MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow addresses situation in Uganda, and she’s naming names.

Maddow's coverage on Ugandagate (to my recollection) began this Monday 11-30, and has been ongoing since. I have included the video clips of these segments as well as their corresponding transcripts for the sake of full coverage and ease of quotation.

I wish to emphasize the point that we often feel that we are “preaching to the choir” in regard to pro-gay watchdog sites.

What we may not remember is that the “choir” still needs to be preached to. Too many in the LGBT community are CLUELESS as to the threats we face in the political arena.

I was talking with a friend of mine (gay) from high school awhile back, about the threats we face from mostly, the religious right, in regard to marriage equality. He replied, paraphrased: “I think all they really want is to keep the name ‘marriage’.” A ridiculous assertion to those of us who are actively engaged in the current culture war.

I also attended the recent Anti-Heterosexism Conference in West Palm Beach and spoke with several activists who organized the nearby NARTH conference protest and this past march on Washington, and they told me stories of how difficult it was to get support and involvement with not only LGBT persons, but also with pro-LGBT groups. So this kind of apathy seems to be epidemic.

My point being, in regard to this post, is that the importance of in depth MSM coverage like this should not be underestimated. The Rachel Maddow show, I suspect, has an almost exclusively liberal/progressive audience, and so it’s expose´s like this that may help to waken some of those in our community, and allies, who continue to slumber.

A point of note, you can now edit the portions of the Rachel Maddow clips you wish to embed. I don’t know if that extends to all MSNBC shows, but it was a welcome discovery in putting this post together.

And with that...

Rachel Maddow clip from Monday November 30th, 2009

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Transcript:

MADDOW: The government of Uganda is considering passing a law to execute gay people. Execute as in by hanging a, quote, “serial offender” or an HIV-positive person who commits same sex act. If enacted, this law would also impose a three-year prison sentence on anyone who knows of a gay person in the country but doesn‘t report that gay person to the government within 24 hours.

Who is supporting and promoting this legislation? Well, one of the proponents is a minister named Pastor Martin Ssempa. He was a familiar face to American conservative Evangelicals, because Mr. Ssempa has been a frequent guest of Pastor Rick Warren at One Saddleback Church in California.

Do you remember Rick Warren? Him being selected to deliver the invocation at Barack Obama‘s inauguration was the little black cloud that crawled inside the silver lining that day for a lot of Americans who support gay rights.

Given with Rick Warren‘s deep involvement with Pastor Ssempa on matters including gay rights and AIDS issues in Uganda, “Newsweek” magazine asked Pastor Rick Warren his opinion of this proposed “kill the gays” law in Uganda.

Mr. Warren responded by distancing himself from Martin Ssempa, but also by refusing to condemn the proposal saying, quote, “It is not my personal calling as a pastor in America to comment or interfere in the political process of other nations.”

In a moment, we‘ll speak with Jeff Sharlet who has written extensively about the secret of Evangelical religious organization called The Family. We first started discussing The Family on this show when it emerged as a player in, not two, but three Republican sex scandals - those of South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford, Nevada Senator John Ensign and the alleged sex scandal involving former Mississippi Congressman Chip Pickering.

The Family, among other things, provides well-below market rent housing for a select group of members of Congress at its, until recently, nearly tax-exempt church on Capitol Hill - a house called C Street.

Jeff Sharlet is now reporting that there aren‘t just ties between American Evangelical Rick Warren and the “kill the gays” bill in Uganda. He reports that, in fact, the president of Uganda and the legislator who introduced the “kill the gays” bill are more than just supported by American Evangelicals. They are both members of The Family.

Joining us now is Jeff Sharlet, author of “The Family: The Secret Fundamentalism at the Heart of American Power.” He is also a contributing editor to “Harper‘s” magazine. Jeff, it‘s nice to see you again. Thanks for joining us.

JEFF SHARLET, AUTHOR, “THE FAMILY”: Good to be back, Rachel. Thanks.

MADDOW: So who introduced the “kill the gays” bill and what‘s his connection to The Family?

SHARLET: It‘s a member of parliament named David Bahati who has been very involved with a sort of conservative Evangelical revival in Uganda, very involved with a lot of American Evangelical groups and has also taken a leadership role in The Family‘s Uganda operation through something called the African Student Leadership Program at the Uganda‘s National Prayer Breakfast, which is an offshoot of the prayer breakfast The Family hosts every year here in the United States.

So he‘s got this leadership role that puts him not just at the sort of the margin of things, but functioning as one of their key men on the ground in Uganda.

MADDOW: In the big picture, why is The Family interested in Uganda? Why are they interested in operating there? And what are their goals there?

SHARLET: Well, The Family has always viewed its religious outreach, its worldwide spiritual offensive, as they describe it, in very clear geopolitical terms. Uganda, right now, is an incredibly important country for world politics. It‘s functioning in many ways as a U.S. proxy with Sudan, with Congo, with Rwanda.

There‘s oil in that general region and The Family needs to have a presence out there. They‘ve had that presence in Uganda since 1986 when they sent over a man to recruit Museveni who was then the new leader. Didn‘t look like a bright Democratic spot in African leadership. And they recruited him to be one of their main brothers, as they put it, for the whole continent.

MADDOW: So President Museveni in Uganda - he‘s not explicitly backing this horrendous bill. But it is thought that he tacitly supports it, at least as far as I can tell, and that the ethics and integrity minister in his government is vocally in favor of this thing. You‘re saying he has Family connections that go back decades.

SHARLET: Yes, to 1986. And it‘s hard to call it passive support when he‘s coming out there and saying that homosexuality is a plot that‘s sort of being imposed on Africa by Europe and that this is a time for Africans to rally together against sort of the foreign influence of homosexuality.

Now, Museveni is - the thought in Ugandan politics is that he‘s sort of letting other guys take the lead on this. But through his ethics minister, who is the main organizer of the National Prayer Breakfast in Uganda and it‘s his right-hand man - he‘s got a direct involvement.

And just last week, in fact, Museveni responded to questions from Uganda‘s main newspaper, is he a part of The Family. And his press secretary said, “Well, I can‘t answer that.” But it certainly sounds like an organization the president would like to be a part of but only if they really, really hate homosexuals.

MADDOW: Wow. That bastardization of that Groucho Marx quote is running through my head right now. Back in July, Jeff, you uncovered a video and we played it on the show, of Oklahoma Senator Jim Inhofe of Oklahoma, a Republican senator in the United States. He‘s got admitted association with C Street and The Family.

We played video that you found of him talking about his trips taken to Africa on the urging of leaders of The Family. I just want a real quick clip to remind folks here.

SEN. JIM INHOFE(R-OK): If you‘re a member of the United States Senate, in Africa, they think you are important, so you can always go to see the kings.

MADDOW: You always get in to see the kings. Is Sen. Inhofe or any other American politician powerful enough among Ugandan politicians that they could derail this legislation if they wanted to?

SHARLET: Well, working with colleagues, I‘ve reached out to Inhofe‘s office and he refuses to say a word about it despite the fact that he likes to boast of his incredibly close relationship with Ugandan politics. He‘s attended the Uganda National Prayer Breakfast. He says, in fact, he has adopted the nation and he regularly travels over there in behalf of The Family. Yet, he‘s refused to condemn it. Does he have the influence? We don‘t know because he‘s not exerting it. It‘s just like Rick Warren. Could Rick Warren, who has designated Uganda a purpose-driven nation, make a difference?

We don‘t know because they‘re not trying. And I think that‘s the kind of the bottom line with the American involvement. There‘s been a lot of American support for the guys who are promoting this bill and no pushback against this incredibly hateful piece of violence put in the legislation.

MADDOW: Jeff Sharlet is author of “The Family: The Secret Fundamentalism at the Heart of American Power.” Thanks, as always, for joining us, Jeff. I really appreciate it.

SHARLET: Thanks, Rachel.
--
Onto the clip from December 1st, 2009:

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Transcript:

Rachel Maddow: [T]oday is world AIDS Day. And for that occasion, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has announced a ground-breaking Obama administration policy which, awkwardly enough, reverses a policy implemented during the Reagan administration that was codified into law during the Clinton administration. It‘s a law that banned HIV positive people from traveling to the United States. The Obama administration has finally dropped that inexplicable ban and one immediate consequence of that is that the world‘s largest AIDS conference can once again be held in the United States. For the first time since 1990, when you might recall Paula Abdul‘s “Opposites Attract” was the No. 1 hit.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HILLARY CLINTON, SECRETARY OF STATE: Today, I‘m pleased to announce that with the repeal of the ban, the International AIDS Society will hold the 2012 International AIDS Conference in Washington, D.C.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MADDOW: Secretary Clinton also using World AIDS Day to make a legacy-defining statement that the United States would not tolerate homophobia on the international stage.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CLINTON: We have to stand against any efforts to marginalize and criminalize and penalize members of the LGBT community, worldwide. It is an unacceptable step backwards on behalf of human rights.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MADDOW: And if that sounded to you like an oblique reference to the Kill the Gay‘s bill in Uganda which we covered last night on this show, yes, it sounded like that to me, too.

We are learning more today about anti-gay extremism in Uganda and its connections to American extremists. Last night, investigative journalist, Jeff Charlotte, laid out for us the web connecting the author of the bill, calling for the death penalty for so-called “aggravated homosexuality” in Uganda. The connections between him and Pastor Rick Warren. And to our favorite denizens of “C” Street, the family.

But three other Americans are also closely linked to the proposed Kill the Gay‘s law. They are members of the so-called, “Ex-gay Movement,” who back, in March, spoke at a conference in Uganda, and riling up anti-gay fervor in that country.

The direct result of that conference, according to in-depth coverage in London‘s “Guardian” newspaper, was this bill that‘s now before the Ugandan parliament. So, who were the Americans who went to Uganda to stir up anti-gay fervor? And why are at least two of them now distancing themselves from the harsh consequences of their rhetoric? We‘ll have much more about them on tomorrow night‘s show, you may want to clear your schedule.
--
And finally, the most recent clip from December 2nd, 2009:

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Transcript mine:

Rachel Maddow: Bill number 18, The Anti-Homosexuality Bill of 2009, section 2, subsection 2: A person who commits the offense of homosexuality shall be liable on conviction to imprisonment for life.

Section 3, subsection 2: A person who commit’s the offense of aggravated homosexuality shall be liable on conviction to suffer death.

Section 4, subsection 1: A person who attempts to commit the offense of homosexuality commits a felony, and is liable on conviction to imprisonment for 7 years.

If you attempt to commit aggravated homosexuality, that’s life imprisonment.

Then there’s Section 13, subsection 1B: A person who funds or sponsors homosexuality is liable on conviction to a minimum of 5 years and a maximum of 7 years imprisonment.

Then there’s Section 14: Where if you know if someone who’s gay, you can get 3 years for not reporting that person to the authorities.

Then there’s section 16, where they will extradite their citizens from anywhere in the world, back to this country for prosecution if that citizen commits any of these crimes of homosexuality, somewhere else on God’s green Earth.

This is Uganda’s Anti-Homosexuality Bill of 2009 [PDF, courtesy Warren Throckmorton, via the Rachel Maddow show]. It was introduced this fall after 3 American evangelical activists, who proclaim that homosexuality can be cured, traveled to Uganda this spring to lead an anti-homosexuality inspirational seminar. The more we investigate, the more Americans we’ve turned up with links to this, so I will warn you that you can expect some continuing coverage from us on this issue.

But tonight, we’ve obtained some reactions from the three anti-gay American activists who’s travel to Uganda is credited with inspiring the kill-the-gays legislation.

They are Don Schmierer of the group Exodus International, a group that claims that Christianity can cure you of being gay. Also, Caleb Lee Brundidge of the group The International Healing Foundation, which also says that it tries to change gay people into straight people. And there’s Scott Lively, president of a group called Defend the Family, and author a book call The Pink Swastika.

These are the three American anti-gay gay-people-can-be-cured speakers who traveled to Uganda earlier this year, and who are credited with having inspired the kill-the-gays bill that is being considered in that country now.

Mr. Schmierer has said the he is opposed to the kill-the-gays legislation, and he says that he’s signed onto a letter to Uganda’s president, against it.

The group with which Mr. Brundidge is associated, first, denied knowing anything about the bill’s existence, and asked us for a copy of it. After we emailed them the legislation, they issued a statement that quote “We condemn any harsh and extreme punishment of persons who identify as homosexual or engage in homosexual behavior. Instead, we advocate education and counseling for those who experience unwanted Same-Sex Attraction.”

Education and counseling to cure you of ’the gay.’

Then there’s the last one, Mr. Scott Lively, the Pink Swastika guy. He told Lifesite news.com that the law is too harsh, but quoting “Dr. Lively explained that the impetus for the bill was "a lot of external interference from European and American gay activists attempting to do in Uganda what they've done around the world - homosexualize that society." One of their main concerns, explained Mr. Lively, "are the many male homosexuals coming in to the country and abusing boys who are on the streets."

So I mean, can you really blame them? I mean, of course Uganda wants to execute people for being gay. May be a little harsh, but it’s a normal reaction to all this pressure they’ve been getting. Can you blame them?

We thank Mr. Lively, Mr. Schmierer, and Mr. Brundidge, for giving us their reactions to the bill they reportedly inspired, to the extent that they responded to our calls for comment.

If American anti-gay activists inspired this bill, are there other Americans who have the clout to stop it from passing? You bet there are, and it turns out that a lot of them are household names. And so far, as far as we can tell, they have done nothing. We continue to investigate this, our next segment on the kill-the-gays bill tomorrow will familiarize you with some of the Americans who probably could stop this, who apparently don’t want to. That’s tomorrow.
-----------------
So stay tuned. Literally, The Rachel Maddow show airs on MSNBC @ 9E 8C

Happy Thanksgiving 2009

James Dobson: "I have never said anything hateful about homosexuals"

James Dobson ©2004: For nearly sixty years, the homosexual activist movement and related entities have been working to implement a master plan that has had as its centerpiece the utter destruction of the family.

Those goals include universal acceptance of the gay lifestyle, the discrediting of Scriptures that condemn homosexuality , muzzling of the clergy and Christian media, granting special privileges and rights in the law, overturning laws prohibiting pedophilia, indoctrination of children and future generations through public education, and securing all the legal benefits of marriage for any two or more people who claim to have homosexual tendencies.

It’s a perfect storm. (p19)

When Nazi Germany marched its troops into Austria and then “annexed” Czechoslovakia in the late 1930’s---signaling Adolf Hitler’s dangerous and frightening intentions---the response from the rest of Europe was startling: It did nothing. … Essentially their strategy was to ignore the threat, give Hitler what he wanted, and hope against hope that the trouble would soon pass. It didn’t. (p29)

Hitler … subjugated most of the people of Europe to tyranny and slavery. … Millions of men, women and children lost their lives

Today…we find ourselves in a terrible battle of a different sort, but one that also threatens the very existence of society. … The future of the nation is in crisis (p 29-30)

Like Adolf Hitler…those who would favor homosexual marriage are determined to make it legal, regardless of the democratic process that stands in their way. (p41)

The third reason marriage between homosexuals will destroy traditional marriage is that this is the ultimate goal of activists, and they will not stop until they achieve it. (p50)

The homosexual agenda is not marriage for gays, It is marriage for no one. (p53)

homosexuals are rarely monogamous, often having as many as three hundred or more partners in a lifetime---some studies say it is typically more than one thousand (p54)

The apostle Paul described such a society in the book of Romans, referring apparently to ancient Rome: “They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, and malice. They are gossips, slanderers, God haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents; they are senseless, faithless, heartless, ruthless” (1:29-31). (p55-56)

[Re Matthew Shepard] In 1998...Katie Couric of NBC’s Today Show asked a guest one morning if he thought the leaders of Focus on the Family, the Christian Coalition, and the Family Research Council were in directly responsible for Shepard’s murder because of the venom we espoused. …In twenty-seven years I have never said anything hateful about homosexuals on our broadcast, and I do not condone violence or disrespect for anyone. (p68)
~~~~Now, compare all that with what was recently observed on the Rachel Maddow show:

The Rachel Maddow Show
"Nazism is not a metaphor"
Friday, August 7, 2009

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Transcript:
But we begin with the convergence of two of the great sources of jaw-dropping, I can‘t believe that just happened-ness in modern American politics. We have the mob rule, shut it down, screaming, don‘t talk about health care mobs and we have Sarah Palin.

The now unemployed former vice presidential candidate and former Alaska governor, who turned to her Facebook page today to add this to our national conversation about reforming our health care system. She said, quote, “The America I know and love is not one in which my parents or my baby with Down syndrome will have to stand in front of Obama‘s “death panel” so his bureaucrats can decide based on a subjective judgment of their level of productivity in society whether they are worthy of health care. Such a system is downright evil.”

I actually agree. Of course, such a system isn‘t actually being considered by anyone. But don‘t let that hold you back.

Last night, on this show, we hosted Tim Phillips, the president of Americans for Prosperity. It‘s a beltway organization with significant corporate funding. They‘re staffed by experienced Republican campaign strategists, like Mr. Phillips himself.

Americans for Prosperity has churned out a number of what appear to be grassroots organizations. They have names like Patients First and Patients United Now. And these groups are formed to oppose health care reform and to get people to pack these town hall meetings about health care.

These groups direct people to town halls. They give them talking points to use there. And they try to get them fired up.

Here for example is the fire ‘em up message from a speaker on Mr. Phillips‘ Patients First bus tour, which yesterday held an event in Pueblo, Colorado.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If this new Obama-care program comes to fruition, when you reach 65 and every five years thereafter, you‘re going to have a counseling session with some federal airhead. Part of this process is called end-of-life counseling and part of the end-of-life counseling can be an end-of-life order.

Adolf Hitler issued 6 million end-of-life orders. He called his program the final solution.

I kind of wonder what we‘re going to call ours.

If you find all this stuff is as repugnant as I do, you need to take it to the next step. You need to notify your congressman. How do you that? How do you notify these people?

You can call them. You can write them. You can e-mail them. Or you can go to their office and put the fear of God in ‘em.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MADDOW: Put the fear of God in them—because what Obama is doing with killing all these people like Sarah Palin said, that‘s like what Hitler did and you know what Hitler deserved.

This is the rhetoric that corporate-funded, GOP-allied groups like Americans for Prosperity are funneling through which they set up to look like grassroots organizations to get people to go “put the fear of God” into elected officials.

“Politico” is reporting that an event planned by Congresswoman Ann Kirkpatrick of Arizona was overrun by protestors who showed up after receiving robocalls encouraging them to show up and demonstrate. And, of course, the nice thing about robocalls is it‘s never easy to know exactly where they came from, but it is known that Conservatives for Patients‘ Rights—another one of the fake grassroots organizations, a 20 organization—a $20 million operation run by former hospital CEO Rick Scott—that group posted the time and location of these events on its Web site.

And what has started as rowdy and rude and mean-spirited disruptions has turned, in some cases, into actual violence, with several hospitalizations for minor injuries and some arrests being reported at health care town halls last night. What‘s also evident is that the antireform rhetoric increasingly is invoking specific references to Nazis and specific comparison of President Obama to Adolf Hitler.

Here for example is a 16-year-old wearing a -- 16-year-old at a Denver town hall event wearing a t-shirt with a picture of the president and the words on it, “Hitler gave good speeches, too.” Here‘s a toddler in a stroller at the same event carrying a sign with a swastika that reads, “No to Fascism.” Here‘s a protestor at a Michigan event held by Congressman John Dingell carrying a sign that depicts the president with a Hitler mustache.

Yesterday, talk show host Rush Limbaugh compared the president, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, the proposed health care reform, and the president‘s health care logo to Nazism and/or Hitler. And despite criticism from, among others, the conservative “National Review Online,” the Anti-Defamation League, the American Jewish Congress, and Rabbi Marvin Hier whose founder of the Simon Wiesenthal Center, Rush Limbaugh actually retrenched with the whole Hitler/Nazism thing today.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RUSH LIMBAUGH, RADIO TALK SHOW HOST: By the way, his health care logo looks damn like the Nazi logo. I‘m sorry but it does. I didn‘t create either logo, but I have two eyes and I can see. Infuriating Democrats—good. Is Obama not got a Web site where he‘s asking supporters to provide the names of people providing disinformation about the health care system? What did I say yesterday that is not true?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MADDOW: You know, there are people alive today who barely survived the Holocaust. And there are many people alive today whose whole families were killed in the Holocaust. Nazism is not a metaphor for a political policy you disagree with. Used deliberately as a strategy to characterize a political opponent, it has a very specific resonance with people looking to justify violence. The implication of conjuring up the Third Reich is that, in the case of someone who‘s identified as a Nazi, as a modern day Hitler, violence against that person, even murder, would not only be seen as justified, it might be celebrated.

This rhetorical strategy sets the stage for political violence that the perpetrator could hope would be praised. As such the idea of assassination, other kinds of political violence are always in the subtext. And you know, sometimes assassination isn‘t even in the subtext. Sometimes it just bubbles right up to the surface.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GLENN BECK, FOX NEWS HOST: I wonder what it would be like seriously. I mean, if I could go, you know, to the speaker‘s shindig. Speaker Pelosi, I just wanted to—are you going to drink your wine? Are you blind? Do those eyes not work? There you go. I want you to drink it now. Drink it. Drink it. Drink it.

I really just wanted to thank you for having me over to wine country, you know? To be invited, I thought I had to be a major Democratic donor or long-time friend of yours which I‘m not. By the way, I put poison in your—no!

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MADDOW: Yesterday, we played a tape of a Republican congressman joking about lynching Democratic members of Congress. Now, it‘s conservative national radio hosts calling the President Hitler and conservative national television hosts joking about assassinating the speaker of the House of Representatives.

Right wing media deliberately and systematically invoking both Nazism and political assassination; hostile crowds consistently displaying Nazi symbolism at these demonstrations; the corporate-funded anti-reform movement using Hitler as a rhetorical weapon against the president and against Democrats in Congress—it‘s scary, of course, if they don‘t understand the implications of their actions. And it‘s much, much scarier, still, if they do.

Joining us now is Frank Schaeffer. He‘s the author of “Crazy for God: How I Grew Up As One of the Elect, Helped Found the Religious Right, and Lived to Take All or Almost All of It Back.”

Mr. Schaefer, thank you so much for coming back on the show tonight.

FRANK SCHAEFFER, AUTHOR, “CRAZY FOR GOD”: Thanks for having me on, Rachel.

MADDOW: Do you think that calling the president a Nazi, calling the president Hitler is an implicit call for politically motivated violence?

SCHAEFFER: Yes, I do. In fact, this rings a big bell with me because my dad, who was a right-wing evangelical leader, wrote a book called “A Christian Manifesto” that sold over a million copies. And in that book, he compared anybody who was pro-abortion to the Nazi Germans and he said that using violence or force to overthrow Nazi Germany would have been appropriate for Christians, including the assassination of Hitler. He compared the Supreme Court‘s actions on abortion to that and that has ban note that has been following the right-wing movement that my father and I helped start in evangelical context all the way.

So, what‘s really being said here is two messages. There is the message to the predominantly white, middle-aged crowd, the people screaming at these meetings, trying to shut them down. But there‘s also a coded message to what I would call the “looneytunes,” the “fruitloops” on the side.

It‘s really like playing Russian roulette. You put a cartridge in the chamber, you spin, and once in a while it goes off. And we saw that happen with Dr. Tiller. We‘ve seen it happen numerous times in this country with the violence against political leaders whether it‘s Martin Luther King or whoever it might be. We have a history of being a well-armed, violent country.

And so, really, I think that these calls are incredibly irresponsible. The good news is that it shows a desperation. The far-right knows they have lost. They‘ve lost the hearts and minds of most American people, for instance, who want health care.

But they also know they have a large group of people who are not well-informed, who listen to only their own sources, who buy the lies, for instance, all this nonsense about euthanasia being mandatory and all the rest of it, and these people can be energized to go out and do really dreadful things. And we‘ve seen it in front of abortion clinics. I‘m afraid we‘re going to see it with some of our political leaders.

And the Glenn Becks of this world literally are responsible for unleashing what I regard as an anti-democratic, anti-American movement in this country that is trying to shut down legitimate debate and replace it with straight out intimidation. It is ironic they‘re drawing a parallel to Hitler.

I wouldn‘t draw such a parallel, but I would draw a parallel to the Brown Church (ph) of 1930s who got into a habit of shutting down dissent and making it look as if they had a majority by spreading out in groups just as these folks do, screaming the loudest and making debate impossible.

So, these are very, very bad signs and I‘m not at all optimistic about how this is going to end in terms of violence, although I do think Obama is going to win the day in terms of most Americans.

The problem is, we‘re not talking about most Americans, we‘re talking about a small, angry group of white people who to—you know, to paraphrase Bart Simpson, the election broke their brains. They‘re angry. And they are ready to do just about anything to stop the process at this point because they‘d rather see us all lose than admit defeat.

MADDOW: Mr. Schaeffer.

SCHAEFFER: That‘s where they‘re at.

MADDOW: . one of the reasons that I wanted to talk to you about this tonight is because what you describe as the potential that this could be a coded message. What we‘re seeing here is vituperative language like this from some members of Congress, from some people who are considered to be relatively mainstream, within conservative politics.

But we‘re also seeing it from movement organizers, from people who are organized, like this Americans for Prosperity group. It‘s a very well-connected group. We have the president of that organization on the show last night. He‘s a former political strategist partner of Ralph Reed. He‘s up in the Jack Abramoff scandal. I mean, these people who are—he was the campaign strategist for George Bush‘s primary campaign for president in 2000 -- these are people who are very much linked into the conservative movement.

And so, what I‘m trying to get down to is the question of whether or not this is a deliberate coded message, whether this is sort of a dog whistle that‘s going out on the right by using specific language about Nazism, it is a specific call for violence?

SCHAEFFER: Yes, I would like to just say this and I know this may come off as a little harsh to people, but I honestly think that there is a type of white middle-aged American male, I‘m a white-middle aged—well, I wish I was middle-aged, I‘m over middle age—but a white male about my age who has had a kind of mental collapse. I mean, you look at the way they went after Sotomayor and called her a racist. You look at them now using all these foundations and these groups, lobbyists and others pouring millions of dollars from the insurance industry and stirring up misinformed, right-wing white people, not terribly bright people, the sort of people who are yelling at these meetings.

There is a coded message here. And that is that you have a group of people who like Rush Limbaugh would rather see the president and the country fail, and their coded message to their own lunatic fringe is very simple—and that is go for broke.

When you start comparing a democratically-elected president, who is not only our first black president but a moderate progressive, to Adolf Hitler, you have arrived at a point where you are literally leading—leaving a loaded gun on the table, saying the first person who wants to come along and use this, go ahead. Be our guest.

Now, all these people, when something bad happens, will raise their holy hands in horror and say, of course, we didn‘t mean that. We were just talking about being Americans. It‘s American to protest.

B.S. They know exactly what‘s out there. There is a whole public there who went out and stopped up on ammunition and guns thinking Obama would take away their weapons. One such person shot down three policemen in Pittsburgh. I‘d like to know exactly what Glenn Beck and FOX News will say the morning after someone takes a shot at our president or kills a senator or congressman.

And if it‘s one of the people who we find a little note in their car or the literature or their television watching habits whose tied to these people who are stirring the pot, or tied to these foundations that people, like Dick Armey, are running, trying to use insurance company money to make look this fake grassroots movement then—then we‘ll see what happens. But at that point we‘ll be in a new zone and it‘ll be too late.

So, my warning to my old friends on the right and those who read my book, “Crazy for God,” knows that without the work of my father, Dr. C. Everett Koop and myself, there would have been no pro-life movement, no religious right to be fomenting these things from, it‘s the same cast of characters. I came to a place in my life when I realized I had made a big mistake.

Now, we‘ve crossed a line into which hate and vitriol have gone to a point where it is anti-democratic and anti-American. These people do not want America to succeed. They would rather see our system go down than have a black president, someone with different political views, someone appointing people like Sotomayor, Hispanic people, women and others. And we have arrived at a point where enough is enough.

So, these people are hatemongers, and they are distributing a kind of information on two levels. One the lies about the health care system requiring euthanasia and all this nonsense, but on another level, as I say leaving a loaded gun on the table, they‘re calling our president Hitler, they‘re spreading this rhetoric, they‘re spreading these lies.

It isn‘t just a question of being bad journalists anymore. These are bad Americans, and they are putting all of us at risk.

MADDOW: Frank Schaeffer, author of “Crazy for God”—thank you very much for coming on the show. Mr. Schaeffer, we really appreciate your insight. Thanks.

SCHAEFFER: Thanks.
_________________

James Dobson's book Marriage on Trial, et al, are those loaded guns "left" on the table.

They were designed as weapons of violence, to rip and tear lives apart.

Designed. Carefully, carefully, designed.

Senate bill threatens to allow strangers to duct tape anyone they think is anti-gay

From CitizenLink 7-14-09:

Senate Close to Silencing Religious Speech:

Citizenlink: The "hate-crimes" bill, being considered… …pastors who preach against homosexuality could end up prosecuted if they are found to have "induced" a hate-crime against a self-identified homosexual by preaching from the Bible. ~~~They’ve been “inducing” people to kill gay men for years, and it’s been working for years, and it’s been Biblical for years:

Leviticus 20:13: If a man lies with a man as one lies with a woman...They must be put to death

CitizenLink: “there's no dramatic increase in…sexual-orientation hate crimes”

So because the “inducement” of killing gay men, via "preaching from the Bible," hasn’t resulted in a recorded “increase” of murders, they feel that it's more important to be concerned about their freedom to further incite the murder of gay men, via "religious speech," than to be concerned about their gay brothers who are actually being murdered.

Another “Christian” endorsing mass murder.

(this is from ‘08 but just turned up as a Google alert)

From BabbaZee, who puts the Leviticus 20:13 death threat as a permanent feature on their homepage:

BEHOLD as I break the law in Colorado:

If a man also lie with mankind, as he lieth with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination: they shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be upon them.

~ Leviticus 20:13

Which links to a post entitled: “Leviticus 20:13 Now a Mind Crime in Colorado”

After 400 years of religious freedom for those who wanted to own and distribute Bibles on their own property in America, the Governor of Colorado has put an end to it. SB08-200, signed into law last week will prohibit the issuing, circulating, and distributing of Leviticus 20:13...

That link leads to the bill summary, and as usual, has nothing to do with the reading of minds or the distribution of Bibles, or Biblical hate speech. It has to do with prohibitions against discrimination:

The committee returned to order. Representative Judd presented Senate Bill 08-200 concerning the expansions of prohibitions against discrimination. The bill adds the prohibition of discrimination based on sexual orientation to nondiscrimination statutes for 23 areas, including housing, employment not covered by House Bill 07-025, education, public accommodations and health care. It also allows for the appointment of people who have been, or might be discriminated against because of sexual orientation, to the Civil Rights Commission. Prohibitions against discrimination on the basis of sex, marital status, disability, age, national origin, ancestry, and religion, are added as necessary for consistency in all nondiscrimination statutes including consumer credit transactions, jury service, issuance of a license to practice law, and public accommodations. Violations of anti-discrimination laws are misdemeanors subject to fines up to $5,000, two years imprisonment in a county jail, or both.

As you may have noticed, BabbaZee’s a bit dull. So BabbaZee's description of this image should come as no surprise:

"THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE

WITH "BIBLICAL HATE SPEECH" REDACTED."

First of all, that’s a picture of THE CONSTITUTION!

Secondly, I find the open admission defending “Biblical Hate Speech” refreshing, yet simultaneously revolting.

Also, did I mention...

Dark Matter Trailer, and a bit more.

Dark Matter Trailer


This played over the closing credits:
Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings - This Land Is Your Land


Something we often forget, especially in regard to that song:


From Caglecartoons.com:

Exodus International on Ugandagate: Love the law, hate the consequences.

From BoxTurtleBulletin.com:

Don Schmierer is a member of the board of directors for Exodus International. Last weekend, he used those credentials while speaking at an anti-gay conference in Kampala, Uganda alongside noted Holocaust revisionist Scott Lively.

laws enacted in Uganda to require that those convicted of homosexuality be forced to undergo sexual reorientation therapy. The law in Uganda currently calls for a life sentence upon conviction for homosexuality. As far as we have been able to tell, no one at the conference called for decriminalization of homosexuality, nor a reduction in the current penalties. Instead, there were calls to strengthen the law to add the requirement that convicted gays be forced to endure unregulated and unproven therapies, under duress and against their will.

The response:

Alan Chambers, President of Exodus International, responded to reports about an Exodus board member’s participation at a conference in Uganda on homosexuality:

“Unfortunately, Uganda as a country has demonstrated severe hostility towards homosexuals supporting criminalization of homosexual behavior and proposing compulsory therapy - positions that Exodus International unequivocally denounces. It is our sincere desire to offer an alternative message that encompasses a compassionate, biblical view of homosexuality not just here in America, but around the world. We applaud our board member’s attempt to convey these truths to a country in need.”

Not a view consistent with jail time, but one of Biblical proportions:

Leviticus 20:13: If a man lies with a man as one lies with a woman, both of them have done what is detestable. They must be put to death; their blood will be on their own heads

A cursory search of Leviticus 20:13 on the Exodus website yeilds...results.

It would seem that Exodus International considers mass murder to be a very part of their religious belief. So it would logically follow that to suppress their murderous designs, would be to infringe upon what they consider to be their religious freedom.

Maybe it’s kind of like how they feel about their own same sex attractions. They’re personally against murder, but to protect their eternal asses they support it when God says so.

In the Exodus book “God’s Grace and the Homosexual Next Door" (pages 44-45), Scott Davis, Student Ministries Director for Exodus International, says this:

"These prohibitions against sexual perversion are repeated in Leviticus, chapter 20. … The language of 20:13 is similar to 18:22: “if a man lies with a man as one lies with a woman, both of them have done what is detestable. They must be put to death; their blood will be on their own heads.” Again the language is clear --- the act of a man lying with another man is prohibited.

Occasionally it’s claimed by pro-gay supporters that these verses aren’t speaking of loving, monogamous, homosexual sex, but of male prostitution or some other form of perversion. These arguments are not convincing."

-"Loving" relationships, "not convincing."
-"death penalty," perfectly understandable.

More importantly, he makes no effort to denounce God's will to have us murdered.

Additionally:

From the Exodus Student Ministries “Truth and Tolerance” DVD:

Scott Davis takes a more surreptitious approach:

First we can look in Leviticus 20:13, it says

“If a man lies with a man as on lies with a woman, both of them have done what is detestable.”

That's not the entire verse. As stated above, this is the entire verse:

Leviticus 20:13: If a man lies with a man as one lies with a woman, both of them have done what is detestable. They must be put to death; their blood will be on their own heads.

Here, Exodus hides the murderous death threat portion of the verse. Because after all, they wouldn’t want anyone to know that they approve of the entire Bible:

Exodus International = Leviticus 20:13

Leviticus 20:13 = They must be put to death:

John Denver would be ashamed!

(Also posted in a diary at Pam's House Blend)

Truth Wins Out: The Family Policy Council of West Virginia's Hate Ad:


Full Video transcript:

Marriage began in the heart of God, and He designed it perfectly, for one man and one woman. A husband, a wife, a family. The building block of every community, every culture, every race, every nation. Governments have recognized and uniquely protected marriage for more than 2,000 years, so families can pass life to the next generation.

In West Virginia however, there is currently no clear definition of marriage as only the union of one man and one woman, yet marriage has a public status, and in most states is protected in law. Marriage between a man and a woman is held up as the ideal in all of civilized society because of its profound stabilizing influence on our culture, as well as the important economic benefits of strong and intact families.

But today that ideal is under and unrelenting attack, and same-sex marriage in West Virginia is a closer reality than you may think. 30 states have already passed constitutional amendments defining marriage, but activists outside our state are aggressively targeting the remaining 20, including West Virginia. Working tirelessly to redefine marriage away from God's design, to favor the desires of adults over the needs of children, for the naturally balanced model of a mother and a father.

The push for same-sex marriage has produced an historical crisis for the Church. Today in courtrooms across the country, in decisions as recent as last month, our constitutional guarantee of religious liberty is going toe to toe with an aggressive social agenda, and religious liberty is losing.

Judges in California, Massachusetts, New Jersey, and Connecticut, have arbitrarily redefined marriage and religious freedom. And virtually every area of ministry is coming under legal attack. Threatening our ability to freely and legally follow the faith. Church day care, faith based marriage counseling, Christian adoption agencies, religious schools, Christian businesses, doctors, professionals, para-church ministries, even the church, its clergy and lay leadership. Each is a growing battleground for promoting same-sex unions against church teaching, even individual conscience, with the full weight of the law standing against the faithful.

With alarming swiftness, these sweeping changes are moving from the courtroom to the classroom. In many schools today teachers are being ordered to stop using the words "mother" and "father." Father's Day celebrations are not observed, and the very concept of motherhood is abandoned to political correctness. Across the country, elementary school children are being taught to equate homosexuality with heterosexuality, and incredibly a parent's right to object to this indoctrination is becoming legally impossible.

In West Virginia, same-sex advocates could easily launch the state and its churches into legal chaos. They know that what was done in California was never intended to stay in California. A weekend trip to San Francisco for a West Virginia same-sex couple, plus a pro-bono ACLU attorney, could easily become a nightmare for marriage in West Virginia. In fact, a currently pending same-sex adoption case here, could effectively allow 5 unaccountable judges in Charleston to alter the Biblical definition of marriage for all of West Virginia. It's time to legally define marriage now, before costly litigation makes it politically and practically impossible.

West Virginians should define marriage, not judges under pressure to be progressive. West Virginians have an opportunity to take a stand for God's design, but only if elected officially will allow a vote in 2009, and West Virginians clearly desire to preserve the definition of marriage as one man and one woman in our state constitution. What's also clear, is that to pass a marriage amendment in West Virginia this year, the Church must lead. Pastors and their congregations must be willing and committed to defending God's design for marriage.

Please, pray about your active involvement at this critical moment in our state's history. Some of the things you can do include: Pray for marriage in West Virginia. Meeting personally with your delegate and state senator. Share with them your concerns about religious freedom and the moral definition of marriage. Ask for their support to allow the people of West Virginia to decide on marriage, not unaccountable judges. Pray for them, and remember that it is the Church's calling to speak truth to power, so power will speak the truth.

Your involvement matters, voting and involvement in the public square is central to being salt and light, and bearing witness to the truth. 2009 is West Virginia's best opportunity to take a stand for God's design. The time to preserve the definition of marriage in our constitution is now. One man. One woman. That's marriage.

www.wv4marriage.com

First of all, marriage is a civil contract, not a religious one, just to get that canard out of the way.

Now, I went to the wv4marriage website, and under the section "Stand4Marriage Sunday" section, there is an option to click on "resources," which leads to a list of PDF's. I know from the Florida4Marriage website that the pastors resources section often contains the more sinister Biblical content, so I clicked on the one that said "Full text message for pastors." And it delivered - in spades.

One point of note before we begin. At the end of the document it says "-END," and then says this:

A pastor for 20 years and a pioneer leader in the values voter movement, Dr. Kenyn Cureton, former Vice President for Convention Relations for the Executive Committee of the Southern Baptist Convention, currently serves as Vice President for Church Ministries with the Family Research Council in Washington, DC.

So I am assuming that Dr. Kenyn Cureton is the author of the document, and will be referring to him as such throughout this post.

That said, let the flames of hypocrisy begin...

From the video: "Marriage began in the heart of God, and He designed it perfectly, for one man and one woman. A husband, a wife, a family."

Clarified further by the wv4marriage website:

What is the divine pattern, God's original intention for marriage and the home? Go back to Genesis, the book of beginnings. For example, Genesis 1:27: "So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them." Aren't you glad God created Adam and Eve, man and woman?

What they always neglect to mention, is that God's perfect design for marriage and family included incest. Adam and Eve and their children were the only humans on Earth, simple math.

God's perfect design for marriage and family = advocacy of incest.
Adam and Eve not Adam and Steve = advocacy of incest.

Unless of course God changed his mind...
--------------
Again: "Marriage began in the heart of God, and He designed it perfectly, for one man and one woman."

Except of course when He designed it for Abdon,* Abijah, Abraham, Ahab, Ahasuerus, Ashur, Belshazzar, Benhadad, Caleb, David, Eliphaz, Elkanah, Esau, Ezra, Gideon, Heman,* Hosea,* Ibzan,* Issachar,** Jacob, Jair,* Jehoiachin, Jehoram, Jerahmeel, Joash, Lamech, Machir, Manasseh, Mered, Moses, Nahor, Rehoboam, Saul, Shaharaim, Shimei,* Simeon, Solomon, Terah,* Zedekiah, and Ziba.*

What's that you say, God never condoned or approved of polygamy, He just "allowed" sin to happen?

Hmmm...2 Samuel 12:8

I gave your master's house to you, and your master's wives into your arms. I gave you the house of Israel and Judah. And if all this had been too little, I would have given you even more.

Well He "allowed" it alright, and according to the Bible, He also condoned and approved of it.

Or did He change His mind on that one too?
---------------
And my all time favorite tack - attempting to hide one's endorsement of mass murder.

The Word of God, which does not err, is abundantly clear about homosexuality. Leviticus 18:22 says: "You are not to sleep with a man as with a woman; it is detestable." Leviticus 20:13 says: "If a man sleeps with a man as with a woman, they have both committed an abomination..." Those are severe statements.

The FULL text of Leviticus 20:13 is thus: If a man lies with a man as one lies with a woman, both of them have done what is detestable. They must be put to death; their blood will be on their own heads.

And just in case you weren't sure about his sincerity on that one, he clarifies:

Some say: "Well, that's Old Testament, but Jesus never said anything about homosexuality." I would disagree. Jesus said in Matthew 5:17-18: "Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished."

Some say: "Well Christians don't restrict their diets like they did in the OT Law, why should we pay attention to restrictions against homosexuality." It is true. We don't keep kosher. Why? Because Christ's death on the cross not only provided a way for sins to be forgiven, including the sin of homosexuality, but it also rendered obsolete the dietary, ceremonial, and sacrificial laws (see Hebrews 8:13). Yet the principles of the moral law remain in force. The moral law calls homosexuality an abomination [and deserving of death]. Jesus said: "I didn't come to change that."

So the "moral law" -- that includes having we gay guys put to death -- "remains in force," unlike those pesky dietary, ceremonial and sacrificial laws.

Also, I read the entire chapter of Hebrews 8, and nowhere did I find the quotation "I didn't come to change that," let alone quoted by Jesus specifically.

He goes on:

Equally severe is God's own version of the Extreme Makeover of Sodom and Gomorrah, which were destroyed in a hail of fire and brimstone primarily because of this sin (Gen. 19).

Let's take a look at "this sin" of Sodom and Gomorrah, the pith of which we can find specifically in Genesis 19: 4-8:

Before they had gone to bed, all the men from every part of the city of Sodom-both young and old-surrounded the house. They called to Lot, "Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us so that we can have sex with them."

Lot went outside to meet them and shut the door behind him and said, "No, my friends. Don't do this wicked thing. Look, I have two daughters who have never slept with a man. Let me bring them out to you, and you can do what you like with them. But don't do anything to these men, for they have come under the protection of my roof."

So Dr. Kenyn Cureton, the author of this propaganda piece, considers, or at least wants pastors across West Virginia to believe that adult same-sex consensual relationships are the equivalent of gang rape, and to be silent about Lot, the hero of the story, who willingly offered up his virgin daughters to be gang raped in lieu his stranger-guests.

That's some darn tootin' morality you got there, Dr. Cureton.

And I just love it when they pull this little trick:

In fact, Jesus basically condemned homosexuality by affirming the divine pattern for marriage. In Matthew 19:4-6 and Mark 10:6-9, quoting from Genesis 1 and 2, Jesus said that marriage is between one man and one woman.

And now for what Jesus says immediately after those texts:

Matthew 19:9: "I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife, except for marital unfaithfulness, and marries another woman commits adultery."

Mark 10:11: He answered, "Anyone who divorces his wife and marries another woman commits adultery against her.

I wonder how many haters that would throw out of the ring.

And the proverbial 1 Corinthians 6:9-11:

"Do you not know that the unjust will not inherit God's kingdom? Do not be deceived: no sexually immoral people, idolaters, adulterers, male prostitutes, homosexuals, thieves, greedy people, drunkards, revilers, or swindlers will inherit God's kingdom. Some of you were like this..."

We've covered the adulterers, now let's cover the revilers...

Revile: abuse, admonish, berate, blame, castigate, censure, chide, criticize, denigrate, denounce, disparage, give a talking to, lambaste, lay down the law, lecture, rake over the coals*, ream, reprimand, reproach, reprobate, reprove, scorn, tongue-lash, vilify, vituperate

I guess we'll see them all in hell.

While we're at it, let's add insult to injury:

Dr. Kenyn Cureton: While as many as 2 out of 3 Americas are opposed to "gay marriage," homosexual activists and their allies have looked to the Courts to further their destructive program. Take a look at their successes in the legal arena. In 2003, the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the nation's remaining Sodomy laws.

What a tragedy, our relationships are no longer criminal.

The word Sociopath comes to mind. They have a distinct advantage over most of us, they have no conscience. It really is all just a game to them. And the non-thinking masses just follow their lead.

Same crap all over again.

Good luck, West Virginia.

Country Roads - John Denver

Al Mohler, online pamphlet: Homosexuality and the Bible

Brought to our attention by Christ Community Church in Tucson, Arizona.

Al Mohler: The movement to normalize homosexuality won a huge victory last year when the U.S. Supreme Court handed down its decision in the case Lawrence v. Texas. In that momentous decision, a majority of justices struck down the Texas sodomy laws as unconstitutional, declaring that individuals have a basic right to define their own existence and sexual lifestyle without government interference.

As if complaining about the "horror" of allowing gays the right to self determination wasn't bad enough, he then goes on to say:

These days, anyone who would oppose homosexuality as a fully valid lifestyle is depicted as a narrow-minded bigot and described as “homophobic.”

Well, let's see now, do you think that Al Mohler's need for the so-called "right" to throw gays in prison to be homophobic bigotry?


I personally find claim to such a "right" to be barbaric, far beyond homophobia and bigotry.

Or perhaps Christ Community Church thinks that such barbarism is acceptable if done in the name of Jesus.

Again, via Al Mohler:

The Christian church must have a distinctive message to speak to the issue of homosexuality, because the Bible has a distinctive message. Faithfulness to Holy Scripture demands that the Church hold to the biblical witness.

What is that Biblical witness that the Church should adhere to, you ask?

Al Mohler, president of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary-the flagship school of the Southern Baptist Convention, argues not once, but twice, in favor of God's Leviticus 20:13 command to murder all gay persons on Earth:

For instance, some argue that Paul’s references to homosexuality are actually references to pederasty [the sexual abuse of young boys], to homosexual rape, or to “non-committed” homosexual relationships. The same is argued concerning passages such as Genesis 19, Leviticus 18:22, and Leviticus 20:13. Yet, in order to make this case, the revisionists must deny the obvious — and argue the ridiculous.

And:

As New Testament scholar David Wright has demonstrated, the word was taken by Paul directly from Leviticus 18:22 and 20:13, and its meaning is homosexuality itself.

Leviticus 20:13
If a man lies with a man as one lies with a woman, both of them have done what is detestable. They must be put to death; their blood will be on their own heads.


Such is the "morality" of Albert Mohler and the pastors and staff of Tucson Arizona's Christ Community Church.

Get a dog little longgie, get a dog…

Debra Moore has a blog called “Exposing Liberal Lies”

LA Mayor Implies God Would Approve of Gay Marriage
Friday, November 21, 2008

Interesting how liberals attempt to twist the words of Jesus in order to justify their sin. By all means, Jesus loves the sinner. However, that does not mean that He condones the sin.
Read what the Almighty God has to say about homosexuality:

We then get three attempts to hide behind the Bible, one quote from World Net Daily, and one quote from One News Now.

You do the math.

Commenter WT had this thoughtful response to offer:

I am Catholic. Of less importance, I am also gay. Although I am gay I am one of the most devout Catholics you will ever meet. I attended the University of Notre Dame and even minored in theology. My faith is VERY VERY important to me.

From a marriage perspective, it is very unfortunate that I was born gay. Believe me, I NEVER would have chosen to be gay. NEVER.
I didn't wake up one day and decide, "OKAY! Tired of being straight! I think I want to be judged, criticized, and looked down upon for the rest of my life. I think I'll be gay!" Nobody CHOOSES that lifestyle. I would have loved so much to have found the woman of my dreams and to have settled down and had kids with her. I've finally come to terms with the fact that that will never happen, though.

Growing up, I spent many nights crying myself to sleep because I thought I was going to have to spend the rest of my life alone. The Bible says that homosexuality is wrong. Certain interpretations of the Bible condemn homosexuals to hell. In 1 Corinthians 6:9-10 (TNIV), Paul says:
“Or do you not know that wrongdoers will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor practicing homosexuals nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God."

I ask then, why are we all so quick to condemn homosexuality, but we can continue to live in a society that permits drunkenness [as condemned by Paul in his letter to the Corinthians]? If drunkards are equally condemned to hell, where is the push for a proposition that forbids men and women to get drunk.

I beg our society first, to work to separate the church from the state. As a Catholic, I want our government to be influenced by Christian belief and doctrine, but we cannot cast our views on the entire nation. To do so is to laugh in the face of the greatest commandment: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' Defined: RESPECT. Respect does not mean taking traditional Christian values and applying them to non-Christian members of this society. Second, I implore us all to not be hypocritical in our application of scripture. If society is going to prohibit gay people from getting married, it must also forbid drunkenness and greed. [And, as a side note, isn't is a bit odd that only male prostitutes are condemned to hell in the passage from Corinthians? Doesn't that say something about the belief system in place at the time the Bible was written? I absolutely believe it is the inspired Word of God, but I also realize that the inspired Word of God was written with the hands of men.]

To get back on point, when I finally came to terms with the fact that I was gay, it saddened me quite a bit to think that I would never have a family of my own. Family is so incredibly important to me and I want to spend my life raising children to be good, God fearing young men and women.

So when the recent debate regarding gay marriage surfaced, I began to gain a sense of hope that maybe I could spend the rest of my life with the person I loved and that together we could raise a healthy, beautiful, faith-filled family.

But some of the information that came from the Yes on 8 campaign was very hurtful - on a very personal level.

I just don't understand how my marriage will have a negative affect on the traditional marriage. I respect the traditional marriage so much and I have so much love and respect for mothers and fathers who devote themselves to their families. But wouldn't gay marriage be a good thing. Allowing gay marriage would reduce promiscuity in the gay community, decrease the transfer of the HIV virus, and make a group of marginalized people feel less marginalized. That would all happen if gay men and women could made lifelong commitments to one another that the rest of the nation can already make.

At one time I thought that civil unions could be enough. But I realized that it's not quite the case. It's like the black/white drinking fountains of the past. Separate but equal. You can both have drinking fountains, but you can't drink out of the same one. You can both be together as a couple, but you can't join together in marriage.
I struggled with this issue for a long time, but what made me change my mind was the fact that this in no way affects the Church. Gay unions would be legally recognized by the state. They would not have to be recognized, however, by any religious institutions such as the Catholic Church. I think that is a very legitimate compromise. First, why should our government be able to decide who can and cannot get married when it involves two consenting adults? It shouldn't. Gay marriage is not going to destroy the family unit. I can't think of single instance where two men or two women getting married would destroy the traditional family unit. Straight people aren't going to throw their hands up in the air and say, "Well, now that gay people are getting married, I'm getting a divorce; I'm no longer going to have children; I'm not longer etc. etc. etc." I just don't see how this will impact the family at all. Second, why the heck does this need to be a part of the constitution? That seems like killing a deer with a bazooka when a bow and arrow will do.

So, it is my hope that you will all rethink this issue. I respect the Church's stance on this issue very much, but I believe a legal marriage vs. a church-based marriage are two very different things. Legal marriage will extend to gay couples the same rights as straight couples. At the same time, using the word marriage will force gay couples to see it as a true, lifelong bond, again cutting down on promiscuity and the transfer of disease. In the end, it will lead to COMMITMENT. A great thing in my mind. IT IN NO WAY AFFECTS THE CHURCH OR CHURCH-BASED WEDDINGS.
Finally, it's so sad that the $40 million spent on the yes on prop 8 campaign could have gone to children's hospitals or education or anything else that truly had a profound impact on the life of a child. It is so unfortunate that the money was spent to prohibit two consenting adults from marrying one another.

Please, PLEASE, take a second look at the words of Christ in the Bible. "Love your neighbor as yourself." Christ never once condemned homosexuality. Not once. And it is my hope and belief that He will one day judge me not by who I loved but by the person I was and the faith I placed in Him. Please give me the opportunity to raise a proper family and permit me to live with some sense of normalcy.

And please don't let the violent actions of a few determine your view of the whole. I despise the actions of several people in the gay community for the way they have handled their defeat. I beg you, however, to not take away my right to marry because of a few militant gays. Thank you so much and God bless.

She gave him a pat on the head by chiming back with:

"I must admit that your testimony was quite moving. Nevertheless…"

It devolved from there.

So, as a matter of catharsis, here's my sardonic take...

You tell him, Debra Moore. Stupid homo (WT) for not understanding that he’s subservient to you! Pffft.

WT: “Please give me the opportunity to raise a proper family and permit me to live with some sense of normalcy.

Debra Moore: “Please, for your own sake, confess this lifestyle choice”

Brilliant, Debra Moore. Utter brilliance. Especially after he had already said, and I quote: “Nobody CHOOSES that lifestyle.” The fact that Jesus already hates family life and normalcy was just icing on the cake.

The only thing I would have added was the fact that this example of the human species was also attacking you personally for your Christian belief that he must be put to death.

So many Christians these days just aren’t willing to openly endorse and promote genocide, so it was refreshing to see your unabashed use of Leviticus 20:13:

“Leviticus 20:13 - "If a man lies with a man as one lies with a woman, both of them have done what is detestable. They must be put to death; their blood will be on their own heads." (NIV)”

I’m sure that homosexual commenter now knows its place in your world.

I know I do.

Jeff Buchanan of Exodus International endorses mass murder.

From Exodus: To READ Jeff Buchanan's answer to "Is Homosexuality a Sin?"

By: Jeff Buchanan
Director of the Exodus Church Network
September 9, 2008

"I realized that it is the male/female relationship that God deemed “very good” and no other.

In addition, I found plenty of other Bible passages that clearly defined homosexuality as sin such as Genesis 19:4-11, Leviticus 18:22; 20:13"

Leviticus 20:13:

'If a man lies with a man as one lies with a woman, both of them have done what is detestable. They must be put to death; their blood will be on their own heads.

So according to Jeff Buchanan of Exodus International (Re "God"), If you're a gay guy who's has sex before, and accept yourself for who you are, and who you love, it would be a sin NOT to kill you.

Exodus International actually blames the deaths of 6 million Jews on same-sex attraction itself - by linking to Scott Lively's Holocaust revisionist book "The Pink Swastika."

Was once not enough?

More “Christians” who Endorse and Promote Mass Murder

~~~~
Leviticus 20:13 'If a man lies with a man as one lies with a woman, both of them have done what is detestable. They must be put to death; their blood will be on their own heads.
~~~~

“AIDS Amnesia” in America? No, Actions Have Consequences, Part I

Leviticus 20:13 (all Scripture quotations taken from the NKJV, emphases added) is a familiar passage often quoted regarding the sinfulness of homosexual sex practices. Here, God instructs Moses and the nation of Israel: “‘If a man lies with a male as he lies with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination [detestable thing]. They shall surely be put to death. Their blood shall be upon them.‘”

~Dr. Walter Jones / www.thebibleandtheculture.com

~~~~

Is Your Christian Life a Joke?

Under the Mosaic Law, the sin of homosexuality was punishable by death. In Leviticus 20:13, God says: “If a man lies with a male as he lies with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination. They shall surely be put to death. Their blood shall be upon them.”

God did not change His moral standards concerning this sin when we come to the New Testament.

~David R. Reid

~~~~

The Arrival of the Two Angels to Sodom to Announce the Coming Judgment to Lot and to Rescue Lot and His Family Out of Sodom Genesis 19:1-14

4. No. This record shows God’s disapproval of homosexuality. See also Jude 7, Leviticus 20:13 and
Romans 1:26-27.

~Growing Christian Ministries

~~~~

The Payoff 2

So my boss and I got into a small discussion. Basically, it came down to homosexuality being a "gray area" in Christianity. I definitely don't feel that way at all. I feel that homosexuality is wrong, plain and simple. Leviticus 20:13 says so.

~Phillip McSween

~~~~

A Rebellious Mindset

We could certainly point to Leviticus 18:22 or 20:13 or Romans 1:26 & 27 as well as many other passages that are, by no means, silent on homosexual relations. However, this excerpt is meant to show how postmodernism sets out to deconstruct the authority of God and His word in order to promote all sorts of lascivious behavior.

~Chris McCurley - Excerpt from the book Adrift: Postmodernism in the Church by Phil Sanders

~~~~

Stop Making Biblical Judgements?

But if this detailed and irrefutable story isn’t enough, there are the stated prohibitions in Leviticus 18:22 and 20:13.

Leviticus 18:22 “You shall not lie with a male as one lies with a female; it is an abomination.”

Leviticus 20:13 “If there is a man who lies with a male as those who lie with a woman, both of them have committed a detestable act.” [conveniently emitting the 'we should be murdered' part]

~From Gary DeMar's article via Christinewjc

~~~~
Just a question, y'all, how exactlly is it that you feel we gays "must be put to death?" Firing squad, Electrocution, stoning, stabbed to death?

What do you think Jesus would suggest?