Crowd Led by Priests Attacks Gay Rights Marchers

A crowd attacks a minibus carrying gay rights activists during an International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia (IDAHO) rally in Tbilisi, Georgia. Photograph: Reuters

Confirming once again that hate, bigotry and violence against others are among the principal fruits of much of organized Christianity, in the Republic of Georgia a vicious crowd led by Orthodox priests attacked gay rights marchers and vandalized vehicles in the capital city of Tbilisi.  For those unfamiliar with the Orthodox Church throughout the region of the former Soviet Union, historically the Church has sided with dictators and was in bed with the Communist regimes.  Why, to protect its money and power.  Now, cynical leaders like Vladimir Putin are using the Orthodox Church to fan hatred against gays and others who would bring modernity - and real democracy - to not only Russia but also former Soviet Satellites like Georgia.  The Irish Times looks at the anti-gay attacks.  Here are highlights:

Thousands of people led by Orthodox Christian priests surged through police cordons in the Georgian capital Tbilisi yesterday and attacked a group of about 50 gay rights demonstrators.

Carrying banners reading “No to mental genocide” and “No to gays,” the masses of mostly young men threw rocks and eggs at the demonstrators.

The police pushed most of the demonstrators onto yellow minibuses to take them from the scene. However, the attackers swarmed the buses, trying to break the windows with metal gratings, rubbish bins and rocks.

At least 12 people were injured, including three police officers and eight or nine of the gay rights marchers.

Conservative Christianity remains a dangerous force for evil and, in my view, cannot die out soon enough.