Family Advocate Condemns Nike's Support for Oregon Civil Unions
by Ed Thomas
June 29, 2005
(AgapePress) - The director of a think tank on family policy issues says Oregon residents should be aware of a new measure in their state legislature that seeks to provide civil unions for same-sex couples. One pro-family leader is warning that the Oregon Senate bill under consideration near the end of the latest legislative session is a bad idea, even though it has been endorsed by the state's only Fortune 500 company.
In the tradition of increasing numbers of Fortune 500 and smaller companies across the American business landscape, Nike has apparently thrown its support behind the homosexual agenda. The Oregon-based corporation recently wrote legislative leaders to encourage passage of a bill that would create civil unions in the state.
According to an Associated Press report, Nike vice president Wes Coleman asserted in a letter to the president of the Oregon Senate that civil unions "promote inclusion" by providing individuals equal opportunity to "enter into lasting permanent relationships without regard to sexual orientation," and that this would better the lives of many of the company's employees. Proponents of the pro-homosexual legislation are hopeful that Nike's stated support will improve its chances for approval.
The civil unions bill that Oregon's Democrat-controlled Senate is considering and that Nike has endorsed competes with another measure in the Republican-controlled State House. That legislation proposes only "reciprocal benefits" to non-traditional families. But Robert Knight, director of the Culture and Family Institute (CFI), says any form of civil union proposal is undesirable, since such measures can potentially open the door for homosexual marriage.
Robert Knight | |
Knight believes Nike is bowing to both internal and external pressure from pro-homosexual groups to be politically correct. But he says the public should not be fooled and warns, "What appears to be an act of tolerance and extension of equal rights is really an immoral deed on the part of the government, no matter what they call it -- whether it's gay marriage, domestic-partner benefits, or civil unions."The CFI director contends that approving homosexual civil unions or otherwise extending the benefits of marriage to same-sex couples would be wrong because "it's the government tempting someone to sin." By accommodating active homosexuals' lifestyle, he asserts, the state would be "tempting them into remaining trapped in homosexuality instead of seeking a way out. So it's immoral."
And once the state approves homosexuality, Knight adds, "it puts into motion policies affecting school children and businesses and, eventually, churches." He feels Nike's support for the homosexual agenda, in effect, encourages the state to take actions that could do pervasive harm to society. And the only way to change the company's mind, the pro-family spokesman says, is with the voting power of the consumer dollar.
Ed Thomas, a regular contributor to AgapePress, is a reporter for American Family Radio News, which can be heard online.
