Wednesday, July 15, 2009

Top Religious Right Distortion Techniques and Lies About Gays

I have followed a number of Christianist organizations for nearly a decade and it is amazing how they (1) lie without the slightest remorse and act as if the Commandment against lying and bearing false witness doesn't exist, and (2) repeatedly recycle the same old lies and bogus "research" in their jihad to malign LGBT citizens and depict us as diseased. Alvin McEwen Holy Bullies and Headless Monsters has put together a great compilation of some of the most used lies by those who proclaim themselves to be "godly Christians" in their never ending effort to disseminate hate and untruths. Here is a sampling of some of my favorites (please read the entire piece):
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Top six religious right distortion techniques used to defame the lgbt community
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1. Using nonrepresentative or out-of-date studies to make generalizations, or distorting legitimate studies to give misleading conclusions.
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2. Repetition - Despite the fact that several physicians and researchers complain about the distortion of their work, corrections are usually not made. In fact, you can still find the work of the six Canadian researchers, Judith Stacey, Joanne Hall, Patrick Letellier, as well as many others being distorted on various religious right webpages.
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3. Conspiracy Theory - Claiming that gays and lesbians are consistently plotting to "erode traditional values"
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4. Dire Consequences - Claiming that a pro-gay law or ordinance will lead to negative consequences without proof that the consequences will take place.
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5. Phony Experts - Creating their own "experts" on the lgbt community. One such "expert" is Linda Harvey of Mission America. According to her bio, she is a former ad executive who became a born again Christian. Another phony expert is Glenn T. Stanton of Focus on the Family. He is considered an "expert" on the subject of homosexuality but has a master’s degree in interdisciplinary humanities with an emphasis in philosophy, history and religion.
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6. Dehumanizing Semantics - Consistently using language (i.e. demonstrative verbs and adjectives) in their talking points, sound bites, and press releases to make gays and lesbians seem like impersonal, threatening outsiders.
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In addition, Alvin lists 17 top lies used by the Christianists, all of which can be readily refuted by legitimate data. Unfortunately, these "professional Christians" prey in particular upon the ignorant and uneducated - always asking for a monetary donation in the process or on their websites. They are false Christians and parasites. And yes, that includes James Dobson and his Virginia minion, Victoria Cobb.

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