Monday, October 6, 2008

Prop 8 Ad Backlash

Updated Tuesday, October 7th

Recently, protectmarriage.com launched its first television ad. The commercial features Richard Peterson, a professor of law at Pepperdine Univeristy, talking about the legal ramifications of defeating Proposition 8. Those who oppose Prop 8 insist that this is all hogwash and has nothing to do with gay marriage. I respectfully disagree with them.

The "gay rights" community is seeking in every arena to validate their lifestyle choice and seek to put down anyone who believes that living a homosexual lifestyle is against God's will and society's best interest. (Incidentally, my family (and church) believes in chastity before marriage and complete fidelity within marriage, and teach our children accordingly.) You can bet that once validated and legalized, this community will turn to suing the churches that refuse to perform gay marriages. They will seek to silence those who speak out in defense of traditional families and marriage. They call evil "good" and good, "evil". (Isaiah 5:20)

Interestingly enough, those who cry out for "equal rights" and freedom of speech are also crying for Richard Peterson to be fired by Pepperdine for expressing his own opinion. The ad never says or even implies that Pepperdine University supports Prop 8, only that a professor there does. Richard Peterson asked the university's permission before he appeared in the ad, voicing his own concerns about the ramifications of legalizing gay marriage.

It seems that those who preach tolerance do not know what the word means at all. They are not tolerant of families speaking up in defense of marriage. They portray us as bigots and call for discrimination against us (as in calling on Pepperdine to fire Richard Peterson for his appearance in the commercial.)

Proposition 8 does not seek to criminalize homosexuality. It does not take away the rights of gays to enter into domestic partnerships or civil unions. It does not even mention homosexuality. Proposition 8 has only these words: Only marriage between a man and a woman is valid and recognized in California.

And yet, the homosexual community would take this away from us and make it their own.

The term "silent majority" has come about because those in the minority have learned to raise their voices in protest against things they do not like. Let us take note, but without name calling and smearing.

Please write to Pepperdine and voice your support for freedom of speech, for freedom of religion, and for the right of all of us to speak out in defense of traditional marriage. Here are a few email addresses to get you started:


Edited 10/7

Thanks to everyone who emailed Pepperdine. Thanks to your efforts and countless others, Pepperdine has heard our voice and Richard Peterson's position is safe. They have asked for us to stop emailing them so that they can get back to work.

And vote Yes on Prop 8!

12 comments:

Stephanie said...

a great cause, and a beautiful family picture.

A mother heart said...

This is wonderful!!!! We have the same initiative here in AZ with the same wording. Fortunatley for us, we do not have all of Hollywood with it's millions of dollars and loud obnoxious voices trying to silence the majority who want to support marriage. I feel for you in Cali who have an even harder fight than we do.
Love the family picture. It's beautiful!

Vote YES on 8!
or
(Vote YES on 102 in Arizona!)

Nana said...

Thanks for the reminder - and making it so easy to have a voice. I received replies from my emails to Pepperdine.

An Ordinary Mom said...

I am so glad to hear his job is safe.

My ballot should be coming in the mail any day. I can't wait to vote YES!

Anonymous said...

Great job! I sent each one my own comments. How did you hear that they wanted us to stop and Richard's job was safe?

Love,
Papa

Nana and Grandpa Neilson said...

Love your family photo! What a great picture. You are a loud voice for a good cause! Keep "telling it like it is"!
I didn't leave my blog address last post, but would love to contact your mom via email if she approves. Please send her my email address and encourage her to drop me a line! cygnant22@cox.net

McD said...

I don't think that would ever pass in Oklahoma. I thought at first your fear was a little far fetched, but I hear all the time about the trouble doctors get into for not wanting to perform abortions. So, if this bill gets defeated, is that end?

Susan Anderson said...

Hi! I'm visiting because you commented today on my prop 8 blog post (thanks for your kind words, by the way). Anyway, just wanted to say that I e-mailed Pepperdine too, thanks to some prompting from a different blog. I bet that university got so much feedback from Prop 8 supporters that they couldn't even deal with it all! Glad things worked and that his job is no longer in danger. =)

Sonja said...

Well said!

That family picture is gorgeous!

Mother Teresa said...

Michal,
You are amazing! I love to check in on your blog and read up on how you & family (+ siblings) are doing. I love the picture of your family, it’s kind of like looking back at your little brothers years ago. So cute. btw, you should WRITE a book, you do it so well.

Anonymous said...

"You can bet that once validated and legalized, this community will turn to suing the churches that refuse to perform gay marriages."

You no foundation for this claim and any first year law student will tell you that the separation of church and state in this country prohibits the state from forcing a church to perform a marriage.

Prop 8 has nothing to do with the church. It only deals with marriage in regards to the state.

As for Isaiah, unless you are keeping kosher you should probably keep the old testament as contextual allegory and re-read Matthew 7:1 a few times.

No on Prop 8

Michal said...

fortune,

thank you for your comments. i'm glad you felt comfortable offering an dissenting viewpoint. i would like to respond to what you said.

although there is no precedent yet for suing churches over gay marriage, catholic charities has already been forced to close down it's adoption services in massachusetts because it was morally opposed to placing children in gay married homes. that is precedent enough for churches being forced by the government to accommodate gay marriage or else. i don't need to look to europe for an example of that already happening.

matthew 7:1 "judge not, that ye be not judged" is referring to judging individuals. we are commanded to look inward at our own faults, rather than looking outward to criticize others. we are never asked by christ to not call sin a sin, but to condemn not the sinner.

that does not mean to embrace sin. nor does it mean that we are not expected to try to discern between good and evil. in fact, later in the same chapter, christ tells us how to judge between a good and evil tree "by their fruits ye shall know them."

prop 8 is not about judging individuals who are gay. i cannot understand the thoughts and intents of another's heart or why the chose the things they doe. we are commanded to love our neighbor. but we are also commanded to uphold the standards of righteousness set forth by christ. including chastity and marriage. it is difficult to take such a strong stand that i know may cause pain to my gay friends and neighbors, but i believe the consequences are too dire to not stand up.