Some Folks Are Never Satisfied

Jim Burroway

November 4th, 2009

You know, just when I think anti-gay nutcases can’t surprise me anymore, Peter LaBarbera and Matt Barber proves that there just isn’t enough hatred — yes, Peter and Matt! I’m calling you out on hatred now — for some of these people. Anti-gay activists won their contest in Maine, denying marriage to LGBT citizens of that state. You’d think that LaBarbera and Barber would be thrilled at that victory.

Guess again. They’re mad that even though Stand for Marriage Maine won, they weren’t hateful enough:

Christians PROMOTING homosexual relationships and “gay civil rights”? Above is a frame from the Stand for Marriage Maine TV ad “It\’s Possible,” effectively endorsing the state\’s “domestic partnership” law and “civil rights” based on homosexuality. See controversial text of ad below, and view the full ad HERE.

I agree with my good friend Matt Barber, who is also a Board Member of Americans For Truth in addition to his important work at Liberty Counsel. It is not ethical nor good strategy for the “pro-family” movement to promote one evil and public-policy disaster (changeable and sinful behavior as a government-backed “civil right”) to fight another (homosexual “marriage”). Yet that is precisely what the Yes on 1 campaign\’s pro-domestic partnership ad called “It\’s Possible” did. …We who claim to follow God are lacking in integrity if we promote the normalization of homosexuality as part of some (perhaps well-intentioned) utilitarian plan to ostensibly “save” traditional marriage. [Garish colors and boldface in the original]

Don’t you get the idea that nothing could possibly make these two happy? I don’t know about you, but I would love for these two to run a p0liical campaign. It would seriously make my day.

Timothy Kincaid

November 4th, 2009

Ya know, Jim, we agree that the word “hatred” is often misused and that employing it can be inflammatory and distract from the point one is trying to make.

But sometimes there just is no other word as accurate or appropriate.

And I’m with you. I think it’s time to face the fact that Matt Barber and Peter LaBarbera are chuck full of and primarily motivated by hatred.

John

November 4th, 2009

This is to be expected from the likes of LaBarbera & Company. However, such a purist attitude from our enemies (and enemies they most definitely are) could be useful as we move forward in this struggle. Let the game of “who are the REAL Christians?” begin amongst our foes whilst we take advantage of the in-fighting.

Leonard Drake

November 4th, 2009

It is crap like this that makes it difficult for me to want to “reach out” to the religious communities, knowing that some — not all — religious communities preach hatred during weekly services.

While the op-ed piece posted today, “Maine, Gay Rights, and Religion: Can Gay Rights Groups Overcome Their Achilles Heel?,” raised valid arguments in favor of reaching out to religious groups, every SINGLE time I read about religious extremists, I need 10-20 reasons to wish to reach out, even to the most liberal of religious belivers. I consider myself an agnostic, a believer in something, and even I cannot reach out to myself sometimes, after hearing LaBarbera, et al.

Ken in Riverside

November 4th, 2009

I applaud them for their consistency. It feels better to hear our opponents speak authentically.

Homosexuality will be normalized because we’re out of the closet and because we’re normal.

Any amount of energy they spend trying to convince people otherwise might slow down the process but, ultimately, will be insufficient to hide the truth which is proven by our own very existence.

Lindoro Almaviva

November 4th, 2009

Still think that the best way for this thing to end would be for all main citizens who are progressive to hit the state where it hurts the most: in the wallet.

AdrianT

November 5th, 2009

Well LaBarbera is right: Focus on the Family and other fanatics helped fund a campaign, which does indeed endorse domestic partnerships.

They public needs to know about this, every time another of these disgraceful plebiscites comes up.

cowboy

November 5th, 2009

It seems to me LaBarbera/Barber et al would only be happy if America adopts the same legislation being proposed in Uganda.

Trevor

November 5th, 2009

Really Jim? You can’t tell me you’ve never met a lying, scheming religious hypocrite before. All of them are.

Regan DuCasse

November 5th, 2009

I’m sitting here and recently the latest issue of Essence magazine had a special report on girls who are trafficked into sex work. Girls who are the ages of 10 and 12. Girls who are not necessarily runaways, but who are vulnerable because they are emotionally neglected by their parents or other adults who are charged with their care.

The major papers in Atlanta also did some similar reporting because sex tourism was as strong that of countries like Thailand and Romania.

And that sex tourism and trafficking’s victims are mostly girls…and 90% of them are girls of color.

I sit here reading about the children (by the hundreds) who have died in Los Angeles County alone of neglect in ways under reported, but something I’ve witnessed in crime scene photography.
That is neglect like not having children secured in the car and they are thrown from the vehicle even in minor collisions. Parents driving while drunk, children dying of infection inducing bites from fleas and roaches or asthma brought on by the feces of this vermin.
Infants left alone for hours who eventually die from dehydration.

If I enter into a debate regarding marriage equality, inevitably someone will invoke NAMBLA, but have no clue or interest in the THOUSANDS of sites explicitly interested in young girls. There is no interest in the parents who have been incarcerated for the sexual abuse of their own children.

I, as someone who entered into law enforcement to protect and serve too, get frustrated in the extreme by such bias that renders fighting these outrages impossible.
Rather than enjoin gay adults as ALLIES against the problem of children overwhelming every foster care and CPS agency in the country, there is considerable money and political capital spent on punishing gay people for wanting to be so engaged.

There is disrespect and compromise to the self reliance of gay people so that there are more talented and responsible adults to ease the burdens on all society.

Brian Brown is congratulating himself on the ‘victory’ in Maine.
What victory?
What has HE gained really, for the integrity of children and their parents?

He is a pimp in his own right. He pimps fear and uses the old canard as gay people are threatening to achieve his goal.
So, he has it in Maine, and now what?

Will he and Maggie pack for Iowa next?
Of course.

Don’t THEY read about the children living in terrible poverty of good parents? Good homes so that girls and boys are not so easily taken in by sex traffickers?
Are they working with the CPS services and giving ANY of the money they’ve secured for themselves in the business of shelters or programs for domestic violence?

No.
But they feel highly accomplished in making a show of how much prejudice they can muster against gay people.
Well…
Whoo, fucking hoo!

You want a medal, applause, Mr. Brown, Ms. Gallagher.

Who is actually impressed that you’ve shown the children of gay parents that THEY can’t have the security that married parents can bring them.
Great.
More children with less than they actually need.

Had Maggie and Brian packed their bags for Atlanta and worked JUST as tirelessly and with as much commitment to putting a dent in the sex tourism there and put girls on track to be protected from it, THEN I’d be impressed and would say, yes…they are doing God’s work.

But, in my own capacity seeing the children on the street and the violence and neglect that hurts them, with NO HELP whatsoever from Prop. 8 I can say with all sincerity:

To hell with Brian Brown, NOM and the broomstick that Maggie rode in on.

Even their idea of traditional marriage doesn’t need their help as much as people who are doing the real work of trying to reduce the scourge of child sex trafficking and gangs that threaten children every day.
A sixteen year old girl was killed in gang crossfire last week. She was an honor student and those who killed her were her age as well.

Right.
The more of this sort of thing goes on, the more it’s evident that Brian Brown and NOM are ineffectual in what they can do to the real enemies of a decent society. Attacking gay people is MUCH easier and simpler…
and by diverting attention to gay people and keeping them from doing great things for society, he doesn’t have to help those out there really doing God’s work.

Priya Lynn

November 5th, 2009

Yes, Regan, it is prfoundly disgusting that Brian Brown and NOM put so much effort into harming those who harm no one to the exclusion of helping ameliorate all the horrific real problems in the world.

John

November 5th, 2009

and if I recall correctly I just read, on another blog, that some Mike Heath(?) said Maine’s voters should repeal that state’s domestic partnership and its job discrimination law and when that is done, to reinstate Maine’s sodomy law (this would be unconstitutional if enforced). Go figure.

These guys make it very hard for me to distinguish them from their Islamist brothers in Saudi Arabia and Iran.

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