I'm sorry you feel SOCAS is not important (1)

Generally not something I would expand upon but this "head in the sand" attitude needs to cease as it has been going on for way too long. Due to space considerations I could not elaborate as much as I would have liked concerning some points I made. So here we go, and this is gonna be long, very long!

As I noted, religionists have a troubled relationship with race and segregation.

In May 1969, a group of African-American parents in Holmes County, Mississippi, sued the Treasury Department to prevent three new whites-only K-12 private academies from securing full tax-exempt status, arguing that their discriminatory policies prevented them from being considered “charitable” institutions,,,

In  Green v. Kennedy [https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/district-courts/FSupp/309/1127/2096127/] (David Kennedy was secretary of the treasury at the time), decided in January 1970, the plaintiffs won a preliminary injunction, which denied the “segregation academies” tax-exempt status until further review. In the meantime, the government was solidifying its position on such schools. Later that year, President Richard Nixon ordered the Internal Revenue Service to enact a new policy denying tax exemptions to all segregated schools in the United States. Under the provisions of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act, which forbade racial segregation and discrimination, discriminatory schools were not—by definition—“charitable” educational organizations, and therefore they had no claims to tax-exempt status; similarly, donations to such organizations would no longer qualify as tax-deductible contributions.

What Balmer argues, Paul Weyrich used this opportunity to organize the Religious Right as the IRS began sending questionnaires to church-related “segregation academies.” One such institution which become the battleground is Bob Jones University. While the initial legal battle began in 1971, it wasn't until 1983that SCOTUS upheld the right of the IRS to rescind the tax-exempt status of the University in Bob Jones University v. United States 461 U.S. 574 (1983).


From Amanda Marcotte,

Balmer doesn't mention it, but there was one other shift in the public consciousness going on at the time. The "Stop ERA" campaign, headed up by Christian right leader Phyllis Schlafly to kill the Equal Rights Amendment banning sex discrimination, got moving in 1972. By the time male Christian conservative leaders like Weyrich and Falwell decided to make abortion a centerpiece issue, Schlafly had done the yeoman's work of convincing huge numbers of evangelical Christians that feminists were a threat to the very fabric of society. With hostility to women's equality rising, making the anti-abortion pitch was probably much, much easier.

In regards to the Bible being used as a sledge-hammer (justifying slavery and anti-LGBTQI+ discrimination), two books come to mind: Saving The Original Sinner: How Christians Have Used the Bible’s First Man to Oppress, Inspire and Make Sense of the World, by Karl. W. Giberson (2015) AND The Bible Tells Me So: Why Defending Scripture Has Made Us Unable to Read It by Peter Enns (2015). Both books explore the intellectual games used by conservative Christians to “protect” the Bible and justify their actions or in-actions.

It is in chapter 9 that Giberson explores racism and slavery. Contrary to AiG some of the most ardent racists were so-called Christians who used the Bible to support such. (I contrast with Ham and AiG as I am more familiar with their stance than any other creationist/religionist organization.) Just for shits-n-giggle, this is AiG's review of Giberson's book (abstract).

According to Dr. Karl Giberson, the molecules-to-man evolution that supposedly spawned us also made us the morally messed up creatures that we are. In Saving the Original Sinner he attacks belief in the historicity of Adam. He teaches that we are “original sinners” not as Adam’s descendants but as a result of our evolutionary heritage. Believing sin and death did not enter human history through Adam but are the natural results of evolution, he considers Adam irrelevant. Gone with Adam is the biblical foundation for understanding why the “last Adam” Jesus Christ came to die for the sins of the first Adam’s descendants. Bible-believing creationists who believe Adam and Eve were the first parents of all people refuse to accept Darwinian evolution’s explanation of human origins. Therefore, belief in Adam is a stronghold that evolutionist Karl Giberson assaults with this book, hoping to precipitate a crisis of faith in biblical creationists.

While I would have to review my copy of Giberson book to be sure, but this goes to Ham's fear of losing authority, something I have written about before - specifically The Evolution Connection.  Why he pushes so hard for creationism to be taught in schools.

As for my take away from Enns' book, while he was a bit more fluffy for my overall liking, he makes an interesting point that I believe highlights the mind-set of the Religious Right, "God never told the Israelites to kill the Canaanites. The Israelites believed that God told them to kill the Canaanites."

Again for shits-n-giggles, AiG's critique.

What we know of Jesus Christ’s love and grace comes to us through the reliable testimony of God’s Word. That simple and beautiful biblical truth, summed up in the familiar phrase “The Bible tells me so” from the hymn “Jesus Loves Me,” introduces many children to the love of Jesus. This sweet refrain also reminds adults that God’s revelation to us in His Word is the foundation for faith and the ultimate source of truth. A new book capitalizing on the familiar song—The Bible Tells Me So: Why Defending Scripture Has Made Us Unable to Read It by Dr. Peter Enns—is a collection of compromises, written for the layman. The book wastes a great deal of ink claiming that the Bible is simply not to be trusted or taken seriously. In it Dr. Enns continues his destructive influence on the Christian faith and biblical understanding through his relentless assault on God’s Word.

We are all well aware of the "clobber passages" used to justify hatred and discrimination, re-hashing them now would be a bit redundant (and make this post even longer).  What I want to focus on are some of the preachers of hate both members of clergy and pols-n-pundits.  As I said many years ago, this type of rhetoric is no longer fringe.

Sorry to say, if you do not speak out against the extremism you condone it, it is no longer fringe when it is occurs in our everyday life. To borrow a phrase from a wise friend, I leave you with this: "The religions of "love" teaching hate!!"

Scott Lively in his own words,,,

"There is no question that homosexuality figures prominently in the history of the Holocaust. … The first years of terrorism against the Jews were carried out by the homosexuals of the SA."
– The Pink Swastika, 1996

"Homosexuality is thus biologically (and to varying degrees morally) equivalent to pedophilia, sado-masochism, bestiality and many other forms of deviant behavior."
– “Deciphering 'Gay' Word-Speak and Language of Confusion," May 2002

Lively is currently running for Governor of Massachusetts, is responsible, in part,  for the "kill the gays" bill in Uganda. With author Kevin Abrams, wrote The Pink Swastika (1995); which is thoroughly debunked. Believes his advocacy helped inspire the Russian law passed in 2013 that bans “propaganda for non-traditional sexual relations among minors.”

Next comes a man who is of the opinion all gays are pedophiles and will have sex with anything, believing all homosexuals should kill themselves. (See:: America's Hate Preachers a BBC documentary, highlighted below, and this little gem.)

ANDERSON: To normal people, homosexuality [and] pedophilia are disgusting. To a normal person.
LIVINGSTON: Why do you put pedophilia and homosexuality in the same group?
ANDERSON: They are in the same group! Because any man who would have sex with another man would have sex with anything. Period. Like, I’ll put it this way: Any man who would have sex with another man would have sex with an animal.
LIVINGSTON: That’s blatantly not true, though!
ANDERSON: It is true! That’s reality. Even if you don’t think it’s reality…

… LIVINGSTON: What do you think homosexuals should do, then?
ANDERSON: Kill themselves, as far as I’m concerned, because they’re horrible, wicked people. They’re just gonna keep molesting and destroying people. So I don’t have any advice for homosexuals, except to put a bullet in your own head so that you don’t molest my kids or anyone else’s kids.

Steven Anderson has been banned in Jamaica (2018), Botswana (deported - 2016), South Africa (2016), the UK (2016) and Canada.  He is known for, not only the above, but also calling on the government to execute homosexuals as well as declaring there are  “50 less pedophiles in this world” after the Pulse nightclub shooting. (Theodore Shoebat is another anti-LGBTQI+ crusader who has also advocated for executing homosexuals. Along with his father Walid "more than a few holes in his backstory" Shoebat, they are a potent hate duo.)

[Besides advocating for the death of LGBT people, Steven Anderson also made an antisemitic film and promoted Holocaust denial (“Marching to Zion.” released in March 2015 - mirror site), saying the Jews lied about the Holocaust in order to create the state of Israel, and that slave laborers at Auschwitz were compensated for their work and could buy items at a commissary.  This is a horrid little film and if you have a strong stomach, it is worth the watch.]

Next on my list is Gordon Klingenschmitt (sadly a hometown boy as he was born in Buffalo and hence my interest), this man should be a nobody but for his one claim to fame. In 2006 he was court-martialed and subsequently ousted from the Navy and sued in the Court of Federal Claims, claiming that he was wrongfully discharged from the Navy and seeking reinstatement, and arguing that his First Amendment rights were violated. (Readers Digest version.)

Now Gordon has had a fairly long career by hate-mongers standards.  While not as vitriolic as Anderson, he is anti-LGBTQI+; he's a bizarre little man. Although he has a thing for "demonic spirits". What makes Klingenschmitt so dangerous, he has served as a state legislator (CO) and is considering another run in 2018.

As Luning notes,

A lightning rod for controversy who put actual lightning rods to shame during his one term in the General Assembly, Klingenschmitt maintained President Barack Obama is possessed by demons and once performed an exorcism on him. He accused U.S. Rep. Jared Polis, who is gay, of wanting to “join ISIS in beheading Christians,” although Klingenschmitt later said the remark wasn’t meant seriously. He was admonished by House GOP leadership for calling it “the curse of God upon America for our sin of not protecting innocent children in the womb” when a pregnant Longmont woman was attacked and her baby was cut from her womb.

Not only is he considering another run for office, he does have the ear of some notable if not infamous politicians. As I have sated before, Klingenschmitt is guilty of biblical hyperliteralism; it is a false way of biblical interpretation which leads to his many bigoted statements.

While Gordon is in some cases mild, not so with our next homophobe,  Kevin Swanson.  He like Anderson and Shoebat advocate for the execution of homosexuals.  What's worse is he has political clout as demonstrated by the 2015 National Religious Liberties Conference. An event he organized featuring, then, three Republican contenders for the presidency:  Mike Huckabee, Bobby Jindal, and  Ted Cruz.

As Katherine Stewart notes for the NYT,

The comfortable thing to do would be to dismiss Mr. Swanson as just another wombat from the embarrassing fringe of American politics. But that would be a mistake. Mr. Swanson’s murderous imaginings did not interfere with his ability to attract senior Republican figures to his conference, including as a keynote speaker Bob Vander Plaats, an Iowa politician who will grant the “Most Wanted Endorsement of 2016,” according to the Conservative Review.

Mr. Swanson is the product of a significant political movement that has coalesced around the theme of religious liberty. Many of its leaders and their allies appear at the Family Research Council’s annual Values Voters Summit. Other power centers include Liberty University (now a required stop on the campaign trail); conservative policy organizations like the American Family Association and Concerned Women for America; and Christian legal advocacy groups like Liberty Counsel (whose co-founder, Mat Staver, acted as Kim Davis’s lawyer) and the Alliance Defending Freedom, the legal powerhouse behind the Hobby Lobby decision (whose president, Alan Sears, co-wrote a book in 2003 titled “The Homosexual Agenda: Exposing the Principal Threat to Religious Freedom Today”).

When talking about religious conservatives in America, we might perhaps conjure up an image of a farmer in Iowa or a small-business owner in Ohio who goes to church and holds traditional values. But the leaders to whom such conservatives deliver their votes have a distinct, often different, political vision.

Speaking of Ted Cruz (and by proxy his father Rafael) let's take a look-see first at elder Cruz and his dominionist ideology, "that fundamentalist Christians should take over, well, just about everything".

It’s not hard to figure out Rafael Cruz’s basic message. He has given scores, probably hundreds, of sermons and talks at religious and political gatherings, and many are on YouTube. His primary theme is that the United States is a “Christian nation” and that only true believers who adhere to biblical principles—that is, who accept the literal truth of the Bible, as Rafael Cruz and other fundamentalists see it—are worthy of guiding the United States forward. He regularly rails against pastors and church leaders who eschew politics and do not enter the political fray to combat the enemy: secular humanism.

Rafael Cruz is an advocate of Christian dominionism, which essentially holds that fundamentalist Christians should take over, well, just about everything. Speaking at a Texas church in 2012, Rafael Cruz told the crowd that God instructed Adam and Eve to go forth, multiply, and, as he put it, “take dominion over all my creation.” He said this meant that true-believers ought to dominate all areas of life: “That dominion is not just in the church, that dominion is over every area—society, education, government, and economics.” (During that sermon, he also noted that husbands, not wives, should be the “spiritual leader” of their families.) In Cruz’s view, those who accept Christ and his word (as Cruz believes it should be understood) will prosper spiritually and financially. In that same sermon, he noted that God not only anoints priests to lead the faithful, but also anoints “kings…to take dominion.” By that, he means those who rule a nation, and, he adds, these rulers one day (and he makes it sound as if this day will come soon) will transfer the wealth of the “wicked” to the “righteous.”

So, how far do you think the apple falls from the tree? Rafael Cruz is not only Ted Cruz's father, he is also his closest personal and professional mentor who actively campaigned for his son among evangelical voters in regards to the 2016 Presidential election cycle. While Junior's speeches are not laden with hate like his father's, he does accept his father endorsement and council.

It's difficult to succinctly pin a direct statement like Swanson's "kill the gays" on Cruz; but he sure does attract a, shall we say, questionable crowd. For example, Mike Bickle (IHOP) has notably claimed God sent Adolf Hitler to hunt down Jews who refuse to convert to Christianity; James Dobson of Focus on the Family, who has suggested taking up arms against transgendered individuals; Phil Robertson of Duck Dynasty who in 2013 had the infamous GQ interview where he stated, 

"Start with homosexual behavior and just morph out from there. Bestiality, sleeping around with this woman and that woman and that woman and those men," he says. Then he paraphrases Corinthians: "Don't be deceived. Neither the adulterers, the idolaters, the male prostitutes, the homosexual offenders, the greedy, the drunkards, the slanderers, the swindlers—they won't inherit the kingdom of God. Don't deceive yourself. It's not right."

Bob Vander Plaats of Family Leader,  who led a successful 2010 effort to oust three state Supreme Court justices who ruled in favor of marriage equality.

Pamela Gellar, the anti-Muslim activist who claim to fame is her 2010 campaign in opposition to the Park 51 Islamic Center project in Manhattan, which she deemed the “Ground Zero Mosque”. Not only is she associated with National Security Advisor John Bolton, but Richard Spencer and Milo Yiannopoulos as well.  She is an active columnist at Breibart and WND (note:: direct link be careful!) 

Now just to demonstrate how wacked these associations are, consider this,,, Theodore Shoebat has, in the past, called for Pamela Geller to be put to death for associating with “faggots” and “sodomites” at the “Gays for Trump” event during the RNC convention noted above. I shit you not!!

The list of influences on Cruz is endless in regards to what I consider far-right crazies (for complete list.) But,,, it highlights very well that no matter how small the crazies influence, it has ramifications  for a wider audience.  In some case individuals that are responsible for making our laws. It is why I personally bitch so much in regards to SOCAS.

These are but a few individuals, some I have had personal run-ins with but most interactions have been on the inter-web.  I am going to leave with one last person, someone whom falls into the former category mentioned; Michael Brown.

(Some individuals I have mentioned for a specific reason.   Currently Ted Cruz is up for re-election in Texas against Beto O'Rourke.  While he is not well liked by his colleagues, Cruz does wield much power - w/ Mike Lee of UT - and like Mike Pence, his notion of theocratic control concerning the "Seven Mountains Mandate" is scary, the individuals listed endorse his brand of dominionism, it even scarier.)

Like Scott Lively, Brown has no problem exporting his hate nor like Klingenschmitt claiming homosexual demonic forces or some such shit. Brown is also a big purveyor of the "Christian persecution" narrative (I am a fan of JMG and use him as reference in many a posting, including this one.)  But what makes Brown dangerous, (besides his association with Lou Engle, founder of the International House of Prayer (IHOP) and leader of TheCall; a man who believes the LGBT fight for equality is a bigger threat than Islamic terrorists), he employs verbal and religious violence as a tool of thought and instruction. "[V]erbal, spiritual and theological violence will be to silence and strip all LGBT people of their legal, civil and social equality, freedom and liberty, effectively creating a theocracy governed by the principles they believe are set forward in both Old Testament and New Testament law."


IOWs, while Brown may not advocate for physical violence, his "imagery and allegory, are a threat to LGBT people, even if he and his organization are not,,, there is a thin line between violent thoughts and words, and violent actions and deeds. I believe it is this precariously thin line Brown seems to disregard,,," (From  “Jesus Manifesto,” via Interstateq.)

“Revolution means upheaval. Revolution means the overthrowing of the status quo. We dare not downplay the significance of the word. Revolution is a matter of life and death, and our revolution flows from the blood of the Savior to the blood of the martyr. We put down our sword and take up our cross, overcoming Satan by the blood of the Lamb, by the word of our testimony, and by not loving our lives so much as to shrink from death (Rev. 12:11).”

Our revolution is fueled by the power of the gospel, and the gospel does violence to the forces of hell. We must recover the fullness of the gospel of Jesus! It is nothing less than a direct assault on the kingdom of Satan, a frontal attack on hostile, spiritual powers, a mortal confrontation of light against darkness. It brings about the ultimate counterculture conflict.”

"We’re in a war, and war means conflict, hardship, and sacrifice. As Leonard Ravenhill wrote, ‘When a nation calls its prime men to battle, homes are broken, weeping sweethearts say their good-byes, businesses are closed, college careers are wrecked, factories are refitted for wartime production, rationing and discomforts are accepted — all for war. Can we do less for the greatest fight that this world has ever known outside of the cross — this end-time siege on sanity, morality, and spirituality?'”

"Our society is deteriorating all around us and even non-believers sense that something is wrong. Why? It is because we, the people of God, the army of the Lord Jesus, the messengers of liberation, the ambassadors of reconciliation, have been sidetracked by the love of this world and distracted by the cares of this age.”

Matt sums up the issue well in the comments, responding to Brown,  "my utmost concern is your verbally and theologically violent rhetoric and language. People have a right to be aware of what you are teaching and how it is being taught. People have a right to be aware of the possible threat — not from you or your group — but from others who hear your words and are unable to distinguish between your “spiritual concepts” and allegory, and real calls for physical violence."


So I will end there (I leave out Westboro as they are no longer the only player in the game), but to say I am "reeeeeaally reaching with those examples. Especially if you're trying to use them as examples in the present day," is utter bull-fucking-shit. You and your head-in-the-sand ilk need to start paying attention.  Hell even my 16y/o co-worker is more aware of the religious batshittery going on without doing a deep dive into all the religious rhetoric.

Scott Lively: Acceptance Of Homosexuality Is A 'Dress Rehearsal' For The End Times | Right Wing Watch

"I believe we're in End Times," he said, "and that we're being prepared as a body for a time when the Antichrist is going to appear on the scene and the Mark of the Beast is going to be something that all believers are going to be presented with this challenge. It seems that the issue of homosexuality and the way that it's being addressed in society and in the church is kind of a dress rehearsal for that."

Scott Lively: Acceptance Of Homosexuality Is A 'Dress Rehearsal' For The End Times | Right Wing Watch

Readying U.S. pastor’s trial over anti-gay venom in Uganda | 76 CRIMES

Frank Mugisha, Sexual Minorities Uganda (SMUG), provides an update, the most important surrounding Martin Ssempa.  I personally believe since Ssemp is a US citizen, he should be facing the same charges as Lively but my basis for sucjh is justmy disdain for the entire operation.

In early 2015, it was learned that [anti-gay Uganda Pastor] Martin Ssempa is a U.S. citizen, which means he is subject to the U.S. court’s jurisdiction. In May, SMUG requested that the court issue a subpoena, which is a command by a court for a non-party witness to give testimony and produce documents relevant to the issues in the case.  With this subpoena, SMUG seeks to question Ssempa under oath concerning his work with Lively and his involvement in the persecution of the LGBTI community. It is important to emphasize that Ssempa is not a party to this case. He is not himself being sued; SMUG is only seeking his testimony.
The court granted SMUG’s request and issued the subpoena in early May. Since the court’s order, SMUG’s lawyers have attempted to serve Ssempa with the subpoena in order to question him and recover documents from him, but have been unable to locate him.  He has disappeared from social media as well as his TV show and has not been seen publicly.  According to some reports, Ssempa may have disappeared in an attempt to avoid the subpoena.  For example, see [“Pastor Martin Ssempa Summoned: The Question Is, Where Is He And Should We Be Concerned?” on the Uganda Gospel Life blog.]

Readying U.S. pastor’s trial over anti-gay venom in Uganda | 76 CRIMES

On Trial for Crime Against Humanity, Homophobe Scott Lively Begs for Cash | Advocate.com

Scott Lively has been a busy little beaver the past month.   According to The Advocate, SMUG has been able to push their case forward.

Antigay Massachusetts pastor Scott Lively is having a hard time — he's currently on trial, facing a lawsuit accusing him of a crime against humanity. Lively is also broke, according to a frantic message he posted on his website last week.

Lively is spending time in a Springfield, Mass. courtroom where a judge is deciding whether to bring a precedent-setting lawsuit to trial. A Ugandan LGBT group called Sexual Minorities Uganda sued Lively over his trips to the nation in the last decade, where, they claim, he convinced local legislators to embrace antigay laws that cost them their freedom, comfort, and privacy.

The Ugandan gay rights group says Lively not only delivered hateful speeches against LGBT people, calling them "brutal," "savage," and harboring a predilection toward pedophilia, he worked with lawmakers to actively take away their rights and put them in harm's way.

In 2009 a bill was introduced in Uganda's Parliament that called for certain consensual gay sex acts to be punishable by death. It never became law; a version calling for life imprisonment did, but it was struck down by the nation's highest court. Still, homosexuality remains illegal in Uganda. Many Ugandan LGBT people live in constant fear of violence, and local gay leaders have been killed. SMUG says Lively is partly to blame for the dangerous environment and should be convicted of a crime against humanity.

SMUG was able to bring the case to court under a statute allowing foreigners to sue Americans in U.S. federal court. Lively is trying to get the case tossed out and denies he's responsible for the horrible conditions that LGBT Ugandans live under.

Where The Advocate only touches on his fundraising, Right Wing Watch goes to town,

Lively bragged that he is being targeted by gay activists because his Abiding Truth Ministries is "one of the most feared and hated pro-family organizations in the world ... because we know more about the history, strategies and tactics of their movement than just about anyone on our side." The downside of being so "feared" is that he is now facing a lawsuit stemming from his anti-gay activism in Uganda, which is why Lively was begging for donations:

My friends, SMUG v Lively is truly a David v Goliath battle. I’m running a one-man office on a shoestring budget of less than $120,000 per year, provided almost entirely by donations of $50 and $100 from average people. Our donor base is small, mostly elderly, and very difficult to expand due to the success of the anti-Lively propaganda. While Liberty Counsel has been funding our legal defense, this lawsuit has nevertheless caused us major financial hardship and seriously threatens our future.

Frankly, I question whether ATM will survive the decade without greater support from the individuals scattered across the society who recognize the danger of the LGBT agenda and are willing to stand with us financially against it. That can only happen if the people who already support us encourage their like-minded friends and allies to donate to us.

In a separate "letter to the international pro-family movement," Lively declared that "the Leaders and Activists of the LGBT movement are malicious deceivers and evil-doers, deliberately subverting civilized society and viciously attacking all opponents to advance their selfish and self-destructive interests" and called for anti-gay activists to focus on preventing the passage of antidiscrimination ordinances that protect sexual orientation in places where they don't already exist and repealing them where they do.

On Trial for Crime Against Humanity, Homophobe Scott Lively Begs for Cash | Advocate.com

Scott Lively, Due On Trial For “Crimes Against Humanity” Early 2016, Will Be Represented By Kim Davis’s Law Firm

But…he takes care of homeless people. And he’s a Family Man. And he is a Pastor.  And he found a way to put his life together — and then some — after 16 years of struggle. And…

He is one of the most dangerous people walking on the face of the earth today.

He’s due to go to trial near the beginning of 2016. Guess who’s representing him?

The case, filed in 2012, is expected to go to trial early next year in a U.S. district court in Massachusetts….

Lively is represented by Liberty Counsel, a Christian law firm that also represents Kim Davis, the Kentucky clerk who was recently jailed for her refusal to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples.

That’s right. Liberty Counsel — the hate group currently supporting Kim Davis.
And when it comes to Kim Davis herself, according to the Religion News Service, Lively complimented her “courage and commitment.”

Right. You know what takes “courage and commitment”? People who have to be in hiding from the laws Lively allegedly helped pass who, nevertheless, go on national television and speak against them.

I have posted quite a bit about Lively and his anti-gay antics, but not much concerning his upcoming trial (my bad).  Quite frankly his trial falls under an area of law - the Alien Tort Statute (ATS) - I have no knowledge of. According to the Center for Constitutional Rights (CRR):

This is the first ATS case seeking accountability for persecution on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity as a crime against humanity. The United States Supreme Court has affirmed the use of the ATS as a remedy for serious violations of international law that are widely accepted and clearly defined. Persecution is defined in international law as the "intentional and severe deprivation of fundamental rights contrary to international law by reason of the identity of the group or collectivity." Lively – a U.S.-based attorney, author, and self-described world-leading expert on the “gay movement” – has traveled to Uganda and other countries, including Russia, and played a key role in the effort to strip LGBTI people of fundamental rights, including the rights to free expression, association, and assembly.

I am sure with Liberty Counsel now at the helm of his defense, we will be hearing about how Lively is such a martyr for the Christian cause.

Scott Lively, Due On Trial For “Crimes Against Humanity” Early 2016, Will Be Represented By Kim Davis’s Law Firm

Mass. pastor Scott Lively faces possible fine for harsh anti-gay efforts in Uganda - Religion News Service

A lawsuit by Sexual Minorities Uganda, an LGBT advocacy group, alleges that Lively conspired with Ugandan religious and political leaders since 2002 to strip gays of their rights in that country that has resulted in housing and employment discrimination, arrest, torture and the murder of gays and lesbians. The case, filed in 2012, is expected to go to trial early next year in a U.S. district court in Massachusetts. If convicted, Lively could face a fine.

“He’s very clear that you have to silence LGBT people and eradicate them politically,” said Pam Spees, an attorney with the Center for Constitutional Rights, a New York-based nonprofit that is representing the Ugandan advocacy group in the case.
,,,
Sexual Minorities Uganda and the Center for Constitutional Rights contend that Lively’s presentations in workshops in 2009 and 2012 influenced a 2013 Uganda law, which initially called for life in prison for people who engage in same-sex relations. Later the law was revised to also punish individuals or groups that support gays. After international outrage, the constitutional court in Uganda overturned the law in August 2014 on a technicality, but lawmakers have said they will revive the bill.

Critics say another proposed law, which seeks to restrict nonprofits from operating in Uganda, could also be used to outlaw groups working with LGBT people.

“The situation there is very fraught and perilous,” Spees said. “There are so many violations happening in Uganda, and people are suffering. This case is part of a larger effort to keep it from getting worse.”

Mass. pastor Scott Lively faces possible fine for harsh anti-gay efforts in Uganda - Religion News Service

"Together We Can Achieve'."

As some of you may recall, I posted about the plight of Baguma Berges Ronnie and his fellow LGBTQ folk in Uganda.  Besides the insidious persecution by governmental elements (encouraged by cretins such as Scott Lively, Rick Warren, and the slags that run World Congress of Families), an issue that is prevalent among the LGBTQ community is homelessness. Over the course of the past two weeks I have been discussing said issue with Baguma and how he and GRAC would like to combat it.

First, GRAC is an underground resistance group committed to reversing the draconian laws put in place by Yoweri Museveni and gaining basic human rights for all Ugandans. It is a LGBTQ "group dedicated to fighting homophobia and transphobia; and bring[ing] together all LGBTQ people irrespective of color, race, creed, religion, political party, etc. We strive to promote the rights of the sex oriented persons in a homophobic environment"  GRAC's online presence began in late 2012 with the goal, "All LGBTQ people around the world unite to fight and defeat homophobia for good!"  What started as a 10 member group currently has over 500 members; locally we dont disclose their identities in the media for security reason.

As I noted in my initial post, "homelessness is a major problem affecting the LGBTQ community and here it's worse due to impoverished communities, high levels of unemployment, etc.."  I think what struck me in our conversations, was not only Baguna's dedication to this cause, but his willingness to put his neck on the line - literally.  I was hesitant in using Baguma's full name in my initial post even though the article associated had.  Our lines crossed but he posted this in response to my query, "Please go ahead and use my name as I am an activist who wants equality for LGBTQ persons and I don't mind [being] a martyr as long as the next generation gain their freedom!"

So with that in mind, Baguma filled me in on, let's call it phase one, what he and GRAC are trying to accomplish.

I do have a few questions, do you definitely have a building in mind touse for a shelter?  I know you mentioned one is available that is in your target purchase/rental,,,

We would like to rent a building in the city suburbs which can accommodate most of the members who are homeless. This idea was brought up today after meeting with the landlord and agreed on the rates per month; though this has to be done with the help of some generous donors out there.

You mention a cost of $350, is that per month and is that amount in US dollars?

That amount is for every 3 months and its in US dollars.

And this building will be used as a shelter like facility?  Are you going to be offering any other type of services - schooling, job training - or is your focus right now just on housing?  

We are going to use the building as a shelter facility. We have a vision of setting up projects like vocational training to equip people with skills for self sustainability, but that is long range.

So, what is being asked of us?  Help in securing the funds necessary and help in spreading GRAC's cause far and wide.

Questions::  ronbaguma07@gmail.com
Donation being accepted via Paypal::Baguma Ronnie c/o. mawa@godfreymawa.com
Western Union and Money Gram are also options

One final question I had for Baguma:  Besides GRAC are there other organizations also working towards the same or similar goals?  And does GRAC have a working relationship with any of them?

Sure they are there and currently we are working with TASO for HIV/AIDS

The AIDS Support Organization (TASO) was founded in Uganda 1987 by people living with HIV and AIDS (PLWHA), based on common experiences faced when encountering HIV/AIDS at a time of high stigma, ignorance, and discrimination. TASO's activities include HIV/AIDS counselling, medical care, social support, training and capacity building, HIV/AIDS education and community mobilisation, and advocacy and networking.

and Youth on the Rock Foundation!

This is a mess "we" have helped create,

A bunch of conservative Christians from US are bemoaning cultural imperialism in Africa? There's a direct connection between US missionaries working within Uganda and the writing and passing of this draconian legislation. The laws that they support are artifacts of cultural imperialism.

Or do they imagine we've all forgotten that? Or do they believe Scott Lively's work time in Uganda doesn't qualify as imperialism? Out-fucking-rageous!!

It Is also a mess we can help fix!!

Scott Lively Warns Christians To Prepare For Relentless Persecution In Wake Of Gay Marriage Ruling | Right Wing Watch

More Scott Lively,,,

"As Christians, our world changed on the day the Obergefell case came down," he said, "and there's going to be persecution unfolding for all of us in this country because this movement of people is implacable, they can't be placated. They're relentless and their goal is supremacy. It's not tolerance, it's not acceptance, it isn't even celebration, it isn't even being able to force everyone to participate in their culture, it's to punish anyone who disagrees with them as severely as they can and that is what's coming for every person."

Scott Lively Warns Christians To Prepare For Relentless Persecution In Wake Of Gay Marriage Ruling | Right Wing Watch

Lively: 'The Widespread Acceptance Of Homosexuality By Society Is The Harbinger Of The Wrath Of God' | Right Wing Watch

Predictably, the conversation was filled with dire warnings and over-the-top language, such as when Lively declared that America has "entered into a time of apostasy" as evidenced by school shootings and "the barbarianistic behavior that is manifested so much on the internet."

But worst of all, he said, is the acceptance of homosexuality, which is the most abominable of all sins because, according to the Bible, "it's the only sin associated with the incineration of four cities."

"The widespread acceptance of homosexuality by society is the harbinger of wrath of God," he said. "It's the only sin that is associated with the reprobate mind, the worst state that a person can have and then the apostate culture that derives from that ... [If you read Romans,] you see what God believes about this and what he warns about. Even AIDS and these other diseases, it says they receive in themselves the penalty of their error, which is appropriate. It's plain, simple Scripture, stated as clear as could possibly be done and that's manifest before our eyes in the way that these people are now struggling with all these diseases that are associated with their conduct."

"The heart of it is malicious deception," Lively concluded, "which is the satanic goal, isn't it?"

Lively: 'The Widespread Acceptance Of Homosexuality By Society Is The Harbinger Of The Wrath Of God' | Right Wing Watch

Damn butt sex gets in the way off everything

What I want to know is why this man is so obsessed with gay sex?  Was he born an asshole as well?

'I Was Born That Way': Bryan Fischer Claims He Was Born Christian, Repulsed By Homosexuality

"I think, actually, that's a good argument," Fischer replied. "The way I am, I was born this way. And you know, you think about it Terry, who would choose, at this time in our nation's history, to be a Christian? You're ridiculed. You're mocked. You're made fun of. You get fired ... I mean, who would choose a lifestyle where you are the unending subject of ridicule, mockery, and contempt by liberals in society, by elites, by professors, on the media, by politicians? Who's going to choose that? So our defense is, hey, I was born that way."

After admitting that this was really nothing more than a facetious argument because "we know that our faith is a matter of choice," Fischer went on to assert that being repulsed by homosexuality was actually something most people were born with.

"I think that most of us have an instinctive, I think revulsion is not too strong of  a word, to the act of homosexuality, what actually happens when homosexuals come together and engage in sexual congress," he said. "We look at that and there is just an inner revulsion to that."

"God has the same reaction that you and I do," he continued, "but that instinctive revulsion that we have when we think about homosexuality, I was born that way."

Who exactly is this "they" he speaks of,,,

Scott Lively: LGBT Rights Brought Us To The 'Twilight Zone'

“This is very spiritual warfare at the most intense level,” Lively said regarding the recent legal defeat for the ex-gay group Jews Offering New Alternatives for Healing (JONAH), which was found guilty of violating consumer fraud laws. “The idea that any person cannot reorient their sexuality to the design of their own body is preposterous and to win a lawsuit on the theme that it’s consumer fraud to suggest that it’s possible, we’ve entered into the Twilight Zone here.”
,,,
“I’m actually a little surprised they moved so fast into transgenderism when they still haven’t finished mopping up on just simple homosexuality,” he added. “And I was especially shocked when they went into the military and said they were going to actually legitimize transsexuals in the U.S. military. What a disaster in the making. It’s mindboggling to see what is going on here.”

Pat Robertson: Gays Can Never Be Happy, Call My Network For 'Freedom' From Homosexuality

Today, Pat Robertson’s news program “The 700 Club” aired a story about one man’s “struggle with homosexuality,” which ended, supposedly, after the man joined a “support group for Christians caught in the gay and lesbian lifestyle,” became abstinent, and eventually married a woman and founded a church.

Following the report, Robertson lamented that “it used to be that psychologists would tell people how to come out of this, now they tell them how to stay in it and be happy.” “Well, you’ll never be happy unless you’re happy in Jesus,” he said.

The New Outcasts

I am an outcast. I am an untouchable. I am a leper. I am the scum of the earth. Why, what did I do? Sexually abuse a child? Torture kittens for the fun of it? Murder my own family? No, something far, far worse. You see, I actually believe that marriage is between a man and a woman.
,,,
OK, so banish me now. Exile me. Or jail me. Or even put me to death for my dastardly beliefs. But no matter how demonised and abused by the homosexual statists, I will never refrain from speaking up for truth – and for marriage and children.

I have long noted how incredibly bizarre all this is, with persecution arising for simply affirming marriage and the wellbeing of children. Who would have thought the new clampdown on freedom and democracy would come from those rainbow warriors who have declared war on marriage and family.
,,,
With people now losing their jobs, being fined, and even going to jail over this, you know we have reached the endgame warned about in these prophetic novels. Indeed, why am I reminded of the words of George Orwell from his prescient 1984?

Wondering what "mission" "this country" has exactly.  Might the word "dominion" have anything to do with it?

EW Jackson: Obama Turning Military Into A 'Sexual Experiment' Because He Doesn’t Believe In America

“The lesbian, transgender, bisexual military is what the president is creating for us, and it’s sad,” Jackson declared, alleging that President Obama “is much more interested in turning the military into some sort of sexual experiment than he is in making it the finest fighting force in the world.”

Gaffney asked Jackson, who now works as a Fox News contributor and Family Research Council senior fellow, if allowing LGBT people to serve openly is not just a “wrecking operation against the military” but also an effort to “do over the United States itself as a society.”

Jackson responded that Obama wants to allow LGBT people to serve in the military because he doesn’t believe in America or want the military to be effective: “I don’t think he wants the military to be militarily effective, because I don’t think he believes in it, I don’t think he believes in its mission, because, frankly, and I know this sounds extreme but it’s what I believe in my heart, I don’t think he fundamentally believes in the nature of this country or its mission.”

A Chat with an Activist from Uganda - Proud Queer (PQ Monthly - Daily Online)

If you have followed my blog long enough you will know that one issue I follow is the Reich's exportation of hate via Scott Lively and the crew over at NOM.  Although there are many players in this game (Bryan Fischer, Liberty Counsel, Mike Bickle, World Congress of Families [1], and Rick Warren to name a few) these are in my opinion two of the major players, or the ones garnering the most attention with their vile rhetoric.  As you may recall, it began in earnest with Uganda [2], and the "Kill the Gays Bill".  It then jump to Russia and Putin's dalliance with members of the Reich.  Ireland has also been touched by the hate and it looks as if Australia is now in the cross-hairs. [3]

But through all the various postings, one thing has been missing, personal stories and experiences, that is about to change.  Like the author, I "was messaged by a gay male Ugandan who friended me on Facebook,,,[w]e began to talk regularly[4] and I realized that a lot of us don’t understand the real situation happening in Uganda." Although the authors interest in the situation in Uganda appears a bit more personal,

I found out that the president of Uganda, Yoweri Museveni, had a very close advisor that made me remember every excruciating minute of high school when (the failed) Measure 9 was being fought in Oregon. Scott Lively, for those who don’t know, was the second in command of the Oregons Citizen’s Alliance (OCA), a Focus-on-the-Family-type group and he wrote a charming little book titled, The Pink Swastika, Homosexuality and the Nazi Party.

Carroll's interview is enlightening,

The problems in Uganda are complicated and widespread—including extreme poverty (the average Ugandan makes $510 dollars a year, according to WHO, and $600 a year according to my interview subject), limited access to education (half of school age students live 5km from the nearest school and most people are on foot), skyrocketing HIV rates, and an ongoing conflict with Rwanda. Add that to the fact that according to a 2007 Pew Global Attitudes Project poll, 96% of Ugandans say they agree with punishing homosexuality, it makes for a very hostile and dangerous environment for all LGBT Ugandans.
,,,
 PQ: You have an organization, called the Gay Rights Activist Club, what are the goals for the club? What would you like to see? 
Baguma: Concerning goals for the club, GRAC, Gay Rights Activist Club, we are here to promote the rights of gays, fight homophobia, create sustainability, and provide basics like: shelter, food, and medical care for Ugandans.[5]
,,,
PQ Monthly: Is it hard to find employment as a gay person in Kampala?
Baguma: I feel it vital to tell you about gay prostitutes who are mostly found in affluent suburbs of Kampala, and their clients are mostly whites and Asian executives. Places for gays to pick up include; Buziga, Ntinda, Wandegeya, where there are cozy bars.

I'm personally looking forward to information and experiences that Baguma may be able to share.  Not only is he looking for support in attempting to house the homeless , but ideas as well to combat the hatred.

A Chat with an Activist from Uganda - Proud Queer (PQ Monthly - Daily Online)

[1]   World congress of Families as I have discovered recently is a much bigger player than I realized.
[2]   I have not yet seen the full documentary by VICE as I am attempting to obtain a copy.  As noted in my orgianl post David Badash offers a nice summary.  For another perspective to the same, see "World's Worst Place to be Gay?" (2014, BBC).
[3]  Do a bit of digging and you will find that Faust is "sponsored" by none other than Alliance Defending Freedom.
[4]  I have just recently "met" Baguma and our personal dialogue is just beginning.  And it was I that contacted him via a mutual friend who thought I may be interested.
[5]  The existence of GRAC was a point that Baguma noted as well, when in conversation, I mentioned that homelessness withing the LGBTQ community is a world wide problem.

His reply, "Sure homelessness is a major problem affecting the LGBTQ community and here it's worse due to impoverished communities, high levels of unemployment, etc.."

It appears that the plight of the homeless is an issue of concern when he sent the enclosed photo, with the following caption, "Where can you put all that number of persons as you can see."

NOM Chairman Defends Uganda Anti-Gay Law, Suggests Gay 'Recruitment' The Real Human Rights Abuse | Right Wing Watch

Maggie Gallagher, Brian Brown and "now" John Eastman. NOM's hatred of all things LGBTQI is shining brightly as usual.  What started out as a religious organization seeking to influence voters and legislatures to limit the civil rights of others based upon the teachings of the Catholic Church, has now "grown" to an international juggernaut of sadistic evil spouting hate wherever they land.

Eastman quoted Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni’s insistence that the new law was “provoked by western groups who come to our schools and try to recruit children into homosexuality." Noting that US aid restrictions prevent assistance from going to governments that commit human rights violations, including the failure to take “appropriate and adequate measures” to “protect children from exploitation,” Eastman implied that the real “exploitation” was coming from gay rights advocates recruiting children.

He also suggested that US opposition to laws criminalizing homosexuality hinders efforts to fight HIV/AIDS in Sub-Saharan Africa. (In fact, experts say that the criminalization of homosexuality hurts the effort to fight the epidemic.)

What is farcical concerning Eastman's statement, consider the following comments from Joe.My.God:

But what struck me the most is how he waxes outrages about how US aid might be cut off to select African nations because of their tendency to commit genocide against gay people. He becomes emotional as he emphasizes how important these aid programs are. But this man cares not a whit about these aid programs. He never once in his entire public career ever uttered a word about them. And his party generally opposes foreign aid and constantly seeks to cut it.
__________
A bunch of conservative Christians from US are bemoaning cultural imperialism in Africa? There's a direct connection between US missionaries working within Uganda and the writing and passing of this draconian legislation. The laws that they support are artifacts of cultural imperialism.

Or do they imagine we've all forgotten that? Or do they believe Scott Lively's work time in Uganda doesn't qualify as imperialism? Out-fucking-rageous.

Both of which ring true specially in regards to the British colonial origins of anti-gay laws and Scott Lively.

NOM Chairman Defends Uganda Anti-Gay Law, Suggests Gay 'Recruitment' The Real Human Rights Abuse | Right Wing Watch

'I Kill Them!': HBO's VICE Goes To Uganda To See What American Anti-Gay Christians Have Created - The New Civil Rights Movement

“We keep on being told that religion, whatever its imperfections, at least instills morality. On every side, there is conclusive evidence that the contrary is the case and that faith causes people to be more mean, more selfish, and perhaps above all, more stupid.”

― Christopher Hitchens

In my previous post concerning Rev. Anthony Musaala's presentation at All Saints Parish LGBT Task Force, Gadoua, in her piece, makes mention of Vice's “A Prayer for Uganda".  The documentary aired last month on HBO highlighting the anti-gay atmosphere present in Uganda.



David Badash at The New Civil Rights Movement summarizes the theme along with the role of US based evangelicals:

In the VICE episode, [Member of Parliament David] Bahati refuses to name any one of his American partners, but [U.S. Senator James] Inhofe is clearly one. Also among Bahati’s supporters and partners are Scott Lively, Pastor Rick Warren, Sharon Slater, and the World Congress of Families. And Bahati makes clear he and his country support the culture these American Christian extremists have brought to Uganda — one that teaches, falsely, that gay people are all pedophiles, homosexuality is a choice, it is evil, and children must be protected from it at all costs. 

[,,,]
What the clip above does not show, but the VICE episode does, is that American Christians have brought this culture to Uganda. While the nation has never been gay friendly, the country's war on homosexuality is a direct response to the teachings of American Christians.

Remember Lively is facing trial for "crimes against humanity" for his role in Uganda; he is also notorious for exporting his hate to Russia.  As HRC noted last September,

Scott Lively is the head of Abiding Truths Ministry in Springfield, Massachusetts and is known around the world for his notorious work successfully advocating for anti-LGBT laws in Uganda that could send LGBT people to prison for life. In fact, Lively has traveled the world over presenting himself as an expert on LGBT issues, urging lawmakers to crack down on LGBT rights and the right of free expression.

In 2007, Lively wrote in “Letter to the Russian People,” “Homosexuality is a personality disorder that involves various often dangerous sexual addictions and aggressive anti-social impulses.”

'I Kill Them!': HBO's VICE Goes To Uganda To See What American Anti-Gay Christians Have Created - The New Civil Rights Movement

Ugandan Priest Rev. Anthony Musaala: LGBT People Are Fleeing The Country To Escape Violence

This is what Scott Lively and his crew of hate mongers are responsible for:

A growing number of LGBT Ugandans are fleeing to neighboring Kenya to escape violence and persecution, a Ugandan Catholic priest says.

People are beaten, raped, evicted and dismissed from their jobs because of their sexual identity or orientation, the Rev. Anthony Musaala said during a talk at All Saints Catholic Church as part of a monthlong visit to the United States and Canada.

Even associating with or advocating for LGBT people may spur discrimination, he said.

Musaala, who spoke at the invitation of the All Saints Parish LGBT Task Force, estimates 500 gay and lesbian Ugandans are seeking asylum in Kenya. He recently met with U.N. officials, seeking increased financial support and human services for resettling “sexual refugees.”

He supports a worldwide refugee program for people affected by anti-gay policies and violence.
,,,
Musaala now works with Ark Communes, which creates safe housing communities for LGBT people in Kenya, and he used his talk as an occasion to ask for donations for the organization.

Ugandan political and religious leaders say Westerners brought homosexuality to the country. But Musaala criticizes American evangelicals who “parachuted into Uganda and started spreading their message of hate.”

Should it be any surprise that THE Church took action against his work,

In March 2013, Musaala wrote a paper challenging priestly celibacy and criticizing African priests who abuse minors or father children and abandon them. His archbishop, Cyprian Lwanga, said the paper “damages the good morals of the Catholic believers and faults the church’s teaching.” He suspended Musaala indefinitely from priestly duties, which means the priest cannot celebrate the sacraments.

Ugandan Priest Rev. Anthony Musaala: LGBT People Are Fleeing The Country To Escape Violence

ADDENDUM::Bigoted Preacher: Only Way To Stop Gay Marriage Is Angry Mob, Torches And Pitchforks

An insightful way of looking at Lively's rhetoric:

Scott lively is no stranger to violent rhetoric and action toward homosexuals.   For decades, he initiated, contributed to, and was eventually sued for his involvement in the anti-gay movement in Uganda. Apparently the poor man cannot stop thinking about gay sex, not even for a minute.  Well, maybe just long enough for him to  denounce what he calls the “global warming doctrine” as a “scheme by transnational Marxist elites to establish a system for global taxation and redistribution of wealth.”  Bless his heart,  all that hate must be exhausting.

Bigoted Preacher: Only Way To Stop Gay Marriage Is Angry Mob, Torches And Pitchforks

Time for the Pitchforks and Torches on Marriage Issue - BarbWire.com

Now Lively is beginning to sound like faux preacherman Josh Feuerstein in a video where according to his own words he is either very blissful or very ignorant. How exactly are we to take Livelyseriously with a screed such as the following:

The battle today is for marriage, the core of the natural family. Every human being on this planet will be harmed if the elites are allowed to destroy it by mutation. It is no different than Monsanto destroying natural foods or seeds by mutating their DNA, or Big Pharma destroying bodies by flooding the health industry with artificial, often poisonous “remedies.” Our common paradigm in the grassroots for guiding society should be natural vs artificial across the board, including natural marriage and family: rejecting the counterfeit alternatives to the self-evident design of our ecology — and our physiology.

The natural family is the ecosystem of humanity! It must be preserved at all costs.

How? By a populist uprising! The elites need to see the angry mob — liberals and conservatives together — surging through the streets, pitchforks and torches held aloft, ready to tear down Frankenstein’s castle with their bare hands if need be. For Christians it’s Jesus and the money-changers time! Making a whip of cords like He did with His own hands, and letting these arrogant puppet masters know we mean to use it (metaphorically speaking).

[,,,]
The only way to deter the elites is with the threat of the mob. They need to see the pitchforks and torches to know they’ve gone too far and need to back down.

That’s where we are today in America. The elites want to eliminate the natural family to create a better class of serfs: state-bred children for the factories and the battlefield — easier to control, dulled by drugs and sexual promiscuity … and bread and circuses.

Time for the Pitchforks and Torches on Marriage Issue - BarbWire.com

10 Things You Should Know About the Rabidly Anti-LGBT Liberty Counsel | Human Rights Campaign

In 1989, attorney Matthew Staver and his wife, Anita, founded Liberty Counsel, a legal organization aimed at “advancing religious freedom, the sanctity of life, and the family.” But a primary focus of the organization over the years has been preventing and attacking the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people around the world. In fact, Liberty Counsel and its leaders have compared LGBT equality advocates to terrorists, said the country’s evolution toward embracing LGBT people will cause God to destroy America, and even advocates for draconian laws around the world that make it a crime to be LGBT.

Staver now serves as dean of the law school at Jerry Falwell’s Liberty University, and Liberty Counsel has opened an office on the university’s campus. The organization continues to raise millions of dollars each year, even though it has taken part or carried out a laundry list of shocking and deplorable acts against the rights of LGBT people. Here are 10 things you should know about Liberty Counsel,,,

10 Things You Should Know About the Rabidly Anti-LGBT Liberty Counsel | Human Rights Campaign

ADDENDUM::Is Homosexuality Worse than Mass Murder in the Bible? | Scott Lively Ministries

I have so much more to say concerning Lively's defense but I can't seem to string together 3 coherent sentences. What I will leave you with is this bit of a teaser,,,

Here is what gets my goat, I have stated it before in regards to Steven Anderson, one verse doth not a theology make. That also holds true for Rabbinical literature as well.

Cherry-picking one, single sentence from Rabbah Genesis, "[t]he generation of the Flood were not blotted out from the world until they composed nuptial songs in honor of pederasty and bestiality," (26.5) is absurd.

Is Homosexuality Worse than Mass Murder in the Bible? | Scott Lively Ministries

ADDENDUM::Rick Wiles: Justice Ginsburg 'Is One Of The Most Wicked, Vile Human Beings On The Planet' | Right Wing Watch

And in this snippet we have reference to Sodom and Gomorrah and the New World Order. Lively is firing on all cylinders,,,

“She is one of the most wicked, vile human beings on the planet,” Wiles said.

“They’re going to rule against us, they’re going to rule for homosexual marriage, that might be the last straw for America, I don’t know, but God would have to apologize for Sodom and Gomorrah,” Lively said, before insisting that despite America’s imminent destruction he won’t leave the country “until the angel comes and grabs me by the hand.”

Russia, according to the two anti-gay pundits, may be their last hope to stop “the homosexual movement” and its backers in the “New World Order.”

Lively hoped that a “coalition of conservative nations led by Russia” will emerge to stand up to pro-gay “elitists,” who then in turn will try to “collapse the current economic system” until everyone succumbs to their gay, Marxist agenda.

Rick Wiles: Justice Ginsburg 'Is One Of The Most Wicked, Vile Human Beings On The Planet' | Right Wing Watch

ADDENDUM::Scott Lively: Homosexuality Is Worse Than Murder | Right Wing Watch

As I figured, Lively did go there with the Noah reference, according to Right Wing Watch. These guys are getting so predictable but yet dangerous at the same time.

I have mentioned the Diane Benscoter's TEDTalk numerous times as well as the "Us vs Them" mentality. Minus the specific link to the Nephilim, it also holds for the "general" End-Times garbage many within the Dominionist realm hold.

,,,[a]nd the most dangerous part of this is that is creates "us" and "them," "right" and "wrong," "good" and "evil." And it makes anything possible. Makes anything rationalizable.

In a blog post Benscoter talks further in regards to memeplexes.

This concept gives us a means to view, from an evolutionary perspective, how and why we have tended to clump together into groups with highly polarized ideologies. We can start to understand the pull to view the world from a “Us” versus “Them” perspective,,,.

Rationalizing his hatred and creating polarized groups is exactly what Lively is doing.

Lively said that homosexuality is a Satanic attack “on the very essence of who we are” that God has deemed a more offensive abomination than mass killings: “When you look in the Bible, there are sins that you would think of as worse, you know, murder or mass murder, but what does it come down to? Leviticus 18 tells the Hebrews exactly what it is that God identifies as the most rebellious behavior, the behavior that causes the land to actually vomit out its inhabitants and every item on that list, except for child sacrifice, is sexual perversion, and child sacrifice is often a form of sexual perversion. So that’s where we are.”

“Homosexuality is not just another sin,” he added, “it is the sin that defines rebellion against God, the outer edge of rebellion against God and it is the harbinger of God’s wrath, that’s why the Scripture gives the warning, ‘as in the days of Noah.’”

Scott Lively: Homosexuality Is Worse Than Murder | Right Wing Watch