Ironically, one of the main purposes of the book was to expose that the homosexual agenda is more than just obtaining their rights - but in fact threatens your religious freedom, freedom of speech and the education of your children through schools and the media. They do not simply want to unban their own disgusting publications, but also ban our publications that disagree with them. The censoring of the book simply helps to prove this point. It has also shown the 'Film and publications board' has been infiltrated by homosexual activists, which would help to explain why the board is failing to stop the flood of filth into the country.

It is a time to stand strong and fight for what is right. Christians have been persecuted before and we have won before. Nothing unusual is happening to us. This is not simply an injury to the author, but to Christianity in South Africa as a whole. If we don't fight back - you could eventually be the one the homosexual activists are persecuting. The Equality Act, passed almost two years ago and promotes homosexuality has not been implemented yet - but if implemented will have similar serious consequences for Christian liberty in South Africa. This should give us a stronger argument to ask for the removal of the 'sexual orientation' clause from the Equality Act.

I have read the whole book and strongly recommend you buy a copy and use it to fight the agenda of militant homosexual activists that may attack or try to infiltrate your local school, community, newspaper, university, workplace, church denomination etc.

The Film and Publications Board made various allegations against the book (see below). The charge that the book constitutes 'hate speech' and other similar allegations made by the are nonsense and can be easily verified by reading the book - which offers hope to homosexuals trapped in a perverted lifestyle. If this was 'hate speech', then the Bible would also be 'hate speech'. Similarly, the charge that the book is poorly researched is ludicrous - it is probably the best researched book every published on the subject. The problem is that it disproves so many 'politically correct' myths, that the censors would be forced either to reject the research or reject their 'core beliefs'. I challenge them to study its findings more carefully. The charge that the research is irrelevant to South Africa is disproved by the fact that the board was even considering the book for censorship in the first place. Furthermore, in their ruling the Board made a personal attack slanderous on the character of the authors as 'mean spirited' - something that constitutes defamation - a violation of South African law, whereas the book itself makes no violation of South African law.

I argue therefore that the authors of the ruling should be forced to resign from the Film and Publications board on grounds of: * their violation of South Africa's law on defamation; * and of the abuse of their powers in censoring a publication simply because they disagreed with the contents; * their own negligence in dismissing the research in the book without any proof of inaccuracy; * violation of South Africas constitutional right to freedom of belief and opinion.

THIS ATTACK CAN HELP OUR CAUSE IF WE FIGHT BACK

I was involved in a similar case in 1992, when the University of Cape Town Student Representative Council (SRC) banned a pamphlet consisting of a list of Bible verses on homosexuality. We simply printed it off-campus and distributed without permission on grounds that homosexuals had a right to hear the gospel message and we must obey God rather than men (Acts 5:29). While politically correct extremists criticised us, most students were eager to read what the SRC had banned. A public debate was organised, which gave us a wonderful opportunity to give the Christian message to the many homosexuals who attended - and hand out the banned pamphlet.

Even many liberals who normally supported homosexual rights - in this case supported our right to free speech. One liberal SRC member asked how the pamphlet could be safe for SRC members to read, but not safe for other students. The liberal debate organiser chose to print the banned pamphlet on the poster advertising the debate. He was ordered to take these down, which he did - then putting the posters back up with a 'censorship' paper glued across the part of the poster where the pamphlet was printed. Needless to say, curious students peeled this off to read what was underneath. One liberal asking questions at the debate read the pamphlet aloud. So our message reached a much larger audience than if it had not been banned and the whole purpose of the censorship was completely defeated.

Even more significantly, it stimulated more Christians to stand for public office at the university in order to ensure that such an event would never happen again. Today, the majority of those serving on the SRC are now Christians as well as many others in other positions of student leadership. Christians also have gained a better understanding of the role that they can play in positively influencing society.

WHAT YOU CAN DO

1) Pray for the authors and the Film and Publications Board. Pray that God will use this censorship to expose the sinister homosexual agenda - and awake Christians to fight against it. 2) Contact the Film and Publications Board at makaulan@FPB.WCAPE.GOV.ZA or fax 021-4656511 and express your protest against the ruling. 3) Order the book from Christian Liberty Books at 021-689 7478 at only R58 including postage. Post your order with money to: PO Box 358, Howard Place, Pinelands, 7450. 4) Donate towards a legal challenge or offer your time if you are a lawyer. 5) Write to your local newspaper and protest. 6) Ask your Church denomination to take a stand against this infringement of religious freedom. 7) Ask your local Christian bookshop to stock the book. 8) Buy extra copies and give them to your pastor, local newspaper editor, school headmaster, member of parliament or other community leader. 9) Forward this email to others and encourage them also to buy the book and protest 10) Volunteer to serve on the Film and Publications Board - we need moral people there. 11) Lobby your political leaders to remove any reference to 'sexual orientation' in the Equality Act, Bill of Rights, Educational Curriculum and other laws and policy documents.

God bless

Philip Rosenthal

See below: * The comments by the book publishers * The ruling by the Film and Publications Board

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Comment on the restriction by the book publishers

Thursday 31 January 2002

The Pink Agenda co-author Christine Mc Cafferty and Christian Liberty Books manager Charl van Wyk said yesterday that Christian Liberty Books would definitely appeal against a decision by the Film and Publications Board (FPB) to slap a restriction of R18 on The Pink Agenda: Sexual Revolution in South Africa and the Ruin of the Family. According to the FPB, the book shall not be distributed to persons under 18 years of age. Christine and Charl believe that in the ruling and the report made by the FPB, the Board goes way beyond its legislative ambit. The ruling is based solely on the opinions of the three-member FPB classification committee, and those opinions are in no way solid legal reasons why the book should be restricted. The Pink Agenda does carry a warning on the third page that the book may contain material unsuitable for children and sensitive readers, and this refers to a paragraph on page 21 which describes certain types of homosexual behaviour. This warning Christian Liberty Books believes is sufficient. However, they are concerned about the FPB's restriction of the book on basis of it allegedly giving a "disturbing, negative and hurtful profile of the homosexual person". This they believe is a false and one-sided perspective, which ignores the message of hope in the book. Furthermore, the Film and Publications Act does not allow books to be restricted on such a hazy basis.

In their defence of the book, Christian Liberty Books showed that The Pink Agenda was of a scientific, documentary and religious nature and of public interest as any one of these four criteria would have mitigated against the book being restricted. The classification committee however rejected these arguments on very flimsy grounds.

The FPB classification committee argued that the book is not a bona fide work of a scientific or documentary nature because they claim that "The quality and depth and scope of research was very limited" and "largely irrelevant to South Africa", possibly because they state that "the bulk of the material is drawn from the United States of America." The Film and Publications Act does not restrict a documentary to material and research produced in South Africa, in other words the Act does not say that unless the majority of the research cited is produced in South Africa, the publication cannot be defined as documentary or scientific. Furthermore, the book cites or makes reference to at least 70-90 studies from South Africa, Australia, the United States and Europe. To describe the research as limited is stretching the truth in the extreme and the Film and Publications Act does not specify how many studies a book must cite in order for it to be judged as scientific or documentary.

The classification committee also completely ignored Christian Liberty Book' s argument that the book was of public interest and a religious nature. The media stir over the issue shows that it is of public interest and the fact that the committee itself describes the work as "drawing on sacred writings (Bible verses? - editor's note) and on theology in their argument" shows that it is also a religious work. The book also makes reference to at least 27 Bible verses.

In an interview yesterday on Radio 702, Evert Knoesen head of the Gay and Lesbian Equality Project said that he was on the board of the FPB. Africa Christian Action is concerned that the close ties between the FPB and homosexual activists may have influenced the classification committee's ruling. Co-author Christine Mc Cafferty says, "This book is based upon Biblical principles. If this book should be restricted so should the Bible. We are seeking further legal advice. Many similar books have been printed and published in Europe and the United States and none of them have been threatened with banning or with restriction. We believe this is a sad comment on the state of freedom of speech in South Africa. We are sure that there will be an outcry over this and members of the international media have already contacted us for comment for interviews."

Christine says, "This book cannot be defined as hate speech as it specifically speaks against violence. Rather than inciting to harm, the book encourages people to maintain a loving Christian witness toward those involved in homosexuality."

Christian Liberty Books has 30 days from Friday (1 February) to lodge an appeal. Copies of The Pink Agenda can be ordered from Christian Liberty Books at 689 7478. WHAT YOU CAN DO 1) Pray for the TRUTH to prevail! 2) Contact the Film and Publications Board at makaulan@FPB.WCAPE.GOV.ZA or fax 021 4656511 and express your concern about the ruling.

Below, for your interest please find the report of the Film and Publications Board. Please note that the document, including all the errors, is as we received it from the Film and Publications Board. ------------------------------------------------------------

Report of the Classification Committee concerning book "The Pink Agenda: Sexual Revolution South Africa and he Ruin of the Family" Date : Friday 25 January 2002 Place : Cape Town

"The Pink Agenda" Sexual Revolution in South Africa and the Ruin of the Family, by Christine Mc Cafferty, with Peter Hammond, Christian Liberty Books, Pinelands, 2002.

The classification committee's recommendation concerning this book, in response to complaints by members of the public, is that "The Pink Agenda" shall only be distributed to persons of 18 years of age and older, and that the publication should bear a distinct notice of such restriction.

The Committee, composed of three members of the Film and Publications Boaard, was chaired by Peter Merrington. The author and the publisher were present, to hear the basis of the complains by members of the public, and to defend their publication.

Members of the public submitted complains in which they claimed that this book constitutes hate speech and is likely to incite violence or harm against homosexual individuals in our society. The general theme of the book is an argument against the practice advocacy, and justification of homosexuality in contemporary society, both here in South Africa and in the United States. The point of view of the authors is fundamentally Christian Religions, drawing on sacred writings and on theology in their argument. The book also marshals a range of extra-religious material in its case against homosexuality, but the bulk of the material is drawn from the United States of America. The author argued that the book is a bonafide work of relifious, scientific and documentary nature and therefore deserved to be exempted, in accordance with schedule 5 of the Film and Publications Act.

The committee found that "The Pink Agenda" is not strictly a scientific or documentary work in good faith since the quality and depth and scope of research was very limited, and largely irrelevant to the situation in South Africa.

The Committee noted that the argument in "The Pink Agenda" had frequent recourse to slanderous techniques, for instance by associating homosexuality with child abuse, with drug abuser, criminality, and other forms of social deviance. The committee found that the book constitutes a very disturbing, negative and hurtful profile of the homosexual person. Two pages, in particular, go into unwanted detail in describing various sexual practices (oral and anal) which are associated with homosexuality.

Overall the committee found the argument procrustean ill substantiated, poorly researched, and highly tendentious. The author and publisher were concerned to emphasise that the book's primary intention is not to hurt homosexuals but to protect and reinforce the fabric of our society. It was put to them though that their strategy of doing so in his book is very oblique, that homosexuality affects only above 2% of the population, and that the aggressive assault which this book launches on homosexuality and homosexualism, is very much one of proportion.