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Loading ...Rights Group Slams Mormon Attack Ad
12.11.2008 1:48pm EST
(New York City) A full page ad in today’s Salt Lake Tribune slams the Church of Latter Day Saints and other religious conservatives for accusing gays of “mob violence” over protests against Proposition 8.
The Mormon Church was one of the biggest financial contributors to the Prop 8 campaign which amended the California state constitution to ban same-sex marriage. After passage of the proposition last month LGBT groups have demonstrated at Mormon churches. There also have been acts of vandalism at some churches but police say they have found no evidence the vandals were connected to gay rights groups.Last week the Washington-based Becket Fund for Religious Liberty took out a full page ad in the New York Times with the headline “No Mob Veto”, condemning any attacks on people of faith. It was signed by a number of Mormon and evangelical church leaders from across the country.
Today’s counter-ad was paid for by Truth Wins Out, the New York-based group that regularly fights what it sees as religious hypocrisy against gays. It chose The Tribune because Salt Lake City is the home of the Mormon Church.
The headline in the ad says: “Lies in the Name of the Lord”. The ad accuses the New York Times ad of falsely portraying protests against Prop 8 as mob violence. The TWO ad says that the protests against Prop 8 were all peaceful.
The new ad also slams what it calls the disingenuous claim of religious tolerance.
“These anti-gay activists are crying wolf on the Proposition 8 protests, but they actually are a wolf in sheep’s clothing that preaches religious tolerance while practicing the most defamatory form of religious bigotry,” said Wayne Besen, Executive Director of Truth Wins Out.
“We refuse to permit this orchestrated campaign to rewrite history, nor will we allow some of the most notorious Mormon bashers in America to pose as friends of the Latter-day Saints.”
The TWO ad notes the past of several of those who signed the pro-Mormon ad – including convicted felon Chuck Colson, Prison Fellowship; Rich Cizik, National Association of Evangelicals; and William Donohue, The Catholic League.
“Activists like Colson, Cizik and Donohue must decide if they are ‘people of faith’ or ‘people of fibs’ – they can’t be both … Lying is wrong, especially when it’s done in the name of God,” the TWO ad proclaims.
“There is a concerted and ongoing effort by anti-gay forces to portray peaceful marchers exercising their First Amendment rights as violent troublemakers,” said Besen. “We hope to set the record straight and refuse to let No Mob Veto get away with their blatant lies.”
The only people still trying to use religion to counter the civil rights of ALL…are true Anti-Christians…led by you know who…the big S… as far as I am concerned. Many people of the true Christians faith understand and follow the Biblical admonitions to not spread introlerance and hate. If more true Christians will just speak up in their Anti-Christians churches, yes even against their cultist leaders… then this country can get back together and work on all the others things we need to fix.
As has been explained to you before, that’s just redonculous. There’s no such thing as a “true” christian in this case. Or even, “true” faith or religion, period. That’s meaningless claptrap. There’s no way to distinguish between an evangelical’s true christianity and a catholic’s true christianity. Are the UU’s all of a sudden more “truly christian” than the catholics? Any YES from any “True christian” sect just begs the question by assuming it’s the true faith. And you can say that of any “true” religion, too. There’s no such thing and incoherent suggest otherwise.
Further, christianity is simply not JUST the teachings of christ. There isn’t a christian alive today who can meaningfully disagree.
A national rally like the one done a few weeks ago would scare the crap out of any bigot. Even if the participants in those rallies were peaceful, they are just beginning to grasp the consequences of their reckless actions. They’ve been doing it for to long all over the country and the LGBT community is sick and tired of their irrational rhetoric. I personally don’t care if they think, me going to city hall with my banner that reads “I’m a victim of H8″ is considered by them a hateful act. I don’t care if they think that me, marrying my husband, is somehow related to their marriages failure. I’ll boycott, I’ll go to rallies, and I’ll voice my opinion until I’m heard.
IF THEY WANT A “MOB” LET’S GIVE THEM ONE, I AM SICK OF ALL OF THESE “SO-CALLED” CHRISTIANS,MORMONS,CATHOLICS, ACTING LIKE THEY GIVE A SHIT ABOUT “HUMANS BEINGS/FAITH”, WHEN THE TRUE FAITH WAS AND HAS BEEN STLOEN FROM THESE NEO CONS FOR DECADES ALREADY- I SAY LET’S BUILD THE ARENA AND BRING BACK THE LIONS AND START FEEDING THEM AGAIN!
TO ALL WHO THINK,ACT,TREAT, OTHERS DIFFERENT DUE TO YOUR SO CALLED FAITH(=BIBLE BULLSHIT”) YOU ‘JESUS FREAKS’ SHOULD JUST ‘OFF YOURSELVES’ AND GO TO YOUR “FAKE GOD” AND LEAVE THE PEOPLE WHO ARE NOT YOU (& NEVER WILL BE… STUPID THAT WAY) TO LIVE IN A HAPPY GLOBAL ENVIRONMENT WITHOUT ALL YOUR HATE, BECAUSE NOW YOU CREATED MY HATE FOR ALL OF YOU AND IS NOW GOING TO BE YOUR PROBLEM A-HOLES NAZIS, TIL THE END!
QUEERS IN THE 80-90′S WE KICKED ASS, WHY IS EVERYONE SO WEAK IN THEIR JUSTICE?? FIGHT BACK IN “ALL POSSIBLE WAYS, LEGAL OR NOT! JUST F’N DO IT! WE DID IT, WHY ARENT YOU? WHY NO RIOT? I GUESS THIS DIFFERENT TIME IN HISTORY, IS NOT AS SERIOUS TO YOU ‘GAYS’, AS IT WAS FOR US ‘QUEERS’ IN THE 80′S- BUT IT IS..”THINK” GET IT? FIGHT HARD, FIGHT BACK, NEVER STOP, BE AT THEIR FRONT DOORS EVERY SAT/OR/ SUN AND YELL SO LOUD THEY CAN’T HEAR ABOUT THEIR ‘FAKE GODS’ INSTEAD THEY WILL HEAR THE TRUE SOUNDS OF JUSTICE, DON’T FORGET THE TORCHES! P.S. IT SHOULD BE “LGQBT” NOT “LGBT”- LEARN YOUR HISTORY. LET’S MAKE THIS THERE HELL ON EARTH! FAG IN YOUR FACE! PJ*
It’s time for MARCH ON WASHINGTON – SUMMER 2010!
LETS FACE IT , FOLKS, WE ARE THE CASH COWS OF THE RELIGIOUS RIGHT AND THE MORMONS. THEY NEED US TO MADE OODLES OF BUCKS FOR THEM. DID YOUR REALLY THINK THEY COULD HAVE RAISED THAT KIND OF CASH (FOR PROP
FOR THE HOMELESS, THE HUNGRY OR EVEN KATRINA?? THEY NEED US !!-TO SCARE THE PANTS OFF OF AMERICA !!
Regarding a suggestion for a March on Washington in the summer of 2010: I think, in a way, we are “past” that. I attended the 1993 March on Washington. It was fun, but also really chaotic. It was like one huge pride fair. Did it have any impact whatsoever on policy, public attitudes, or even private self-esteem? I’d say, in my estimation, such effects were minimal. (I’ll grant that it was good for cross-geographic socializing and making friends.) In comparing that March on Washington and its rather minimal effect regarding our civil rights with the MAJOR, conversation-starting effects of recent Prop 8 protests, as well as invaluable help from straight politicians and media allies, I’m convinced a single, mass march would yield a very poor bang for the buck, particularly in the present internet age (which was not in place yet in 1993). The travel for a million people to converge on Washington, DC would not be cheap. Let’s just guesstimate that the march would collectively cost $500 million — half a billion dollars. That’s travel, accommodations, publicity, security, etc. What if that $500 million went instead to fund things like:
– all manner of netroots activities and initiatives
– op/ed essay writing initiatives
– effective TV, billboard, and print ads
– lobbying
– speakers for schools, civic organizations, churches, etc.
– scholarships for local organizers
– faith-based initiatives
– getting remaining homophobes elected out of office
??
My theory: The latter would be a MUCH smarter way to use/expend resources.
Good job Wayne. At least one organization is taking the fight to our enemies instead of having them over for brunch and cocktails. We should make donations to TWO instead of the HRC and help Wayne continue his fight against the lies and hypocrisy that is thrown against us.
The Religious Right believes that if you tell a lie 5 times (Nazi manifesto) people will believe it. Bush said the same thing. What they do is not only un-christian, it is Blasphemous. Bearing false witness and speaking for god are both 10 commandments that are Sins against God, and Man. They need to be confronted, exposed and people need to get direct mailings telling them who we and our families are. Education will disarm their weapons of fear and ignorance. Direct Mail, Newspaper ads, billboards etc. This is what they use, lets copy them.
FAGINYOURFACE Said: “I SAY LET’S BUILD THE ARENA AND BRING BACK THE LIONS AND START FEEDING THEM AGAIN!”
I’m almost certain that would be considered animal abuse. Those poor lions haven’t done anything to us. Why should they be punished with a diet of bullshit?
There’s no such thing as “christianity.”
It doesn’t exist, and hasn’t since the time of Jesus.
There is “Paulianity” (he turned it into a *marketable* religion) and “Churchianity (which turned it into a *money-making* religion);” then there are the teachings of Jesus.
Three TOTALLY different things.
As Gandhi said (paraphrasing):
“I like your Christ; your Christians, not so much.”
G.K. Chesterton wrote that “Christianity has never been tried and found wanting, but found difficult and untried.”
I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: people who believe in talking snakes and talking burning bushes and magic underpants and gold tablets and all the rest are not going to be swayed by logical arguments, whether they be contained in mailers, ads, billboards, or whatever.
If “God loves gay people” suddenly appeared in sky in flaming letters a mile high, they’d attribute it to sky-writing, or the devil, or both.
Mormons can’t embrace GLBTQ people without changing one of the most basic tenets of their theology: you can’t go to the highest level of heaven unless you procreate. Mr. and Mrs. God Do The Deed on Planet Kobol to create new souls. Mormons who haven’t been married in a temple and made lots of babies can’t become “as gods.”
They’re a pagan fertility cult … no more, no less.
I like Wayne Besen calling the evangelicals and the roman catholics on their mutual hatred of mormons.
Evidently they hate us MORE.
But we already knew THAT.
Don’t waste the GLBTQ community’s time, energy and money on the konstipated konservative kristianist kultist krazy bullies … you’re not going to accomplish anything. 90% of *organized* monotheism has ALREADY consigned us to hell.
I doubt that G-d has, but, unlike them, *I* don’t presume to speak for Her / Him.
Cheers,
Bud Burgoon-Clark
San Diego CA USA
It is damn time some of these religious groups were called onto the carpet for their very obvious and blatant bigotry and their ongoing persistent messages of hate towards homosexuals. The legal union of two people, regardless of their gender, is a civil rights issue and has absolutely nothing to do with the church whatsoever, unless the couple so chooses to seek out the blessing of the church community as well. Over the years how many hundreds of thousands of heterosexual couples have sought out and been recognized in a civil marriage held down at the local city or town hall? And they are still legally recognized in the community as being a married couple. So if the Mormon Church wants to whine and cry because they feel they are being singled out, it is because they are getting what they asked for, not from the homosexual community, but from some of their own people who are sick and tired of being lied to, people who realize on their own what the church and how the church is treating other people.
I find it laughable that the Mormon Church, which avows every man the right to free agency, and which itself withstood vehement intolerance for many years, is now a perpetrator of intolerance itself. I remember, as a younger man, being counseled that “there is no such thing as homosexuality, only homosexual behavior,” a platitude which made about as much sense as “there is no such thing as adultery, only adulterous behaviour.” How many Mormon lives has the Church shattered, and now it seeks to take that battle out into the non-Mormon world and to shatter non-Mormon lives as well. It strikes me as somewhat ironic that an organization which itself redefined marriage in the 19th century should now be defining marriage in the 21st century. How short are the memories of zealots.
LOrion bravo, its true that true Christians are few in number and we must not be complacent any longer the entire world if falling apart while we sit around doing everything but helping the world.
What you’re doing is giving the hardliner fundamentalists a reasonable face (the so-called moderate religionists). You both refer to the bible as a source of authority, just differently. And by doing that, you continue to validate and affirm its authority, which emboldens the fundamentalists…you may not be an active player in homophobia–you can even condemn it and provide a non-homophobic (desperate move, really) rendering of the bible…but you’re still relying on the bible as a moral authority. That act translates to helping them use it to affrim their bigotry while sidelining your “true” interpretation as a mere theological squabble…of minor importance. You can’t dismantle sexism by being a sexist… You have no power, and you’re not going to get it. You don’t get to pick and choose.