Tag Archives: Southern

crossposted on Holy Bullies and Headless Monsters

You want to hear the funniest reaction from the religious right to the Southern Poverty Law Center profiling them for their anti-gay lies? Check this out:

Sometimes the most effective way to deal with a bully is to simply pop him in the chops. While it may not shut him up entirely, it usually gives him pause before he resumes flapping his toxic jaws. It also has the effect of showing the other kids in the schoolyard that they have nothing to fear. Though the bully struts about projecting the tough-guy image, he's typically the most insecure pansy on the block.

Such is the case with the bullies over at the fringe-left Southern Poverty Law Center. Having been recently “popped in the chops,” if you will, for a series of hyperbolic and disingenuous “anti-gay hate group” slurs against a dozen-or-so of America's most well respected Christian and conservative organizations – the SPLC now finds itself publicly struggling, outside of an extremist left-wing echo chamber, to salvage a modicum of mainstream credibility.

In response to the SPLC's unprovoked attacks, a unified coalition of more than 150 top conservative and Christian leaders across the country has launched a shock-and-awe “Start Debating, Stop Hating” media blitz to educate America about the SPLC's ad hominem, politically driven smear campaign.

The mainstream pro-family conglomerate already includes presumptive Speaker of the House John Boehner, former presidential contender Mike Huckabee, four current U.S. senators, three governors, 20 current or newly elected members of the House of Representatives and many more.

As the controversy wears on and the facts become public, the moribund SPLC has understandably become increasingly defensive, strongly suggesting that it has come to regret this gross political overreach.

That passage is by the right-wing Liberty Counsel's Matt Barber in a recent column published by World Net Daily.  It's obvious that Barber has obsessed over gay sex so much that he is losing leave of his senses.

Barber's entire piece is empty hyperbole from a man claiming to win a poker game while he is playing with a dud hand.

What Barber calls a media blitz is an ignorant campaign by groups who don't want admit their wrongdoings teaming up with a bunch of shortsighted legislators and conservative leaders who themselves have engaged in ugly spin doctoring against the lgbt community . Their campaign hasn't resonated anywhere except for the lgbt community where we are rubbing our hands with glee while salivating over the notion that these individuals so easily (and stupidly) have put their necks on the chopping blocks and are waiting for us to come down with the axe at our leisure.
You see for the first time, the issue is not about whether or not lgbts have the right to equality. That's something which never needed to be argued. The issue is now, and deservedly so, why are these so-called moral groups saying these untrue and thereby unChristian things about the lgbt community.

Not exactly “shock and awe,” is it?

But what's even more hilarious is the fact that Barber actually accuses the SPLC of taking comments out of context:

. . . the SPLC has begun to grease the skids. Quotes cherry picked, taken out of context and misapplied are a powerful tool of the propagandist. Such are the Maoist techniques of the SPLC.

It's interesting how Barber uses that opening to claim that SPLC distorted a comment he made about hate crimes. But he conveniently ignores how the SPLC calls him out regarding the following comment he made:

There is nothing “conservative” about “one man violently cramming his penis into another man’s lower intestine and calling it 'love'”;

I would love to hear how that comment is a distortion. Or how about these from other religious right groups profiled by SPLC:

•Homosexual behavior ought to be outlawed;

•Gay sex ought to carry criminal penalties;

•Gays ought to be prohibited from serving in public office;

•Gay sex is domestic terrorism;

•”Hitler recruited around him homosexuals to make up his Stormtroopers … [because] homosexual soldiers basically had no limits [to] the savagery and brutality they were willing to inflict.”

Then Barber does the standard religious right dodge – citing statistics from the CDC and other health organizations regarding health issues affecting the lgbt community.

Of course Barber conveniently omits the fact that the none of these organizations ever said that the lgbt orientation is indicative of bad health. They have said that homophobia leads to lgbts not getting the information or health care that they need. What Barber is doing is no different than a racist citing health organizations to claim that the African-American community is inferior.

Finally, Barber says the following, which pretty much nails down the fact that he has gone delusional:

Indeed, the SPLC and its allies are flailing violently as they swim upstream against a torrent of settled science, thousands of years of history and the unwavering moral precepts of every major world religion.

It's little wonder they've resorted to childish name calling.

Well Barber ought to know about name-calling. And the irony that he actually talks about “settled science” when he and his organization has gone against “settled science” when demonizing the lgbt community is the very height of audacity.

But lastly, Barber seems to have his fingers in his ears and his eyes closed.  It's sad really. While the Family Research Council tries to fight SPLC, Barber has actually convinced himself that the SPLC and the lgbt community is retreating in this controversy.

Hardly.

The lgbt community has had an excellent year. In courts, we've beaten DOMA and Proposition 8, gay adoption in Florida is now allowed after over two decades, George Rekers, a peddler of anti-lgbt propaganda was taken down, then there is that very interesting that happened this weekend. What was it? Oh yeah, the repeal of DADT after 17 years.

The lgbt community, nor the SPLC, aren't swimming upstream. We are coasting on a hot wave.

And you and your side are coasting, too.  But in the other direction. All of your phoniness about being moral and pro-family while engaging in a 20+ year of lies and propaganda against the lgbt community is finally coming to light.

You aren't just flailing. You are already dead on the water.

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