Weekly Column

In 1993, Washington Post writer Michael Weisskopf infuriated evangelical Christians when he described them in a front-page news story as “poor, uneducated and easy to command.” Most of this group is not obtuse and a number of them are quite wealthy. However, the “easy to command” label probably emanated from the fact that many of these individuals seemed eager to throw money at televangelist charlatans like Revs. Jim Bakker, Pat Robertson, and Jimmy Swaggart.

In the mid-1970’s this brand of religion reached the nation’s consciousness when Jimmy Carter ran for president as a “born again” Christian. His faith made headlines in a Playboy interview when he said, “I’ve looked on a lot of women with lust. I’ve committed adultery in my heart many times….This is something that God recognizes, that I will do and have done, and God forgives me for it.”

By the late 1970’s and early 80’s Jimmy Carter was out and Republican moral scolds were in. Anita Bryant took center stage with her anti-gay crusade in Florida and Rev. Jerry Falwell’s Moral Majority reached prominence by helping Ronald Reagan get elected. Direct mail guru Richard Viguerie, whose fiery letters lambasted homosexuals and abortion providers, helped create a movement that thrived on demonizing opponents and profited from divisive wedge issues.

The next leap forward came when Rev. Pat Robertson politicized his 700 Club television show and used it as a platform to run for president in 1988. Although he lost to George H.W. Bush, he turned his campaign mailing list into the Christian Coalition and hired a young issues entrepreneur, Ralph Reed, to run the organization. This group was quite successful at using stealth tactics to take over local school boards and state Republican parties.

By 1992, the evangelical voting bloc was a kingmaker in Republican politics. This new reality was reflected in that year’s incendiary GOP convention in Houston – where Pat Robertson, Pat Buchanan and Dan Quayle declared a culture war on America. Fortunately, the rhetoric was so overheated that it helped swing the election in favor of Bill Clinton.

Today’s religious right is more diffuse and lacks any single leader with the charisma of Robertson, Falwell, or Focus on the Family’s founder James Dobson. Much of the energy has also been absorbed by the Tea Party – which is basically the same extremist Republicans who rebranded themselves by wearing funny triangular hats.

Eighteen years after Weisskopf’s article, the evangelical demographic is just as difficult to define. The larger question, however, is what does this group – and their Catholic counterparts on the far right – actually stand for?  It certainly isn’t the original goal of promoting “family values.”

The hollowness of the far right’s agenda was driven home by a presidential straw poll taken by attendees at last week’s The Awakening 2011 conference, in Lynchburg. Rep. Michele Bachmann won the straw poll with 23% of the votes. Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee came in second at 22%, and former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich placed third with 21% of the votes.

It is bewildering to see Gingrich score so high among this “family values” crowd, considering he is on his third marriage – and served his first wife with divorce papers as she recovered from cancer in the hospital.

Furthermore, for a group that bristled at being called uneducated, they sure seem to have an affinity for blundering, unqualified candidates such as Bachmann, Palin, Huckabee and George W. Bush.

There is also an addiction to sounding really dimwitted on gay issues, despite the fact that there is ample information available and LGBT people are everywhere for evangelicals to meet. Unfortunately, instead of choosing to grow as human beings, many have elected to calcify their minds and listen to the inane ramblings of hucksters like Ryan Sorba.

“‘Gay’ is a left-wing socio-political construct designed to create grounds for fundamental rights [based on] whimsical capricious desires,” said Ryan Sorba, chairman of the Young Conservatives of California at The Awakening conference. “Gay identity does not exist.”

So, all those late nights I spent in my youth dancing at gay nightclubs trying to meet guys were just socio-political construction work? That’s news to me, and it certainly seemed more fun at the time.

Right-wing Catholic leaders appear just as hapless and empty. For instance, the Catholic League’s Bill Donohue has embraced his role as chief apologist for the unthinkable crimes committed against young people at the hands of trusted clergy. In a full-page ad in the New York Times this week, he even attacked some abuse victims as phonies, which seems neither conservative nor Christian.

In 2011, the Religious Right has been reduced to angry people in weird hats that embrace multi-divorced politicians, cheer anti-intellectual candidates, stubbornly refuse to learn about LGBT people even as mainstream conservatives increasingly support equality, disdain compromise, demand tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans, and bash victims of pedophile priests.

I’m not sure how Weisskopf would describe such people today, but I’m pretty sure I know how Jesus would.

Interesting – they have breakout sessions for dreaded “community organizers”. Didn’t Sarah Palin make fun of community organizers during her VP nomination acceptance speech?

From World Net Daily:

A new generation of Christian and conservative leaders will assemble for a key conference called The Awakening 2010 at Liberty University next week with the aim of taking their campaign far beyond the special documentaries created by D. James Kennedy, the campus outreach of Bill Bright and the church organization built by Jerry Falwell.

Mathew Staver, chairman of Liberty Counsel and event organizer, told WND that unless those who care about the traditional God-fearing United States start working now, it will go away.

“If we don’t stand for our core values, we’re going to lose them,” he said. “We’ll have an America we don’t recognize.”

Staver said this isn’t just a warning about the impact on the next generation or their children.

“This will be a different America … in our lifetimes,” he said. “Much has changed since the [2008] election, and we still have two and a half more years of this administration which is bent on reshaping America.”

He said Washington’s vision for the nation now is far afield from that of the Founding Fathers.

He cited a quotation from Benjamin Franklin at the signing of the Declaration of Independence: “We must all hang together, or assuredly we shall all hang separately.”

The conference brings together some of the top leaders of a long list of groups that have supported Christian and traditional values.

While 2009 will be remembered for the worldwide economic recession, for the ex-gay industry, it will be known as The Great Moral Depression. It was a dreadful year for such programs, as they showed themselves to be a global menace run by reprobates, such as Exodus’ Randy Thomas and Alan Chambers, who combined a dangerous dose of arrogance and incompetence. Much like the Roman Catholic Church, these men ignored a credible allegation of abuse for more than six months and engaged in a dangerous game of denial.

Whatever shard of credibility this industry had was stripped away in 2009. It was a year where such programs were harshly rebuked by the mental health establishment. An important new study showed that their retrograde methods of shame and blame harmed LGBT people. The old, outdated research that they stubbornly latched onto for dear life seemed to betray them and then vanish into thin air.

Several “ex-gay” heroes turned out to be zeros and slithered away into the mist. The past 12 months, if anything, unmasked the facade of “love” this industry cynically showers on potential clients and an often gullible media. In 2009, the world saw ex-gay programs for what they are: A sugar coated excuse for homophobia.

Exodus was revealed as a front for international hate groups, who used the group’s credulous leaders as pawns in an international struggle for theocracy. PFOX stepped forward and showed, time and again, that it was just plain nuts.

NARTH put out an embarrassingly shoddy “study” that was so pathetic it was virtually ignored by the media. By the end of 2009, NARTH had solidified its place as a cabal of embittered and irrelevant quacks on the far outer fringes of psychology. Homosexuals Anonymous was, well, anonymous. The Catholic ex-gay group Courage also had a meager profile and had little impact on popular culture. And, JONAH, the Jewish ex-gay group, continued to humiliate itself through its affiliation with crackpot Born Again sexual reorientation coach Richard Cohen.

May 2010 bring the same abundance of truth and light regarding the ex-gay fraud we had in 2009. Here are the Top 10 ex-gay related stories of the year. Please feel free to comment on any major items I may have missed.

10) The Passing of The Old Guard

Focus on the Family co-founder James Dobson announced that he was stepping down. He was an arch-homophobe who once claimed allowing gay people to marry would end the earth. Under Dobson’s leadership, this mega-ministry started the ex-gay roadshow Love Won Out. Dobson’s retirement represents the winding down of the old guard. This includes the passing of other ex-gay proponents or anti-gay preachers such as Rev. Jerry Falwell, D. James Kennedy and Oral Roberts. A new generation of Evangelicals will hopefully join the reality-based community and break with the past. However, there is reason to be skeptical, considering the leader of the pack is Rick Warren, who isn’t too much better than his predecessors.

9) The Fizzling Out of Michael Glatze and Stephen Bennett

Michael Glatze (left) was formerly co-editor of XY Magazine and YGA Magazine, publications directed at LGBT youth. He and his partner of ten years, Benjie Nycum, also co-authored the book XY Survival Guide.

Glatze’s ventures went belly-up and he seemed to disappear from LGBT activism. He reemerged in July 2007 with a disgusting op-ed on the extremist website WorldNetDaily, where he announced he was “ex-gay” (although he had no experience with women)

Glatze alleged sexual conversion seems, in part, to have come from a sort-of nervous breakdown. He reported that he suffered from frequent panic attacks and that he obsessed about death.

In late September, Glatze contacted me, hoping that I would interview him and reinvigorate his flagging career as an “ex-gay”. I refused to oblige his publicity stunt, and so did LGBT advocates at other sites.

Glatze’s downfall came when he opened an incoherent vanity blog and wrote:

“Have I mentioned lately how utterly *disgusting* Obama is? And, yes, it’ because he’ black. God, help us all….It’ a shame Obama is black. He could end up setting back race relations decades.”

Condemned for his idiotic comment about President Obama, Glatze sent out a rambling e-mail announcing his career as an ex-gay spokesperson had fizzled and he was retiring. Chalk Glatze up to a pitiful flash in the pan.

Similarly, 2009 was the year that big haired ex-gay activist Stephen Bennett (left) completely vanished from the scene. And, Anthony Falzarano’s (founder of PFOX) attempted return to the spotlight also petered out.

8) The Lisa Miller Kidnapping and Abduction Case

Lisa Miller broke up with partner Janet Jenkins (Right) after becoming a born again “ex-gay”. In a fit of holier-than-thou zeal, Miller went on the lam and absconded from Vermont with their child, Isabella, that the couple was raising together after having a Civil Union.

As a result of Miller’ poor parenting and criminal behavior (she was cited for contempt of court), a Vermont court transferred custody to Jenkins (after a five year legal ordeal that will surely leave emotional scars on their child Isabella) and refused a motion to delay transfer, as requested by Miller’ law team.

People for the American Way’ Right Wing Watch reports that the location of Miller and 7-year-old Isabella Miller are presently “unknown”. This is highly problematic because the court order takes effect on New Year’ Day.

Janet Jenkins filed a missing person report in Virginia on Wednesday in hopes of finding her 7-year-old daughter, according to her lawyer. Unfortunately, Miller’s outlaw behavior has been cheered on by ex-gay activists who want to pretend they are martyrs, rather than criminal miscreants.

7) The Caitlin Ryan Study

The January 2009 issue of Journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics reported on a new study by San Francisco State researcher Caitlin Ryan. Her research concluded that, “Teens who experienced negative feedback (when they came out as LGBT) were more than eight times as likely to have attempted suicide, nearly six times as vulnerable to severe depression and more than three times at risk of drug use.”

This definitive study was hugely important because it contradicted the claim by “ex-gay” activists that homosexuality was the root cause of such problems. Indeed, it was ex-gay programs – the epitome of negative feedback – that led to the destruction of LGBT people.

6) Exodus Bungles Corduroy Stone Scandal After TWO Exposes Abuse

Exodus International officially cut ties with its Lansing affiliate Corduroy Stone after charges were made by an ex-gay survivor that the sessions included harmful and bizarre therapy.

In August, Patrick McAlvey made the charges against Corduroy Stone’s Mike Jones in a Truth Wins Out video. At the age of 19, McAlvey, who came from a religious background, was terrified that he might be gay. Feeling vulnerable and desperate to change, he placed his trust in Mike Jones and Corduroy Stone.

“He asked how large my penis was,” McAlvey explained of Jones’ therapy. “He asked if I shave my pubic hair. He asked what type of underwear that I wore.

He wanted me to describe my sexual fantasies to him and the type of men I’m attracted to. On one occasion, he asked me to take my shirt off and show him how many push-ups I could do, which I did not do.”

Tragically, it took Exodus until December to take action and cut ties with this renegade ministry. Exodus’ dithering in the face of scandal cost precious time and may have placed additional youth in harm’ way. This was a key episode in 2009 because it underscored how Exodus has little control over its satellite ministries and each one is an independent fiefdom with its own rules and techniques. Exodus is no more than a Wild West and an unprofessional hodgepodge of fundamentalist pop-psychology combined with spiritual warfare and efforts to pray away the gay.

5) Ex-Gay Charlatan Matthew C. Manning Unmasked As A Fraud

A report by the website, “Ex-Gay Watch” cast a dark cloud of skepticism over “ex-gay” activist Matthew Manning’ tale of being “delivered” from homosexuality and AIDS. According to the report, Manning has been repeatedly dragged into court for allegations of inappropriate behavior and was even banned from a popular gym after improper sexual advances were made on a 22-year-old heterosexual male. Manning, a frequent television guest and the founder of Lighthouse World Evangelism Inc., based in Santa Rosa, California, has yet to comment on the allegations made in the investigative report.

(Read More)

In 1988, Don Wildmon’s American Family Association (AFA) went after Mighty Mouse. The Tupelo, MS group claimed the naughty pixilated mouse had snorted cocaine. Yeah, I know the rodent is hyped up sometimes, but the charge still seems a little bizarre and far fetched.

The cartoon’s creator, Ralph Bakshi, had fallen under suspicion by the AFA because of his role in making an X-rated animated feature, “Fritz the Cat.” However, Bakshi had also won an award for “Mighty Mouse” from Action for Children’ Television.

In the disputed episode, Wildmon charged Bakshi with portraying Mighty Mouse as experiencing drug-induced exhilaration after inhaling the petals of a flower. Mighty Mouse had sniffed cocaine, Wildmon contended.

Bakshi defended his cartoon, insisting that Wildmon had interpreted the scene out of context. However, Bakshi said he was removing the scene because of his concern that the controversy might lead children to believe that what Wildmon was saying was true. Wildmon interpreted the cut differently. “This is a de facto admission that indeed Mighty Mouse was snorting cocaine,” Wildmon said. “We have been vindicated.”

Well, this was the beginning of James Dobson claiming that Sponge Bob Square Pants was gay and the late Rev. Falwell saying that the the purple teletubby Tinky Winky was gay. In terms of nuttiness, Wildmon was way ahead of his time – and the AFA’s crusades rage on today.

(Partially excerpted from the Media Coalition, Christopher M. Finan and Anne F. Castro)

Debbie Thurman, of Jerry Falwell’s Thomas Road Baptist Church, has founded an ex-gay web site: theFormers.com.

What, one might wonder, qualifies Thurman to mislead people into joining ex-gay political groups?

Almost nothing, apparently — she has no professional training in counseling or mental health. Her autobiographical sketch cites a college degree in English and a stint as public affairs officer in the Marine Corps. Despite her lack of competence, Thurman has spent years profiting from shell “ministries” that inflict her ignorance upon Christians who suffer from clinical depression.

Thurman’s site is well-designed, but it offers little if any original content. TheFormers.com seems to be merely another in a family of religious-right linkfests for Exodus International, Focus on the Family, NARTH, and PFOX — a pricey method of inflating the Google PageRank of these organizations. (Read More)