2010 California Election Forum

Something big is about to happen…

Here’s the latest news on where the nation stands when it comes to homosexual marriage:

• Prayers for the Supreme Court. While we await the California Supreme Court’s ruling on Proposition 8, I’ve noticed something in churches I’ve visited and from what I’m hearing on the radio: The church isn’t asking the fellowship to pray for each Supreme Court judge and their decision.

  The justices are:

  • Chief Justice Ronald M. George
  • Associate Justice Carlos R. Moreno
  • Associate Justice Joyce L. Kennard
  • Associate Justice Kathryn Mickle Werdegar
  • Associate Justice Ming W. Chin
  • Associate Justice Marvin R. Baxter
  • Associate Justice Carol A. Corrigan
• Iowa rules in favor of homosexual marriage. The Iowa Supreme Court legalized gay marriage, and new liberal anti-traditional marriage moves have been made in other states. Pray this will not influence California’s judges and pray for God’s people, as they must act as we have in California.
• Miss California defends traditional marriage…and it probably cost her the crown. She says she had to stand up for what she believed in, even knowing it would be unpopular. It’s a clash of values—and those who stand for Biblical principles and objective truths are under persecution. Click here to watch this special short video.
• Evangelicals: Trending away from Scripture? Most Evangelicals hold to 3 positions on homosexuality:

A closer look at who stands on each side of the issue

The California Supreme Court Decision is coming. In the next couple of months we will have a ruling from the California Supreme Court on the Proposition 8 vote.

Will the judges again overturn the vote of the people, based on their own liberal ideology? Or will they rule on the side of democracy?

I’ve talked to legal experts and read a number of legal observations on the oral arguments that were made before the court.

Most are cautiously positive the court will uphold Prop 8, but will allow the 18,000 homosexual marriages made since their last ruling to remain valid.

Encouraging news is two justices who previously voted to overturn Proposition 22 may have a different stance this time around: Their attitudes and lines of questioning suggest that they intend to uphold Proposition 8.

Guess who’s not seeing Christianity clearly?

Barry Lynn, Executive Director of Americans United for Separation of Church and State, is infamous for suing the United States to remove “under God” from the Pledge of Allegiance, along with a long list of other anti-Christian legal challenges.

His statements on Larry King Live exemplify the utter disregard of liberal churches for the authority of Scripture.

“Many of us do not have a literal belief in the words of the not-God-written-and-produced but man-produced Holy Bible for Christians….Many of us, particularly in more liberal Protestant denominations, believe God is still speaking…and some people believe that God doesn’t speak and never did speak.”

This two-minute clip between Dr. John MacArthur and Lynn on Larry King Live gives you a glimpse into Lynn’s distorted view of Scripture and Christianity.

Click here to see the video:

These taxes are harmful to the poor and cost all of us more money

The state legislature will vote Friday or early next week on a bill that will mean $14.3 billion in new taxes and $10.9 billion in new borrowing, i.e., expensive interest and new debt.

It’s outrageous. It’s wrong. And it will hurt you and your family.

The state budget deficit is over $42 billion. Instead of cutting 100% of the deficit, the governor and liberal Democrats want to strangle the California economy and families with about 61.4% higher taxes and interest over spending cuts!

California already has one of the highest income taxes and the highest sales tax in the nation.

If this bill passes, more people and more businesses will flee California, resulting in fewer jobs and economic opportunities. 150,000 businesses and people left last year. 

Just one example: Toyota is relocating because of our state’s taxes and regulation. The government shouldn’t raise taxes in a recession…even in California. In the last update (click here to see), I discussed how we got to this part and the solution: cutting spending. But the politicians won’t do it.

Which taxes are they going to increase? Here is what we do know now:

• One of the topics of discussion before the California Supreme Court last week was whether the government should even be in the marriage business. An initiative is now being circulated that replaces the term “marriage in law” with “domestic partnership.” It would allow those who want to get “married” to do so separately in a private ceremony.

Over 700,000 valid signatures are necessary to get a measure like this on the ballot. The idea is marriage can be a religious act (which it is), and the church can select criteria for marriage without the civil liberties issue being a problem.

• California Supreme Court Judges Ronald George, Carlos Moreno and Ming Chin will be up for reelection (a confirmation vote) if they decide to stay on the court in 2010.

Poor ranking for the Golden State

Abortion. Cloning. These and other issues show California is ranked #49 for almost the worst state for being anti-life. Click here to see a ranking of all states.

The irony: Drives business out and inevitably causes less tax revenue

Did you miss it? AAA Auto Club will close its call centers in California resulting in 9,000 jobs moving to other states. Why? “It costs more to do business in California” said an AAA press release.

Or how about Toyota canceling plans to build its new Prius Hybrid in California because of the high tax and regulatory costs. Instead, about 1,000 jobs will go to pro-business Mississippi. Census Bureau data from 1996–2005 shows 1.3 million more left California than came.

And those leaving are the more affluent; as noted in a past article. Click here to read about high-profile people fleeing California.

County Clerk issues marriage licenses to same-sex couples

Tuesday, June 17, marks the day same-sex couples can get their marriage licenses from the County Clerk's office.

So next week I'm going to send you a complete report on the California Supreme Court's 4-3 decision to impose its ideology on all of California, overturning Proposition 22--the will of the people.

The cultural war has intensified as judicial activists are forcing California to accept its secular/humanist philosophy over values, tradition and a Biblical worldview.

The judicial decision has profound implications on the sanctity of marriage and the protection of our children.

Concerning same-sex marriage licenses, pray that the court delays these marriages until after the November vote.

On June 18 (2008), we should know for sure that the Marriage Initiative is on the ballot. Please pray for its success.

The initiative is our only hope to overturn this ruling, as the current court decision cannot be appealed to the Supreme Court.

Until the vote in November, expect a nasty campaign. The pro-same-sex lobby could spend up to $50 million to defeat the proposition. Our side might raise $15 million. It will need the support of churches and pastors to win. Their failure to mobilize and vote means we will lose...and so will children and marriage nationwide.

I wanted to share the following article with you...

“Countless studies have shown that children raised in a two-parent family are less likely to be raised in poverty, less likely to do drugs, less likely to be criminals later in life, and more likely to graduate from and do well in school.

"Married people tend to take care of themselves better and live longer. They typically eat better, have more settled lives with less stress and fewer risky habits, monitor each other's health, and are quicker to seek medical attention for problems that arise.

“Married people, particularly those with children, seem to be motivated to save and invest more for the future and to live longer to enjoy their savings and their children's future.

“Out-of-wedlock births increase the national incidence of lowered health for newborns; retarded cognitive, and especially verbal, development of young children; lowered educational achievement; lowered job attainment as young adults; increased behavioral problems; lowered impulse control (aggression and sexual behavior); and increased anti-social development.

“It’s been said you need only do three things in this country to avoid poverty: finish high school, marry before having a child and marry after the age of 20. Among those who follow such advice, only 8% are poor, while 79% of those who do not are poor.

“The consequences of this trend are crime rates higher than they should be, graduation rates lower than they should be and a treasury depleted in the name of trying to solve both problems by throwing more money at them.

No culture can remain healthy with illegitimacy rates like these. And it is simply impossible to understate the socially catastrophic consequences of America's crisis of illegitimacy. The family is still the best department of health, education and welfare ever invented.” —Investor’s Business Daily

On my bookshelf is a book that I got at a Christian bookstore more than 20 years ago.

As I read it, I realized the author knew nothing about economics. And he had no respect for individual freedom.

Since then, author Ron Sider has been called an advocate for Christian socialism with his Evangelicals for Social Action.

One of the lies he has popularized is that Christian families are no different from secular families. He has said that Evangelicals and born-again Christians divorce at the same rate as, or slightly more often than, other Americans. He also said Christians were having extramarital sex at the same rate as non-Christians.

This has always bothered me. One of the most important lessons I taught in my Bible class for singles was how Christians can divorce-proof their marriage.

Recently, Dr. Brad Wilcox and Dr. Byron Johnson did something that hadn’t been done before: they studied the religious practices of people who called themselves Christians. They did this by looking at the rates of church attendees.

Here is what they found:

1. Those who do attend church weekly are less likely to divorce. In fact, their marriages are considered “happy.”
2. As church attendance declines, divorces rise.

In other words, there is a direct connection between strong marriages and being a Christian who regularly attends church.