A new crowdfunding site is offering a platform for people of faith to raise funds and awareness for their causes. An initiative of the non-profit Jewish Institute for Global Awareness (JIFGA), fundingmorality.com "provides a venue for people of faith to be supported because they will not compromise their moral and biblical convictions and who thus have been persecuted by those intolerant of traditional Judeo-Christian worldviews."
Arthur Goldberg, founder of JIFGA, spoke with Church Militant. "We're going to basically have a site that will try to raise money for those who are standing up for biblical values," he said.
According to the press release issued this week,
This platform is designed to respond in a positive manner to the anti-family, anti-life, anti-religious liberty decisions of the existing "crowd funding" organizations by profiling cases supportive of traditional moral values that need assistance. ... The platform will highlight people and projects that reflect this worldview as codified in the Noahide Laws, which are premised upon Biblical values as revealed to Noah after the Flood.
Goldberg first became sensitive to the issue after he endured litigation last year brought by gay activists, who sued his former organization for seeking to help cure people of same-sex attraction.
View Stephanie Packer's Journey
Brought by the radical leftist group Southern Poverty Law Center, the lawsuit accused Goldberg of consumer fraud, a charge Goldberg vigorousy denied. The court, evidencing clear bias, refused to allow him to bring expert witnesses to testify on his behalf, even comparing his counseling center to the Flat Earth Society. After protracted and costly litigation, the court ordered Goldberg to shut down operations in December, after which he went on to found JIFGA .
Goldberg commented to Church Militant on the ordeal. "I said, Gee, I'm able to raise this [money], but what about all the people who can't?"
"Someone is dealing with pro-family, pro-life, religious liberty issues, etc. - [traditional crowdfunding sites] generally don't want to allow it on," he explained, "or if they find out about it, they kick it off. There are lots of examples of this."
Some of these examples include Arlene's Flowers, a Washington State florist penalized for refusing to provide flowers for a gay wedding, as well as Sweet Cakes Bakery in Oregon, fined $135,000 for refusing to bake a cake for a lesbian couple's wedding. Both parties tried to raise money for the costs of litigation through GoFundMe, which eventually shut down their campaigns for allegedly being "anti-gay."
Stephanie Packer, whose story is currently featured at fundingmorality.com, is a wife and mother of four diagnosed with scleroderma, a disease that attacks the lungs and vital organs. The terminal condition has left Packer unable to digest food, so she is fed through a tube with the help of her husband. Doctors are currently working on experimental treatments to help prolong her life.
After her diagnosis, her insurance company stopped paying for treatments, and instead advised her - after her state of California legalized assisted suicide - that it would cover life-ending medication for her for a co-pay of only $1.20. Packer, a practicing Catholic, refused the offer.
As the website explains, "Stephanie's experience with insurance led her to become a Patient Advocate & Spokesperson for end of life issues. She testified at a NJ Senate hearing against legislation that would legalize Physician Assisted Suicide in that state."
Goldberg is asking that faith-based individuals with similar struggles turn to fundingmorality.com to bring awareness to their story and raise funds for their cause.
"The faith-based people, the religious people, instead of going to GoFundMe, go to this site," he told Church Militant. "It's the only one out there that's going to be consistently having the moral values that we should all stand for."
"And there are so many different issues that we're trying to fight at the same time," he continued, "whether it be life issues, whether it be gay issues, whether it be religious liberty issues, whether it be academic freedom."