriff Ronny Dodson has allowed his deputies to put the outline of a small cross on their patrol vehicles’ rear windows, according to the district attorney for the area including the county.

The sheriff’s move was criticized by the Freedom From Religion Foundation. Its attorney, Sam Grover, called it “inappropriate and unconstitutional for a government entity to display a Latin cross on its property because it conveys a preference by the Sheriff's Office—and by extension, Brewster County—for religion over nonreligion and Christianity over all minority faiths.”

The foundation called on Dodson to “abandon his plan for the religious decals.”
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The governor, who had supported the “In God We Trust” motto, also backs the crosses in Brewster County, said Abbott spokesman John Wittman.

“The Constitution demands respect for religious expression rather than hostility towards it and Governor Abbott fully supports Sheriff Dodson’s decision to allow his deputies to display the Cross on their patrol vehicles,” Wittman said by email Tuesday.

Abbott has successfully pushed to remove from the Texas Capitol underground extension a takeoff on a Nativity that came from the Freedom from Religion Foundation. It featured the Bill of Rights in a manger, surrounded by George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin and the Statue of Liberty. The display promoted the separation of church and state while praising “reason and the Bill of Rights.”

The significance of Sarah Baartman

Reports of Beyonce planning to write and star in a film about Baartman have been denied by the singer's representatives. But the rumours were enough to generate concern.

Jean Burgess, a chief from the Khoikhoi group that Baartman was from, argued that Beyonce lacked "the basic human dignity to be worthy of writing Sarah's story, let alone playing the part". But Jack Devnarain, chairman of the South African Guild of Actors, said filmmakers had the ""right to tell the stories of people you find fascinating and that's what we must be careful not to object to".

Even in denying any link to a film, Beyonce's representative said: "This is an important story that should be told."
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In October 1810, although illiterate, Baartman allegedly signed a contract with English ship surgeon William Dunlop and mixed-race entrepreneur Hendrik Cesars, in whose household she worked, saying she would travel to England to take part in shows.

The reason was that Baartman, also known as Sara or Saartjie, had steatopygia, a genetic condition resulting in extremely protuberant buttocks due to a build-up of fat.

These made her a cause of fascination when she was exhibited at a venue in London's Piccadilly Circus after her arrival. "You have to remember that, at the time, it was highly fashionable and desirable for women to have large bottoms, so lots of people envied what she had naturally, without having to accentuate her figure," says Rachel Holmes, author of The Hottentot Venus: The Life and Death of Saartjie Baartman.

The Carter Center announces only 22 cases of flesh-eating Guinea worm disease left—from 3.5 million

On Thursday, The Carter Center announced that only 22 cases of Guinea worm disease were reported in 2015— a reduction of 83% from 2014. This quite remarkable, as when The Carter Center began leading the international campaign to eradicate the parasitic disease in 1986, there were an estimated 3.5 million Guinea worm cases occurring annually in Africa and Asia.

"As we get closer to zero, each case takes on increasing importance. Full surveillance must continue in the few remaining endemic nations and neighboring countries until no cases remain to ensure the disease does not return," said former U.S. President Jimmy Carter. "The Carter Center and our partners are committed to seeing that this horrible parasitic disease never afflicts future generations."

H/T to Warren Throckmorton,,,

So it seems the King of lying for Jeebus has a "new" venture "[w]ith the help of special guests like conservative television host Glenn Beck, former Congresswoman Michele Bachmann, law professor Dr. Carol Swain, and others,,,"

Great, "The three B's of knowledge: Bachmann: Politics; Barton: History; Beck: Theology."

American Historian David Barton's "Foundations of Freedom" Premieres January 8th -- Only on TBN

What are the foundations that made America one of the greatest nations on the face of the earth? Are those foundations still relevant to our society? Do the Judeo-Christian principles that guided our Founding Fathers as they prayerfully launched the American Republic matter today? Is America still "One Nation Under God"?

Noted historian and best-selling author David Barton addresses these crucial questions and many more as he returns to Christian television leader Trinity Broadcasting Network with a new weekly series, Foundations of Freedom, premiering on TBN Friday, January 8th.

World Congress of Families to Feature Anti-LGBTQ Family Scholars | Political Research Associates

One of the leading exporters of U.S.-style culture wars—the World Congress of Families (WCF)—is hosting an international gathering of right-wing scholars and activists in Salt Lake City, Utah later this year. It will be WCF’s first major conference on U.S. soil, and the event’s agenda includes a who’s who list of U.S. conservatives. Among them are two individuals who have made it their business to provide academic sanction to some of the Right’s destructively erroneous claims about LGBTQ people: Mark Regnerus and Brad Wilcox.

Since its publication in July 2012, the infamous “Regnerus Study” (officially titled the “New Family Structures Study”) has become a favorite weapon in the Religious Right’s campaign against LGBTQ people. The study, funded by the right-wing Witherspoon Institute and conducted by University of Texas associate sociology professor Mark Regnerus, portrays LGB parents in a negative light, suggesting that children raised by a mother and father in biologically intact families fare better than children raised by LGBTQ people.

Regnerus’ work has received immense criticism from a vast assortment of academics arguing that the research is not only methodologically flawed,¹ but also unethically motivated and formulated. After listening to testimony from Regnerus and examining the study, Judge Bernard Friedman included the following in his ruling striking down a same-sex marriage ban: “The Court finds Regnerus’s testimony entirely unbelievable and not worthy of serious consideration.” Of particular concern is the role of Brad Wilcox, director of the National Marriage Project (NMP) at the University of Virginia.

By the time Wilcox took over as NMP’s top dog in 2009, he had established himself as a prominent sociologist in conservative academic circles, building a résumé featuring connections to some of the Right’s leading institutions, including the World Congress of Families and Witherspoon Institute.


World Congress of Families to Feature Anti-LGBTQ Family Scholars | Political Research Associates

NOM Asks Presidential Candidates To 'Prevent The Promotion' Of Gay Rights In Schools | Right Wing Watch

In a “marriage pledge” released today, NOM asks presidential candidates to support a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage and commit to overturning court rulings in favor of marriage equality.

NOM’s pledge also includes a plank similar to Russia’s infamous “gay propaganda” law, which bars “propaganda of non-traditional sexual relationships among minors.” In the third plank of its pledge, NOM asks candidates to “prevent the promotion of a redefined version of marriage in public schools and other government entities,” along with reversing Obama administration policies “that have the effect of undermining marriage.”

NOM also asks the candidates to “direct the Department of Justice to investigate, document and publicize cases of Americans who have been harassed or threatened for exercising key civil rights to organize, to speak, to donate or to vote for marriage and to propose new protections, if needed,” a reference to the sentiment among anti-gay activists that they are being persecuted by prohibitions on anti-LGBT discrimination.

Zack Ford over at Think Progress adds this, 

In other words, wholly committing to undoing all of marriage equality — as NOM is unequivocally asking — is a nothing short of a death wish for a candidate actually hoping to win the general election. Still, it seems likely that at least a few candidates will sign the pledge. Ted Cruz surely will; he has already filed for the passage of a federal marriage amendment. Scott Walker, Rick Santorum, Bobby Jindal, Ben Carson, Mike Huckabee, and Rick Perry have all expressed support for an amendment. Marco Rubio has claimed he’s never supported such an amendment, though he actually has.

NOM Asks Presidential Candidates To 'Prevent The Promotion' Of Gay Rights In Schools | Right Wing Watch

US Christians ‘bankrolling’ no campaign in Ireland’s gay marriage referendum | World news | The Guardian

  Just like NOM and Brian Brown has absolutely nothing to do with what is occurring in Russia?

With just five days to go before Ireland’s historic referendum on the legalisation of gay marriage, a bitter row has broken out between supporters and opponents over the funding of their respective campaigns. Supporters of a yes vote have accused opponents of a lack of transparency over finances and of accepting funding from rightwing Christian groups in the US.

Ireland’s referendum is the only one in the world where a national electorate is being asked to legalise gay marriage. If it is passed on Friday, gay couples will have the right under the state’s constitution to marry – at present only civil partnerships are recognised in law. Marriage equality would provide full rights of inheritance but, despite it being a contentious issue in the campaign, would not alter the law on adoption, which was recently changed to allow gay couples to adopt.

A yes vote would also mark yet another defeat for the Catholic church and the political power it used to wield in Ireland.

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One of the no side’s strongest supporters in the US is the lavishly funded National Organisation for Marriage (NOM). In a letter to supporters around the world, it has urged evangelical Christians to visit keepmarriage.org, which is campaigning for a no vote.
 
“Just like in campaigns for marriage here in America,” the letter says, “slanted public opinion polls become fodder to influence and depress supporters of marriage. This is happening in Ireland. If [the no campaign] can manage to pull off a victory, it will be a tremendous boost to the cause of marriage worldwide. Please do what you can to bring awareness to their efforts.”

However, a spokesperson for NOM in the US denied this weekend that it had channelled funds to any of the three main opposition groups to gay marriage during the campaign. NOM is aware that foreign donations to lobby groups during referendums in Ireland are banned, the spokesperson said.

US Christians ‘bankrolling’ no campaign in Ireland’s gay marriage referendum | World news | The Guardian

It's exactly as they want

I am not sure how I missed this but,,,

What We're Up Against 

Recently, the news reported that David Koch—the conservative boogeyman of the left—will be interviewed by ABC's Barbara Walters for her "The 10 Most Fascinating People of 2014" special scheduled to air on Sunday. [And yes this is David Koch of Koch brothers fame.]

In the interview, he unequivocally states, "I'm basically a libertarian, and I'm a conservative on economic matters, and I'm a social liberal." It harkens back to a 2012 Politico article where he said, "I believe in gay marriage," pointing out that he openly supported legal abortion as a Libertarian party candidate in 1980.

Marriage Supporter, this is exactly the problem. Millionaires and billionaires are lining up in support of this radical social agenda... even on the right! And I need your help to stop it!

Another perfect example of ceremonial Deism,,,

Pastor to deliver Capitol sermon Sunday amid controversy

Some Democratic lawmakers are criticizing the plan for a controversial pastor to deliver a sermon at the state Capitol Sunday, while Republicans participating in the sermon defended his inclusion as a matter of free speech.

The Rev. Matt Trewhella co-founded Wisconsin-based Missionaries to the Preborn in 1990, and will deliver the Election Sermon at the Capitol Rotunda at 2 p.m. Sunday and give a talk at the Lewis and Clark Library at 3:30 p.m. Monday. Both are sponsored by Project Liberty Tree under the Covenant Community Church in Whitehall.

Trewhella is pastor at Mercy Seat Christian Church in Milwaukee.

The scary part, is this is exactly what he and his ilk want,,,

Rick Wiles: Nuclear Holocaust Will Kill Us All Thanks To Gay People

End Times broadcaster Rick Wiles is upset that Western nations have imposed sanctions on the Russian economy, contributing to the country’s recent financial crisis, since Wiles is a big booster of Vladimir Putin and especially the Russian government’s anti-LGBT policies.

On his radio show “Trunews” this week, Wiles predicted that the U.S. will provoke Russia into using nuclear weapons “and just obliterate us while we sleep at night.”

And when this happens, Wiles warned, God won’t come to America’s aid: “We are on the edge of World War III and this time the United States of America does not have divine protection because we’ve become a nation of homosexuals and atheists and lesbians and God-haters.”

Ben Carson's Bizarre Explanation Of Why Obamacare Is Unconstitutional

The likely GOP presidential candidate explained that the law helps some people while hurting others, so is therefore unconstitutional: “Your solution should be something that represents all the people. The Constitution says one of the purposes, in the preamble, it says is for the ‘promote the general welfare.’ What that means is that we do things that help everybody, we don’t pick this group and say, ‘We’re going to help you at the expense of this group over here.’ That’s not promoting the general welfare so we’re actually violating the Constitution in that sense.”

In that case, a whole host of laws could be considered unconstitutional since nearly everyone can point to a law that they think affects them negatively while helping others. “It wasn’t really about health care, it’s about control,” Carson said of the health care law.

Staver: Ex-Gay Therapy Bans Are 'An Assault Against God Almighty

"These whole issues of homosexuality is a direct assault on gender, on family, on marriage," Staver said. "As a policy matter, if you were to sanction homosexuality in the law, you are sanctioning harmful activity to individuals. It is patently unhealthy, both physically and mentally ... We cannot recreate the natural created order and assume that there are no consequences; there are consequences to children. So Liberty Counsel is involved in these strategic areas, these areas of assault against the family, against gender, against marriage and family; they are an assault against the very foundation of our society, they are an assault against God Almighty and his created order. This is an assault against all of the Judeo-Christian values that we hold near and dear and that's why we must be involved in these cases, we must win these cases": 

California Pastor Warns America Is Turning Into Nazi Germany Unless Pastors Get Involved In Politics

"We were at Auschwitz and Birkenau at the death camps and we came to realize thirty two SS guards killed nine hundred thousand Jews," McCoy said. "You're either committed or you're compromised and we stood there, a hundred and ten pastors, realizing that if we don't speak up, we're going to watch those rail cars just annihilate our culture and we're going to be held captive by a minority and we have a responsibility to speak up": 

Camenker: Gay Student Clubs Love To Recruit 'Kids From Christian Backgrounds

"I have seen over the years, a movement of, in general, where you have kids who are very vulnerable, maybe having troubles at home, maybe having their own issues and the gay clubs will say 'the reason you're not fitting in is because you're really gay,'" Camenker said. "And they will take them under their wing and they will persuade them to come out because this is who you really are. And pretty soon these kids are getting involved in these really horrible behaviors, horrible things at the meetings. We've seen it up close and we've seen the anxiety that the parents go through when their kids are suddenly taken over by this."

"Yes, they love getting kids from Christian backgrounds," he continued. "That seems to be something that they particularly enjoy to do":

ADF Lawyer: Gay Rights Opponents May Soon Be 'Put In Jail For Standing For Marriage'

Austin Nimocks of the Alliance Defending Freedom, which wants to make gay sex a criminal offense, said in an interview earlier this week that gay rights advocates are planning to throw their opponents in jail.

While speaking to “Washington Watch” guest host Josh Duggar about the legal case of a Washington florist who was held in violation of the state’s Consumer Protection Act for denying service to a same-sex couple, Nimocks warned that “the persecution is only going to ramp up and it’s going to become more fierce.”

Our eyes need to be wide open,,,

Kelly Shackelford: LGBT Advocates Will 'Destroy' People Until We 'Lose All Freedom'

Shackelford, whose group works against antidiscrimination laws and represents those who claim to have been hurt by them, described how LGBT equality supporters have been “taking over the airwaves” in order to pressure people into supporting their cause.

“People are afraid to speak up, which is the opposite of our country — our country is all about people having different beliefs,” he said. “And the scary thing to me is how quickly it moved from the GLBT [community] having some victories on this issue of marriage to having complete intolerance, of trying to force people to violate their faith. This is antithetical to our country and anything we’re about.”

It is sad that Fischer is encouraging bad "journalism" in a child to foment his organization's agenda.

Fischer: Gay Rights Are The 'Greatest Threat' To Liberty That America Has Ever Faced

"The homosexual agenda represents the greatest single threat to religious liberty we have ever seen in the history of our existence as a nation," he declared. "In fact, it's the greatest threat to liberty of all kinds, whether it is freedom of religion, whether it is freedom of speech, whether it is freedom of the press, whether it is freedom of association, all of the rights that are enshrined in the First Amendment are threatened by the active, aggressive homosexual lobby and the homosexual agenda":

NOM Warns Marriage Equality Will Lead To Community-Marriage, End Of First Amendment

National Organization for Marriage president Brian Brown is furious that a gay couple who were legally married in Iowa but now live in Missouri have filed for divorce in Missouri, which a local judge has refused to recognize.

Speaking with WorldNetDaily about the case, Brown accused LGBT rights advocates of seeking to undermine the First Amendment and contended that the legalization of same-sex marriage will lead to polygamy and even marriages among “entire communities,” whatever that means.

Pat Robertson: Gays 'Will Die Out Because They Don't Reproduce'

“You know, those who are homosexual will die out because they don’t reproduce,” he said. “You know, you have to have heterosexual sex to reproduce. Same thing with that church, it’s doomed, it’s going to die out because it’s the most nonsensical thing I’ve heard in a long time.” 

Although both Chanukah and Christmas are both past, this (so-called) rabbi, Jonathan Cahn, is a "new" name to me within the crazy world of the Reich. Let this sink in a minute "Messianic,,, End Times,,, rabbi."

 

End Times Preacher's Chanukah Message: Gay Rights & Harry Potter Lead To Fascism

Messianic End Times rabbi Jonathan Cahn, a favorite doomsday preacher among right-wing activists, told WorldNetDaily in an interview today that Chanukah is a time for Americans to reflect on the purported dangers of books like Harry Potter, as well as gay rights laws, which he warned will outlaw the Bible.

According to Cahn, the struggle of the Maccabees is seen today in American society among those who oppose secular government, LGBT equality, the so-called War on Christmas and the country’s transformation into “a post-Christian society” that will ultimately “produce a Hitler or a Stalin, and the antichrist.”

Cahn urged WND readers to become modern-day Maccabees who will fight gay rights and Harry Potter even “if it costs us our life.”

 Something to keep our eyes on through the coming months,,,

Hagee Ministries Creating A 'Sanctuary Of Hope' To Train Up God's Army And Take Back America

"Right now, the battle lines in this country are for the young people," he explained. "The one thing that's missing in American education right now? The Word of God. The one thing that's missing in our decisions in government, in many cases? The Word of God. And whenever you do not have the foundation of your society, which is the Word of God, in the decisions that you are making, you're going the wrong direction."

"How do we take America back? One leader at a time. That school is going to train leaders that are going to make godly decisions. How are we going to take this country back? One generation at a time and the Sanctuary of Hope is going to be the training ground for the soldiers in the army of the living God that are going to do great things for his kingdom":

Ten Years From Now | NOM Blog

Not quite as nice as Brad Paisley's "Letter to Me" (5th Gear, 2007), I can only hope that a majority of what Brown "cites" come true.

But I am also a bit confused as to this "preservation of marriage" or "redefining marriage." I would have to say that if there is any redefinition going on, it would be at the hands of the church. Biblical references aside for the moment, me thinks that Brown needs to acquaint himself with the work of John Boswell, Christianity, Social Tolerance, and Homosexuality: Gay People in Western Europe from the Beginning of the Christian Era to the 14th Century, which shows that the Roman Catholic Church did not condemn homosexuality until at least the 12th century. Or, The Marriage of Likeness: Same Sex Unions in Pre- Modern Europe which lists in detail some same sex union ceremonies found in ancient church liturgical documents.

Though Boswell's work is considered controversial by some, his findings need explaining especially in light of pre-Christian Greek attitudes towards homosexual relationships. Although I am loathe to cite the following due to interpretational controversy, one cannot ignore the presentation of Achilles and Patroclus in Homer's Illiad or Aeschylus' Myrmidons; even Plato had something to say in the Symposium, Phaedrus offers his commentary. Again in the Symposium, we have Pausanias of Athens and Agathon. And last, Alexander the Great and Hephaestion.

"For Roman citizens, marriage was a duty and was not meant for the purpose of fulfilling erotic needs. Therefore, it was considered normal for a male to look for sexual fulfillment outside marriage, though females did not have such liberty. Presumably, the main Greco-Roman moral view on human sexuality was that sexuality was good, as long as it did not interfere with a person's obligations to the state or family or involve the abuse of free children or married women. Other views stated that sexuality was dangerous and should be limited. People that held such beliefs would usually commit themselves to celibacy or limit their sexual activities either to marriage, or strictly for the purpose of procreation. Such views, though, did not preclude homosexual acts; they simply aimed to reduce promiscuous heterosexual activity."

As to he so-called "biblical" marriage,,,

Vaughn Roste, in 2004, put this piece together Biblical Marriage: A Bad Source For Debate:

1. Marriage consists of one man and one or more women. (Gen 4:19, 4:23, 26:34, 28:9, 29:26-30, 30:26, 31:17, 32:22, 36:2, 36:10, 37:2, Ex. 21:10, Judges 8:30, 1 Sam 1:2, 25:43, 27:3, 30:5, 30:18, 2 Sam 2:2, 3:2-5, 1 Chron 3:1-3, 4:5, 8:8, 14:3, 2 Chron 11:21, 13:21, 24:3).
2. Nothing prevents a man from taking on concubines in addition to the wife or wives he may already have. (Gen 25:6, Judges 8:31, 2 Sam 5:13, 1 Kings 11:3, 1 Chron 3:9, 2 Chron 11:21, Dan 5:2-3).
3. A man might chose any woman he wants for his wife (Gen 6:2, Deut 21:11), provided only that she is not already another man's wife (Lev 18:14-16, Deut. 22:30) or his [half-]sister (Lev 18:11, 20:17), nor the mother (Lev 20:14) or the sister (Lev 18:18) of a woman who is already his wife. The concept of a woman giving her consent to being married is foreign to the Biblical mindset.
4. If a woman cannot be proven to be a virgin at the time of marriage, she shall be stoned. (Deut 22:13-21).
5. A rapist must marry his victim (Ex. 22:16, Deut. 22:28-29) - unless she was already a fiancÈ, in which case he should be put to death if he raped her in the country, but both of them killed if he raped her in town. (Deut. 22:23-27).
6. If a man dies childless, his brother must marry the widow. (Gen 38:6-10, Deut 25:5-10, Mark 12:19, Luke 20:28).
7. Women marry the man of their father's choosing. (Gen. 24:4, Josh.15:16-17, Judges 1:12-13, 12:9, 21:1, 1 Sam 17:25, 18:19, 1 Kings 2:21, 1 Chron 2:35, Jer 29:6, Dan 11:17).
8. Women are the property of their father until married, and their husband after that. (Ex. 20:17, 22:17, Deut. 22:24, Mat 22:25).
9. The value of a woman might be approximately seven years' work. (Gen 29:14-30).
10. Inter-faith marriages are prohibited. (Gen 24:3, 28:1, 28:6, Num 25:1-9, Ezra 9:12, Neh 10:30, 2 Cor 6:14).
11. Divorce is forbidden. (Deut 22:19, Matt 5:32, 19:9, Mark 10:9-12, Luke 16:18, Rom 7:2, 1 Cor 7:10-11, 7:39).
12. Better to not get married at all - although marriage is not a sin. (Matt 19:10, I Cor 7:1, 7:27-28, 7:32-34, 7:38).

So, as you can see one can not make such a blanket statement that "gay theology" or the "gay agenda" is redefining marriage when it is quite obvious from history, biblical history as well, that marriage was never pigeon holed in the first place. It's just not that simple,,,

_

After Gilgamesh has a series of bad dreams, Enkidu comforts him, saying, “’Take my hand, friend, and we shall go [on] together, [let] your thoughts dwell on combat!’” (Tablet IV).

Ten Years From Now | NOM Blog

Emails Show "Pro-Family" Activists Feeding Contacts To Russian Nationalists - BuzzFeed News

Like this article posted back in October which discusses the influence of certain US Evangelicals in Russia:

Cutting against growing tensions between the United States and Russia, influential and politically well-connected, Tea Party-aligned American evangelical leaders – including one who has called for a “military takeover” – who hold dominionist or even theocratic political leanings and are tied to former high-level U.S. military and intelligence community members, have over the past decade allied with one of Russian president Vladimir Putin’s closest political allies, Vladimir Yakunin.

The attached follows along in the same vane.  On that list is Brian Brown of NOM

The emails include frequent correspondence between senior Russian figures, such as Dugin, the financier Konstantin Malofeev — who has close ties to Russian-backed separatists in Ukraine and is a patron of causes dear to the Orthodox Church — and Alexey Komov, an official with the Orthodox patriarchy and the “Russian representative” of the World Congress of Families, a social conservative network based in Rockford, Illinois.
,,,
The conversations also make clear that Malofeev relies on Gavrish as a gatekeeper with some European contacts. It also includes discussion of a global summit of social conservative leaders convened in Moscow in September organized by Komov, including two emails in which Komov sends a full list of people invited to the conference — along with their contact information and details of passports and visas — to Gavrish.

The conference caused an uproar in the United States because it was originally organized as a World Congress of Families summit, but the WCF was forced to drop its official sponsorship when some American partner organizations withdrew their participation in protest of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Komov, who had promoted the event as the “‘Olympics’ of the international Pro-Life movement supporting the Natural Family,” moved ahead with the event under the auspices of foundations controlled by Malofeev and another oligarch in Vladimir Putin’s inner circle, president of the state-owned railway company Vladimir Yakunin, and two members of the WCF’s leadership served on the organizing committee.
,,,
The conference closed with a declaration calling on the world to stand against LGBT rights in order to “unite before the threat of total dehumanization of society, to set up a barrier on the road of ideology-lined, state-supported interference in the private lives of people, in an attempt to foist specific sexual lifestyles and preferences of the minority upon the majority.”

Emails Show "Pro-Family" Activists Feeding Contacts To Russian Nationalists - BuzzFeed News

The following two articles are of note as well (H/T John Newcomb):

• The Kremlin Builds an Unholy Alliance With America’s Christian Right:  The Kremlin reaches out to U.S. evangelicals, but reciprocating Moscow’s gestures can backfire
• Russia’s traditional values initiative result in abuse at domestic level

Brian Brown Gets Defensive About His Russia Activism: 'Absolute Lies And Slurs' | Right Wing Watch

So earlier today I was involved in a two-pronged conversation concerning WW2 and the role and responsibilities of the railroads (and by proxy the workers) had in the Holocaust.  The question was asked were any of those "workers" ever held accountable?

Things were going along great till this, ",,,do you think that there will be a modern day holocaust with Christians being forced out of their homes and thrown in FEMA camps? That's what I'm concerned about these days."

Frustrated by this conversation stopper (faux Christian Persecution Complex), I posed the above to a group of like minded thinkers, we bandied about some of the myth-conceptions surrounding Hitler and the Third Reich. One comment touched on one of Hitler's alleged proclivities and the "most of the Nazis were homosexuals" canard that some like to pull out of a hat and teach.

The ensuing discussion centered around where this thought may have originated and why, ",,, found myself reading The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich,,,At any rate in book one which was about Hitler's early life and his efforts to start the political party; this book says that he went anyplace he could to gain support and that some of his early supporters were thugs and homosexuals. This may have been the reference your teacher had,,,But this was before he had any power and it would be a stretch to make that idiotic statement." (Ed. for grammar, spelling and punctuation)

To which I responded (minus the citations),,,
The Right's misinformation concerning Hitler and gays could be coming from Scott Lively's book the Pink Swastika: Homosexuality in the Nazi Party, it is his favorite canard and he uses it very well.

Lively's ideas have proven too radical for the mainstream family values movement, but they've gotten some traction on the far right. Bryan Fischer, director of issues analysis for the influential American Family Association, regularly parrots his arguments linking gays to Nazis. ("Homosexuality gave us Adolph Hitler," he opined in a 2010 post on the organization's website, "and homosexuals in the military gave us the Brown Shirts, the Nazi war machine and six million dead Jews.") Lively's theories have also gained currency in foreign countries, including former Soviet republics, where he has helped advance anti-gay legislation. But nowhere has his influence been more keenly felt than in Uganda

Lively is one of many western evangelicals responsible for Uganda's kill the gays bill as well as the anti-gay sentiment in Russia.

What's less well known is that three American evangelical preachers, Scott Lively, Caleb Lee Brundidge and Don Schmierer, visited the country a month before the bill was introduced, giving talks about how "the gay movement is an evil institution" which seeks to prey on children, destroy "the moral fiber of the people," and abolish marriage and the family and replace it with "a culture of sexual promiscuity." Lively boasted that their campaign was "a nuclear bomb against the gay agenda in Uganda," and later admitted to meeting with Ugandan lawmakers to help draft the bill, although he professed ignorance of the death penalty provision. Other American evangelicals, including Kevin Swanson and Lou Engle, have also expressed their support for the so-called Kill the Gays bill.

It's not just LGBT people in Uganda who've been harmed by the spread of aggressive evangelicalism. American megachurch pastor Rick Warren has a Ugandan protege, a pastor named Martin Ssempa, who has preached aggressively against contraception (in one bizarre public stunt, he burned condoms in the name of Jesus). Ugandan president Yoweri Museveni had formerly been a staunch advocate of the so-called ABC program (consisting of abstinence, monogamy and condom use) which successfully reduced HIV infection rates in Uganda; but thanks in part to Ssempa's influence and access, the government was persuaded to stop free condom distribution, and as a result, new HIV infections spiked again. (Ssempa, too, has called for the imprisonment of gay people. President Museveni also has ties to the Washington, D.C.-based fundamentalist group "the Family," which has called him their " key man" in Africa.)

The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich: A History of Nazi Germany by William L. Shirer though a landmark book has a few "problems" from a strict academic standpoint although one has to remember it was written in 1960s. So you could be correct as well (name removed) I do remember back in the mid 90s Shirer's attitude towards homosexuality (it being a perversion) was taken to task.

So the attached article, which mysteriously appeared on my news feed tonight, and the accusation comes as no big surprise, although I didn't realize that NOM's influence ranged beyond domestic interests. I should have known better.

Joe Jervis points us to a debate on C-SPAN this weekend between the National Organization for Marriage’s Brian Brown and Freedom to Marry’s Evan Wolfson, where things got a little contentious when Wolfson confronted Brown about his anti-gay activism in Russia.

Brown has never explicitly advocated for repressive Russian anti-gay policies, including the infamous “gay propaganda” ban, but he has acted as an outside validator for Russian politicians imposing the harsh new policies.

Last year, for instance, he spoke to a Russian parliament committee about the supposed dangers of gay adoption just a few days before the legislature voted to tighten its prohibition on the adoption of Russian orphans by same-sex couples or by couples in countries where same-sex marriage is legal.

And this year, Brown was a member of the planning committee for a World Congress of Families event in Moscow that was to take place at the Kremlin and was financed by members of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s inner circle. Although the World Congress of Families dropped its official sponsorship of the event under pressure from some of its member groups, the event went ahead as planned, with Brown as a featured speaker. That conference ended with delegates issuing a resolution calling for more countries around the world to pass “gay propaganda” bans like Russia’s.

Brian Brown Gets Defensive About His Russia Activism: 'Absolute Lies And Slurs' | Right Wing Watch