Back in 2004, Save Jerseyans, your Blogger-in-Chief was an undergraduate at Washington, D.C.’s Catholic University of America when a couple other friends and I interned at the annual Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC).
It was an amazing experience for a wide-eyed young conservative nerd to interact with so many distinguished politicians, media personalities and career activists in one place.
It was also a very different time in the Republican Party, and I discovered a healthy level of intellectual diversity on display from the right-of-center CPAC attendees. Libertarians, neocons, paleocons, fiscal conservatives and social conservatives from across the country mixed, drank, shared cabs, and downed hot dogs while discussing equally hot races in long book signing queques.
The common thread among the CPAC patrons? A healthy disdain for large, active, expensive and intrusive federal governance.
I am a pro-life person and opposed to abortion, except in order to save the life of the mother. Many times, my beliefs on social and moral issues are based on Orthodox Judaism, my religion, Orthodox Judaism is somewhat complex on the abortion issue, although far more pro-life than pro-choice. My pro-life views, however, are based upon my own study of the science of the issue. I believe that a fetus is life, and since I venerate life, I oppose abortion, except to save the life of the mother.
By the way, there have been over the years a multitude of statements, including from that great Torah sage, Gloria Allred, claiming that on the abortion issue, Judaism is pro-choice. While my political and moral beliefs on abortion are not based upon the Torah and the tenets of Orthodox Judaism, they are not inconsistent with them either. If somebody wants to read a short, concise summary of Orthodox Judaism and the abortion issue, I recommend the following page from the Aish HaTorah website:
My views on the same sex marriage issue are another matter.
Orthodox Judaism is vehemently anti-homosexuality. Yet I read something recently on the Chabad Lubavitch website which really hit home with me: “Torah law expressly forbids the specific act of male homosexuality. And we do know this: Torah law forbids bigotry; homophobia is prohibited.”
Photo credit: Ocean Grove Camp Meeting Association
Neptune Township’s beachfront and boardwalk in the Ocean Grove section of the Township might not get the estimated $3 million in FEMA funding needed to rebuild because the property is owned by the private non-profit and religious Ocean Grove Camp Meeting Association (OGCMA), according to an article by freelance journalist Caren Chesler published at NJSpotLight.
Neptune Township Committee Member and Ocean Grove business owner Randy Bishop, as well as Michael Bascom, the Township’s CFO are working with OGCMA to pursuade FEMA to pay for the repairs on the stretch of beach that connects the regional shoreline from Asbury Park south to Spring Lake.
In a press release posted on OGCMA’s website, President Dr. Dale C. Whilden said, “The Camp Meeting is fully committed to restoring Ocean Grove’s beautiful beachfront, a keystone of our community as well as a protection from ocean storms, and we’re on track to implement a comprehensive beach and boardwalk restoration plan. With God’s blessing and the assistance of our local, state and federal officials, as well as support from individuals and organizations, our beach will open on Memorial Day weekend.”
Mother Jones, an extreme left wing website that solicits tax deductiblecontributions to sustain itself, posted a series of videos of Mitt Romney speaking at a fundraiser in the Florida home of private equity manager Marc Leder this past May.
In the first video, Romney speaks candidly about the challenge he faces in the general election. He notes that Obama starts out with a significant advantage…the 47% of Americans who don’t pay taxes and , he says, think health care, food and housing should be provided to them as a government funded entitlement. Romney notes that his challenge is to win over the 5% of Independent voters who like Obama personally but are disappointed with his performance.
Is this “evil”?
Steven Goldstein, the CEO of another non-profit that solicits tax deductible contributions, the same sex marriage advocates Garden State Equality thinks so. I’d link you to Garden State Equality’s website, but Google says the site is dangerous to your computer. Really. On his facebook page Goldstein characterises Romney as evil. He says Romney’s remarks are “one of the most hateful speeches in U.S. Presidential candidate history.”
God is very precise about a great many things in the Old Testament including men not shaving, but he is troublingly vague about marriage.
Nowhere does he come out and say in those clear, precise tones adopted by today’s religious bigots, “biblical marriage is between one man and one woman.”
Nowhere.
Let’s do a quick run-down…we have man + woman where bride proves her virginity or is stoned to death (Genesis 2:24); we have man + woman + concubines (Judges 19:1-30); we have man + woman + woman (the most common form of biblical marriage – polygyny); we have rapist + victim (Deuteronomy 22:28-29); we have son-less widow + closest male relative (Gen. 38:6-10); we have male soldier + prisoner of war (Numbers 31:1-18, Dueteronomy 21:11-14; we even have male slave + female slave (Exodus 21:4) and man + woman + woman’s female slave (Gen. 16:1-6, Jacob Gen. 30:4-5) because of course, slavery is also permitted in the Bible – it is not condemned and forbidden, as some southern bigot wishful-thinkers have reminded us.
So admittedly, we don’t have examples of male + male or female + female marriage in the Bible, but we also don’t have any place that says that Biblical marriage is man + woman. Obviously, there are a great many variations. In a strict sense, all these examples above are of biblical marriage and fundamentalist Christians should be fighting for all of them, not only your basic man + woman marriage
Haraldsson declares himself a Heathen and a progressive liberal on his twitter site. His Politicususa profile dubs him a social liberal with centrist political leanings. He has degrees in history and philosophy.
Haraldsson weakens his argument with his own anti-Christian and anti-Republican bigotry: (emphasis added)
God helps those who help themselves is actually attributed to Benjamin Franklin, and like loving the sinner but hating the sin, goes against biblical teachings. The whole self-reliance thing is very popular and chic among conservative Christian Republicans these days but the Old Testament teaches that when you harvest your crops you leave some “for the poor and the alien” (Leviticus 19:9-10). Can you imagine a Republican urging farmers to do this?
No, I can’t either. They won’t even help put out the flames when your house catches on fire. Can you imagine Jesus standing by and watching a house burn?
I know volunteer firefighters who happen to be Republicans. I’m offended for them by Haraldsson’s bigotry. Some of those Republican firefighters are also politicians who have run into burning homes before Newark’s Democratic Mayor, Cory Booker did that, tweeted about it and told the media it was a come to Jesus moment.
I also know quite a few Republicans who are very charitable, leaving large sums for the poor.
Let’s be charitable with Haraldsson and look beyond his bigorty. Are his biblical arguments valid? Is same sex marriage a violation of God’s Word?
Garden State Equality is out to convert New Jersey Chick-fil-A franchisees to their pro-gay marriage cause.
GSE President Steve Goldstein sent the following message to email list this morning:
Today, Friday, August 3, 2012 is Garden State Equality’s Dialogue Day with Chick-Fil-A. If you live or work in New Jersey, we’d like you to call the operator of your nearest Chick-Fil-A restaurant in New Jersey today, to ask him or her to meet with a local group of Garden State Equality members. We want the operators to see and hear in person how the national owners’ anti-LGBT advocacy hurts real people deeply – families, couples and children who yearn for equality. We ask you to call today even if you personally may not be able to join such a meeting.
Instructions:
1. Below please find a list of the 22 Chick-Fil-A stores across New Jersey with the store locations, phone numbers and individual operators’ names. Ask for the operator by name. If he or she isn’t there, you can ask to speak to the senior manager on duty.
2. When you call, say: “I’m a member of Garden State Equality and we want equality for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people. We know the national owners of Chick-Fil-A don’t believe in equality, but we hope you may be fair. We believe in talking and mutual respect. Are you willing to meet a group of us in the next few weeks?”
3. If the owner says no, express your pain, not anger, as you conclude the conversation quickly and respectfully. Respond: “I’m hurt you won’t meet us. I’ll let others know. I wish you well.” Please do not engage in hostility. We advocate equality in love.
4. If the owner says maybe, respond: “Then I’m going to call you back on Monday, is that okay?” Then please do call back on Monday.
5. If the owner says yes, respond: “That’s great. Before we set up a day and time, I’m going to talk to others to see their schedules. I’m going to call you back next week, is that okay?”
6. Then please email [email protected]your name and your phone number, the location below of the Chick-Fil-A you called – that’s important so we know which Chick-Fil-A you’re talking about – and the operator’s response, whether yes, no or maybe. If the operator said yes, we will call you and other Garden State Equality members in your area next week so we can coordinate schedules to do the meeting.
We understand that activists in other states are staging “kiss-ins” at Chick-Fil-A stores. We respect everyone who engages in the activism that inspires them. At Garden State Equality, we’re aiming for something beyond one day. We aim to start dialogues wherever we can. We want everyone to see the love and commitment of families with LGBT people – indeed, to see all people as real people. That, we believe, is the basis of winning equality everywhere.
Thank you all so much. Immediately below is the list of the 22 Chick-Fil-A stores in New Jersey with their phone numbers and names of the store operators. If the spirit moves you, please consider making a $13.00 donation today to Garden State Equality – that’s what it would cost a couple to eat a typical Chick-Fil-A meal. A $26.00 donation would represent the cost for a family of four. You can donate online at www.GardenStateEquality.org
Audubon, (856) 547-0815, operator Charles Bohs Cherry Hill, Marlton Pike, (856) 488-9117, operator Dave Curran Cherry Hill, Haddonfield Road, (856) 488-1600, operator Dave Curran Delran, (856) 764-0765, operator Sal Miliziano Deptford, Clements Bridge Road, (856) 853-0425, operator Doug Clark Deptford, Deptford Mall, (856) 848-7712, operator Christian McGrory Eatontown, (732) 542-2243, operator Jeff Bassett Edison, (732) 548-6024, operator Travis Biggs Egg Harbor, (609) 407-4900, operator Amy McCloy Galloway, the Stockton College Chick-Fil-A is closed for the summer. Please call the next closest store. Hamilton, (609) 581-7601, operator John Velarde Howell, (732) 730-9033, operator Ted Reim Marlton, (856) 985-4391, operator Brian Bowman Mount Laurel, Centerton Road, (856) 439-2696, operators Brian Bowman or Bob Mancini Mount Laurel, (856) 778-1900, Nixon Drive, operator Bob Mancini Paramus, (201) 967-9494, operator Ken Walsh Sewell, (856) 464-2277, operator Jeff Price Sicklerville, (856) 262-0002, operator Burley Clark Turnersville, (856) 228-2111, operator Burley Clark Vineland, (856) 327-4414, operator Phil Kelley Voorhees, (856) 772-2201, operator Zach Johnson Woodbridge, (732) 634-8981, operator Jim Strole
UPDATE
The Associated Press is reporting that gay rights activists are planning a ‘Kiss In’ today at Chick-fil-A restaurants throughout the country. Protestors of Chick-fil-A CEO Dan Cathy’s stand for traditional marriage are being encouraged to go Chick-fil-A stores and kiss a fellow demonstrator of the same gender.
AP quotes one organizer, Carly McGehee of Dallas as saying she hopes the protest “helps LGBT (lesbian, gay, bi-sexual and transgender) youth who feel isolated and are victims of bullying.”
Is isolation and bullying a problem for only gay youth? Are gay activists encouraging same sex marriages for youths?
Earlier this week The Asbury Park Press quoted Goldstein as saying that Garden State Equality does not support the ‘Kiss In.’ Rather, GSE would reach out to Chick-fil-A operators, as they are today. Goldstein said some of the operators are “in deep with us,” according to APP.
Nationwide hundreds of thousands of people flocked to Chick-fil- A restaurants as an overwhelming expression of support for first amendment rights and traditional family values.
Locally, Middletown Committeeman Gerry Scharfenberger called to report that at 2:30 this afternoon there was a huge crowd at the Chick-fil-A in the food court at the Monmouth Mall in Eatontown.
The Asbury Park Press reported that at 6:30 this evening the line for chicken sandwiches would around past several other establishment and reach the AMC Theaters on the opposite side of the court. Nearly 200 people were waiting in line at the Chick-fil-A on Route 9 in Howell at 7PM, according to APP.
Forbes is reporting that Chick-fil-A sold an estimated $100 million of chicken today and that the national media is downplaying the support the company has gotten, focusing instead on the protest against the company’s biblical principles. The video posted here from ABC news is an indication that some national media outlets gave the story fair coverage.
Chick-fil-A President Dan Cathy was preaching to the choir.
On July 16 he gave an interview to K. Allan Blume, the “Biblical Recorder” who writes for the Baptist Press:News with a Christian Perspectivewherein he covered a wide range of topics about his company which is managed, he says, on “biblical principles.”
This was my favorite line from the BPN article:
Based on Matthew 5:41, Cathy is on a mission to provide customers with “second-mile” service — exceeding even the highest expectations of a typical fast-food restaurant.
I liked that line because it rang true based upon my one experience at a Chick-fil-A restaurant. I was so impressed with the Cherry Hill area Chick-fil-A that when arrived home the evening after I had lunch there a couple of months ago that I told my wife about it as one of the highlights of my day. I never tell my wife about the fast food joint I eat at when I’m on the road.
I’d never heard of Chick-fil-A. I keep calling it Chickafil. My friend and I just happened upon the place during the lunch break of a meeting. “What is it, a Philadelphia area Boston Market?” I asked my friend who seemed familiar with the brand.
I was impressed with the place before my friend and I got in the door. There was a woman sweeping the parking lot that gave us a warm and friendly greeting while we were walking in. That struck me as an odd use of human resources during the lunch rush. And how does management get their employees to be so happy when they’re sweeping the parking lot? I had a vision of an employee of mine rolling her eyes when I asked her to do something she considered beneath her. This place must be up to something good I thought to myself. My only other memory of fast food employees outside of a restaurant was of those taking a smoking break.
Everybody in the place seemed happy. There were cartoons of cows celebrating decorating the place. No pictures of Jesus or the stations of the cross. The black woman who took our order (the woman cleaning the parking lot was white) was friendly and patient as we perused the menu for the type of chicken we were going to have for lunch. She didn’t look at me funny when I insisted on paying for my male friend’s lunch. She said thank you, not God bless you, when I paid and she apologised for the brief wait when delivering our sandwiches which she had offered to deliver to our table.
Half way through lunch, the parking lot lady showed up at our table offering free refills of our drinks. She would refill them for us.
I felt really welcomed and appreciated at that Chick-fil-A. Serving me and my friend seemed to be more important to the employees than completing the tasks of service. And it didn’t feel like a technique. It felt genuine. No one said, “Have a nice day.”
Based on Matthew 5:41, Cathy is on a mission to provide customers with “second-mile” service — exceeding even the highest expectations of a typical fast-food restaurant.
It worked for me that day in Cherry Hill.
But that is not why Chick-fil-A was in the news this week. Towards the end of his preaching to the choir interview with BPN Cathy said,
Some have opposed the company’s support of the traditional family. “Well, guilty as charged,” said Cathy when asked about the company’s position.
“We are very much supportive of the family — the biblical definition of the family unit. We are a family-owned business, a family-led business, and we are married to our first wives. We give God thanks for that.
“We operate as a family business … our restaurants are typically led by families; some are single. We want to do anything we possibly can to strengthen families. We are very much committed to that,” Cathy emphasized.
“We intend to stay the course,” he said. “We know that it might not be popular with everyone, but thank the Lord, we live in a country where we can share our values and operate on biblical principles.”
Cathy had no idea of the shit storm that was about to hit him and his company.
The religious exemptions clause of New York’s same sex marriage law was supposed to be the great compromise that broke down the barriers to gay couples marrying. Without the protections the clause provided to institutions that objected to same sex marriage on religious grounds, the law would not have passed New York’s legislature or been signed into law by Governor Andrew Cuomo last year.
New Jersey’s Gay Rights community, which has a history of litigating against religious institutions that refused to allow their properties to be used for civil union ceremonies, embraced the religious exemptions clause and convinced the Democratic leadership of the New Jersey legislature to make same sex marriage the number one priority of the current legislative session. New Jersey’s legislature passed the Marriage Equality and Religious Exemptions Act in February. Governor Chris Christie vetoed the bill and called for the issue to be decided by Constitutional Amendment via referendum. Despite polls indicating that New Jersey voters favor same sex marriage and that the favor Christie’s proposal to decide the issue via referendum, Garden State Equality and their allies in the legislature opposed a referendum, declaring that same sex marriage is a civil right that should not be decided by the majority at the ballot box. Privately, same sex marriage advocates have acknowledged that they expect to lose a referendum, despite the polls that indicate they would win.
New York is leading the way again.
The New York Post reports that a lesbian couple from Westchester is seeking to overturn the religious exemptions provision of New York’s same sex marriage law in federal court. “Jane Roe” and “Jane Doe,” a couple married on October 15, 2011, filed a class action suit in Manhattan because “Roe’s” employer, St. Joseph’s Medical Center in Yonkers, refused to add “Doe” to the Catholic hospital’s medical benefits.
The class-action suit seeks an order declaring that both women are entitled to insurance coverage under federal law. It also says “thousands of legally married, same-sex couples” have been, or will be, denied benefits under similar policies administered by Empire, which is also named as a defendant.
The women are seeking an injunction ordering Blue Cross Blue Shield not to acquiesce to a company that wants to deny same-sex benefits because of religious beliefs, said Jeffrey Norton, their lawyer.
Could Gay Marriage Be An Issue In The U.S. Senate Race?
In an email to his membership this afternoon, Garden State Equality President Steven Goldstein claimed that the New Jersey State Legislature is close to overriding Governor Chris Christie’s veto of the Marriage Equality and Religious Exemptions Act:
This has already been the most productive year in our organization’s history. We passed marriage equality through both houses of the legislature, and quickly followed that up with the passage and signing into law of a new school bullying bill. In recent weeks, we’ve been laying the groundwork to achieve marriage equality through an override of Governor Christie’s veto. Since the legislature voted to pass marriage equality in February, we’ve won over another couple of legislators to our side. If you signed up to form an Override Club of your friends and neighbors in your legislative district to help us strategize and organize for marriage equality locally, we’ll be calling you soon.
Friends, we are closer to seeing marriage equality become law in New Jersey than we ever thought would be possible under a Governor opposed to marriage equality. I swear to God, if someone would have told me a couple of years ago – when we all assumed we’d have to wait until another Governor to win – that we could be this unbelievably close this soon, frankly I’d have told them they were crazy. Our momentum is stunning. Our dream is in our grasp. And we have you to thank. You never stopped believing. Together, we have never let up.
“It’s not happening,” said a GSE sympathiser who asked not to be identified, “Steve must be trying to gin up his troops or raise money. An override is less likely now than it was in February.”
