As a lot of you know by now the Hawaii State House Judiciary Committee just passed through 2 bills designed to allow casino gambling to start up in Hawaii. House Bill 2759 authorizes the state Department of Hawaiian Home Lands to allow gaming casinos on Hawaiian Homes parcels as it deems necessary and House Bill 2251 would allow for creation of a gaming commission that would issue a single five-year license to a casino operator on O'ahu. I think its a farce to try to pass this on as helping the State with it's financial crisis especially our furlow Friday's which they themselves say would barely generate enough to cover.
 From a Social aspect it hurts the citizens of Hawaii in the following ways.
 It Causes addiction, it doubles bankruptcy, it Increases crime, it Increases suicides, it contributes to divorce, it damages the economy, it cannibalizes jobs, it corrupts politics more than usual, it stimulates illegal gambling. Each one of these can be expounded upon with clear numbers based on the other 47 states that have some form of legalized gambling.
 From a Christian and moral aspect gambling hurts the citizens of Hawaii in the following ways.
Gambling is an attempt to get something without working for it.The Bible stresses the importance of work (2 Thes.3:10-11; Eph.4:28). Gambling is motivated by greed. Let’s be honest and admit that greed lies at the heart of all gambling. The desire to get something for nothing is really another name for covetousness (Exodus 20:17; Prov. 21:25-26). read more »

A great victory for traditional marriage was won when the Senate failed to pull HB 444 by a vote of 18 to 6.  A total of 9 votes were needed to pull the bill.  Although it was believed that the bill had the votes needed to be pulled from committee, the overwhelming opposition led by the Christian Churches and community leaders gave God a great victory.

White, black, red, yellow people of all ethnicity rallied to oppose the bill.  Senators were innundated with opposition through phone calls, emails and office visits.  People also prayed and God answered their prayers.

Although the vast majority of the populace opposed HB444, Sen. Gary Hoosier stubbornly tried to have the bill pulled out of committee to support and legitimize homosexuality.  Five other Senators supported him.  They were Sens. Les Ihara, Carol Fukunaga, Suzanne Chun Oakland, Michelle Kidani and Rosalyn Baker.  Please remember their names in the upcoming elections in 2010.

The battle will continue to be fought as the gays and lesbians have stated they will continue the fight.  Although HB444 was not pulled out of committee, a surprising number of Democratic Senators and Representatives support the bill and legitimizing homosexuality in Hawaii.

The Hawaii Christian Calition will continue to be vigilant and start preparing to install God fearing candidates in the upcoming elections.

Garret Hashimoto
State Chairman, Hawaii Christian Coalition

Hawaii is embroiled in a heated debate regarding HB444; a bill designed to give Gays and Lesbians the same rights as Hetorosexual couples.

The Hawaii Christian Coalition believes this bill is a stepping stone to legalizing same sex marriage and same sex education in our school system. This bill easily passed through the House Judiciary Committee as it was sponsored by Gay Legislator Blake Oshiro and the public had only 2 days of notice before the hearing.

Outrage has filled the Christian community as well as the general populace who voted overwhelmingly by 70 to 30 % to deny same sex marrige in Hawaii. A rally in opposition to House Bill 444 was organized on a sunday at our State Capitol and 8,000 signatures were gathered in opposition with a crowd of 10,000 to 12,000 in attendance.

The opposition called for a rally in support the next day with approximately 50 in attendance. When the bill reached the Senate Judiciary a few days later the committee deadlocked 3-3.With the bill seemingly stalled in committee, the State Senate President,Colleen Hanabusa with the approval of House Judiciary Chair,Brian Taniguchi is threatening to pull it out of committee.

Total arrogance and indifference to public opposition and complete disregard for our Legislative process have these legislators elected by the people.

The Hawaii Christian Coalition is calling upon the general public to make your voices heard by calling or emailing your elected officials in your district.  read more »