Matt Barber - Jesus's Sleazeball

Apparently the disease of the mouth which affects the American Family Association's Bryan Fischer is spreading to other religious right figures.

According to People for the American Way's Right Wing Watch:

Liberty Counsel’s Matt Barber took to the airwaves to bash President Obama and organizations working towards bullying-prevention, joining other Religious Right opponents of anti-bullying programs. Along with Shawn Akers, who like Barber works for both Liberty University and Liberty Counsel, Barber railed against the alleged use of “a ‘Trojan Horse’ strategy, using language of bullying and violence and creating safe schools” to implement “a homosexual activist political indoctrination agenda and a curriculum of pro-homosexual propaganda.” Barber also said that Obama is “furthering a separate but equal policy” that supposedly favors gay and lesbian students and employs an “Alinsky-style, homo-fascist tactic to stifle any dissent.” Barber concluded by claiming that “kids who are engaging in homosexual behavior often look inward and know that what they are doing is unnatural, is wrong, is immoral, and so they become depressed and the instances of suicide can rise there as well.”

Just in case you have the stomach for it, here is the video:




This isn't the first time Barber has made negative comments about young lgbts. In October of last year, he referred to young gay men  who had recently committed suicide as "sexually confused."

By the time I've gotten home today, Barber's comments had been discussed and vilified by several other blogs. Subsequently, that leaves me racking my brain trying to think of a new angle.

But I can't. Matt Barber is a sleazeball. He is the very worst of those who would call themselves Christian. Is this what the body of Christ is about; a bloated, ignorant man who makes his money off of attacking and stigmatizing a community of Americans simply because he doesn't like their sexual orientation?

For the record, Barber is not a physician nor is he a researcher. He is a failed boxer and a failed insurance salesman who weasled his way into a prime post with the religious right. His entire career has been a lie and a mockery to all that's is truly moral.

Now those who have a background in such things say that when lgbt children are bullied and picked on, they are more likely more to be depressed and more likely to commit suicide.

Barber doesn't know what the hell he is talking about and what's worse is the phony pity he displays for lgbt youth in light of the fact that his comments and actions regarding the lgbt community in general resemble that of a schoolyard bully.

Among other things, he

criticized Home Depot for daring to acknowledge that same-sex households exist,

slurred the name of an Obama appointee in a pitiful attempt to be clever,

defended countries that persecute lgbts,

told a highly dubious story about a gay man sexually assaulting men in his military unit, and

compared lgbts and progressives in general to idol worshippers and child sacrificers of Biblical times.

But it is in the area of "criticizing," i.e. talking about gay sex where Barber has made a, shall we say, niche for himself.

During one of those annoyingly dreary "God is telling us to take back America" conferences in September of last year, Barber reportedly urged attendees to

. . .focus on the “ick” factor around gay sex and on claims that homosexuality is a health threat, which he called the movement’s “Achilles heel.”

This is not even counting the vindictive comments he has made about members of the lgbt community via his tweets:

•  January 14, 2011: “Look pal, you won’t be able to ‘ask’ or ‘tell’ if you don’t get your hand off my knee! http://yfrog.com/h4d67zoj
•  January 25, 2011: Soldiers, does your foxhole buddy have your back or want to rub it?
•  January 29, 2011: Drudge:”Man Subjected To Body Cavity Search At Traffic Stop.” Other News: “Barney Frank Waves Down Police in Traffic.” http://tiny.cc/spo05
•  January 30, 2011: DADT repeal implementation underway. “Slap fighting” & “tickle parties” to be added to special forces training. http://tiny.cc/jfcdx
•  January 31, 2011: She-male model stirs Brazil fashion show. In other news: Man buys Rolex & discovers it’s a knock-off. http://bit.ly/gxcfVW
•  January 31, 2011: SNL skit mocking Tranny inanity has homosexual activists fuming (warning: a little crude) http://bit.ly/ewYd0A
•  February 1, 2011: Queering the Marines: From morally upright 2 immorally down-low. From semper fidelis 2 limp-wristed fellas http://bit.ly/fBcuqH
•  February 23, 2011: Today’s Army: Trannies, drag queens & she-males, oh my! http://tinyurl.com/6kcrssb
•  February 25, 2011: The homofascist bullying & brainwashing begins: “Combat troops to get gay sensitivity training:” http://bit.ly/dKqh4b

Seems to me if Matt Barber really cared about lgbt youth, he would put a gag in his mouth.  And if he really cared about the integrity of his Christianity, he would keep the gag in his mouth.

GOP candidates want to reinstate DADT and other Monday midday news briefs

Transgender Protections Bill Clears Maryland House - Not bad. Not bad at all.

Boston Globe: 'Same-sex marriage no longer such a divisive political issue' - I am still cynical about that. The right always has a way of whipping up resentment and fear.

Go ahead, GOP -- let Bryan Fischer moderate your debates. Please. We insist. - Pay attention. This will come back to haunt GOP Presidential candidates.

Haley Barbour Joins Mike Huckabee, Tim Pawlenty In Call To Undo DADT Repeal - Ugh. And speaking of things that will come back to haunt GOP Presidential candidates.

Religious right using Exodus/Apple controversy to make money, settle old scores

Actress Olivia DeHavilland once remarked in a movie that "you just can't keep hogs away from the trough."

That statement is definitely one which sprung in my mind during the Exodus International/Apple controversy.

Last week, the organization Truth Wins Out led the charge to get Apple to dump Exodus International's "gay cure" phone app through a petition which over 150,000 people signed.

Now there has been some controversy over this, including in the lgbt community, because some felt that Truth Wins Out violated Exodus's International's free speech.

Nonsense. Apple is a private company and freely chose to remove that app after the complaints. Also, Apple shouldn't have approved the app in the first place. The ex-gay methodology is junk science and leads folks to down a primrose path of lies in thinking that their God-given sexual orientation is something they should be ashamed of. That sort of thing causes more harm than good by sowing self-hatred and repression.

If Apple wants to approve apps for junk science, then why not one for lobotomy or phrenology?

Naturally the reactions to controversy have been varied. The Family Research Council wasn't even involved, but has the temerity to raise money from the situation:

A story in the news this week proves once again what we’ve been saying for years. Liberals want to silence pro-family conservatives like you and me. In a stunning decision, Apple withered under pressure from homosexual activists and censored an application that offers help to people struggling with homosexuality. The app for ex-gays was created by Exodus International–and before this week, it had a 4+ rating from the iTunes store. Exodus is another victim of the growing campaign to silence Christianity in America. As a reader of my emails, you know that the Southern Poverty Law Center falsely labeled FRC a “hate group” for standing for biblical norms regarding sexuality. Liberal activists use this label and demand that media outlets censor FRC staff and research.

We are honored to serve on these frontlines, but we need your help. Please help us stand for marriage and healthy human sexuality with your gift today.

Does the Family Research really want to remind people of its hate group designation, especially in light of the fact that the organization has yet to come up with a detailed response as to how can comparing gays to pedophiles, telling lies about the supposed short gay life span, and claiming that gay parents hurt children (all of which FRC has done) can  be seen as "biblical norms."

But as for religious right responses, none takes the cake like Peter LaBarbera of Americans for Truth:

In an interview with the American Family Association's One News Now, LaBarbera said the following:

"Major corporations are now openly discriminating against people of faith at the hands of radical homosexual groups like Truth Wins Out -- and don't be fooled by the name. Truth Wins Out is one of the most hateful, extremist homosexual organizations on the planet, and they're targeting ex-gays for their persecution."

And then on his own webpage, LaBarbera, who obviously never misses a chance to milk a situation, went a bit farther with a dig against Exodus International:

There are some interesting side stories and ironies to this second of two Apple cave-ins to LGBT pressure-campaigns. One is that Exodus International — a leading umbrella group for people desiring to abandon homosexual practice or resist unwanted same-sex desires – has gone out of its way (too far, in our view) NOT to offend homosexual activists. And look where it got them. In fact, a while back Exodus declared that it was disengaging from the ”Culture War” over homosexuality (in favor of ministry pursuits) – yet now it is thrust right back into it. This is a lesson for all naive Christians who think that by somehow sidestepping the cultural battle over homosexuality, it won’t rage on, with homosexual activists attempting to muzzle the Gospel.

LaBarbera's snide comment no doubt stems from a situation in 2009 when he and Exodus Vice President Randy Thomas had a very public feud over a vulgar comment made by the Liberty Counsel's Matt Barber about lgbts.

Exodus International raised an objection to the following comment made by Barber, which LaBarbera published on his webpage:

It boils down to this: there is nothing “conservative” about — as Barber inimitably puts it — “one man violently cramming his penis into another man’s lower intestine and calling it ‘love.’” Or two women awkwardly mimicking natural procreative relations or raising a child together in an intentionally fatherless home.

Exodus's objection led to an amusing flame war on Exodus's webpage between Thomas and LaBarbera which allowed us to gain a peek at the pettiness of the so-called Christian personalities fighting against the alleged gay agenda.

No doubt, LaBarbera felt the need to settle old scores in his response to the the Apple situation by, with Christian love of course, kicking Exodus International when they are down.

So the way I look at it, the Exodus/Apple controversy is a win for the lgbt community.

We demonstrated what we can get accomplished when we all are on the same wavelength and two entities who fight hard against our equality have been exposed for being money-hungry and calculating (FRC) and vindictive (Peter LaBarbera).