TEMPE AZ PASTOR CALLS FOR GAY EXECUTIONS AND MURDER OF PRESIDENT OBAMA

We've heard vile rhetoric from right wing religious fanatics before but this guy is so far over the edge, he's fallen off the cliff! If anyone deserves to be shattered off the rocks on his way down and splattered across the canyon floor, Pastor Steven L. Anderson of Faithful Word Baptist church here in Tempe, AZ is that person.

Yes, I know that statement sounds somewhat extreme and certainly doesn't show any kind of compassion for another human being, BUT - this guy is about as vile and as dangerous as any so-called human being could be.

When you publicly call for the wholesale execution (as in kill them dead) of a whole class of people who you just simply don't like because of nothing more than who they are, AND you call for the execution of the President of the United States because he supports reproductive freedoms and speaks out in support of the LGBT community, then you don't deserve any kind of compassion that would allow you to continue freely spewing such vitriolic hatred in public.

In explaining to his followers how gays are out to rape their children in order to recruit them Anderson said that the only way to stop them is to kill them:

You want to know who the biggest hypocrite in the world is? The biggest hypocrite in the world is the person who believes in the death penalty for murderers and not for homosexuals. Hypocrite. The same God who instituted the death penalty for murderers is the same God who instituted the death penalty for rapists and for homosexuals - sodomites, queers! That's what it was instituted for, okay? That's God, he hasn't changed. Oh, God doesn't feel that way in the New Testament ... God never "felt" anything about it, he commanded it and said they should be taken out and killed.

In a clear and unambiguous attempt to incite murder, he continued his rant with this:

You know why God wanted the sodomites in the Old Testament to be killed? You know why every good king of Israel, the Bible says they got rid of the sodomites in the land? You know, the good kings that came after the bad kings who had allowed the sodomites to infest their land, they had infiltrated ... King Asa got the sodomites out of the land, Jehoshaphat exterminated the sodomites that were left from the days of his father, Asa. Why? Because the sodomites are infectious, that's why. Because they're not reproducers, that goes without saying, they're recruiters.

Following up on that absurd statement, he said:

"The sodomites are recruiters and you know who they are after? Your children. They are being recruited by the sodomites. They are being molested by the sodomites. They recruit through rape, they recruit through molestation, they recruit through violation"

"Our country is run by faggots. You know who was the man who was the architect of the bailout? His name is Barney Frank, he is a pedophile..."

"That's who just sold our country into fascism. That's who just sold our corporations to the government. That's who sold out our country, a faggot!"

And about President Obama:

"God Hates Barack Obama, I hate Barack Obama. I hate Him. God wants me to Hate Barack Obama." "Someone who commits murder should get the death penalty."

That kind of public oratory is, at the very least, an attempt to incite weaker-minded individuals to violence. At worst, it's a blatant attempt to incite them to murder. Somehow, I just don't think the founding fathers intended for this kind of despicable elocution to be included under their concept of "freedom of speech." Or even, for that matter, "freedom of religion." What sane, rational person would?

I just hope that the Secret Service doesn't allow this idiot to use his church and religion as shields against prosecution. They should go after him with the same fervor they would go after anyone who threatens the life of the President of the United States. At the very least, his church's tax exempt status should be permanently revoked.

The three primary sources I used for this story are:

RightWingWatch.org
Part of Norman Lear's national organization, People For The American Way which was founded in 1981 as a civil liberties advocacy organization. It also energetically opposes the interjection of religion into politics.

This link also has two audio files of Anderson making these ridiculous, dangerous comments.

Pam'sHouseBlend.com
"An Online Magazine in the Reality-Based Community."

BoxTurtleBulletin.com
One of the most aggressive, intensive and in-depth LGBT news and commentary sources on the net.


UPDATE...
Yesterday, msnbc weighed in on Pastor Anderson's outrageous and dangerous comments. Here's what was said:


I'm glad they chose to devote air time to exposing this lunatic but I have to take exception to one of the commentator's comments. She said that she's "...not accusing him of taking action in any violent way, in any criminal way..." In my opinion, using words to incite deranged and unstable individuals to take violent action is the same thing as taking that action yourself. Culpability has got to be assigned to those who use their positions of power and authority to actively incite violence. They are as guilty as the actual perpetrators themselves and should be prosecuted as accessories before the fact.

If this isn't done with swift, sure and strong action against these people then this country is going to break down into violent and deadly enclaves pitted against each other. If that happens, then virtually all reason and all civil law will be lost.

Be Careful Out There...

If you've been paying attention to the news lately, you've probably already gotten the sense that gay violence is on the rise. Now, according to an article at 365gay.com, The National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs reports that gay hate-crimes have, indeed, risen significantly in 2008. And we still have almost 5 months to go yet. This is not good news but, unfortunately, not wholly unexpected either.

According to the article:

Since the February murder of 15 year-old Lawrence King and the brutal beating of Duanna Johnson, there have been at least 13 brutal and violent LGBT hate crimes throughout the country. The organization added that the reported crimes only may be a small number of the total, since many LGBT people are reluctant to go to police, and many of the attacks that are reported are not listed by authorities as hate crimes.

I, personally, have no doubt that the number is a lot higher. Clearly, many gays don't report incidences either because they're not out of the closet yet and fear being outed if they do report it, especially if their injuries weren't bad enough to require medical attention, or they feel that nothing is going to be done by the local authorities anyway so why bother?

That's unfortunate because it leaves these animals out on the streets free to continue their sick, perverted behaviors. The other aspect of not reporting is that it keeps the number of incidences lower than they should be and makes it easier for politicians and fanatics (frequently the same people) to claim that it's not a big enough problem to warrant passing or adding to hate-crime legislation. Just for these two reasons alone, I strongly urge anyone who is a victim of a hate-crime to report it.

If you are out of the closet and pissed off enough and fearless enough to weather some potential backlash, you could also report the incidence to your local news media as well. The more public exposure this issue gets, the stronger our case becomes to pass national hate-crimes legislation. However, If you do decide that you want to be that public about it but you're worried about potential consequences, you could ask them beforehand not to use your name in their media report if it isn't already a part of the public police record.

That being said and at the risk of sounding somewhat contradictory, I also caution everyone to be careful out there. As I've said in some of my past posts, the right-wing, religious fanatics are losing ground fast and they know it. They're desperate and the more desperate they become, the more violent their rhetoric and their actions become as well. However, the likelihood of something happening to you personally is still very, very low so don't let yourself become overly paranoid and fearsome about it either.

As practically every New Yorker knows instinctively, it's always smart to be aware of your surroundings and the people around you whenever you're out and about. That's a good idea for anyone - straight or gay.

To read the full story go to: 365gay.com

Hate Crime Will Not Be Charged In Gay Bashing

On July 17th at about 1:00 am 42-year-old Jimmy Lee Dean was severely beaten in Dallas, Texas. According to witnesses, Bobby Singleton, 29, and Jonathan Gunter, 31, both of Garland, started kicking and beating Dean with a handgun and inflicting injuries that required hospitalization. Witnesses also claim to have heard Singleton and Gunter yelling anti-gay epithets at Dean while they were beating him. Both were arrested and are about to go to trial.

As if the beating wasn't bad enough, according to a report in the Dallas Morning News last Friday the prosecutors said that they weren't going to charge the pair with a hate crime because both face the maximum penalty if found guilty, making the additional hate crime categorization unnecessary. Each suspect now faces a charge of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, a first-degree felony that, with a conviction, will put them in prison for up to 99 years.

What really bothers me about the prosecutors' decision is that the whole purpose of a hate crime charge is not only to enhance sentences but, even more importantly, to send a strong and clear message that these types of crimes are not tolerated by a civilized society. And what if they aren't given the "maximum penalty?" Does that mean that they could be paroled and put back out onto the streets to beat other gays or blacks or latinos or asians in just a matter of months? Clearly, the prosecutors' logic is flawed at best.

Fortunately, the Dallas police have said that they will categorize the attack as a hate crime for statistical purposes.

Singleton and Gunter, while awaiting indictment, are being held in lieu of more than $300,000 bail each, according to Dallas County Jail records.