Wow, this one comes from Joplin, Missouri. A teacher, whose name is not being released, allegedly posted these remarks on Facebook in response to a story about gay kids committing suicide:

How grotesque. There’s a news video here on the incident, which I can’t seem to embed over here.

Joe noticed that one of America’s Most Vicious Hatemongers, Tony Perkins, is defending the teacher. What’s a little laugh over child suicide among fundamentalist wingnuts, am I right?

Sometimes people think we’re exaggerating when we say that, as we have now reached the tipping point, the majority position in the United States is to support full equality for gay people, and the bigots’ opinions are becoming completely socially unacceptable, those bigots are very likely to become more and more extreme and possibly violent. Watching one of the most well-known “pro-family” leaders in the country defend a person laughing about children committing suicide should open people’s eyes to the true character of our opposition. These are their true colors.

You know, Joplin.  Where the massive tornado came through and destroyed the city and killed at least 125 people.

Of course, being Westboro, they’re going to be thanking god for that tornado, that killed at least 125 people.

The controversial Westboro Baptist Church is planning to protest President Obama’s visit to Joplin, Missouri Sunday.

On its website, the church writes, “Thank God for 125 dead in Joplin.”

Church members claim Missouri Governor Jay Nixon has attacked them by promoting laws banning them from protesting at soldiers’ funerals.

Of course, the god of Westboro Baptist is such a genocidal headcase that he also sent the tornado because of gay people.

University City, Missouri, is a historic suburb of St. Louis, and as heartland suburbs go, it’s a fairly liberal enclave, so it’s perhaps not surprising that they were the first St. Louis suburb to create a domestic partner ordinance:

This community known for its diversity and progressive ways became on Monday the first municipality in St. Louis County to adopt a domestic partnership ordinance giving same-sex partners and other couples who live together the same rights as spouses in many situations.

The City Council approved the measure 6-1. The vote brought a standing ovation from many in the crowd that packed the council chambers, and some in the audience had tears. Many credited Councilman Terry Crow, who has been active in gay causes and proposed the ordinance.

[...]

Crow, Councilman Steven Kraft and Mayor Shelley Welsch said they hoped University City’s measure would encourage other governments, including St. Louis County, to adopt similar ordinances.

Of course, there was opposition, though I find it funny that those quoted in the article are not University City residents. Here’s one:

Those on the other side included former state Rep. Cynthia Davis, of O’Fallon, who is St. Charles County’s Republican Party chairwoman. She vehemently urged the council to vote down the measure.

“I want to encourage you to keep your community family friendly” and make sure University City “has the right kind of culture you’ll be proud of,” Davis told the council.

Yeah, St. Charles County is all the way to the west, across the river. There are many wingnuts there. So when Ms. Davis encourages a city she does not live in to keep their community “family friendly,” with the “right kind of culture,” I would suggest that they already have, which is why Ms. Davis does not live there. Here’s another outsider, with an opinion:

Joan Schneider of Ballwin also urged the council not to pass the ordinance. “I don’t think University City wants to be the only city to legislate sin in the United States,” she said.

Oh, Joan. Lots of cities have done this. They tend to be places with high property values.  Because, as we all know, the wages of sin are pricing wingnuts out of the neighborhood.

Anyway, congratulations to University City for being the first, and here’s hoping that the rest of St. Louis Count follows their lead.

[h/t Memphis Loves Gays]

This is what we mean when we say that anti-gay bigotry is no longer socially acceptable in nice places:

Focus St. Louis and the Clayton Chamber of Commerce said today that they are canceling a planned presentation by Dan Cathy, president and COO of Chick-fil-A, following complaints that Cathy and his company are involved with anti-gay organizations.

Chick-fil-A, which is known for promoting a company vision of Christian values, was enmeshed in a controversy earlier this year involving an independent Chick-fil-A operator in Pennsylvania and the Pennsylvania Family Institute, which is affiliated with the Family Resource Institute. The latter institute was recently designated a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center because of its anti-gay positions.

The decision to cancel Cathy’s March 18 presentation here was made after PROMO, a statewide organization that advocates for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender equality, protested his appearance and asked Focus and the Chamber of Commerce to reconsider.

Ellen Gale, the head of the chamber, said today that when the groups agreed to co-sponsor Cathy’s appearance, they had no idea he held controversial views.

Sometimes all you have to do is bring it to their attention. I’m always very cautious when protesting things like this planned speech, because very often, what you have is not a matter of discriminatory beliefs or activities, but rather oversight. In this case, once the Clayton Chamber knew what kind of unsavory activities Cathy and the Chick-Fil-A corporate team have been involved in, they said “No thanks.”

Clayton, which is just outside the city of St. Louis, is one of the loveliest towns in the United States, for the record.

[h/t Joe]

I am beginning to think Bryan Fischer is an elaborate joke being played on the Christian Right by some hilarious gay/flock of gays somewhere, because he has such a special talent for being on the amoral side of every issue.  Maybe it’s just because conservative Christians are all teabaggers these days, and they have so little understanding of human common sense and compassion.  I don’t know, but this story, which has absolutely nothing to do with gay rights, is illustrative of the depraved mindset of Bryan Fischer and his handlers at the American Family Association.  A little background, in case you haven’t heard:  In Obion County, Tennessee, they’re trying the “Somalian libertarian paradise” plan, by requiring residents to pay a $75 fee in order to have fire protection.  If you don’t pay the fee and your house catches on fire, this is what happens:

In this rural section of Tennessee, Gene Cranick’s home caught on fire. As the Cranicks fled their home, their neighbors alerted the county’s firefighters, who soon arrived at the scene. Yet when the firefighters arrived, they refused to put out the fire, saying that the family failed to pay the annual subscription fee to the fire department. Because the county’s fire services for rural residences is based on household subscription fees, the firefighters, fully equipped to help the Cranicks, stood by and watched as the home burned to the ground:

Imagine your home catches fire but the local fire department won’t respond, then watches it burn. That’s exactly what happened to a local family tonight. A local neighborhood is furious after firefighters watched as an Obion County, Tennessee, home burned to the ground.

The homeowner, Gene Cranick, said he offered to pay whatever it would take for firefighters to put out the flames, but was told it was too late. They wouldn’t do anything to stop his house from burning. Each year, Obion County residents must pay $75 if they want fire protection from the city of South Fulton. But the Cranicks did not pay. The mayor said if homeowners don’t pay, they’re out of luck. [...]

We asked the mayor of South Fulton if the chief could have made an exception. “Anybody that’s not in the city of South Fulton, it’s a service we offer, either they accept it or they don’t,” Mayor David Crocker said.

And as I mentioned, this teabagger set-up killed the Cranicks’ four pets: three dogs and a cat.

So, let’s look at what that paragon of Christian virtue, Bryan Fischer, has to say about it.  First, I’ll let Jack Stuef at Wonkette set it up for you:

Bryan Fischer at the American Family Association’s blog has heard about this situation with the family that didn’t pay their $75 annual fee to be rescued from dying in a house fire, and he has thankfully decided for us What Would Jesus Have Done. Jesus would have shown compassion, right? Haha, no, do you think Jesus was a fag or something? This post is, in all seriousness, entitled “Firefighters did the Christian thing in letting house burn to the ground.” Oh, right, of course.

By the way, you have to highlight the text to see any of this, because apparently the AFA doesn’t understand you shouldn’t put black text on a black background.

Yes, yes, you do have to highlight the text, and the morons at AFA still haven’t fixed it.

So here’s Bryan! He starts out doing some sort of weird chanting thing, a la something one might do in front of the mirror while spinning around:

The fire department did the right and Christian thing. The right thing, by the way, is also the Christian thing, because there can be no difference between the two. The right thing to do will always be the Christian thing to do, and the Christian thing to do will always be the right thing to do.

Right is Christian. Christian is right. Christian is Jesus. Jesus is Christian. Jesus is right Christian. Right Christian Jesus.

And then he stops because he has to poop.

So anyway, everything in the Bible is right, which as Stuef at Wonkette points out, means that everybody gets a slave now, because they’re okay in the Bible, and the right thing is always the Christian thing. Also: concubines. Seventy-two of them for each of you!

Oh lord, he’s still chanting into the mirror:

If I somehow think the right thing to do is not the Christian thing to do, then I am either confused about what is right or confused about Christianity, or both.

[...]

In this case, critics of the fire department are confused both about right and wrong and about Christianity. And it is because they have fallen prey to a weakened, feminized version of Christianity that is only about softer virtues such as compassion and not in any part about the muscular Christian virtues of individual responsibility and accountability.

Real Christianity have big penis and lots of muscles, not like girl parts!

We cannot make foolish choices and then get angry at others who will not bail us out when we get ourselves in a jam through our own folly. The same folks who are angry with the South Fulton fire department for not bailing out Mr. Cranick are furious with the federal government for bailing out Wall Street firms, insurance companies, banks, mortgage lenders, and car companies for making terrible decisions. What’s the difference?

Mr. Cranick made a decision – a decision to spend his $75 on something other than fire protection – and thereby was making a choice to accept the risk that goes with it. He had no moral, legal, ethical or Christian claim on the services of the fire department because of choices that he himself made.

Maybe he didn’t have the money, or maybe he forgot. Not seeing the justification for letting a family’s house burn down and kill puppies, but Bryan Fischer is going to explain why those puppies had to die.

Jesus once told a parable about 10 virgins attending a wedding feast, five of whom failed to replenish the oil in their lamps when they had the chance. The bridegroom came when they were out frantically searching for oil, and by the time they made it back to the party, the door was shut tight. The bridegroom – the Christ figure in the story – refused to open the door, saying “Truly, I say to you, I do not know you” (Matthew 25:13).

The critics of South Fulton thereby implicate themselves as accusers of Christ himself, making him out to be both cold and heartless. They may want to be careful about that.

If you have compassion for the Cranick family, you might as well be one of Christ’s accusers. Got it. Stuef points out here that the parable was about the coming of the Lord, but, you know, far be it from us to question Bryan Fischer’s interpretation of the Bible, or perhaps suggest he’s reading it upside down, like in that old Victor Borge bit.

TURN YOUR BIBLE RIGHT SIDE UP, BRYAN.

Anyway, he writes a lot more on the topic, but it’s more of the same, and I’m tired of having to highlight the text in order to read it, so I’m done quoting and mocking.

I wonder how Bryan Fischer feels about the very reasonable proposition in Missouri to establish minimum standards for dog breeders to tackle their puppy mill problem, the one the teabaggers hate because “wherever there is an effort to eliminate cruelty and exploitation in the name of profit, you will always find conservatives right there to oppose it.”

He’s probably on the side of the puppy mills, if I had to venture a wild guess.

Regent University’s Dr. Mark Yarhouse spoke this week at the national conference of the American Association of Christian Counselors in Branson, Missouri.

According to the Facebook page of the Institute for the Study of Sexual Identity at Regent University, Yarhouse spoke to a “full room” on “key concepts for understanding homosexuality and sexual identity. A lot of good discussion on the concepts and their applications in various church settings.”

Yarhouse’s talk topic paralleled that of his new book, “Homosexuality and the Christian: A Guide for Parents, Pastors, and Friends.” Note that the book’s title and theme ostracize the very people at issue: people of non-heterosexual orientation. Instead, the book addresses the pastors, parents, and peers whom Yarhouse seeks to alienate from LGBT relatives and friends.

The institute’s blog describes the book as follows:

Dr. Yarhouse shifts the focus away from orientation toward identity, and then he uses that focus to inform how the church might respond to the challenges facing sexual minorities within the Christian community. He also provides chapters for parents and spouses who are responding to family members who experience same-sex attraction.

The blog article quotes two endorsements of the book:

“This is a must-read book for anyone who wants sound guidance and trustworthy information about homosexuality, including its relevance to Christians and the church.”
–Gary R. Collins, Distinguished Professor of Coaching and Leadership, Richmont Graduate University

“Homosexuality and the Christian is the best book I have seen for evangelicals who want an accessible book that provides accurate, research-based information.”
–Warren Throckmorton, Associate Professor of Psychology, Grove City College, and Fellow for Psychology and Public Policy at the Center for Vision and Values

Longtime readers may recall that Yarhouse co-authored an informal study of ex-gays in 2007. That study failed to achieve publication in any peer-reviewed journal, and it was criticized by mental-health professionals for serious flaws, biases, and intentional oversights.

While I am disappointed at Yarhouse’s latest apparent efforts to badmouth sexual minorities and to alienate people from their non-heterosexual peers, I am also puzzled that a presumably successful organization representing supposed mental-health professionalism would host its annual conference in Branson. That isolated community near the Arkansas-Oklahoma border is a last-resort destination for almost-forgotten musical acts such as Andy Williams, the Oak Ridge Boys, Mickey Gilley, Roy Clark, and Tony Orlando — not to mention Elvis impersonators, disgraced preachers (Anita Bryant had a theater there), and discount buffets that inspire comparison to the cuisine of Reno, Nevada.

What exactly was Yarhouse’s room “full” of — tourists who couldn’t get tickets for the dinosaur wax museum?

Focus on the Family today applauded a Missouri senate panel’s endorsement of legislation which Focus claims would merely protect religious freedom.

In fact, the legislation does the opposite:

The legislation, Senate Resolution 31, establishes a ballot issue to amend the state constitution. The amendment would permit conservative Christians to impose official prayer and official religious symbols in public schools — against the will (and the faith) of Jewish, Islamic, Buddhist, atheist, and liberal Christian parents.

The Resolution would violate the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. It is poorly written and, while likely to increase litigation, may be difficult to enforce, according to Leigh Hunt Greenhaw in an article in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

The real purpose of the law is to scare conservative voters into believing, falsely, that their right to pray is under fire so that they will go to the polls and vote for extremist candidates who are intolerant of religious minorities. The Post-Dispatch writer observes:

The proposed amendment to Section 5 could be a partisan strategy. If voters hear our right to pray is endangered and that an amendment to the Missouri Constitution is needed to protect it, they might come out to vote for it. And those that do might well favor candidates and parties that have supported the amendment.

Focus and its Missouri affiliate hinted at this true intent in today’s statement:

Joe Ortwerths, executive director of the Missouri Family Policy Council, said his group promoted Senate Joint Resolution 31, because groups such as the American Civil Liberties Union, for example, are trying to convince public school officials that freedom of religious expression cannot be permitted in public settings.

The Christian Rightists deliberately mischaracterize the ACLU’s defense of individual religious freedom — in particular, the freedom of minorities to pray as they wish without official school interference or official religious indoctrination.

The “religious freedom” that Focus and Missouri’s Christian Right seek is a freedom from the religion of others, not religious freedom for all.