memyselfI
11-05-2004, 09:45 AM
Ah, in a black/white, either/or world I guess it would be difficult to discern how DUHbya could compile a coalition of similiar beliefs but different religious bases that would end up giving him a second term...
but it's a plan and as witnessed by the activism within the leadership of the Catholic church trying to excommunicate Kerry while handing over their church directories to the BC04 campaign and while the Evangelical (and Fundamentalist Christian) Church leaders pushed hard to support TPOTC and Mel Gibson's version of what happend to JC, it's all going to plan...for now.
http://watch.pair.com/ect.html
EVANGELICALS & CATHOLICS TOGETHER
One formal declaration boldly documents the Evangelical and Catholic commitment to work together to evangelize and bring about social reform in the world. The Evangelicals and Catholics Together Document, subtitled The Christian Mission in the Third Millennium, (29) laid the groundwork for Evangelicals and Catholics to set aside their distinctive doctrines and to unite with other religions in a United Religions Organization by the year 2005 A.D.
The ECT Document was authored and presented in May of 1994 by Charles Colson of Prison Fellowship and Roman Catholic priest, Richard John Neuhaus. In 1993, Chuck Colson was the recipient of the $1,000,000 "Prize for Progress in Religion," given annually at the Parliament of World Religions by New Age financier, John Templeton. Colson's Prison Fellowship International is a non-governmental organization (NGO) of the United Nations. Father Neuhaus is the director of the Institute on Religion and Public Life who, as former Lutheran and a seminary student, rejected the doctrine of justification by faith in Jesus Christ. (30)
The ECT Document was signed by 20 Catholic leaders and 20 Evangelical leaders including Dr. Bill Bright of Campus Crusade for Christ, Pat Robertson, President of CBN, J.I. Packer of Christianity Today, Richard Land and Larry Lewis of the Southern Baptist Convention, Jesse Miranda of Assemblies of God, Dr. John White of the National Association of Evangelicals and President of Geneva College, Os Guiness of Trinity Forum and Dr. Mark Noll of Wheaton College.
Supporters of The Evangelicals and Catholics Together Document maintain that it is not a statement of theological agreement, but of unity for the cause of moral and social reform. However, ECT states, "Evangelicals and Catholics are brothers and sisters in Christ." And "existing divisions that obscure the one Christ and hinder the one mission of the Church" are confessed as "sins against the unity that Christ intends for all his disciples."
The Scriptural support presented for cooperation and unity between Evangelicals and Catholics is Jesus' prayer for his disciples in John 17:21: "That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they may also be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me." ECT conveniently removes this verse from its context and misinterprets it by failing to mention verses that identify Jesus' disciples as those who "received His words."
"For I have given unto them the words which thou hast given me; and they have received them. I pray for them: I pray not for the world, but for them which thou hast given me; for they are thine… Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word. That they all may be one…that the world may believe that thou hast sent me." ( 8,9,20,21)
Reception of the Word of God is an essential condition of Christian discipleship and reveals the true nature of a church or individual. Those who would cooperate and unite with the Roman Catholic Church should first examine its doctrines and practices and compare them with the doctrines of the Christian faith presented in Scripture. Although the ECT Document declares, "And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved," it also rejects Jesus Christ as Savior exclusively by recognizing the multitude of mediators and means of grace that are encouraged by Catholic doctrine:
The Roman Catholic Church elevates the Pope above Jesus Christ, the Word of God, by conferring on him the arbitrary right to nullify Scripture through papal decrees. After receiving infant baptism, the Catholic faithful are carefully indoctrinated in unscriptural works such as:
devotion to Mary as Co-Redemptrix with Jesus – a bloodless propitiation
worship and partaking of the literal body and blood of Christ – not a remembrance but the real presence (See Eucharistic Miracles)
mandatory attendance at weekly Mass – a continual sacrifice of Jesus Christ, not a finished work
confession of sins to a priest who is a mediator with God
prayers to dead saints – not to God, in Jesus' name
veneration of statues and images -- idolatry
offering of masses, prayers and rosaries for those who suffer in purgatory – a denial of final judgment after death
obedience to unscriptural messages given by Marian apparitions – consulting with familiar spirits
ECT acknowledges the incompatibility between Catholic and Evangelical creeds on the "new birth" and broadmindedly proposes that those who evangelize present both the Catholic doctrine of "new birth through baptism" and the Evangelical doctrine of "new birth followed by baptism." According to the framers of this accord, "Those converted … must be given full freedom and respect as they decide the community in which they will live their new life in Christ…and we dare not interfere with the exercise of that responsibility."
Al Dager, protests this sabotage of the Great Commission, which requires"…teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you." (Matt. 28:20) This subtle neutralization of the demands of the Gospel is unilaterally disarming the Evangelical Church, and is fundamentally a calculated attempt to exploit Evangelicals to conduct Catholic evangelism!
"If this rule of presenting both views applies to baptism, why should it not apply to all doctrines? This is the only logical conclusion to such a proposal… …What this amounts to is the Roman Catholic Church using evangelical Christians to indirectly proselytize for Roman Catholicism…Are we to be agents of the Catholic church at the expense of truth?…" (31)
Signatories of the Evangelicals and Catholics Together Document wash their hands of this violence to the doctrine of Christ and, like Pontius Pilate, would sacrifice the Word of God on the altar of political expedience. In January 1995, a formal debate was held in which D. James Kennedy, John MacArthur and other Christian leaders challenged the Evangelical position in ECT as unbiblical. Commenting on the debate, Pat Robertson said that the dispute over "minor points of doctrinal differences" shouldn't obscure the document's goals. (32) Robertson's political action organization, Christian Coalition, defends his endorsement of ECT because its objective is to fulfill the Church's "responsibility for the right ordering of civil society." (33) Judas also had a political agenda and, like the Pharisees, expected Jesus to establish a temporal kingdom. Al Dager properly asks,
"Should Christians sacrifice the purity of the faith for the sake of political action?…Christians who think they can join with anti-christ philosophies to save the world from God's judgment are fighting against the very work of God." (34)
Scripture is clear that moral and social reform of the world will only be realized when Jesus Christ returns to earth and establishes His Millennial Kingdom. Historian Edward Gibbon's Rise and Fall of the Roman Empire records,
"The ancient and popular doctrine of the Millennium was intimately connected with the second coming of Christ... [However,] [a]fter Constantine, the Roman Catholic Church perverted the biblical teachings on the premillennial return of Jesus Christ to post-millennial eschatology, meaning that the pope would bring in the Kingdom through the efforts of the Catholic Church." (35)
A Covenant of Mutual Respect?
"A main purpose of Roman Catholic ecumenism is to lull non-Catholic Christians asleep in order to thwart evangelization of Roman Catholics," wrote Al Dager of Media Spotlight. To this end, the ECT Document censures the Evangelical practice of "proselytizing or sheep stealing" from the Catholic Church: "We call upon Christians to refrain from such activity."
Doing obeisance unworthy of ambassadors for Jesus Christ, some ministries which seem ashamed of the Gospel, are now humbly repenting for leading other "people of faith" to Christ. In 1993, responding to objections of Catholic and Jewish leaders in Colorado Springs because "Jewish and Catholic youth were being evangelized at school," Christian leaders signed a "Covenant of Mutual Respect." In this covenant, Focus on the Family, Young Life, International Students, Inc., and the Navigators agreed to cease such activities out of respect for other religious beliefs.
A former employee of Focus on the Family, Randy Shafer, presented a rare inside look at the agenda of this pseudo-Christian ministry in his expose, Let's Focus in on Focus on the Family:
"Next, let us take a look at James Dobson the ecumenist. I was present at this board meeting and document this statement. The source was Steve Alesaquez (sic), manager of the shipping department for the distribution centre of Focus on the Family. The date was Thursday, November 2nd, 1995.
"Quote:
"'At a recent - that is, last week, Focus board of directors' meeting, the 10 member board voted 5 to 5 on Dobson's meeting with the Pope. It was decided will not take place at this time since it was a divided vote.'
"James Dobson wishing to meet the Pope? I also have a copy here, a xerox copy of simply the outside of a letter which was sent to the president of the Pontifical Council for the Family, Vatican City State in August of 1995. There is correspondence and there has been other correspondence going on between Focus and the Vatican and various Catholic organizations around the country.
"Item No. 2 on James Dobson - Focus on the Family and ecumenism. On May 2nd, 1995, this little brochure called 'The Interfaith Alliance' was sent to all of the Family research institutes - Family Institutes, Family Councils of the various States around the United States. These are supposedly people who are working on behalf of the families, more or less - an activist group. There were a number of people mentioned on the board of directors of the Interfaith Alliance in this brochure who are National Council of Churches members, or they are Rabbis or they are involved in the Roman Catholic Church.
"One in particular, a Dr. Albert M. Penneybacker (sic), President of the Ecumenical and Development Initiative which served both the National and World Council of Churches - and he is a professor of Ecumenical Studies at Lexington Theological Seminary in Lexington, Kentucky. Focus inserted these in their mailings to those that I mentioned earlier.
"Locally, we have a Rabbi named Howard J. Hirsch (sic). Let me give you a quote.
"'The 20th Century has witnessed the tragic descent of Jewish-Christian relations to their lowest level in 2,000 years. I believe that the closing years of the 20th century and the initial years of the 21st century are a special time of grace, a time of grace when Jews and Christians can take a fresh look at our common heritage and our mutual need to work - to work together - that is, to enrich our lives with love, gentleness and understanding.'
"If I remember Romans 1:16 rightly - the gospel is to the Jew first and also to the Greek and we are to love the Jewish people, we certainly do not have that much in common. They have still rejected Jesus Christ, their Messiah. And guess who signed on as one of the board of directors of what they are calling 'The Centre for Christian/Jewish dialogue in Colorado Springs?' None other than Dr. James Clayton Dobson, President of Focus on the Family!
"The next one - although I do not have the exact date, I believe it might have been 1994 - a group of local religious leaders took out a 4 page advertisement in the Gazette Telegraph, the local newspaper. It says simply -
"'A message to the people of Colorado Springs - it continues:
"We the undersigned have entered into a covenant with each other, and it is called 'The Covenant of Mutual Respect', Catholics, Protestants and Jewish Leaders signed this agreement.
"I am not going to read it all, it is a little bit lengthly, a couple of lengthly paragraphs and we have an hour and a half tape. But the second signer was James Dobson, President of Focus on the Family - still another ecumenical move on Dobson's part."
Christians should inquire as to the purpose of Focus on the Family if not to fulfill the Great Commission, "Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost?" (Mt. 28:19) Would the apostles Peter or Paul have signed such a Covenant or ECT?
The Liberal Catholic Church
Randy Shafer's expose gives further clues as to the true agenda of Focus on the Family, a key piece of information being Dobson's affinity for a gnostic cult called the Liberal Catholic Church.
"I have in my tape files a copy of James Dobson addressing his key management persons...the board of directors meeting at which time it had been decided likely that he and Chuck Colson would as early as 1997, perhaps even hold meetings calling the nation back to righteousness. Actually, it is an ecumenist move.
"He detailed that Focus on the Family, while the staff did not necessarily understand the larger picture, needed to know, had a plan. Then he paused, and then he said - 'A global plan'. He went on to explain that this would begin with a meeting of America's larger church pastors and then at a later time, they would meet with smaller church pastors, this perhaps in groups. He didn't go into much detail of that.
"One of the groups that they had hoped to meet with was the Liberal Catholic Church. Now he did not state this, when he was talking to his key personnel, this came out a little later in the letters that were sent. These letters were letters of invitation to pastors in the United States. At least two letters were sent, they were sent, as I earlier mentioned to America's largest church pastors and specifically to representatives of the Liberal Catholic Church.
"These letters were sent out by H.A. London, vice president of New Ministry Outreach and Pastoral Ministries for Focus on the Family. London is the cousin of James Dobson. All who attended this one- day meeting, they would come in, they would be put up overnight at Focus' expense in a hotel or motel and their meals would be furnished. The meetings were to have taken place on Monday August 26th through Tuesday August 27th. It never happened, possibly because the 'word' got out.
"Focus on the Family went so far as to plead with the representatives of the Liberal Catholic Church to join them for what would be a 'memorable event', and if they couldn't, please send representatives in their place - two designated representatives - this is the exact quote.
"Now I want you to take a look at what the Liberal Catholic Church is, and then I have a question - why was James Dobson trying to involve with leading American pastors, people from the Liberal Catholic Church. Ecumenism, I would say to the 'nth' degree.
"Let us take a look at the Liberal Catholic Church and what they really are and what they stand for:
"Here are some of the publications I think, to begin with. The Goddess Religions, Gnostic Christianity, Eastern Mysticism, Mystical States of Consciousness, Reincarnation in Christianity?, The Feminine Aspect of Divinity. They also have a booklet of course, on meditation.
"They say its mystical approach to Christianity represents the position of the Liberal Catholic Church. They also emphasize the commonality of all religions.
"Those who wrote received this letter -
"'Thank you for your interest in the Liberal Catholic Institute for Studies. As an institute, we are dedicated to the teaching of esoteric, mystical traditions of Christianity.'
"I have a number of documents on this organization, among other things, of course, they teach reincarnation and recognize the validity and unity of all religions - there is your ecumenical approach again - they teach Christianity of the Cosmic Christ and they administer the 7 sacraments in an atmosphere of intellectual freedom - of course.
"As nearly as I can ascertain from literature, there are approximately 1500 members world-wide in about 130 congregations.
"Here are some more:
'The winds of change are reaching an ever-increasing velocity and those unwilling to recognize these changes will surely be swept away. If we are going to have faith and be guided by the Holy Spirit in this New Age, we have to be prepared for radical changes alarming relevations.'
"I wonder if they mean 'extra-Biblical'? And even demands to reinterpret our own faith, the prime task of those in Christian ministry today is to help people evolve. The cultural Christians have to evolve along with the universe or perish.
"If the Cosmic Christ is saying anything to us today, it is 'evolve or perish'. They go on to say that every man is a potential 'christ'.
"One more thing I want to mention. This is their statement 'it is neither the Roman Catholic or Protestant, but Catholic' And when they use the phrase 'but Catholic' - it is spelt with a capital 'C'. Basically, they are saying they are not Protestant, they are not Roman Catholic, but C-a-t-h-o-l-i-c. They are THE representatives of God on earth. This is clearly an occultic, new age group and James Dobson went out of his way, or at least his organisation did, and I am sure with his knowledge, because he was going to be one of the speakers, went out of his way to invite representatives from this group to meet with leading ministers of the United States at Focus on the Family campus."
A brief history of the Liberal Catholic Church from The Occult Underground documents the source of this gnostic cult as the Theosophical Society, whose failed candidate for World Savior in the early 20th century was Jiddu Krishnamurti. The proposed messiah had been discovered and mentored by the notorious homosexual theosophist, Charles Leadbeater, co-president with Annie Besant of the Theosophical Society following Madame Blavatsky. Leadbeater was also ordained a Bishop of the Liberal Catholic Church:
"Particularly in its later phases as a millenarian movement, [Theosophy] attracted the same sort of recruit which such movements have always attracted. Norman Cohn tells us that in the Middle Ages the prophet of the Millennium came mainly from 'the lower strata of the intelligentsia. They included many members of the lower clergy, priests who had lost their parishes, monks who had fled from their monasteries, clerks in minor orders...' Of those immediately surrounding Krishnamurti, Leadbeater, and his fellow-Bishop and superior in the Liberal Catholic Church, James Wedgwood, were frustrated clergymen...
"From the Masters to the Messiah was a considerable journey. Madame Blavatsky's Theosophy was after all to prove the more lasting. Her intimations of occult secrets might have had even more effect if she had not become concerned with Masters and 'phenomena.' Mrs. Besant, on the other hand, abandoned the most original part of the Theosophic credo in favor of the Millennium proclaimed by her World-Teacher. In this she merely followed an example which by the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries was well-established...
"[I]n the Roman Church it is held that a bishop cannot be deprived of his episcopal powers even if he is excommunicated for some major offense. It follows that he can still consecrate other bishops whose orders will be technically valid; hence that he can indeed start up his private branches of the Church at will. The result has been the emergence of a sort of 'Catholic Protestantism' in which schismatics can make nonsense of canon law.
"In this way, when in 1813 the majority of the Dutch clergy refused to acknowledge a papal bull condemning Jansenism and consequently left the Catholic Church, their orders remained valid. They formed the 'Old Catholic Church' and it was Gerart Gul, the Old Catholic Archbishop of Utrect, who in 1908 consecrated Arnold Mathew. Mathew was an entertaining character who had once been a Dominican; but he renounced Rome in favor of the more attractive standing of 'Count Provoleri di Vicenza, De Jur Earl of Llandaff,' which title he coupled to the Old Catholic Bishopric of England. Among his exploits was an attempt to set up a zoo at Brighton. It was through Mathew that Leadbeater of the Theosophical Society obtained his Bishopric. For Mathew's tiny church soon seceded from the Dutch Old Catholics, and by the beginning of the First World War had become seriously infected with Theosophy." (36)
The Apostasy
Bible prophecy affirms that, in the last days, there will be a great falling away or apostasy from the orthodox faith of Jesus Christ:
"Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition." (II Thess. 2:3)
Revelation 19 describes a gnostic religious system called Mystery Babylon that is led by Rome, the "city on seven hills":
"So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness: and I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet coloured beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns.
"And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet colour, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication:
"And upon her forehead was written, MYSTERY BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH...
"The seven heads are seven mountains, on which the woman sitteth."
The prophet Daniel was told in a vision that the great harlot church will ally with a world empire under a sytem of government figuratively called "the beast", which will devour the earth in its demonic quest to establish a literal kingdom of God upon the earth. (Dan. 7:19, 23)
"Then I would know the truth of the fourth beast, which was diverse from all the others, exceeding dreadful, whose teeth were of iron, and his nails of brass; which devoured, brake in pieces, and stamped the residue with his feet...
"Thus he said, The fourth beast shall be the fourth kingdom upon the earth, which shall be diverse from all kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, and shall tread it down, and break it in pieces."
Evangelical leaders who promote unity with Roman Catholicism, and by extension its sundry gnostic adherents, are either ignorantly or intentionally leading Christians into the apostate religious system of the Masonic New World Order. Tragically, many believers have chosen to reject the prophetic warnings of Scripture, preferring rather to believe the false prophets who call unity with the world's religions a Christian revival. Such is the deluded mindset of the present "word of faith" generation aptly described by Don Classen in the Kingdom Gospel Messenger:
"Gone now are all the shackles of that old traditional Pre-Millennial view with its 'negative' references to a bloodbath of martyrdom, the greatest upheavals history has ever seen (Mt. 24:21), the wrath of God poured out on the followers of the Antichrist, and the necessity for Christ to return and save the day lest 'there should no flesh be saved' (Mt. 24:22), Christian or otherwise. Such is considered too unbelieving to a generation raised on the mantras of "positive confession" that, literally nothing is impossible to them that believe; a generation that thinks -- if you thought you'd ever live to see the day -- that rejection of the prophecies and warnings of the Scriptures is somehow 'faith'; and a generation that, nonetheless, predicts that they will be more consecrated and holy than any other in history.'" (37)
Will you, dear believer, be led to worship the Antichrist because your spiritual leaders encouraged unity with pagan religions? That the elect may be deceived is truly a hard saying (Matt. 24:24) -- until it is understood that the deception will come from the highest ranks of Evangelicalism.
Columnist George Will once called the Roe vs. Wade Supreme Court decision "an intellectual trainwreck." Comparable to this legal landmark in its diabolical character, The Evangelicals and Catholics Together Document is void of intellectual and Biblical integrity. Those who are carried about by its "every wind of doctrine" will eventually abandon the narrow course of faith and experience "spiritual shipwreck." (I Tim. 1:18,19) The spiritual compass of the Christian is unwavering on the subject of ecumenical unity:
"Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: For what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? And what communion hath light with darkness? And what concord hath Christ with Belial? Or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel? And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? For ye are the temple of the living God… Wherefore come out from among them and be ye separate…"
Contend for the Faith
While a great multitude of Christians are intensely focused on the spiritual war that is raging in our government and society, most are failing to discern that a more insidious and costly battle for souls is being waged against the Church from within. In their driving zeal for social transformation, these ecumenical reformers seem unaware of their departure from the Word of God. Christian doctrines that have been preserved throughout Church history at great cost are now being carelessly surrendered in search of a modern and more utilitarian redefinition of Christianity. Yet, it is the divinely instituted Church of Jesus Christ, rather than the political or apostate world systems, which is "the pillar and ground of the truth." (I Tim. 3:15)
The Lord of the New Covenant has proclaimed that it is the supreme duty of the Church to preserve the fundamentals of the faith for, "If the foundations be destroyed, what can the righteous do?" Social action is truly within the scope of Christian service; but only in its proper context of the objective truth established in Scripture:
"It is important that in all we do – whether in the secular realm or the religious – we maintain purity in doctrine. Purity of doctrine does not mean dogmatism apart from good works, but insistence upon a biblical framework for those good works. Faith without works is dead, says James; and works without faith are wood, hay and stubble – likewise dead. The disciple of Jesus Christ is called to both true, biblical Faith (which demands a defense [Jude 3]) and sacrificial acts of love toward all, whether brethren in Christ or enemies." (38)
Pro-life activists spare few efforts on behalf of unborn children. For these who would be doers of the Word, the unending toil of letters, marches, meetings, political campaigns, protests and demonstrations are a small sacrifice of time and often reputation to secure the right to life. Proverbs 24:11 does require Christians to "deliver them that are drawn unto death." Yet surely our highest calling is to preserve the pure gospel of salvation unto eternal life through faith in Jesus Christ. In his classic work, Christ in Isaiah, F.B. Meyer describes another march…
"Through this world, unseen by mortal eye, a procession is passing, threading its way across continents of time. It bears holy vessels. The forms of expression in which Divine truth is enshrined may be compared to the vessels of the old dispensation, God's truth, the affirmation of things unseen and eternal, the announcement of the facts of redemption -- such are our sacred charge. We must contend earnestly for the faith once delivered to the saints. Take heed to thyself and to the doctrine. The greatest service the Church can give to the world is its perpetual witness to the truth of God's being, the facts of redemption, of judgment, and of the world to come. Concerning all these, the olden charge is given us, "Watch ye and keep them, until ye weigh them before the chiefs of the priests and of the Levites, in the chambers of the house of the Lord." (39)
Watch Unto Prayer
Concerning Jerusalem, Ezekiel 22:25 tells of a "conspiracy of her prophets in the midst thereof; like a roaring lion ravening the prey, they have devoured souls." Those who have realized with growing alarm that a similar conspiracy is overtaking the Church must protest as Paul did, "Who is sufficient for these things?" However, like Paul we can acknowledge, "Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think any thing of ourselves; but our sufficiency is of God." (II Corinthians 2:17;3:5) Although each of us may sense a certain inadequacy for interceding effectively for the Church in these perilous times, let us pray that God will supply all of our sufficiency for this ministry of prayer.
For spiritual discernment within the Church and a disposition to try the spirits and to prove all things.
That Christians will look only to the Word of God as the foundation for sound doctrine and prophecy.
That pastors, teachers and other shepherds will not be deceived, but will warn and protect the flock.
That false prophets and teachers will be exposed and their teachings rejected by the Church.
That God will raise up men and women who will earnestly contend for the faith.
That God will enlist men and women of prayer to intercede for the Church in these perilous times.
memyselfI
11-05-2004, 11:48 AM
That's interesting. It was the Republicans, and ONLY the Republicans, who talked up the gay marriage issue.
I seriously wish Bush would have stopped bringing up the fact that Mary Cheney was gay.
By the way, thanks once again for letting everybody here know you're elitist scum.
You are truly delusional.
Are you saying that the gay issue was a non-issue before the debates when John Kerry mentioned her name?
Nevermind that the WH orchestrated a vote in Congress to pass a CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT simply so they could get Kerry and Edwards on record as opposing the amendment (and thus in RWNJ thinking SUPPORT gay marriage) right before the election.
Kerry was stooooopid enough to fall for the trap so he deserves the position he's in...but to pretend this was not the plan is a joke.
http://www.cnn.com/2004/ALLPOLITICS/07/14/samesex.marriage/
Same-sex marriage Senate battle over, war is not
GOP leaders fail to get enough votes to advance measure
Thursday, July 15, 2004 Posted: 2:28 AM EDT (0628 GMT)
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Efforts to pass a constitutional amendment that would effectively ban same-sex marriage failed in the Senate Wednesday afternoon, but supporters vowed to keep fighting for the measure.
"This is a long process," said Republican Sen. Wayne Allard of Colorado, sponsor of the amendment. "Nobody on our side, I think, ever felt for a minute that this was going to be a one-shot deal and it was going to be over with at that particular point in time."
The White House released a statement from President Bush in which he said he was "disappointed" that the amendment was "temporarily blocked" in the Senate and urged the House to take up the matter.
"Activist judges and local officials in some parts of the country are not letting up in their efforts to redefine marriage for the rest of America, and neither should defenders of traditional marriage flag in their efforts," Bush said in his statement.
The proposed amendment, championed by Bush, was killed for this session after a procedural vote to move the measure to the Senate floor for final consideration failed 48-50 -- 12 votes shy of the 60 required by Senate rules.
Six Republicans -- including Sen. John McCain of Arizona -- joined 43 Democrats and one independent to defeat the measure. Three Democrats and 45 Republicans voted for it.
Republicans had expected to muster the votes needed to at least advance the measure, if not the 67 required to pass it. They also expected to force the presumptive Democratic presidential ticket -- Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts and Sen. John Edwards of North Carolina -- to vote against it.
A constitutional amendment requires a two-thirds majority of both houses of Congress to pass. Then the proposal would need the approval of three-fourths of the state legislatures to be ratified.
Opponents denounced the failed effort as a "political tool" during an election year.
"Today, we saw President Bush and the Republican leadership attempt to divide America and it backfired, instead dividing their own party," said Cheryl Jacques, president of the Human Rights Campaign, a gay rights organization. "We saw the politics of distraction fail and fail handily."
Both Kerry and Edwards were on record opposing the measure but decided not to return for the procedural vote since their votes weren't needed to defeat it. They were the only senators not voting.
Kerry, who was in Boston, issued a statement saying the Senate floor "should only be used for the common good, not issues designed to divide us for political purposes."
Edwards, at a campaign rally in Iowa, said "the president and the vice president tried to use our Constitution and the amendment of that Constitution as a political tool, and the United States Senate, they said, 'No. We will not accept it.' "
A Bush campaign aide responded, "It takes a special kind of senator to attack others over a vote that they don't show up for."
Bush did not directly address the amendment's defeat during a bus tour of Wisconsin, but he reiterated his opposition to same-sex marriage during a rally in Ashwaubenon, a Green Bay suburb.
"We stand for institutions like marriage and family which are the foundations of our society," he said, drawing thunderous applause from the partisan crowd. "We stand for judges who strictly and faithfully interpret the law, instead of legislating from the bench."
Social conservatives have been pushing hard for the measure since May, when the highest court in Massachusetts legalized same-sex marriages in the Bay State.
Polls show a solid majority of Americans are against legalizing same-sex marriages, although the gap narrows when it comes to amending the Constitution.
Varying views
Bush's stance against was echoed by Republican Sen. Bill Frist of Tennessee during debate. "Will activist judges not elected by the American people destroy the institution of marriage, or will the people protect marriage as the best way to raise children? My vote is with the people," said the majority leader.
Republican Sen. Orrin Hatch of Utah said the amendment would simply preserve a fundamental institution "that a few unelected judges are trying to radically change." It's not a question of discrimination against gays, he said.
The amendment, as proposed by Allard, would add these two sentences to the Constitution:
"Marriage in the United States shall consist only of the union of a man and a woman. Neither this Constitution, nor the constitution of any State, shall be construed to require that marriage or the legal incidents thereof be conferred upon any union other than the union of a man and a woman."
Some Republicans objected to the second sentence, saying it was so ambiguous that it also could prevent states from allowing gays and lesbians to join in civil unions.
Other senators expressed concern that the measure would usurp the states' traditional dominion over family law, and some questioned whether it was necessary.
Republican Sen. John Sununu of New Hampshire, who voted against moving the measure forward, said it was too early to make the assumption that judges might strike down laws such as the 1996 federal Defense of Marriage Act and 38 similar state statutes that define marriage as a union only between a man and a woman.
"Naturally, there exist concerns about what activist courts might do to undermine these rights and the Defense of Marriage Act," Sununu said in a statement. "But it is premature to amend the Constitution based upon a hypothetical scenario."
McCain went even further, calling the amendment "antithetical in every way to the core philosophy of Republicans." (Full story)
Besides Sununu and McCain, the other Republicans who broke with the GOP leadership on the issue were Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins of Maine, Lincoln Chafee of Rhode Island and Ben Nighthorse Campbell of Colorado.
The three Democrats voting to advance the measure were Robert Byrd of West Virginia, Zell Miller of Georgia and Ben Nelson of Nebraska.
Afterward, proponents tried to put the best face on the defeat, vowing to press forward until they win.
"I think we are going to have a long and extended discussion in the country about what is marriage. ... We won on substance. We lost on procedure," said Republican Sam Brownback of Kansas, noting that Democrats were "definitely" not listening to their constituents.
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