The depositions of Prop 8 witnesses Paul Nathanson and Katherine Young who may have withdrew out of fear for their own safety reveal today how damaging their statements could have been (and ultimately are) to their case. Watch:

Paul Nathanson a Canadian religious scholar who just happens to be gay (duh!) was also trotted out in Varnum v. Brien which ultimately led to the Iowa Supreme Court legalizing same-sex marriage. In the document Defending Faith, Family and Freedom by the Family Research Council Nathanson is quoted as saying that cultures can only survive and thrive via opposite-sex marriage.

“Because heterosexuality is directly related to both reproduction and survival … every human society has had to promote it actively … Heterosexuality is always fostered by a cultural norm” that limits marriage to unions of men and women. He adds that people “are wrong in assuming that any society can do without it.”

Not surprisingly marriage scholar Maggie Gallagher also surfaces in said document.

Nathanson and Young also co-authored  Marriage à la mode: Answering the Advocates of Gay Marriage in 2003 which attempts to dissect and tear down many marriage equality positions. Some of their arguments below.

Argument 7: Children would be no worse off with happily married gay parents than they are with unhappily married straight ones: This comparison is false, because it involves the best of one scenario with the worst of another. A legitimate comparison would compare either the best of both or the worst of both. Once again, we suggest that the best of marriage (providing at least one parent or other adult of each sex) is better than the best of gay marriage (which provides two parents of the same sex and none of the other one).

Argument 15: Anyone who opposes same-sex marriage is homophobic: This argument amounts to verbal terrorism. By “homophobic” is meant prejudice and hostility, although this word actually connotes the neuroticism of a phobia. The implication is that only evil or sick people can possibly disagree with any claim made by gay people. So much for the possibility of rational debate. (Never mind that not even all gay people are in favor of gay marriage.)

Moreover, this is an ad hominem argument. It is easy to trivialize arguments by attacking the personal integrity of those who make them. That way, you need not deal with the argument itself.

It’s a lengthy document but a good source for “verbal terrorists” such as myself in developing counter arguments.

Narrated by Dustin Lance Black, 8: The Mormon Proposition is a new documentary by Reed Cowen which takes an in-depth look at the involvement of the Mormon church in the passage of California’s Proposition 8. Trailer below:

Find out more at MormonProposition.com.

H/T to Pam’s House Blend.

Drew Johnson, president of the Tennessee Center for Policy Research drove out to Al Gore’s mansion during Earth Hour Saturday night and claims that the former vice president ignored the event. According to Mr. Johnson, some of the house lights were left on, as were flood lights for the trees, and a light for the house number. Apparently there are photographs…

Really? Are these the ONLY pictures you have? You went out into the dark of night Mr. Johnson, hoping to discredit that villainous liberal/Hollywood elitist Al Gore and expose his global warming con, and this was the best you could do? Two pictures of a lit house number? Which in many communities is required to be visible at night so that emergency vehicles can locate the home in case of… you guessed it… an emergency? And the third picture? I don’t even know what that is!

Do you know how to operate a camera Mr. Johnson? Did you not know how to get the whole house in view? Give me a break. You are as big of a fraud as you claim Al Gore to be. Thanks to your shoddy camera work, how can I conclude otherwise?

Of course all the right-wing sites are aflutter at the apparent hypocrisy of Al Gore ignoring Earth Hour even as he responded through his spokesperson…

“The Gores honored Earth Hour by shutting off the lights at their residence. The heating and air conditioning were turned off as well. But more importantly, the Gores live in a Gold LEED certified home, powered by geothermal power. They have undergone renovations to put solar panels on the roof and participate in all of the renewable power programs offered by their local utility. They aren’t perfect, no family is, but they do their best, year-round to try to make a difference at home and across the country to make a difference on the climate crisis.”

Move along folks. This is just another manufactured controversy by a wingnut conservative consumed by partisan politics, nothing more. Go away Mr. Johnson, and please, learn how to use a camera next time… okay?