Box Turtle Bulletin
News and commentary about the anti-gay lobby“Now you must raise your children up in a world where that union of man and box turtle is on the same legal footing as man and wife…”
News and commentary about the anti-gay lobbySeptember 29th, 2009
Daniel Wilcox wrote two posts critical of Scientology, and that led Google Ads to decide that BTB readers might want to click on ads paid for by the Church of Scientology. We have very little control over what ads get run, although I can block ads for specific destination URLs. But why bother? As I see it, if you click on an ad, it does to things: it helps to pay for the server that BTB runs on, and it costs them some money for every click. I see that as a win-win myself.
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Featured Reports
In this original BTB Investigation, we unveil the tragic story of Kirk Murphy, a four-year-old boy who was treated for “cross-gender disturbance” in 1970 by a young grad student by the name of George Rekers. This story is a stark reminder that there are severe and damaging consequences when therapists try to ensure that boys will be boys.
When we first reported on three American anti-gay activists traveling to Kampala for a three-day conference, we had no idea that it would be the first report of a long string of events leading to a proposal to institute the death penalty for LGBT people. But that is exactly what happened. In this report, we review our collection of more than 500 posts to tell the story of one nation’s embrace of hatred toward gay people. This report will be updated continuously as events continue to unfold. Check here for the latest updates.
In 2005, the Southern Poverty Law Center wrote that “[Paul] Cameron’s ‘science’ echoes Nazi Germany.” What the SPLC didn”t know was Cameron doesn’t just “echo” Nazi Germany. He quoted extensively from one of the Final Solution’s architects. This puts his fascination with quarantines, mandatory tattoos, and extermination being a “plausible idea” in a whole new and deeply disturbing light.
On February 10, I attended an all-day “Love Won Out” ex-gay conference in Phoenix, put on by Focus on the Family and Exodus International. In this series of reports, I talk about what I learned there: the people who go to these conferences, the things that they hear, and what this all means for them, their families and for the rest of us.
Prologue: Why I Went To “Love Won Out”
Part 1: What’s Love Got To Do With It?
Part 2: Parents Struggle With “No Exceptions”
Part 3: A Whole New Dialect
Part 4: It Depends On How The Meaning of the Word "Change" Changes
Part 5: A Candid Explanation For "Change"
At last, the truth can now be told.
Using the same research methods employed by most anti-gay political pressure groups, we examine the statistics and the case studies that dispel many of the myths about heterosexuality. Download your copy today!
And don‘t miss our companion report, How To Write An Anti-Gay Tract In Fifteen Easy Steps.
Anti-gay activists often charge that gay men and women pose a threat to children. In this report, we explore the supposed connection between homosexuality and child sexual abuse, the conclusions reached by the most knowledgeable professionals in the field, and how anti-gay activists continue to ignore their findings. This has tremendous consequences, not just for gay men and women, but more importantly for the safety of all our children.
Anti-gay activists often cite the “Dutch Study” to claim that gay unions last only about 1½ years and that the these men have an average of eight additional partners per year outside of their steady relationship. In this report, we will take you step by step into the study to see whether the claims are true.
Tony Perkins’ Family Research Council submitted an Amicus Brief to the Maryland Court of Appeals as that court prepared to consider the issue of gay marriage. We examine just one small section of that brief to reveal the junk science and fraudulent claims of the Family “Research” Council.
The FBI’s annual Hate Crime Statistics aren’t as complete as they ought to be, and their report for 2004 was no exception. In fact, their most recent report has quite a few glaring holes. Holes big enough for Daniel Fetty to fall through.
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Lindoro Almaviva
September 29th, 2009
sneaky, and I like it.
Ephilei
September 29th, 2009
In light of Daniel’s articles, just what kind of “win” are you talking about?!
Rossi
September 29th, 2009
YES YOU DO have control over these ads. And you know it. If you want them off, you can have them pulled.
Rossi
September 29th, 2009
And here’s one way.
http://www.ehow.com/how_4835785_remove-specific-google-ads.html
Rossi
September 29th, 2009
And you also could be liable for click-fraud for advocating what you’re advocating (clicking to cost them money). Not that I disagree with making Scientology pay, but you ought to be careful what you say here.
Sorry for the triple posts.
Jim Burroway
September 29th, 2009
Rossi, take a deep breath. I know quite well.how to work Google AdSense, having loaded I don’t know how many scores of web sites. But I can’t anticipate all of them, and I don’t know ahead of time what URL to enter untill the ad shows up. By then it can take several hours for the block to go into effect.
As for advocating click fraud, I did no such thing. All I did was describe how the system works, something that Google also describes better than I. Whether anyone clicks on the ads is of little concern to me. Frankly, I don’t know why anyone would leave the reality-based world of BTB for a Scientology web site. But then I’m not a fan of third-rate science fiction.
----
September 29th, 2009
Slightly off-topic, but there’s also an ad running in this site that may turn out problematic for us: one that has Sarah Palin, Pat Robertson, and some other person (who is supposedly anti-gay) with a caption that goes like this: “Here’s a chance to piss them off and defend marriage equality.” The ad directs to “Protect Maine Equality”. Even though I don’t like any of them, the ad comes off as very insolent.
Leonard Drake
September 29th, 2009
Speaking of “—-“‘s comment, is the third person in that ad Rush Limbaugh? I have a more difficult time identifying him post-drug addiction status (his, of course).
It is an interesting ad nonetheless.
Duncan
September 30th, 2009
I’ve seen rabidly anti-gay websites (ones much worse than anything Palin or Robertson have said, at least in public) with ads to gay dating services.
Christopher Waldrop
September 30th, 2009
Thank you, Duncan, for making me spit coffee all over my monitor. However it does raise an interesting point: advertising on a particular blog does not mean the blog owners approve of the advertiser. This seems to be distinctly different from television or print media where advertisers actually have some power to call the shots. So I love the sneakiness here.
Timothy (TRiG)
September 30th, 2009
Google ranks ads based partly on what the advertisers pay, and partly on the “quality” of the ad, which is determined by the number of people who click on it.
Scientology will have set a daily value limit on the ads, so the more you click on them the sooner they’ll disapear for the day; however, the more you click on them the higher they’ll be in Google rankings.
*shrug*
On http://BadScience.net several commentators make a point of clicking on ads for nutritionists, homoeopaths and similar pseuds.
TRiG.
JimInMa
September 30th, 2009
It’s funny, it took me a while to figure out what you meant by ads. I’ve been using AdBlock on Firefox for so long I forgot what ads look like. I tend to not care to see distractions when I’m reading news or working with emails. It’s kind of like someone shoving a ShamWow in your face every 2 seconds while you’re reading a book. It takes away from the experience.
Just say no to ads and popups :-)
AdrianT
September 30th, 2009
Actually, I’m lovin’ these ads for ‘The God Who Was Not There’ – you clearly must take the rough with the smooth on here! Remind me to send a copy to Peter laBarbera, just to see the look on his face when he gets it. :-)))
Audrey the Liberal
September 30th, 2009
I’m frankly just surprised Daniel Gonzales hasn’t been sued yet.
AJD
October 1st, 2009
Mom! Dad! Tom Cruise won’t come out of the closet!
Chris McCoy
October 1st, 2009
Audrey the Liberal said:
Suit is only 1 of the methods they use to destroy the lives of people who have been declared Fair Game.
A co-worker of mine once told us “You’ll never hear me say anything bad about Scientology.” Many ex-Scientologists and people who regularly speak against Scientology have documented very well the aggressive tactics used by that church to destroy perceived Enemies.
Dan
October 1st, 2009
You guys are making an enemy out of an organization that has not taken a side against us. That’s simple populism… Not smart!
I’ve had one of the higher ups in the “org” I used to go to calling me several months ago and telling me how supportive she is of gay marriage! I’ve known her for about 20 years.
As for the ads… Whatever… But all I can say is that if I saw a blog entry like this one on a right-wing site I would have immediately reported to google so they may take action. You can bet that some on the other side are doing the same.
This is a great site and I visit it sometimes more than once a day, but the whole Scientology angel reminded me of Entertainment Tonight and Inside Hollywood than respectable journalism.
Priya Lynn
October 1st, 2009
Dan scientology has taken a side against gays. From a post by Xenulovesyou on the first thread about scientology:
To quote L. Ron Hubbard, in Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental Health
“The sexual pervert (and by this term Dianetics, to be brief, includes any and all forms of deviation in dynamic two such as homosexuality, lesbianism [sic], sexual sadism, etc., and all down the catalog of Ellis and Krafft-Ebing) is actually quite ill physically.â€
Hubbard rated gays as “1.1″ on the tone scale (between “fear†and “angerâ€).
So… what did Hubbard think should be done about gays and others at 1.1 or below on the tone scale?
“Such people should be taken from the society as rapidly as possible and uniformly institutionalized; for here is the level of the contagion of immorality, and the destruction of ethics…No social order which desires to survive dates overlook its stratum 1.1’s. No social order will survive which does not remove these people from its midst.â€
Dan
October 2nd, 2009
Priya,
Just so that we are clear… You feel the same way, and you’d like everybody else to feel the same way about Judaism and Christianity because of certain passages in the bible, right????
Dan
Priya Lynn
October 2nd, 2009
I’m not entirely clear on what you’re asking Dan, but I’ll try to answer. Some sects of Christianity and Judaism seek to oppress gays and others are accepting of gays. I don’t care what people do with their religion as long as they aren’t hurting others but for those that are I hope they come to their senses and drop religion and its bigotry all together.
Dan
October 2nd, 2009
I’m sorry Priya, but which sects of Judaism and Christianity do not maintain the book of Leviticus as part of their dogma?
For some reason we accept certain “interpretations” of the major religions as long as those “interpretations” are convenient to us. After all, we know that being anti-Christian or anti-Jewish will not advance out cause from a practical standpoint.
With Scientology, however, we are not to be bothered with playing such games. Let’s just relegate them to the status of a cult (what’s the difference between cult and religion?). When L. Ron Hubbard was saying that the best most effective way to clear a person is to shoot the person in the head, it should of course be taken literally. Why bother looking at the facts when following mainstream is so much more enjoyable?
Dan
Priya Lynn
October 2nd, 2009
Dan said “I’m sorry Priya, but which sects of Judaism and Christianity do not maintain the book of Leviticus as part of their dogma?”.
I’m not up on all the 30,000+ versions of Chistianity or those of Judaism and I don’t know if any of them reject the entire book of Leviticus, but for example, the United Church and the Metropolitan Community Church and some Jewish sects accept gays and don’t hold to the teaching that there is anything wrong with being gay.
I agree with you, all religions are just as much cults as Scientology is. Islam is the most evil religion followed by Christianity and then lastly by Judaism. Islam and Christianity have much more in common with each other than Christianity and Judaism do. Both Islam and Christianity hold to the pernicious idea of hell whereas Judaism is clearly considerably superior to either in that it doesn’t teach the insane idea that all people are deserving of death and eternal torture, which, schockingly I’ve heard some Christians say. Has it not occurred to these people that the punishment should fit the crime and that all human crimes are finite and as such none deserve infinite punishment? Can a Christian that claims all are deserving of eternal torture honestly think of the nicest person they know and come up with any wrongdoing of theirs that they truly believe deserves eternal torture? I can’t imagine how. That they would express such bizarre beliefs demonstrates the degree to which all religions are cults.
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