Another ruthless attack on a pro-family group

Corporate America flexes its muscle to enforce conformity

Jennifer Roback Morse | Sep 4 2017 | comment

A few days ago, Dr Jennifer Roback Morse, a frequent contributor to MercatorNet, learned that credit card donations to her organisation, the Ruth Institute, had been cut off. Vanco Payment Solutions – “unlock the power of generosity” -- sent her a curt note saying that it was a hate group.

The “hate group” label had been pasted on the Ruth Institute by the Southern Poverty Law Center(SPLC), probably because it has opposed same-sex marriage. But the job of the Ruth Institute is healing the effects of family breakdown, not denigrating homosexuals. This appears to be another sign of LGBT corporate tyranny: if you don’t agree with us, get lost...

Dr Roback Morse is philosophical about this insult to the integrity of her work. She says on her website, “Vanco, Card Brands, and Wells Fargo are private businesses. The Ruth Institute respects their right to conduct their businesses as they see fit. We just wish wedding photographers, bakers, and florists received the same respect.”

Below she answers a few questions about this incident.

* * * * * * * * * *

MercatorNet: Ruth Institute has been dumped by its online donations processing service. What reason did Vanco give?

Jennifer Roback Morse: We quoted them verbatim in our public statement:

Vanco has elected to discontinue our processing relationship with The Ruth Institute. The organization has been flagged by Card Brands as being affiliated with a product/service that promotes hate, violence, harassment and/or abuse. Merchants that display such attributes are against Vanco and Wells Fargo processing policies.”

This is the sum total of their communication to us.

Did they talk to you first?

JRM: Nope.

Did they say they had reviewed the content of your website?

JRM: Nope.

So what sources were they relying on to reach their decision?

JRM: Dunno. I have no idea. I would only be guessing, if I said otherwise.

How long has the Ruth Institute been going? What is your mission and focus?

JRM: We have been in existence since 2008. We have been independent of the National Organization for Marriage since November 2013.

The Southern Poverty Law Centre put you on the “hate map” in 2013 – was this date significant?

JRM: I do not really know.

What reasons did they give?

They never contacted us prior to putting us on their map, not have they contacted us since. You would have to look at the reasons they cite on their map.

What positions or language do your critics find objectionable? Do you think you have expressed yourselves unfairly or too strongly at all?

JRM: They have classified us as "Anti-LGBT." Their basic objection is that we uphold traditional Christian morality. They have gathered together a handful of statements, usually ripped out of context, to claim that we are defaming gay people. We have created a page called "Where's the Hate?" where we list, to the best of our ability, the articles and podcasts that people have found objectionable. We invite anyone to study those materials and form their own opinion about whether we belong on the same list as the Ku Klux Klan.

What is the mission of the Ruth Institute?

JRM: We are creating a mass social movement to end family breakdown, by energizing the Survivors of the Sexual Revolution. We especially focus on the impact of family breakdown on children: understanding it, healing it, ending it.

That doesn't seem to have anything to do with racism or hate!

JRM: Why do you think the Southern Poverty Law Center has created a whole category called "Anti-LGBT?" Sexual revolutionaries gain a strategic advantage by labelling people like me. Guilt by association is irrational, but powerful. The fear of being labelled a racist provides a potent disincentive for people to voice the view that children need their own parents. Silencing people relieves the identity politicians and sexual revolutionaries from the effort of having to defend their ideas.

This is convenient for these Identity politicians and sexual revolutionaries, because their ideas are indefensible. Children actually do need their own parents. Sexual orientation is not the equivalent of race. Two mothers do not equal two fathers and two fathers do not equal a mother and a father, and certainly not one’s own mother and father. Placing us next to the guys with white hoods and swastikas avoids engaging any arguments.

There are multiple ironies here. Many, many people in the African American community are devout Christians who deeply resent what they consider the hijacking of the civil rights movement and rhetoric by LGBT activists. Since we oppose aspects of the LGBT movement, we are considered the equivalent of the KKK or Nazis.

Vanco markets itself to religious organisations, which makes their attitude to you puzzling.

JRM: Many groups and individuals are concerned about this sort of targeting. Yes: the fact that Vanco markets itself to churches and religious organizations does make this puzzling. I would suggest that churches consider switching providers.

Will you try to talk to Vanco or Card Brands?

JRM: Probably not. We are looking for another service provider.

Dr Jennifer Roback Morse is president of the Ruth Institute.

September 4, 2017

A headline with "cheap sex" in it is bound to be provocative. But our lead story today is a review of a serious book on the consequences of unlinking sex and procreation. In his latest book American sociologist Mark Regnerus unravels the pattern of sexual behaviour amongst young adults. It's not a pretty picture, but to change the situation, you need first to understand it. As Helen Alvaré writes in her review, "Whether one is worried about these developments, or simply wishes to manage them to secure a particular notion of freedom, Regnerus’ book is required reading."

Here's a community service announcement for MercatorNet readers in Sydney. On Thursday morning, September 21, MercatorNet is sponsoring a free public forum on the NSW Voluntary Assisted Dying Bill 2017. There is a great line-up of legal and medical experts -- get in early. For more details, visit our Facebook page.