SC Prog Blog

By Morgan Strong
Consortium News

The Russia-Georgia clash has generated heated anti-Moscow rhetoric from John McCain and U.S. neoconservatives about a new Cold War, a prospect that most people might see in a negative light but which many military contractors surely view as a financial plus.

One unstated reality about revived tensions between Washington and Moscow is that it will mean a bonanza in military spending – billions of additional dollars for anti-missile weapons systems, larger armies, construction of new bases in Eastern Europe, etc.

Indeed, the spending on Cold War II could dwarf what military contractors are now making on the “war on terror” – and the prospect of spending on both conflicts simultaneously should make arms industry executives drool.

Others who stand to profit grandly from a new East-West showdown include tough-talking politicians and their friends in Washington think tanks – like Heritage, AEI and CSIS – that have long fattened up on contributions from the defense industry and related corporations.

There would be losers, too, like taxpayers who would see more of their dollars go to “national security” and less to domestic needs, from repairs to the crumbling infrastructure to the costs of health care, education, the environment and Social Security.

But, in many ways, the exploitation of Cold War fears – to divert money away from domestic needs to the coffers of what Dwight Eisenhower dubbed “the military-industrial complex” – is nothing new.

Arguably, the original Cold War ended under Eisenhower’s former Vice President, Richard Nixon, who as President returned from Moscow in 1972 carrying a strategic agreement that he had reached with what was already a rapidly decaying Soviet Union.

“In Moscow, we witnessed the beginning of the end of that era which began in 1945,” Nixon said. “With this step, we have enhanced the security of both nations. We have begun to reduce the level of fear, by reducing the causes of fear, our two peoples, and for all the peoples of the world.”

Nixon unveiled a new era of realpolitik cooperation between Washington and Moscow that he called “détente.”

However, while reducing fears and lowering tensions might be good news for many people, it wasn’t welcomed by the corporations that profited from the fears and the tensions, nor by the intellectual hired guns who had built lucrative careers in politics, media and academia by exaggerating those fears and exacerbating those tensions.

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Sean’s Last Wish founder Elke Kennedy is featured in the soon to be released book CRISIS, 40 Stories Revealing the Personal, Social, and Religious Pain and Trauma of Growing Up Gay in America. It is edited by Mitchell Gold, founder of Faith in America, with Mindy Drucker.

CRISIS is an expose of the fear, isolation, depression, and even suicidal feelings young gay people face from the time they realize they are gay until they have a healthy coming out. For many gay adults, the traumatic teenage years are buried in memory as a painful time to be left behind and forgotten. But, those who bravely recalled and contributed their stories to CRISIS describe experiences that are unfortunately universal for gay youth. 

Well-known successful members of the gay community, such as Bishop Gene Robinson, actor Richard Chamberlain, ambassador Jim Hormel and US Reps Tammy Baldwin and Barney Frank, share what it was like to live a lie every day, without support from family, friends, church, or school-and how they triumphed over the challenges. And a number of young people detail personal experiences that make clear the same challenges unfortunately continue today.

CRISIS is designed to make parents, clergy, teachers, politicians, and the media aware of the ongoing crisis young gay people experience in our culture today and understand how to stop it.

In addition to being an inspiring and helpful personal resource, it is an excellent gift for that someone you know whose heart and mind you’d like to transform from hostility to love and from rejection to acceptance. 

CRISIS will be published in mid-September. Pre-orders are available now at Amazon.com and CrisisBook.org.

On Sunday, Aug. 10, at 7pm the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship in Columbia will hold a panel discussion about the proposed South Carolina “I Believe” license plates, which has resulted in a lawsuit. (See earlier post for background on the controversy.)

The panel will include Kevin Hall, an attorney with Nelson Mullins, the law firm that will be defending the Dept. of Motor Vehicles in the lawsuit. He will join the Rev. Michael Frisina, pastor of Calvary Chapel, and one of his parishioners, Carl Sohm, in defending the constitutionality of the plate. Speaking in opposition to the plate will be two of the plaintiffs in the lawsuit: the Rev. Dr. Tom Summers, a retired United Methodist minister, and the Rev. Dr. Monty Knight, pastor of the First Christian Church of Charleston and president of the Charleston AU chapter.

The UU Fellowship is at 2701 Heyward St., corner of Heyward and Woodrow in Shandon.

By Becci Robbins

The SC Progressive Network is gearing up its Missing Voter Project to find, engage and register South Carolinians who aren’t voting. In the 2004 presidential year election, slightly less than half of the voting-age population turned out, putting South Carolina 42nd in voter participation. In 2006, for mid-term elections, slightly more than a third showed up at the polls (35 percent).

“There is nothing more important to a healthy democracy than an engaged citizenry,” said Network Director Brett Bursey. “Americans should be alarmed at how the monied interests in this country have hijacked the electoral process. Ordinary citizens are getting the short end of the stick by not participating in elections.”

The US ranks 138th in the world in voter turn out, falling between Armenia and Nigeria, according to a 2002 study by the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance, based in Stockholm.

“While we are busy trying to export democracy around the world, ironically, too many of us are not practicing it here,” said Rev. Dr. Bennie Colclough, who serves as the Network’s Cochair. “This could have something to do with the fact that we are the only wealthy nation that doesn’t provide education and health care to its citizens as part of their democratic social contract.”

The Missing Voter Project is designed to take voter registration beyond traditional party building or drumming up support for a specific campaign or candidate. The MVP is an effort to engage new voters in a larger movement for social change based on citizen empowerment.

“I can’t tell someone that registering and voting is going to improve their life,” Bursey said.” The system itself is broken. Due to the creation of ’safe’ districts for incumbent legislators, we have the least competitive legislative races in the nation, with most seats being uncontested. And the sad reality is that 98 percent of the candidates who spend the most money are the ones who win. That’s not an election, it’s an auction.”

The Missing Voter Project is a civic engagement program with a special emphasis on minority youth. Since 2004, the MVP has provided street maps identifying unregistered and infrequent voters in minority precincts throughout rural South Carolina, and has registered more than 6,000 voters. About half of South Carolina’s black population is registered, and about half of those registered turn out to vote. The service has been offered statewide to other nonprofits to enhance their voter registration work.

The Missing Voter Project is built on the idea that registering and voting is simply the first step to building power at the grassroots level. The intention is to create a movement of voters with enough power to help set political priorities that meet their needs rather than the needs of politicians and corporate interests.

“Most folks in this state are not voting because they don’t believe it will make a difference,” Bursey said. “But imagine how we could change life in South Carolina if we didn’t leave running the government to those with access to wealth. It’s a long-term effort we are proposing, but people are hungry for change. We want to offer them a way to make it happen.”

The Network is organizing free, nonpartisan voter registration training sessions throughout the state to show groups and individuals how to use high-tech maps to maximize their registration efforts. The two-hour training sessions are 7-9pm in the following cities:

Winnsboro: Aug. 9, Glover’s Memorial Chapel, 423 N. Congress St. (Network will partner with Sigma Theta, Fairfield Co. NAACP, SC Voter Education Project)

Charleston: Aug. 14, Morris Brown Church, 13 Morris St. (Network will partner with Charleston NAACP, SC Voter Education Project)

Columbia: Aug. 19, St. John’s Baptist, corner of Farrow and Beltline: (Network will partner with Columbia NAACP, Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, SC Voter Education Project)

Greenville: Aug. 21: Mt. Pleasant Community Center, 715 S Fairfield Rd: (Network will partner with Greenville NAACP, League of Women Voters, SC Voter Education Project)

Subscribe to Missing Voter Project

Email:

Visit this group

Check out Publishers Weekly’s review of Candace Chellew-Hodge’s forthcoming book, Bulletproof Faith. Rev. Chellew-Hodge serves as a pastor at the Garden of Grace United Church of Christ (a member of the SC Progressive Network) in Columbia and edits the online publication Whosoever.

Rev. Candace Chellew-Hodge (right) joins Rev. Tom Summers (center) and Rev. Bennie Colclough in facilitating a group discussion at a Network retreat at Penn Center.

By Becci Robbins and Brett Bursey
SC Progressive Network

About 25 activists met yesterday in Columbia to talk about the future and direction of the South Carolina chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union, which in April was taken over by the national after years of poor management and in-fighting. While the national organization has twice before taken over a state chapter, this is the first time in the ACLU’s nearly 90-year history that it has done so without the affiliate’s blessing.

It’s too bad that it has come to this, but it appears it was the only way the SC ACLU was ever going to get out of the ditch it has been mired in for more than a decade. Under the leadership of libertarian David Kennison, the chapter has been at ideological odds with the national organization and has alienated longtime SC ACLU supporters and board members.

It didn’t help that the SC ACLU hired a series of executive directors who ranged from inept to corrupt. The last director was fired after it was discovered that her law license had been suspended and that she was stealing money from the chapter.

Tension deepened two years ago, when the chapter became the only state affiliate to sign onto a Web site criticising the ACLU’s national director, Anthony Romero. Kennison has argued that the chapter take-over is tied to his past criticism of Romero. (You can read more about this dispute in The Nation.)

All this drama has not come without a price. While the SC ACLU has been battling with itself, abuses of civil liberties have gone unchallenged. Absent, too, has been a clear and consistent voice in the South Carolina media addressing privacy concerns, chronic problems regarding the separation of church and state, and a host of other legal and legislative matters.

Yesterday’s meeting in Columbia was the first in a series that the ACLU will hold across the state in an effort to gather input and chart a new course. If you want to add your two cents, the organization is soliciting feedback through an online survey.

We wish the new SC ACLU well.

By Cecile Richards
President, Planned Parenthood Federation of America

We have just received news that President Bush is trying to
sell-out women’s health in the most unbelievable way. Here’s
how:

The Bush administration is about to release a rule that will
make it possible for federal funding that is specifically
designed to prevent unintended pregnancy and promote
reproductive health to now be used for anything but that.

If it happens, it will be a massive betrayal of women and
families, and we must stop it. We need you to
speak out. Please let President Bush know that this change is
very wrong by clicking here.

A little background on this outrageous situation…

We’ve known for some time that anti-choice extremists have
wanted President Bush to deliver them some sort of “gift” before
he leaves office. This rule change is just that gift. And here’s
what one of the most egregious results could be:

Right now, anti-choice groups run so-called “crisis pregnancy
centers” in communities all around the country — often a block
or two away from Planned Parenthood affiliate health centers.
These facilities look like health centers, but in reality are
run by anti-choice zealots who deliver only the reproductive
health care options that fit their agenda. No birth control, no
abortion — and no choice for women and families who need it.

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Sean’s Last Wish is trying to raise money by writing reviews for businesses at palmettobizbuzz.com.

This will only take a few minutes of your time. All you have to do is go to palmettobizbuzz.com and write reviews about businesses in South Carolina. For every review, you can select Sean’s Last Wish in the Upstate (Greenville) to receive a $1 contribution.

The opportunity will last until the end of this month.

By Rev. Dr. Neal Jones
Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Columbia

Ever since I became a therapist, I have dreaded the possibility of getting involved in a lawsuit. I was warned in my grad school psychology courses that the odds were great that at some time in our careers as clinical psychologists, a disgruntled, hostile client would take out his or her frustration on their therapist in the form of a lawsuit, and I have seen this happen to colleagues, with expensive consequences regarding time, money, and reputation. Innocence makes no difference in terms of the damage done.

Yet here I am participating in a lawsuit, and I couldn’t be more proud to do so. I have agreed to be a plaintiff in a suit brought by Americans United for Separation of Church and State against the state of South Carolina over its production of a Christian license plate. The plate features a cross superimposed on a stained glass and bears the words “I Believe.” In South Carolina, specialty license plates are created either by an organization or by an act of the General Assembly on behalf of an organization. In either case, the organization must pay either $4,000 or produce 400 orders before the plates are created. The Christian license plate did not go through either process. It was created by the legislature on behalf of the Christian faith generally, not for an organization. Eager to produce the plate as soon as possible (and just in time for the fall elections), Lt. Gov. Andre Bauer has offered to pay the required $4,000 out of his own pocket, to be reimbursed by the state later. It is clear that the “I Believe” plate has received preferential treatment.

It is also clear that the plate is blatantly unconstitutional. The 1st Amendment states that “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion,” and under the Due Process clause of the 14th Amendment, this prohibition applies to state governments as well. It is significant that the plaintiffs in this case are religious leaders. I am joined by Rev. Dr. Tom Summers, a retired United Methodist minister; Rev. Dr. Monty Knight, pastor of the First Christian Church of Charleston; Rabbi Sanford Marcus, rabbi emeritus of the Tree of Life Synagogue; and the Hindu American Foundation, a non-profit advocacy organization that provides a voice for over two million Hindu-Americans. As citizens, we are offended that our legislators, who have a duty to represent all South Carolinians, are showing favoritism toward a particular group of citizens. As ministers, we are offended that the government is meddling in religious matters, an area beyond its competence and authority. The principle of the separation of church and state protects both sides from the intrusion of the other, and this is good for the integrity of democracy and religious faith.

One reporter asked me if I would like the state to produce a Unitarian Universalist license plate. I told her that our principles are too large to fit on a license plate. Then I said, “No, I would not want the state to create a UU license plate. Government has no business messing with religion, whether it’s my religion or someone else’s.” That’s my story – and the Constitution’s – and I’m sticking to it.

Arnold Karr
Columbia

This is the response I got from Sen. Jim DeMint about the Consumer-First Energy Act.

***********

Dear Mr. Karr,

Thank you for contacting me regarding S. 3044, the Consumer-First Energy Act. I appreciate hearing from you on this important issue.

As you may know, S. 3044, the Consumer-First Energy Act was introduced by Senator Harry Reid of Nevada. This bill would raise taxes on our domestic energy companies by over $18 billion and use the additional tax revenue to incentivize a limited scope of alternative energy sources such as wind, solar, and biofuels through tax credits and bonds.

While I support the increased development of renewable energy technologies, this bill would dramatically raise taxes on every American, through higher energy costs, in order to provide tax incentives to a small group of people developing renewable technologies. In addition, this bill restricts the types of renewable technologies that will qualify for the credits in the bill.

I believe America must move towards a more robust and diverse energy portfolio in an effort to increase our energy security and independence. In order to do that, we must develop our domestic energy resources, expand our refining capacity, and explore the full range of clean and alternative energy technologies.

If we are serious about diversifying our energy portfolio, the government should not be picking certain types of renewable technologies at the expense of other technologies. We must pursue many different solutions, increase domestic oil production, and build more nuclear power plants to create more competition in the energy markets. Allowing markets to work will keep prices down and help create alternative energy sources.

During my time in Congress, I have consistently supported developing our domestic energy sources, encouraging alternative technologies, and reducing overtly bureaucratic regulations on energy production. In addition, I have pushed for the increased use of nuclear energy to provide a clean base of electricity that is safe and affordable. You can be sure I will continue to fight for common sense solutions that address America’s energy problems.

Currently, S. 3044 failed a procedural vote on June 10, 2008. Rest assured, I will keep your thoughts in mind as Congress towards finding solutions for the challenges we face.

Thank you again for sharing your thoughts with me. Allow we do not see eye-to-eye on this issue, please feel free to contact me again in the future with anything important to you or your family. It is an honor to serve you and the people of South Carolina.

Sincerely,

Jim DeMint
United States Senator

Wade Fulmer, Columbia
member of Veterans for Peace

Beth, a mother and grandmother, is a Military Families Speak Out member who delivered this speech at a week ago conference.

The battles of blood for oil are far from over. Our soldiers and families and Iraqis continue to suffer by the unending occupations of two wars of six and seven years, killing our own, bomb bomb bombing McCainiac style Iraqi children and families by way of the madness of Administration and the lack of a Congress of conscience to govern by Our Own Constitution. The Congress continues bankrupt funding of carnage and refuse to hold Captiol Hill war criminal politicos responsible for killing and maiming war crimes against humanity. There is a Constitution, yes, that must be revived, lived! There is no Congress with the will to speak for peoples, to end their sufferings, deployment extensions, and stop loss betrayals of those who serve.

OUR America must strongly voice the inner outrage, must rebell against pharisean, unchristian, illegal, unconscionable war, its fear mongering myth, and the damn the peace arrogance of warful officials who are not representatives of the People. 

We on this 4th of July must reclaim and demand the rights of truth and Constitution to protect and defend for the care and honorable service that our soldier loved ones seek, to end the abusive murders of families and sovereign peoples. There is no obligation nor honor nor empathy as they suffer and die for the corporate war profits machine who bribe the Congress for monied bloodshed. Confront and hold officials accountable. Hold, protect and defend soldiers and families as your loved ones. 

********

Beth’s Speech

I have four scary words for you: we need to talk.

I need to share with you some of my experiences with Military Families Speak Out, a national organization with 4,000 members whose loved ones have served or are serving in the military.

And here’s the problem — unless you have skin in the game — and members of MFSO do, you may not understand what’s really at stake here, or even care. 

But we need each other.

Some of you may think that anyone who goes into the military is either stupid, blood-thirsty or deserving of what they get for fighting in an illegal and immoral war. But we know them as kids needing a job, health care or educational benefits. Good men and women just like your brothers and sisters — sons and daughters.

We, as a nation, have been sheltered from the reality of this war, but I’d like to share some of our experiences with you. Share what it is like to see the young Marine with his face burned beyond recognition, just eyes and a mouth, his ears and an arm missing — looking lost in a hospital cafeteria. 

To share with you what it’s like to spend Mother’s Day at Arlington Cemetery, accompanying mothers who go to visit their only children,  who lie buried among sea of other parents’ children who will never again know the embrace of their mother. Each is someone’s beloved child.

We need you to listen to us. We need you to HEAR us. 

Hear about Pierre Piche, who was killed in a helicopter crash in 2004. When Pierre wrote home to his family, he didn’t ask for things for himself, but rather for food to take care of the many stray animals around him. The last picture of him is with a donkey that had wandered into his tent. I think of him, and I see the picture of him holding a tiny puppy, with a wide smile across his face.

I think of my own daughter-in-law, who wrote that the children at the nearby refugee camp in Afghanistan had no warm clothes for the approaching winter, and asked us to send coats. And my MFSO friends did, until they had to find a storage place for the many, many boxes. I see a picture of her standing in the blowing snow with smiling children in only sweaters and sometimes barefoot. Her own three children were at home in Alaska. 

As a friend wrote to me recently, if you have a loved one in the military and dare proposing peace, you get a double whammy. You get criticized by many in the peace movement because your loved one is in the military, and then you are criticized by those believe you are undermining the morale of the troops by protesting the war.

The constant fear, 24/7, that harm will come to our family members will wrap around your heart until you feel sometimes you cannot breathe. When a loved one shares the deepest wounds, it is doubly painful. Painful that they are experiencing this, and painful that you can do nothing about it.

Here are the words of one of our MFSO sons:

The weather here is cooling off a bit, but Ramadaan has brought an increased level of bullshit in our area. I’m so angry. Angry isn’t the right word, but it’s simple. We’ve had a busy week. A busy week. Snipers, IEDs, EFPs, Mortars. I’ve seen the medevac chopper land in our compound three or four seperate times, and it starts to take it’s toll. Chunks of flesh. What the hell is chunks of flesh? Disgusting. Bones coming out of the body. Blood soaked stretchers. The cries in the darkness of grown men. I saw a grown man come up behind his buddy and hold him like sweethearts do. He rested his chin on the shoulder of his friend, and they wept together. What is this all about? I’m confused. I’m angry. And, I’m fighting a war on two fronts. One is plenty enough for one man to handle.

I’m still alive. Still here and counting the days. I miss you…

His mother went on to write:

This is what my son wrote to me today.

Now, the other “war” he is fighting is at home — where his wife has developed a “relationship” with an old love.

This brings up another issue — the effect of multiple deployments on the families. This is typical of several emails I have received from MFSO members:

Since everyone has a divorce story you can add my son. His divorce will be final in July… My daughter-in-law told me he had changed so much when he came back the first time but she was willing to stick with it. Now I have to wonder how much more his personality will have altered when he comes back from this second trip.

He still tells me he loves me and calls me mama so there is still some of my precious son in there, but until we are face to face, I will be left to wonder.

The entire family is affected when someone is deployed. Those who are affected most of all are the Gold Star families — -those who have lost a loved one. From one of our Ohio Gold star members:

I know my brother was murdered by his own government - first for getting him into an illegal war that should never have happened, and, second, for not giving him the equipment and tools to do the job they’d given him.

Every time one of our rights or freedoms is ripped away from us, it hurts more because I know my brother dedicated his adult life to making sure we had them. He loved the ideal of service to his country, as most soldiers do. To give up what he was willing to die for is a slap in his face and is a tear on mine.

It hurts to tell people that he’s dead. Saying the words is an acknowledgement, a dagger to any fantasy you might have about where he is and what he’s doing that you use to get by.

No, the pain doesn’t diminish. You just learn to live all over again. Thank goodness for my support network - family, friends and other military and Gold Star families - who help keep my knees from buckling and my heart from giving up.

To us Gold Stars, I think, it often feels like the whole world is walking by and ignoring this pain.

In Loving Memory of US Army SSG Edward W. Carman
Nov. 1976 - Apr.2004

As Military families, we stand to lose more from this failed war than any one other than the Iraqis, whose deaths and casualties and suffering goes unnoticed even more than the sacrifice of our own troops. More than 40 Iraqi refugees have been settled in Dayton since January, and I listen to the stories of their suffering with great sadness until I think my own heart can no longer hold any more pain. And you know who has really stepped up more than any other group to really help and support these refugees in our community? It has been veterans and military families.

Military families’ and veterans’ voices are an asset to the movement BECAUSE we have so much to lose — those we love. We will never grow bored with this fight or move on to other issues.
We will never give up this struggle. Support the troops — bring them home now!

Today’s seventh annual conference on Ballot Access and Voting Integrity is intended by its founder Attorney General John Ashcroft to train US Attorneys about the perils of individual voters, mostly Democrats and minorities, cheating at the ballot box. The past six conferences have reflected the Justice Department’s shift from protecting voting rights to prosecuting supposed “voting fraud.”

“Attorney General Michael Mukasey has an opportunity today to refute the perversion of his agency’s mission” said Brett Bursey, Director of the SC Progressive Network, which work on voting rights. “Under the Bush Administration, the focus of the Justice Department has been a punitive effort against supposed voter fraud, as opposed to the historical role of the department to insure voter access to the polls.”

A recent study by the Brennan Center of the NY School of Law found that individual voter fraud (the type the Justice Department is focusing on) is “less likely than being struck by lightning while waiting in line to vote.” The Director of the SC Election Commission recently told a State House Judiciary subcommittee hearing a bill that would require additional ID to register to vote that she did not know of a single case of individual voter fraud in South Carolina.

Bursey reported a clear case of voter suppression to the Voting Section during the 2004 election. “I got the guy on the phone who had approved the Section 5 move of a precinct in Beaufort County from a fire station to a gated community. Voters had to go past a private security guard to get to the polling place. If your name wasn’t on the precinct list, they wouldn’t let you in, which violated the statute that lets one vote a provisional ballot. They don’t allow pedestrians, so you had to have a car to vote. The Section 5 attorney told me he wouldn’t have approved moving the precinct if he knew it was a gated community. I asked him if he would put that in writing so I could advise County Election Directors not to locate polling places in gated communities and he refused. I was later told by former Voting Section staff Dr. Toby Moore that the remaining staff was afraid to do anything that might anger their partisan bosses.”

More than half of the career employees of the Voting Rights Section of the Justice Department have resigned since 2005, citing ethical conflicts arising from the politicization of their jobs. Moore, who resigned from the Section in 2006, told a US House Judiciary Subcommittee last October, “Until someone in the Department, in this administration or the next, admits to the mistakes of the past several years and restores credible leadership, the Voting Section of Civil Rights Division will remain a wounded institution. That ultimately harms not only employees of the Voting Section and minority voters, but all Americans.”

“The Justice Department’s focus on ‘voting integrity’ has been exposed as a partisan effort to suppress Democratic votes,” Bursey said, “and we are looking to Attorney General Mukasey to put a stop to it.”

The Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Columbia is one of more than 300 congregations around the country displaying a banner outside their building that says “Torture is wrong.” It is a national campaign sponsored by the National Religious Coalition Against Torture. The UUFC is one of only two congregations in SC participating. The other is a Friends congregation in Conway.

Your church can get a banner to display by clicking here.

SC Progressive Network member group Sean’s Last Wish is asking for community support at tonight’s meeting of the Richland Lexington District 5 as the board makes a final decision regarding extracurricular clubs at Irmo High School. See more about the school’s policies, the history behind the GSA controversy and more at the school district’s web site.

School Board Meeting on Monday, June 23, 7pm
H.E. Corley Elementary School,
1500 Chadford Road
Irmo, SC 29063

You can see video of a recent rally supporting the GSA here.

This was forwarded by Columbia Christians for Life. Scary stuff. These folks’ preoccupation with “gay abomination” looks a whole lot like sicko titillation.

Wiley Drake is a California pastor vying to be president of the Southern Baptist Convention.

He caused a stir last year after he used church stationery and an Internet radio program to endorse former Gov. Mike Huckabee for president. After Americans United for Separation of Church and State protested, Drake issued a call for “imprecatory” prayer — specifically for the death of several of the AU leaders.

Using God as a hit man? Now that’s deviant!

**********

From: wileydrake @hotmail.com
Subject: Legal Same Sex Marriages
Date: Tue, 17 Jun 2008 23:45:22 +0000

What Legal Same Sex Marriages Bring into society………..

Oral Sex with the ingesting of semen and anal contamination bringing about hepatitis A, gonorrhea, HIV, and hepatitis B

Rectal Sex brings a mixing bowl for saliva and its germs and/or an artifical lubricant which penetrates the rectal lining (which is only one cell thick) rectal intercourse is the most efficient way to spread hepatitis B, HIV, syphilis and a host of other blood-born diseases. This brings about the enteric parasites collectively known as “Gay Bowel Syndrome”

Urine Sex In a San Francisco survey of 655 same sex people, 5% drank urine, 7% practiced fisting, 33% ingested feces via anal/oral contact.

Some say same-sex marriage is ok and we should be concerned about the community that want same-sex marriage. We should be concerned when their life style brings early death to them and the rest of society. God called what same-sex marriages do sodomy and those who do it sodomites.

If we do not stand and fight this plague God will as He did in sodom and their neighborhood.

****************

Date: Thu, 19 Jun 2008 14:38:01 -0400
To: Columbia Christians for Life
From: Columbia Christians for Life
Subject: What Legal Same Sex Marriages Bring into society………..

Exactly - we don’t need just to DEFEND “traditional” marriage - we need to re-criminalize the filthy, immoral, abominable commission of ACTS of SODOMY!