Sep 28, 2004 / 22:00 pm
Protests Sunday by homosexual-rights groups of a church, hosting an ex-homosexual speaker, are "a telling glimpse into the anti-religious heart of the gay-activist movement," said Illinois Family Institute executive director Peter LaBarbera.
In Oak Park Sunday, protesters affiliated with the Chicago Anti-Bashing Network chanted that Calvary Memorial Church was a "House of Hate" for hosting Stephen Bennett, who left the homosexual lifestyle when he became a Christian.
The Oak Park Area Lesbian and Gay Association held a calmer protest in the morning, but one man had to be carried out of Calvary Memorial when he started yelling "born-again bigots" during a church service.
Bennett, who is now married and the father of two children, also gave a free concert yesterday at Arlington Heights Evangelical Free Church. He now runs Stephen Bennett Ministries, which helps others overcome a homosexual lifestyle.
"These anti-Christian protests are typical of the gay Left's escalating attack on the Church," LaBarbera said, adding that homosexual activists “are just petrified of the truth getting out that nobody has to be gay.
"If hate-crime and sexual-orientation laws progress in the United States as they have in Canada, one day these same homosexual activists could be filing discrimination lawsuits against churches merely for teaching that homosexuality is a sin,” he warned.
LaBarbera called on pastors to “wake up and understand that they cannot avoid preaching the truth about homosexuality and gay marriage, because no movement in this country has the potential to criminalize Christianity as this one does."