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.

The AFA and The Muslim Question: Deportation, Reservations, Concentration Camps or Gas Ovens?

Or Should We Have A Combination Of All Four?

When will the Southern Poverty Law Center list the American Family Association as a hate group? With the latest news, that sobriquet might not be long in coming.

Read this and weep ... for the  demise of America's compassion:

Right Wing Watch

[T]he most compassionate thing we can do for Americans is to bring a halt to the immigration of Muslims into the U.S. This will protect our national security and preserve our national identity, culture, ideals and values. Muslims, by custom and religion, are simply unwilling to integrate into cultures with Western values and it is folly to pretend otherwise. In fact, they remain dedicated to subjecting all of America to sharia law and are working ceaselessly until that day of Islamic imposition comes.

The most compassionate thing we can do for Muslims who have already immigrated here is to help repatriate them back to Muslim countries, where they can live in a culture which shares their values, a place where they can once again be at home, surrounded by people who cherish their deeply held ideals. Why force them to chafe against the freedom, liberty and civil rights we cherish in the West?

In other words, simple Judeo-Christian compassion dictates a restriction and repatriation policy with regard to Muslim immigration into the U.S.

The reasoning is warped, but neither criticism nor censure can stop Brian Fischer from realizing his dream of a strictly "Christian-only" America. Look at the quote again: it contains "national identity," "Islamic imposition" "a culture which shares their values," and "chafe against freedom." 


My writing has been criticised for using the (legitimate) word, "Christofascism." But I can't describe Fischer's idea in any other way. Reading between the lines , it's too obvious and makes  "The Jewish Question" look positively benign. This "modest proposal" is clear: "Hate Muslims. Muslims won't convert. All Muslims want to kill you. Muslims want to take over the world. Let them stick to their own kind or die." Fischer bases his entire stance on the research of Danish psychologist, Nicolai Sennels. Sennels chronicled the attitudes of Muslim criminals in Copenhagen. It basically matches up to profiling African-Americans in prison in this country.

While the website of the AFA has a kind of disclaimer ("(It should be noted that the American Family Association has not taken a position on this issue."), it hasn't come out against Fischer's blatantly Christofascist ideas either. And among his supporters (if she isn't, she will be) Michelle Malkin will become his media guru, helping to pave a smooth road to Fox News.

Fischer ended his article on deportation with an old maxim:  

It's often been observed that those who do not learn from history are condemned to repeat it. We are watching a dismal historical experiment in uncontrolled Islamic immigration unfold before our very eyes in Europe, and watching European culture disintegrate before our very eyes. Let's learn - and apply - the lessons from Europe. If we do not, it may soon be too late to save what is left of American culture.

But Fischer has yet to learn from history.

Setting aside the obvious parallels to Fascism, the Holocaust, and (Michelle Malkin's favorite spa/resort) Manzanar, let's look at America's most famous and first foray into mass deportation, also known as The Trail of Tears.

The Indian Removal Act
(wikipedia)

The Indian Removal Act, part of a United States government policy known as Indian removal, was signed into law by President Andrew Jackson on May 26, 1830

The Removal Act was strongly supported in the South, where states were eager to gain access to lands inhabited by the "Five Civilized Tribes". In particular, Georgia, the largest state at that time, was involved in a contentious jurisdictional dispute with the Cherokee nation. President Jackson hoped removal would resolve the Georgia crisis. The Indian Removal Act was also very controversial. While Native American removal was, in theory, supposed to be voluntary, in practice great pressure was put on Native American leaders to sign removal treaties. Most observers, whether they were in favor of the Indian removal policy or not, realized that the passage of the act meant the inevitable removal of most Indians from the states.

But did the Trail of Tears have "simple Judeo-Christian compassion"? Or Brian Fischer or Michelle Malkin to publicize its "compassion"? Fischer's irrational statements leave something to be desired. Humanity, possibly? Or has uprooting families from their homes and forcing them to abandon friends, families, careers, worldy belongings, education, all those things that attracted them to immigrate to this country suddenly have God's compassionate permission? 

And how do Muslim-Americans feel about people like Fischer?

James Zogby, American Muslim:

But the danger remains and the possibility of violence is real. And those in respected leadership roles need to recognize that, in the current environment, playing with matches can start fires. We’ve seen the ugly racist placards, heard the chants and shouted epithets, and witnessed the raw anger at rallies. Can violence be far behind?

Suddenly Fischer's "benign" proposal asks more questions that it answers:

1. Just WHO will be deported? Since being Muslim is advocating a religion and not a nationality, we have many, many people who are citizens of the United States. Do we deport only Iraqi-Americans? Turkish-Americans? Saudi-Americans? Lebanese-Americans? Pakistani-Americans? Egyptian-Americans?Algerian-Americans? Albanian-Americans? Indonesian-Americans? Libyan-Americans? The list could go on. It would be convenient to lump them all into  "would-be terrorists,"  but Americans would start seeing law-abiding, legal citizens hauled off for no apparent reason. AFA answer: who cares?

2. How would Muslim properties be sold, distributed and used? In the early days of Christianity, pagan temples were turned into churches or brothels. Will mosques be turned into unusual-looking WalMarts? (The most practical solution, I suppose). AFA answer: the compassionate thing to do would be to turn them into churches, but brothels would be more profitable.

3. Will Muslims who convert to Christianity still be forced out? If not, will there be a tribunal of sorts to ferret out "fake" Christians? Many Jews pretended to be converted in "Good Queen" Isabella's Spain - they were called "muranos." And if "fake" Christians are deported, won't they be killed as apostates? AFA Answer: Again, who cares?

4. Will Muslims, like the Japanese during WWII, be forced to sell their properties in a scant three days? Will there be a regulation stating that only true "Christians" (Like Pat Robertson) may purchase the land (at bargain basement rates). AFA Answer: Of course! This is a Christian Nation!!

5. Will the number of Muslims to be deported (estimated to be in the neighborhood of 4 million Americans) be too taxing for the economy to handle their deportation without considering alternatives? In other words, will outright extermination be cheaper? AFA Answer: we're thinking about it. Creativity is the key word here, so don't rush us.

Now comes the question: which religious group will be next? AFA Answer: whichever group we  hate.

Not A Laughing Matter: The Fudds Are Besieging Amarillo, Tx. And There Will Be Bloodshed - Eventually

WEPENT AMAWIWWO!

Always remember:

There are two different kinds of Christofascists: one is the Elmer Gantry and the other kind is the Elmer Fudd. The one to watch out for is the Elmer Fudd. After all, he's the one with the gun.

About 35 years ago, I had the occasion to meet one of my boyhood cowboy icons. I had seen him on the 14-inch screen in black and white, but his portrayal of a Mexican cowboy with a sidekick named Pancho was colorful enough for the imagination. The actor's name was Duncan Renaldo and he played The Cisco Kid. When I met him he was in his sixties and was much shorter than I had imagined him. But his white hair was still as thick as it had been twenty years before and he still had a kind of benign intensity. He was promoting a friend's book of poetry. He talked to me about his early days in movies, when sound was in its infancy. He was in Africa for almost two years filming the classic Trader Horn. He told me that the movie made almost no money at the box-office, but the extensive footage of the Serengeti and its animals was a goldmine in studio rentals. I was anxious, however, to get to the subject of The Cisco Kid."You know, I had Hopalong Cassidy wallpaper when I was a kid," I said. "And I know there were dozens of other promotional toys and whatnot for different shows, but I don't recall seeing anything with The Cisco Kid on them."

He turned very serious. "That's because they wanted me to promote Cisco Kid six-shooters and I wouldn't do it."

"Why not?"

"Because every time you point a gun at someone, even a toy gun, it means 'I want to kill you.'"

I've never forgotten that exchange. As The Cisco Kid, he was totally fearless. In reality, he was compassionate and peaceful. I then realized that his character's quick wit and rather sophisticated temperament was due to his own persona and not just a scriptwriter's attempt to inject something more meaningful into an early TV kids' cowboy program.

"I want to kill you."

Amarillo, TX is under siege. The group called Repent Amarillo is openly targeting businesses, clubs, establishments it considers immoral and/or evil.

The following description of a "soldier for Christ" sounds routinely innocuous, but put it on a website that features gunshots and bullet holes and you have the makings of a hate group armed with guns as well as Bibles. This group will start with extreme intimidation, but only time will tell what it will end up with.

Let's look at the inconsistencies in their description of a "soldier of Christ":

A soldier for Christ fights a spiritual battle. The enemy is not our fellow man but the principalities, the powers, the rulers of the darkness of this world (Ephesians 6:12). (History tells us that a soldier is trained to kill whomever he perceives as the enemy. Flesh and blood humans are painted as evil incarnate by pastors.) Our mission is to do battle with the lies of the enemy. To do battle with the corruption of this world. We do this by personal evangelism, one heart at a time. (Not when you target whole groups for extreme intimidation) The first century church went out into the streets and house to house being personal witnesses for Christ. This we do as well. (No, they did not intend to intimidate, harass or threaten blackmail) The Christian soldier has three weapons in his arsenal, prayer, praise and worship, and the Word of God. (Using Scripture as a weapon in any way is not Christian is it?) The Christian soldier must have the courage to stand where others will not and to go where others fear to tread. If God the Father regarded every person’s value as to be worth sending His only begotten Son to die for then why do so many Christians think that some are not worth preaching to? (Intimidation is not preaching) Regardless of the risk, regardless of the cost, regardless of the place, Christians are called to preach the Gospel to every creature. (Not to animals, since that would be putting animals on the same plane as humans) There is no excuse for cowardice in the face of the enemy. (Again, who is the enemy - how about that guy who runs the porno shop? Or the young couple in a swingers club? Or the gay couple down the street?) Jesus Christ was faithful unto death, obedient unto death and so shall we. The costs of cowardice and apathy are far too high. (Costs to whom?) A soldier for Christ wants to leave no man behind. (Easily qualified by a young soldier’s mind - if a man refuses to go, then what is the soldier to do?) We will fight unto death for the cause of eternal life through Christ Jesus. We will wage a good spiritual warfare until our King calls us home. May we leave this earth desperately clinging to one more lost soul.

"Desperately clinging." In the context of warfare, those words could be taken to mean that while the right hand is clinging to someone, the left hand is searching for a place to stab with the dagger - and turn it.

Of course, this article doesn't do justice to the website. Picture it pockmarked with bullet holes.

Yes, bullet holes.

That's what got to me when I looked at the site. No matter what they say about not targeting anyone, the bullet holes make everything disingenuous. The bullet holes are there to intimidate. The bullet holes are, in fact, very indicative of their modus operandi: intentionally ruining peoples' lives to further their agenda:


From How To Have Sex In Texas:

It was members of this "soldier" group that confronted, harassed, and smeared members of the Amarillo swinger's club, employing such apparently "Christian" tactics as posting names, employers, and license plate numbers of club attendees online, resulting in lost jobs and social ostracism--which, I guess, was the point--for several members.

While I call this ideology of religious militarism Christofascism, some have other names even more sinister. Dan Savage (Savage Love) calls Christofascists The American Taliban:

They're also going after churches they believe to be insufficiently Christian (Episcopalians, Christian Scientists, Unitarians), palm readers, people who practice witchcraft, and anything and everything that might create a "demonic stronghold" in Amarillo. And they're not just threatening to pray for people: Repent Amarillo's "actions" include prayer, according to Repent Amarillo's website, "but [also] may involve more aggressive use of soldiers and prayer warriors." Check out the group's locked-and-loaded website. (Please note: Repent Amarillo's website "is not designed for non-Christians," or the wrong kinds of Christians, so don't look long lest you defile the group's website with your eyes and turn into a pillar of salt.)

So if, heaven forbid, you are ever in Amarillo, remember that Repent Amarillo will be targeting these events:

1. Gay pride events.
2. Earth worship events such as “Earth Day”    
3. Pro-abortion events or places such as Planned Parenthood    
4. Breast cancer events such as “Race for the Cure” to illuminate the link between abortion and breast cancer.   
5. Opening day of public schools to reach out to students.   
6. Spring break events

7. Demonically based concerts.   
8. Halloween events.   
9. Other events that may arise that the ministry feels called to confront


If Repent Amarillo seems like a terrorist organization using God as a front, we should waste no time in monitoring it VERY closely. The Christofascist Right won't do it. Progressive Christians and the rest of us must do it. Someone's life may depend upon our diligence.

Update:

A very confusing investigation into the founder of Repent Amarillo and its "parent" ministry Raven International Ministries reveals that most of the "pastors" associated with its ministries matriculated at World Evangelism Bible College - the college founded by none other than disgraced evangelist Jimmy Swaggart. Neither Todd Bohn's nor (brother) Troy Bohn's profiles state that they actually graduated from WEBC, although Troy's website does state that he received a "honorary doctorate" in appreciation for his work, but does not state the source of the honorary degree. Repent Amarillo's (pastor) David Grisham is not listed with any known theological seminary as far as we know.