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crossposted on Holy Bullies and Headless Monsters
When I saw this Family Research Council graphic about the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA – which would simply provide workplace protection for lgbts), it reminded me of something that I couldn't put my finger on.
Then, thanks to People for the American Way, it hit me. Remember this:
That graphic was featured during a Congressional debate over hate crimes legislation (although not the last one) and it claimed that if sexual orientation was added to existing hate crimes legislation, pastors would be arrested in the pulpits for declaring homosexuality to be a sin.
As we all know, sexual orientation was added to hate crimes legislation last year and since that time, guess how many pastors have been arrested?
None. Nada. Zip. Not even that zany preacher on the corner in my neighborhood who gives sermons to the rush of traffic.
In other words, religious right groups told an outright lie when they claimed that hate crimes legislation would lead to the arrest of pastors.
Now usually when someone tells a tale which turns out to be false, they have the good taste not to use the same lie in a different battle.
But good taste has never been the religious right's forte.
According to People for the American Way:
You really have to marvel at the Religious Right's strategy in opposing ENDA as they seem intent on using the exact same playbook they used against hate crimes legislation despite the fact that their anti-hate crimes strategy failed and their dire predictions about hate crimes spelling the end of religious liberty have been proven demonstrably false.
How long will it be before legitimate Christians realize that the Family Research Council and other religious right groups are running a game on them with their constant cries of wolf?
Related posts:
Family Research Council getting extremely 'scary' about ENDA
9 Comments
That’s easy!Easy. Alvin… it’s because the religious reicht are masters of propaganda and fearmongering! They’ve been doing it since before the Civil War, during the fight for suffrage, the battle over Jim Crow and segregated schools, a woman’s right to choose, and of course equal rights for TLBGs and marriage equality.
It’s also due to the fact that in conservative faiths, discussion, debate, and especially questioning of doctrine is expressly frowned on, usually with the threat of disfellowship or excommunication against any and all who dare defy the leader. This means you have a congregation of sheep who believe that everything the pastor says is gospel and from the mouth of god himself.
Luckily, there is a new generation of real Christian leaders who know the truth. Just like most the previous generation who got to know racial minorities and knew what their parents told them about blacks and Asians were misstatements and irrational fears, these new leaders grew up with TLBG kids in their school or have openly TLBG family, and know what they’ve been told about us were also misstatements and irrational fears.
This new generation is more focused on the environment, and poverty – not worried about gay men and lesbians in bed together and raising kids. This is purely a generational divide.
Yes, we do have Christian youth who’s been filled with the reicht’s propaganda and are good little goosesteppers in the culture war. Hopefully, they’re going to be few and far between.
I find it amusing, the AA and women preachers in the second imageWhen the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was passed, it prohibited discrimination on the grounds of, among other things, race and sex. At the time, there were a great many churches who taught that blacks and women were genetically, morally and spiritually inferior; the Mormon Church would not change their “no blacks allowed because they are all damned to Hell” doctrine until 1978. They, too, were terrified that federal prohibitions would prohibit them from preaching racist and sexist bigotry as God’s Holy And Unalterable Law.
Guess how many preachers were arrested as a result?
Not. A. Single. One.
When? Never.You have to keep in mind that these so-called “Christians” have an army of people who are ignorant and who, as Marlene pointed out, don’t question authority. If you note that James Dobson is lying about something, the response you get is “He’s a good man.” Which is demonstrably not true — what kind of “good man” lies about others in order to raise money? And of course, that response doesn’t address the question at all because his followers have foregone their ability to examine disputes rationally. (Remember, this is a world where belief trumps facts every single time.)
It’s a sad fact that as long as people are conditioned to accept the dicta of authority figures without question (a problem which seems to be deeply rooted in organized Christianity, especially, although I begin to suspect that to a certain extent it’s hard-wired), then the right will use their lies and scare tactics to get what they want. It doesn’t matter that it doesn’t work on the issue at hand — that’s not the purpose. The purpose is money and power, and in that regard, those tactics succeed very well.
And they were still allowedto prohibit interracial dating, for instance, on their college campuses (i.e. Bob Jones, BYU, etc.)
Now, where are the more progressively minded black pastors to denounce bullshit like that second ad?
Please do not fall into the “No True Scotsman” fallacyThese people call themselves Christians. Not “so-called” Christians, not “alleged” Christians, not “self-described” Christians.
No True Scotsman
Well that poster has no OVERKILLThere’s just one word that comes to mind….JESUS!
There is no penalty for lyingThey can say whatever they want to scare easily mislead people into sending money and/or voting their way.
If – no, WHEN – they are caught lying, they don’t have to give back the money nor forfeit the election.
There is no penalty for lying.
Sometimes, I think that the reason we make progress so slowly is that we try to appeal to logic and truth and justice, and we try not to succumb to playing dirty.
It’s hardwired. Don’t blame Jesus for this, blame his followers.Jesus wasn’t much on placing rules above the welfare of people. Read the “red letters” (referring to the tradition to print words of Jesus in red letters). Put simply, Jesus was a pain in the ass, an inconvenient and scandalous guy in his time.
Go google: Robert Altemeyer “The Authoritarians”
This is a free ebook by a psychology professor in Canada. He has done a fair amount of experimental psychologic research about authoritarian thought patterns.
We don’t need to lie. Most people don’t care about justice, that’s all.