If Ugandans Get Their Christmas Wish Of "Death To Gays", How Many American Evangelicals Will Also Make Merry?

Which One Is Santa Claus - The Christian Right Or Born-Again Ugandans?

"Speaker, we cannot sit back while such (a) destructive phenomenon is taking place in our nation," the activists said in a petition. "We therefore, as responsible citizens, feel duty-bound to bring this matter to your attention as the leader of Parliament ... so that lawmakers can do something to quickly address the deteriorating situation in our nation."

The "destructive phenomenon" is, of course, homosexuality. At least according to the Ugandan Parliament. And it hopes to eradicate it before Christmas as a "Christmas present" to Christian Ugandans. After all, the Christian anti-gay clerics asked for one. Speaker Rebecca Kadaga told The Associated Press that Ugandans "are demanding it." "Everyone" wants the "Kill the gays" bill to pass.

But who, exactly, is "everyone"?

"Everyone"

The imprint of American Christian Evangelicals on Uganda is so bold that all you have to do is look to the surface of the country - embodied in Madame Museveni. Her husband may be the titular born-again Christian head as President, but Janet Museveni is the country's spiritual and societal soul. She is also a born-again Christian, but more importantly, she is the conduit through which the American Christian Right passed its homophobia on to an uneducated country. She was certainly instrumental in having Pastor Rick Warren declare Uganda to be a "Purpose Driven Country" (whatever that is). It is doubtful that people like Scott Lively would have ever gotten to first base with the country's leaders without her influence.

wikipedia:

"From 5 to 8 March 2009, a workshop took place in Kampala, the capital of Uganda, that featured three American evangelical Christians: Scott Lively, an author who has written several books opposing homosexuality; Caleb Lee Brundidge, a self-professed former gay man who conducts sessions to heal homosexuality; and Don Schmierer, a board member of Exodus International, an organisation devoted to promoting "freedom from homosexuality through the power of Jesus Christ".[14] The theme of the conference, according to The New York Times, was the "gay agenda": "how to make gay people straight, how gay men often sodomized teenage boys and how 'the gay movement is an evil institution' whose goal is 'to defeat the marriage-based society and replace it with a culture of sexual promiscuity' ".

The hand of the Family Research Council's chief "researcher" Paul Cameron was clearly seen in the rhetoric:

"Homosexuals are at least 12 times more likely to molest children than heterosexuals; homosexual teachers are at least 7 times more likely to molest a pupil; homosexual teachers are estimated to have committed at least 25 percent of pupil molestation; 40 percent of molestation assaults were made by those who engage in homosexuality."

It is alleged that American "prophet" Lou Engle also encouraged the criminalization of homosexuality and the death penalty (although he has denied the latter, he has never denied that he would prefer homosexuals to be placed in prison.)

Provisions of the bill:

Death penalty:

- to repeat offenders of homosexuals acts
- to people who engage in homosexual acts with a minor
- to people who are suspected of "aggravated homosexuality" and have HIV

Prison sentence:

- to those suspected of homosexual activity
- to those who do not report homosexual activity within 24 hours
- to those suspected of "promoting" homosexuality
- to anyone who aids and/or abets a homosexual (e.g. renting to to a homosexual)

In addition:

- all people suspected of homosexual activity and arrested must undergo HIV testing.
- former residents suspected of homosexuality may be extradited and sentenced.

It perhaps the provision of "promoting" and "reporting" that have caused an era of savage chaos in Uganda even before the legislation takes hold: people "report" their enemies and anyone suspected of being a social liberal could be judged a "promoter". Neighbors have been going door-to-door to weed out "abominations". Activist David Kato was bludgeoned to death. Anglican Bishop Senyonjo was punished for accepting gays.* 

A Great Christmas Gift That Keeps On Giving!

In the almost surreal world of African Christianity, replete with armies and witch-hunters, it should be no surprise that Uganda has held steadfast against international pressure to shelve the bill. Museveni himself said that he would withdraw from treaties and the United Nation's Declaration of Human Rights if necessary. So it seems that the "gift" of the "Kill the gays" bill might give the nation of Uganda something else: admonition and isolation from the international community. 

It will certainly give a gift to people like Tony Perkins: something to crow about.

*Expelled from Uganda and stripped of his pension by the Church.

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.

An American Werewolf In The New Uganda: Discredited, Anti-gay "Researcher" Paul Cameron Preys Upon Gays In Moldova

It's Uganda all over again - same tired (but dangerous) play, with different sets and a few different cast members. This time, the ambassador of hate is one Paul Cameron, the setting:  Moldova.


Yes, Moldova.


Remember, the kill queers policy of the Christian Right has to pick on the poorest, most backward, most superstitious countries and it can't get a poorer, more backward, more superstitious country than Moldavia: it's a short hop to the Carpathian mountains, land of the Romanis (gypsies), Transylvania, Dracula,  Elizabeth Bathory (Countess Dracula) and...the Werewolf.


So they're sending discredited "researcher" Paul Cameron to state their case that homosexuals are intrinsically evil and that any law passed for anti-discrimination is an abomination.


Of course, Cameron doesn't usually address his audiences festooned in garlic, but his charisma is nonetheless odoriferous: he is passionate about imprisonment and execution of gays. His claims are so horrific, that no one in America has taken them seriously (Tony Perkins and Bryan Fischer excepted, of course): they regularly eat feces, they are natural pedophiles, they live shorter lives, they stuff gerbils up their rears, they recruit because they can't procreate. And to a backward, superstitious populace, these claims are horrifying music to their ears.



Box Turtle Bulletin

An anti-discrimination bill that prohibits unequal treatment on grounds including sexual orientation is before its Parliament, due for debate at month’s end.


In the days before the debate starts, Paul Cameron is coming to town. An e-mail from the Alianţa pentru Salvarea Familiilor din Moldova (Alliance to Save the Family in Moldova) announces that the “U.S. sociologist, founder and president of Family Research Institute” will stay from October 24-29, and “will share the U.S. experience in implementing anti-discrimination legislation.”

Of course, it makes no difference to the Moldovans that Cameron has been denounced by more reputable researchers and unceremoniously kicked out of most major professional organizations:


Individuals: 

Epidemiologists Morten Frisch and Henrik Brønnum-Hansen were vehemently against Cameron's crude and minimal attempts at research concerning the life-expectancy of gay men (he used obituary columns from gay newspapers during and after the AIDS crisis).
Psychologist Gregory M. Herek charged Cameron with deliberately misrepresenting his work researching child molesters.

Organizations:

The American Psychological Association: "We are concerned about Dr. Cameron because we do believe that his methodology is weak."
The Nebraska Psychological Association
The Canadian Psychological Association
...and the American Sociological Association:

It does not take great analytical abilities to suspect from even a cursory review of Cameron's writings that his claims have almost nothing to do with social science and that social science is used only to cover over another agenda. Very little of his work could find support from even a bad misreading of genuine social science investigation on the subject and some sociologists, such as Alan Bell, have been 'appalled' at the abuse of their work."

 MOLDOVA IS DOOMED

Unfortunately, this will not be Cameron's first visit to Moldova (he had previously visited the country in 2008). And his visits have been supported by appearances of premier anti-gay hate monger Scott Lively who was definitely instrumental in Uganda's Kill-The-Gays Bill. Through Lively and Cameron, the Christian Right has been delivering a series of one-two punches to Moldavia's humanity: an attempted gay pride parade in 2008 met with bashings of gays from skinheads while the police looked on approvingly. The situation for the passage of an anti-discrimination bill (at least one including sexual orientation) looks grim.

And if Cameron gets his way, Moldova will institute laws very close to that of Uganda's.

Poor, backward countries have little chance of surviving the onslaught of bigotry that both Lively and Cameron can produce and this latest foray into an Eastern European government might result in a death (or deaths) like gay activist David Kato's.

Poor Moldova. It's welcoming a werewolf in sheep's clothing.

Unfortunately, this will not be Cameron's first visit to Moldova (he had previously visited the country in 2008). And his visits have been supported by appearances of premier anti-gay hate monger Scott Lively who was definitely instrumental in Uganda's Kill-The-Gays Bill. Through Lively and Cameron, the Christian Right has been delivering a series of one-two punches to Moldavia's humanity: an attempted gay pride parade in 2008 met with bashings of gays from skinheads while the police looked on approvingly. The situation for the passage of an anti-discrimination bill (at least one including sexual orientation) looks grim.

And if Cameron gets his way, Moldova will institute laws very close to that of Uganda's.

Poor, backward countries have little chance of surviving the onslaught of bigotry that both Lively and Cameron can produce and this latest foray into an Eastern European government might result in a death (or deaths) like gay activist David Kato's.

Poor Moldova. It's welcoming a werewolf in sheep's clothing.

Pat Robertson: As Christians We Must Love ALL of God's Murderous Dictators - Even Laurent Gbagbo!

Time for another swing at a Senility Defense!

Since Pat didn't say anything about Japan's spirit-of-the-anti-Christ religions causing earthquakes or the tsunami, I figured he had lost his mojo in the God's Ambulance Chasers' department. Last January, when the "snowpocalypse" hit the country and stopped dead all air travel, Robertson chimed with his explanation that it was "God's way of preventing gays from doing something gay." So I thought that Japan's disasters were a natural. I waited and waited in vain.


Hooray! He may not have come through with Japan, but he certainly was right on target with the conflict in Cote d-Ivoire! That's my man!


The Conflict


It is unfortunate that the African nation, Cote d'Ivoire (Ivory Coast), sounds so much more romantic than it really is. Like a beautiful stage set, the country's name fronts squalor and corruption, horrendous hypocrisy and  egotism.


Perhaps that's why Pat Robertson likes it.


The government of Cote d'Ivoire has caught the same democracy virus that it's northern African neighbors have and the tension is, to say the least, high.

The finale of Gbagbo's 10-year claim on Ivory Coast is playing out much like the beginning. The 65-year-old strongman, who made an art of staying in power years past the end of his legal mandate, is now pushing the envelope, fighting for each day, even each hour.

That was several hours ago. By now, however, Pat Robertson and Gbagbo's supporters here in the U.S. have heard that Gbagbo has been negotiating his surrender, talking about security with U.N. and French forces. The new President, Alassane Ouattara, is also anxious about his security. Gbagbo has a reputation - made ever more evident at the number of civilians killed during the last days of unrest.* But this is a reputation Pat Robertson choses to ignore.

Watch below how Robertson spins his way through the murky waters of despotism, trashes Muslims (Africa will have a "Ring of Sharia Law"), the French, the MSM and calls Gbago a good Christian man. Pat's never better when he's at his most senile. Notice too, how the station gets in a dig at Obama by positioning the announcement of his 2012 candidacy immediately afterward. 


The Ties That Bind - To The Christian Right

Gbagbo, along with his influential wife, Simone, are evangelical Christians who are known for lacing their speeches with religious rhetoric. "God is leading our fight. God has already given us the victory," Simone Gbagbo, who is both first lady and politician in her own right, said at a rally in January. Both Gbagbos have attended the National Prayer Breakfast, a big annual Washington event run by the secretive Christian group known as the Family, or the Fellowship.

Friends of Gbagbo include Senator Jim Inhofe, Doug Coe (leader of C Street and the secretive Fellowship), broadcaster Glenn Beck and ... Pat Robertson. In demeanor and purpose, the impoverished African country looks a lot like Uganda and one wonders just how many evangelicals have been visiting it in order to secure the nation "for God." Case in point: while homosexuality is legal in Cote d'Ivoire, gays have no protections against discrimination. Lou Engle still considers it  fertile ground for The Call.


Testing The Limits Of Compassion


While rummaging around for stuff on Cote d'Ivoire, I got a bit of a shock. The picture of a church and its description overwhelmed me with the blatant world of religious despotism: The Basilica of Our Lady Of Peace.


According to wikipedia, the basilica was built to be reminiscent St. Peter's in Rome, but according to Guinness World Records, it surpasses it in size, becoming THE largest church in the world. It cost $300 million in 1989. It was also built to fit the ego of its then-president  Félix Houphouët-Boigny who:

commissioned a stained glass window of his image to be placed beside a gallery of stained glass of Jesus and the apostles. This image depicts him as one of the three Biblical Magi, kneeling as he offers a gift to Jesus.

The average wage of a day laborer in Cote d'Ivoire is $1.25. Pope John Paul II (who dedicated the church) was probably too awed by the church itself to realize what a mockery it was to the people of the country. The video below is a stark revelation that does not  dare to shock the viewer by presenting the squalor amongst such magnificence. The imagination does that. 


Back To Sanity


So what Pat Robertson sees as a tragedy is really the toppling of another despot to instate the rightfully voted-in President. That new President happens to be Muslim. Some Christians in Cote d'Ivoire may have actually voted for him. If the new president, Alassane Ouattara, ushers in any form of peace, with even the slightest hint of prosperity, Robertson, Coe, Beck, Inhofe, Warren and all the Christian Right moguls pinning their hopes on making Cote d'Ivoire a Uganda-like "Purpose-Driven" nation, will have lost their footing on Africa. 


Cheer up, Pat, there's always the senility defense!


*massacres of whole villages have been reported





The Basilica of Our Lady of Peace of Yamoussoukro: a monument to despotism - the most incredibly atrocious display of monumental ego.  Félix Houphouët-Boigny

High On Uganda's Hit List, Bishop Christopher Senyonjo Will NOT Go Into Hiding.

Even though he is an elderly Anglican cleric, a family man with children, Bishop Christopher Senyonjo has gotten many homophobic death threats - because he has been a champion for gay rights as well as the LGBT community's most loving friend and supporter. He risked his life by attending the funeral of human rights activist David Kato:

“I know that some [gays and lesbians] are discouraged and even not going to church because they are being abused. Even today they are being abused. But please don’t be discouraged. God created you and God is on your side,”

"Hang Them"

Bishop Senyonjo's picture was published on the now-infamous cover of Uganda's Rolling Stone tabloid along with human rights activist, David Kato and the yellow slash "Hang Them!" It should be noted that Bishop Senyonjo is a family man with two sons and several grandchildren. His sons have also received death threats. Of course, it should be noted that in a country trained to be virulently homophobic, Senyonjo is not immune to murder even if he holds the title of "Bishop." Rolling Stone certainly showed no respect in regards to Senyonjo's status when it published the article. Indeed, the latest news is that the tabloid has not the slightest regret in publishing the article and may take pride in its advocacy.

Giles Muhame, managing editor of the weekly Rolling Stone, said in a statement that he condemned the murder and felt "sorry for the family of Kato". But he also repeated various unproved allegations against the activist, and suggested he lived in an area where murder is common. "This looks like any other crime," he told the Guardian in a telephone interview. "I have no regrets about the story. We were just exposing people who were doing wrong." 

Muhame and other recent graduates of Makerere University in Kampala launched Rolling Stone late last year. With a circulation of fewer than 3,000 copies it would have remained obscure were it not for the anti-gay campaign (Guardian, UK)

The outcome of "exposing people who were doing wrong": many of the listed people were evicted from their homes and fired from their jobs. One woman was actually stoned by her neighbors. 

Several days ago, Bishop Senyonjo wrote an open letter to Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowen Williams. Please read the entire text here. You will be inspired, elevated, ... and relieved that such men still exist today. 

As human beings, we must respect our differences and be united in our call for listening and sharing with each other. To understand God, we are all called to understand the mystery of each other, including our sexualities.

He is incredibly courageous in this letter because he dares to do something which our own Christian Right would never do: point out past the mistakes of Christianity. That he even admits them is remarkable. Think of it: would ANYONE involved in today's Christian Right lower themselves to say such things? Remember, Bishop Senyonjo is telling the great CR that their religion has made errors, causing harm to an enormous amount of people! How can he insult people like David Barton, Tony Perkins and, above all, Bryan Fischer, who has recently, in print and on the radio, told our country that it was God's will that Native Americans lose their land and lives! 

BLINDED BY RIGHTEOUSNESS

There are some who will say that Senyonjo is not worth listening to, and that he's foolish for venturing out in such a hostile climate. Some may even say that he'll deserve what he gets. Scorn and venom will pour forth from the very places that should have love and concern. Those people are blinded by their own righteousness to have any compassion or concern for the bishop. They have whipped up emotions to create a mob mentality   that may be uncontrollable and may simply walk away from the situation in Uganda. Or they may look on in silence: Rick Warren, Scott Lively, Lou Engle and all their followers will watch.

And wait.