Wednesday, December 22, 2010

Religious right strategize to undermine DADT repeal

There has been a lot of talk regarding the Southern Poverty Law Center either declaring certain religious right groups as anti-gay hate groups or profiling them for their tendency to demonize the lgbt community.

The groups claim that they are simply trying to show "Christian" opposition to homosexuality and gay marriage in general. This of course is a lie and what better way to prove it than to showcase the words of members of these organizations.

In today's issue of the *American Family Association's One News Now, Mat Staver of the Liberty Counsel - one of the groups profiled by SPLC - had this to say about the DADT repeal:

"As we move forward in 2011, we're going to ask the House of Representatives to de-fund any implementation of this repeal," he reports. "We believe that Congress, the House of Representatives, can de-fund any implementation, and thus the repeal would essentially be meaningless. Then we also believe that as we move forward in 2011 [and] 2012, we're going to remember those individuals in the House and the Senate who betrayed our military and America."

You got that? Who cares if Congress voted to end DADT. Staver and company are determined to undermine the will of this vote simply because it benefits the lgbt community.

And then there are the words of Peter LaBarbera of Americans for Truth about Homosexuality, which was declared  an official hate group by SPLC:

"Obama and gays have shown that they care more about the sensitivities of gay and lesbian soldiers than they do about the privacy rights of the majority of normal soldiers."

You see that's hatred. That's homophobia so stark that no one can call it anything different. To LaBarbera, the sacrifice of soldiers like Eric Alva, who became the first American wounded in the war in Iraq and lost his leg because of the wound, mean nothing.

And why?

Because to LaBarbera, soldiers like Alva aren't "normal." They are "dirty homosexuals."

How is this any different than the mindset of those who opposed President Truman's desegregation of the Armed Forces in 1948? 

I don't think these efforts will be successful but they do reveal a lot about those behind them. These aren't Christian people. These are pathetic haters who mask their lies and homophobia behind Christian beliefs.

The only thing good about their words is that they clearly show these haters so filled with hubris that they don't realize how deep they are cutting their own throats.


*The American Family Association was also declared an anti-gay hate group by SPLC.


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2 comments:

Unknown said...

What exactly is there to de-fund?

the end of DADT ultimately means not throwing gay people out of the service for being gay. That costs zero dollars. In fact, they no longer need to WASTE funds gathering evidence and having hearings and filling out paperwork to discharge someone. Repealing DADT doesn't cost extra money, it actually saves money.

All of the recommendations given by the report are administrative. Things that are already part of the military operational budget. They all come down the UCMJ being updated to remove "consensual sodomy" from the list of no-nos, and telling everyone to continue serving with honor, dignity, and respect for your fellow soldiers. Again, zero addtional dollars. There's nothing to fund and nothing to de-fund.

Mykelb said...

It has cost the government 500 million dollars to keep DADT in place. That's a lot of money that could have been spent better.

As for Mat Staver and Porno Petey, their hate group status says it all.

"...and unto the least of these, you have done unto me...". Bet their Jeebus doesn't approve.