By BRIAN CLOWES
Part 1
(Editor’s Note: Brian Clowes has been director of research and training at Human Life International since 1995. For the complete guide to organizing an effective pro-family group, e-mail him at bclowes@hli.org.)
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Our problem: Many people are concerned about the homosexual special rights agenda, and are amazed at how quickly it has advanced over the past two decades. Its rapid strides have caused anxiety and a feeling of helplessness in many people who value the natural family.
Anxiety is caused by uncertainty, and uncertainty is caused by a lack of knowledge. A feeling of helplessness is caused by a lack of power, and a lack of power is caused by disorganization.
Therefore, the solutions to these problems are education and organization.
Education dispels ignorance of the facts and bestows a firm confidence, eliminating the gnawing anxiety that can lead to paralyzing inaction. Organization gives you power and eliminates the nagging feeling of helplessness that can immobilize you.
Keep in mind that the homosexual strategists want to keep you feeling anxious and helpless — this is the primary purpose of their media campaigns.
The purpose of this three-part series is to give concerned people information on the basics of the homosexual’s special rights agenda, and practical knowledge on how to organize and fight it. These articles are a summary of the complete organizational program, which is available in electronic format free of charge from Brian Clowes at bclowes@hli.org.
Why is there so little effective opposition? The reason that there is a shortage of organized resistance against the special rights agenda is that most people have been intimidated into inaction. Whenever anyone dares to even question anything that homosexuals do or say, he is instantaneously labeled a “homophobe,” a “bigot,” and “hateful.”
This is a reflexive, unthinking action by homosexual activists — there is absolutely no thought or analysis behind it. So the great majority of people are coerced into remaining silent. Most people are not indifferent to what homosexual radicals are doing, but they feel helpless and anxious about what might happen to them if they do take action.
The special rights movement certainly looks very powerful. It has Hollywood behind it, huge amounts of funding from big corporations, the backing of the leadership of the medical, legal, and teaching professions, and free rein in the media.
But it is a classic “paper tiger.” It is huge and fearsome-looking, but it is hollow because it has no soul and no substance. It is a repulsive brute, rotting from within and corrupting everything it touches. It roars deafeningly, but it is weak and cowardly like all bullies. It can do nothing more than curse and swear at groups of people who stand up and say, “No more!”
There is absolutely nothing to be afraid of!
Beat them with the POPE: Many people make the mistake of quickly assembling a few of their friends, sketching out a plan, and immediately going into action. This always results in defeat, because the homosexuals are extremely vigilant and very well organized.
We must resist the desire to jump into action right away. We need to calm down and look at the situation rationally.
No victorious army marches into battle without rigorous training.
No successful legal team enters the courtroom without careful preparation.
And no winning sports team takes the field without months of grueling practice sessions.
Over the years, experienced pro-life and pro-family leaders have developed a very effective, tried and true procedure for fighting the hundreds of anti-life groups whose purpose is to force acceptance of legalized abortion, pornography, prostitution, homosexuality, and euthanasia on the entire world, regardless of what God or the people think.
This process is valid regardless of the faith of the pro-family people using it — and even if they have no faith at all. After all, good organizing principles are logical and universal, and work equally well for Christians, Jews, Muslims, Hindus, agnostics, and atheists.
In summary, the best way to fight the special rights agenda is with the POPE — Pray, Organize, Plan, and Expose/Educate.
The first step, of course, is to pray (or ponder, if you are a nonbeliever). If you feel called to fight the destructive special-rights agenda, you must first take time to reflect upon what role you will fulfill in this battle. Take into consideration your health, your skills, your personal experiences, and your family. God always comes first, family second, and everything else (including our jobs, activism, and hobbies) third.
If you are having marriage or family difficulties, now is not the time to expend your energies elsewhere. The stresses brought on by fighting the special-rights agenda could greatly aggravate family problems if the relationships between its members are not strong and healthy.
It helps to consult with others who know you well. Your spiritual director and family members can give you invaluable advice and direction.
In all of this, remember that the real enemy is Satan, who has ensnared so many with the homosexual lifestyle. The special-rights leaders and their followers, along with all of those caught in the homosexual lifestyle, are not the enemy, no matter how much they snivel about how much we “hate” them.
Our objective is to save their souls, not to condemn them. Ultimately, we would like to spend eternity in Heaven with them rather than see them suffer forever in Hell. This is why, from the eternal perspective, people who excuse and enable homosexuality are doing far more harm than those who expose and oppose it.
When you fight the lies and deceptions of the special-rights movement, you are contributing directly to the salvation of souls and following in the footsteps of a long line of saints who have done exactly the same thing.
After contemplation comes organization. It is not enough just to be concerned or even to be informed. In order to have any effect at all, we must take action. And before we can take effective action, we must band together with others of like mind.
As Edmund Burke once said, “When bad men combine, the good must associate [with each other]; else they will fall one by one, an unpitied sacrifice in a contemptible struggle.”
This is certainly true regarding the battle over special rights. A single person who raises his or her voice in opposition to homosexual “pride parades” and other practices will quickly be crushed under a tidal wave of ridicule, slander, and condemnation; but a dozen well-organized and trained pro-family activists or, better yet, a hundred, are much harder to ignore or defeat.
When you discover repulsive homosexual propaganda in your school, clergymen preaching tolerance for deviancy in your community, or plans to parade perversity on Main Street, you absolutely must organize as quickly as you possibly can.
You cannot do anything by yourself; so immediately start to ask your socially conservative friends (you know who they are) to get involved. Don’t worry about sheer numbers; God always raises up exactly enough missionaries to do His work effectively.
Your Mission Plan
The third step is to plan. By the time your group decides that it is ready to take action, your people probably already have a pretty specific idea of what they want to do. You can maximize your chances of success by writing a detailed mission planning statement and sticking with it.
This statement is a summary of the six essential elements of any mission plan, which are: 1) Your mission (what you want to achieve); 2) Your focus (whom you want to influence); 3) Your opposition (those who will try to stop you from accomplishing your mission); 4) Your resources (both organic and external); 5) Your environment (the conditions under which you must work); and 6) Your tactics (how you will accomplish your mission).
The final step is to expose the homosexual special-rights agenda and educate your friends, family, and the public.
Lies only flourish when a shroud of darkness and secrecy surrounds them. They wither up and die when you shine the powerful light of truth on them.
Homosexual activists prattle endlessly about tolerance, nonjudgmentalism, and inclusiveness, but, as we have seen, they ardently desire to stamp out any viewpoint but their own. They know that they can only hoodwink people if alternative voices cannot be heard.
Pro-family activists must avoid the strengths of the special-rights movement (i.e., total intimidation of the spineless “lamestream” media and massive government and foundation funding), and instead attack its several crucial weaknesses. These weaknesses include lack of grassroots support, the demonstrably oppressive nature of the special-rights movement, the glaring inconsistencies in homophile “thinking,” and a profound inability to debate or discuss the issues.
The next two articles will describe the 11 essential tasks for organizing.
Oh, just one more thing . . . did I mention that the guide for organizing a pro-family/anti-special rights group is available for free by e-mailing me at bclowes@hli.org?
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