Monday, January 12, 2009

Right Wing Nutcases and the Politics of Hate

With Barack Obama's inauguration just around the corner, the Christianist nutcases are increasing their whining about a doom and gloom future and disseminating false concerns of upcoming Christian persecution. Naturally, their true goal as always is to scare the ignorant and/or bigoted into sending money into their respective organizations so that they can live comfortably without having to be gainfully employed. Meanwhile, one can only hope that the Obama/Biden administration will roll back the improper intrusion of Christianist religious views into the civil laws. Here are some highlights from Right Wing Watch demonstrating the latest dishonest theatrics from this bunch of hate merchants:
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[O]n a recent Focus on the Family radio program, guest host Frank Pastore was joined by Tony Perkins and Gary Bauer to discuss the threat that Christians will soon find themselves under in this country thanks to the election of Barack Obama and the Democratic majorities in Congress. Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council, and Gary Bauer, president of American Values, told Pastore they are both concerned about what's on the line as Barack Obama takes office.
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Perkins said the battle over marriage is on center stage. "We have an administration that supports the redefinition of marriage in many, many ways," he said. "We’ve got a number of issues that are going to be coming out of Washington. The Defense of Marriage Act, Employment Non-Discrimination Act, hate crimes are all going to be on the table right after the Obama administration begins."
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Bauer described the situation as a "witch's brew." "You’ve got people in government, willing to use the force of law to push the radical gay-rights agenda," he said, "and you’ve got a gay-rights movement that is willing to use the tactics of intimidation in the streets of America to silence those that would dare oppose them."
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Perkins went on the warn that liberals "ultimately want to take away the voice of American citizens, primarily those of religious faith" while Bauer proclaimed that "if we lose this [fight over marriage equality], the next generation of American children will be taught about family and about normal relationships between men and women in a way that will completely distort God's plan for mankind and that is something that I think would be devastating for our culture, for our families, and certainly for our country."
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After discussing about the dangers they face from issues like FOCA and the Fairness Doctrine, Perkins warned "don't let your guard down ... [or] we will lose these precious freedoms" while Bauer closed with a call to arms: This is probably the one thing that listeners should take away from this show: you can't take for granted the right to hold these views any more. You're going to have to stand up ... if they go down the road on these issues, I believe [that] with all of our passion, all of our intelligence and all of the freedom that the founders gave to us, we need to resist.
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With this kind of poison being widely disseminated, it is little surprise that non-Christians may be targeted for violence by Christian extremists as in the recent Eldora Ski Resort episode.

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