World Congress of Families Reacts to Allegation that the Words 'Natural Family' Constitutes Hate Speech

by Staff
July 6, 2007

(christiansunite.com) -- In commenting on a recent decision of the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, columnist George Will wrote in his June 25th column, ("When marriage became a 'hate crime'"): "Marriage is the foundation of the natural family and sustains family values. That sentence is inflammatory, perhaps even a hate crime. At least it is in Oakland, Calif."

Since the World Congress of Families and The Howard Center from Family, Religion & Society (WCF's parent organization) popularized the expression "natural family," we take a special interest in the case to which Will refers. The official definition of the "natural family" can be found at our website: www.profam.org/THC/xthc_tnf.htm.

The 9th Circuit Court - the most left-leaning and often- reversed appeals court in the land - upheld the decision of Oakland administrators to exclude pro- family speech as divisive and hateful.

In 2002, a group of African-American Christian Women working for Oakland's city government requested permission to distribute a flyer, via the city's e-mail system, noting that the "natural family" is the foundation of society.

Even though homosexual employees were allowed to use the system to promote a gay pride rally and similar events, administrators rejected the Christian flyer as "homophobic," "disruptive," and intended to "create a hostile environment."

Moreover, their printed flyer was removed from a municipal bulletin board, with the warning that similar efforts to communicate these ideas could result in disciplinary action "up to and including termination."

Allan Carlson, international secretary of the World Congress of Families, said Oakland's actions were "an appalling example of censorship."

Carlson noted: "Under this standard, interest groups of which the left approves are free to promote their views through a government apparatus. If pro-family forces seek to counter that advocacy, their views are labeled 'hate speech' and accordingly suppressed."

"The City of Oakland and 9th Circuit Appeals Court should consult the United Nation's Universal Declaration of Human Rights," Carlson advised. "Under their definition, Article 16 (3) - which defines the family as 'the natural and fundamental group unit of society' - constitutes 'hate speech.'"

The motto of World Congress of Families IV (Warsaw, May 11-13, 2007) was "Beyond Demographic Winter - The Natural Family As The Springtime of Nations."

For more information on World Congress of Families and the natural family, go to www.worldcongress.org.

The World Congress of Families (WCF) is an international network of pro-family organizations, scholars, leaders and people of goodwill from more than 60 countries that seeks to restore the natural family as the fundamental social unit and the 'seedbed' of civil society. The WCF was founded in 1997 by Allan Carlson and is a project of The Howard Center for Family, Religion & Society in Rockford, Illinois (www.profam.org). To date, there have been four World Congresses of Families - Prague (1997), Geneva (1999), Mexico City (2004) and Warsaw, Poland (2006).