Tuesday, January 13, 2015

Anti-gay leader Tony Perkins despises Nazi, Holocaust imagery . . . unless HE gets to use it

Perkins
Tony Perkins of the anti-gay Family Research Council reached the pinnacle of blind audacity tonight. In an email blast, he sent the following:

If anyone is guilty of "virulent views," try the Left! It's a prime example of the pot calling the cake pan black in Colorado, where member of the Colorado Civil Rights Commission was caught on tape calling Christian baker Jack Phillips a "Nazi" for politely turning down a same-sex "wedding" order.
Diann Rice, part of the board who is deciding Jack's fate, is the one on the hot seat now that audio of her July comments have leaked to the press, in which she said the "freedom of religion has been used to justify all kinds of discrimination throughout history, whether it be slavery, whether it be the Holocaust...(T)o me, it is one of the most despicable pieces of rhetoric that people can use..."

I should point out that Rice is not on any hot seat. The claim that she is in trouble is a tactic used by conservatives and the anti-gay right. Their allies on right-wing blogs, fake news sites (such as The Daily Signal via the Heritage Foundation) and various other propaganda sites (i.e. Fox News or The Washington Times - where the story is coming from) will play up the story, giving the false idea of a controversy.

In the mainstream media, no one really cares.  What's more, if one reads the article, he or she would discover that Rice never called anyone a "Nazi." The word never came out of her mouth. She said:

"I would also like to reiterate what we said in the last meeting [on Mr. Phillips]. Freedom of religion and religion has been used to justify all kinds of discrimination throughout history, whether it be slavery, whether it be the Holocaust."

I personally fail to see how Rice is wrong here I made that same statement two years ago in my booklet, How They See Us (pg. 2). 

But there is rich irony in the fact that Perkins can dare take the high road and "grasp at the pearls" in shock  because HE has used Holocaust and Nazi imagery in the past.


In June of last year, according to The Huffington Post:

No stranger to eyebrow-raising declarations, Family Research Council President Tony Perkins compared a Colorado court's anti-gay discrimination ruling to the Holocaust in a "Washington Watch" broadcast  . . .

As Right Wing Watch first reported, Perkins was speaking to Nicolle Martin of Alliance Defending Freedom, who serves as Colorado baker Jack Phillips' attorney. Phillips, a devout Christian who owns Colorado's Masterpiece Cakeshop, made headlines in 2012 after refusing to bake a wedding cake for two gay men, Dave Mullins and Charlie Craig.

As part of the discussion, Perkins asked Martin, “I’m beginning to think, are re-education camps next? When are they going to start rolling out the boxcars to start hauling off Christians?” 

 According to Right Wing Watch, in that same month, Perkins claimed that Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA), which would protect lgbts from discrimination, would turn American into Nazi Germany.

And even earlier last year (this time in April), he equated opposing lgbt equality with opposing Nazis.

So apparently, Tony Perkins thinks that using Nazi and Holocaust imagery is an awful, despicable tactic . . . unless he is the one using it.

Par for the course for Perkins when it comes to hypocrisy and abject obliviousness.





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