It goes without saying that people like Linda Harvey of Mission America and Gary Glenn, head of the Michigan outpost of the hate group known as the AFA, contribute nothing of value to society.  Their words poison the discourse, offend intelligent people and contribute to the climate that causes far too many of our kids to be bullied, and to attempt or complete suicide.  So it’s more than a little bit cute that, in a time of high unemployment, these ne’er-do-wells took to the radio to suggest that they somehow know more about hiring decisions than actual corporations which hire people:

Glenn: Herman Miller, which is a major employer and corporation in Holland [Michigan], a furniture company, supported this so-called gay rights ordinance on the claim that it allowed them to attract the best and brightest.

Harvey: Here we go, yeah we heard that before.

Glenn: What ridiculous folly to suggest that only those individuals who engage in homosexual behavior given all of its severe medical consequences constitute the best and the brightest. It’s not really bright to engage in behavior that puts you at dramatically higher risk of mental illness and substance abuse and AIDS and cancer and hepatitis, and according to various sources, premature death. So to suggest that engaging in that type of behavior defines someone as the best and brightest, which seems to be the line coming out of corporate America, is just ridiculous.

Harvey: You’re right. And higher rates of domestic violence and unstable relationships. I would not think of a homosexual person as a good employment risk, I just wouldn’t.

Part of wingnut hatred of gay people [and of all liberals] comes from their very real jealousy at the idea that millions of people around this country live more interesting lives than they do, are happier than they are, and are smarter, more productive and more creative than they are — and that they’ve done all this while rejecting dumb Religious Right notions of patriarchy and the social order. Indeed, it makes them seethe that absolutely no corporation is trying to find ways to attract more fundamentalist Christians under the headline of “best and brightest.” They just hate it.

So instead they spew their usual litany of lies — because they’re liars, of course — partially to make their sheep feel better, but partially also to make themselves feel better. Being gay is not the cause of mental illness or substance abuse or AIDS. All sane, intelligent people know that. Only the truly brainwashed and stupid are susceptible to such silly notions. The only offensive thing here is that the actual scientific study on the subject has shown that it’s precisely people like Linda and Gary, and their accompanying spiteful, pig ignorant worldview, that leads to higher rates of depression in gay youth. There’s even a good bit of data that has shown that people are more likely to put themselves in dangerous situations with drugs and unsafe sex when they don’t have the support of friends, family, church and society. And who keeps that cycle going? Again, people like Gary and Linda.

But they don’t see the blood on their hands. That would require humanity, honesty, self-awareness and integrity, and, well…those things in short supply on the Religious Right, aren’t they?

As well they should be.

No, scratch that.  If they had any decency in their hearts or humility in their bones, they would be on their knees with tears in their eyes, repenting to the god they claim to worship.

Here’s a new press release from Linda Harvey.  Let’s see what it says:

A coalition of pro-family leaders today urges Christian families to be faithful to biblical morality and discerning in the face of false and irresponsible accusations. Christianity and traditional values are not the cause of teen suicides, and attempts to link the two are deceptive and will ultimately harm children.

Actually, they’re directly related.  This is a no-brainer to anyone with a reality-based view of the world.  Hell, 72% of Americans see the connection.  72% vs. the knuckle-draggers who wrote this press release.

“Gay” activists nationwide are fueling an effort to indict traditional moral values as “guilty until proven innocent” in some bullying incidents involving teens. Their proposed solutions end up sexualizing teens at young ages into known high-risk behaviors and silencing concerned parents.

No, Linda. Guilty because already proven guilty. Nobody is trying to “sexualize teens.” In the real world, kids hit puberty somewhere between 11 and 14, and they figure out their sexual orientation around that time. No matter how much Linda Harvey’s pursed face hates it, kids start having Those Feelings in adolescence. What we’re trying to do is send honest messages of support and hope to kids who find that they’re different. Linda would rather torture their souls into oblivion.

“Just say no” to these outrageous and unsubstantiated claims, said Buddy Smith, Executive Vice President, American Family Association (www.afa.net). “Bullying can be prevented without endorsing homosexual behavior. Activist adults essentially are saying that American parents who want their kids to avoid high risk homosexual sex acts and remain abstinent until traditional marriage, are harming kids. This is preposterous, and local parents and communities need to resist enforced political correctness.”

Actually, you can teach abstinence to gay kids if you want. But you can’t keep your kids from being gay, if they’re gay, and the idea that gay kids should ever look to “traditional marriage” as a goal betrays a fundamental seething hatred for those kids and their eventual spouses.  But with the Religious Right, it’s never about caring for actual, individual people.  It’s about keeping the disproven worldview intact.  There is no end to the reality-denial of these Religious Right leaders, is there?

1. Homosexual behavior is always a sin, God’s plan for sexuality is male/female marriage, and God has not changed His mind about this (Genesis 19; Leviticus 18:22; Matthew 19:4-6; Romans 1:24-27; 1 Corinthians 6:9-11)

2. Jesus described marriage as the union of one man and one woman, and that humans were created male and female “from the beginning.” Gender change is a defiant and ungrateful sin against God’s direction and design (Matthew 19:4-6)

3. Violence against children is wrong. Jesus was very clear in his protection of children and also had harsh words for those who would forbid children from knowing His truth and love ( Luke 17:2; Luke 18: 15-16). “Gay” activists want to keep children from knowing, loving and following the real Jesus Christ. At the very least, schools must not interfere in the desires of parents to raise their own children to follow Christ and live out biblical morality.

Your bible verses have no place setting policy in my secular nation, Linda. You do not live in a Religious State. If you don’t like that, create one and stop soiling the USA. I hear there’s a lot of space in Antarctica. And indeed, as we know all too well, many gay kids come from fundamentalist Christian homes. We’re just trying to protect those kids as much as we can, from the hateful and detestable messages they hear at home.

God forbid Linda Harvey ever has a gay child, really. That kid would be scarred for life.

4. School boards aid child corruption and insult faithful families when they allow “gay-straight alliances,” homosexual indoctrination programs, permission for use of opposite sex restrooms, and any of the other ridiculous demands of the “gay” lobby.

Translation: school boards make Linda’s fee fees itch when they treat gay and lesbian kids as full human beings, and they interrupt her disturbed need to make sure these kids hate themselves as much as is humanly possible.

“None of this is related to the real issue of bullying,” said Linda Harvey, president of Mission America (www.missionamerica.com), who has been monitoring the homosexual agenda directed to youth for fifteen years.” Any incidents of bullying and name-calling can be punished without forcing acceptance of offensive behaviors. Communities must not allow themselves to be manipulated into supporting pro-homosexual bullying prevention plans, and believers in Jesus Christ need to stand up against this corruption of youth.

Translation: we can stop kids from hitting each other without, god forbid, giving gay kids any hope. How will they be susceptible to our poisonous, disproven, self-loathing belief system if they hear the message that they’re good, loved and wanted?

“Traditional morality is not responsible for harassing speech. Are healthy nutrition programs or the First Lady’s anti-obesity initiative responsible for slurs and insults to overweight students? Of course not,” Harvey said. “Bullies act for a variety of reasons, and schools need to punish the behaviors, not become the thought police. Administrators who use good judgment will refuse to aid and abet false accusations.”

Stupid parallel, because obesity is recognized by the medical community as an actual problem. Natural human sexuality, be it hetero-, bi-, or homosexual, is not.

“It’s time that extremists stop exploiting tragedy to push a selfish political agenda,” said J. Matt Barber, Director of Cultural Affairs of Liberty Counsel (www.lc.org). “Liberal pressure groups have been shameless. They use talk of ‘bullying’ as a Trojan Horse to silence traditional values. Yes, anti-bullying policies are appropriate and necessary, but we a need broad, comprehensive anti-bullying strategy; not legislation rooted in segregation and discrimination, which singles out one special interest group for preferred treatment over others. Ironically, this unseemly political push actually amounts to ‘Bull Connor bullying’ on the part of homosexual activists.”

Whine all you want, Bam Bam. We can still smell the blood on your boxing gloves.

Traditional values always help families and students, not the opposite, as extremists are trying to claim.

And by “help,” she means, “make sure that the gay kids do everything they can to suppress their natural sexual orientation, whether that means living long lives of misery or, unfortunately, becoming the collateral damage of our movement at the end of the barrel of a gun.”  And really, there are no statistics that show that “turdishnul valyews” help anyone, much less gay kids.  In documenting the “ex-gay” industry for years, Truth Wins Out has scads and scads of evidence that “turdishnul valyews” are at the root of myriad psychological and mental health problems for the poor souls who find themselves in the paws of those predators.

These pro-family leaders have signed on to this statement:
Buddy Smith, Executive Vice President, American Family Association
Phil Burress, President, Citizens for Community Values
Mathew D. Staver, Founder and Chairman, Liberty Counsel
Peter LaBarbera, President, Americans for Truth
Gary Glenn, President, American Family Association of Michigan
Diane Gramley, President, American Family Association of Pennsylvania
Micah Clark, American Family Association of Indiana
J. Matt Barber, Director of Cultural Affairs, Liberty Counsel
Rena Lindevaldson, Associate Director, Liberty Center for Law & Policy
Matt C. Abbott, Catholic columnist,RenewAmerica.com

Let’s see: hate group leaders, bigots, “lawyers” who support kidnappers…yeah, sounds like a stellar group of individuals. Personally, if any of them were ever near my children, I’d loudly say “Stranger danger!” and pull my kids to safety.

But again:  72% of Americans understand that these sorts of religious messages are part of the problem, and either you’re part of the problem or you’re part of the solution.  You can’t be both.  This press release is a convenient proof that the names above are committed to being part of the problem.

This is hilarious, in terms of the extreme desperation the Religious Right is starting to show toward all things gay.  It’s a robo-call from Gary Glenn, president of Michigan’s American Family Association, for a statehouse candidate named Kevin Cotter.  Cotter’s opponent, Toni Sessoms, is openly gay, but in case voters didn’t know that, Gary Glenn would like to say the word “homosexual” over and over and over again, hysterically, like the WATB he is.

[h/t Andy]

Homoseckshul.

Ho-mooooo-seckshul.

Ho-mo-sex-you-ul.

Hom-uh-sex-shul activisssssss.

Seeekrit agenda!

[Dadgum lesbo-fags!]

Now I’m just entertaining myself.

The system works:

Earlier this year a group of plaintiffs from Michigan, represented by the Ann Arbor-based Thomas More Law Center, filed a federal lawsuit claiming that the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act, passed in 2009, violated their religious freedom and freedom of speech rights. The judge dismissed the case this week.

The plaintiffs include Gary Glenn, president of the American Family Association – Michigan; Levon Yuille, pastor of The Bible Church in Ypsilanti, Michigan; René B. Ouellette, pastor of the First Baptist Church in Bridgeport, Michigan; and James Combs, pastor of four different churches in the state.

The judge did not take kindly to the fact that they filed the lawsuit, despite having never been affected in any way by the Hate Crimes bill, rendering it a waste of everyone’s time.

If you’re interested, click over and read the ruling.

[h/t Sudbay]