You may want to pray for our friends at Focus on the Family that they may have Solomon-like wisdom in a confrontation that is obviously arising in order to discredit their ministry.
-Dave
Homosexual Activists Planning To Converge On Focus On The Family By Jeremy Reynalds (04/18/05)
http://www.americandaily.com/article/7475A large delegation of homosexuals and others sympathetic to the so-called gay lifestyle are planning to converge on Focus on the Family's Colorado Springs headquarters.
A news release from Soulforce (
www.soulforce.org) commented about the demonstration planned for May 2. "On that day James Dobson, founder of Focus on the Family, will have to make a moral decision. Will he receive a Soulforce delegation of gay and lesbian people of faith and families, friends, and clergy into his massive world headquarters? Or will he lock them out?"
According to the news release, the volunteers are " trained in relentless nonviolent resistance," and they plan to deliver to Focus "thousands of letters that illustrate the tragic consequences of the anti-gay rhetoric of Dobson and other fundamentalist Christian leaders."
"If we are locked out of Focus on the Family," said Jeff Lutes, MS, LPC, a psychologist and family counselor from Austin, Texas, speaking in the news release, who is heading up the demonstration, "the nation will see clearly that the truth about gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender people is being locked out with us."
Speaking in the Soulforce news release, Mel White, the Executive Director of Soulforce, asked about Dobson.
"Does he welcome this delegation of gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender people with supportive clergy and other people of faith?" said White. "Or does he lock us out and force us to risk nonviolent civil disobedience and arrest? We can't just go away and ignore the terrible consequences of Dobson's ignorance and bigotry."
"We are calling this a family intervention, as we are all really part of the same family," Jeff Lutes commented in the same news release. "As a member of the human family, James Dobson is our brother who has become a dangerous and misleading force to millions. We are coming to Colorado Springs to show him that his refusal to hear the truth about God's gay children leads to wasted lives and ruined families. We pray that this time, James Dobson will hear us."
FOCUS RESPONSE
A Focus on the Family spokesperson was traveling and unavailable for comment, but a staff person said the organization does appreciate everyone's prayers.
Focus has made its position on homosexuality very clear.
Writing on the Focus (
http://family-topics.custhelp.com/cgi-bin/family_topics.cfg/php/enduser/std_adp.php?p_faqid=1225) web site and answering a letter addressed to him, Dobson wrote, "Regardless of what the media may say, Focus on the Family has no interest in promoting hatred toward homosexuals or any other group of our fellow human beings. We have not supported, and will never support, legislation aimed at depriving them of their basic constitutional rights -- rights they share with every citizen."
Dobson added, "On the contrary, we want to reach out to gay and lesbian people whenever and wherever we can .... Beyond that, I have to acknowledge ... a very different understanding of Scripture. It is my firm conviction that sex outside of marriage (whether homosexual or heterosexual) is not permitted by those who call themselves ‘believers.'"
Dobson added in the same article, "Whereas we have never attempted to hurt or ridicule the individual homosexual or lesbian, I do find myself in sharp disagreement with the more radical elements of the movement. The effort to redefine the family, qualify for adoption, promote the homosexual lifestyle in the schools, etc., are objectives with which I disagree. And I will oppose them when the issues are raised. Does that make me a hatemonger? I think not."
According to organizers, just outside the entrance to Focus on the Family on May 1, there will be a press conference at 12:45pm, a family picnic, and a rally. During the rally, cards will be passed out on which people can write their letter to James Dobson to be delivered May 2.
According to the news release, organizers are hoping for more than 1,000 people of faith from Colorado and all across the country to join Soulforce in Colorado Springs.
The self-stated purpose of Soulforce is "freedom for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people from political and religious oppression."
WHO IS MEL WHITE?
Concerned Women for America (
www.cultureandfamily.org/articledisplay.asp?id=2659&department=CFI&categoryid=cfreport) dubbed White "A ‘Wolf' on the Loose in Lynchburg."
The article read in part, "Mel White and his male ‘lover' have moved to Lynchburg and taken up residence in a house across the street from Thomas Road Baptist Church. Mr. White is the co-founder of a group called Soulforce. One goal of White and his Soulforce friends is to convince Americans that homosexual acts, such as sodomy, are not condemned by God's Word. Mr. White has a vested interest in this novel approach to the Scriptures since he has admitted that he commits such acts."
White is no stranger to Biblical Christianity. He used to be a conservative evangelical. A promotional announcement for his book reads in part (
www.penguinputnam.com/nf/Book/BookDisplay/0,,0_0452273811,00.html), "Until Christmas Eve 1991, Mel White was regarded by the leaders of the religious right as one of their most talented and productive supporters. He penned the speeches of Ollie North. He was a ghostwriter for Jerry Falwell, worked with Jim Bakker, flew in Pat Robertson's private jet, walked sandy beaches with Billy Graham. What these men didn't know was that Mel White—evangelical minister, committed Christian, family man—was gay."
Jeremy Reynalds was born in England, emigrated to the United States in 1978 and married Sylvia in 1979. They have five boys. Jeremy gave his life to the Lord in 1976 and currently attends Calvary Chapel of Albuquerque. He became an American citizen in 1998 and voted in his first general election in 2000.
