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Gay Marriage: NOM Blatantly Lies About Military Chaplains In Fundraising Effort

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NOM, the National Organization For Marriage yesterday sent an email to “marriage supporters” which included several blatant lies — an obvious attempt to scare conservatives and homophobes into donating money to “protect marriage.” NOM’s president, Brian Brown, claimed in the email that the Navy had issued guidelines that “required” Navy chaplains to perform same-sex marriages and that the Department of Defense had issued guidelines “requiring all military facilities to be available for same-sex weddings.” Both these statements were absolute lies and NOM should not only be ashamed, but should be sued, and forced to release its email list to a neutral third party so the Department of Defense can ensure these lies are properly countered.

READ: Starbucks Attacked By NOM: “Stay Out Of Marriage Fights”

NOM also, falsely, claims that “same-sex marriage activists have been working to leverage the repeal of Don’t Ask Don’t Tell to harass and intimidate chaplains and other service members who are standing up for marriage.”

Here’s the full text of yesterday’s email, the lies are bolded:

Wednesday, February 1, 2012

Dear Marriage Supporter,

Did you see this day coming?

Who would have thought we needed a federal statute to protect military chaplains—and other servicemen and women—who believe that marriage is between one man and one woman?

But just months after the repeal of Don’t Ask Don’t Tell, there is a full-on battle for marriage raging within our nation’s armed forces.

Urge your congressman to co-sponsor the Military Religious Freedom Protection Act today!

Last April, the Navy issued new “sensitivity training” guidelines that required Navy chaplains to perform same-sex marriages. Thanks to leadership from Congressmen Tim Huelskamp and Todd Akin, the Navy backed down and rescinded the guidelines.

In September, the Department of Defense issued two more memos, requiring all military facilities to be available for same-sex weddings and allowing chaplains to participate in same-sex ceremonies.

Recognizing this growing threat to the religious liberty of our armed forces, Rep. Tim Huelskamp of Kansas last week introduced the Military Religious Freedom Protection Act (H.R. 3828). The bill does three things:

  1. Protects military chaplains from being forced to participate in any ceremony or function that is against their conscience or religious beliefs.
  2. Protects our men and women in uniform from being discriminated against because of religious beliefs opposed to same-sex marriage or homosexuality.
  3. Prohibits the use of military facilities for same-sex marriage ceremonies.

But President Obama is refusing to do his job as President—picking and choosing which laws are worth enforcing. He refuses to defend DOMA in court and is actively undermining it at every turn. And same-sex marriage activists have been working to leverage the repeal of Don’t Ask Don’t Tell to harass and intimidate chaplains and other service members who are standing up for marriage.

Tell your Congressman we need to protect the religious liberty of our armed forces—just like they put their lives on the line to protect ours. Tell your Congressman to co-sponsor the Military Religious Freedom Protection Act (H.R.3828) today.

Click here to send your message now!

Thank you.

Brian BrownBrian S Brown

Brian S. Brown
President
National Organization for Marriage

 

Jeremy Hooper, writing for NOM Exposed, has the full details — go take a look.

He notes:

Obviously chaplains are never required to perform any kind of marriage that falls outside of their purview.  No person of the cloth is ever required to perform a marriage, nor are equality activists seeking such forced participation.  And NOM knows it.

But what NOM also knows? That scaring their supporters is the only way to keep some gasps in their languishing cause.  Sometimes it’s fears about kids, sometimes it’s threats about church.  It’s always insulting.  And insulting not only to us, but also (especially?) to those who NOM dupes into supporting their fallacious efforts.

Free speech is one thing, but no law protects lies or liars, and the National Organization For Marriage has become the epitome of what’s wrong with America’s radical religious organizations. NOM claims its mission is to “to protect marriage and the faith communities that sustain it.” (Apparently, non-faith based communities don’t sustain marriage?) Yet any priest, rabbi, or other religious leader would tell even a ten-year old that lying is wrong, yet NOM time and time again lies, (and publishes copyrighted material not their own,) violating the standards of common decency on a regular basis.

If you have to lie to prove your point, you can’t.

UPDATE: In “NOM gets blasted on its blog for lying about military chaplains,” Alvin McEwen notes:

However apparently a lot of folks who aren’t barred took it upon themselves to tell NOM  that Brown’s claim is a deliberate lie. Some of the comments are as follows:

Brian – Perhaps you should show us this REQUIREMENT for chaplains to perform same sex weddings. No pastor has every been required to do so and you know it. While gay marriage never made it into the 10 commandments, I’m pretty sure lying did. How do you reconcile this?
“Required” is not a synonym for “allowed.”
NOM caught lying again, at this point it’s redundant.
Liar Liar Liar they are NOT required to perform them there is a moral exemption clause in the general order.
I think the policy should be that Brian Brown should get his facts straight. That’s a joke–I know I’m not answering your question. Seriously though, this type of flagrant inaccuracy is unacceptable at any level, especially for the president of a national organization. NOM supporters, you should demand the truth. After all, you’re the ones giving away money.
Ah, truth.
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As Americans drift from organized religion and congregations consolidate, pastors are turning to artificial intelligence to shoulder parts of their ministry — while some worshippers are turning to AI for something else entirely. Certain AI tools help clergy manage schedules or craft sermons; others invite believers to text directly with “Jesus,” or even “Satan.”

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