The Christian Values Network was founded in 2008 with help from two dubious celebrities: Stephen Baldwin, Alec’s born-again brother, who continues to work with the group; and Michael Lohan, estranged father of Lindsay, who is no longer involved. Huckabee has acted as a spokesman for CGBG, and now “helps with developing new partnerships,” according to the company’s CEO, Jed Trosper. But CGBG didn’t really get off the ground until about a year ago. “It was some friends we had worked with who proposed the idea, and we’ve kind of just been testing it out,” says Tony Perkins, president of the Washington-based Family Research Council.
CGBG acts as an affiliate for associated retailers, taking a commission on every purchase made through its site. The commission is split between the company and a faith-based charity of the user’s choice. Some are humanitarian groups like Habitat for Humanity, but many, including those prominently featured on the company’s website, are decidedly political. Among them is The Family Research Council, which was classified as a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center last year because of its continual flood of “demonizing propaganda aimed at homosexuals and other sexual minorities.”
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In situations like this there comes a point where you have to start taking everything with a pinch of salt as both sides try to tarnish the other side's name... I did however note that at no point through all of this did CVN/CGBG deny that they are "anti-gay"...?
There is now a so-called "online culture war" going on between Gay-rights activists and faith-based nonprofits.
Change.org, in collaboration with Allout.org and San Francisco-based activist Roy Steele's blog "Tie-Dyed Jive in the (415)," has also petitioned companies such as The Gap Inc., Expedia and many others with what CGBG calls "a bullying campaign fueled by false information."
In many cases, McCullough said, midlevel company managers made hasty decisions to drop CGBG without vetting the activists' claims.
"This bullying campaign just started, and yes, we do want to shut you down," Steele responded by writing online Monday. "Your hate and vitriol is politically motivated."
"Hate is too big a word to be thrown around with so little discretion," Focus' Daly said. "It is a damaging and dangerous thing to hang such an emotional epithet on a person or group because they think differently about some issues than you do. Believing what the Bible says about human sexuality is a personal conviction, not an act of persecution."
CGBG president John Higgins said the network will push back against the activists' efforts by doubling the amount it gives to designated charities Monday through Labor Day weekend.
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And the Christians (or perhaps I should say some "Christians") are also getting in on the act:
Apple Bows Before the god of Gay
Apple, Wells Fargo, Macy’s, Delta and some other companies have decided that it is god business to bash evangelical Christians for their convictions regarding sexual morality.
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In the end there are only losers in this battle. Yes, it's good to stand up for your rights. By all means, make a stand against "Anti-gay" organisations. But keep the price in mind...
We don't know what the religious organisations got from CVN/CGBG in terms of monetary support. But now we know it's a lot less because so many blue chip companies pulled out. Yes, there were 5 (more or less) bad apples in the list of non-profit organisations that got an income from CVN/CGBG. What about the 169,995 other organisations? Perhaps 5 of them are pro-gay? Perhaps 50? Perhaps 50,000? And those that were neutral in terms of homosexuality? Ever considered that they would turn anti-gay because gay activism led to a loss in their income?
And the other side of the coin is also true... How many people actually new about CVN/CGBG before the storm? Didn't this open a door for anti-gay folks to support anti-gay groups in a way they were previously unaware of?
Continued...
I mean if you are going to fold at least make them work a bit to get you to fold.
