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09/23/2009
Audio: Some apples from the 'teacher'
We've dug up some more audible nuggets from Stand For Marriage Maine's latest video star, Charla Bansley, which even more fully detail how ridiculous it is for the "Yes" campaign to to refer to Ms. Bansley as a mere "teacher."
First up is this recent one from the Concerned Women For America, the organization for which Ms. Bansley serves as the Maine state director. It's all about the religion, baby:
And listen to this one from '05. It's another from CWA, but it doesn't directly feature Charla. Instead it features Mike Heath, the very far-right personality who the "Yes on 1" campaign has been desperately trying to hide over the past few months, since they know that his "gays cause bad weather/graffiti/economic crises" rhetoric is unpalatable to the vast majority. It's interesting to hear how cozy Ms. Bansley and Mr. Heath were back when their people's veto didn't have so much public attention (or Schubert Flint to teach them how to effectively strategize):
Yea, she's been teaching alright. Teaching Mainers to use personal faith views against their gay neighbors' CIVIL rights! Guess that job description was just too long for SFMM to write out.
***
**MORE: In '05, Charla joined such far-right personalities as Peter LaBarbera, Diane Gramley, Gary Glenn, Scott Lively, and Brian Camnker (among many others) on a group letter to the Southern Baptist Convention, which called on them to pass a ‘Resolution on Homosexuality in Public Schools.' And in that letter, she's not credited as a teacher. She's one of the "leaders of almost fifty statewide pro-family organizations from around the country" who are "involved in public policy on a daily basis": "Resolution on Homosexuality in Public Schools" [AFA of PA]
**MORE: Make sure you check out this letter that one of Ms. Bansley's students sent us a few months back. It shows the unique way that Charla, who teaches at Maine's Calvary Chapel Christian School, sees the pro-equality/anti-equality debate: Yet *we're* the ones they accuse of stifling speech?! [G-A-Y]
**MORE: We've obtained some of the words that Bansley delivered at the recent, meda-closed Stand For Marriage event in Augusta:
Public display of psychosis and we have dealt with it by redefining decency down so as to explain away and make normal what a more civilized, and ordered, and healthy society would label deviant and the result has been a stunning failure. For one every country that has legalized same sex marriage has seen marriage die and we cannot allow that to happen in the state of Maine. I am standing for marriage tonight because marriage is good for women. And marriage is good for children. And marriage is good society. Traditional marriage, or just marriage as the bishop taught us to say, is good for women physically, and emotionally, and economically, and relationally, a thirteen year study published by the American psychological association found that women, married women, who did not allow the foxes to destroy the vineyard of love had lower levels of blood pressure and blood cholesterol and lower body mass, heck just going up and down those flights of steps with all those laundry ladies that could lower the cholesterols. The study also found that married women had lower levels of depression and anxiety and anger and they found that married women had lower levels of were less likely to developed cardiovascular disease. In terms of financial security Dr. Waite a professor of sociology at the university of Chicago found that women who were in committed traditional marriages were better of generally financially. She said that financial security trickles down to medical care, safer surrounding, better food, and other things that raise the standard of living. Add to all of these the department of health and human services reports that women in healthy traditional marriages are emotionally healthier they are less likely to be victims of assault or domestic violence, they are less likely to attempt suicide, or to abuse drugs and alcohol, and they have a better relationship with their children.
[2:35] Marriage is good for children. If children deserve anything it is to begin life in a relationship with a biological mom and a biological dad. A loving and compassionate society would never create motherless children or fatherless children, which is exactly what every same sex home does. We must ask ourselves what is more important the desire for adults for recognition or the needs of children for a mom and a dad. According to a study by child trends research clearly demonstrate that family structure matters for children and the family structure that helps the most is a family headed by two biological parents in a low conflict marriage. The study concludes there is thus value for children in promoting strong stable marriages between biological parents.
3:45 Princeton university sociologist Sara McClanahan wrote ‘if we were asked to design a system to make sure a children’s basic needs were met we would probably come up to something very similar to the two parent ideal. Its always interesting when Princeton agrees with something god created.
4:00 the fact that those parents have a biological connection to those children would increase the likelihood that those parents would relate to those children and be willing to sacrifice for those children and it would reduce the likelihood that either parents would abuse those children. The interest of the child must prevail over the desire of adults.
And not only is marriage good for women, and good for children marriage is good for society. The legislature of Maine once understood this. As mar. Schubert read to us title nine of the Maine state law find that the union of one man and one woman joined in traditional monogamous marriage was of inestimable value to society that means the value of traditional marriage of one man and one woman is so great it is so valuable that it cannot even be counted or measured. And the US Supreme Court agreed. The supreme court wrote that certainly no legislation can be considered more wholesome and necessary in the founding of a free self governing commonwealth then that which seeks to establish it on the ideas of family as consisting in and springing from the union for life of one man and one woman. That is not some idea from a radical right wing organization that came straight from the US Supreme Court. Throughout history philosophers, statesmen’s, sociologist, have agreed that marriage is the foundation of American society. And brothers and sisters you don’t have to be an engineer to know what happens when you start shaking that foundation. Before we attempt this vast social experiment we should look at the results of redefining marriage in the nine European countries, which now grant marriage rights to same sex partners.
[6;26] the consequences of their choices should be a forewarning to all Mainers. And you need to tell your neighbors. A study in the Netherlands found that the average duration of a homosexual marriage was just one and a half years certainly nothing to build a society upon. The same study found that committed homosexual couples were also intimate with an average of eight extra marital partners per year this is not anti-gay rhetoric this are statistics published in Journal of the International AIDS Society. England adopted same sex marriage in 2005 and in recent reports marriage has hit the lowest rate since record began one hundred and fifty years ago. In Scandinavia where full gay marriage has been the law of the land for over a decade marriage is dying 60% of first born children in Denmark have unmarried parents. In the next seven weeks you must tell your neighbors you must tell your coworkers you must tell the folks at church you must tell your friends that you run into at the wall mart this one thing that question one is not about equality it is about protecting Maine society.
[8:00] For years we have sat idly by content to wag our tongues about the foxes rather then catching them and preventing them from ruining the vineyard of love. Family experimentation of no fault divorce, the sexual revolution, cohabitation, fatherless ness, have all been documented failures, harming women, and children, and society in far deeper ways then any one ever imagined. In the next seven weeks and beyond we as Mainers we as the church must covenant together to catch all the foxes, those little fox, before they ruin the vineyard of love.
**Both Alvin McEwen and Jim Burroway have picked apart the Netherlands study that Bansley mentioned in this speech:
Phony public school teacher in Maine ad has no problem with distorting studies [HB&HM]
That “Maine Teacher” Is No Stranger To Anti-Gay Lies [BTB]
Your thoughts
I noticed Charla uses the cliche of characterizing her side's role as being "light and salt." I'd say that darkness and poison would be more accurate.
Posted by: Richard Rush | Sep 23, 2009 9:06:05 AM
Her comments about 60% of unborn children in Denmark are to unmarried partners - so what? That's not a marriage issue. It's a birth statistic that she is twisting around to make people beleive that it's caused by gay marriage! What an ignorant lying twit!
Posted by: John | Sep 23, 2009 9:21:27 AM
Charla's statistics are not accurate. She says 9 European nations have same-sex marriage. Not true. There are 5. The Netherlands was the first in 2001. The others are Belgium, Spain, Sweden, and Norway. Some people cite the UK or Denmark, but their civil unions are "marriage without the name" - and not fully equal to hetero marriage.
She claims marriage has "died" in those countries. What?! I'll bet her statistics on same-sex divorce rate in the Netherlands are completely fabricated.
Posted by: Coxygru | Sep 23, 2009 11:56:36 AM
OMG - She cited the Netherlands study as proof that gay marriages don't last. BUT she doesn't tell anyone that none of the couples in the study were married because the data from the study was compiled before same-sex marriage was legalized in the Netherlands.
Posted by: a. mcewen | Sep 23, 2009 11:57:39 AM
I dunno, John, my unmarried friends in Belgium have a year-old daughter and already the poor girl has sprouted horns, grown a tail, and learned to spin her head around 360 degrees.
It's just a matter of time until this abomination recruits more into her evil ways, and ultimately brings the destruction of Europe. With the continent in shambles, the Evil One will have access to completely convert Europe to Islam. Then they'll come for America.
While I can't source any of the above nonsense I just spewed, every argument I made is repeated from various right wing groups. Well, maybe not the tail and the horns ;)
Posted by: DN | Sep 23, 2009 12:14:11 PM
"In the next seven weeks and beyond we as Mainers we as the church must covenant together to catch all the foxes, those little fox, before they ruin the vineyard of love."
Sounds to me like Mrs. Bansley and her allies need to take a look in the mirror and make sure they're not foxes themselves.
Posted by: Chris Cool | Sep 23, 2009 12:58:42 PM
Hey a.mcewen! Do you have a link to the study? I'm having trouble finding it. Thanks!
Posted by: John | Sep 23, 2009 1:07:15 PM
John,
Boxturtlebulletin has a great expose on the "Dutch Study"
Posted by: DN | Sep 23, 2009 3:11:53 PM
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