Wednesday, November 24, 2010

Newly named anti-gay hate groups plead victimhood but do not address charges

Well that was quick. I just knew something would happen that I had to address.

Apparently some organizations who are on the Southern Poverty Law Center's list and profiles of anti-gay hate groups aren't happy about it and their spokespeople are addressing the issue.

But the venue that they chose to address SPLC's list and the way that they are saying (or rather what they are not saying) raises some questions as to the accuracy of their complaints.

Coral Ridge Ministries's Robert Knight, Concerned Women for America's Wendy Wright, and Christian Anti-Defamation Coalition head Gary L. Cass all responded in outraged tones over SPLC's either profiling or designating their organizations as anti-gay hate groups.

The venue where they choose to address the charges was on the pages of World Net Daily, an online publication which is infamous for its anti-gay rhetoric.

A writer on the site, Les Kinsolving, has in the past referred to the lgbt community as the "sodomy lobby."

In October of this year, he called a judge’s order to stop enforcement of the military’s ban on gay and lesbian troops in the military as a "disease ridden judicial decision."

In August of this year, the publication dropped conservative writer Ann Coulter as a keynote speaker from a conference it held because she earlier spoke at a conference held by a gay Republican group.

And in February of this year, another writer on World Net Daily, Molotov Mitchell, spoke out in favor of Uganda's "Kill The Gays" bill, even evoking Martin Luther King Jr's name in defense of it.

Joining Cass, Perkins, and Knight was Tony Perkins of the Family Research Council in an official statement which may not have been put out to World Net Daily specifically but was still picked up by the publication.

The irony of appearing in an anti-gay online publication in order to complain about being unfairly targeted as anti-gay seemed to have escaped Perkins, Wright, Knight, and Cass. This is probably because they were too busy pleading victimhood.

Knight - "Smearing legitimate groups merely for disagreeing about homosexuality is a very hateful act."

Perkins - "The Left's smear campaigns of conservatives is being driven by the clear evidence that the American public is losing patience with their radical policy agenda as seen in the recent election and in the fact that every state, currently more than thirty, that has had the opportunity to defend the natural definition of marriage has done so . . ."

Cass - "We are going to form a coalition of organizations to lobby Congress to withhold funds from SPLC."

Wright - "If they were to judge according to actions, they would have to have a special section for homosexual groups that vandalize and threaten people who oppose the homosexual agenda. We've had death threats against us posted openly on websites because of our work to uphold traditional marriage."

Of course Wright did not say just which lgbt groups were threatening her organization. Nor did she, Knight, Perkins, or Cass directly address any of the charges lodged by the SPLC, which are listed in a detailed report.

For the record, Knight, whose name pops up several times in the report, is inaccurate when he said that groups are being smeared for voicing a mere objection to homosexuality. SPLC said the following in the report:

Generally, the SPLC’s listings of these groups is based on their propagation of known falsehoods — claims about LGBT people that have been thoroughly discredited by scientific authorities — and repeated, groundless name-calling. Viewing homosexuality as unbiblical does not qualify organizations for listing as hate groups.

SPLC also gave a detailed description as to what these falsehoods are, including the claims that:

Gays molest children at a higher rate than heterosexuals,

Same sex parents harm children,

Gays have a lifespan shorter than heterosexuals, and

Gays controlled the Nazi party in Germany and helped orchestrate the Holocaust.

SPLC contends that these groups are knowingly pushing these falsehoods.

Now it would seem to me that through all of the whining and clinging to the cross of victimization done by Knight, Perkins, Wright, and Cass would be some type of declaration that these charges aren't true.

Maybe some type of short statement such as "we never said these things" or "we were misconstrued."

But none of the four denied the fact that their organizations are pushing these falsehoods.

So while it seems that these groups aren't ignoring SPLC's charges, it's obvious that they are doing a insanely poor job of refuting them.


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8 comments:

Unknown said...

I hope Gary Cass does lobby Congress to withhold funding from the SPLC. The SPLC doesn't get government funding. Idiots.

ColdCountry said...

Of course they don't argue the charges. Actually, I surprised they don't just state that they aren't doing anything wrong because lying in the name of Jeebus is OK and leave it at that. (Not that they'd ever be that honest.)

They just don't get it, do they?

Chris Cool said...

With regards to ColdCountry's comment... I've said it before and I'll say it again: "A lie in the name of Jesus Christ wins brownie points with Satan." Too many Religious Right spokespeople don't seem to understand that.

WMDKitty said...

Is it wrong of me to laugh at these jackasses? Because that's about the only response I can muster.

@ColdCountry -- Apparently bearing false witness is only a sin if you're not doing so in the name of Jeebus.

Anonymous said...

Why do gays have to talk about homosexuality in school especially to elementary school children?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lu86DHW4LyU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8l8uOuVArAQ

BlackTsunami said...

My friend, no doubt you thought that the videos you linked to proved a point that gays are trying to "indoctrinate" children but the first video is taken from "It's Elementary," an excellent documentary which shows how to talk to children about lgbts.

There is nothing evil or sexual about it. Now the second video has to do with Kevin Jennings. Sorry my friend, but I have reported in much detail about how the right has tried to demonize him for his efforts to help lgbt students. There is nothing wrong with what he said in the video. And by the way, Brewster was of legal age.

The problem is that you, like those anti-gay hate groups, are inferring that mentioning lgbt issues have to do with sex and telling students about lgbts automatically mean you are talking about sexual intercourse. Your comment proves SPLC's point about how these groups exploit people's ignorance and fears about lgbts.

Linnea said...

What really makes me laugh is that these groups tried to lobby Congress to "withhold funds" from SPLC. Apparently, they have no idea that SPLC takes no government funding whatsoever... they rely solely on private donations. Deeply amusing!

Unknown said...

Black Tsunami, laying down the facts!