Congressman cancels speech at antigay conference

U.S. representative Joseph R. Pitts, a Republican from Pennsylvania, abruptly canceled an appearance at a religious conference this weekend after learning Wednesday that members of the group sponsoring the gathering support executing gay people and abortion providers and stoning disobedient children. Pitts was scheduled to speak Saturday at the conference, sponsored by the Immanuel Free Reformed Church and the National Reform Association. The association supports imposing biblical law over U.S. law. Religious liberty watchdog group Americans United for Separation of Church and State wrote a letter to Pitts on November 12 urging the congressman to cancel his appearance and calling the members of the National Reform Association "so extreme, they would make the mullahs in Iran blush. Their bizarre agenda should be repudiated, not endorsed, by members of Congress."