When we talk about religious right groups , it's important that we don't allow that we don't allow them to whitewash their beliefs or activities.
A perfect example of someone trying to do this is Concerned Women for America founder
Beverly LaHaye speaking at a recent event in Texas about the history of her group:
Beverly LaHaye remembers standing in her kitchen about 30 years ago when she heard a secular feminist declare on national television that they spoke for America's women.
The California preacher's wife shared virtually none of National Organization for Women founder Betty Friedan's beliefs, LaHaye told a crowd of at least 100 people Monday during a dinner at the Lubbock Memorial Civic Center.
She realized Christian women were "in the majority, but we had no voice," LaHaye said. "We were silenced."
Three decades later, her nonprofit activist group, Concerned Women for America, included 500,000 members fighting for the return of conservative Christian values to American life, she said.
. . . LaHaye, the wife of the accomplished Christian leader the Rev. Tim LaHaye and the author of nine books about the importance of being an effective Christian wife and mother, urged the crowd attending the Southern Baptists of Texas annual convention to become more active in politics to defend those values.
She called for the reintroduction of God into the day-to-day functions of American politics, where she said the framers originally intended him to be as they created the country more than 200 years ago.
. . . She repeatedly encouraged the audience to "stand up against the wiles of the devil" and join their Christian faith and with activism.
"It's time for Christian men and women to stand up for righteousness," LaHaye said.
Now I could go on a tear about how her group, Concerned Women for America, is no different from all of the other religious right groups with its eagerness to demonize the lgbt community via Paul Cameron studies, junk science, and distorted science. I have in the past and most likely will do so in the future.
However, in this case, I think I will let the following comic do the talking.
This 1986 comic was created by a man named Dick Hafer and it is a vile representation of some of the most evil anti-gay lies out there.
This was the time when the AIDS crisis was in full bloom, ignorance was all around and Paul Cameron was a credible name.
If these images get you angry, then good.
They are supposed to:
You can click on the pictures to see them larger. If you want to see the entire comic (God help you)
go here.
But what does Beverly LaHaye have to do with this vile comic book that stigmatizes the lgbt community? Why she endorses it (again click on the image to get a larger view of it):
Her endorsement is the second one and reads as follows:
America needs to wake up to the facts regarding the Homosexual movement. Dick Hafer exposes the depravity of their lives iin his book, Deathstyle. This is a book which needs to be read by all of those concerned about our society and our nation.
The comic was was printed over 20 years ago, but far as I know, LaHaye has never rescinded her or Concerned Women for America's endorsement of it.
And that's just one of the reasons why this comic must not be forgotten, particularly when one takes into account that Concerned Women for America continues to use some of the bad statistics housed in it (i.e. Paul Cameron's work).
Also, never mind what you may see on shows like Hannity and the O'Reilly Factor when CWA and other religious right spokespeople come aboard with their carefully versed, clipped speech about the so-called persecution of Christians.
This comic book is their true face. And we should bring it out for public viewing with as much vigor as LaHaye and company try to hide it.
Editor's note - The webpage featuring this comic is not anti-gay. It's a site that looks at "problem-based comics" from the past.
