When the official FBI report of violent, anti-queer bashing comes out each year, it inevitably includes multiple murders and extreme acts of violence and mayhem committed against queer people. These acts are invariably committed by perpetrators inspired by the flagrant and incessant queer-bashing masquerading as religious freedom from the pulpits of churches and the throne rooms of despicable, anti-queer Christianist groups.
In contrast, Gary Cass of the Christian Anti-Defamation Commission has complied a list of the absolute worst instances of Christian bashing across the entire country for all of 2008.
A word of caution: The following list is not for the faint-of-heart nor the squeamish. It includes such dastardly acts as telling jokes, staging musicals, knocking over political yard signs, and the use of colorful language. The CADC list includes:
#10: Jack Black Musical Video
#9: Bill Maher Gratuitously Attacks Pope
#8: ESPN Anchor Dana Jacobson’s “F— Jesus” Remark
#7: Minnesota University Professor Desecrates Communion
#6: Religulous the Movie
#5: Chaplains Fired for Praying in Jesus’ Name
#4: Colorado Law Criminalizes the Bible
#3: Barack Obama Defames Christianity
#2: Vice Presidential Candidate Sarah Palin Is Attacked
And finally, the #1 Christian Bashing Instance in America for 2008 … drumroll, if you please …
#1: Radical Homosexuals Assault Prop 8 Marriage Supporters in California
During and after the November campaign stories flooded in of pro-Prop 8 signs being taken, people verbally and physically assaulted, church property and private automobiles vandalized, and person’s jobs and pastor’s lives threatened simply for exercising their right to campaign and vote in support of traditional marriage.
(emphasis: mine)
Cass bleats, “It is time for the Christian bashing to stop and for Christians to no longer be treated like second-class citizens. Anti-Christian bigotry is real and growing. Those who engage in it should be exposed and called to account.”
The CADC list and Cass’ lament are hardly to be taken seriously. The majority of the population of the United States of America are self-professed Christians, and they don’t whine about being second-class citizens, because they’re not. They’re the majority. In reality, it is the Cass-variety Christianists who are the oppressors. Acting on their sick obsession with what other people do in their bedrooms, they justify turning their fellow citizens, who happen to be queer, into second class citizens by taking away fundamental rights and, in far too many instances, taking their lives as well.
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sarah palin was attacked? That’s news to me.
Yes, Palin was attacked by an unidentified squirrel and his moose-like companion. It’s assumed both perps have tendencies, if you know what I mean.
In a twist of irony some friends of mine – a gay couple – are known as Moose & Squirrel because of their appearance; I’m pretty sure they had nothing to do with the moose & squirrel attack on Palin however – unless she’s visited Wales in the last six months that is.
Incidentally, as of 6 Jan 09 the wikipedia article on violence against LGBT people lists eleven queer-bashings in 2008 including five (possibly six) murders, one arson attack and a gang-rape. I would not consider the list exhaustive – until I updated it a few moments ago the list did not include the murder of Romel Sucuzhanya, the straight Ecuadorian man attacked and killed on 7th December for appearing to be gay, and the murder was quite high-profile.
I loved how the most extreme incident on the Cass list was the somewhat vaguely worded “people verbally and physically assaulted… for exercising their right to campaign and vote in support of traditional marriage.” Not a single specific incident is mentioned, and every claim of physical assault of which I am aware has either been shown to have been heavily provoked (e.g. the polystyrene cross incident) or not to have involved direct physical violence, merely intimidation (the Castro “mobbing”).
That must be an entirely different Moose and Squirrel.
The RRR is very carefully trying to concoct this false impression that queer people are violent oppressors. If they repeat their “Big Lie” often enough, they assume people will eventually believe it.
In the meantime, they’re deliberately ignoring scum like this.