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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.
Unfortunately, there is no shortage of conservative leaders willing to exploit the situation for political gain. Just as Brown was able to organize the troops, former House Majority Leader Dick Armey (among others), is mobilizing angry mobs (at least the ones who aren’t Republican operatives) to harass members of congress about health care at town hall meetings.
What these partisan “patriots” are doing is manufacturing mayhem and damaging democracy. It can’t be good for the nation to provoke the woefully out of touch and encourage them to go out of control.
It is contemptible that a major political party would exploit the ignorant, to fund the elite. These foaming-at-the-mouth fools (many think Medicare is a private health plan) rail against government bureaucrats influencing healthcare decisions. Yet, they seem blithely and suspiciously unconcerned about insurance company bureaucrats denying life or death coverage to maximize profits.
No matter your view on healthcare and Obama’s plan, this rabble rousing by Republicans on behalf of their lucrative lobby firms is disgraceful. These political opportunists stir the pot of pugnacity, but in their arrogance believe they can keep it from boiling over. When crowds are summoned, filled with alienated people who feel a competing sense of abandonment and entitlement, it is only a matter of time before people get hurt.
I am a staunch First Amendment advocate. But let’s not pretend such irresponsible words and behavior does not have casualties and consequences. We can best celebrate free speech and assembly by freely choosing not to incite or assemble irate mobs that lack control or any normal sense of inhibition.
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Well said.
Great piece, wayne. The Southern Poverty Law Center reports today about the increasing number of militias ready for an armed revolt. These same people are the so called “Christians” who hate us and wouldn’t hesitate to emulate the Taliban in their efforts to eliminate all of us, LGBT folk. What are we going to do?
Even more worrisome to me is the influence of nutty fundamentalists in the military – particularly the Air Force Academy. And now they want mega-churches on base.
Separation of church ans state is important. But just as key is separation of God and Guns. All soldiers should be serving the United States of America – not “soldiers” for Christ.
If people want to serve God, don’t become a soldier with an agenda – become a preacher.
I’ll add that Blackwater and other such militias are scary. More crazies with guns who think they are the Lord’s right hand.
Just to clarify for those who would distort my words, people of all faiths are encouraged to serve in all branches of the armed forces. However, you are taking an oath to defend America – not a religious oath to use the military in an effort to convert American soldiers or “infidels” in other nations.
It’ funny we hear Republicans say that they do not want “faceless bureaucrats” making medical decisions but they have no problem with “private sector” “faceless bureaucrats” daily declining medical coverage and financially ruining good hard working people (honestly where can they go with a pre-condition). And who says that the “private sector” is always right, do we forget failures like Long-Term Capital, WorldCom, Global Crossing, Enron, Tyco, AIG and Lehman Brothers. Of course the federal government will destroy heathcare by getting involved, Oh but wait, Medicare and Medicaid and our military men and women and the Senate and Congress get the best heathcare in the world, and oh, that’ right, its run by our federal government. I can understand why some may think that the federal government will fail, if you look at the past eight years as a current history, with failures like the financial meltdown and Katrina but the facts is they can and if we support them they will succeed.
How does shouting down to stop the conversation of the healthcare debate at town hall meetings, endears them to anyone. Especially when the organizations that are telling them where to go and what to do and say are Republicans political operatives, not real grassroots. How does shouting someone down or chasing them out like a “lynch mob” advanced the debate, it does not. So I think the American people will see through all of this and know, like the teabagger, the birthers, these lynch mobs types AKA “screamers” are just the same, people who have to resort to these tactics because they have no leadership to articulate what they real want. It’ easy to pickup a bus load of people who hate, and that’ all I been seeing, they hate and can’t debate. Too bad.
Wayne, we absolutely don’t want the US army to be warriors for Christ, in the most literal sense. Americans United for Separation of Church and State (Rev Barry Lynn) should become more active in opposing that.
It’s the parties of god interfering in politics who have caused the mess in the middle east in the first place, whether it’s been fundamentalists like Jerry Falwell supporting Jewish extremists in Palestine, and making Israel irreconcilable. Or Iraqi Muslims mass-murdering other muslims on a daily basis.
Keep them all out!
Wayne-
I appreciate your finely honed dislike of hypocrisy and think much of what you post is spot on.
That said, as a conservative gay Christian, I find Frankie Schaeffer’s words on Rachel Maddow’s show, reprehensible.
The left often referred to President Bush 43 as Hitler. Senator Dick Durbin referred to American military interrogators in Iraq as Nazi-like and compared them to the murderous Pol Pot regime.
Yet I don’t recall Frankie Schaeffer, Rachel Maddow or TWO posting videos of Democrats saying that and opining:
“its only a matter of time before people get hurt.”
I may not be in the majority on this but I’d have an easier time viewing your reporting as measured and proportionate if you and others would get as exercised at liberals using pejorative language as you get at conservatives.
Are you equally against “partisan “patriots”" [on the left] “manufacturing mayhem and damaging democracy?”
Selective outrage on issues like this is simply unbecoming.
Rick Brentlinger
Rick:
There is no equivalent on the left, of the right wing machine that spews venom and hate. It is well-funded, well-oiled and exploits the most ignorant people and encourages them to work against their own economic and social interests.
What we have seen at these town brawl meetings is unprecedented. Basically, we have AstroTurf Republican operatives posing as “grassroots citizens” and deliberately feeding false information in an attempt to rile up people who are not terribly well-informed.
And, I know you may not like to hear this – but the religious element makes it exponentially more dangerous. Inciting ill-informed people who worship guns and an angry God are a volatile mix that has caused untold misery across the world.
There is simply no secular equivalent to the 9-11 fanatics or the extremist who murdered abortion provider George Tiller in Kansas. So, I reject the equivalence you have drawn.
Not all leaders on the left are good or honest people.(In fact many politicians across the board are corrupt) But, you will not find too many on the left who pander to our worst instincts like Newt Gingrich, Karl Rove, Rush Limbaugh and Sarah Palin. These are dangerous demagogues who bring out the worst in people – such as their anti-gay, anti-immigrant rhetoric.
Rick – the way you interpret Jesus may enhance your life and inspire people around you. Your religion surely has no resemblance to the people who carry out dastardly acts.
But, let’s not ignore that people who pray to a bitter and avenging version of Jesus (or any other deity) can pose a special threat to peace and stability.
Perhaps, this is why so many abortion providers are murdered and their clinics bombed – while I can’t recall any televangelists suffering a similar fate.
The left also would never try to bring down a president for oral sex. The impeachment of Bill Clinton was about the most unpatriotic act I’ve seen in my lifetime. It was disgraceful and an attempt to overthrow an elected president. I still hold each House impeachment manager in high contempt. I also find the Bush election over Gore and the intimidation tactics used in Florida by Republicans during the recount to be criminal thuggery.
The vitriol and violence preached on left and right just can’t be compared.
Incendiary rhetoric, as you suggest in your article, is dangerously delirious but is the real danger from the left or the right?
Wayne Besen: “There is no equivalent on the left, of the right wing machine that spews venom and hate”
Wayne Besen: “If you haven’t noticed, the extreme right is getting dangerously delirious.”
The “dangerously delirious” activity you decry is in fact, more from the left than from the right and has already killed more than 4 million people in the GLBT community.
Wayne Besen: “There is simply no secular equivalent to the 9-11 fanatics or the extremist who murdered abortion provider George Tiller in Kansas… so many abortion providers are murdered and their clinics bombed”
Are you comparing the 19 Muslims who killed 3000+ people on 9-11-2001 with conservative Christians? Really?
When dealing with folks who “caused untold misery across the world” certainly a reasonable person can question which has caused the most misery – stopping tens of millions of beating hearts via abortion or stopping fewer than 100 beating hearts in an effort to stop abortion.
Wayne Besen: “But let’ not pretend such irresponsible words and behavior does not have casualties and consequences.” (Your article).
Wayne Besen: “The vitriol and violence preached on left and right just can’t be compared.” (Your reply to me).
When we talk about irresponsible words and behavior, vitriol and violence, I’m no statistician but I’m fairly certain 40 million vs less than 100 indicates significant disparity and eloquently testifies to the fact that irresponsible words, behavior and violence from the left far overshadows violence from the right.
10% of the human race is GLBT, correct?
Then in the United States alone, the abortion industry since 1973 (abortion businesses are not owned by conservative Christians, by the way), has eliminated 4 million GLBTs (10% of 40 million).
Can we agree that those are some pretty dramatic consequences for words and behavior?
Wayne Besen: “The left also would never try to bring down a president for oral sex.”
I’m just spit-balling here but if memory serves, the problem which precipitated Clinton’s impeachment was the coverup – Clinton’s perjury – lying to a federal judge, a crime to which former President Clinton pled guilty, for which he paid a large fine and for which he surrendered his law license.
Rick Brentlinger
Rick, I believe your definitions of left and right are outdated at best, and your stereotypes of the abortion debate would be laughable if so many women and kids weren’t being hurt or killed by such self-righteous ignorance derived from the corrupt leaders of both the pro-choice and the pro-life movements.
You have offered no real facts in your comment, so I’m not sure what one can materially respond to. In short, you’re right, you’re spit-balling — and it’s because of spit-balling by self-righteous partisans that the abortion and most other pressing issues of our day are never resolved.
I agree, Rick has presented no evidence.
And comparing 100 to 40 million is appalling coming from a “Christian.” As if the value of any human life (or partial-life, as we Jews see at the unborn) can really be measured. Since when can the value of the life of a human being be judged against one another? Rick is justifying the murder of grown human beings – an illegal act – because it “helped” stop a legal act that he doesn’t like very much (like it or not, that is what we are dealing with, illegal vs. legal). Just like all those Republicans got their panties in a knot because Clinton got a blow job from some fat chick. Please. Dubya murdered, tortured, lied, and in some cases, made decisions based on batsh¬°t insane delusions. The sworn defender of the Constitution of the USA called it “a damn piece of paper.”
OH, don’t get me wrong. I’m a Centrist. I believe that the bipartisan system we have is nothing but two sides of the same coin.
I just don’t see a lot of Unitarians shooting people up.
Michael-
Wayne asserted that rhetoric from the right is dangerous and rhetoric from the left isn’t.
You and Emily asserted that I presented no evidence.
It is common knowledge that the abortion toll since Roe v. Wade is over 40 million innocent lives lost. Statistically, 4 million of them would have been LGBT. Contra your opinion, that is evidence.
Emily-
Asserting that I’ve justified the murder of abortion providers is an ad hominem attack (one of the most common non-rational appeals).
He “justified murder” therefore we can ignore him… That manner of argument indicates you’re uncomfortable dealing with facts.
For the record, I did not justify the killing of abortion providers.
I believe that killing abortion providers is as wrong as abortion.
I compared the death toll by left and right, to illustrate that Wayne’s assertion that leftist rhetoric is less dangerous than rightist rhetoric simply does not match reality.
1. 40 million+ dead at the hands of leftist abortionists.
2. Fewer than 100 dead at the hands of rightist anti-abortionists.
Your argument that abortion is “a legal act” is passing strange. Since when do you believe that something being legal equals something being right?
Anti-gay bias is legal in many jurisdictions but I believe you and I agree on this, just because anti-gay bias is legal, that doesn’t make it right.
Why do you, against all logic, make the opposite argument when we’re talking about the taking of innocent life?
Rick Brentlinger
[...] Wayne Besen noted: “No matter your view on healthcare and Obama’s plan, this rabble rousing by [...]