Comments on: Messages That Lead to Murder

By: DW

DW — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 21:19:40 +0000

It’s funny how religious extremist who claim to follow Christ want to post the Ten Commandments all over the place, but do everything in their power not to give air time to Christ second commandment (Christ only gave two) to “love your neighbor as you love yourself”, or St. Johns version: “Love your neighbor as Christ has love you”. (Just like Fox News does not give air time to anything the Conservative/Religious Right does not want to hear.) But then again, Christ second commandment assumes that you have the ability to love yourself in the first place.
What gets me: the Conservative Gays who support candidates and other militant extremist who support hate and hate speech against the GLBTQ community, and who also justifies that hate aim toward the GLBTQ community. It’s like they rubber stamp their approval to both the Religious and Conservative Right dogma. What can be alarming about this view point: it does not come from some stereotypical old conservative fossil, but from some one you would expect to see on MTV’s real world, or one of their followers. When we don’t challenge hate full talk in our own community, then we are no better then those who brand us with their contempt. Then again, some people have a hard time loving themselves out of their own closets and fears.

By: TigerTzu

TigerTzu — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 17:21:19 +0000

It is interesting, and somewhat ironic, that many times in order to charge someone with a hate crime, it is the words of the offender that is often the determining factor, whether it is the outright use of prejudicial slurs or simply statements of intolerance. The laws themselves acknowledge the spoken word as a vehicle to incite action, yet when these very same actions are committed by social institutions such as organized religion, it is considered freedom of speech, a way of expressing their faith and loving their god. There is a very fine line when it comes to deciding which speech should be restricted in an open society, but many places have also made it clear that you cannot yell FIRE! in a crowded theater if there is, in fact, no fire. Hate speech made by one in a position of trust and/or authority is no different in that their words have very obvious consequences and potential to harm innocent people. The Matt Shepards and Lawrence Kings of the world could attest to that, if they were still alive. Maybe it’s time we started hold those who spout hate speech to the same level of accountability and hopefully they will come to understand that freedom of speech is not only saying what you want, when you want but it also comes with a responsibility that such speech does not potentially harm certain segments of society in general.

By: Katie

Katie — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 15:51:40 +0000

I agree with a lot of the sentiments on here, but ultimately it’s the losers who make the decision to commit the violence that are responsible. The environment they find themselves in may influence them, but I mostly blame the bashers for what they do.

By: DanV

DanV — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 04:54:54 +0000

Wayne:

You are definitely spot on. I would also ad that preachers like Rod Parsley who openly use militaristic language are very dangerous as well. His youth group “Battle Cry” was in San Francisco some time back and was told by the SF Board of Supervisors that they will not be allowed to have a “rally” in SF next year.

His war-like sermons are unabashedly violent. When it comes to Islam, he has told people point blank that it needs to be “destroyed.” He may backtrack a little by saying that “well, I’m sure there are SOME good Muslims out there,” but he distinctly calls for PEOPLE TO KILL OTHER PEOPLE.

It’s very, very difficult for us to make them stop, but I think of it this way: between now and the time there is no hate speech coming from the pulpit, somebody will be killed.

How many? Who knows? Maybe some time in the future, someone like Jim Adkisson will say, “God speaks through my minister and he told me to do it!”

By: Lee

Lee — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 02:46:24 +0000

Thanks Wayne for the good article. The religious right are blatant in their evil teachings that promote violence toward the members of the gay community.

By: StevedMD2

StevedMD2 — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 02:45:40 +0000

Of course. The closet, enforced by terrorism, is nothing different then the segregation of blacks, enforced by murders and firebombings, and also justified by a perverted use of the Bible.

By: User1

User1 — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 23:22:50 +0000

Great article, Wayne!!!

The Nike and Snickers (Mars Co.) ads were horrifying. The fact that they got on the air at all is disturbing. And Mars is a repeat offender.