Getting Shot At From All Directions
Winston Churchill once said, “There is nothing more exhilarating than to be shot at without result.”Well, it has felt as though AFA of Indiana has been shot at from all directions over the last week. It hasn’t always been exhilarating. At times, intense has been the adjective that could more aptly apply. It began when State Senator Mike Delph and I wound up on the front page of the state’s largest newspaper and subsequently in papers all across the state making comments that really irritated the political and media establishments.
Senator Delph’s comments pointed out that Senator Richard Lugar’s decision to vote to confirm Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan was out of step with Hoosier values. My comment was that Senator Lugar has become little more than a rubber stamp for this administration and, as such, he should retire or resign. Both of us pointed out that Kagan is woefully unqualified and little more than a liberal activist. Both Senators Bayh and Lugar claim that Kagan is “clearly qualified,” even though she has virtually no courtroom experience and no judicial experience at all.
Well, this did not go over very well with many people who revere Senator Lugar (and Bayh too, who also received our criticism for his subsequent decision to support Kagan.) One follow-up article in the Indianapolis Star criticized us for being the kind of people who only see the world in black and white without any shades a gray. I don’t know about my friend Senator Delph, but I took that as a compliment for having standards that are easily defined. I don’t really understand those who like to see everything short of murder as a negotiable shade of gray. Having a black and white, consistently defined worldview seems to me to make life so much easier. As my father once told me in a similar example, if you always tell the truth, you really don’t have to remember anything you’ve ever said.
As this week began, I had the privilege of spending time with author and Town Hall columnist Maggie Gallagher who is the president of the National Organization for Marriage. Before a rally on the steps of the state capitol, we stopped by the Greg Garrison Radio Show for a few minutes to talk about the importance of marriage protection, court cases and Indiana’s vulnerable position. You can play that segment from July 25 titled “Maggie Gallagher National” in the Garrison Audio section at this site:http://www.wibc.com/garrison/
After the show, we joined Curt Smith of the Indiana Family Institute for some speeches on the east side of the capitol. We were also joined by about 80 homosexual protestors who tried to shout us down with whistles and bullhorns as we (who had obtained the permit) attempted to speak to those who had gathered in support of marriage protection. It was an interesting display of what tolerance really means to the far-left.
Rather humorously, the homo-demands activists just can’t help themselves. They began their chants with “we love you Maggie” and “Jesus forgives you,” but it didn’t take long for the profanity laced comments and vulgar signs to emerge from the patron saints of tolerance. Though I do not do well speaking in the midst of such chaos, Curt and Maggie were quite poised. I tried (some) not to goad the protestors and respond to some of their foolish comments. (It is not easy to be silent when you also have a microphone. I couldn’t help but to react to such easy and juvenile “slow pitch softballs” with comments like, “If you are the majority view why won’t you let Hoosiers vote?” Or “What you folks don’t understand is that marriage and parenting is not about bigotry it’s simple biology.”) Numbers at a protest like this in the middle of summer really don’t matter much. The truth is that when people have been allowed to vote on marriage protection from California to Maine, Florida to Wisconsin, strong majorities still understand that marriage is unique by design. It is not merely about what any two or three people in a relationship may demand as a stamp of government approval. Marriage is between one man and one woman.
Later that Monday, I was at a South Bend City Council hearing for an ordinance that seeks to create special employment protections for cross-dressers and homosexuals. I was there to testify in a standing room only crowd for AFA-IN and the Alliance Defense Fund, who wrote an analysis of the ordinance for us showing its poor construction and legal dangers to employers and religious liberty.
The supporters of the gay rights ordinance definitely did their best with an A team list of speakers that ended with former Governor Joe Kernan’s testimony. However, at the end of the night, after four years of effort after a previous defeat, the pro-homosexual ordinance still lacked the necessary fifth vote to pass. Shortly after 10 PM, the vote was held back for another day. The council knew that the ordinance was vague and could mean a lot of new legal problems for businesses in a time when jobs are leaving South Bend. (If a person can choose their own sexual identity based upon how they feel any given day, and an employer is supposed to act upon that basis, the ordinance is always going to be a vague invitation for litigation.)
Most of the council also sees that this is really a political statement for a problem that barely exists. If the South Bend numbers mirror other cities, it is unlikely that they would ever have more than one discrimination case based upon sexual orientation or gender identity in an entire year. This battle occurring over two separate long committee meetings and hundreds of complaints surrounding an issue that divides the community, comes at a time when the city is facing real challenges.
It is somewhat surprising that the council would really want to revisit this controversial issue. The government’s attempt to embrace part of the homosexual political agenda at the expense of religious and individual liberty is never going to be something upon which the community agrees. Still, the residents of South Bend could expect this heated issue to return in as little as three weeks. AFA-IN will keep you posted on what may happen next, and what you can do to defend your values and liberties.
What Do you Think of This Issue?
AFA of Indiana is working on a project that looks into the benefits and cost of full-day kindergarten for Hoosiers. Is this expansion of public education worthy of the costs? Many legislators, the Supt. of Public Instruction, and the Governor seem to think so. Does this proposal increase the academic performance of Indiana students in any lasting measure?
Indiana Policy Review is asking this question along with AFA-IN. If you have a question you would like to ask researchers and policy makers to investigate concerning Full-Day Kindergarten, click on this link:
http://www.surveygizmo.com/s3/338775/Full-Day-Kindergarten-Query
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Glad your flack jacket is in place, Micah! Carry on.