The Most Violent Pastor In America

Yes, it's Ken Hutcherson. Remember: he's the guy who said that if a man opened a door for him, he'd rip his arm off! His unwavering stance against gay marriage is getting more vitriolic and he is someone to watch ...very, very carefully.

Uh, Is That John Revolta?

"Hollywood is controlled by homosexual Jewish men who expect favors in return for sexual activity."
It was divulged yesterday that Johnn Travolta is being sued by his masseur for homosexual advances. Oh Boy!

Oh, how the mighty tits have fallen!

Writing About the Twisted World of DL Foster

When passion is involved, it can take a long time to write about something, especially something newsworthy. That's the frustration a journalist/reporter/blogger can face: immediacy can fall to the wayside. The Christian Right's obsessions with sex and homosexuality seemed to peak last week, with the National Organization for Marriage leading the way for bigotry with its "wedge memo." 

It didn't.


I will be busy this weekend writing about the twisted world of "ex-gay", rabidly anti-gay Pastor DL Foster. 
Wish me luck.

Hate Ascending To The Heavens: Rabid Hate Groups Rise, With Anti-Gay Church Groups Leading The Choir!

(summary: Anti-gay, faith-based hate groups are on the rise and the Southern Poverty Law Center has just released its final list. This post is an up-to-date attempt at educating the reader about all of them - with the least amount of snarky cynicism. It's a lengthy - but serious - read. And yes, it's a work in progress.)
The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) has just published its list of hate groups in the U.S. up through 2011: an increase in such groups of 61 percent in the last 11 years. The dramatic rise is due, the SPLC said, to the popularity of the Patriot Movement. It did not, however, imply that the increase was a result in America’s decline in I.Q. (as I would have).

61 percent. Yes, it’s hard to believe. Then again, we still have pockets of the population who believe in bludgeoning housecats and scrawling “liberal” across their bodies, think that AIDS was brought about by an airplane pilot who had sex with a chimpanzee, and 

... believe the "Homosexual Agenda" to be a living, breathing entity.

The SPLC defines hate groups as those which "... have beliefs or practices that attack or malign an entire class of people, typically for their immutable characteristics". The SPLC states that hate group activities may include speeches, marches, rallies, meetings, publishing, leafleting, and criminal acts such as violence, although not all groups listed by the SPLC engage in criminal activity.

"ATTACK OR MALIGN"

The modus operandi of any anti-gay hate group - faith-based or not - has been to attack a community with misinformation and outright lies. Through the list below lies a horrifying thread: using "junk" science, myths and erroneous "research" is common among them all. Whether or not the "research" is debunked, if it supplies a means to an end (hate), it is used time and time again in the hopes that the target groups never catch on.**

And faith-based target groups never do: simply because they consist of people who have absolute faith in their religious leaders and they live in communities where to question a minister, priest or rabbi is unthinkable. To question them is to question God and the Bible. 

It is their steadfast loyalty to hate which drives the accusation that homosexual activists and their friends are always in their faces. A snarky response would be: "We have to be! You were too dumb to get it the first, second, or tenth time!" But studies show that bigotry and a low I.Q. are tied with other and that faith-based groups take advantage of the uneducated, the ignorant and lesser-intelligent: witness their promotion of hatred in third world countries such as Uganda.

IN ALL THEIR GLORY

All faith-based anti-gay hate groups (25) are listed below, and while it certainly doesn't represent all the other individual churches and organizations, it is the official list put out by the SPLC. Each title provides a link to the group's website*(1) while interior links are for description. In collecting all the data and anecdotes, there are many things were excluded by the author (me), for to include everything would have taken volumes. 

Hate is endless. 

Abiding Truth Ministries

Perhaps it is fitting that Abiding Truth Ministries (aka Defending Family The Family) is first on the list of faith-based hate groups: founded by Scott Lively, author of The Pink Swastika, it is probably the most virulent and evangelical of the hate groups. Evangelical in the sense that it has been one of the more successful groups exporting hate to different countries, in particular Latvia, Monrovia, Russia and Uganda. The group Watchmen On The Walls was founded by Lively and  Alexey Ledyaev in Riga, Latvia. A controversy concerning Watchmen came to the fore when a young man who was perceived to be gay (in Sacramento, CA) was killed by avowed Watchmen.*(2) 

Lively has also been directly linked to the controversial "Kill The Gays" bill in Uganda. A video of Lively shows him lecturing to a group in Uganda that gays are bent on "replacing" a heterosexual society with a homosexual one. 

Although his books and actions have been exposed with ridicule, the former head of The (California chapter of) American Family Association is still being referenced by faith-based hate groups across the country. 

American Family Association

While the founder of the American Family Association, Tim Wildmon, is at the very apex of it's homophobia, the most prominent voice of the Association is definitely spokesperson Bryan Fischer:

AFA has been criticized by civil rights organizations and other entities for what have been described as controversial stances, in particular the "propagation of known falsehoods" and "demonizing propaganda" about homosexuality, which in November 2010 led to its being named a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center
Fischer has proven to be an "equal opportunity bigot" since his daily radio rants include homosexuals, feminists, Native Americans, Muslims and African Americans. It has been speculated that there isn't a group that Bryan Fischer does not hate. Simply put, Fischer seems to hate everyone who is not Bryan Fischer. Fischer and the AFA have called for boycotts of: 7-Eleven, Abercrombie & Fitch, American Airlines, American Girl, Blockbuster Video, Burger King, Calvin Klein, Carl's Jr., Clorox, Comcast, Crest, Ford, Hallmark Cards, Kmart, Kraft Foods, S. C. Johnson & Son, Movie Gallery,Microsoft, MTV, Mary Kay, NutriSystem, Old Navy, IKEA, Sears, Pampers, Procter & Gamble, Target, Tide, Walt Disney Company, and PepsiCo. ... To name a few. 

The AFA has repeatedly been called upon to fire Fischer and end his radio program. However, they have steadfastly refused to do so, sometimes distancing themselves with a "we're not responsible for his speech" statement (even though he is actually employed as their "Director of Issues Analysis" - whatever). Fischer is considered an official AIDS denier and disseminates Scott Lively's (see above) statements about gays and N*zis. 

Americans for Truth About Homosexuality

AFTAH is Peter LaBarbera and Peter LaBarbera is AFTAH. Known by the LGBT Community as "Porno Pete" for his penchant for gay pornography and attending LGBT events like the Folsom Street Fair (San Francisco) in order to photograph licentious behavior. From wikipedia:

LaBarbera is founder and president of Americans For Truth About Homosexuality (AFTAH), which describes itself as "dedicated to exposing the homosexual activist agenda". It was a 501(c)3 United States tax-exempt organization until stripped of that designation following years of failing to file the appropriate paperwork.

But even though LaBarbera continues to look like a rather insipid joke on the American public, his daily radio program still hosts people from other various faith-based hate groups. His latest cause is the support of Kirk Cameron, the former  "Growing Pains" actor recently in the news about his anti-gay remarks.

American Vision

American Vision has published over 175 books, CDs, tapes and MP3s with the purpose of "equipping and empowering Christians to restore America’s biblical foundation." But perhaps the reason it has been designated a hate group is because of its president, Gary DeMar, who, for all intents and purposes is a Reconstructionist. He even co-authored a book, Christian Reconstruction, with Gary North, head of the Reconstructionist movement (see Chalcedon Foundation below). The Recontructionist movement has strictly theocratic views with adherence to Biblical law as an absolute. Accordingly, homosexual acts are considered criminal and worthy of imprisonment and/or death.*(3)

Bethesda Christian Institute - 

Bethesda Christian Institute is unique in several ways: of all the hate groups listed with the SPLC, it does not seem to have an accessible website (attempts to link to www.bcisa.com come up as errors) and of the 59 hate groups listed in Texas, Bethesda and Tom Brown Ministries (see below)are the only faith-based groups*(4). And while its building's facade is visible on social sites (like facebook) it is very hard to access info. Giveback.org lists the organization, but with "0" assets. But for all it's seeming secrecy, it's leader, Dr. Judith Reisman, is very well known - as the founder of the "anti-Kinsey" movement. Resiman has written numerous articles about "homosexual indoctrination." 

Wikipedia:

In 1994 Reisman spoke at a conference of Christian right leaders in Colorado Springs, saying that homosexual "recruitment is loud; it is clear; it is everywhere." She estimated the homosexual population at the time to be 1-2% but predicted at least 20% (and possibly over 30%) "of the young population will be moving into homosexual activity" as a result of recruitment.

Reisman endorses Scott Lively's Pink Swastika (quelle suprise). She was also the only witness for the prosecution at the Mapplethorpe obscenity trial.

Chalcedon Foundation -

"We believe that the whole Word of God must be applied to all of life. It is not only our duty as individuals, families and churches to be Christian, but it is also the duty of the state, the school, the arts and sciences, law, economics, and every other sphere to be under Christ the King. Nothing is exempt from His dominion. We must live by His Word, not our own."

The Chalcedon Foundation is the source of all things Recontructionist and R.J. Rushdoony, its founder. For years, it was shunned by mainstream Christians as too severe in its fundamentalist views of Biblical government. But due to the inroads of today's Christian Right into politics, the Chalcedon Foundation has begun a resurgence.*(5). 


Faithful Word Baptist Church - 

Tucked away in a strip mall in Tempe, Ariz., the Faithful Word Baptist Church is unabashedly anti-gay:

"Am I all about hate? No I'm sure I'm more about love than I am hate," Anderson said. "I do hate homosexuals and if hating homosexuals makes our church a hate group then that's what we are."

Besides that, Pastor Steven Anderson and the church are famous for:

- calling for the death of President Obama.

- encouraging his congregation to wear firearms

-  and "He holds no college degree but has well over 140 chapters of the Bible memorized word-for-word, including approximately half of the New Testament." 

Hurry, call Mensa! 

Family Research Council

This writer has personally covered the actions of the Family Research Council in over 120 articles, and its justification as a hate group is due to a great many vitriolic attacks on homosexuals and homosexuality. However, the most prominent and consistent attack comes in the form of it's piece of fiction called The Homosexual Agenda, the origins of which are startling and telling. It must be quoted at length from wikipedia:

In the US, the term "the gay agenda" was first used in public discourse in 1992 when the Family Research Council, an American conservative Christian group,[4] released a video series called The Gay Agenda as part of a pack of materials campaigning on homosexual issues and the "hidden gay agenda".[5] In the same year the Oregon Citizens Alliance used this video as part of their campaign for Ballot Measure 9 to amend the Oregon Constitution to prevent what the OCA called special rights for gays, lesbians, and bisexuals.[6] Paul Cameron — co-founder of the Institute for the Scientific Investigation of Sexuality in Lincoln, later renamed the Family Research Institute — appeared in the video, wherein he asserted that 75 percent of gay men regularly ingest feces and that 70-78 percent have had a sexually transmitted disease.[7] The Gay Agenda was followed by three other video publications; The Gay Agenda in Public Education (1993), The Gay Agenda: March on Washington (1993) and a feature follow-up Stonewall: 25 Years of Deception (1994). The videos contained interviews with opponents of LGBT rights, and the series was made available through Christian right organizations.[8]

Homosexual Agenda. Oregon Citizens Alliance. Family Research Council. Family Research Institute. Paul Cameron. 

Pure hate. 

Other people/organizations to use the term: Focus On The Family, Oklahoma Senator Tom Coburn and Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia.

Family Research Institute

The website of the Family Research Institute -  states:

"...one overriding mission: to generate empirical research on issues that threaten the traditional family, particularly homosexuality, AIDS, sexual social policy, and drug abuse".

With post titles like Gays In Military = Traitors In Military, one can guess just how virulent the FRI's homophobia really is. And its leader is the legendary mis-informant, Paul Cameron. 


Cameron, whose "research" has gotten him ousted from the American Psychological Association, The Nebraska Psychological Association, The American Sociological Association and the Canadian Psychological Association, has stated that the average age of gay men is 42 (a statistic he got from reading obituaries during the AIDS crisis) and equated homosexuality to drug use. He has also been roundly chastised by individual researchers for extremely shoddy methods:

[Psyschologist Gregory M. Herek]: "Because the data are essentially meaningless, it is not surprising that they have been virtually ignored by the scientific community."

The American Family Association and the Family Research Council (see below) repeatedly cite Cameron's work as gospel. It is perhaps those citings more than anything else, in fact, that have led the SPLC to label both as hate groups. 

H.O.M.E. Heterosexuals Organized for a Moral Environment 

The H.O.M.E. website is so outdatedly sweet, with its animated doves carrying olive branches in the beaks! And how engagingly it defines the SPLC as  "liberal hate group." It's logic is irrefutable (as in linking homosexuality to Freemasonry) and its concern over the "sexually exploitative" lifestyle is so heartening. It constantly opines that we are "all imperfect." So with all that saccharine goodness, why is it listed as a hate group? SPLC explains:

The group, which is entirely focused on the alleged evils of homosexuality, attacks gay people on a wide variety of levels. But it keeps coming back to the idea that gay sexual activity should be illegal.

But, of course, H.O.M.E. still loves the sinner but hates the sin.

Illinois Family Institute - 

With ties to Paul Cameron (his hate gets around!), the Family Research Council, Focus on the Family, and the Alliance Defense Fund, the IFI certainly has a distinguished pedigree of hate. Director of School Advocacy Laurie Higgins:

“There was something profoundly good for society about the prior stigmatization of homosexual practice… . [W]hen homosexuals were ‘in the closet,’ (along with fornicators, polyamorists, cross-dressers, and ‘transexuals’), they weren’t acquiring and raising children.”

Higgins has also argued against the repeal of Don't Ask Don't Tell because gays are traitorous and deceptive since they entered the military under false pretenses in the first place. Desperate times call for desperate logic.


Jewish Political Action Committee

The absence of a website does not mean the absence of hate. Looking up the Jewish Political Action Committee may seem like a lesson in futility until you see the evidence of their existence:

The only thing that can be said for other groups is that courage of conviction runs through their hatred. Not so with JPAC: there is no publicized leader*(7), there is no official organization, even though people claiming to part of the group have protested at various places against same-sex marriage. Political influence seems to be undercover. 


You could say that because of their vehemence (evinced in their signs), they are a faith-based terrorist group, attacking at a moments notice. 


Frightening.

Mass Resistance

The "Mass" in Mass Resistance refers to the state of Massachusetts. It was established to fight same-sex marriage in Massachusetts and continues to attack former governor Mitt Romney for not opposing it vigorously. It also faults Romney for any advances in LGBT rights and anti-discrimination laws. In addition to same-sex marriage, Mass Resistance, now focuses on LGBT tolerance and anti-bullying events in classrooms insisting that efforts to teach tolerance are "brainwashing."*(8)

Mission America

Just as Bryan Fischer IS the American Family Association so Linda Harvey IS  Mission: America. 

“How in the world can the left be aligned with these folks? Well, there’s a real simple answer, I think, in that the enemy of my enemy is my friend. They all hate the actual Judeo-Christian heritage and those who uphold it, they hate the West ... they hate the ideology, they hate the freedom. It’s a spiritual thing, they hate Jesus Christ.

"Homosexual activists and their allies are, in case one hasn't noticed, the torch-carriers for a movement to destroy biblically-oriented Christianity and its positive influence on our culture."

The primary thrust of the organization is to "inform" parents and communities about the "dangers" of homosexuality, feminism, occultism, or anything opposing its narrow Christian viewpoints. Harvey's extreme pronouncements have gained her the sobriquet "the most homophobic woman in America." 

There’s one big fact that’s not backed up. There is no proof that there’s ever anything like a gay, lesbian or bisexual or transgendered child, or teen or human. One of the other things you’re gonna see as I mentioned is a big campaign GLSEN’s gonna roll out this year calling for 'respect,' respect! Not just for people, but for homosexual lifestyle. The PR campaign to hold up gay as a good thing: the lifestyle, not the person, because there are no such humans.

It follows, therefore, that Ms. Harvey has no conscience when demonizing people, simply because to her, they don't exist.

Mission America has been instrumental in curbing anti-bullying legislation on the grounds that any such legislation would "promote" homosexuality in schools. 

Parents Action League 

The Parents Action League could be considered a textbook case of hatred going local: it is a reaction to the actions of the Anoka-Hennipin (MN) School Board and its dealing with a rash of teen suicides, making it the school system with the highest rate of suicides in the country. 

Whereas the Anoka-Hennepin School Board is considering removing the protectiveSexual Orientation Curriculum Policy, an action that will undermine the academic focus of this district and open the door to pro-homosexual and related conduct materials in the school curriculum thereby exposing students to concepts hostile to their religious faith and or moral conviction...
- resolution presented to Anokin-Hennepin School Board, Jan. 9, 2012

As Rolling Stone put it, the evangelicals had created a war on gay teens. It did not help matters for evangelicals that Anok-Hennepin is in U.S. Representative Michele Bachmann's district. And besides Mrs. Bachmann, the Parents Action League cited the support of: National Association for Research & Therapy of Homosexuality , American College of Pediatricians, Facts About Youth, Exodus International, Parents and Friends of Ex-gays and Gays, Mission America, Family Research Council, Courage, and JONAH.

Note that two of the groups are listed as hate groups by the SPLC (Family Research Council and Mission America), NARTH has been condemned by the American Psychological Association, and American College of Pediatricians has been described as a small (less than 200) marginal group of conservative physicians whose sole purpose is to advocate against homosexuality.*(6) 

Public Advocate of the United States

“As homosexuals die off due to AIDS, the remaining AIDS carriers prey on children to replenish the ‘Homosexual Community.’”

Save California -

"Democrats give the homosexual activists what the homosexual activists want, and the homosexual activists want children. So the Democrat governor gave the homosexual activists the brains of children, six million children in California government schools now are going to be suffering under an eighth school sexual indoctrination law, the most direct, in-your-face brainwashing I’ve ever seen."

Sons of Thundr (Faith Baptist Church)

From the Faith Baptist Church website:

Smokers and drug addicts don't live as long as non-smokers or non-addicts, so we consider smoking and narcotics abuse harmful. The typical life-span of homosexuals suggests that their activities are more destructive than smoking and as dangerous as drugs. Two and eight-tenths percent (2.8%) of gays died violently. They were 116 times more apt to be murdered; 24 times more apt to commit suicide; and had a traffic-accident death-rate 18 times the rate of comparably-aged white males. Heart attacks, cancer and liver failure were exceptionally common. Twenty percent of lesbians died of murder, suicide, or accident--a rate 487 times higher than that of white females aged 25-44. The age distribution of samples of homosexuals in the scientific literature from 1989 to 1992 suggests a similarly shortened life-span.

Also:

Enough said.

Traditional Values Coalition

Founded in 1980, The Traditional Values Coalition is the oldest of all the faith-based hate groups in the SPLC's list along with the longest-running homophobic pastor, Lou Sheldon. The "traditional values" listed by the organization read like a list of Commandments for all other groups: 

1. Right to life (against abortion and euthanasia)
2. Sexual fidelity in marriage and abstinence before marriage
3. Opposition to homosexuality and other "deviant sexual behaviors"
4. Opposition to pornography
5. Patriotism (supporting national boundaries, the Armed Forces, political participation, free enterprise, limited government, low taxes, and personal responsibility.)
6. Opposition to "liberal" immigration reform (reform without first securing the U.S.-Mexico border)
7. Freedom of Christians' attempt to convert non-Christians
8. Opposition to addictive behaviors (gambling,addictive drugs, alcohol, and smoking)

Of course, value #5 is the most politicized today, with the current President painted as opposing it, while #7 is more subliminal in most faith-based organizations. The TVC has gained hutzpah with age. 

As late as 1995, Sheldon called for the quarantining of AIDS patients. 

The TVC got a serious credibility setback in the form of ... Jack Abramoff: 

Sheldon was an associate of Jack Abramoff, the Republican lobbyist jailed for influence peddling. Sheldon lobbied members of the US Congress to kill the Internet Gambling Prohibition Act. Abramoff directed his client, eLottery, to pay $25,000 the Traditional Values Coalition.

32 years of hate. That's pretty impressive and surpassed only by the ghetto-ization of the Jews.

Tom Brown Ministries -         


From the website:

The gay militants are trying to persuade society that homosexuals are born that way, and so to expect change is unreasonable, and quite impossible. So they have searched and searched to try to find a gay gene, but to no avail. I can assure them that they will never find one, because if there was one, then homosexuality would be decreasing, because homosexuals would not procreate as often as heterosexuals, and thus, would not be passing down the gene.

True Light Pentecost Church 

“Fight the great sodomite/lesbian army.”

Militaristic imagery is the easiest to use when creating hate: that's why it's used quite often in small, isolated groups like True Light Pentecost Church. And although it is not quite up to par with the preaching of "prophet" Lou Engle, it gets the job done in demonizing an entire group of people:

The sub-human culture created by the anti-christ and magnified by the Sodomite/Lesbian movement , encouraged by the current government under Pres.Obama has further brought end-time prophecy to a final state....Where is your faith...? Will you be a part of the remnant army that will not bow or compromise..that will fight the great sodomite/lesbian army?

United Families International 

"Reputable studies and decades of successful treatment show that homosexual behavior can be changed."

The UFI hates Lady Gaga with a vengeance... and loves NARTH.*(9)  The primary premise of UFI is that homosexuality is a disorder that can be CURED through reparative therapy. UFI has tried (unsuccessfully) to have sodomy laws repealed.


Westboro Baptist Church -


It is interesting to note that only when Fred Phelps' famous little group starting picketing soldiers' funerals was it denounced by the other subsequent faith-based hate groups. 

If you haven't heard about Fred Phelps, then it is suggested that you go back to your old planet and read up on him. The "Man Addicted To Hate" and his motley family was in the news even before he tried to dance on Matthew Shepard's grave. Books have been written about his escapades and he has been banned from entering foreign countries. Like Bryan Fischer of the American Family Association, Fred Phelps is an equal-opportunity hate machine, hating everyone who isn't Fred Phelps. And his "sister sites" prove it: GodHatesIslam.com , GodHatesTheMedia.com ,GodHatesTheWorld.com, JewsKilledJesus.com, BeastObama.com, PriestsRapeBoys.com, and AmericaIsDoomed.com.


Early on, Phelps used the Bible to castigate gays and even made up Bible verses to prove his point*(10) It is not his belief that the Bible condemns homosexuality that qualifies him as a hate group, however, but the virulence of his attacks: his pickets and signs border on violence, trying to cause as much emotional harm as possible. His protests are considered sadistic in the extreme. He taunts people from behind the First Amendment with absolute glee. 


Needless to say, any support shown for him would be akin to condoning evil. But he has more supporters than you think: the "distancing" is not very convincing. The Christian Right should come under fire for not doing what they condemn others for: not policing their own. Fred Phelps should have been excommunicated from Christianity a very long time ago.

Windsor Hills Baptist Church 

“Homosexuals commit more than 33% of all the reported child molestations in the U.S. Many homosexuals openly admit that they are pedophiles because they cannot actually reproduce, they resort to recruiting children.” - Pastor Tom Vineyard, testimony given against the passage of Oklahoma City's inclusion of sexual orientation in its anti-discrimination law.

The Windsor Hills Baptist Church and its Pastor, Tom Vineyard, present the most obvious qualifications of hate groups as put forth by the SPLC: "attack or malign."


The statistics Pastor Tom Vineyard cites in the video below are bogus beyond belief.*(11) They are also predicated to produce as much bigotry and violence as possible against gays. The fact that he was given a voice at the hearing in the Oklahoma City Hall was a classic case of giving undue respect to anyone with an "Rev." in front of their name.*(12) 



You Can Run, But You Cannot Hide

wikipedia: 

The ministry's mission statement explains their aims to reshape America "by re-directing the current and future generations both morally and spiritually through education, media and the Judeo-Christian values found in our U.S. Constitution."[2] The organization has garnered letters of support from school personnel, as well as some religious and political figures.

But...

DUNKERTON, Iowa — School officials at Dunkerton High School were expecting to deliver a positive message about good choices when they invited the Christian rock bank Junkyard Prophet to perform at a student assembly, but instead were treated to a lecture condemning homosexuality and images of aborted fetuses. Students and faculty said the assembly started well with music, and a message focusing on how some music can have a bad influence on kids. But after performing, the group reportedly made offensive remarks about gays and transgender people, and told the girls they “were going to have mud on their wedding dresses if they weren’t virgins,”reported the LaCrosse Tribune.

“They told these kids that anyone who was gay was going to die at the age of 42,” said Jennifer Littlefield, a parent upset with the band’s performance.

Bradlee Dean


You Can Run is the mainstay of Bradlee Dean's ministry.

Dean has advocated for imprisonment of gays and lesbians, and has said that gay men molest an average of 117 children “before they get caught,” and that Muslim nations that execute gays are more moral than American Christians.

Here is Dean's latest statement about President Obama:
He purposes to demoralize, pervert, weaken, and overthrow America and our Constitution, with marriage and our children in his sights. He told the Department of Justice not to defend marriage (DOMA); he appointed an education czar who wanted to queerify the elementary; and he even went so far as to repeal the law that prevents sodomy and bestiality in our military when he signed the National Defense Authorization Act of 2012.

** And perhaps the most common thread of hate is the "research" of PAUL CAMERON. 

*1. Yes, I've tried to be fair, although the sites can be more damning than anything I could write about them.

*2. A recording of Lively's account in Russia indicates just how much Watchmen spread extreme homophob*a: the audience cheered.

*3. Along with adultery and other proscribed "abominations" in Leviticus' Purity Laws.

*4. Others consist of white supremacist, N*zi or KKK.

*5. Some Reconstructionists are referred to as Dominionists - a sobriquet also shunned by some Christian Right leaders, fearing that they might lose supporters. Both Janet Porter and Cindy "Japan-is-shaped-like-a-dragon" Jacobs are Dominionists.

*6. Various researchers have complained about misuse of their research and misleading statements made by ACPeds. Oddly enough, the same researchers have made complaints about the Family Research Council. 

*7. Although anti-gay Rabbi Yehuda Levin has been posited, there is no evidence that he is anything but a comparable voice.

*8. You can view the two videos used as examples of "brainwashing" HERE. The intelligence and consideration of the teachers involved is definitely held in contempt, but after viewing the videos, you may ask "contempt for what?"

*9. NARTH is the brainchild of past-president Joseph Nicolosi, who is still running a race with Paul Cameron in getting kicked out of professional associations. A video clip from an episode on Dr. Phil demonstrates Nicolosi's righteous arrogance and homophobia all too well. 
*10. During a radio show "debate" with noted Biblical scholar Daniel Helminiak, S.J., Phelps amused Helminiak by quoting a passage that didn't exist, prompting Helminiak to say "That's in the Bible? What page is it on?"

*11. The most egregious being that 50% of crimes in major cities involve homosexuals, a figure gotten from a virulently anti-gay judge and cited in the 1950s!
*12. Sorry, but the snarky in me seeped in unexpectedly. I apologize to the reader, but not to "Rev." Tom Vineyard.

Have Yourself A Merry Little Scandal: Pandering To The Christian Right Is VERY Expensive ($1M) For Rick Santorum's Campaign

Bob Vander Platts doesn't come cheap.  In 2010, Newt Gingrich gave Vander Plaats' campaign to unseat Iowa judges $350,000. The Family Leader's leader also demanded a cushy paid position on Mitt Romney's staff back in 2008 in exchange for an endorsement (he didn't get it, and backed Huckabee instead).


Now word is out that Vander Plaats has received $1 million to endorse Rick Santorum and others, after which he told Michele Bachmann to bow out of the race.

Earlier this week, Santorum admitted that Vander Plaats approached the campaign with an indirect solicitation of money to help promote his support, but now other sources familiar with the talks between Vander Plaats and GOP candidates are characterizing the tactics as “corrupt.”

Of course, "pay for play" is not new in the political Christian-Right arena: it was disclosed last week that Newt Gingrich's campaign had donated $125,000 to American Family Association Action (a PAC), after which he resoundingly received an endorsement from the American Family Association itself. And it was rumored back in 2010, that Mike Huckabee sold an endorsement in the Florida gubernatorial campaign for the princely sum of $250,000. 



POWER CORRUPTS


Ever since the Christian Right re-invented itself as a voting block, its power has been unmistakable: Tony Perkins' Values Voters Summit has now been a lightning rod for Right Wing candidates courting the "social conservative" group (est. up to 25 million - or almost half of Republican votes in a Presidential election). And with pulpits jeopardizing their tax-free status in daring to endorse candidates, their power is flaunted with a righteous arrogance that almost exceeds comprehension. Indeed, it is quite amazing that the same group cries "persecution" whenever a law is passed endangering that power. Their opposition to hate crimes bills, for example only demonstrates just how much they value the control they have over their congregations. Witness the outright lies "historian" David Barton promotes in his polemic about evil "homosexual activists" in the video below.


And Vander Plaats' pronouncements about gays, Muslims and "activist judges" have sparked controversey - the kind that Vander Plaats' shrugs off as "persecution."*


So power in the Christian Right corrupts people into telling lies for the sake of control. But in the case of Vander Plaats, we now see financial gain afoot, with candidates and their campaigns willing to pay the price of endorsements and support. 


With all the "pay to play" shenanigans going on, it begs the question: where are the campaign managers in all of this? Sources referring to the $1 million in contributions to the Family Leader imply that Santorum was one of several candidates who contributed for endorsements. In a forthcoming article, we'll look at the role these pivotal figures have as drivers of the clown car we now call the GOP Presidential campaign. And as it turns out, Mike Biundo, Santorum's campaign manager, may look to be as inept as his candidate: both Vander Plaats and Santorum said that Santorum did not know about the endorsement until well after the announcement by Vander Plaats, even though Biundo was present during the announcement.*


Bachmann's Dickerson


There is no word yet on how John Dickerson, Michele Bachmann's campaign manager reacted to the story that Vander Plaats suggested that she "merge" with another faith-based candidate but it's clear that the "merge" story came after Bachmann shot out that she was asked to "quit" the race by Vander Plaats. Dickerson must have a helluva time reining in his mistress, especially since he has enough on his hands trying to formulate enough effective ads in Iowa to propel Bachmann from fourth place to the position her straw poll win put her in. 


From where we sit, John Allbaugh (Perry), Michael Krull (Gingrich) and the aforementioned Biundo probably have more to say about donations to Vander Plaats.


Whither will they fly?






*Santorum said he heard it from a blind man who, in turn, heard it from someone "in the kitchen" of the convention hall. Real good coordinating, gents.  



* From Think Progress:

The FAMiLY Leader has its own long history of anti-gay and anti-Muslim rhetoric. An early version of the group’s fidelity pledge suggested that children were better off under slaverythan they are under Obama, and the document likens homosexuality to polygamy, adultery, or polyandry, attacks gays as a public health risk, and foments the non-existent “Sharia” threat to America. Vander Plaats himself led a successful campaign to oust three state Supreme Court justicies who overturned Iowa’s anti-gay marriage law and played in instrumental part and leading Mike Huckabee to victory in Iowa in 2008.

Africa Is Burning: How Clinton's Speech Has Inflamed Nigeria And The Homophobia Exporters.

Being gay is not a Western invention; 

it is a human reality.

And Even Rick Perry got into the act.:

“Just when you thought Barack Obama couldn’t get any more out of touch with America’s values, AP reports his administration wants to make foreign aid decisions based on gay rights.

We can see the flames from Africa now, and they are not coming from bonfires declaring liberty for LGBTQ people. They are the flames coming from countries like Uganda and Nigeria. They are the flames of anger and vengeance being wreaked upon gay communities. Where the fires came from, however, is something that should concern everyone in America, because, like some perverted Prometheus, America's Christian Right gave Africa it's fires. Clinton was right to say being gay was not a Western invention, however, she should also have said that homophobia was certainly a Western invention, promoted in Africa by Christian Right leaders such as Scott Lively, Lou Engle and, to a certain extent, Rick Warren. 


The Christian Right's exportation of homophobia has been happening over a number of years, well ahead of the "Kill-the-gays" bill in Uganda. 

Think Progress has a good list of Christian Right reactions including Rick Santorum, Peter LaBarbera (Americans for Truth About Homosexuality), Peter Sprigg (Family Research Council), Matt Barber (Liberty Counsel) and Pat Robertson, who warned of God's wrath and claimed that it's really Christianity that's being persecuted (see below).

"I kissed a girl and liked it - 
and I got ten years in jail."


Nigeria has reacted so strongly to Clinton's speech that it purportedly added MORE offenses in its anti-gay bill. "To hell with them," said lawmaker Jakari Mohammed, referring to other denouncing the bill. It could  be argued that Nigeria has seen same-sex "marriages" for centuries (actually as part of a surrogate tradition, with a woman marrying another woman for her husband), but somehow traditions have a way of disappearing and appearing when according to expediency. 


According to the current bill, kissing in public would be an offense punishable by up to 10 years in prison. Anti-gay vendettas - like those in Uganda - will become rife in the most corrupt country in the world. 


And Nigeria has never been alone in its attitudes about gays. Here is a list of countries that could definitely be cut off from American aid:

     Algeria  Angola  Botswana  Cameroon  Egypt  Gambia  Ghana  Guinea*  Lesotho  Liberia  Libya        Malawi*  Mauritania  Mauritius   Morocco  Nigeria  Senegal   Sierra   Leone   Somalia  South Sudan Sudan   Swaziland   Tanzania   Togo  Tunisia  Uganda  Zambia   Zimbabwe  

*carry the death penalty for homosexuality.

THE SPEECH


Clinton's speech was concise and eloquent (a full transcript is HERE), and the group gave her a standing ovation, so what did she say in particular that inflamed so many Africans and "social conservatives" like Rick Perry? 

1. Many LGBT Americans have endured violence and harassment in their own lives, and for some, including many young people, bullying and exclusion are daily experiences.

Notice the inclusion of "bullying." Clinton has taken on the newest, most sensitive issue facing the Christian Right: it opposes anti-bullying laws unless dispensations are made for religious beliefs. And while Tony Perkins screams "we're not not the ones who cause teen suicides," people are beginning to note just how many cases are connected to "you're going to hell" accusations.

2. Now, raising this issue, I know, is sensitive for many people and that the obstacles standing in the way of protecting the human rights of LGBT people rest on deeply held personal, political, cultural, and religious beliefs. So I come here before you with respect, understanding, and humility.

It's the last part they can't stomach, because they don't believe the Left has anything but disrespect, ignorance and hubris when it comes to Christian Right dictums.

3. The third, and perhaps most challenging, issue arises when people cite religious or cultural values as a reason to violate or not to protect the human rights of LGBT citizens. This is not unlike the justification offered for violent practices towards women like honor killings, widow burning, or female genital mutilation.

How dare she compare discrimination against gays to hideous acts like widow burning! She's talking about pagan, anti-Christian practices!

4. I am also pleased to announce that we are launching a new Global Equality Fund that will support the work of civil society organizations working on these issues around the world.

Taxpayer money used to forward a perverted agenda!

We will be hearing about reactions to this speech for quite some time, with politicos screaming about how the Obama administration is pandering to gays and how this foray into world cultures will signal Armageddon.

Stay in your seats. The circus performances are just starting.

The Tears Of A Bullied Boy Go Viral: But Are They Enough To Move The Bully-Enablers?

Are The Tears Fake? At This Point, Who Cares?

Just as Jamey Rodemeyer's suicide touched off a firestorm against bullying by posting his "It Gets Better" video, so too has this latest one from Jonah Mowry. He posted his video back in August, but in the past 24 hours, it has gotten over 550,000 views on YouTube, not only because it was mentioned by Perez Hilton, Joe Jervis (Joe. My. God) and Michelangelo Signorelli, but also because it was posted by thousands of viewers on the facebook pages. 


It's the kind of video that dares you not to cry along with young Jonah: he never says a word, but relates his story through music and flash cards because he's trying to summon courage while tears are streaming down his face. Some people might consider it a ploy, an almost cloying plea for attention, but they would be dismissed as heartless. Some others might consider it a put up piece - too histrionic to be real, but Jonah answered the naysayers in a follow-up video thanking people for their support. That video (Thank You Everyone - 3) unfortunately, has been removed fromYouTube by Jonah for reasons that one can only speculate, but he disclosed the fact that spammers and bullies bombarded it's posting. 


So far, Jonah's parents have not come forth with a statement about the video, provoking comments like "where's the parents in all of this?" The 14-year-old may have a good relationship with them, but so far he has not given evidence on whether or not they reported the bullying to Jonah's school. In the video, his accounts of cutting (self-mutilation) go back 8 years.   


ON ITS OWN


The video is so powerful, however, that cries of "fake" are rendered moot: Jonah's emotions are clearly raw, demonstrating that an appeal for attention is not what's at stake here: even a fictional appeal can transcend itself and result in something good. And the good that it has done is touching hearts is enough for many people. 


If it is a fake, then, it is a fake appeal as a WORK OF ART.


The outpouring of sympathy, admiration and encouragement has definitely been one-sided ... so far. Elements of America's Christian Right will need to react (positively or negatively) if they are to seem "compassionate" at all. But compassion is sometimes not their forte: Bryan Fischer of the American Family Association may try to cast Jonah as the "real bully" since the teen must be considered part of the "homosexual agenda." Tony Perkins of the Family Research Council has flatly stated "We're not the cause of teen suicides," belying the fact that arbiters of morality has been the cause of hundreds of millions of suicides in the last 3000 years. Yesterday, the eponymous Christian Historian David Barton declared homosexuality to be completely "unnatural". 


One might argue that pharisees have never known when to shut up and leave well enough alone.  


In a brilliant open letter to the Christian Right, John Shore of LGBTQ Nation dares them all to respond:

Tell me that your belief system didn’t help but the hot tears on this kid’s cheeks. Tell me that the bullies who torment this kid aren’t in any way encouraged or empowered by your tacit approval of their actions. Tell me that the shame this kid feels about himself has nothing to do with the shame that you believe all gay people should feel for themselves.
Tell me that you can’t comprehend the connection between your conviction that God finds homosexuals repulsive, and the fact that this kid finds himself so repulsive that he habitually cuts his own flesh.
Tell me, please, how you love this kid. Tell me how you understand his pain. Tell me how when he cries, you cry.
Tell me how you want to do everything in your power to make sure that no one, ever again, feels free to in any way victimize a young gay person.
A Christian myself, I am pleading with you to be honest with me about this.
Tell me, please, how none of this kid’s anguish has anything to do with you.
I’m listening. I really am.
We all are.

Yes, we all are waiting, but the answers to this appeal will be lame, speaking of a "love" that transcends the needs of teens and even humanity. So we are not waiting with baited breath - or even anticipated amusement - but an impending sense of ennui. We will monitor the responses (or non-responses) of:


Bryan Fischer - Tony Perkins - Pat Robertson - Michele Bachmann - Bill Donohue (Catholic anti-Defamation League) - David Barton - Linda Harvey (Mission America) - Lou Engle ("The Call") - James Dobson - Peter LaBarbera (NARTH) - and yes, Ann Coulter. Maybe Cindy Japan-is-shaped-like-a-dragon Jacobs will chime in, babbling incoherently. 


And we will have to look for the response of Jonah's parents to his sudden celebrity. Jonah has not actually mentioned any support or antagonism from his parents. Perhaps this is the most glaring omission so far, prompting many to postulate that it was a fake. 


Whatever the responses from the Right, they're sure to be virulent and definitive.

A Pre-emptive Strike In The Christmas War: AFA's List Of "Anti-Christmas" Companies. Guess Who Made It!

Banana Republic is doomed. So is The Gap, L.L. Bean, Foot Looker, Office Depot, Old Navy, Radio Shack, Barnes & Noble and... Victoria's Secret!! They're all doomed to perdition by the American Family Association (spearheaded, of course, by the ever-righteous Bryan Fischer) because they've been deemed to be AGAINST "Christmas." (Their emphasis, not mine)


The AFA hardly waited until the first "Happy Holidays" after Thanksgiving was uttered to deem these retailers unfit to carry the "true" Christmas spirit. Like some angry neighbor in a property dispute, it has fired a warning shot over an imaginary fence, telling people that their wrath will be appeased sooner or later. Their "criteria" for "good"  "marginal" and "bad" retailers is supposedly based on "print media (newspaper inserts), broadcast media (radio/television), website and/or personal visits to the store." But a closer examination to the "naughty" list produces another criteria: "gay friendly."
For example, Old Navy launched a "gay-friendly" line of clothing for Gay Pride and teamed up with It Gets Better for a t-shirt promotion. Banana Republic and The Gap (all owned by Gap, Inc.) are all considered to be "gay friendly." So is Barnes and Noble. And we all know what Bryan Fischer thinks of Home Depot ("Homo Depot"). And with the exception of Walgreens, Best Buy and Macy's, the "nice" retailers aren't too overtly pro-gay. If they were, they wouldn't be given the Bryan Fischer/AFA stamp of Christmas approval.


So if you're gay-friendly and don't say "Merry Christmas" in your ads and to every man, woman, child, dog and cockroach that comes into the store, you're going to hell. Well, maybe YOU won't go to hell, but your company will, because the tone of the AFA's ongoing articles on the subject is a loud whisper: "boycott."


On the other hand, maybe you WILL go to hell... after standing in the unemployment line.


Who will be on THE LIST in any of the three columns is anyone's guess - depending upon who encounters "friendly" or "unfriendly" retailers and reports them to the AFA. Will the Scottsdale Gun Club be on it? Hard to say since it depends on who the guns are pointed at when they say "Merry Christmas."


OWNING CHRISTMAS


Each year, the "War on Christmas" brings up one salient point: who owns Christmas? The Christian Right hammers away at the CHRIST part of the holiday name as proof that they and only they can lay claim to it. And any misuse or omission is a sign of sacrilege or worse ... persecution. There will be a three-part series on the subject for OpEdNews readers within the coming weeks, but for now, we can safely say that the Christian Right refuses to regard the Spirit of Christmas as transcending the holiday: Christmas, in all its goodness and holiness and charity is theirs and theirs alone. Righteous arrogance rears its ugly head during the season, overshadowing the essence of humanity that the season tries to embody.


And speaking of bodies...Victoria's Secret DOES mention Christmas in its ad - just not in the convention way that Bryan Fischer wants (see below) because it also says Happy Hannukah and Kwanza and all those other sacrilegious things that the AFA doesn't want you to know about. 


While the link to the list is HERE, it's just too good to pass up reprinting it along with this article.
Here is the actual list updated as of 11/30 (from the AFA website)


AFA's 2011 listing of top retailers and how they recognize Christmas


Color Code:
GREEN: Company uses the term "Christmas" on a regular basis, we consider that company Christmas-friendly.

YELLOW: Company refers to Christmas infrequently, or in a single advertising medium, but not in others.
RED: Company may use "Christmas" sparingly in a single or unique product description, but as a company, does not recognize it.   

 List updated on 11-30-11

Companies FOR "Christmas"  AFA Online Store ACE Hardware Amazon.com Bass Pro Shops Bed Bath & Beyond Belk Best Buy Big Lots Books-A-Million Cabella's Collective Brands Costco CVS Pharmacy Dick's Sporting Goods Dilliards Dollar General Dollar Tree H.E.B. Stores HSN.com Hallmark Hancock Fabrics Harris Teeter Stores Hobby Lobby Home Shopping Network JC Penney JoAnn Fabrics & Crafts Stores Kmart Kohl's Kroger Lowe's Macy's Marshals Meijer Menard's Michael's Stores Neiman Marcus Nordstrom Office Max Petsmart Pier One Imports ProFlowers.com Publix QVC.com Rite Aid Sears Scheels Sporting Goods Super D Drug Stores Target TJ Maxx Toys R Us True Value Walgreens Wal-Mart/Sam's Club Zappos.com

Companies marginal on "Christmas"  1-800-Flowers.com Bath & Body Works Cooking.com Dollar Tree Hy-Vee Stores Limited Brands Safeway Starbucks UncommonGoods.com Whole Foods

Companies AGAINST "Christmas"  Banana Republic Barnes & Noble Family Dollar Foot Locker Gap Stores L.L. Bean Limited Brands Office Depot Old Navy Radio Shack Staples Supervalu Victoria's Secret