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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 lobbyMarch 22nd, 2007
On March 20, The San Francisco Chronicle reported on a murder victim whose naked body was found near a freeway. According to the news report, Inspector Karen Lynch of the San Francisco Police’s homicide detail “said it appeared the victim had been in the process of becoming a woman.”
That same day, Mike Savage (real name, Michael Alan Weiner), a San Francisco-based syndicated talk radio host, reacted to that news report this way:
[San Francisco police inspector Karen] Lynch said it appeared the victim had been in the process of becoming a woman…
And then they go into “she said transgender victims” going on and on “extremely violent” going on and on “are frequently left partially clothed or completely nude, it’s making a statement and humiliating the victim,” blah-blah-blah. I am so beyond fed up with freaks….
…But you know what? You’re never gonna make me respect the freak. I don’t want to respect the freak. The freak ought to be glad that they’re allowed to walk around without begging for something. You know, I’m sick and tired of the whole country begging, bending over backwards for the junkie, the freak, the pervert, the illegal immigrant. All of them are better than everybody else. Sick. Everything is upside down.
He goes on like this for several minutes, on a program that is carried nationwide on more than 300 radio stations, including KVOR 740 AM in Colorado Springs and WDBO 580 AM in Orlando.
I bring up those two communities specifically because they are homes to Focus on the Family and Exodus International respectively. And as I mentioned previously, Mike Haley — who is not only a director of gender issues at Focus on the Family’s Public Policy Division, but also the board chairman for Exodus International — had this to say about hate crimes at the Love Won Out conference in Phoenix:
I think, too, we also have to be just as quick to also stand up when we do see the gay and lesbian community being come against as the Body of Christ. We need to be the first to speak out to say that what happened to Matthew Shepard was a terrible incident and should never happen again. And that we within the Body of Christ are wanting to protect that community and put our money where our mouth is…
I brought this up previously when Andrew Anthos was murdered and nobody “put their money where their mouth is.” Some have suggested that this incident may be too obscure for them to notice. Okay, maybe. Although as I pointed out then, they are perfectly capable of scouring up some pretty obscure stuff when they want to.
But this is not obscure. Michael Savage is a national broadcaster. His show is carried on more than 300 radio stations across the country. He often shares the same airwaves with other popular talk show hosts like Rush Limbaugh, Laura Schlessinger, Sean Hannity and Laura Ingraham. These are not obscure radio stations and he is not an obscure radio personality. He is the third most popular talk radio host in the nation.
And yet, Focus and Exodus remain silent as a very popular conservative commentator spews what can only be described as hateful filth across the airwaves and into hundreds of homes across America. Someone was brutally murdered, Michael Savage justified it, and Focus and Exodus remained silent.
(Well, not entirely silent. Focus on the Family did take the time today to re-iterated their opposition to hate crimes legislation by trotting out the same old “special rights” nonsense — even though the FBI reported that in 2005 there were 23 anti-heterosexual, 58 anti-Protestant and 935 anti-white hate crime incidents. Are their rights “special”?)
Christ said, “Simply let your ‘Yes’ be ‘Yes,’ and your ‘No,’ ‘No’.” The meaning is clear. If you say you’re going to do something, then just do it. Don’t say something ought to be done simply because it will make your audience think the kinder of you. Say what you mean and mean what you say. This is all anyone has a right to ask.
Denouncing Savage’s hatred should not be that difficult. You should not have to think about it. There’s no controversy in it, is there?
Is there?
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David M
March 22nd, 2007
It makes sense that Focus and Exodus would not speak up at all. Their non-action is still an action, and is just another expression of their aggression towards gays. Aggression can be articulated in a 2X2 design. The two variables are active/passive, and direct/indirect.
Examples:
Active+direct= hit or insult.
Passive+direct= One is present, but does not help.
Active+indirect= damage property or spread rumors.
Passive+indirect= One is not present, but does not prevent harm.
What I’m saying is that silence from Focus and Exodus is a passive and indirect way of perpetuating the situation gays face today. These institutions have a vested interest in inequality. Of course they wouldn’t speak up.
Pomo
March 22nd, 2007
have you ever actually listened to Savage? Or did you just find a quote on some website and pull it? EVERYTHING he says is hateful and crazy. Just like Ann Coulter. He’s a shock jock. Most people understand that and so dont give what he says weight in the first place. Most people don’t see a need to condemn people like that because if they did, it is all they would be doing!
Howller
March 23rd, 2007
I listen to Savage nearly every day. Some times his violent ranting just gets to be too hurtful and hateful to where I have to simply turn the radio off. I don’t think that most people treat him as just another crazy shock jock. He has millions of listeners. All that hate, regularly directed at homosexuals, can’t help but translate into more hate crimes. I get numb in the pit of my stomach sometimes because of Savage’s hateful diatribes. I am personally hurt and deeply offended.
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