FIC Blog

(Below is the text of today’s FIC email alert. Two additional points: 1) This lawsuit is actually not over; Enfield’s vote was only to not appeal the judge’s ruling. 2) I will discuss what this means on the Dan Lovallo program today at 5 pm. - PW)

Twenty-one years ago today a young man stood athwart a column of tanks in China’s Tiananmen Square for the sake of freedom. Last night, Enfield’s Board of Education decided it could not even face down a lawsuit for freedom’s sake.

We can be shocked that Enfield voted 5-4 last night to give in to the ACLU’s demand that they not hold their high school graduation ceremonies at a local church. Or we can be shocked that Enfield was willing to fight at all. Connecticut’s elected officials are not known for their political courage.

Family Institute of Connecticut’s role in the Enfield graduation battle was to help secure the BOE’s April 13th 6-3 vote for returning graduations to First Cathedral. Afterwards it was up to the American Center for Law and Justice and the BOE to carry on the fight. The ACLJ did its part; the BOE did not.

The BOE took a cowardly position last night. They betrayed the trust that was placed in them to act according to the commitment they had made. They betrayed their commitment.

They also betrayed the students, who wanted their graduations at First Cathedral. And they did it because of a ruling that almost certainly would have been overturned, issued by a judge who should not have heard the case because she had a potential conflict of interest.

FIC was the only organization that was willing to lead this fight. We succeeded in persuading Enfield to stand up to the ACLU for seven weeks. But it was seven weeks too much for the anti-family forces who control the commanding heights of culture in our state.

Connecticut’s citizens are now aware of things our opposition does not want them to know. The public now knows that the current interpreters of the First Amendment are so hostile to religion that even a graduation on church property is forbidden. The public now knows that judicial activism is so extreme that even a local community is not allowed to decide for itself where it will hold its graduations.

FIC has exposed this situation for what it is. Anti-family forces have been embarrassed by this exposure. They are enraged at FIC for being its source and they are lashing out.

We see this especially in Rick Green’s column today. You would think from Green’s column that it was FIC that sued Enfield, rather than the ACLU. But in the bizarro world of Connecticut’s biased media, if you resist the demands of the Left then you are the one who has committed some cultural act of aggression.

We will have much more to say about Rick Green’s lazy excuse for journalism—and about the next steps in the pro-family fight for the First Amendment. The battle for Enfield may be over. But the fight for Connecticut is just beginning.

U.S. District Judge Janet Hall has granted the ACLU’s motion to block Enfield’s June 23rd-24th graduation ceremonies from taking place at First Cathedral, saying it would violate the First Amendment. Enfield’s attorneys will seek an expedited appeal to the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in New York.

Judge Hall wrote that graduation at First Cathedral would constitute an “endorsement” of religion, defined by a previous case as “sending a message to nonadherents that they are outsiders, not full members of the political community, and an accompanying message to adherents that they are insiders, favored members of the political community.”

In fact, it was Judge Hall who just conveyed that message with her ruling–that FIC and First Cathedral are outsiders, not full members of the political community, and that the despisers of religion are insiders, favored members of the political community.

Judge Hall “assumes” (her word) that Peter Wolfgang–who is not a party to this case–believes that not holding (emphasis is hers) graduation ceremonies at First Cathedral is itself a violation of the First Amendment.

In fact, as ACLJ attorney Vince McCarthy told Channel 3, Peter was simply saying that holding a public graduation ceremony in a church building is not an endorsement of religion and, therefore, does not violate the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment. Put another way, the First Amendment requires that churches be treated equal to other organizations in the public square.

Watch for more information on Enfield’s appeal of Judge Hall’s ruling.

Please click here to donate to the Family Institute of Connecticut!

So I’m just back from St. Joseph’s Cathedral but without the pleasure of having heard one of Msgr. Liptak’s amazing Wednesday homilies–or of attending Mass at all. The reason is that I ran smack into the middle of a protest against the Archdiocese in front of the building, full media entourage present  and no Church spokesman–at least initially–in sight. What’s a guy to do?

Courant columnist Susan Campbell kidded me after each of us realized who the other one was: “Should we throw down right here?” It was our first face-to-face encounter after several years of lobbing brickbats at each other (I hurled one just a few hours earlier). She is as professional in person as everyone I have ever dealt with at The Courant. (Well, ok. Everyone except Rick Green.)

Not so with some others. I did an interview with CNN, attempting to balance the legitimate concerns of clergy sex-abuse victims with our concern about other agendas that may be at play in the statute of limitations bill:

The legislature’s Judiciary Committee is fatally tainted by past shenanigans by Sen. Andrew McDonald, D-Stamford, and Michael Lawlor, D-East Haven. They have shown an intense and abiding animus against the Roman Catholic Church, which stands to lose the most from this measure.

“We’re not interested” the CNN reporter told me, when I mentioned our concerns about the anti-Catholicism of the Judiciary Committee co-chairs. “Can you just talk about the bill?”

But someone else was interested. “Hey, didn’t McDonald vote against the bill?” shouted a man who appeared to be a media photog. Had I said he voted for it? I couldn’t be sure.

Assuming the man heard correctly, I replied “That’s right. I misspoke. Lawlor voted for it and McDonald voted against it.” That’s when it got interesting.

“He lied!” the man started screaming over and over again to the crowd (about 20 protestors and a media entourage that probably outnumbered them). Even as I was doing interviews with other outlets, he continued pointing at me and shouting: “He lied! He lied to national media!”

“Who are you with?” I asked him. “The New York Times,” he said. He repeated the claim a few minutes later.

I went into the Cathedral for the last five minutes of Mass. When I came back out, the CNN crew was still there.

“Still being stalked by a photographer?” the CNN cameraman asked me. “He said he was from the New York Times,” I replied. The cameraman shook his head. “He wasn’t from the New York Times.”

Being accused of lying by a liar. No wonder the Church’s official spokesmen weren’t in a hurry to join us.

Alas, it has come to this. Courant columnist Susan Campbell is now watching us more closely than we are watching her.

We didn’t respond to a Mar. 7th Campbell column dissing FIC until a month later–and Campbell responded to our response the very next day. And then we didn’t see her response until a week later–the Enfield fight consuming our attention at the time–and we couldn’t respond until now and…oh, where will it end? And Campbell thinks she needs a day off?

So what of her post? Mostly, it’s typical Susan–responding to our claim of being so predictable that we could write her columns for her by…writing something we could have written for her. (Why don’t you silly boys expand your reading list with my enlightened authors? “Bless your heart,” etc.) 

But then, suddenly, there is this:

I am of the opinion that our answers won’t come from either myself or Family Institute of Connecticut, balanced as we are on opposite ends of the seesaw. The answers just may come from thoughtful people like McKinniss who exist somewhere more toward the middle. Don’t tell him I said anything nice about him, though. That would upset our friendship.

Objectivity and humility. From Susan Campbell. Wow.

I asked Rick McKinniss about Susan’s comment. Here’s his response:

I have a lot of respect for Susan’s passion for justice and for those in our society who don’t have a power base. I feel like we grew up in the same place and at a significant fork in the road we took different turns. It provokes a yearning in my heart for our paths to come together somewhere down the road.

I did not grow up in the same place–spiritually or geographically–that Rick and Susan did (though I did grow up in the town where she now resides and went to the same schools her son did). But I have no doubt that the thoughtful, middle-of-the-road Pastor Rick is on to something. Indeed, I thought so four years ago:

Despite all her vitriol, Campbell comes across as–in Flannery O’Connor’s wonderful phrase–”Christ haunted,” and there is reason to hope that her theological journey will bring her to a destination that she did not expect.

The Enfield Board of Education (BOE) voted 6-3 Tuesday night to return graduation ceremonies to First Cathedral. This is a victory for religious liberty and common sense—and it would not have happened without the Family Institute of Connecticut (FIC)!

The BOE had previously voted to NOT hold graduations at First Cathedral. Enfield residents—including FIC members—persuaded the BOE to rescind that decision at a February meeting, putting all options back on the table. It was at this point that FIC swung into action.

We contacted the American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ), Archbishop LeRoy Bailey and BOE Chairman Greg Stokes. It was FIC’s involvement that brought these three parties into contact with each other for the first time.

Archbishop Bailey said the Cathedral wished to continue hosting the graduations, the ACLJ said they would represent Enfield pro bono if the town was sued and Chairman Stokes said that he would now support returning the graduations to First Cathedral.

Heartened by this progress, FIC began an e-mail campaign to the BOE asking them to go back to First Cathedral. But Mary Ann Turner, chairman of the Enfield Republican Town Committee, took to the airwaves to oppose FIC’s efforts. (Her motivations remain a mystery. When I called her, she refused to discuss it with me.)

By the day of the Mar. 23rd BOE meeting, inside sources were telling us we would lose by one vote. We responded by sending out an emergency e-mail blast seven hours before the meeting—and three dozen FIC members immediately called all nine members of the BOE.

Several of our members then called me and reported the feedback they were getting from the BOE, allowing me to target my speech specifically to the BOE’s concerns. That night, we turned certain defeat into a reprieve—the graduation vote was delayed until the BOE’s April 13th meeting.

In the intervening three weeks I met with several BOE members to address their concerns. We secured the votes necessary to return graduations to First Cathedral but did not reveal it publicly until Tuesday—when it was too late for our opponents to respond. Although some board members came under tremendous pressure in the hours after I appeared on the Dan Lovallo program Tuesday, they stuck to their commitment and voted for First Cathedral.

The BOE based its decision on fiscal—rather than constitutional—issues. Nevertheless, the drama playing out in Enfield affects religious liberty throughout Connecticut.

Having failed to get payback against the Catholic Church for its opposition to same-sex “marriage,” Connecticut’s cultural Left has now trained its personal vendetta on First Cathedral, a Protestant megachurch whose pastor, Archbishop LeRoy Bailey, fought hard for traditional marriage. The ACLU has bullied several communities into withdrawing their graduations from First Cathedral on the basis of very weak legal threats.

If Enfield had not resisted, it would have increased the power of aggressive secularism and caused further harm to the proper role of faith communities in our state. With Enfield’s willingness to stand up, others may now do the same. The message from Enfield is that people of faith will not be silent; we will stand up against efforts to bully or intimidate us.

FIC will continue to monitor the situation with First Cathedral—and we are monitoring several other potential threats to religious liberty. Watch for more information.

We thank God for Tuesday’s victory. We thank our members who called, wrote, prayed and attended the BOE meetings. We thank our allies: the ACLJ, for being willing to represent Enfield and FRC Action, for alerting its own Connecticut membership. And we thank Chairman Greg Stokes, whose steady support made last night’s victory possible.

Remember when FIC forced DCF to break its links to “gay Bible” workshops last year and the Courant botched the story:

The inevitable Susan Campbell column for next Sunday practically writes itself (”Why can’t those poor dears at FIC escape their misbeggoten fundamentalist upbringing and go on to write feminist dribble like me?”)

She’s so predictable:

The [True Colors Spiritual Institute] is privately funded, and that’s important to note. Last year, the state Department of Children and Families removed links from its website to open and affirming faith groups after the Family Institute of Connecticut — that bastion of “why can’t we all walk lock-step to heaven?” — kicked up a fuss.

Campbell ironically calls out FIC for not “stepping in to fill the gap” of mentoring gay Christian teens–as if she would approve of any step we would take. She opposes orthodox Christian sexual morality wherever it conflicts with political correctness. But there is a gap, given that Campbell and our state government look to the gay advocacy group True Colors to fill this role.

FIC members can help fill it by knowing and being able to articulate authentic Christian teaching on the dignity of the human person in the realm of sexuality. We recommend Born to Love, a clear, solid presentation of Catholic teaching on homosexuality and related topics by our friend Fr. John Waiss, a priest of Opus Dei. 

We also recommend Equally Yoked, the book just published by our friend Pastor Rick McKinniss of Wellspring Church. We invite you to attend the conference April 16-17 to launch his book, which reclaims the biblical mandate for a full and equal partnership between the genders.

It was a staple of Colin McEnroe’s former radio program. Whenever my predecessor, Brian Brown, was mentioned, Colin would say he wanted to marry him. I had forgotten his old joke until I came across this totally-bizarre-coming-out-of-nowhere-swipe at FIC in a Sunday Courant column by Colin on a topic totally unrelated to us:

the Yankee Public Policy Institute — which is like the Family Institute of Connecticut but without all the gay sex —

The first thing I noticed was not those last two words. It’s that Colin thought he had to reference FIC just to explain to his readers who the Yankee Institute is. That’s no reflection on Yankee, though it may be on Colin.

But about those last two words. As Catholic blogger Mark Shea frequently notes, gay sex is treated by our opponents as ”the source and summit of all that is noble, true, good, and beautiful.” So in Colin’s world, that would actually make FIC a good thing. Perhaps he meant it as a compliment.

Along those lines, Colin’s comment brought another old memory to mind. In the course of an interview with then-Governor Rowland, Colin made a reference to his girlfriend. “You mean Bill Curry?” the governor deadpanned.

From Alliance Defense Fund:

Alliance Defense Fund attorneys and city of Hartford officials have agreed to a settlement that will ensure the protection of citizens’ free speech rights in public areas.  Hartford officials agreed to a permanent injunction against the use of a “breach of peace” statute and a “public disturbance” statute to infringe on constitutionally-protected speech.  In 2006, ADF attorneys filed suit against the city on a behalf of a man arrested for sharing his Christian message in public.

[Update: We made our match! Thank you and God bless you! - PW]

Thanks to your generous contributions we have raised $32,209 for our Matching Grant Campaign. We have until the stroke of midnight on Dec. 31st to raise the remaining $17,791 to secure the full grant!

I cannot begin to express how deeply thankful I am to all of you who have contributed to our $50,000 Year-End Matching Grant. The Family Institute of Connecticut owes its very existence to your generosity and God’s providential care. You are our inspiration to continue the fight for faith, family, traditional marriage and the sanctity of human life here in “deep-blue” Connecticut.

We need your help! Click here to have your tax-deductible contribution to the Family Institute of Connecticut matched!

As we enter the New Year, attacks on religious liberty fueled by same-sex “marriage,” the gay agenda in our public schools and several other hot-button issues will be on the front burner here in Connecticut. Your support of FIC will help us to be your voice on these issues. In the media and the churches, the halls of government and places of business, we will fight for faith and family in the midst of state elites who are deeply hostile to the very existence of traditional faith and families.

It is what we do. It is why we are here. But we cannot do it without your help! Please double our ability to fight for you by giving today to our Year-End Matching Grant Campaign Drive.

We only have until December 31st to raise the final $17,791. Please help us make our Matching Grant Campaign a complete success.

Online credit card contributions before 12:00 midnight, December 31, will count as a contribution for 2009. Checks must be postmarked by December 31 and mailed to Family Institute of Connecticut, PO Box 260210, Hartford, CT 06126.

I will let you know after New Year’s Day if we met our goal. Thank you again for your generous support!

On this Feast of the Holy Family–and second day of the Twelve Days of Christmas–we wish a Merry Christmas to all our members!