Analyzing and refuting the inaccuracies lodged against the lgbt community by religious conservative organizations. Lies in the name of God are still lies.
I found the above ridiculous conversation between the Liberty Counsel's Matt Barber and Mat Staver to be very interesting. They were making a illogical comparison about how naming anti-gay groups is similar to what the Nazi party did to the Jews in German before World War 2. Staver lists a bunch of things he claims the Nazis did to stigmatize those of the Jewish faith.. I found it very telling when one makes a real comparison:
Staver - Nazis painted false straw man images of Jewish people. But isn't this was what Staver did in October 2011 when he said that gay rights will doom civilization:
Staver - Nazis dehumanized Jews. But isn't this what Barber, Staver's radio cohost, did to gays in September 2011 when he claimed that gays advance pedophilia:
And Staver himself did to gays in early April this year when he and Barber claimed that "tolerance" of gays is a cancer which destroys societies:
Staver - Nazis fanned an environment where people hated Jews. But by falsely labeling gays as sex-obsessed in the following clip, isn't Staver - and Barber - doing the same thing:
I generally don't like to pull out a reference to Nazis, but I also don't like unfair comparisons. And, truth be told, if we were to ask the question just whose rhetoric mostly resembles that of the Nazi party, I think Staver's and Barber's has the lgbt community beaten by a couple of miles.
NOM Openly Advocates For Anti-Gay Business Discrimination - I've said it once and I will say it again - if businesses can use the "religious liberty" argument to discriminate against gays, where does it stop? Who else can be discriminated against?
As evidenced by the above biased report from Pat Robertson's 700 Club, the Familly Research Council and the American Family Association are working hard to push the pseudo controversy of them being called hate groups by an army officer.
One thing though. If you whine about being called a hate group based upon rhetoric, perhaps its best that the main person responsible for your plight not be the main person defending you. I mean with all of the video around on youtube, having Bryan Fischer playing defense over charges of hate doesn't exactly seem all that credible:
Gay characters in soap operas are now more common place and that's because of good storylines and actors, rather than silly melodrama. The following is one of the first and best:
Ryan (Philippe) appeared on One Life to Live during the summer of 1992. Ryan's role was a breakthrough one: daytime television's first gay teenager. Ryan plays Billy Douglas, newcomer to the town of Llanview.
Billy is reluctant to tell anyone of his homosexuality, especially his parents. He is able, however, to confide in the town's pastor, Andrew. And then, due to the scheming of a woman Andrew scorned, rumors fly around town, that the pastor is a homosexual and has made advances on Billy.
The town quickly displays it's homophobia, with Billy's parents leading the way, demanding for the removal of Reverend Andrew from the parish. Upon witnessing the town's reaction Billy is now even more afraid to reveal his secret. Yet his silence only draws Andrew into deeper criticism.
It all comes down to a dramatic moment when the town meets at the parish where Andrew gives a riveting speech on the disease of prejudice and homophobia. Billy takes a public stand, against his father and in support of Andrew.
FRC Blames ‘Sexual Liberalism’ and ‘Family Breakdown’ for Mass Murders - The Family Research Council celebrates the defeat of background checks legislation in the Senate because apparently if Jesus had a gun, he wouldn't have been crucified (I'm being extremely snarky in the last part. In this day and age, you have to clarify everything, including a fart.)
As the situation in Boston reaches its crescendo, let's not forget our lgbt children. Today is GLSEN's Day of Silence across America's schools. What is the Day of Silence? Allow these videos to tell you:
Several religious right groups have been on a tear lately about the following:
A Fort Campbell lieutenant colonel’s email to subordinates regarding extremism and hate groups “inconsistent with Army Values” has raised the ire of evangelical Christians both locally and nationwide.
The message, which appears to have been generated by a single individual and not part of an Army-approved training program or command-generated memorandum, lists several state and national organizations with extensive support among the Christian conservative right – including the American Family Association and Family Research Council – as domestic hate groups.
The email that set off the controversy last week was actually sent by Lt. Col. Jack L. Rich to officer and non-commissioned officer subordinates on Friday, Aug. 10, 2012.
Now when the Family Research Council, the American Family Association (two groups mentioned in the email), and their allies (which includes Fox News "cultural reporter" Todd Starnes) complain about this letter - which they had been doing ad naseum, they claimed that the Rich was attacking "Christian" groups or ministries. Starnes even blames Obama and says he is "religiously cleansing" the military.
I have a feeling that we will be seeing and hearing more about this letter, so let's examine the crux of what it says. It talks about various hate groups, but I am willing to bet that the part which really gets FRC, AFA, and Starnes upset is as follows:
The religious right in America has employed a variety of strategies in
its efforts to beat back the increasingly confident gay rights movement.
One of those has been defamation. Many of its leaders have engaged in
the crudest type of name-calling, describing LGBT people as “perverts”
with “filthy habits” who seek to snatch the children of straight parents
and “convert” them to gay sex. They have disseminated disparaging
“facts” about gays that are simply untrue assertions that are remarkably
reminiscent of the way white intellectuals and scientists once wrote
about the “bestial” black man and his supposedly threatening sexuality.
For the life of me, I can understand why the Family Research Council and the American Family Association are upset. I mean it's not like they have used crude name-calling against the lgbt community:
Or linked gays to pedophilia:
Or spread disparaging and untrue assertions about gays:
I mean that's ridiculous:
Completely ridiculous:
Because if these things were true, then that would mean that their claim of being attacked because of their faith is a lie and a dodge created to obscure the point that Rich's letter was correct and they are anti-gay hate groups whose influence would damage the cohesiveness of our military force by exploiting the fears of heterosexual soldiers against their gay and lesbian fellow soldiers.
And it would mean that perhaps these groups and those who defend them (that especially includes Starnes) should worry less about Rich's letter and more about their definition of a "Christian" group or ministry because, unless I don't know my Bible, no Christian group lies, distorts, or bears false witness against any group, including gays.
