Hate group Family Research Council applauds Roy Moore's sad, illegal attempt to halt marriage equality

Roy Moore

Come on, Tony Perkins and the Family Research Council. Even YOU know better than to applaud Alabama Supreme Court Justice Roy Moore's illegal  - and FUTILE - action to halt marriage equality in Alabama

Then again:

Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore is used to being in headlines -- but Wednesday's weren't exactly accurate ones. Like several of the country's clerks and judges, Roy Moore made no secret of where he stands on same-sex marriage -- and he's fought it with every judicial tool at his disposal. And while some have accused him of defying the Supreme Court's decision to redefine marriage, the reality is that Moore is simply holding out until an official decision is reached in his state.

Most people are probably wondering: Didn't the Supreme Court already make that determination for Alabama in Obergefell? The answer is yes and no. Last spring, before five justices decided to rewrite thousands of years of natural law, the Alabama Supreme Court had upheld the state's marriage amendment. Now that the Supreme Court has ruled, there's some confusion as to what the state's decision means in light of that. Right now, the Alabama Supreme Court is currently considering the impact of Obergefell on its ruling last March.

FRC president Tony Perkins

Until it rules, Chief Justice Moore is telling probate judges to continue to follow his administrative order from last March: "Until further decision by the Alabama Supreme Court, the existing orders of the Alabama Supreme Court that Alabama probate judges have a ministerial duty not to issue any marriage license contrary to the Alabama Sanctity of Marriage Amendment or the Alabama Marriage Protection Act remain in full force and effect."

To be clear, this is an administrative order -- not a ruling on the merits. All it does is simply reaffirm Moore's position while the Alabama Supreme Court deliberates. The media, however, seized on the memo to probate judges as proof that Justice Moore is somehow rebelling against the courts. In reality, he's simply doing what he can to delay the process and force others to act -- instead of willfully allowing same-sex "marriage" in Alabama on his watch. Nothing that Justice Moore has done is outside of his authority or the boundaries of his role. Until the state supreme court rules (and there's little doubt as to how they will), no outcome from the high court is final. In the meantime, we applaud Justice Moore for morally and constitutionally opposing an unjust ruling -- and ensuring that the state's process is followed before the redefinition of marriage is unleashed there.

There is NO confusion. SCOTUS declared marriage equality legal and that's the end of it. Let's not play games here. Roy Moore is a cheap, dictatorial demagogue who seems to think that HIS religious beliefs supersedes America's laws and court procedures.  He is a fool with power, which makes him a somewhat dangerous fool, but a fool nonetheless.

And the fact that the Family Research Council jumps through hoops to defend his madness more than adequately demonstrates its anti-gay animus and gives proper justification as to why it was declared to be an anti-gay hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center.

Now meanwhile, in the REAL world:

Two federal prosecutors in Alabama say that Alabama probate judges are not free to disobey the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling on same-sex marriage and deny gay couples marriage licenses, despite an order from Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore.

"The Chief Justice of the Alabama Supreme Court has issued an administrative order, directing probate judges that they may not issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples, despite the U.S. Supreme Court's decision last year on marriage equality," according to a statement issued Wednesday night by U.S. Attorneys Joyce White Vance of the Northern District of Alabama and Kenyen Brown of the Southern District of Alabama.

"We have grave concerns about this order, which directs Alabama probate judges to disobey the ruling of the Supreme Court," Vance and Brown stated. "Government officials are free to disagree with the law, but not to disobey it. This issue has been decided by the highest court in the land and Alabama must follow that law."

Anti-gay activist Theodore Shoebat furious that other bigots think of him as too mean

If this is an indication of how 2016 will be, I am going to be eating lots of popcorn.

From Right Wing Watch:

One of the reasons that we started regularly covering extremist right-wing activist Theodore Shoebat and his open calls for gays to be put to death was because he was featured in Janet Porter's anti-gay documentary "Light Wins" along with Republican presidential candidates, members of Congress, and leading anti-gay activists. Once Shoebat's views began to be exposed, his allies in the "pro-family" movement began to distance themselves from him, and Peter LaBarbera of Americans For Truth About Homosexuality, who is an anti-gay extremist in his own right and who also appeared in Porter's documentary, disavowed Shoebat and his call to execute gays. That, of course, did not sit very well with Shoebat, who blasted LaBarbera in his latest video as a "filthy pig" and a "traitor" for refusing that stand by Shoebat and his calls to put gays to
death

.

Shoebat is a disgusting piece of garbage but I fail to see how 'Porno'  Pete LaBarbera is any different. or how he can attack Shoebat without taking into account his own words and actions. Shoebat wishes for lgbts to be violently executed. LaBarbera wants policies and laws in place which would slowly but surely kill our souls and spirits.  That's vile enough, but when you destroy a person's spirit, you put them in a position where they wish for death and act accordingly either by suicide or embracing dangerous behaviors (such as drug abuse, etc). Shoebat and LaBarbera are two sides of the same coin. LaBabera is too cowardly to be proud of the potential blood on his hands. Shoebat isn't.

'Roy Moore flails helplessly against marriage equality' & other Thur midday news briefs

Roy Moore

Alabama Chief Justice Screwed 66 Judges - First of all, the title of this article makes me nauseated and jealous at the same time. That aside, it's amusing to see Moore think that he can overrule SCOTUS. People say we should ignore this. I say we use it because Moore has obviously teed off more folks besides lgbts with his antics. 

Anti-Gay Activists Rally Behind Roy Moore, Who Touts 'States' Rights' - And his supporters aren't exactly helping his fruitless cause either.  

A Dejected Mike Huckabee Is Now Just Burning Bridges With The Religious Right - MEANWHILE, poor Mike Huckabee is acting like a stone cold wiaaaatch (minus the "w", add the "b") because the religious right have deserted him for Ted Cruz. This is just too fun to watch.  

Methodist Minister Comes Out As A Lesbian During Sermon - One of the times I'm mad that I missed going to church. 

 LGBT and the War on Christianity - Wonderful post about bogarting and attempting to entitle yourself to designate people as Christian or not Christian.

Anti-gay hate group attacks ad for featuring same-sex family

The anti-gay American Family Association is going into orbit about a commercial featuring a same-sex family.

In fact, the organization  has begun an online petition decrying it. According to the Huffington Post:

 . . . (the petition calls) for supporters to urge the insurance company to "stop its promotion of normalizing homosexual parenting when children's welfare is at stake."
The petition reads:

The Allstate promotion does not share the reality that this child will grow up without the nurture that only a mother can provide. Nor does Allstate recognize the emotional trauma and questions this child will endure growing up in a home with two men.

Pointing to a debunked 2012 study that claimed to prove children of same-sex parents fared worse than those raised by heterosexual couples, AFA officials said, "Allstate has abandoned God's design for the family, and thus promotes a lifestyle that is not good for children."

Many have given their opinion on this nonsense and many of those opinions have been wonderful.

But as for me, I can't help wondering how does presidential candidate Marco Rubio feel about the situation? After all, he is making a campaign issue about rallying to the side of those against marriage equality. He even whines about marriage equality opposition being called "bigots." 

One wonders this includes those who will blatantly attack same-sex families.

Self-immolation of progressive minister still a mystery after two years

Editor's note - the cable/internet war is over and I won. Now to continue in hopes that my readers are still interested in what I have to say:

Moore

You can take whatever you want out of this - a brave cry for social justice, a depressed man attempting to do something about the chaos around him, or whatever. One thing is for sure - it does create a certain clarity as to how one sees life:

From Unicorn Booty:

The evening of Monday, June 23, 2014, Charles Moore — a 79-year-old retired Methodist Reverend — drove to a Dollar General parking lot in his rural hometown of Grand Saline, Texas, doused himself in gasoline and set himself on fire. For hours afterwards, neither Moore’s witnesses nor his family had any idea why.

Moore had grown up in Grand Saline — a sleepy, livestock and farming town of just 3,136 people — but he left in 1954 to attend university. Outside of a brief stay following his first divorce in ‘78, he hadn’t spent much time there. For the last seven years, he had been living with his third wife Barbara in Allen, a suburb just outside of Dallas, where he would play with his grandchildren at the local park, watch Cowboys games with his stepson-in-law, gripe about Tea Party politics and write alone in his study. 

But unbeknownst to them, he’d fallen into a depression after his retirement in 2000. After decades of preaching in churches across Texas, rebuilding impoverished communities around the world and doing activist work for death row inmates, poor people and LGBT outcasts, he wrote in his journal, “I am not proud of the timidity [those years of work] represent or their avoidance of physical danger.” He felt ashamed for being “completely inactive” since his retirement and for living in an “arch-conservative” Dallas suburb, adding that he’d “been nothing but a cringing coward” ever since.

“My life has been, and is, a great misery over these issues,” Moore lamented, “and I have done absolutely nothing about any of them for a long time.”

Read the full piece here

'Ben Carson confronted at town hall about his homophobic rhetoric' & other Tue. midday news briefs

Editor's note - The cable/internet battle of Senate St continues at my residence(see my last post) and will hopefully end by tomorrow afternoon. Until then, enjoy these news briefs :

Ben Carson gets called out for his homophobia

Ben Carson confronted at town hall event: ‘Do you think I chose to be gay?’ - Presidential candidate Ben Carson gets confronted by a voter because of his past anti-gay rhetoric and it is spectacular. The only thing missing seems to be the defiant cigarette jab to the skies used by Angela Bassett in "Waiting to Exhale" when she burned her cheating husband's belongings.

Ben Carson Says He Would Consider Banning Gays In Military, Decide On 'Evidence' (Video) - As seen by this, certain confrontations are needed.

 Gordon Klingenschmitt Says Gays Are Driven By A 'Demonic Spirit Of Lust' To Persecute Christians - Klingenschmitt gives us such an embarrassment of riches that it's simply too easy to take advantage.  

Legislators, leave your gay neighbors alone - This is a wonderful column by someone I am proud to say is a very good friend of mine.  

Georgia Lawmakers To Push Pair Of Anti-LGBT ‘Religious Liberty’ Bills - Goody! Goody! Let's dance!

'Meet the anti-gay billionaires who are backing Ted Cruz' & other Mon midday news briefs

Upate - Due to technical difficulties beyond my control - I.e. a cut cable wire, at least until Wednesday afternoon, news briefs will be the only thing I can post  because I have no home internet service. Don't desert me just yet, loyal readers.

Editor's note - It's 2016 so let's just slowly ease into this year with a few news briefs before we really begin so. me fun:

Forget the Koch Bros for a second. The Wilks Bros are more dangerous

Inside the Anti-Gay Church That Loves Kim Davis and Ted Cruz - It's scary when real life beings to resemble a James Bond movie and a comic book. The second most dangerous people in the world are those who think their religion should shape society. The first most dangerous people is the second most dangerous people who have an obscenely large amount of money. 

Reno juvenile hall stops preaching against homosexuality - A victory for our lgbt children.  

Celebrating Our Right to Marry While Acknowledging the Psychological Scars - A piece I wrote last week which I reshaped for The Huffington Post. There is nothing wrong with lgbts admitting that we aren't bullet-proof or that we can "sashay, shantay" away our psychological scars. Acknowledging that they exist is the first step to defeating them.

 Charlotte Council to Take Up LGBT Protections Despite Threats From Anti-Gay State Lawmakers - Charlotte City Council comes out swinging for lgbt protections. I like that!  

Scott Lively Begs For Money And Calls For Passage Of Russian-Style Anti-Gay Laws Around The World - Modesty and good taste precludes me from saying what I want to say about Scott Lively. I have to remember that as long as he talks, the better lgbts look to the world. 

 Scalia: Constitution Doesn't Ban Government From Supporting Religion - Naturally he probably means the religion HE believes. Scalia is a nasty fungus on SCOTUS. He should have never been appointed and there needs to be some type of "how we got over" party when he leaves. If his remarks here doesn't convince you on that, then nothing will.