In a surprising move the New Hampshire Senate passed a gay marriage bill by a 13-11 margin, including some last minute additions to placate conservatives. From Reuters:

The last-minute changes to the legislation would allow clergy to decline to marry homosexual couples and give couples the freedom to either keep the words “bride” and “groom” on marriage licenses, or use the word “spouse” instead.

Because the Senate and House passed separate versions, they must resolve their differences before the bill can go to the governor, who in 2007 signed a law recognizing same-sex civil unions, making New Hampshire the fourth state to do so.

If the governor signs the bill New Hampshire will become the 5th state to allow same-sex couples to marry.

The Rock Church of San Diego, which counts Carrie Prejean—also known as Miss California—as one of its members, is using discredited sources and junk science to link homosexuality with pedophilia.

The Rock Church founded and pastored by former San Diego Charger Miles McPherson, established the linkage in a sermon about Sodom and Gomorrah back in 2004.

Consequences of a Homosexual Lifestyle

God’s Word tells us differently and He provides us of the evidence that homosexuality is not natural or normal. There are physiological repercussions from homosexual behavior; male homosexuals are 430 times more likely to contract HIV than a heterosexual, while heterosexuals have a 1-in-750,000 chance of contracting the virus responsible for HIV, a male homosexual has a 1-in-165 chance of getting HIV. A 20 year old gay male has a 30% chance of either dying or contracting AIDS before the age of 30. They are also 23 times more likely to get other sexually transmitted diseases than a heterosexual.

There are also moral repercussions stemming from homosexual behavior as evidenced by the fact that one third of all sexual crimes against children are committed by homosexuals even though they are representative of only one percent of the population. Pedophilia has even been called central to the gay lifestyle. The agenda of the North American Man Boy Love Association (NAMBLA) is to lower the age of consent so that sex with children will be legal.

Emotionally people suffer from homosexuality. Gays are five times more likely to commit suicide than a straight person. They are suffering depression because of God’s judgment and their alienation from Him. So God not only tells us what is right and wrong but that by continually doing what is wrong there will be consequences and this is all evident to us so we have no excuse in suppressing the truth.

The outrageous claim that 1/3 of all sexual crimes are committed by homosexuals comes from Paul Cameron, a discredited researcher known for distorting other people’s  research to further his own anti-gay agenda. Cameron is also founder of the Family Research Institute which is listed as a hate group by Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC).

A video of the sermon is available below, and is a huge treasure trove of the typical anti-gay and intelligent design pablum.

Not surprisingly, the Rock Church and McPherson were active and vocal supporters of Proposition 8 last November. Watch McPherson deliver a sermon on Prop 8 in the video below. I wonder if Prejean is somewhere in the audience…

McPherson was also a part of a Protect Marriage Simulcast targeting church leaders, young people, and congregations in the run up to the election, which was sponsored by none other than ProtectMarriage.com

It’s clear now that much of the blame for Carrie Prejean’s infamous answer at the Miss USA pageant falls squarely at the feet of Pastor Miles McPherson and the Rock Church of San Diego Church.

Thanks to Americablog via Holy Bullies and Headless Monsters.

The Illinois Family Institute (IFI) has released an insidious and homophobic piece of propaganda called “Dare to Stand” which makes NOM’s “Gathering Storm” look like amateur hour. The new video is a “rethinking” of the National Day of Silence on April 17th, a youth-driven event which calls attention to anti-LGBT name-calling, bullying and harassment in schools. Watch “Dare to Stand”… if you dare.

Classified as a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center, IFI purports to “uphold marriage & family, life & liberty in the Land of Lincoln.” From their website…

It is our firm opinion that these claims of discrimination, intolerance and bullying (aimed at people of faith who believe God’s Word that homosexuality is sin) are diverting attention away from GLSEN’s main purpose which has been and continues to be the normalization of homosexuality among impressionable youth.

This 6 minute video, made by a Bible believing church here in Illinois, exposes how our children are being indoctrinated, held captive and forced to accept an unproven and dangerous ideology while Biblical Truth is undermined.

“Dare to Stand” surfaces in the wake of Carl Walker-Hoover’s death, the young boy who recently killed himself after enduring repeated anti-gay bullying.

Many may view the timing as unfortunate, but “Dare to Stand” may present a wonderful opportunity for additional dialogue, shedding more light on homophobia and bullying in schools, while at the same time pushing groups like IFI further out of the mainstream and into Fred Phelps territory.

Sadly, Carl’s birthday would have been on April 17th. Hopefully many will use this day of silence to reflect on this tragedy… and how not to repeat it.

Former British Prime Minister and recently converted Catholic Tony Blair provides a little bit of education to the Pope in the latest issue of Attitude magazine, which I am sure the Pope is a loyal subscriber.

Organized religions face the same dilemma as political parties when faced with changed circumstances. You can either A: Hold on to your core vote, basically, you know, say ‘Look let’s not break out because if we break out we might lose what we’ve got, and at least we’ve got what we’ve got so let’s keep it’. Or B: You say ‘let’s accept that the world is changing, and let us work out how we can lead that change and actually reach out’.
…
“There is a huge generational difference here,” he said. “There’s probably that same fear amongst religious leaders that if you concede ground on [homosexuality], because attitudes and thinking evolve over time, where does that end? You’d start having to rethink many, many things.” He added: “If you went and asked the [ordinary Catholic] congregation, I think you’d find that their faith is not to be found in those types of entrenched attitudes.”

I suspect that if Blair had not played opposite George Bush during the Iraq war, we’d all have a far different opinion of him now.