Gay attack fabricated; BRM and Constitution

Monday, November 20, 2006

Bryan Fischer, Executive Director

GAY-BASHING INCIDENT MANUFACTURED

A BSU student who filed a police report claiming that he had been assaulted by an angry white male uttering anti-gay epithets admitted on Friday that he made the whole thing up.

The homosexual lobby has tried to insist, without a shred of evidence, that the marriage amendment effort was motivated by hatred for homosexuals.

This attack was the only reported instance of gay-bashing during the entire campaign, and it turns out that only gay-bashing was done by a homosexual to himself. This individual was evidently so desperate to create the appearance of anti-gay animus that he filed a false police report, an offense which can result in jail time and a fine.

The timing of the reported attack was suspicious, coming just two days after the marriage amendment passed by an overwhelming 63-37 margin. The wounds were minor, and the description of the assailant was vague. And now we know why.

The pro-family community has declared from the beginning that elevating protection for marriage to the state constitution was motivated by a love for children and a respect for tradition, not by hate for anybody. Children need and deserve both a mom and a dad, and no compassionate society, we argued, would deliberately create households with a missing father or mother.

I matched up with gay and lesbian opponents in three publicly televised debates over the marriage amendment, and each time we treated each other with mutual respect and with no trace of inflammatory rhetoric or name calling. Disagreement is not hatred, and we demonstrated the best in tolerance by allowing each other to make our respective cases without interference or intimidation.

This individual owes the entire state of Idaho an apology for trying to create the false impression that our state is some kind of haven for homosexual hatred, and to the pro-family community in particular. Bearing false witness against one’s neighbor has always been immoral and unjust. The only one who “incited hatred” or committed a “hate crime” in this circumstance was this young man.

We received hate mail at our website in the wake of this reported attack, and were accused of having “created a climate which demonizes” homosexuals. Surely we should expect a better and higher level of discourse over public policy matters.

KTRV FOX 12 - Hate crime appears self Inflicted

Reported Greenbelt victim retracts statement - claims attack never happened

RESCUE MISSION HOLDS PRESS CONFERENCE, RALLY TODAY AT 4 P.M.

The Boise Rescue Mission will hold a press conference/rally today at 4 p.m. at its River of Life men’s shelter, located at 13^th and River in Boise. You are invited and encouraged to attend as a show of support for this vital ministry. Mission leaders will discuss their plans for the building, the former Community House, and their response to the 9^th Circuit’s ruling that the Mission is in violation of both the Fair Housing Act and the First Amendment.

The court’s ruling that the Mission has violated the Establishment Clause by offering voluntary chapel services is ludicrous on its face, and illustrates the desperate need we have to empanel originalist judges who will respect the intent of the Founders.

The First Amendment, as you recall, begins with the words, “Congress shall make no law . . .” Well, the city of Boise is not Congress, and neither is the Boise Rescue Mission, so they cannot possibly violate the First Amendment. Secondly, even if the Founders did intend for the First Amendment to apply to non-profit organizations in local cities, a lease is not a “law” and there still would be no violation.

In addition, the term “establishment” had a precise meaning at the time, and meant to identify one specific Christian denomination as the official church and coerce participation in its rituals or financial support. Since the city of Boise has passed no ordinance declaring the Boise Rescue Mission the official church of Boise, there cannot possibly be a constitutional violation on that score.

Further, as Clarence Thomas has indicated, a violation of the Establishment Clause must involve some kind of coercion. But there is no coercion involved at all in receiving Rescue Mission services. No one is compelled to come into the River of Life shelter to receive its offer of free food and shelter. The city is not dragging the homeless off the streets and insisting that they take shelter at River of Life or participate in River of Life chapel services, which are strictly voluntary. Everyone who walks through the doors of River of Life does so strictly by choice.

And they know full well, when they make the free, uncoerced choice to seek help from River of Life, that the leaders of this organization believe that man is not just a body, but consists of body, soul, and spirit, and that it would be a positive disservice to its guests not to offer nourishment for the inner man as well as the outer man.

Idaho Values Alliance: The True Meaning of the First Amendment

REP. BILL SALI SELECTED AS PRESIDENT OF FRESHMAN GOP CLASS

The old media relentlessly hammered congressional candidate Bill Sali during the campaign as an obstinate, difficult man who does not work and play well with others. Well, evidently his colleagues in the freshmen class of Republican congressmen didn’t get the memo, because they selected him Friday to serve as their president.

The picture to your right is of the newly elected GOP congressmen and women, and it is this cohort which selected Idaho’s representative from the 1^st congressional district to be its leader.

This is a tremendous honor for Idaho, and surely a sign of Rep. Sali’s leadership gifts and of the respect he has already garnered from his fellow legislators. Don’t hold your breath waiting for Idaho’s media elite to make mention of this significant fact.

CNN.com - CNN Political Ticker

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