Who Are the Real Extremists?

WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW

By Senator Rev. Rubén Díaz

District 32 Bronx County, New York

Tel 718-991-3161

WHO ARE THE REAL EXTREMISTS?

Ladies and Gentlemen, you should know, that recently, our beloved Governor, Andrew Cuomo made some outrageous statements by saying “Who are they? Are they these extreme conservatives who are right-to-life, pro-assault weapon, anti-gay? Is that who they are? Because if that’s who they are and they are the extreme conservatives, they have no place in the State of New York, because that’s not who New Yorkers are.”

With these words, our Governor has created a new class of citizens who are in danger of extermination, a new class of citizens who are in a worse situation and in more need of protection than any undocumented resident of New York State. According to the Governor, “There is no place in the State of New York” for any citizens that oppose gay marriage, abortion or who are in favor of the Second Amendment of the United States Constitution.

According to New York State Governor Cuomo, anyone that favors life and rejects abortion is an “extreme conservative.”

You should know that since 1973 when the United States Supreme Court legalized abortion in our nation, close to fifty-seven million (57,000,000) abortions have been performed in America! Forty- one (41) years of killing babies! For the past forty-one (41) years, these are the following statistics in our nation:

2.6 abortions every minute,

157 abortions every hour,

3,786 abortions every day,

26,577 abortions every week,

115,167 abortions every month,

1.382 million abortions every year,

Totaling 56,662,162 abortions in forty-one (41) years.

According to Governor Andrew Cuomo, anyone who thinks and believes that these numbers are too much is an “extreme conservative” and has no place in our state.

Could you imagine, that there is no place in New York State for anyone who believes that life starts at the moment of conception, that it is sacred and that life should be respected at all stages and that anyone who believes in the authentic definition of marriage as established by God should find no place in New York State? Talk about “extremist.”

I would like to call your attention to a column written by Mr. Ed Mechmann, in the New York Post on Wednesday, January 22, 2014, titled “Who are the real extremists here?” In that column, Mr. Mechmann, described various types of extremism that I believe are worth letting you know about.

1. Who are the extremists? The public officials, the advocates who are not satisfied with New York State being the abortion capital of the United States, a place where 110,000 abortions take place every year.

2. Who are the extremists? The people who oppose any reasonable regulation on abortion, including involving parents in decisions made by minors, etc., etc.?

3. Who are the extremists? Those who want non-doctors to be able to perform abortions and putting women’s lives at risk?

4. Who are the extremists? Those advocates who oppose health and safety regulations in clinics and who fight any effort to inspect clinics?

5. Who are the extremists? Those who want to redefine marriage and the family beyond recognition?

6. Who are the extremists? Those who refuse to recognize faith-based objections and slander those who stand on their faith for life and marriage?

Ladies and gentleman you should know that we know the tactics of intimidation and pressure used in our political world to quiet the voices of those in opposition. Those tactics include cutting funds from your office budget, cutting office expenses and space, not approving any one of your pieces of legislation, ostracizing you, not inviting you to their meetings and the worst of all, calling you names, laughing and making fun of you because of your heavy accent, and now making you feel guilty by calling you “Extreme Conservative” and to paint you as a fool because of your beliefs and defense of your faith.

To all those millions of noble and distinguished residents of New York State, Jews, Muslims, Christians and Gentiles who are pro-life and who defend the institution of marriage by opposing same sex marriage, do not allow these threats to make you abandon your faith.

As the Rev. Jesse Jackson used to say: “Keep the faith, baby” or as King David of Jerusalem told his wife Michal: “I am doing this to honor the Lord who chose me...and I will go on dancing in front of him and I shall continue honoring my Lord” (I Samuel 6:21), or as we read in The New Testament, Jesus saying: “Blessed are they who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when they insult you and persecute you and utter every kind of evil against you [falsely] because of me. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward will be great in heaven. Thus they persecuted the prophets who were before you” (Matthew 5: 10-12).

I am State Senator Rev. Rubén Díaz, and this is what you should know.