USCCB report: Girl Scout website contains strong references to contraception and other non-abstinence measures related to sexuality

The bishops’ report focuses on three issues: 1) Girl Scouts USA’s relationship with groups like Planned Parenthood and international affiliate World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts ; 2) Girl Scouts’ views on issues related “to human sexuality, contraception, and abortion;” and 3) various materials and resources Girl Scouts USA has that may have “inappropriate content.”

With regards to Girl Scout affiliations, the report largely accepts Girl Scouts USA’s claim that they have no relationship with Planned Parenthood. However, it says that “attentiveness” is needed to prevent local groups — which act independently as their own 501c(3) organizations — from partnering with morally objectionable organizations, including Planned Parenthood.

Link

Saint Anselm – Father of Scholasticism, Doctor of the Church, Faithful Catholic in all things

Read the article

Isn’t that special? Catholic priest “irresistibly moved” to idol worship

The main pagoda stood majestic and magnificent in the middle of the compound. In it, there were several statues of the Buddha and his disciples, with a huge golden Buddha placed at the center of a high stage near the back. On the left side was an altar on which sat a statue of Quanyin, commonly known as the Goddess of Mercy, whom many East Asian Catholics regard as the equivalent of Mother Mary. As I walked toward it, I saw a young woman sitting in a lotus position at a short distance in front of the statue, her head slightly bowed. Not to disturb her, I moved quietly to the back and sat on the floor some 20 feet behind her.

Intrigued by this figure immersed in prayer, I decided to stay for a while. For nearly three quarters of an hour, the young woman sat, wrapped in prayer and meditation, not a limb twitching, not a turning of the head, preternaturally immobile, like the unrippled water of an autumnal pond, under the loving gaze of the Buddha of Compassion as people walked by. Watching her, I was irresistibly moved to pray — to the Christian God, Jesus, the Buddha, Mary and Quanyin — by this Buddhist devotee in an unexpected and strange place (emphasis mine.)

Link

Let no temptation take hold on you, but such as is human. And God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that which you are able: but will make also with temptation issue, that you may be able to bear it.

Wherefore, my dearly beloved, fly from the service of idols. I speak as to wise men: judge ye yourselves what I say. The chalice of benediction which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? And the bread which we break, is it not the partaking of the body of the Lord? For we, being many, are one bread, one body: all that partake of one bread.

Behold Israel according to the flesh. Are not they that eat of the sacrifices partakers of the altar? What then? Do I say that what is offered in sacrifice to idols is any thing? Or that the idol is any thing?

But the things which the heathens sacrifice, they sacrifice to devils and not to God. And I would not that you should be made partakers with devils. You cannot drink the chalice of the Lord and the chalice of devils: you cannot be partakers of the table of the Lord and of the table of devils.  (1 Corinthians 10:13-21)

More hand-wringing about foot-washing

Pope breaks rules as he washes feet of disabled people in pre-Easter ritual

Pelosi’s Mimicry of Pope Is ‘Sickening and Shameful,’ ‘Sacrilegious’

Pope Pelosi Washes Feet

 

Watch this year’s politically correct, social justice, slightly over the top, occasionally sappy Way of the Cross – from Rome

Click here to watch
(90 minutes)

Editor’s note: This wonderful annual, highly inspirational event used to be a must-see for Holy Week. But now we have various social justice groups and specially designated “victims of circumstance” competing for attention with the Passion of Jesus Christ, Our Lord and Savior – and that’s a bit “over the top”.

I give it one and a half stars, due to shameless popery and poorly contrived social justice connotations.

Official Vatican Text

Where there is no objective truth there can be no intelligent debate.

While high emotion often accompanies hot topics like sex in schools what we are seeing in the current moral debate in America is more than a typical emotional reaction to sex education. Instead of this being an emotional element in a heated debate, the debate seemed to consist of nothing but heated emotions. This is not emotion about morality this is emotion instead of morality, and there is a philosophical term for it: Boo-hurrah morality.

Another term for Boo-hurrah morality is emotivism. Emotivism is a gut level theory of the origin of ethics which suggests that moral judgements are no more than emotional reactions expressed forcibly to change someone else’s attitudes and actions. If you think this is all made up academic hocus pocus you would be correct. It was first proposed by the logical positivist A. J. Ayer in his 1936 book Language, Truth and Logic—a book which should have been titled, There’s No Such Thing As Language, Truth and Logic. 

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The earth shakes. The world is judged.

And Jesus, having cried out with a loud voice, gave up the ghost. And the veil of the temple was rent in two, from the top to the bottom. And the centurion who stood over against him, seeing that crying out in this manner he had given up the ghost. said: Indeed this man was the son of God. (Mark 15:37-39)

This earthquake, which has significant historical corroboration, shows that the foundations of this rebellious world ultimately cannot stand before God. The foundations are struck; the powers of this world quake. Scripture says,

1. People will flee to caves in the rocks and to holes in the ground from the fearful presence of the LORD and the splendor of his majesty, when he rises to shake the earth. (Is 2:19).
2. For thus says the LORD of hosts, ‘Once more in a little while, I am going to shake the heavens and the earth, the sea also and the dry land. ‘I will shake all the nations; and they will come with the wealth of all nations, and I will fill this house with glory,’ says the LORD of hosts. (Haggai 2:6-7)
3. In my zeal and fiery wrath, I declare that at that time there shall be a great earthquake in the land of Israel. (Ez 38:19)
4. The kings of the earth rise up and the rulers band together against the Lord and against his anointed, saying, “Let us break their chains and throw off their shackles.” The One enthroned in heaven laughs; the Lord scoffs at them. He rebukes them in his anger and terrifies them in his wrath, saying, “I have installed my king on Zion, my holy mountain.” (Psalm 2:2-6)
5. In the time of those kings, the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed, nor will it be left to another people. It will crush all those kingdoms and bring them to an end, but it will itself endure forever.
   (Daniel 2:42)
6. The LORD will roar from Zion and thunder from Jerusalem; the earth and the heavens will tremble. But the LORD will be a refuge for his people, a stronghold for the people of Israel. (Joel 3:16)
7. A ruin! A ruin! I will make it a ruin! The crown will not be restored until he to whom it rightfully belongs shall come; to him I will give it. (Ez 21:27)

Yes, the world shakes; the world is judged. And, most important, as Jesus says, Now is the time for judgment on this world; now the prince of this world will be driven out. (John 12:31)

Read more from Msgr. Charles Pope

Controversial Colorado abortion bill (surprisingly) dead on arrival

Pro-lifers mobilized in less than a week to pray for the defeat of the destructive bill that threatened to create unfettered access to abortion and undo life-affirming laws in Colorado.

Faith-filled citizens inundated state senators with phone calls, emails and personal requests to vote down the bill in support of mothers and for the protection of the unborn.

Jenny Kraska of the Colorado Catholic Conference said this night, April 16, is proof that Catholics can make a difference.

“Whenever someone says that we can’t make a difference, just remember this night, just remember this bill,” she said.

The Senate moved to lay over the bill until May 8, one day after the legislative session is scheduled to end on May 7. This effectively killed the bill, and the Senate will not vote on it.

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Editor’s note: Fortunately, most of the opposition was probably stoned, on marijuana. Thank God for ganja!

The Perils of Progressivism

This timeline, along with these recent statistics, demonstrates that the eroding of family life in the United States is not something sudden, but rather the result of a gradual process of social change.

The events listed are not a random collection, but show a determined and coordinated decline of our culture, rooted in our changing understanding of sexuality, marriage and family, and even life itself (which is now a commodity, which can be engineered).

The link between contraception, abortion, and homosexuality itself can be demonstrated simply by examining the Supreme Court decisions concerning these issues, which in their opinions directly build one upon the other.

See the timeline

More Bad Fruit: Confirming our beloved Jewish brethren in a Covenant of Death and Hell, for Passover

Abraham, Moses, Jesus Christ and the New Covenant, in his blood.
Only ONE of these is capable of saving a soul. 

The writer of this piece doesn’t want to offend anyone, but unfortunately, she has embraced the Modernist heresy about the nature of the Old Covenant and the “faith” of the Jewish people – and so, miserably fails.

Read the article

Now, read this:

There is absolutely NOTHING in the Old Covenant which is, or was ever capable of saving a soul. Anyone who clings to the Old Covenant embraces only death and hell.

Salvation comes through faith in Jesus Christ and membership in the Catholic Church, which he founded for that express purpose., for if salvation was available by the Old Covenant, there would have been absolutely no need for our Holy Redeemer Jesus Christ, to become man, suffer and die on the cross. for us!

Anyone who – knowing this – fails to accept the divine truth of the matter – is – at the very least – going to have a lot of ‘splainin’ to do, come Judgment Day!

Catholics should understand that confirming our beloved Jewish brethren in their spiritually deadly theological error is not in any way charitable – nor is such a thing appropriate at Passover, or ANY OTHER TIME – even if certain highly place church officials might believe otherwise.

The theological matter was settled, long, long ago. Here are the ERROR-FREE official Catholic Church citations. If the Catholic Church was WRONG then, there is no longer ANY ASSURANCE that it is CORRECT about ANYTHING, today. If the church was RIGHT then, there is no doubt that the Modernists who control today’s church (and teach otherwise) are indeed, WRONG.

The logic is irrefutable.

Pius XII: Mystici Corporis, 29: “And first of all, by the death of our Redeemer, the New Testament took the place of the Old Law which had been abolished; then the Law of Christ together with its mysteries, enactments, institutions, and sacred rites was ratified for the whole world in the blood of Jesus Christ…but on the Gibbet of His death Jesus made void the Law with its decrees fastened the handwriting of the Old Testament to the Cross, establishing the New Testament in His blood shed for the whole human race. “To such an extent, then,” says St. Leo the Great, speaking of the Cross of our Lord, “was there effected a transfer from the Law to the Gospel, from the Synagogue to the Church, from the many sacrifices to one Victim, that, as Our Lord expired, that mystical veil which shut off the innermost part of the temple and its sacred secret was rent violently from top to bottom.”

30: “On the Cross then the Old Law died, soon to be buried and to be a bearer of death, in order to give way to the New Testament of which Christ had chosen the Apostles as qualified ministers”

Council of Trent, ch 1, 793: “but not even the Jews by the very letter of the law of Moses were able to be liberated or to rise therefrom”

Council of Trent, Session 6, ch 2: “that He might both redeem the Jews, who were under the Law”

Council of Trent, Canon 1: “If anyone shall say that man can be justified before God by his own works which are done through his own natural powers, or through the teaching of the Law…let him be anathema.”

Council of Florence, DS 695: “There are seven sacraments of the new Law: namely, baptism, confirmation, Eucharist, penance, extreme unction, orders, and matrimony, which differ a great deal from the sacraments of the Old Law. For those of the Old Law did not effect grace, but only pronounced that it should be given through the passion of Christ; these sacraments of ours contain grace, and confer it upon those who receive them worthily.”

Council of Florence, DS 712: “It firmly believes, professes, and teaches that the matter pertaining to the law of the Old Testament, of the Mosiac law, which are divided into ceremonies, sacred rites, sacrifices, and sacraments, because they were established to signify something in the future, although they were suited to the divine worship at that time, after our Lord’s coming had been signified by them, ceased, and the sacraments of the New Testament began; and that whoever, even after the passion, placed hope in these matters of the law and submitted himself to them as necessary for salvation, as if faith in Christ could not save without them, sinned mortally.”

“All, therefore, who after that time observe circumcision and the Sabbath and the other requirements of the law, it declares alien to the Christian faith and not in the least fit to participate in eternal salvation, unless someday they recover from these errors. Therefore, it commands all who glory in the name of Christian, at whatever time, before or after baptism’ to cease entirely from circumcision, since, whether or not one places hope in it, it cannot be observed at all without the loss of eternal salvation.”

Pope Benedict XIV, Ex Quo Primum, #59: “However they are not attempting to observe the precepts of the old Law, which as everyone knows have been revoked by the coming of Christ.”

Pope Benedict XIV, Ex Quo Primum, #61: “The first consideration is that the ceremonies of the Mosaic law were abrogated by the coming of Christ and they can no longer be observed without sin after the promulgation of the Gospel.”

Pius VI, DS 1519-1520 (condemned the following): “Likewise, the doctrine which adds that under the Law man ‘became a prevaricator, since he was powerless to observe it, not indeed by the fault of the Law, which was most sacred, but by the guilt of man, who, under the Law, without grace, became more and more a prevaricator’; and it further adds, ‘that the Law, if it did not heal the heart of man, brought it about that he would recognize his evil, and, being convinced of his weakness, would desire the grace of a mediator’; in this part it generally intimates that man became a prevaricator through the nonobservance of the Law which he was powerless to observe, as if ‘He who is just could command something impossible, or He who is pious would be likely to condemn man for that which he could not avoid’ (from St. Caesarius Serm. 73, in append., St. Augustine, Serm. 273, edit. Maurin; from St. August., De nat, et “rat., e. 43; De “rat. et lib. arb., e. 16, Enarr. in psalm. 56, n. I),– false scandalous, impious, condemned in Baius (see n. 1504).

1520 20. “In that part in which it is to be understood that man, while under the Law and without grace, could conceive a desire for the grace of a Mediator related to the salvation promised through Christ, as if ‘grace itself does not effect that He be invoked by us’ (from Conc. Araus. II, can. 3 [v.n. 176]),– the proposition as it stands, deceitful, suspect, favorable to the Semipelagian heresy.

The Last Supper was the ultimate, eternal fulfillment of the Passover – in Jesus Christ, our Lord.

From the Catechism of the Catholic Church: 

The institution of the Eucharist

1337 The Lord, having loved those who were his own, loved them to the end. Knowing that the hour had come to leave this world and return to the Father, in the course of a meal he washed their feet and gave them the commandment of love.¹⁶³In order to leave them a pledge of this love, in order never to depart from his own and to make them sharers in his Passover, he instituted the Eucharist as the memorial of his death and Resurrection, and commanded his apostles to celebrate it until his return; “thereby he constituted them priests of the New Testament.”¹⁶⁴

1338 The three synoptic Gospels and St. Paul have handed on to us the account of the institution of the Eucharist; St. John, for his part, reports the words of Jesus in the synagogue of Capernaum that prepare for the institution of the Eucharist: Christ calls himself the bread of life, come down from heaven.¹⁶⁵

1339 Jesus chose the time of Passover to fulfill what he had announced at Capernaum: giving his disciples his Body and his Blood:

Then came the day of Unleavened Bread, on which the passover lamb had to be sacrificed. So Jesus sent Peter and John, saying, “Go and prepare the passover meal for us, that we may eat it. . . .” They went . . . and prepared the passover. And when the hour came, he sat at table, and the apostles with him. And he said to them, “I have earnestly desired to eat this passover with you before I suffer; for I tell you I shall not eat it again until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God.”. . . . And he took bread, and when he had given thanks he broke it and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” And likewise the cup after supper, saying, “This cup which is poured out for you is the New Covenant in my blood.”¹⁶⁶

1340 By celebrating the Last Supper with his apostles in the course of the Passover meal, Jesus gave the Jewish Passover its definitive meaning. Jesus’ passing over to his father by his death and Resurrection, the new Passover, is anticipated in the Supper and celebrated in the Eucharist, which fulfills the Jewish Passover and anticipates the final Passover of the Church in the glory of the kingdom.

“Do this in memory of me”

Counter-cultural Catholicism and a remarkable conversion story

Growing up, I wasn’t exposed to God, or the Catholic Church. I knew that my grandparents were Catholic, but no one talked about this, and I didn’t know what “Catholic” even was.

Due to terrible abuse, I was removed from my home at nine. I lived in an asylum for a weekend, an orphanage for eight months, and then once a space became available in a foster home, there until I was twelve.

The courts ordered my mother to take me, and this was how we met.

Read more

This year’s Holy Week may be marked by a blood-red moon

by Doug Lawrence

And going out, he went, according to his custom, to the Mount of Olives. And his disciples also followed him. And when he was come to the place, he said to them: Pray, lest ye enter into temptation. And he was withdrawn away from them a stone’s cast. And kneeling down, he prayed. Saying: Father, if thou wilt, remove this chalice from me: but yet not my will, but thine be done. And there appeared to him an angel from heaven, strengthening him. And being in an agony, he prayed the longer. And his sweat became as drops of blood, trickling down upon the ground. (Luke 22:39-44)

A lunar eclipse has long been a regular feature of Passover and Easter, as Passover has always been marked by a phase of the lunar cycle.

In the passage above, we read of Jesus’ sweat looking like drops of blood, as they trickled down to the ground.

I’m not one to try to rationalize miracles, but I’ve never been convinced there ever was a miracle here, since drops of sweat, illuminated by the subdued light of a blood-red, fully eclipsed moon, would indeed naturally appear as blood, especially if moonlight provided the only available illumination.

Another interesting thing about a lunar eclipse – you can’t have things both ways. It’s impossible to have a (natural) solar eclipse the day after a (natural) lunar eclipse, since everything in the heavens is totally out of phase. Plus – natural solar eclipses don’t last for three hours – and they’re not visible across the whole earth. That would make the darkness that covered the whole earth from noon to 3 on Good Friday, truly supernatural! 

And when the sixth hour was come, there was darkness over the whole earth until the ninth hour. And at the ninth hour, Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying: Eloi, Eloi, lamma sabacthani? Which is, being interpreted: My God, My God, Why hast thou forsaken me? (Mark 15:33-34)

This was also a prophetic and very specific fulfillment of Old Testament sacred scripture:

And it shall come to pass in that day, saith the Lord God, that the sun shall go down at midday, and I will make the earth dark in the day of light: And I will turn your feasts into mourning, and all your songs into lamentation: and I will bring up sackcloth upon every back of yours, and baldness upon every head: and I will make it as the mourning of an only son, and the latter end thereof as a bitter day. (Amos 8:9-10)

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Pope Francis: Show me the money!

Pope Francis will not close the Institute for the Works of Religion (IOR), commonly known as the Vatican bank, and has reaffirmed “the importance of the IOR’s mission for the good of the Catholic Church, the Holy See and the Vatican City State,” according to a statement from the Holy See Press Office.

Link

Editors note: Has anyone ever noticed the strange names given to many of the Vatican dicasteries? You might expect that type of thing from the likes of Fidel Castro or Joseph Stalin – but from the Vatican?

Fr. Pavone: Horrific Conditions At Abortion Clinics Are The Norm Not The Exception

“For us at Priests for Life, this news is not news at all. Since the early 1990s, we have been addressing the utter lack of regulation and oversight of abortion facilities nationwide, particularly through our collaboration in the research and publication of the book Lime 5*, which uncovers the horrific conditions and practices that are the norm, not the exception, in the abortion industry.

“As more of the public becomes aware of the failures of the civil government here in New York to inspect abortion facilities, we will push for all appropriate measures to be taken to address and prevent abuses.”

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*This book contains evidence of how women are physically harmed, sexually abused, and psychologically assaulted in legal abortion clinics. It also has concrete suggestions about what can and should be done about it.

“I have read Lime Five and it changed my life. …Since then I have been able to pray for the abortionist.” — Irene

Pope Francis lacks Catholicity – is he merely a victim of circumstance?

Having entered the Society of Jesus just seven months before the death of Pope Pius XII, Jorge Bergoglio was ordained just eighteen days before 1970:

– After mutiny had been declared in the face of Humanae Vitae

– After Catholic academics and clerics had virtually filed for divorce from the sacred Magisterium with the Land-O-Lakes Statement

– After Paul VI had suppressed the Oath Against Modernism, and

– After the promulgation of Missale Romanum for the Novus Ordo Missae.

While every one of his papal predecessors had at least some clerical grounding in the Church pre-Vatican II, however latent its influence may have been, Jorge Bergoglio ascended to the Chair of St. Peter with no such base to call home; he is a product of the rebellion through and through.

Now, this is not to suggest that the Holy Father is a victim of circumstance with no choice in the matter; he certainly does have a choice and the Lord will sort all of that out in due time. Rather, it is simply to speculate as to the underlying causes for the sad and unfortunately obvious state of present day affairs:

Pope Francis has not Catholicity.

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Editor’s note: Pope Francis lacks Catholicity in much the same way that President Barack Obama lacks patriotism.

Because he was not open to God’s will, Satan is entrapped in a lower existence, imprisoned in currents of unredeemable chaos below this world.

 

Satan’s “NO” to God
Non serviam – Latin for “I will not serve”

Saint Hildegard sees how the Ancient Adversary is at work to lure and coerce into this same pit all those whose lives he invades and touches.

Obedience begins with the realization that one cannot bring into completion the work God has begun.   The ambiguity surrounding this life is beyond human capacity to understand or master, and left to ourselves, we are always at risk of being mastered by it.  Following our own whims is not enough because even the whims of the heart are subject to this confusion.  Our dignity, our integrity, our existence require firm ground on which to stand, or they all fall.  This understanding, this saving truth is found somewhere beyond our natural capacities, from Someone above us, who comes down to us, who calls to us and who waits for us to welcome Him.

Rather than allowing oneself to be consumed with the confusion of doing what one wishes, we only begin to redeem the ambiguity of life by searching out the most appropriate way of serving the Lord who reveals Himself to us.

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Argentina’s unholy alliance with apostate Catholicism

Córdoba, Argentina, April 3, 2014 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Karina Villarroel and Soledad Ortiz will become the first lesbian “married” couple to have a child receive Catholic baptism in Argentina Saturday in a ceremony at the Cathedral of the Archdiocese of Cordoba that observers fear is a ploy to subvert Catholic teaching on marriage.

Argentinean President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, who was instrumental in the passage of same-sex “marriage” in 2010, has agreed to act as godmother.

Villarroel and Ortiz with baby Umma

“We had a hearing with Archbishop [Carlos] Ñáñez and he told us there was no problem with our daughter being baptized in the Cathedral,” Villarroel told the local newspaper, La Voz del Interior.

According to local church sources this baptism “would have been much more difficult if Jorge Bergoglio were not the Pope.”

Link

Editor’s note: Not only is the lesbian couple unfit to raise the child as Catholic, but the chosen godmother – due in part to to her publicly stated political goals and accomplishments – is also similarly unfit.

This abomination is taking place with the full consent of the Argentinian Catholic Church – and allegedly, Pope Francis, as well. While the pope may choose to remain silent on this, there’s no way he can avoid the ultimate responsibility.

Networks: Obamacare not ready for prime time

Buzzfeed is reporting the Obama administration sought a prime

time broadcast to announce the Obamacare enrollments, but the networks balked.

Link

Read the study Sister Jane cited: On the Psychogenesis of Homosexuality

Abstract (Summary)

The best-established facts in relation to homosexuality point to developmental-psychological, not genetic or physiological, causation. The efforts of the last few decades to find evidence to support a biological theory have made it more doubtful than ever that such evidence will be found. In contrast, many studies have shown that the most significant factor which correlates with homosexuality is “gender nonconformity” or same-sex peer isolation. Another factor closely associated with homosexuality is an imbalance in parentchild interaction, notably forms of over-influence of the opposite-sex parent in combination with a deficient relationship with the same-sex parent. The third well-established correlation is with inherent, rather than discrimination-produced, “neuroticism” or emotional instability/immaturity.

Structured around this pivotal evidence from statistical as well as clinical research, homosexuality is explained here as a character neurosis. Characteristics of this neurotic character syndrome include personality immaturity, self-victimization, and self-centeredness. This syndrome affects not only the emotional but also the moral and spiritual dimensions of the psyche and if indulged leads to generalized personality deterioration. Therapeutically, a holistic approach, simultaneously addressing the emotional, moral, and spiritual components of the psyche, offers the best opportunity for overcoming homosexuality. De-egocentrization and personality maturity, including the development of mature manhood/ womanhood, are the goals of therapy.

Download the PDF file

YOU better watch your mouth!

Donate to the “wrong” cause or politician and you might lose your job, your home and more.

Some opponents of Proposition 8 compiled this information and created Web sites with maps showing the locations of homes or businesses of Proposition 8 supporters.

Many supporters (or their customers) suffered property damage, or threats of physical violence or death, as a result. They cited these incidents in a complaint they filed after the 2008 election, seeking to invalidate California’s mandatory disclosure laws.

Supporters recounted being told: “Consider yourself lucky. If I had a gun I would have gunned you down along with each and every other supporter,” or, “we have plans for you and your friends.”

Proposition 8 opponents also allegedly harassed the measure’s supporters by defacing or damaging their property. Two religious organizations supporting Proposition 8 reportedly received through the mail envelopes containing a white powdery substance.

Link

Submitted by Mark H.