Matt Barber - 'Homosexuals are picking on me!'

My favorite religious right pet is at it again.

On Monday, the Liberty Counsel's Matt Barber made an absolutely ridiculous (even for him) comment that young lgbts are committing suicide because supposedly "they know they are committing a sin."

Needless to say Barber got some negative pushback - which he richly deserved - for such an irresponsible comment.

Today, he tried a little pushback himself. According to People for the American Way's Religious Right Watch, Barber spoke with another favorite religious right pet of mine, Peter LaBarbera, and proceeded to wax Biblical about the so-called wages of sin and homosexuality:

You know, scripture says ‘woe to those who call evil good and good evil.’ When homosexual activists and other ‘progressives’ in the pro-sin movement are exposed to biblical truth, their reaction is invariably visceral and loud. There’s ‘nothing new under the sun.’ This ‘kill the messenger’ strategy is age-old and knee-jerk. These folks, as a matter of course, call evil good and good evil. Of course their gripe isn’t with me. I’m nothing. I’m nobody. Their problem is with their Creator, the natural order and the fallen state of mankind. They’re just lost.

… Right, as you know I’ve never been one to mince words or sugarcoat things. That’s how God hardwired me. I also shared my opinion that many of those caught-up in the homosexual lifestyle intuitively know that such conduct is sin – that it’s both immoral and unnatural behavior. Objective truth is objective truth. God has written His laws on the hearts of every man, woman and child. We’re all spiritual beings created in the image of our sovereign Lord. We are also all sinners. Scripture says that not one of us is righteous. When we sin, we create separation between ourselves and God.

God’s word also says that when we sin sexually, it’s particularly egregious because our bodies are the temple of Christ. This separation from God – a natural result of sexual sin – can lead to depression and even despair. It’s a no brainer. I pointed out that such despair and inner conflict can logically be one factor that might contribute to teen suicide. It’s absolutely heartbreaking to witness, but it’s a very painful reality.

In reality, I doubt many of us in the lgbt community have a problem with Barber. I for one love it when he runs his mouth.  All the better for me to paint him as the personification of the religious right - seemingly organized and moral, much moneyed and highly connected. But in the very core of all of that "perfection" is a dark pit made up of deception and lies; naked hatred and foul homophobia.

So you will forgive me for laughing just a little. Okay a lot. It's always amusing to me how some folks  blame God for their hatred and call out Scripture to cover up their own homophobia. "Don't blame me," their mantra always seems to me." Blame God."

Yeah right. I'm sure it was God who led Barber to make ugly, vindictive remarks about members of the lgbt community, such as calling the transgender community "she-males" like he did in this tweet:

February 23, 2011: Today’s Army: Trannies, drag queens & she-males, oh my! http://tinyurl.com/6kcrssb

Or making uncalled-for remarks about our gay and lesbians fighting soldiers:

And I'm sure God is behind his constant and noticeable mentions of gay sex. I mean let's not forget his ruminations about anal intercourse - which shows he had obviously given it some thought:

There is nothing "conservative" about "one man violently cramming his penis into another man’s lower intestine and calling it 'love'";

That's right. The fact that Barber is a rabid homophobe who obsesses about gay sex is all because of God.  If this is the case, it would prove one thing - God has a seriously warped sense of humor.

EEOC calls HIV a disability and other Wednesday midday news briefs

Montana House Blocks Attempt to Decriminalize Homosexuality - Unbelievable.

DOMA is like a cobra - Nothing is more cute than a homophobe wearing earrings.

Cuomo to LGBT Leaders: I Expect Vote on Marriage Equality in ‘Six to Eight Weeks or Maybe Sooner’ - We will see.

New EEOC Regulations Include HIV as a Disability - I wonder how this will play out. I personally don't see any problems with it.

The Proper Way To Defend Marriage - Hilarious!!!!

Marcia Walden - another religious right story of lies

One of the most effective strategies of religious right organizations is to take an incident which looks like Christians are being discriminated against because of lgbt equality and push it hard in the media before the truth is discovered.

And usually the truth turns out that the situation is a bit more complicated than the "innocent Christian vs. intolerant homosexual agenda" scenario set up by these groups.

We've seen this in the recent case of the British couple who were turned down as foster parents.

And now to fight ENDA, the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, the Family Research Council is pulling out an old case - that of Marcia Walden.

From FRC's blog:

Marcia Walden, a licensed counselor in Georgia, explains why she was fired after referring a homosexual client to a colleague. Marcia referred the client to another colleague because offering counseling services would conflict with her Christian beliefs on homosexuality. Under ENDA legislation currently before Congress, Christian employers and employees across the nation would experience similar attacks on their Constitutional right to freedom of religion, speech and association.

FRC features a video of Walden tell her story. I won't embed that video because I think it's unfair. The purpose of the video is to gain sympathy for Walden. However appealing to emotions masks the fact that in this case, there are two sides to the story.

This is the real story according to court documents:

Walden's employer, Computer Science Corp had a contract with the CDC to provide counselors. Walden was counseling a CDC employee who told her about the problems she was having with her relationship with another woman. The employee had gotten emotional because it was a very sensitive situation involving a child in the relationship and forgery in order to steal credit.

It was then that Walden informed the CDC employee that her religious beliefs precluded her from providing counsel. Walden then sought another counselor to handle the client's referral.

Now even though the client was satisfied with the new counselor, she felt "judged and condemned" by Walden. She also felt that Walden's body language - her nonverbal communication - indicated disapproval of her relationship.

After an investigation, Walden's supervisor suggested another way she could refer clients to another counselor without mentioning her "personal values." Walden was specifically asked if she could tell clients in seeking same-sex relationship advice that she didn't have relationship counseling experience. Walden refused. Apparently Walden wanted to tell clients that her personal values precluded her from counseling them.

And this is the rest of the story via Pam's House Blend:

• The CDC later requested Walden's removal from the contract.

• With no other counseling positions available in the Atlanta area, CSC laid Walden off and noted that she would preserve her benefits if re-hired by CSC within a year.

• Walden refused to pursue further employment with CSC, believing that the inclusion/diversity policies made it hostile toward Christians.

So Marcia Walden's case is not about her being fired because of her Christian beliefs, but rather she handled duties. When people come in for counseling, it is generally a sensitive situation and they should not be made to feel like they have done anything wrong. Walden chose to express her beliefs in an unprofessional manner and was penalized for it.

By the way, the courts agreed because Walden lost her case.

But as we have seen on so many occasions with so many other cases, she lives on as a religious right cause celebre.