I have frequently maintained that there is little difference between Conservative Christians and Neo-Nazis and/or white supremacists. All of the foregoing groups are motivated by hatred towards others and they display an intense need for others to inferior in order to placate their own sick psychological needs. An article in Politicususa compares the tacitly state sanctioned Neo-Nazi violence against gays in Russia with the actions of concervative Christians in America. The similarities are striking. The only thing that differs is the level of violence. Here are article excerpts:
Now that the charade of Phil Robertson’s pretend suspension is over, homophobes nationwide can rest assured that their “right” to spread hate is preserved and the corporate sponsors of Duck Dynasty will profit handsomely.
Meanwhile, another television star in another land told his audience that he would love to burn gays in ovens. In the same land, Neo-Nazis lure gay teenagers and young men for “dates” that involve torture on video and up-loading the video to YouTube in the hope of “outing” the gay person to their school, friends and family. Of course, it isn’t merely about the humiliation of being outed. It’s more about leaving the implementation of a ‘final solution‘ to others.
Being outed in a small city or village in Russia very often means death,” says Larry Poltavtsev of the Spectrum Human Rights Alliance, a Washington, DC-based advocacy group for gay rights in Eastern Europe. “Exposed teenagers may commit suicide, or they’ll be harassed by your peers, their parents may kick them out of their house. It’s a nightmare.Not surprisingly, the Russian government looks the other way as Russia’s Neo-Nazis traumatize LGBT teens, with many of them committing suicide. It isn’t surprising that Neo-Nazis see these laws (and the hateful rhetoric by Russian lawmakers) as permission for their method of cleansing the gay away.
“The latest laws against so-called gay propaganda… have essentially legalized violence against LGBT people, because these groups of hooligans justify their actions with these laws,“ Igor Kochetkov, of the Russian LGBT Network, told the Guardian earlier this year. “With this legislation, the government said that, yes gays and lesbians are not valued as a social group.
One can point to the fact that Russia is so different from the United States. After all, we don’t lock up people for criticizing the government, as occurs to critics of Putin and his “favorite project.”
We don’t have anti gay propaganda laws. We have conservatives who oppose anti-bullying laws because they suppress a homophobe’s right to bully a member of the LGBT community straight.
However, many Religious Right activists want to derail efforts to combat bullying. An increasing number of conservative leaders and organizations have fiercely opposed anti-bullying programs developed by schools and education groups for the sole reason that such programs identify and attempt to combat the widespread bullying of LGBT youth.
Conservatives also have a long policy agenda that is decidedly anti-LGBT . . . . If some of those followers “interpret” Phil Robertson’s comments or those of other conservatives as permission to bully, assault or kill someone who is gay or “looks” gay, conservatives can always say it isn’t their fault someone took their message the wrong way.
The approach may be different, but the message and objectives are the same. When they aren’t invoking fear of Russia’s influence on matters like Syria, conservatives hero worship Putin for his anti- gay “propaganda” laws, and probably applaud the neo-Nazis for doing their bit to scare LGBT teens straight. They’re also hoping you won’t notice that the original Nazis, like their succcesors, were just as anti-gay as the Tea Party and other “conservatives.” After all, connecting those dots would reveal the hubris of their Liberalism is Nazism meme.
No comments:
Post a Comment