crossposted on Holy Bullies and Headless Monsters

Coral Ridge Ministries writer Robert Knight has written an interesting(and I use that word very, very loosely)piece against the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA). The gist of Knight’s attack is the following:

ENDA is profoundly dangerous. It turns private sin into a public right and brings the force of government against morality itself. Any such law is a violation of our unalienable rights as proclaimed in the Declaration of Independence. To put it more simply, a statute that directly contradicts God’s moral law is illegitimate. Laws embody and reflect morality, or they are not laws. They are tyranny. That’s why so-called same-sex “marriage” laws are absurd and treacherous. Forcing citizens to accept a counterfeit as the real thing is an act of despotism.

ENDA adds not only “sexual orientation” but “gender identity” to federal workplace anti-discrimination law. Thus, it takes an ax to the idea that sexual behavior has a natural normalcy or any relation to morality. It falsely equates a changeable condition (sexual desire) with race and ethnicity. Worse, it turns traditional values into a form of bigotry punishable under the law.

So to Knight, ENDA should be opposed because homosexuality is a sin. Well I’m glad he cleared that up.

Whether Knight knows it or not, his attack on homosexuality as a “behavior” that should not be protected is really opening the door to declare that religious beliefs in the workplace should be not be protected because after all, religion is a behavior.

To tell the truth though, I am disappointed with Knight’s piece. I can always count on Knight to go to extremes with opposing any anti-discrimination laws.

For example when he said the following in 2003 about Nashville’s attempt to add sexual orientation to it’s nondiscrimination code:

Few public officials and businessmen realize that when they allow the addition of “sexual orientation” to their nondiscrimination codes, they are tying their own hands when it comes to objecting to:

¬? A man in a highly visible sales job coming to work in a dress and high heels;
¬? A woman in a highly visible position coming to work in men’ clothes;
¬? A person of indeterminate sex who insists on using either the men’ room or the women’ room;
¬? A person of either sex who indulges a taste for extreme sexual promiscuity and pornography during working hours despite being charged with representing the company’ tone and character;
¬? A man who frequents prostitutes while on business trips and claims that it is none of the company’ business, regardless of the company’ public image.

Knight, who used to be employed with the Family Research Council and Concerned Women for America, has on occasion manipulated facts in his written and verbal pieces. He also freely cited discredited researcher Paul Cameron, even citing Cameron data in front of Congress in an attempt to defeat ENDA.

From the site Wired Strategies under the section, Gays are diseased, die early, and are less productive than heterosexuals comes this:

“homosexual behavior is extremely unhealthy, contributing to the spread of AIDS, hepatitis A, B and C and other sexually transmitted diseases….A study of more than 6,400 obituaries in homosexual publications reveals that homosexuals typically have far shorter life spans than the general population. Other reports indicate that homosexuals are more likely to have drug and alcohol abuse problems. It is unfair to force businesses to pay the extra insurance expense and lost productivity that inevitably results from homosexual behavior.” [Editors note: the source for this "research" is the discredited Dr. Paul Cameron - see below for extensive information about his extreme beliefs]

- Robert Knight, Family Research Council, testifying at ENDA Hearings, July 29, 1994 – committee on Labor and Human Resources, US Senate.

In my book, Holy Bullies and Headless Monsters, I recount meeting Knight and his “so what” answer when I pressed him about using Cameron’s work even after he knew of the discredited researcher’s reputation.

So naturally, Knight has no problem distorting the facts and conjuring up ugly images of “godless gays on the attack” when it suits his purpose.

But the fact that Knight didn’t conjure up these false images against ENDA may mean that he and others on his side have already given up the fight against it.

Then again, knowing the religious right, they could be saving their ammunition until the time when the vote actually comes up.

This post can also be read at:

The Huffington Post

The Falls Church News Press

WayneBesen.com

Sometimes, words can kill.

A vocabulary carefully crafted into lethal lies almost always foreshadows fatalities.

In the case of Nazi Germany, the evidence of Hitler’s wicked intentions — from Mein Kampf to the Brown Shirts – was vividly clear. People may have ignored the alarm bells, but no one can say that there were not warnings of the brutality to come.

In 1994, Hutu radio broadcasts that called Tutsis cockroaches helped lead to genocide in Rwanda. Prior to the infamous broadcasts, a newspaper published the Hutu Ten Commandments, which smeared the rival ethnic tribe and included the eerily prescient eighth commandment: “Hutus must stop having mercy on the Tutsis.”

Earlier this month, in Gojra, Pakistan, more than 20,000 rioters torched 100 houses that belonged to Christian families and murdered seven people after a false rumor spread that the town’s Christians had defiled the Koran. Local mullahs enthusiastically furthered this big lie and used it to spark violence.

“We were afraid because the clerics had been railing against us in the mosques,” Riaz Masih, a Christian and retired math teacher whose house was gutted told the New York Times. “They said, ‘Let’s teach them a lesson.’”

The circumstances of these tragedies are vastly disparate in terms of geography, time period and circumstances. However, they illustrate three points:

1) Inflammatory and defamatory words, especially if spoken by religious or political authority figures, can and do lead to violence.

2) There is no shortage of mentally unbalanced people who will sometimes carry out shocking acts, and we should be very careful not to incite them with rhetoric that stokes their paranoia. Like stacks of firewood, these angry individuals go unnoticed until the gasoline is poured and the match is lit.

3) Americans are human beings, just like everyone else. So, the notion that what we say does not matter “because it could never happen here” is jingoistic foolishness.

A few weeks ago, I wrote about Dr. Michael Brown, an anti-gay ideologue in Charlotte who brought hundreds of red shirted fundamentalists to that town’s gay pride event. Brown’s mission is to “raise up a holy army of uncompromising spirit-filled radicals who will shake an entire generation with the gospel of Jesus by life or death.”

If you haven’t noticed, the extreme right is getting dangerously delirious. A black president, a Latina on the Supreme Court and gay people gearing up to marry in Iowa has exacerbated this crowd’s feelings of marginalization. (Read More)

Facing a $6 million budget shortfall, Focus on the Family is shifting control of its Love Won Out conference to an outside organization.

Exodus International, a group that claims people can overcome unwanted same-sex attractions with the help of its ministry, announced Tuesday it will take control of the program starting in November.

“Exodus is the ideal organization to transition Love Won Out to,” said Melissa Fryrear, director of Love Won Out. She noted that Focus on the Family and Exodus have been closely aligned for years.

That move comes at this time in part, Fryrear said, because Focus on the Family’ income is down $6 million from what was expected for this year.
The shortfall was recently cited in an e-mail appeal to donors.

Alan Chambers, director of Exodus, said his group is financially equipped to take over Love Won Out, but the move was in the making for years. Focus on the Family planned to provide financial support by providing speakers and marketing assistance.

Wayne Besen, a gay activist whose organization, Truth Wins Out, decries so-called “ex-gay” therapy, said he was not surprised at the development. He noted that Exodus “has acted as an unofficial subsidiary of Focus on the Family” for years.

“Focus on the Family claims that they are facing a $6 million shortfall,” he said. “If they can eliminate a few positions due to this change, it will benefit their bottom line. This is especially true, because we suspect that Love Won Out is slowly losing support as gay people gain more acceptance each year.
The crowds appear smaller and the road show has received less media coverage than it has in the past.

“If they are downsizing, it is because the market for such misinformation has continued to shrink.”

But Chambers said Love Won Out was coming to Exodus in part so it could be operated by a more narrowly focused organization.

Read Full Story

The antigay National Organization for [Heterosexual-Only] Marriage is being persecuted by homosexuals, and NOM wants you to know it — because you’re next.

Tim Hortons and Blount Fine Foods were misled about the full purpose of NOM’s antigay cookout and rally in Warwick, R.I. on Aug. 16. When the companies were contacted by thousands of alarmed consumers, the companies revoked their sponsorships.

NOM was going to charge adult diners $10 and kids $8 to eat donated food. Now food may have to be purchased by NOM.

As a result of Tim Hortons’ decision, NOM Rhode Island organizer Christopher Plante tells Xtra.ca that coffee will no longer be served at this weekend’s event. “Time is of the essence,” he says. “Finding another sponsoring vendor is out of the question.” The rally also may be unable to serve Blount’s donated New England chowders.

No free coffee. No free soup. If that’s not life-threatening persecution, what is?

“It’s stressful, it’s sorrowful, it’s saddening,” Plante told The Advocate. “The marriage equality folks are making this a boycott threat. That’s sad. It has become our job now to remind Rhode Islanders that this is what’s to come.”

Wow. Are you as afraid of the future as we and Christopher are?

“This is not about Tim Hortons,” Plante told Xtra.ca. “This is about the organized approach to squash all private and public comments on marriage.” Take that, you… umm… no-good, anti-coffee, marriage-loving-gay-couples!

The NOM rally included Christian singers and a worship service, and its marriage ceremony was to exclude LGBT couples. Nevertheless, Plante maintains that the rally was apolitical and non-religious — and therefore worthy of the food companies’ sponsorship.

That sounds reasonable: When was the last time a conservative worship service and Christian concert were considered “religious”?

A coast-to-coast effort to correct a mistake by Tim Hortons began with a tip by one attentive man in Warwick, R.I., who tuned in to Christian radio and alerted friends online.

“The religious right has presented itself as a majority,” Paul Auger told Xtra.ca. “But when the true majority speaks up, international corporations have to respond to that. People can make change in the world, and that’s a good thing.”

Truth Wins Out received the following e-mail from Larry Marchese, public relations representative for Blount Fine Foods of Fall River, Mass.

From: Larry Marchese
Sent: Monday, August 10, 2009 10:06 PM
To: Mike Airhart; Wayne Besen

Mike,

That is correct.

Larry

Sent from my handheld – please forgive typos

—–Original Message—–
From: Mike Airhart
Date: Mon, 10 Aug 2009 20:59:44
To: Larry Marchese, Wayne Besen

Dear Larry,

Thank you very much for your communication. Are you stating officially that Blount Fine Foods is no longer providing cash or goods to National Organization for Marriage or its affiliates for the event in Warwick on August 16?

Many thanks in advance for any definitive clarification.
–
Mike Airhart
Truth Wins Out

This is excellent news. It seems that Maggie Gallagher’s rally against gay couples and religious freedom in Warwick, R.I., on Aug. 16 will have to pay for much of its food, instead of receiving free food or services that would eventually be funded by the dollars of GLBT customers of the sponsors. Her anti-marriage organization continues to enjoy freedom of speech, and GLBT New Englanders can continue to eat at fabulous restaurants without worrying about whether their check will underwrite discrimination and prejudice against their own families.

According to his LinkedIn profile, Blount president and co-owner Todd Blount is active in several Christian associations: the Barrington Christian Academy, Barrington Baptist Church, Park Street Church, and LinkedIn’s Christian Business Leaders Network.

I hope that Mr. Blount and his company understand that people of faith can conscientiously disagree about sexuality and marriage. I hope that the company comes to realize that sponsorships which pit some customers against others — and which advance one religious doctrine by making other religious and civil doctrines illegal — are counterproductive.

Corporate, special-interest, and government money and services can sometimes corrupt the democratic process by diluting and suppressing the voices of the people. If corporations are going to sponsor causes at all, I believe they should support causes that advance charity, freedom and equality for all — not privileges for a few.

Please write to Blount Fine Foods at info@blountfinefoods.com and thank them for respecting religious diversity, civil marriage, and a policy of restraint toward culture warriors seeking free seafood.

Amplify managing editor Joe Sonka received an alarming plea for help in the mail from Focus on the Family this weekend:

Right now we’re facing a serious budget shortfall that threatens our ability to reach out to parents, families and married couples who count on our help. Income is down nearly $6 million from what we expected and planned for this year.

Sounds grim. But let’s put this crisis in perspective:

According to GuideStar’s copy of FOTF’s Form 990 for 2007, the organization received $145 million in revenue in that year — more than all national and regional gay-equality organizations combined. FOTF spent $146 million, resulting in a one-year loss of just over $1 million.

The current mid-year shortfall of $6 million dollars does not equal a $6 million loss; at worst, it means earnings will be lower than predicted. Another possibility: FOTF fund-raisers may be floating exaggerated budget expectations for the purpose of justifying a mid-year pitch for funds to fill an imaginary “shortfall.”

With $75 million in the bank, above and beyond annual revenues, the organization could continue deficit spending at 2007′s pace for decades.

FOTF’s political affirmation of crony capitalism, unbalanced federal budgets, costly warfare, and social conflict during the past decade contributed to the current American fiscal calamity. So it’s only fair that FOTF now make sacrifices to balance its budget by cutting spending or increasing revenue. It remains to be seen whether the organization’s large investors are gullible enough to increase assistance to a cause of their troubles.

Hat tip: Pam Spaulding

Revised 2 p.m. Aug. 10:

Tim Hortons has issued the following statement:

Recently, Tim Hortons was approached in Rhode Island to provide free coffee and products for a local event, as we do thousands of times a year across Canada and the United States.

For 45 years, Tim Hortons and its store owners have practiced a philosophy of giving back to the communities in which we operate. As a company, our primary focus is on helping children and supporting fundraising events for non-profit organizations and registered charities.

For this reason, Tim Hortons has not sponsored those representing religious groups, political affiliates or lobby groups.

It has come to our attention that the Rhode Island event organizer and purpose of the event fall outside of our sponsorship guidelines. As such, Tim Hortons can not provide support at the event.

Tim Hortons and its store owners have always welcomed all families and communities to its restaurants and will continue to do so. We apologize for any misunderstanding or inconvenience this may have caused.

Please thank Tim Hortons graciously for its statement — but politely ask them to clarify whether any local store owners will provide support to the antigay rally.

U.S. contact
Canadian contact

crossposted on Holy Bullies and Headless Monsters

One of the greatest hypocrisies of ex-gay groups is how they seek victimhood status against the alleged gay agenda that discriminates them for daring to want to “be free from homosexuality,” while simultaneously allowing themselves to be a funnel/conduit for some of the most extreme anti-gay propaganda in existence.

PFOX (Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays and Gays) is a perfect example of the hypocrisies of the ex-gay movement.

On it’s webpage, PFOX has this huge section called “Equal Rights,” where it posts articles pushing the lie that ex-gays are somehow discriminated against. Such articles include: Are Ex-gays Next?, Ex-Gay Declaration of Independence, Hear our message, then judge, and Ex-Gays Face Double Discrimination.

And a few of these articles have huge errors. Such as the piece Putting Adolescents at Risk.

This article pushes the notion that:

Males who self-identify as “gay” before age 18 are highly likely to have been victims of sexual abuse and/or to suffer from untreated Gender Identity Disorder (GID). This puts them at high risk for a number of negative outcomes. When these problems are untreated, the boys often act out in ways that draw negative attention to themselves. The strict restriction of bullying and other mistreatment by fellow students is, of course, important, but it is equally important to address the underlying problems. Even if an adolescent boy does not suffer from sexual abuse or GID, sexual activity combined with the predictable adolescent irresponsibility carries a high risk.

However one of the sources which PFOX uses to prove this claim is being distorted:

The following is the conclusion of a study of the association of health risk behaviors and sexual orientation: “GLB youth who self-identify during high school report disproportionate risk for a variety of health risk and problem behaviors, including suicide, victimization, sexual risk behaviors, and multiple substance abuse use. In addition, these youth are more likely to report engaging in multiple risk behaviors and initiating risk behaviors at an earlier age than their peers.” (Garofalo 1998)

The study PFOX is referring to is The association between health risk behaviors and sexual orientation among a school-based sample of adolescents, by Massachusetts pediatrician Robert Garofalo.

PFOX is implying that the study says that the lgbt orientation is causing bad behavior in youth.

PFOX was not the first group to use Garofalo’s work to make this claim. In 1998, the Family Research Council and 14 other so-called religious right groups, including the Christian Coalition and Focus on the Family, ran a full-page ad in The Washington Post using Garofalo’s study to claim that “homosexuality is a dangerous lifestyle.”

When Garofalo found out how his research was being used he got angry because you see, his study never faulted the lgbt orientation for bad behavior amongst gay youth.

Garofalo contended that his research was saying that when gay teenagers abuse drugs or contemplate suicide, it is because of the unaccepting culture they face. – Boston doctor says ads distorted his work on gays, Anne E. Kornblutt, The Globe Staff, The Boston Globe, August 4, 1998

Another article in PFOX’s Equal Rights section, African Americans: Same Sexuality & Race, cites a study by discredited researcher Paul Cameron:

According to the Omega Journal, a leading publication on death and dying, the median age of death for a homosexual man without AIDS And With a long-term sexual partner is only 41 years of age. The median age of death of heterosexual married men is 75 years. The average age for a married, African American male is 69 years. Given these statistics, this is not only a moral issue, but an emerging public-health crisis. Passing laws that would institutionalize a lifestyle that could cut the lives of our young men by nearly a third is unthinkable.

But the one thing that takes the proverbial cake when it comes to the hypocrisies of PFOX is this link.

The link above is a diagram from that lovely anti-gay group, the Allied Defense Fund, that outlines supposedly how we lgbts are slowly taking over the world in color coordinated splendor.

I don’t know what’s worse; the fact that someone loony enough to think this up is getting gainfully employed or the fact that I wish lgbts could get as coordinated as we are shown to be in the diagram.

You can’t have it both ways, PFOX. If you want “tolerance” from our community, then you don’t put ugly and untrue things about us on your webpage.

No one should have to tolerate being kicked in the teeth.

Tim Hortons was, at first glance, the best-known sponsor of the National Organization for Marriage’s Aug. 16 antigay fund-raiser, cookout and “worship service” in Warwick, R.I.

(NOM hopes to preserve heterosexist laws against marriage in Rhode Island, the only New England state not to offer marriage equality. Various bills are pending in the statehouse to either legalize or prohibit marriage or domestic-partnership rights for same-sex couples.)

Now a TWO commenter points out that another sponsor, Blount Fine Foods of Fall River, Mass., supplies rebranded foods for Legal Sea Foods and Panera Bread.

Please contact Blount Fine Foods and Legal Sea Foods. Politely ask them why Blount is sponsoring an antigay event that undermines the religious and individual freedom of GLBT customers of Legal Sea Foods — and why is Legal Sea Foods doing business with vendors that choose to harm Legal’s valued customers.

Blount Fine Foods
630 Currant Road
Fall River, MA 02720
Phone: (774) 888-1300
Email: info@blountfinefoods.com

Legal Sea Foods
Quality Control Center
One Seafood Way
Boston, MA 02210
(617) 530-9000