October 17, 2013

Following is the Freedom of Conscience Defense Funds unabridged News Update entitled “Ten Reasons Why the JONAH Case is Probably the Most Important Religious Liberty Case in the United States at This Time”:

(1) The lawsuit against Jews Offering New Alternatives for Healing (“JONAH”) was initiated by the extremist Southern Poverty Law Center (“SPLC”), which has branded many pro-marriage and family groups, including Family Research Council and the American Family Association, as “hate groups.”

(2) The SPLC’s list of “hate groups,” which also includes many religious organizations, is used by the Justice Department, the Department of Homeland Security, and the Pentagon to identify potential domestic terrorists. As a result, the Army has listed Catholics, Evangelical Christians and Mormons as dangerous “extremists,” along with Hamas, Al Qaeda, and the Ku Klux Klan.

(3) Through this “first of its kind” lawsuit against JONAH, the SPLC is trying to use a state consumer fraud act to put a religious nonprofit organization out of business.

(4) The SPLC claims it is a “fraud” to help people overcome unwanted same-sex attractions — or even to consider homosexual behavior to be disordered (i.e., sinful). Essentially, the SPLC accuses the Bible and God Himself of lying that He can help people overcome sin.

(5) The SPLC is seeking to deprive not just minors, but also motivated adults, of their right to self-determination in seeking assistance to overcome unwanted same-sex attractions. The SPLC is also seeking to deny the existence of many thousands of former homosexuals who are now living healthier and happier lives.

(6) The SPLC’s lawsuit against JONAH is a direct attack on religious liberty. The SPLC will use a judgment in its favor as proof that homosexuality is fixed and immutable and therefore homosexual rights should take precedence over the rights of all people of conscience who do not conform to the homosexual agenda.

(7) If SPLC wins its lawsuit against JONAH, that result will be used to argue that the Judeo-Christian view of sexual morality is hate speech and that people of faith are bigots who must be marginalized, punished, and prevented from putting their religious beliefs into practice.

(8) The SPLC has threatened to “completely destroy” any organization it considers a “hate group.” The SPLC has a war chest of over $250 million and an army of lawyers at its disposal. It is aggressively trying to drive JONAH out of business by forcing it to use all of its limited resources in defending this frivolous lawsuit. It will do the same to any other organization that it sues.

(9) Besides JONAH, the SPLC has targeted on its website 70 other organizations, including Catholic, Evangelical, and LDS religious nonprofit organizations, and is actively recruiting homosexual activists to sue them if it wins the lawsuit against JONAH.

(10) The cost to defend JONAH through trial will easily exceed $1 million. An investment in JONAH’s defense now could save hundreds of millions of dollars in defense costs later by discouraging the SPLC from bringing similar lawsuits against other organizations which support traditional religious values.