Wednesday, November 9, 2005

WHERE TO PUT YOUR FAITH

“May he give you your heart’s desire, and put all your purposes into effect.

We will be glad in your salvation, and in the name of our God we will put up our flags: may the Lord give you all your requests.

Now am I certain that the Lord gives salvation to his king; he will give him an answer from his holy heaven with the strength of salvation in his right hand.

Some put their faith in carriages and some in horses; but we will be strong in the name of the Lord our God.”

(Psalm 20:4-7)

“A MAGNIFICENT EFFORT”
BY THOSE ON THE SIDE OF
MARRIAGE AND THE FAMILY

The following is a statement by Michael S. Heath on the “No” Vote, delivered at a press conference earlier today.

We are meeting here to tell you that our attempt to repeal the sexual orientation law has failed. This was not entirely unexpected. The referendum was the third vote on the law, and the thirteenth time that the Legislature has tried to add the term “sexual orientation” to the Maine Human Rights Act.  It is not surprising that they won, since they had an unlimited number of turns at bat.

What is surprising however, is the magnificent effort made by those who worked to repeal this ill-advised and dangerous law. Their time to collect signatures to repeal the law was reduced from six months to three.  They were outspent three to one, and their opponents enjoyed a great advantage in radio and TV coverage. Worst of all, they lacked the help of a fair and impartial media to referee the contest fairly.

I don’t want to state that the coverage in the media was uniformly unfair. In general there was a very clear liberal bias in the press, but in the closing days of the campaign we were surprised to see a change of heart in some reporters who began to portray the pro-family side fairly. We are not used to being reported on fairly in the press, and for us that was a great surprise.

I think the change of approach in the press was a sign that our message was steadily gaining ground among the people – that the public was waking up to the dangers of this law. Given a little more time, we would certainly have won.

Which leads inevitably to the question, “Why were the legislature, the Governor, and the press so eager to impose this law on the people of Maine?” Why would they again introduce the law in defiance of the will of the people who had spoken, not once, but twice, on the most basic aspect of human society, which is marriage and the family and human sexuality?  I leave you to draw your own conclusions.

Yet because this issue is so fundamental – because it means nothing less than the survival of our society - we cannot, and we will not back down. Instead, we are going to fight with renewed vigor, and when the time comes, we will repeal this law.

We will also work for an amendment to the Constitution of Maine defining marriage as between only one man and one woman. We were told repeatedly by the Governor, the press, and the Legislature that this law has nothing to do with same-sex marriage. Now that the gay rights movement has prevailed, we will soon hear the call for gay marriage. We must work to see that this never happens.

In conclusion, let me thank all those who participated in the campaign. Your efforts are not diminished by the fact that we lost.  On the contrary, because of the crucial importance of the issues involved - your efforts have written a shining page in the history of this state. So to all of you who love the family, love marriage, and seek to be obedient to God’s laws -  pray hard, keep the faith, and eventually we will  win.

COMMENTS FROM OUR READERS

“As somebody with some connection to Maine, I am very sorry, but not surprised to learn of the unfortunate situation unfolding in Maine. For whatever it's worth, I will seek to remember you in prayer.”

“THE  FAMILY IN MAINE IS IN DECLINE AND THE GAY LIFESTYLE IS NEGATIVELY CHANGING OUR POLITICAL LANDSCAPE.  UNFORTUNATELY, RADICAL LIBERAL ORGANIZATIONS SUCH AS NARAL AND MOVEON.ORG ARE PUSHING THIER ANTI-AMERICAN AGENDAS HIDING BEHIND FALSE ACCUSATIONS OF DISCRIMINATION.  THE MAINE FAMILY, AMERICA'S CORE VALUES, AND IDEOLOGY, WERE DAMAGED IN THE ELECTION.  WE CANNOT ACCEPT DEFEAT, AND WE MUST CONTINUE TO FIGHT FOR THE AMERICAN  FAMILY.”

“I’m very disappointed with the way the vote went on Tuesday. I work at a school so I'm clearly in the minority. This is just one of the injustices that Governor Baldacci has done to this state. I am very afraid he might be reelected for another four years. I'm with you and your colleagues in doing anything to bring this up to another vote and to defeat Governor Baldacci in the next election.”