Wednesday, July 09, 2014

'Family Research Council's persecution list is laughably pathetic' & other Wed. midday news briefs

Tony Perkins' Christian-Persecution Report Highlights Persecution of Tony Perkins - The Family Research Council not only embarrasses itself this time, but also minimizes the terrible practice of persecution via a silly report featuring anecdotes of what the organization deems is "the persecution of Christians in America." According to Miranda Blue of Right Wing Watch:

Some anecdotes highlighted in the report are troubling incidents that FRC admits were later rectified. Others are incidents that we might not all count as examples of religious hostility — for instance Miss USA contestant Carrie Prejean being “mocked and ridiculed” for her answer to a question on same-sex marriage in 2009.

Still others are stories of dubious accuracy — for instance, the story of a girl in Florida supposedly punished for praying at school, who just so happened to be the daughter of the man in charge of promoting Todd Starnes’ book on Christian persecution.

And then there was this:

Minister’s Invitation to National Prayer Luncheon Revoked because of His Comments on Homosexuality in the Military – February 2010*

 An ordained minister and Marine Corps veteran was punished for speaking out on a topic unrelated to his planned comments at the National Prayer Luncheon at Andrews Air Force Base outside of Washington, D.C. The minister criticized President Obama’s call to end the military’s “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy, resulting in his invitation to speak at the National Prayer Luncheon being rescinded. The minister criticized the action as “black-listing” to suppress unwanted viewpoints.
Who is this unnamed minister who was disinvited from the National Prayer Luncheon? He wasn’t just a minister who had criticized “don’t ask, don’t tell” repeal. He was none other than the Family Research Council’s own president Tony Perkins.

OMG! Tony Perkins was "persecuted!" Let's make him a saint! Modesty and good taste keeps me from saying just of what. Personally, I wouldn't invite Perkins to give the eulogy at the funeral of my pet dog. But that's just me.

In other news:

Religious Right Denies Claim Evangelicals Embracing Same-Sex Marriage – With A Regnerus Study - Guys, the Regnerus study is DEAD. It is a rotting corpse. But if you insist on bringing it up, then the lgbt community will just have to remind everyone of why it died a deservedly nasty death. 

Six LGBT groups: No you can't refuse our cake and fire the gay baker too! - In which the religious right actually does us a favor. This version of ENDA was tainted from the start and thanks to Hobby Lobby, it is done for. 

 Russian MP: Naked Apollo on Banknote Threatens Children - Well now in Greek mythology, Apollo WAS a freak. It could have been worse though. His father, Zeus, could have been on the bank note and Zeus was a Super freak. Who do you think Rick James was talking about? The god messed with any and everything and loved to do so with disguises. A shower of gold, a bull, an ant, a cuckoo bird, a swan. . . .  Talk about your strange imaginations.

The anti-gay mind is a stupid mind

Of course we know that many anti-gay spokespeople freely lie and demonize the lgbt community, but have you ever heard their rationalization for their behavior?

Here are two examples, courtesy of Right Wing Watch. The first is from Robert Reilly, an author of a new anti-gay book (which I refuse to mention) on a radio show with Jesse Lee Peterson. They both agree that lgbts are so "full of guilt" that we act out:


For the record, as a gay man I haven't done anything I should feel "guilty" about in over a year. And I say that with the utmost sorrow. Now the second clip is the Liberty Counsel's Mat Staver at a recent "celebrate America" event. Staver proceeds to explain how "sexual sin" is worse than other sins in a word salad so convoluted that Sarah Palin was calling him for tips:



It's a good thing that Staver doesn't feel the same about lying as he does about "sexual sin." Otherwise, he would be in enormous trouble.