From Alabama Supreme Court Judge Roy Moore (above), one of the opening ceremony speakers at this past weekend's Munich Beer Hall Putsch Tea Party Convention:
"[Obama] has ignored our history and our heritage, arrogantly declaring to the world that we are no longer a Christian nation. He has elevated immorality to a new level, setting aside the entire month of June to celebrate gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender pride. He now threatens to change our law to allow homosexuality in our military ... He's apologized to the Arab world for our past, subjugated our national sovereignty by bowing down to the king of Saudi Arabia. He has pursued a socialist agenda by taking control of private companies and pushing a national health care plan with a public option. Backed by a willing Congress, he's bought off our senators and representatives with our own money in an effort to mandate his agenda."
I have several times blogged about my view that the real Christian agenda is not to block same sex marriage or hate crime laws but to criminalize homosexuality in the United States. I have also stated in the past that American Evangelical support for the Uganda nightmare is about creating a framework and a model for similar laws out of Congress.
And now, of course, the influential American Family Association has finally planted its flag in the ground on this topic and has launched a campaign to convince its Christian followers that homosexuality should be criminalized for the same reasons that we criminalize illegal intravenous drug use: both are sources of disease, crime, corruption of youth and extreme immortality.
This past weekend's nightmarish Tea Party Convention, spearheaded by Sarah Palin, surfaced many frightening issues and criminalization of homosexuality was among them.
And at the heart of this Christian campaign is a very rarely discussed fact that somehow never enters the mainstream debate on gay rights.
And it should. Christians would prefer that we don't discuss "it" because "it" is the legal grounding that will eventually provide the foundation for a direct assault in Congress and the Supreme Court.
And while most eyes in the media and in "progressive" leadership focus on Roe Vs. Wade, the more vulnerable target even higher on the Christian Republican and Tea Party agenda is Lawrence vs. Texas.
And the fact is that despite the 2003 Supreme Court decision (Lawrence vs. Texas) that invalidated sodomy laws nationwide, 13 mostly "Tea Party" states have defied the Supreme Court and still have sodomy laws that may be rarely enforced but remain on the books. And these 13 statutes will provide much of the ammunition and framework that Christian Tea Party Republicans will use when they eventually go after Lawrence vs. Texas.
With hopes high that the Christian right will retake the White House and Congress in 2012, the executive director of the American Family Association writes:
"The First Amendment has been around for 219 years, and I don't hear anybody saying we've got to get rid of it because it's so out of date. The issue is not how old a law is but how right it is. The fact remains, however, that in nearly 25% of the states in the Union, sodomy is still in the criminal code as illegal behavior.
"Think for a moment of the current social controversies that could potentially be avoided if homosexual conduct was still against the law. Gays in the military: problem solved. We shouldn't make a place for habitual felons in the armed forces. End of discussion, end of controversy. If someone objects, ask them which other felonies the military ought to overlook in screening recruits. Gay marriage: problem solved. We should never legalize unions between any two people when the union is forged specifically to engage in felony behavior. Would we sanction, for instance, the formation of a corporation whose stated purpose was to import illegal drugs? Gay indoctrination in the schools: problem solved. We don't want to raise a generation of schoolchildren to believe that felony behavior is perfectly appropriate. That's why we spend so much money warning students about the danger of drugs. Hate crimes laws: problem solved. We wouldn't throw a pastor in jail for saying that illegal behavior is not only illegal but also immoral. For instance, he's free to say that murder is not only contrary to man's law but also to God's law. End of the threat to freedom of religion and speech. Special rights for homosexuals in the workplace: problem solved. No employer should be forced to hire admitted felons to work for him. End of the threat to freedom of religion and freedom of association in the marketplace. This list could actually be extended, but you get the point. Laws not only curb dangerous and risky behavior, they keep such behavior from being normalized, sanctioned and endorsed by the rest of society, and as such render an enormous benefit to a healthy culture."
"The promos for the old movie "American Graffiti" asked the question, "Where were you in '62?" If the same question were asked about the United States, we'd have to answer: in a much better, saner and healthier place when it comes to criminal sexual conduct."
Most of our community continues to write off AFA and others like them as extremist fringe organizations that are not who "we" really are as a nation.
This is a conclusion that is among the reasons the gay rights advocacy industry has failed us. We write the nuts off while the nuts are taking us down state by state.
Open your eyes, dudes! Homosexuality criminalized in the United States as it is throughout Africa and most of the Muslim world? Ridiculous? Far-fetched?
As of today, February 9, 2010, legal same sex relationships are banned in 40 of our 50 states, and "sodomy" remains quietly criminalized in Alabama, Florida, Idaho, Kansas, Louisiana, Michigan (felony punishable by 15 years in jail for the first conviction, and life imprisonment for the second conviction), Mississippi (felony punishable by up to 10 years imprisonment), Missouri, North Carolina, South Carolina, Texas, Utah and Virginia.
Enforceable? No. If Lawrence vs. Texas is overturned? Not only enforceable but a very solid State's Rights framework for national legislation.
Those of us who think we are the REAL Christians prefer to think of these people as Christofascists. It's all right there in the name.
Posted by: Rex | Tuesday, 09 February 2010 at 08:10 AM
Yes Rex, but what are the REAL Christians doing to disavow the Christofascists and make certain that they get the chance to do their damage?
Posted by: Alan down in Florida | Tuesday, 09 February 2010 at 11:37 AM