Democrat leaders in the House of Representatives are preparing to vote on the Global Respect Act, which would give the President the ability to impose sanctions on foreign political, cultural and religious leaders who may oppose the homosexual/transgender agenda.
The purpose of the bill is ostensibly to protect the human rights of individuals who identify as homosexual or transgender, but its effect would be to deter free speech and undermine religious freedom around the world.
The Global Respect Act wouldn’t just penalize egregious human rights violations like extrajudicial killings, torture, and genocide, which are universally condemned and severely punished by a federal law known as the Magnitsky Act. It includes a catchall penalty for any speech or actions that may contribute to any “flagrant denial of the right to life, liberty, or the security of the individual.”
This broad catchall provision is designed to censor political and religious leaders who oppose the homosexual/transgender agenda. If adopted into law, it would give the president discretion to impose sanctions on political and religious speech against homosexual marriage or transgender rights, including for children.
Activists, UN human rights bodies, and UN staff already accuse religious believers of hate speech, incitement to violence, and even complicity in violence and torture when they express public disapproval of homosexual conduct and transgender ideology.
In a recent report to the General Assembly, the United Nations Independent Expert on Violence and Discrimination on the Basis of Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity, said, “States should adopt decisive action when religious authorities, leaders or agents infringe on the rights of LGBT persons through violence and discrimination, including hate speech.”
The UN expert specifically denounced religious authorities of the Orthodox Church for their opposition to the homosexual/transgender agenda, accusing them of “inciting” hatred and violence on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity.
A UN committee charged with promoting the rights of children under a UN treaty censored the Pope for opposing homosexual marriage and the transgender agenda. The committee went as far as criticizing the teaching of the Catholic Church on the “complementarity and equality in dignity” of the sexes because these concepts “justify discriminatory legislation and policies.” An official response from the Vatican Secretariat of State to the 2014 comments of the UN committee called it a “sword against freedom of religion.”
The Global Respect Act was voted out of the Foreign Affairs committee in late September. An amendment offered by Republicans to limit the authorization of sanctions failed along party lines. The bill is expected to come up for a vote this month.
A companion bill to the Global Respect Act in both the House and the Senate, called the Globe Act, includes the same kind of Magnitsky-style sanctions but also greatly expands the footprint of the LGBTQI+ agenda within the State Department bureaucracy. It codifies homosexual/transgender issues as a top human rights priority and gives permanent power and funding to a U.S. ambassador at large for such issues and other officials within the U.S. State Department.
What would this mean for some of our Eastern Catholic clergy, including at least one bishop, who are here legally from Eastern Europe?
Some Roman Catholic clergy are also here from other countries with more traditional sexual mores.
They, like we, are Christians after all. We’re not “anti-gay.”
Could a nation that was once a beacon for religious liberty descend into such licentiousness and excess that Christians, Jews, Muslims, Sikhs, Baha’is and others are no longer welcome here?
And, why are all the Catholic Democrat politicians supporting this? (Catholics are disproportionately highly represented in Congress and could stop this immediately.)
Some claim that the Church is obsessed with sex. Actually, it’s our culture and most in our media (news, social & Hollywood), big business and government who are the ones with sexual obsession.
Lord, have mercy on us all!
Our government should outlaw gay marriage and adoption and outlaw abortion– and keep our children safe. They should get rid of human trafficking/prostitution, including prostitution of children and gays. They should get rid of sex-ed”in the schools, and all anti-Christian Morality and anti-American evils of the liberal-leftists, in our schools. They should condemn promiscuity and cohabitation, and establish medical care and adoption centers for unwed mothers. They should get rid of pornography and child pornography, especially in movies and on the Internet, as well as print materials. They should have a strong focus to promote and build up a happy and healthy, successful American traditional man-woman marriage and family life, the core of all societies and civilizations. For LGBTs, a medical definition of an abnormal condition or disability is needed, and appropriate care, and help to adjust to life, and help to reasonably find happiness and success, while responsibly living with a disability. Christian love, kindness and acceptance for all people should be promoted, as well as morality and self-discipline, and hard-work. These ideas should be promoted worldwide.
There was a strange error in the “moniker” of my post of Jan. 15 at 3:27 pm. It should read, ” Our Government Should Promote High Standards of Christian Morality.”
Long before the 1960s, I knew some homosexuals who were decent, chaste, good members of society. There were also ones who were immoral, and messed-up their lives. But these ones were different. They held good jobs, were involved in charity work and civic activities, and belonged to churches and synagogues. They also served their country in the military. And they led morally-good and decent lives. Sex was never discussed, it was considered strictly personal, between a husband and wife. Virginity and chastity were the ideal.
There was a strange error in the “moniker” of my post of Jan. 15 at 3:27 pm. It should read, ” Our Government Should Promote High Standards of Christian Morality.”
My post of Jan. 15 at 10:06pm was edited. I wish to say that just like in days of long ago, homosexuals today, could choose to lead happy, fulfilling and successful lives, while remaining single— and chaste. Americans once lived by much higher standards of hard work, service to God, family and country, self-sacrifice, morality, and decency. To degenerate into self-indulgence and sin was unacceptable.
This bill, and the UN position, could be extremely destructive to Christian Morality, worldwide. It could also heavily restrict churches and clerics, including ours, and prevent clerics– including the Pope– from promoting Catholic beliefs, and restricting travel, worldwide. Another reason why I think that our Church should get busy and no longer allow post-Conciliar “freedoms” to “believe and do as you please,” in our Church, as it has been steadily eroding our Faith, and leading to destructions of morality, in many countries. If our Church could develop a strong, well-catechized, practicing-Catholic clergy and laity, with strong leadership, as well as good, faithful Catholic schools and colleges, religious orders, and seminaries– it would curb much of the immorality in today’s world, and lead people to practice of moral virtue. Millions of lives of unborn children would also be saved!
Here is the entire text of the Act, which was introduced. It hardly promotes the “homosexual agenda”. It is very simple and quite reasonable:
“ Shown Here:
Introduced in House (05/25/2021)
Global Respect Act
This bill imposes visa-blocking sanctions on foreign persons responsible for or complicit in violating the human rights of individuals due to actual or perceived sexual orientation, gender identity, or sex characteristics. The President shall report and periodically update a list of foreign persons responsible for such human rights violations and apply sanctions accordingly.
The Department of State shall designate at least one senior officer who shall be responsible for tracking violence and discrimination against individuals based on actual or perceived sexual orientation, gender identity, or sex characteristics in foreign countries.”
Notice it says “violating the human rights of…”. It doesn’t make any prohibitions on speech.
YFC, Human rights by the definition by of people like you will mean anything you want it to mean.
What are the sexual orientations protected by the bill?
Since there’s no standard definition of “human rights”, the legislation will mean anything the left wants it to mean, and they’ll use it to deny entry to people on the basis of speech that offends the alphabet people.
https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/view.cfm?recnum=404
Universal Declaration of Human Rights UN
A U.N. declaration has no authority in U.S. law.
When 45% of Democrats say they support forced quarantine camps for unvaccinated Americans, you know the Democrat Party is full of Commies.
The new norm: “If you don’t embrace evil, you are evil”. The day will come when you will be persecuted and put to death for apposing their insane agenda. Well, the jokes on them, I don’t want to live in their world. “The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the Church”.
YFC: The text of the Global Respect Act quoted in your 16Jan22@6:29 provides that “visa-blocking sanctions” can be imposed upon foreign persons “complicit in” violating the human rights of homosexual and transgender individuals. In law the word “complicit” cuts a wide swath. Consider a person [perhaps a foreign hierarch] who is well-known to have publicly preached and/or written against LBGT+ practices, as mandated by their faith. I’m not at all comfortable that they wouldn’t be barred entry into the USA under the Act as quoted.