Wow. Saint Paul and Minneapolis Archbishop John Nienstedt (Remember him? The one who turned the Catholic Mass and that church’s holiest sacrament into a weapon with which to bludgeon LGBT people?) does NOT want dissent within the clerical ranks when it comes to same-sex marriage.

In a dictatorial move, Nienstedt essentially told the priests of his diocese that when it came to the Minnesota Catholic church’s campaign to pass a constitutional marriage discrimination amendment, they had two choices: help out or shut up.

It is my expectation that all the priests and deacons in this Archdiocese will support this venture and cooperate with us in the important efforts that lie ahead. The gravity of this struggle, and the radical consequences of inaction propels me to place a solemn charge upon you all — on your ordination day, you made a promise to promote and defend all that the Church teaches. I call upon that promise in this effort to defend marriage. There ought not be open dissension on this issue. If any have personal reservations, I do not wish that they be shared publicly. If anyone believes in conscience that he cannot cooperate, I want him to contact me directly and I will plan to respond personally.

Writing for the American Independent, crack reporter Andy Birkey revealed yesterday that Nienstedt’s authoritarian remarks were delivered in a private speech to priests last October. Just to make sure his message reached every priest under his jurisdiction, the archbishop later sent the text of that speech to all priests who were unable to attend. (According to Birkey, Nienstedt’s remarks are only coming to light now because someone within the church leaked the speech to a group called the Progressive Catholic Voice, who released it to the media.) In the same address, Birkey reports that Nienstedt also spoke about sending teams consisting of “a priest and a married couple” into Catholic schools to discuss marriage discrimination with schoolchildren.

Minnesota Catholics: if you put money into the collection plate on Sundays, this is what you’re supporting. Yes, Nienstedt’s bigotry is out of step with the vast majority of Catholics. Yes, the Catholic church provides important services to poor and disadvantaged people. But there are dozens if not hundreds of charitable organizations providing the same services as the Catholic church without the spiritual bullying. When you donate to your local parish instead of these other charities, though, you give tacit approval to Nienstedt’s reprehensible persecution of your LGBT family members, friends, neighbors, and congregants.

Money talks. Assuming that the Catholic church will change its position on marriage equality or even ease up on its anti-gay attacks without significant incentive to do so is the height of folly.

Intimidating priests whose consciences might compel them to take a position on Minnesota’s marriage amendment different from that of the institutional church. Sending teams of adults into Catholic schools to teach children that only some of them will be worthy of marriage when they grow up. Ordering priests to organize grassroots political committees in their parishes for the express purpose of drumming up support for marriage discrimination. Producing and shipping DVDs attacking same-sex couples and families to every Catholic household in the state. Composing a prayer for divine help in the quest to write a divisive and discriminatory religious teaching into the civil constitution, then tying that prayer to the central act of unity in the Catholic tradition.

I can’t think of a more repulsive distortion of everything that a church is supposed to represent, and I couldn’t imagine supporting it with my hard-earned nickels and dimes. Minnesota Catholics, do you want this on your conscience?

A Philadelphia rabbi is feeling threatened by the recent “propaganda blitz” with regard to the “homosexual lifestyle” and has begun a bid to enshrine religious bigotry among fundamentalist Jews. According to the Huffington Post, Rabbi Shmuel Kamenetsky and friends are circulating a “Torah Declaration, Petition, re: The Torah Stance on Homosexuality” that calls repentance and reparative therapy the only options for homosexuals. He wants rabbis and mental-health professionals to sign it. (Good luck with that last one, Rabbi, since all major mental-health organizations have rejected reparative therapy for homosexuality.)

In the declaration we see the same tired old misinformation and fuzzy thinking, including the confusion of sexual orientation with sexual behavior as well as with gender identity; crocodile-tear calls for compassion; and platitudes.

We emphatically reject the notion that a homosexually inclined person cannot overcome his or her inclination and desire. Behaviors are changeable.

It requires tremendous bravery and fortitude for a person to confront and deal with same-sex attraction. For example a sixteen-year-old who is struggling with this issue may be confused and afraid and not know whom to speak to or what steps to take. We must create an atmosphere where this teenager (or anyone) can speak freely to a parent, rabbi, or mentor and be treated with love and compassion. Authority figures can then guide same-sex strugglers towards a path of healing and overcoming their inclinations.

The key point to remember is that these individuals are primarily innocent victims of childhood emotional wounds.

The only viable course of action that is consistent with the Torah is therapy and teshuvah. The therapy consists of reinforcing the natural gender-identity of the individual by helping him or her understand and repair the emotional wounds that led to its disorientation and weakening, thus enabling the resumption and completion of the individual’s emotional development. Teshuvah is a Torah-mandated, self-motivated process of turning away from any transgression or sin and returning to G-d and one’s spiritual essence. This includes refining and reintegrating the personality and allowing it to grow in a healthy and wholesome manner.

In their fear-based refusal to think outside their rigid interpretation of the Bible, homophobic ultra-Orthodox Jews are in between a rock and a hard place. They want to believe God is good. They want to believe the Torah prohibits homosexuality. So they are literally forced to believe, in the face of all reason and decency, that homosexuality is a choice:

The concept that G-d created a human being who is unable to find happiness in a loving relationship unless he violates a biblical prohibition is neither plausible nor acceptable. G-d is loving and merciful. Struggles, and yes, difficult struggles, along with healing and personal growth are part and parcel of this world. Impossible, life long, Torah prohibited situations with no achievable solutions are not.

Assuming that’s true, Rabbi, I suggest re-examining the “prohibited situations” part of your impasse rather than denying the “impossible” part and calling debunked quackery  an “achievable solution.”

…The Torah does not forbid something which is impossible to avoid. Abandoning people to lifelong loneliness and despair by denying all hope of overcoming and healing their same-sex attraction is heartlessly cruel.

Heartlessly cruel, Rabbi? You’re projecting. Look in the mirror.

For those wishing to comment on this declaration, the email address it contains is TorahDec@gmail.com.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Wayne Besen, Executive Director
Phone: 917-691-5118
E-mail: wbesen@truthwinsout.org

Contact: John Becker, Director of Communications & Development
Phone: 920-265-6023
E-mail: john@truthwinsout.org

Truth Wins Out Calls on Networks to Reject Reality Show Featuring Anti-Gay Televangelist Joel Osteen

A Show With Homophobic Preacher is ‘Not TV’s Best,’ Says TWO

BURLINGTON, Vt – Truth Wins Out strongly urged all broadcast and cable networks today to pass on a proposed reality television show featuring televangelist Joel Osteen, who preaches at a Houston megachurch. Osteen has made a number of demeaning comments about LGBT people over the years and is most notorious for saying ”I don’t believe homosexuality is God’s best.”

“We strongly urge all television networks to act responsibly and soundly reject giving a platform to an anti-gay preacher like Joel Osteen,” said Truth Wins Out’s Executive Director Wayne Besen. “A show featuring someone who dehumanizes LGBT people is clearly not TV’s best.”

Mark Burnett, best known as the man behind Survivor, Celebrity Apprentice, and Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader?, has already agreed to partner with Osteen as the show’s producer, and is currently pitching it to television networks.

“Many religious leaders have Osteen’s charisma, without the anti-gay rhetoric,” said John Becker, TWO’s Director of Communications and Development. “Instead of glamorizing and lionizing religion-based bigotry, the networks should offer a show to a more tolerant and inclusive preacher.”

Joel Osteen and his wife Victoria are co-pastors of Lakewood Church, which is the largest congregation in the nation. Each episode of their reality show would feature the Osteens and several hundred church members flying to different parts of the country on miniature mission trips. Don Iloff, an Osteen family spokesman, explained: “We do these projects without the cameras rolling. But Jesus said, ‘Let your light shine. Don’t hide it under a bushel.’”

“With his huge multimedia empire of bestselling books, podcasts, and televised religious services, Joel Osteen is hardly ‘hiding under a bushel,’” said TWO’s Becker. “Further amplification of his already booming voice would be a slap in the face to LGBT people and is completely unacceptable.”

Truth Wins Out is a nonprofit organization whose goal is to create a world where LGBT individuals can live openly, honestly and true to themselves. TWO fights anti-LGBT religious extremism, monitors anti-LGBT organizations, documents their lies and exposes their leaders. TWO specializes in turning information into action by organizing, advocating and fighting for LGBT equality.

– 30 –

Remember Daniel Avila, the Massachusetts attorney who advises the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops on marriage policy (AKA how to exclude same-sex couples from marriage using any means necessary)? The one who wrote an opinion piece in the official newspaper of the Archdiocese of Boston calling homosexuality a “natural disaster” and saying that homosexuality is caused by Satan entering the wombs of unsuspecting pregnant women and wreaking havoc with their hormones?

Well, after Truth Wins Out and others got wind of his vile comments, the story generated a bit of a firestorm. Being a former member of the Catholic Church, I knew that Avila’s words went too far even for the flagrantly homophobic American bishops. Consequently, TWO made sure our press release condemning Avila was sent directly to both the newspaper that published his remarks (the Boston Pilot) and the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops themselves.

Today, both the Boston Pilot and Daniel Avila issued statements apologizing for the publication of the piece, which was also removed from the newspaper’s website. Judging by the tenor of Mr. Avila’s remarks, it looks like the paper and/or the American bishops gave him quite the dressing-down. Both apologies, which can also be found here, are reprinted in full below.

From the Boston Pilot:

Editor’s Note: Daniel Avila issued the following “Retraction/Apology” Nov. 2 in regard to his opinion piece “Some fundamental questions on same-sex attraction” which was published in our Oct. 28 edition. In addition to echoing Mr. Avila’s statement of regret, The Pilot also wishes to apologize for having failed to recognize the theological error in the column before publication. The Pilot has removed the column ‘Some fundamental questions on same-sex attraction’ from its Website.

And the “retraction/apology” from Daniel Avila:

“Statements made in my column, ‘Some fundamental questions on same-sex attraction’ of October 28, do not represent the position of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops and the column was not authorized for publication as is required policy for staff of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. The teaching of Sacred Scripture and of the Catechism of the Catholic Church make it clear that all persons are created in the image and likeness of God and have inviolable dignity. Likewise, the Church proclaims the sanctity of marriage as the permanent, faithful, fruitful union of one man and one woman. The Church opposes, as I do too, all unjust discrimination and the violence against persons that unjust discrimination inspires. I deeply apologize for the hurt and confusion that this column has caused.”

Truth Wins Out is proud to have played a part in stemming the tide of even greater anti-LGBT hostility from the leaders of the American Catholic Church.

Avila at the Values Voter Summit a few weeks ago:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Tuesday, November 1, 2011

Contact: Wayne Besen, Executive Director
Phone: 917-691-5118
Email: wbesen@truthwinsout.org

BURLINGTON, Vt – Truth Wins Out condemned Massachusetts attorney Daniel Avila today for calling homosexuality a “natural disaster” caused by Satan invading the wombs of mothers of LGBT children. Avila, who serves as Policy Advisor for Marriage and Family to the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Subcommittee for the Promotion and Defense of Marriage, made the inflammatory remarks in an article for the Boston Pilot, the official newspaper of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston. In the article, he discussed a theory that homosexuality is caused by “random imbalances in maternal hormone levels,” which he falsely labeled as “the most widely accepted scientific hypothesis.” Avila went on to say:

“…the scientific evidence of how same-sex attraction most likely may be created provides a credible basis for a spiritual explanation that indicts the devil. Any time natural disasters occur, we as people of faith look back to Scripture’s account of those angels who rebelled and fell from grace. In their anger against God, these malcontents prowl about the world seeking the ruin of souls. They continue to do all they can to mar, distort and destroy God’s handiwork.

Therefore, whenever natural causes disturb otherwise typical biological development, leading to the personally unchosen beginnings of same-sex attraction, the ultimate responsibility, on a theological level, is and should be imputed to the evil one, not God.”

“Avila’s bizarre theories are unscientific and defamatory,” said Wayne Besen, Executive Director of Truth Wins Out. “Telling Catholic mothers with LGBT children that Satan entered their womb and caused their child’s homosexuality is spiritual abuse of the highest order.”

“It is outrageous for an official advisor to the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops to make such an appalling statement at all, much less in the approved newspaper of the Archdiocese of Boston,” added John Becker, Truth Wins Out’s Director of Communications and Development. “The USCCB and the Boston Archdiocese must unequivocally condemn Avila’s bigoted remarks, or explain to LGBT Catholics and their parents why they refuse to do so.”

While the Catholic Church has increased its public anti-gay efforts in recent years, Avila’s words directly contradict those of the American Catholic Bishops in their 1997 pastoral letter entitled Always Our Children, which gave a far more nuanced view of the topic of homosexuality:

“…it seems appropriate to understand sexual orientation (heterosexual or homosexual) as a deep-seated dimension of one’s personality and to recognize its relative stability in a person. A homosexual orientation produces a stronger emotional and sexual attraction toward individuals of the same sex, rather than toward those of the opposite sex… There seems to be no single cause of a homosexual orientation. A common opinion of experts is that there are multiple factors—genetic, hormonal, psychological—that may give rise to it. Generally, homosexual orientation is experienced as a given, not as something freely chosen. By itself, therefore, a homosexual orientation cannot be considered sinful, for morality presumes the freedom to choose.”

The bishops’ letter also told parents of gay children not to reject them in a society full of violence and discrimination, that “God does not love someone any less simply because he or she is homosexual,” and that “the Christian community should offer its homosexual sisters and brothers understanding and pastoral care.”

“There is nothing remotely understanding or caring about Avila’s anti-gay smears,” said Becker. “His statements are in direct conflict with those of the bishops he counsels, and contribute to the continued marginalization of LGBT Catholics and their families within their church communities.”

Added Besen: “If America’s Catholic bishops are looking to Daniel Avila for advice about the LGBT community, it’s no wonder that so many fair-minded people are leaving the Catholic Church for other, more reasonable and rational denominations.”

Truth Wins Out (TWO) is a nonprofit organization whose goal is to create a world where LGBT individuals can live openly, honestly and true to themselves. TWO fights anti-LGBT religious extremism, monitors anti-LGBT organizations, documents their lies and exposes their leaders. TWO specializes in turning information into action by organizing, advocating and fighting for LGBT equality.

– 30 –

Daniel Avila (whom you may remember from one of Wayne’s reports from the Values Voter Summit) is the “Policy Advisor for Marriage and Family” to the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Subcommittee for the Promotion and Defense of Marriage — he describes himself as “the bishops’ marriage guy.” In a recent article for the Boston Pilot, the official newspaper of the Archdiocese of Boston, he discussed a theory (which he falsely labeled as “the most widely accepted scientific hypothesis”) that homosexuality is caused by “random imbalances in maternal hormone levels.” And so Mr. Avila concludes:

…the scientific evidence of how same-sex attraction most likely may be created provides a credible basis for a spiritual explanation that indicts the devil. Any time natural disasters occur, we as people of faith look back to Scripture’s account of those angels who rebelled and fell from grace. In their anger against God, these malcontents prowl about the world seeking the ruin of souls. They continue to do all they can to mar, distort and destroy God’s handiwork.

Therefore, whenever natural causes disturb otherwise typical biological development, leading to the personally unchosen beginnings of same-sex attraction, the ultimate responsibility, on a theological level, is and should be imputed to the evil one, not God.

Their marriage policy advisor says that homosexuality comes from Satan, but don’t you dare call them bigots!

What a disgusting slap in the face to LGBT Catholics and Catholic parents — in particular, mothers — of LGBT children. No wonder so many are leaving that church.

h/t: Bilerico’s Michael Hamar and Right Wing Watch’s Peter Montgomery.

Avila at Value Voters Summit

In the 1980’s Mitchell Gold moved with his business partner Bob Williams from New York City to rural North Carolina to start a furniture company. Mitchell Gold + Bob Williams became incredibly successful and Gold turned his efforts to philanthropy and gay activism.

The move to the south made it abundantly clear that the main obstacle to LGBT equality was resistance by people of faith. Bible verses were routinely cherry picked and used like clubs to cause a significant amount of damage – particularly to youth who were most vulnerable to anti-gay rhetoric.

For years, Gold was involved with various LGBT organizations, but found them squeamish about tackling what he calls “religion-based bigotry”. The reluctance stemmed from a fear of being perceived as anti-religious, or of getting bogged down in circular arguments that relied on competing Bible verses.

Gold was also frustrated by these organizations’ reluctance to flat out say, “homosexuality isn’t a choice.” These LGBT groups did not want to make this case, because they felt that people should have equal rights regardless of whether it was a choice or not.

Of course, this is true on a philosophical level, but Gold explains that this line of thinking does not consider political reality. He points to the hard facts: “If a person believes sexual orientation is a choice, they are 70% more likely to be against LGBT equal rights. If a person believes sexual orientation is part of how you are created, they are 70% more likely to be in favor of LGBT equal rights.”

In an effort to get to the heart of the problem by forthrightly addressing religion-based bigotry, Gold launched “Faith in America” in 2005. This month, his group released a comprehensive report, “Addressing Religious Arguments to Achieve LGBT Equality.” The strategy memorandum boldly confronts religious arguments head on and offers solutions.

The most important recommendation is to let people of faith understand the enormous harm they are causing. The report highlights statistics showing that, “gay youth who experience family rejection are 8 times more likely to attempt suicide and 6 times more likely to report high levels of depression.”

Based on numerous advertising campaigns, focus groups, polling, and face-to-face contact, Gold recommends asking our adversaries, “Can the immense harm caused to gay and lesbian individuals exist comfortably with the principles of your faith?”

The biggest obstacle to this tactic is that most fundamentalists and evangelicals are deluded into thinking their persecution is helpful, because it will keep the targeted homosexual out of Hell. Gold’s answer is to vividly explain to such individuals the trauma and mental scars left by their intolerant preaching. Gold’s book, “Crisis: 40 Stories Revealing the Personal, Social, and Religious Pain and Trauma of Growing Up Gay in America”, is a strong and convincing testament to such personal appeals.

Of course, there are many people who these stories will not reach as they are too entrenched in fundamentalism or derive great satisfaction in bullying or causing pain to LGBT people. Such scripture-toting sadists can be found working at most anti-gay organizations. But, the idea is that you don’t have to win over everyone – just a majority in order to achieve equal rights. With polls showing more evangelical youth sympathetic to gay and lesbian equality, this trend is already happening.

Past efforts to counter religious extremism have revolved around reinterpreting scriptural passages to show how they are actually not anti-gay. I believe this is important because it demonstrates how various religions take the scriptures out of its historical context and mangle the Biblical stories to fit their agenda. The downside of this practice is that arguing with opponents often devolves into dead end conversations of competing verses.

Faith in America advises against this tactic and says: “Instead of telling people that their interpretation is wrong, you can remind them that other religious texts have been used in the past to justify attitudes and laws that are recognized today as morally wrong and unjust – such as discrimination against women, people of color and religious minorities.”

I happen to agree with Faith in America and have long used this argument. The weakness comes in that many people embrace their bigotry and see it as a lifestyle. A sizable portion of the population wants to wave the confederate flag, bash immigrants, hate the fact we have a black president, and prefer that women remain in the kitchen. But, as I stated earlier, you can’t win over everyone.

The focus on historical narrative makes sense and such reasoning may (or may not) work in converting bigots into allies. There is no doubt, however, that such common-sense appeals make people think and plants seeds for future enlightenment.

Faith in America should be applauded for addressing a really difficult issue in an intelligent and thoughtful manner.

Pam points out something truly ridiculous:  the supposedly venerable Washington Post has decided to give Tony Perkins space in their “On Faith” column to spew discredited, moronic hate speech about gay people, specifically bullied gay children.

Check out this malarkey:

The media has recently been filled with reports of several recent suicides by teenagers who are reported to have been victims of “anti-gay” bullying. Some homosexual activist groups lay blame at the feet of conservative Christians who teach that homosexual conduct is wrong, as well as pro-family groups such as Family Research Council which oppose elements of the homosexual political agenda, such as same-sex “marriage.”

The Christians and pro-family leaders I know are unanimous in believing that no person, especially a child, should be subjected to verbal or physical harassment or violence–whether because of their sexuality, their religious beliefs, or for any other reason. Such bullying violates the Christian’s obligation to love our neighbor as we love ourselves, and receives no support from the pro-family political movement.

First of all, Tony pisses on the kids’ graves by putting “anti-gay” in scare quotes. Then he pisses on them and their surviving families by farting out a bunch of meaningless platitudes about how none of the “pro-family” leaders support bullying of anyone. Basically, he’s defending himself preemptively, which is always very telling. If Tony Perkins didn’t know deep down that he was a malignant bigot, he wouldn’t feel the need to issue such a disclaimer before planting a bunch of verbal crosses on gay kids’ lawns, dousing them with gasoline and setting them aflame.

Where bullying has occurred, the blame should be placed on the bullies themselves–not on organizations within society who clearly oppose bullying. I suspect that few, if any, such bullies are people who regularly attend church, and I would not be surprised if most of the “bullies” did not have the positive benefit of both an active mom and dad in their lives.

He keeps running hot water, but the blood is just not coming off his hands! His suggestion that bullies are unchurched is baseless and asinine.

[H]omosexual activist groups like GLSEN (the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network) are exploiting these tragedies to push their agenda of demanding not only tolerance of homosexual individuals, but active affirmation of homosexual conduct and their efforts to redefine the family.

It’s very upsetting to Tony that groups which defend gay people deign to ask that garden variety bigots like Tony stop spreading messages that drive children to suicide. Where would Tony be without his soulless hatred? Nowhere, that’s where.

There is an abundance of evidence that homosexuals experience higher rates of mental health problems in general, including depression. However, there is no empirical evidence to link this with society’s general disapproval of homosexual conduct. In fact, evidence from the Netherlands would seem to suggest the opposite, because even in that most “gay-friendly” country on earth, research has shown homosexuals to have much higher mental health problems.

Wrong, wrong, wrong! Or should I say, liar, liar, liar! Media Matters explains:

Perkins links to a February 2002 American Psychologist article, which reported on the “results of several breakthrough studies are offering new insights on gay men, lesbians and bisexuals.” While Perkins is right, “Several studies suggest that gay men, lesbians and bisexuals appear to have higher rates of some mental disorders compared with heterosexuals,” he’s totally wrong that these rates have nothing to do with discrimination. In fact, the article immediately goes on to report that “[d]iscrimination may help fuel these higher rates.” The article reported: “In a study that examines possible root causes of mental disorders in LGB people, [Susan] Cochran [PhD] and psychologist Vickie M. Mays, PhD, of the University of California, Los Angeles, explored whether ongoing discrimination fuels anxiety, depression and other stress-related mental health problems among LGB people. The authors found strong evidence of a relationship between the two.” Several other studies back up this finding.

If you click that link, you will find more links in the Media Matters piece, to studies which Tony Perkins would prefer to pretend do not exist.

Media Matters also points out how utterly grotesque it is for the Washington Post to run such shameful bigotry on National Coming Out Day.

One more graf of disgusting, pig ignorant hatred, and then I’m going to go throw up:

Some homosexuals may recognize intuitively that their same-sex attractions are abnormal–yet they have been told by the homosexual movement, and their allies in the media and the educational establishment, that they are “born gay” and can never change. This–and not society’s disapproval–may create a sense of despair that can lead to suicide.

Vile.

Students from at least three rural, mid-Michigan high schools participated in an event they dubbed “straight pride day” last Friday. And while the events were without disruptive incident, they were not without controversy or concern. Students, parents and school officials spoke to Michigan Messenger about the event in the days leading up to it.

Treyton Gregg, a 17-year-old junior at Laingsburg High School where the event was evidently centered, said he was worried about the event, particularly in light of how some of his peers responded to the estimated 50 student who participated in the Day of Silence event the previous week, an annual event when students protest anti-gay bigotry by staying silent for the day.

“I was called fag too many times to count,” says Gregg, a tinge of anger and hurt in his voice. “It bothered me. It hurt. These are people I’ve gone to school with for years.”

Asked if he had been called “fag” in the past, Gregg said he had, “but not so frequently.”

Read FULL STORY from Todd Heywood at The Michigan Messenger.

Dictionaries ascribe an overly broad and vague meaning to the word “bigotry.”

Writing for The Bilerico Project, Patricia Nell Warren narrows the scope to strengthen the word while limiting any abuse of it.

A real bigot goes beyond expression that is protected by the First Amendment — beyond what is protected by the above-mentioned clause in the Matthew Shepard Act. He or she even goes beyond hate speech — which is knowingly and purposefully inflaming others to take violent action against those of whom he or she disapproves.

The real bigot openly works for the establishment of state religion — his or her religion, naturally. Whether as a voter or lobbyist or legislator or judge or media person, he or she aims to see draconian laws passed that would deprive the disapprovees of their civil rights. In the name of state religion, the bigot wants to harass them, silence them, beat up on them, jail them, even torture them and kill them, if possible. Their mission statements make it very clear that this is what they aim to do.

Nell Warren warns:

Individual bigots like Lou Engle and Rick Warren, and organizations like The Family, The Call and the New Apostolic Reformation, are now cozily accepted in the Republican Party, and are working to embed themselves in the Democratic party as well. According to political reporter Jeff Sharlet in his recent expos?© The Family, even Secretary of State Hillary Clinton can be seen hobnobbing at the National Prayer Breakfast sponsored by these people. Sharlet’s book bristles with disturbing documentation on how the Democratic party is forgetting what it supposedly stands for.

The solution:

How do we turn things around? More laws? More investigations? More court fights? There’s a saying, that you can’t legislate enlightenment. So I’m not sure that more laws and legal opinions will do the job.

But we can start by exposing these crimes in the media, so the American public gets educated about what the real bigots are up to. We must put that label on the politicians and the lobbyists and the celebrities and the corporate figureheads who deserve it. We have to hold them up to public censure — prevent them from hiding behind the user-friendly labels that they stick on themselves, like “patriot” and “good Christian.” The extreme right launched its Teabagger movement — we have to launch our Teabigot movement.

Little by little, more Americans have to get deeply shocked and embarrassed about bigotry. Being a bigot, as I define it, needs to become socially unacceptable.