The Art Director for the largest non-profit musical theatre company has quit after protests and boycotts resulting from the fact that he dared to give money to the "Yes on 8" campaign, which passed California's marriage amendment last week.

Scott Eckern stepped down from his job at the California Musical Theater in Sacramento after some gay and lesbian activists called for a theater boycott.

He said in a statement that he is leaving "after prayerful consideration to protect the organization and to help the healing in the local theater going and creative community."

Eckern said he "chose to act upon my belief that the traditional definition of marriage should be preserved" but had no idea his contribution would generate such controversy. He said his sister is a lesbian in a domestic partnership, which he understands to carry the same legal rights as marriage.

The boycott calls led by artists including "Hairspray" composer Marc Shaiman began after activists learned Eckern contributed $1,000 to the Yes on 8 campaign. Last week, voters approved Proposition 8, which changes the constitution to ban same-sex marriage.

Air Force Academy graduate and former Navy Chaplain Gordon James Klingenschmitt who lost his job in the Navy because he refused to stop praying in the name of Jesus has now organized an event this Saturday for 6 Virginia police chaplains who were told to stop praying in the name of Jesus.  Indeed, these courageous Christian chaplains were forced to resign because they prayed in the name of Jesus.  Chaplain Klingenschmitt is the event organizer for Saturday's state-wide prayer rally outside the Democrat Governor, Tim Kaine's mansion at 10 a.m. 

As mentioned previously, the folks supporting passage of the state marriage amendment in California, (proposition 8), which would define marriage as one man and one woman, have gained a good bit of momentum and support in the past several weeks...and their opposition has actually been helpful.

Well now we see some in the pro gay-marriage crowd are actually turning violent as they get desperate.  From OneNewsNow:

A Proposition 8 volunteer in California was recently assaulted, evidently because he supports the proposed state constitutional amendment defining marriage as the union of one man and one woman.

The victim, Jose Nunez, was preparing to place Prop. 8 lawn signs when the attack happened. Chip White, a spokesman for the "Yes on 8" campaign, explains what happened.
 
"The attacker grabbed about 75 signs, [then] yelled at Mr. Nunez [asking] 'what do you have against gays?' And Mr. Nunez replied that he had nothing against gays -- but he was attacked anyway." ...

With the vote on the California state marriage amendment just three weeks away, it's nice of the proponents of gay marriage to give the voters of that state another stark reminder of just what they could be in for if gay marriage remains legal in that state. Via Protect Marriage:

SAN FRANCISCO, October 11 – In the same week that the No on 8 campaign launched an ad that labeled as “lies” claims that same-sex marriage would be taught in schools to young children, a first grade class took a school-sponsored trip to a gay wedding. Eighteen first graders traveled to San Francisco City Hall Friday for the wedding of their teacher and her lesbian partner, The San Francisco Chronicle reported. The school sponsored the trip for the students, ages 5 and 6, taking them away from their studies for the same-sex wedding. According to the Yes on 8 campaign, the public school field trip demonstrates that the California Supreme Court's decision to legalize same-sex marriage has real consequences. ...

There's a new poll out of Californai voters re: the vote on that state's marriage amendment next month, and the results are encouraging.

SAN FRANCISCO (CBS 5) ― A new CBS 5 poll finds that California's Proposition 8 has picked up support in the wake of a television ad campaign that features footage of San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom proclaiming same-sex marriage is here to stay "whether you like it or not."

The poll conducted for CBS 5 by SurveyUSA indicates that support for the measure to ban gay marriage has grown among voters in the state over an eleven day period — most especially among young voters.

According to the poll, likely California voters overall now favor passage of Proposition 8 by a five-point margin, 47 percent to 42 percent. Ironically, a CBS 5 poll eleven days prior found a five-point margin in favor of the measure's opponents. ...

According to yesterday's "The Washington Times," the state police Superintendent, Colonel W. Steven Flaherty, "requested" that his 17 police chaplains offer ONLY "nondenominational" prayers, i.e. effectively to NOT pray in the name of Jesus Christ. As a result, at least six of Colonel Flaherty's chaplains quit in protest for violating their First Amendment constitutional rights.

The Virginia House Republicans blasted the move by the state police superintendent as an attack on Christianity and a violation of the First Amendment rights of these chaplains. "The Washington Times" reported that one Republican delegate said chaplains were told they could no longer invoke the name of Jesus. House Majority Leader H. Morgan Griffith, a Republican from Salem, Virginia, said that "to require those troopers to disregard their own faith while serving violates their First Amendment rights and prevents them from serving effectively as chaplains. These men had little choice but to resign."

OneNewsNow.com reports that a bible-based afterschool club has been banned from meeting within the Minnesota School District 28.

Another Bible-based Good News Club has been banned from a school campus, this time in Minnesota.

Mat Staver of Liberty Counsel is taking Elk Area School District #28 to task. He argues that school officials are saying, in effect, that matters of faith have no place in schools. But Staver says the children are just asking for a level playing field.

"Equal access is the law, and equal access means equal treatment in every respect. I don't know why it's so hard to get this concept," Staver laments. "Equal access means equal, and schools must understand that the First Amendment protects Christian viewpoints."

He points out that schools will permit organizations such as the Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts -- but not a Good News Club. "The only distinction between the Good News Club and many of the other after-school opportunities is Good News Clubs are Christian," Staver contends. "And these schools, for whatever reason, think that they are required to discriminate [against the clubs] because they are Christian, when in fact the First Amendment prohibits this kind of discrimination."

Well, you may have wondered how long this was going to take. First, a one vote majority of the California Supreme Court (4-3) votes to legalize gay marriage in that state, and now the state begins to issue politically correct marriage licenses that not only make no reference to gender, but refuse to allow recognition of either "party" as "bride" or "groom".

From World Net Daily:

ROSEVILLE, Calif. – "Brides" and "grooms" are no longer allowed to marry in the State of California.

That privilege is only extended to individuals who allow themselves to be called "Party A" and "Party B" on marriage licenses.

Pastor Doug Bird of Abundant Life Fellowship in Roseville, Calif., was alarmed to find the state now rejects the traditional terms after he officiated his first marriage ceremony last week following the California Supreme Court decision to overturn Proposition 22.

The couple had written the words "bride" and "groom" next to "Party A" and "Party B" because they wanted to be legally recognized as husband and wife.

However, the Placer Count marriage license was denied. ...

There is a movement today that seeks to have "In God We Trust" taken off of our American currency. Those heading the move say that putting God on our money violates the separation of church and state championed by Thomas Jefferson. This movement says that the founders of our country were not really Christians or godly men. They often use Thomas Jefferson as an example. However, there was not a single member of the Continental Congress that did not acknowledge Jesus Christ as God and God as their protector. The Congress even funded the printing of 20,000 copies of the Bible after King George began an embargo against Bibles being imported into the American Colonies. George Washington wrote a letter of gratitude to the printer for the effort.

A school district in Hudson, New Hampshire is under the threat of a federal lawsuit for refusing to allow the distribution of a church's Vacation Bible School flyer to one of the schools in the district.

According to a report in OneNewsNow, church member Patricia Regan is taking action against the district, considering that she has been aware that the school has always allowed organizations in the community to distribute literature to promote events to the school's students. But, now they are refusing to allow her church's event information to be distributed to these children, as well.