Where Liberty University Gets Its Money

Via the Washington Post:

Liberty University is not just your average school down the road. The once small Christian college founded in 1971 by the Rev. Jerry Falwell now has the largest student body of any private nonprofit university in the country. With over 70,000 students, the university has become a destination for political candidates seeking the GOP’s more conservative favor. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.) kicked off his campaign during a convocation at Liberty. In May, former Florida governor Jeb Bush (R) followed in the footsteps of John McCain and Mitt Romney by giving Liberty’s commencement address. The irony: The exponential growth of Liberty University has been fueled by billions in federal student aid made possible by President Obama and congressional Democrats. In the late 1990s, Liberty students received less than $20 million in aid. Students now receive over $800 million dollars a year in federal aid. As with any federal financial aid, the grants and loans are awarded to students, not the university. Liberty does not receive any other federal funds, but its growth has come by attracting Christian students who qualify for aid.

About 75% of Liberty University's students are "distance learners" who take online courses. (Tipped by JMG reader BKMN)

Court To Liberty University: Your Liability Insurance Doesn't Cover Kidnapping Children From Their Gay Parents

On the same day in 2012 that a preacher was found guilty of abetting the kidnapping of her daughter to Nicaragua, lesbian mom Janet Jenkins filed a RICO lawsuit against many of the parties suspected of conspiring in the crime, including Liberty University, the parent of the vile anti-gay hate group Liberty Counsel, whose president Mat Staver is specifically named in the suit. Today the ACLU reports that the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals has overturned a lower court's ruling that Liberty University's liability insurance policy covers such lawsuits. Read the ruling. (Tipped by JMG reader BK)

Mat Staver: Obama Made Me Weep With His "Cloak Of Sin" Over The White House

"It's unprecedented in American history that the president of the United States would be so in-your-face immoral and impose that immorality and sin on the rest of the country. I wept when I saw that and thought about what a horrible example that is to the rest of the world. I just felt shameful to be an American at that point in time, that this is my country and look what my country has come to. The president of the United States has put the cloak of sin over the White House, the cloak of shame over the White House." - Hate group leader Mat Staver, speaking today on Christian radio.

Mat Staver: Obergefell Requires Christians To Rip Pages Out Of Their Bibles

"There is existing precedent for a state’s highest court to reject an unlawful mandate from the U.S. Supreme Court. The hope of our Constitutional Republic rests upon state officials and American citizens who will refuse to allow five, black-robed judges to rob us of our free, representative form of government. A judicial opinion without constitutional basis is not law and should not be followed by any state or citizen. Never before in America has a religious requirement been required to hold office or own a business, and it cannot begin now. To require Christians to pull out pages of their Bible in order to hold office or own a business is anti-American and it is unconstitutional, despite what any judge may say otherwise." - Hate group leader Mat Staver, whose Liberty Counsel has advised the Alabama Supreme Court to defy the Obergefell ruling.

ALABAMA: Liberty Counsel Advises State Supreme Court On Defying Obergefell

Via Lyle Denniston at SCOTUSblog:

Asked by the Alabama Supreme Court for advice on what to do next on same-sex marriage, two conservative advocacy groups in the state have urged both direct and indirect resistance to the Supreme Court’s ruling mandating a constitutional right for gays and lesbians to wed. The state court, the groups argued, has the constitutional power to refuse even to accept what the Justices have done, and has a constitutional duty to insulate state officials from legal risk if they do not obey the decision based on a religious objection.

The thirty-three-page brief was filed on Monday by the Alabama Policy Institution, a think tank, and by the Alabama Citizens Action Program, an inter-denominational church support group, which earlier had persuaded the state’s highest court to block all of the state’s sixty-eight probate judges from issuing any marriage licenses to same-sex couples, even though all of them were under an order to do so by a federal judge in Mobile.

Depending on what the state court now does, it could set up a new federal-state collision that potentially could go to the Supreme Court. Lower federal courts could take direct action against state trial court judges, but only the Supreme Court could review a decision by the Alabama Supreme Court on a federal constitutional issue.

Co-authoring the brief is Liberty Counsel head Mat Staver.

RELATED: Thirteen Alabama counties have stopped issuing all marriage licenses.

The 13 counties that have stopped issuing licenses are home to an estimated 464 same-sex couples, 20% of which are raising children. A total of 441,437 people live within the impacted counties and a majority of these counties have poverty rates exceeding the state average of 18.6%. “These closures are causing unnecessary complications and burdens for any couple – gay or straight – who seeks to marry in their home county. Why should a couple have to drive for over an hour to get a marriage license? What if a couple can’t marry because they have an unreliable car, or they can’t get the time off work? We urge all counties in Alabama to immediately begin issuing licenses to same-sex and opposite-sex couples,” says Rev. Jasmine Beach-Ferrara of the Campaign for Southern Equality, which promotes LGBT equality across the South.

TEXAS: Irion County Clerk Won't Issue Licenses, Liberty Counsel To Defend

Via press release from the Liberty Counsel:

Citing the Constitution and natural law, elected clerk for Irion County, Texas, Molly Crimer has vowed to stand for natural marriage. Referring to the opinion of five lawyers regarding marriage, Crimer said: “To keep my oath to uphold the Constitution, I must reject this ruling that I believe is lawless….I have to stand for the Constitution and the rule of law.” Liberty Counsel is offering Ms. Crimer pro bono counsel. “The Justices of the Supreme Court acted outside and against the authority granted to them by the very Constitution that we have sworn to uphold,” Molly Crimer continued. “[O]ur founding fathers were fearful of too much power in the hands of a few,” Crimer continued. “Consequently, they created a Constitutional Republic in which authority to rule belonged to the PEOPLE, to be exercised through their elected representatives. In that Constitution, the Supreme Court was given the authority to expound the law, not rewrite it or remake it,” Crimer said.

The clerk's lengthy declaration is here. Irion County has a population of 1600 and there have been no requests for same-sex marriage licenses.

Hate Groups Publish Full-Page Message To SCOTUS In The Washington Post: We Won't Honor Your Ruling On Marriage

A coalition of hate groups and Christian pastors calling themselves Defend Marriage has published a full-page message to SCOTUS in the Washington Post. Among the signers at the bottom of the ad are Mat Staver, Elaine Donnelly, the Benham brothers, Alveda King, Jim Garlow, John Hagee, E.W. Jackson, Don Wildmon, Dave Welch, Robert Jeffress, and Penny Nance. From the text:

We affirm that any judicial opinion which purports to redefine marriage will constitute an unjust law, as Martin Luther King Jr. described such laws in his letter from the Birmingham Jail. We are Christians who love America and who respect the legitimate rule of law. However, we will not honor any decision by the Supreme Court which will force us to violate a clear biblical understanding of marriage as solely the union of one man and one woman. We affirm that Marriage, as existing solely between one man and one woman, precedes civil government. Though affirmed, fulfilled, and elevated by faith, the truth that marriage can exist only between one man and one woman is not based solely on religion but on the Natural Law, written on the human heart.

Bolding is theirs. (Tipped by JMG reader Jim)

Mat Staver: Same-Sex Marriage Will Lead To A Holocaust For America's Christians

"We're talking about the ghettoization of Christianity and this is what happened to the Jews in Nazi Germany, they put the Jews in ghettos, they put other people in ghettos. They took away their ability to earn a living, then they isolated them to ghettos, they stigmatized them, they ultimately destroyed their humanity in the minds of others and then the next step was easy, in the sense that they had gone to the point where they had lost respect for humanity. This is a serious manner because this ghettoizes Christianity. This stigmatizes those who have Christian beliefs. This ultimately punishes those and prohibits those individuals from earning a living or working in the marketplace. And this is the beginning of ultimately dehumanizing the person and when you dehumanize the person, terrible things can happen." - Mat Staver, speaking today on the Liberty Counsel's radio show.

Mat Staver: Same-Sex Marriage Will Result In Church Leaders Being Sent To Jail

Isn't this exactly what he's promised to do?

Mat Staver Has The "Ex-Gay" Sadz

"It's unbelievable that the Supreme Court would sit on the sidelines while there's this conflict that's taking place between the courts of appeal over this major issue. And when this particular situation presents an issue of national, significant, public importance, the Supreme Court should make sure that ideology doesn't guide its decisions – and unfortunately I think sometimes that's what we see with this high court. The only other alternative that parents have is to move out of those states or to seek counsel from an unlicensed provider. But that's not an alternative because they can't move, number one – and two, they want to go to an expert who's trained in this area. Parents should never have to face that kind of a choice." - Mat Staver, who yesterday lost his sixth consecutive attempt to overturn a state ban on "ex-gay" torture.

Mat Staver: All GOP Candidates Must Sign Our Pledge To Disobey SCOTUS

Huckabee and Santorum have already signed. Start at 3:30.

Mat Staver At Hate March: Christians Have No Choice But To Disobey SCOTUS

He's totally not getting gay-married! That'll learn 'em!

LIVE VIDEO: NOM's Hate March 3

UPDATE: The live-stream has concluded.

PHOTO CREDITS: Photos of the crackpot signs are by JMG reader Albert.

UPDATE II: JMG reader Jonathan sends us his Flickr report.

Mat Staver: How To Disobey SCOTUS

"This is the redline we will not cross. While no one wants this conflict, we have no choice but to resist an unjust law, particularly one that will force us to participate in acts that directly conflict with the Natural and Revealed Law. How will peaceful resistance be manifested? In many different ways depending on our individual circumstances; but in every case, it should be peaceful and it should be resistance.

"For example, if a state commands a Christian adoption ministry to ignore the difference between a same-sex couple and a married husband and wife for purposes of adoption, the ministry should not comply and should not close its doors. It should not abandon its God-given call and mission to place children in homes with a mother and a father. Only in this way will the full truth of the conflict be seen. Only in this way will the naked injustice of the state's coercive power be exposed.

"To paraphrase Martin Niemoeller in our own context: 'First they came for the adoption ministry, but I did not speak out because I did not do adoptions. Then they came for the wedding photographer, but I did not speak out because I did not photograph weddings. Then they came for the baker, but I did not speak out because I was not a baker. Then they came for the florist, but I said nothing because I was not a florist. Then they came for me, and there was no one left to speak for me.' - Hate group leader Mat Staver, writing for the Christian Post.

NOM Unveils 2015 Hate March Speakers

Not exactly the A-list, is it? In fact, there's only one elected official on the roster and that's Democratic New York state Sen. Ruben Diaz. Also curiously missing from the list is San Francisco Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone, who spoke at last year's hate march and is currently fighting an internal Catholic revolt back at home.

Liberty Counsel: If We Win At SCOTUS, We'll Repeal Marriage Laws In The States

NEW JERSEY: Liberty Counsel Appeals "Ex-Gay" Torture Ban To SCOTUS

On Monday the Third Circuit Court handed the Liberty Counsel their fifth consecutive loss in their battle to repeal bans on "ex-gay" torture. And because they are gluttons for punishment, here comes the inevitable appeal to SCOTUS, which smacked them down on California's ban just a few months ago.

Liberty Counsel asked the Court to grant review to resolve the divergent decisions among the circuit courts of appeal concerning the appropriate level of scrutiny that regulations of speech between a counselor and client or doctor and patient receive. A3371 barges into the counselor’s office to declare that only counseling and discussion affirming or encouraging same-sex attractions, behavior, or identity is permissible in New Jersey, regardless of the client’s sincerely held religious beliefs to the contrary. “The State has no authority to silence only one viewpoint on same-sex attractions, behaviors, or identity,” said Staver. “Laws restricting what counseling a minor can receive based solely on its content or viewpoint concerning same-sex attractions, behaviors, or identity are simply unconstitutional and should be struck down,” Staver concluded. “The Third Circuit’s decision ran roughshod over the First Amendment, and the Supreme Court needs to review and reverse that decision,” said Staver.

See the full brief.

NEW JERSEY: Liberty Counsel Loses Yet Another "Ex-Gay" Torture Ban Challenge

Via Reuters:

A federal appeals court on Monday rejected a fresh challenge to New Jersey’s ban on so-called gay conversion therapy for minors, saying the prohibition does not violate the rights of either children or their parents. By a 3-0 vote, the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said the ban did not infringe the First Amendment rights of minors and their parents to receive information and exercise religion, or the rights of parents to decide how to raise their children. The challenge came from a 15-year-old boy known as John Doe, who claimed to suffer from anxiety, panic attacks, self-hatred and suicidal thoughts as he struggled with his sexual identity, and his parents, who said they had sincere religious beliefs that homosexuality was sinful and harmful. The family plans to appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court, said their lawyer, Mathew Staver. “It is a tragedy when people who are not in the counseling room try to dictate what the client wants to receive and what the counselor is allowed to offer,” Staver, chairman of Liberty Counsel, said in a phone interview.

In addition to now having lost twice in New Jersey, Liberty Counsel has failed in three attempts to overturn California's ban, including before the US Supreme Court last summer. So naturally, they are looking to extend their streak to 0-6.

FLORIDA: Liberty Counsel Continues Attempts To Stop Same-Sex Marriage

Same-sex marriage has been legal in Florida for months, but not in the bizarre parallel universe inhabited by the Liberty Counsel. Via press release:

Liberty Counsel filed three briefs to stop Florida clerks in Osceola County, Orange County, and Manatee County from ignoring the rule of law and providing marriage licenses to same-sex couples. “The Clerk’s present policy of issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples violates the public ministerial duty not to issue such licenses under the Florida Constitution and Statutes. The Clerk has no discretion to violate the Constitution of Florida, the laws of Florida, and the clearly expressed will of the People of Florida,” Liberty Counsel told the courts. “Florida’s marriage laws could not be more clear: The Clerk has a duty not to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples,” the briefs pointed out. “It is equally clear that neither the Brenner Injunction nor any other authority compels or authorizes the Clerk to disregard Florida’s marriage laws. The Florida public and the rule of law are being injured by the Clerk’s open disregard of her public duties.” As a result of the purposeful misinterpretation of Judge Hinkle’s now infamous “clarification” in the federal case Brenner v. Scott, the clerks of court in Osceola, Orange, and Manatee counties began issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples early this year, disregarding their oaths to uphold the Florida Constitution.

According to the three briefs, the federal ruling that legalized same-sex marriage in Florida only applies to the plaintiffs in that case. The Liberty Counsel is based in Orlando, which makes this extra fun.

Liberty Counsel To SCOTUS: Don't Approve Same-Sex Marriage Because Sodomy Should Still Be Illegal Anyway

The Liberty Counsel today filed an amicus brief to the Supreme Court, arguing that same-sex marriage must not be legalized nationwide because homosexuality should still be criminalized in the first place. An excerpt:

Nearly seven decades of Kinseyan cultural transformation have shown that Kinsey’s promises of a freer, more enlightened and safer society were, at best, illusory, and at worst, deceptive. All of the cultural indicators that should have improved according to Kinsey and his supporters have in fact declined, in some cases, precipitously, as the full effect of the called-for changes has become manifest. Kinsey claimed that fornication and adultery were widespread and not harmful. If anything, according to Kinsey, such experiences actually strengthened marriages. Therefore, laws against fornication and adultery were unjust, unfair and unconstitutional. Drafters of the MPC [Moral Penal Code] took Kinsey’s advice and decriminalized those sexual offenses. Instead of strengthening marriages, the decriminalization and destigmatization of adultery, fornication and other non-marital conduct have had the opposite effect.

According to the Liberty Counsel, the decriminalization of "non-marital conduct" is responsible for increases in rape and illegitimate babies. So stop them gays from getting married.

UPDATE: I forgot to mention this bit from their press release: "Liberty Counsel is calling Christians to unite in fasting and prayer for three days before Supreme Court hears the case on April 23, 24, and 25."

NOTE: The anti-gay briefs are pouring in and I'll be excerpting more of them over the weekend. Hang onto your hats.