From LifeNews.com:
Famed comedian Bob Newhart has canceled a headline show at a conference for Catholic business leaders after a homosexual activist group ran a campaign portraying the organizers as “anti-gay.”
After learning of the 84-year-old comedian’s scheduled appearance at the Legatus Summit in Orlando on February 6, the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) began urging him last week to back out. Activists also organized a petition at Faithful America that garnered 17,000 signatures.
Legatus, which was begun by Domino’s Pizza founder Tom Monaghan in 1987 to network Catholic business leaders, is faithful to the Church’s Magisterium and therefore upholds the Church’s teachings on all moral matters including homosexuality.
“It’s unfortunate that Bob Newhart has decided not to perform at Legatus’ annual Summit in February,” Legatus Executive Director John Hunt told LifeSiteNews.com. “It’s clear from stories in the media that certain organizations have asked him to cancel his appearance.”
Hunt continued, “Despite the rhetoric in these news reports, Legatus is a faith-based organization that proudly holds firm to the teachings of the Catholic Church especially, in this case, to the teachings on human sexuality.”
The Catechism of the Catholic Church bases itself on the Bible, calling homosexual sex “acts of grave depravity” and the inclination toward homosexuality “objectively disordered.” At the same time, it says those with same-sex attractions “must be accepted with respect, compassion, and sensitivity.”
Newhart, a lifelong Catholic, announced the cancellation on his Facebook and Twitter accounts Wednesday. “Upcoming Bob Newhart Tour Date Change — Bob will not be performing at the Legatus Summit in Orlando FL on February 6th, 2014,” the post said.
For those who don’t know, I currently serve as chairman of GOProud, an organization of right-leaning gays and their allies. I am very disturbed by the group-think that dominates the Gay Left (heck, the Left in general). They’ve made it their mission to publicly shame anyone who associates with any Christian/Catholic groups or teachings. At no time did Newhart endorse any specific beliefs of this organization, yet he was publicly maligned for accepting a gig with a Catholic organization. What’s next? Shaming hotels for hosting their event? Printers for accepting their business?
Every time A&E, Newhart and others give in, GLAAD becomes stronger and it sends the message that bullying works. Make no mistake, this is not just about one’s rhetoric or personal belief on gays. Gay and straight GOProud board members and founders have been targeted by the Gay Left for their political beliefs.
It gets better?
Not if you ever find yourself in conflict with GLAAD’s cherry-picked causes for outrage.
(And, for the record, I don’t like when any side uses these bullying tactics to get people fired or gin up boycotts. As conservatives, we also need to work on consistency and not fall for the narrative the media writes for us.)
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