The religious right has been handed a number of setbacks in recent days, with a unanimous Iowa Supreme Court and the Vermont Legislature legalizing same-sex marriage within days of each other. For this subset of American Christians who have found their power waning, the backlash has been severe. Vermont and Iowa are “evil,” “perverse” and bent on “destroying democracy itself,” religious right leaders say.
The National Organization for Marriage, the group that spent millions to pass California’s Prop 8, is releasing television and radio ads in key states to dissuade passage of gay rights legislation.
The video says it features a California doctor, a New Jersey church member and a Massachusetts parent, but the Human Rights Campaign got a hold of the audition tapes, which state otherwise.
“What’s next for the National Organization for Marriage? Will they hire legendary infomercial pitchman Ron Popeil to hawk their phony agenda,” asked HRC spokesman Brad Luna. “This ad is full of outrageous falsehoods — and they don’t even come out of the mouths of real people.”
While National Organization for Marriage attempts to portray a “loving,” albeit inaccurate portrayal of events in recent days, other prominent religious right leaders are not mincing words.
“Same-sex ‘marriage’ is a movement driven by wealthy homosexual activists and a liberal elite determined to destroy not only the institution of marriage, but democracy as well,” said Family Research Council President Tony Perkins. “The radical Left wants to destroy the traditional union of one man and one woman across the country and they will not rest until they do so.”
Liberty Counsel’s Mat Barber said Congress and the White House are filled with “people who are bent on thumbing their nose at God.” He said, “I believe that the purveyors of evil around the country feel emboldened right now with the current political climate in Washington, DC.”
His colleague Mat Staver said: “By redefining marriage, the Vermont legislature removed the cornerstone of society and the foundation of government. The consequences will rest on their shoulders and upon those passive objectors who know what to do but lack the courage to stand against this form of tyranny.”
Conservative radio host Michael Savage went unhinged when the Iowa marriage decision was announced.
“So there are the vermin now celebrating twisted perverse marriage in the middle of America. It’s a victory for perversion in my opinion. You want me to tell you what makes me sick? When I see two puffy white males kissing each other, I wanna puke. When I see two women kissing each other, on the lips, as lovers, I wanna vomit. Why? It’s unnatural. It’s against all of the laws of mankind. It’s against all the laws of humankind. It is suicide for a society to embrace such behavior. . . . When a society goes insane and goes off the rails, they celebrate perversity and diversity.“
The Catholic League sent an e-mail to supporters that read, “Vermont is a lily-white state populated by left-wingers who are anti-traditional marriage and anti-family. Exactly what we would expect of a population where more people believe in nothing than anywhere else in the nation.”
Bob Knight of Concerned Women for America said the Iowa decision will mean the end of the United States. “God Almighty created marriage thousands of years before the men of Sodom thought they had a better idea,” he said. “If judicial tyrants have their way, America will outdo Sodom and even decadent Greece and Rome.”
One religious right leader laid the Iowa decision and Vermont vote at the feet of the religious right movement. “I’m afraid that the pro-family movement — eager to provide secular, public-policy arguments against ‘gay marriage’ — has failed to convey the monstrous evil of expanding, state-sanctioned homosexualism in our midst,” said Peter Labarbera of Americans for the Truth about Homosexuality.














14 Comments »
Comment posted April 8, 2009 @ 3:28 pm
Wow, the right wing seems really scared of families headed by people who happen to be gay getting equality under the law. They are howling into the wind.
Comment posted April 8, 2009 @ 3:40 pm
“Vermont is a lily-white state populated by left-wingers who are anti-traditional marriage and anti-family. Exactly what we would expect of a population where more people believe in nothing than anywhere else in the nation.”
Oh, I get it: if you support marriage equality, you’re a racist.
“I’m afraid that the pro-family movement — eager to provide secular, public-policy arguments against ‘gay marriage’ — has failed to convey the monstrous evil of expanding, state-sanctioned homosexualism in our midst,”
So the problem isn’t too much fundamentalist ranting, but too little. Labarbera does have a point though: his side just gets blown away if they try to argue from facts. Better to yell louder than to change on opinion.
Maybe the Catholic League and Michael Savage need to seek psychological help with their homosexuality obsessions.
Comment posted April 8, 2009 @ 3:40 pm
These comments in the Minnesota Independent are so stupid I can’t believe these people have the brain power to put one foot in front of the other, or maybe that is why they are still stuck in their mouths. This guy Bob Knight, is he kidding. I would like to ask a happily married couple in Minnesota that has been married for sometime. Two men get married in Vermont the next day your marriage is over, meaningless. Come on people lets start to work on what is really important, two gay men getting married is not going to effect your life. The economy will. Dishonest CEO’s who drain millions out of this economy will effect your life.
Last I checked it wasn’t married gay men or women that caused this problem we are all in. It was those greedy CEO’s and sleeze balls like Bernie Madoff that caused the problem. But lets concentrate on the gay marriage thing that should help us all out.
Comment posted April 8, 2009 @ 3:41 pm
Thanks for picking up my picture for your article. It’s only fair that your audience see’s the back placard and the “Jesus Hates” shirt this guy is wearing: http://www.flickr.com/photos/mogmismo/934219169/
Anyone basing a platform on hatred has the wrong idea.
Comment posted April 8, 2009 @ 3:43 pm
Excellent & informative juxtapositional survey of the dark side of marriage philosophy in the USA. Notice how each of these supposedly “religious” arguments fails immediately when confronted by the specter of “equality” and “freedom,” values which should also inform responsible religious doctrine. I’m happy more people don’t want to live in a theocracy like these folks who are so sure of what God thinks, despite having never met the critter.
Comment posted April 8, 2009 @ 3:55 pm
The Catholic League needs to ignore gay marriage and start paying attention to their perverted priests who prey on children. NOW – That really is perversion!!!
By the way – Lets not forget Ted Haggert- The Evangelical who was busted with gay prostitutes. The truth hurts
Comment posted April 8, 2009 @ 4:15 pm
When are these last dinosaurs going to disappear? I’m tired of religious maniacs and hearing about their offended sensibilities over what should be common sense and is the wave of the future.
Comment posted April 8, 2009 @ 4:31 pm
the ad says ‘a rainbow coalition is coming together of every creed and color in love…..’
Rainbow Coalition?
does Jesse know about this?
Comment posted April 8, 2009 @ 5:11 pm
…. Bob Knight of Concerned Women for America ……WHAT? A guy as a member of a lady’s organization?!? Does he wear a dress when he puts out their hate message? Does he lust for the same men that the concerned women do? Isn’t it dangerous to the women in that organization that they let in a guy? Or dangerous to that guy?
Or can both genders comingle in a variety of ways, some of which involves sex among the same sex of our species ….. and fears help by the CWA and others are simply unwarranted nonsense?
Comment posted April 8, 2009 @ 10:01 pm
The sky is falling! The sky is falling! Whatever shall we do?
Comment posted April 9, 2009 @ 1:19 am
Read today’s Iowa story from the New York Times. Here’s the link. Copy and paste it into your browser window. It ’s a moving and thoughtful piece that I hope all will read.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/09/opinion/09thrasher.html?ref=opinion
Comment posted April 9, 2009 @ 1:21 am
Looks like on this website, you can just click on the link…to the New York Times article. That’s nice. Many newspapers won’t let you do that…
Comment posted April 9, 2009 @ 4:47 pm
The case you missed it, a recently released survey (American Religious Identification Survey, 2008) showed that, among other things, 86% of Americans identified as Christian in 1990. In 2008 that number had dropped to 76%. The reasons for this decline are as diverse as the people surveyed.
However, I can’t help but wonder how much of this decline reflects a reaction against the religious right. The face of Christianity that much of the non church-going public sees, I suspect, is that of the right-wing zealots–full of fury, hatred, intolerance, and a pronounced measure of anti-intellectualism (’horrifying stupidity’ would more closely capture the feel of it). Could it be that one of the reasons for Christianity’s falling numbers in the US is due to a revulsion toward this brand of obnoxious faith?
Comment posted April 10, 2009 @ 12:21 am
Eric, I agree. I think churches entering the political fray hurt them. People seek God for spiritual and emotional reasons not political ones. Give to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s and to God the things that are God’s. Jesus hit the mark. He didn’t preach politics and that’s where the churches have missed it. And churches will continue to lose members unless they get out of politics and get back to serving spiritual needs.
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