When Indiana State Rep. Bruce Borders needed to marshal his fellow conservative Republicans in opposition to a proposed LGBTÂ rights law, he turned to a WND-published book.
He passed out copies of Dr. Michael Brown's "Outlasting the Gay Revolution" to Republican legislators in the House chamber in Indianapolis.
Brown, who serves as president of FIRE School of Ministry and hosts a nationally syndicated talk radio show, shared with WND the tale of how he and Borders came into contact.
"A few months ago, my office was contacted by Bruce Borders, a strong conservative legislator in Indiana," Brown said. "He had read my previous book 'A Queer Thing Happened to America' and wanted to be sure that he had the most up-to-date information on the fruits of gay activism and the related threats to our religious freedoms. I offered to send him a copy of my newest book, focused on these very issues, and entitled 'Outlasting the Gay Revolution: Where Homosexual Activism is Really Going and How to Turn the Tide.'
"I also asked him how many other legislators he knew that would be interested in receiving a copy of the book. After some consideration, he identified a total of 50 other elected officials serving with him whom he felt would be positively influenced by the book, and with the help of a donation from one of my colleagues, we were able to send him 50 copies to give away."
Brown, a WND columnist, is grateful that Borders helped spread his message through the Indiana General Assembly.
"Since I wrote the book to help spark a godly, moral and cultural revolution in America, I was glad to hear that not only was the book being distributed at this level but that Rep. Borders had already received positive reports about the impact the book was having," Brown said. "That's why we study and pray and write: to make a positive impact."
Borders distributed the book in mid-November on the Indiana General Assembly's Organization Day, a day when lawmakers gather in the capitol to prepare for the start of the main legislative session in January.
Leaders of the Indiana House and Senate speculated at the time the debate over LGBT rights was likely to be the most difficult issue they would tackle during the upcoming session.
The state had come under nationwide scrutiny in March 2015 when Gov. Mike Pence signed into law the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, which allowed individuals and companies to invoke their freedom of religious exercise as a defense in legal proceedings accusing them of discrimination.
Considering that Indiana does not have a statewide anti-discrimination ordinance that covers LGBT people, critics of the RFRA complained it would be used to target the LGBT community.
In November, while looking ahead to the 2016 legislative session, House Speaker Brian Bosma, R-Indianapolis, said lawmakers would have to balance "two deeply held and sincere beliefs by Hoosiers," according to The Times of Northwest Indiana.
The two "deeply held" beliefs he referred to were a belief in religious liberty, but also a conviction that discrimination is wrong. State Sen. Travis Holdman, a Republican, authored a bill attempting to reconcile those two beliefs. His bill adds sexual orientation and gender identity to Indiana's existing civil rights law, but also includes a five-page list of exemptions for religious and religiously affiliated organizations.
As of January 19, Holdman's bill has been referred to the Committee on Rules and Legislative Procedure, but no further action has been taken on it.
The bill is a compromise, but Rep. Borders is clearly in no mood for compromise, given that he passed out copies of "Outlasting the Gay Revolution."
The first of eight principles Brown lays out in the book is "Never Compromise Your Convictions."
Indeed, the premise of the book is that Christians must push back against the LGBT agenda until the "gay revolution" fails of its own accord.
Brown offered WND his vision of compromise on the "gay" rights issue.
"The best way to balance religious liberty and LGBT rights is simply to enforce our historic laws, recognizing that religious liberty must come first – otherwise America will cease to be America – and that all human beings must be treated fairly and equally under the law," Brown said. "But that does not mean special rights for the LGBT community, and that does not mean trampling on the rights of others in order to grant special rights to those who identify as LGBT."
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