Maybe it comes down to this: the Christian Right of today simply tout their stance as one of "tough love." E.G.: Bryan Fischer said that deporting all Muslims may actually be compassionate, since they would get to be with "their own kind." A monstrous statement, to be sure, but one that had conviction.
The Lies
Another reason I think that the CR's Tough Love might be gaining ground is that old lies are brought out and brandished with impunity:
The Gay subculture is one of the most violent subcultures out there. Government studies show gays are 20 times more likely to be abusive or abused in their personal relationships. This reflects an inherent emotional instability that is not conducive to good order or discipline.
The author of the piece above was referencing a thoroughly debunked 40-year-old statistic. Whether or not he knows it's a lie is, of course, another story: it's the same old lie repeated in every one of the Family Research Council's donation pleas. Along with it are the "facts": gays have a shorter life-span by 20 years, gays are unstable because their suicide rate is 6 times greater than "normal" people, and gays always have HIV-tainted blood.
But
lies are gaining ground in the fact that, given support (like a moronic
congressman), they reach the ears of the general populace: The Rachel
Maddow show (rightly) poked fun at Rep. Louie Gohmert (R., Texas) and
his assertion about supposed "terror babies." (See below). We all
laughed, but think of this: how many people had to believe in "terror
babies" before it came to Gohmert's attention? Where did the story
originate? And despite the ludicrous presentation Gohmert made, how
many believed him because he was made to look like a fool on Anderson Cooper 360?
Sometimes more support is gained when an adherent to the cause is
ridiculed by the "liberal" media. America loves an underdog.
It
may seem contradictory for a religious group based on the teachings of
Christ to espouse such potentially violent ideologies: wasn't Christ
"good-hearted" and "nice" to people? Aren't we "good" because we are
"nice" to people? Doesn't our own Statue of Liberty declare how "nice"
and compassionate a country we are? Unfortunately, "Give me your
tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to be free" is,
day-by-day, becoming an anachronism when compared to a "tough love" stance on immigration and Muslims. And
even occasional shots of "Love the sinner" - given to anaesthetize people from the pain of CR's demonization of gays - are giving way to overt lies and distortions.
Periodically, the cry will go out that the Christian Right is dead or that they are losing the culture war because their numbers are shrinking. This assertion, however, does not consider the fact that no matter what their number, their hate has become louder, yet more insidious, if that's possible. They have concentrated their strength, condensed it, and even localized it. Their national screeds and bloviators, like Tony Perkins of the Family Research Council and Lou Engle of The Call, are spearheads they hope will inflict serious wounds into a diverse democracy. The Values Voter summit, unfortunately, grows every year. Their screams concerning freedom of speech and freedom of religion grow louder with each of their setbacks or obstacles; e.g. October will be a tipping point in the Fred Phelps saga - in as much as they've distanced themselves from Phelps, they will most certainly support a Supreme Court decision for Phelps. Their kind of freedom must trump the kind of emotional vandalism Phelps heaped upon the families of war casualties.
And they will continue to trumpet lies and distortions through people like Glenn Beck, Sean Hannity, Bill O'Reilly and Rush Limbaugh. They will continue to support creationism, homophobia, Islamophobia. They will continue to foster the image of a militaristic Jesus and eschew the "kind-hearted", "bleeding hearts" and "nice" people in favor of the aggressive, political religious.
I realize that these last points make me sound polemic, but how can I sound balanced when faced with the biased, the un balanced?
How can any of us be patient for
human rights and equality when faced with aggression that is
threatening to rob us of the "kind-hearted"?
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