Unscrupulous Demagoguery
X-Posted from: http://www.tips-q.com/1587845-unscrupulous-demagoguery
A few years ago, I was shot at close range and seriously injured. The .45 caliber bullet failed to end my life as intended. It's journey confirmed a basic law of physics that two things cannot occupy the same space at the same time. As the projectile rattled around, making twists and turns through bone and flesh, it did a remarkable amount of damage. Its course started at my lower back and ended at my thigh, nicking the femoral artery. My memory of the episode is a slow motion replay. Today, my life seems defined by TBP (time between pills). My mini-pharmacy includes pills for pain, pills for sleep, anti-depressant pills as well as other capsules and tabs. It is a strangely pleasing assortment of shapes, sizes and colors.
Given my experience, the current campaign of the religious right, to depict gays as violent zealots, is particularly offensive. Nothing surprises me anymore. As expected, the theme in Maine was that we present a threat to children. The bishop of Portland, his employee — Marc Mutty and the National Organization for Marriage had no problem with falsely suggesting that we are recruiters, indoctrinators and molesters of children. The referendum 71 campaign in Washington state went even further, using the full panoply of anti-gay bigotry — from AIDS to junk science about relationship volatility and suicide while proclaiming that their “position is not about hate but love.”
All this in the name of God.
Now, Gary Cass of the Christian Anti-Defamation Commission has decided to conveniently claim that he has been threatened by an unknown gay activist and he is linking the alleged threat to the recent violence at Ft. Hood. This follows closely on the heels of feigned outrage over anonymous comments made on a gay blog and the alleged telephone threat to Mike Heath, all of which CADC incorporates into its press release. Yet, to the best of my knowledge, no gay activist has ever been charged with a violent crime. I challenged a right winger to refute my claim and the best that he could come up with is the 2002 murder of Mary Stachowicz by 19 year old Nicholas Gutierrez who happened to be gay. While the crime is heinous, it was not committed for anything even remotely associated with GLBT activism. It is a cynical false equivalence. I find it uniquely hypocritical that one of the primary proponents of the notion that the victim was martyred for her faith was The Army of God, an extremist Christian group that has been directly connected to the murders of abortion providers, numerous bombings and other acts of violence. The front of their website is emblazoned with “American Hero Scott Roeder … Thank you Scott Roeder for stopping Babykilling abortionist George Tiller from murdering any more innocent children.”
Returning to Mr. Cass:
“Because of the recent domestic terrorism at Ft Hood and the documented escalation of threats of violence by homosexual activists against Christians, we are taking all threats very seriously and reporting all such threats to the FBI,” said Dr. Gary Cass.
Compounding the indecency of claiming that we are violent fanatics, the Christian Anti-Defamation Commission has a rally planned for November 16 to protest the inclusion of sexual orientation and sexual identity into existing federal hate crimes laws. This enterprise is predicated on the lie that the hate crimes law infringes on religious speech. It doesn't and the First Amendment is still very much in force. CADC claims that they will be breaking the law by reading scripture related to homosexuality. Of course they are not breaking the law in doing so and they know it.
“We do not expect to be arrested, but we will not let this vague, unconstitutional law stand unchallenged. Will US Attorney General Holder stop a peacefully assembled group of clergy from preaching the Bible?” asked Cass.
They don't expect to be arrested because they are doing nothing for which they should be arrested. AG Holder also knows that Cass and his little group of crackpots aren't breaking the law. So what is the point of this choreographed noise? I can only guess but I would think that the agenda of this manufactured controversy is to convince others that their religious freedom is threatened. Furthermore, CADC has already revved up its fund raising efforts. Money may be the simplest motive of all.
According to CADC, on their website, they are not only asking for money to defend religious speech but to protect children from our “lifestyle.”
…Hate crime laws are really hate Christian laws. Help CADC continue to fight for your religious liberty by donating online today, click here. [link redacted]
[ … ]
I must hear from you right away to be able to commit to this urgent project. Please send the best gift you can to help me stop this terrible law before it silences Christians and takes away our freedom of speech.
Yours in Christ,Dr. Gary L. Cass
P.S. If we let the new Hate Crimes Law President Obama recently signed go unchallenged, homosexual activists will be free and unchallenged to spread their ungodly lifestyle to America and our children. Please send the best gift you can to help me challenge this law now!
On that page, they include the usual litany of talking points from Canadian “repression” to Kevin Jennings (which takes us back to the child predator theme). President Obama serves as a reliable target of their zeal that falls just short of challenging his birth certificate.
The complete press release relating to the November 16 demonstration follows. Note that they have assembled another website (http://www.religiousfreespeechrally.com) with a compilation of anti-gay hate and bigotry in text and videos.
Minister Threatened for Promoting Religious Liberty
Contact: Rev. Gary Cass, Christian Anti-Defamation Commission, 954-551-9770
VISTA, Calif., Nov. 11 /Christian Newswire/ – After announcing the “Rally for Religious Free Speech” an event to challenge the recent Hate Crime Bill signed by President Obama, Rev. Gary Cass of the Christian Anti-Defamation Commission, a sponsor of the event, received a threatening e-mail saying, “I'll be in Washington on the 16th and I know what you look like.”
“Because of the recent domestic terrorism at Ft Hood and the documented escalation of threats of violence by homosexual activists against Christians, we are taking all threats very seriously and reporting all such threats to the FBI,” said Dr. Gary Cass.
In the fallout after Maine's voters recently rejected homosexual marriage, Peter LaBarbera of Americans for Truth About Homosexuality has documented the increasing violent threats against Christians. Below is an exchange on a homosexual activist website reported by World Net Daily.
“All it will take is a small group of radical zealots who are willing to kill for their cause,” “Fritz” wrote. “This happens in all cases where people are oppressed and lack representation. Our president must wake up and prevent this from happening. Otherwise, we will end up like Israel and Palestine. We will have gay and lesbian people strapping bombs to their chests and blowing up churches.” “Tex” responded, “You say this like it's a bad thing? Maybe a bit of well organized terrorism is just what we need, er, I mean 'civil disobedience.'”
“We will not let the homosexual activists intimidate us,” said Dr. Cass. “It just makes us that much more determined to stand for biblical truth and to pray for God to grant them repentance and find forgiveness in Jesus Christ.”
The Rally for Religious Free Speech will occur on Monday, November 16th at 1:30 in front of the Department of Justice in Washington DC. Ministers from various denominations will be preaching the biblical truth about homosexual sin.
The rally is intended to assert the right to preach in the public square the truth about homosexuality because the hate crime bill has had a very chilling effect on religious free speech. Under the bill ministers can be investigated and convicted by the Federal Government for incitement to hate crimes simply by preaching the Bible.
“We do not expect to be arrested, but we will not let this vague, unconstitutional law stand unchallenged. Will US Attorney General Holder stop a peacefully assembled group of clergy from preaching the Bible?” asked Cass.
The event will start with a press conference and a letter will be presented to AG Holder to express the multiple constitutional concerns the hate bill raises. Matt Staver of Liberty Council will be representing the group. After the event in front of the DOJ a prayer vigil will be held outside of the Human Rights Commission.
www.religiousfreespeechrally.com
Original message from davidhart here…