HOMOSEXUAL LOBBY ATTEMPTS TO CLOSE DOWN ON LINE OPINION SITE

Graham Young is the founding editor of a well-regarded e-journal called On Line Opinion. In December he published a piece arguing the case against gay marriage by the pro-family campaigner, Bill Muehlenberg, and then a series of spirited exchanges on the merits of the argument. It was not the first article he’d run on the subject ; that honour had gone to Rodney Croome, a homosexual activist. Nor were most of the essays run opposed to gay marriage.

On account of the Muehlenberg piece Young said two major advertisers, the ANZ Bank and IBM had pulled their advertising off his site resulting in a 96% fall in advertising revenue in January thus threatening the viability of the site. The Australian Christian Lobby (ACL) has entered the fray by asking for both ANZ and IBM to explain why they allowed themselves to be coerced by the homosexual lobby into censoring the On Line Opinion website on the issue of homosexual marriage.

ACL Managing Director Jim Wallace said “the silencing of alternate views through On Line Opinion, and possibly other social and conventional media, is beyond the pail in a democratic society. We should be especially appalled that ANZ and IBM would submit to the clear tactic of this very aggressive Lobby to close down debate on a very important issue,” said Mr Wallace “especially when the public at large had no way of knowing that the debate was being censored and would not have expected it to be on a forum of as high standing as On Line Opinion,”.

ACL called on ANZ and IBM to:

• immediately restore their sponsorship to On Line Opinion,

• commit to exerting no further editorial pressure without declaring it publicly, and

• to explain why they had allowed themselves to be co-opted by this lobby into limiting free expression and speech so deceptively, and on a medium in which the public should be able to have full confidence.

“If we are to have a full debate on this issue it must be that,” said Mr Wallace, “not one closed down by abuse and deceptive tactics or corporate pressure and collusion to limit free speech, as we have seen used here by homosexual activists and their apparent allies.“

Source: Compiled by APN from various sources

What do you think of this piece.??????????????

Mmm, interesting. But .. .. ..

“On account of the Muehlenberg piece Young said two major advertisers … had pulled their advertising … ”

Young doesn’t say that their decision to pull was as a result of pressure on them from ‘the homosexual lobby’. It was ACL who said that. So, ANZ & IBM might have pulled out just because they didn’t want to get embroiled in or associated with a controverstial issue ??

The resort to censorship (direct or indirect) by any side in a debate should always be deplored.

This famous quote, usually (possibly erroneously) attributed to Voltaire comes to mind .. .. ..

“Monsieur l’abbé, je déteste ce que vous écrivez, mais je donnerai ma vie pour que vous puissiez continuer à écrire”.

“Monsieur l’abbé, je déteste ce que vous écrivez, mais je donnerai ma vie pour que vous puissiez continuer à écrire”.

For the benefit of those who don’t speak or read French: “Mister [the] Abbot, I hate what you write, but I will give my life so that you can continue to write it.”

“Monsieur l’abbé, je déteste ce que vous écrivez, mais je donnerai ma vie pour que vous puissiez continuer à écrire”.

For the benefit of those who don’t speak or read French: “Mister [the] Abbot, I hate what you write, but I will give my life so that you can continue to write it.”

:O :O :O :O :O :O :O that was profound…..and thank god for bablefish 🙂

Money talks! We should be encouraged by the attitudes of the ANZ and IBM. Did anyone from the homosexual lobby actually coerce Young? Maybe the people at ANZ and IBM who made the decision shared the views of 71% of Australians who are not homophobic.

I have locked horns with Bill Muehlenberg in the past. His views are unbiblical and unchristian. A sure indication of someone’s spiritual maturity is how like Jesus they are. He isn’t at all like the Jesus I know and love.

If possible, sometimes the wise way to handle the Mehuelbergs and Wallaces of this world is to turn off the microphone they are using. This seems to have happened in this case.

Maybe IBM”>http://www.prideindiversity.com.au/ibm/”>IBM and ANZ found what Bill said so highly offensive considering the corporate embracing of diversity and equality and that some of their valued employees were in in committed long term relationships that they said……I’m sorry…..we can no longer give you any money to allow crap like that on your site……..we respect our employees……and if we kept supporting you then we are being disrespctful and hurtful to people who mean a lot to us.

who was at our Sydney meeting when Dawn from Pride in Diversity spoke

http://www.prideindiversity.com.au/list-of-members/