Poor, Poor ADF (Bringing in the Sheaves)

Hate group leader Michael Farris is attempting to exploit ADF's hate group designation. Alliance Defending Freedom is designated as an anti-LGBT hate group for good cause. Yet, on Thursday Farris sent out an email titled “Fighting the ‘hate’ label.” Now you might think that their choices are:

1. Factually dispute the designation as a hate group with Southern Poverty Law Center or;
2. Mend their ways. 

Instead, they have a different strategy:

Charges Against Ed Murray Are Not Representative of Anything

Seattle Mayor Ed Murray

The anti-LGBT hate site, LifeSiteNews is running a post titled “Seattle’s homosexual mayor faces multiple child rape allegations.” Obviously, this has nothing to do with the Catholic Church or important news. The reason that LifeSiteNews is running this is to denigrate gay people. They are obsessed with gay people. LSN's tags on the piece are “homosexuality, rape, seattle mayor ed murray.” Their pernicious intent is to claim that gay men are child molesters. It is a call to stereotype. It is not true!

It is important to remember that these are allegations against Mayor Ed Murray of Seattle. Yet, even if true, what is the point? For example, quoting from the Washington Post regarding an incident that gained some notoriety:

An amusing dissertation on Satanism with some homophobia thrown in

“No Satanist ever called me a faggot.”

John Horvat II writes: “A Call to Protest the Growing Threat from Satanism.” It is an exposition of hypocrisy. Horvat is V.P. of the American Society for the Defense of Tradition, Family and Property (TFP). I generally describe TFP as a cult formed with the hypothetical marriage of Opus Dei to the John Birch Society. It has its origins in Central and South American dictatorships fighting agrarian reform; some quite brutally. Threat? TFP is un-American and neofascist and it has some ties to Nazis who emigrated to the Americas after World War II (on forged Red Cross passports facilitated by the Vatican).

LiMandri: I was right all along about same-sex marriage

Charles LiMandri excuses his bigotry with religious belief (he professes to be an ultra-conservative Catholic). LiMandri predicted that marriage equality would bring civil war to the United States. Gay marriage was always an end-of-world proposition. We are more than two years post-Obergefell and not much has happened in the way of revolt or the world coming to an end but that doesn't stop Charles LiMandri from claiming otherwise.

LiMandri's dipsie is titled: “Same-sex ‘marriage’: Religious right was right all along.” After some preliminaries with the usual rhetoric:

End-of-World, Part 1

AFA tries to intimidate with absurd threat to "primary" Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen

American Family Association is a hate group. Representative Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (my Congress critter in Miami Beach) knows that AFA is a hate group. Ileana is a GOPer but she has a transgender son, Rodrigo.

Today's missive from hate group leader Tim Wildmon is titled: “Representative Ileana Ros-Lehtinen voted for sex changes in military.” That is not entirely accurate. She voted against an amendment to the Defense Authorization that would ban all treatment for gender dysphoria except for mental health care. That includes the service member's children.

David Benham tells a whopper

Not exactly the rocket science look

The Benham Brothers are not exactly the brightest bulbs. David Benham's latest story causes me to wonder if he measures intellect by his own shortcomings. According to the Brothers' latest piece titled “Former Lesbian Finds New Identity—in Christ:”

Last week, on the same day Eugene Peterson came out in favor of gay marriage—and later retracted —I (David) had a great conversation with a same-sex attracted young woman who came out of the lesbian lifestyle and surrendered her life to Jesus.

I am no great fan of Caitlyn Jenner but she deserves a fair measure of respect

Photo credit: Us Weekly

The headline at LifeSiteNews reads: “Transgender Republican Bruce Jenner may run for Senate, will push LGBT agenda.” LSN is a far-right Catholic outlet.

Doug Mainwaring, who wrote that headline, wants to ensure that readers know that he does not approve of Caitlyn Jenner. This imbecile is an openly gay man who should realize that the same people who he writes for don't approve of him. The fact that he returned to his ex-lesbian wife is irrelevant to them. The fact that he writes bigoted anti-LGBT pieces is irrelevant to them. At the end of the day, he is just one more homosexual.

No AFA - The Clintons did not murder someone and he was not about to testify against them

American Family Association, a certified hate group, has joined the conspiracy chorus of people claiming that the Clintons had someone murdered. According to Michael Haverluck at AFA's “news” blog: “Witness exposing Clinton Foundation found dead.” Haverluck, and seemingly hundreds of conspiracy theorists, have been parroting a piece at WND. WND, of course, was Birther Central for a number of years. It is essentially the conservative Christian version of the National Enquirer.

Conservative Catholic philosophers are in no position to determine medical truth

Despite some pretensions to the contrary, Witherspoon Institute remains a fundamentalist Catholic organization headed by an Opus Dei numerary. Monday, at Witherspoon's blog, Gerard T. Mundy writes: “Hiding from the Sun: Gender Ideology’s Attack on Truth.”

I cannot find Mundy's academic background. Suffice it to say, he is probably not a board certified psychiatrist. According to the post, “Gerard T. Mundy teaches philosophy at Saint Peter’s University, Jersey City.” Apparently Mundy was with St. Peter's University for about three years, presumably as an adjunct instructor. Given that truth is at issue, there was a link to his bio at the philosophy department. That link is gone.

Hate group leader having a meltdown over sane Republicans

“Hartzler's amendment would have prohibited the military health system from providing any treatment for gender dysphoria other than mental health counseling.”

Mat Staver is pissed. Come to think of it, Mat Staver, leader of Liberty Counsel, is perpetually pissed. This time it is because the House of Representatives rejected Amendment 10 to the 2018 National Defense Re-Authorization Act. The vote was 204 for and 219 opposed. Opponents included 24 Republicans. Apparently Staver thinks that Christians are entitled to all Republican votes (which is often the case).

I am a "Marriage Supporter" - From whom do I require protection?

Frank Schubert in 2008 pandering to the faithful
for Proposition H8 in California

It is a predictable pattern. Brian S. Brown sends out a gimme and a day or so later, Frank Schubert, forwards the same email to the same recipients with his own comments added. Schubert, who is still the “political director” of National Organization for Marriage is a staunch Defender of the Faith. I guess that if NOM gets enough cash and enough of a cause, Schubert's firm can get back on the food line. The subject of Schubert's email is “FW: 🚨Protect Marriage Supporters Now!” I have no idea what that little graphic on the subject line is supposed to be.

Mollie Hemingway added her usual BS to the ABC/ADF "story"

“Accurate reporting doesn't require Hemingway's approval. It would have been biased not to reference Alliance Defending Freedom's designation as a hate group.”

Mollie Hemingway, writer at The Federalist, has a spectacularly overrated intellect and a hallmark of her writing is intellectual dishonesty. Consider her post Thursday titled: “ABC News: Christians Who Believe In The First Amendment Are A ‘Hate Group’.” Did I mention that Hemingway is persistently intellectually dishonest?

No, Ms. Hemingway, this has nothing to do with the First Amendment. Christians who routinely denigrate and attempt to marginalize LGBT people are, indeed, a “Hate Group.” In this case that would be Alliance Defending Freedom. 

Alliance Defending Freedom attacks ABC for accurately referring to it as a "Hate Group"

ADF is demanding — demanding mind you — an apology from ABC News for referring to the organization as a hate group. They are also demanding that ABC retract the article. Jordyn Pair (whoever that might be) writes at The Federalist:

“Americans’ trust in media is cratering, and the blatant bias and lack of professionalism that ABC attempted to pass off as news can only serve to confirm and intensify that distrust,” said ADF Director of Communications Kerri Kupec.

A new argument from Michelle Cretella for a Catholic outlet

Michelle Cretella is on a crusade to convince people
that gender dysphoria does not exist

Thursday, at National Catholic Register, Marcia Segelstein writes “What if Your Child is “Gender Confused?” At the top of the piece is a photo of Jazz Jennings captioned “Jazz Jennings, a teenage boy who has gained fame for presenting himself as a female on his YouTube channel…” Segelstein's polemic is an interview with Michelle Cretella who a) is not currently a licensed physician and; b) has no expertise or experience treating pediatric gender dysphoria. Once people start writing about “confusion” you can be certain that their piece is religious dogma in contrast to anything remotely serious about human sexuality.

Mollie Hemingway has a rather odd headline

Mollie munching on a mic -
and apparently staying hydrated

Mollie Hemingway, who writes for The Federalist is one of those people whose intellect is grossly overrated. Today, she has a piece titled “Abortion Fanatics Don’t Want Choice, They Want Fewer Babies.” I am apparently one of those “fanatics” because I believe in reproductive choice. Hemingway's hyperbole is intellectually dishonest. More importantly, wanting fewer babies is, well … a choice. No?

Hate group boycott is good for business

Not really but Target (NYSE: TGT) shares were up sharply this morning after the company raised its profit and revenue outlook for the second quarter as more people shopped at its stores in April and May. Shares have advanced (as of mid-morning) about 4%.

American Family Association, an anti-LGBT hate group, takes credit for every challenge that Target has faced — mostly due to Americans' shift to online merchants. Therefore, they should take credit for more foot traffic in Target stores. I jest and they won't.

The Sprigg and Ex-Trans Crackpottery

Peter Sprigg of Family Research Council is jumping for joy late Wednesday because 15 people claim to be ex-trans. Besides being in the employ of a hate group, Sprigg is a Baptist minister, not a mental health worker.

First some image-of-God warm-up:

… our maleness or femaleness, and the complementarity of the two, is part of the “image of God” with which each of us is created by God. Linda Seiler, who struggled with gender identity issues growing up, said this means that “gender is sacred” and that “rejecting one’s God-given sex is rebelling against the Creator.” Speaker Nate Oyloe applied the concept to marriage, saying, “Divorce is the image of God, masculine and feminine, being torn apart.” Another speaker, who formerly lived a lesbian lifestyle and is now living a life of chastity, gave a personal testimony in which she declared, “I was born with a sinful and rebellious nature, but I was reborn in the imago dei (image of God).”

Lawyer who argued Obergefell is not concerned over Kennedy rumors

Just a quickie from one of my source publications:

Ropes & Gray's Douglas Hallward-Driemeier, who argued the historic gay marriage challenge in the Supreme Court, doesn't buy the fears that any successor to Justice Anthony Kennedy will jeopardize the Obergefell decision. “We now have hundreds of thousands of individuals acting in reliance on 'Obergefell.' And society has moved forward,” he says.

Brian S. Brown outlines an agenda

The email from Brian S. Brown, head of National Organization for Marriage, is titled “It's Time To Protect Marriage Supporters From Governmental Discrimination.” That of course indulges in the logical fallacy of begging the question. I qualify as a “marriage supporter” and there is no evidence that his constituency requires protection from the government. If anything they require protection from dishonest money-grubs.

AFA is going to be mighty pleased that Target announced a gender neutral back-to-school fashion line

I am just waiting to get the anti-LGBT missive this afternoon from American Family Association. It seems that their favorite Target has announced a back-to-school line of clothes that is gender neutral. I am quite certain that AFA will find some reason that Target's business decision is offensive to (some) Christians.

A cynical Trump exploits the Christian Right

Wednesday, the headline at CBN News reads “Faith Leaders Pray for Trump in Oval Office, Enjoy 'Open Door' at White House.”

About two dozen evangelical leaders spontaneously prayed with President Trump in the Oval Office Monday during a day-long "listening session" with the Office of Public Liaison.

Johnnie Moore, a former senior vice-president at Liberty University, posted pictures of the prayer time Tuesday night on social media but emphasized that it was more than just a photo op.
[…]
Moore said faith leaders are enjoying frequent access to officials throughout the Trump administration and explained: "We enjoy an open door, not just in the Eisenhower Building, but in the West Wing."

Head of Russian Orthodox Church touts therapeutic value of exorcisms to treat mental illness

Patriarch Kirill I of Moscow (Vladimir Mikhailovich Gundyayev)
Maybe he'll light that hat on fire

During a visit to a convent, Patriarch Kirill said that trained psychiatrists are sometimes confronted with mental illnesses that they are unable to scientifically explain. The Russian Orthodox Church has an app for that. Kirill went on to claim that exorcisms are quite valuable in the treatment of various forms of mental illness (apparently not the one that afflicts him).

Anti-trans is anti-LGBT - putting the entire community at risk

Attacking transgender people means attacking the science. It is thus an attack on the gay community as well.

The Crusades never really ended

Transgender people are now serving as a proxy for the religious conservatives' war on sexual diversity. North Carolina served as a perfect example of this phenomenon. When the state essentially outlawed trans kids, at the very same time they nullified all local LGBT nondiscrimination laws that offered some protections to gay people in some locales.

More importantly, they are going after all of our community's children as they relentlessly attack trans kids and their parents. At the same time they are attacking gay kids and kids who are being parented by gay couples. At the end of the day they are insisting that sexual orientation and sexual identity are a choice. At the moment they are doing so primarily through attacks on transgender children but we are all under siege.

Hilarious headline from LifeSiteNews

The staunch Defenders of the Faith at LifeSiteNews don't get satire or humor. If they did they would never run with this headline:

Here’s how one saintly pope would clean up gay orgies at the Vatican.

They go on to explain (the folks are LifeSiteNews are not big fans of Pope Francis):

The Vatican under Pope Francis has been completely silent after news recently broke of a high-ranking monsignor who was arrested some two months ago in the act of hosting a cocaine-fueled homosexual orgy in a building right next to St. Peter’s Basilica.

Oops. Later:

Questions that Jack Phillips should have been asked

The View: Paula Faris and Jack Phillips

Over the next six to nine months we can expect to hear much from Jack Phillips. Alliance Defending Freedom believes that his case can be won in the court of public opinion. In 2012, Phillips owner of Masterpiece Cakeshop in Lakewood, Colorado, refused to make a wedding cake for a gay couple, Dave Mullins and Charlie Craig in defiance of the state's nondiscrimination law.

In 2014 the Colorado Civil Rights Commission found Phillips guilty of discrimination. In August, 2015 the Colorado Court of Appeals upheld the Commission's ruling. In April, 2016 the Colorado Supreme Court declined to hear an appeal. In July, 2016, Phillips appealed to the United States Supreme Court. A year later the Court agreed to hear the case.

Forget Atlantic Broadband

One more screw you to be incorporated into Google search and Google News. Bad enough that they have kept me on hold for over 30 minutes but they push an incessant stream of advertisements to me so that I cannot do anything else. They even blast ads in Spanish. I don't speak Spanish.

This coincides with their horribly distorted little ditty played over and over again. The ad stream is intentionally over-amped. If you turn it down you will not be able to hear if a human ever comes on line.

Heritage editor uses offensive Third Reich reference to smear GuideStar and SPLC

Ken McIntyre

As a Jew I find it highly offensive to compare relative trivialities to the Nazi extermination machine. An entire branch of my family literally went up in smoke. I don't know much about Ken McIntyre other than the fact that he is a senior editor of Heritage Foundation's blog, Daily Signal. I have written about him once before.

Monday, McIntyre has penned: “We Hear You: GuideStar, Parroting SPLC, Loses Way in ‘Hate Group’ Rhetoric.” I do not mean to suggest that GuideStar's work or the work of Southern Poverty Law Center is trivial. Not at all. It's just that no one will die or has died because GuideStar chose to include SPLC's hate group designation in its information.

It's about children you imbeciles

Walt Heyer circa 2014

Gay and transgender children are in peril because some people want to conform the world to scripture. It is grotesque. It is also infuriating. These morons are endangering the very lives of innocent kids.

Monday, for example, Walt Heyer has a post at The Federalist titled: “Doctors Admit They Don’t Know Which Kids Should Gender Transition But Do It To Them Anyway.” That is false. Doctors do know which kids are better off with a social transition and doctors don't do it anyway. The child does. This we know. The subtitle of his moronic essay reads: “Anyone playing this ‘select-a-gender’ game with children is complicit in turning young psyches against themselves and the truth of who they are.”

On Sale: Pray Away the Gay Fruitcake

“Mr. Howard is not writing for gay people. He is writing about gay people. The framing is as dishonest as the content.”

One Deon Howard writes: “The John 15 Key to Leaving Same-Sex Lust in Your Past.” Once again those ancient chronicles are a source of gay conversion therapy.

Sarcasm aside, sites advocating gay conversion or pray-away-the gay are more potentially harmful to children than the porn that the self-righteous crowd are perpetually fretting over. Parents who attempt to change their gay kids into heterosexuals are likely to raise miserable, neurotic children who will carry resentment into adulthood.

Liberty Counsel IS a hate group

I finally got around to reviewing Liberty Counsel's complaint against GuideStar (see below). My guess is that GuideStar (if they don't try to settle the matter) will file a motion to dismiss for failure to state a claim. In other words, even if the allegations are true there is no cause of action. The federal question is awkwardly hinged on a trademark issue.

GuideStar aside, I have every right to state my opinion that Liberty Counsel is a hate group. It is my considered opinion that Liberty Counsel is a hate group. If Mr. Staver wishes to contact me again I would be more than happy to explain why I have reached that conclusion.

Hate Group Leader: "I’m a Pediatrician. How Transgender Ideology ..."

Once someone uses the phrase “transgender ideology” you know that they are a religious zealot.

Michelle Cretella is president of the American College of Pediatricians — not to be confused with the real professional peer group, the American Academy of Pediatrics.

“Pediatrician?” Not if you consider board certification a prerequisite. Not only is Cretella not certified by the American Board of Pediatrics but she is not certified in any field according to the American Board of Medical Specialties. In fact she doesn't even seem to be a currently licensed physician.

Jason and David Benham: Saving America from collapse due to gays

The combined intelligence of a geranium

Thursday, Jason and David Benham have penned “3 Keys to Saving America From Collapse.” In their anti-LGBT diatribe the Benham brothers never get around to telling us what those three “keys” are but there is an over-supply of anti-LGBT hyperbole without directly mentioning LGBT people. These are two very angry people who aren't nearly as clever as they think. Moreover, those two posturing patriots are as un-American as the Taliban.

There are the usual mildewed bromides like:

So with grateful hearts, we celebrated the Fourth of July this year and are inspired to carry on the legacy of freedom for future generations—because July 4, 1776, didn't come easy, and it wasn't without cost.

And eventually, well … behold the batshit:

The maniacal Michael Brown - "Yes, Gay Activists Are After Your Children"

There is nothing new in claiming that gay people are predators of children. That was the original meaning of The Homosexual Agenda©. The assertion defines bigotry and Michael Brown is most certainly a bigot. Thursday Mr. Brown asserts (with intentionally conflicting language) that gay people seek to grow the community by molesting children.

But while the “seduction instead of reproduction” statement is an ugly and unfair exaggeration, what cannot be denied is this: The homosexual movement seeks to grow by the indoctrination of our children, from toddlers to preschoolers, and from elementary school to college. LGBT activism thrives on indoctrination.

Brown doubles down - Raising money off of dying child

Brian S. Brown's latest missive on behalf of International Organization for the Family is titled: “We won't let Government Trample On Parents and Destroy Families.” The text begins:

The tragic case of little Charlie Gard should be a wake-up call to every person of good will that if we don't fight for the natural family now while we still can, soon it may be too late. The state and Big Government will have amassed such power for itself, able to force its decrees on citizens, that average citizens will be virtually powerless to do anything about it. Parental rights will be trampled, and families will be destroyed in the process.

Here's a surprise - Richard Land does NOT support the Colorado baker

It is rare but there are times when American Family Association's blog is more useful than a dead monkey. Wednesday, for example:

Dr. Richard Land of Southern Evangelical Seminary tells OneNewsNow he supports Phillips' conviction but believes the Holy Spirit might direct another baker to do things differently.

Later on (to digress a tad):

Phillips has said he serves homosexual customers in his shop, meaning he doesn't turn them away at the door, but he refuses to create bawdy cakes for bachelor parties, anti-American cakes, and demonic images for Halloween.

LifeSiteNews polemicist calls Pride parades "child abuse"

Mark Mallett's pretentious twitter photo

I have no clue who Mark Mallett is. He describes himself as “Canadian Catholic singer/songwriter and author.” He sells books on his website but seems to be unknown on Amazon. He has some odd ideas about children and sexuality. Wednesday, at LifeSiteNews he writes: “State-sanctioned child abuse is happening all around us.”

After some obligatory preliminaries about abusive priests (in an effort to overcome the inevitable):

Ironically, it is very often the same people who cry foul over the Church’s abuse who are now participating in the mass abuse of children through what is called the “Pride” parade that takes place annually in cities throughout the world.

Stella Morabito takes on a child drag queen - Guess who wins?

Stella Morabito is a wonderful reverse barometer. In 2014 she claimed that the goal — the real purpose — of marriage equality was to abolish the institution of marriage entirely. How are we doing Stella? In February, 2016 Morabito asserted that the real purpose of the LGBT agenda was to silence dissent (apparently we need to try harder). Morabito has also opined that anti-bullying programs cause more bullying. In May of this year, she was attacking SPLC with little originality and great ineptitude.

In February, 2016 Family Research Council, an anti-LGBT hate group, hosted a lecture by Morabito titled: “Bruce or Caitlyn? Why Everyone Should Care About the Transgender Movement.” Presumably the theologians at the Vatican are more reliable than science and medicine. Next time she is ill she should see one of those eunuchs.

Hate group leader exploits a dying child to raise money

Images from Brian S. Brown's money-grub for his anti-LGBT hate group

The subject of the email from Brian S. Brown reads 🚨Save Charlie Gard🚨 (including the tacky graphics).

Save Charlie Gard

You are no doubt aware of the controversy surrounding the fate of Charlie Gard, the 10-month-old UK baby whose life hangs in the balance after first his doctors, then the UK Government, and finally the European Court of Human Rights decided that his parents should not be allowed to pursue a potentially life-saving treatment for him.

Hate group leader Linda Harvey is now a LifeSiteNews contributor

Linda Harvey has a piece up today on LifeSiteNews titled: “National teachers’ union wants to kick ex-homosexual educators out of convention.” Harvey actively competes with Peter LaBarbera for inane bigotry honors and mediocrity of wit. I rarely write about either of them because the lunatic fringe is not worth the wear and tear on my keyboard. LaBarbera is also a regular contributor to LifeSite.

Welcome to America, the land of the free — unless you belong to the National Education Association, the nation’s largest union.

A hate group leader has found a new anti-LGBT cause

Mat Staver is a man of mediocre intellect who
sets himself up as an apostle

Mat Staver, leader of Liberty Counsel does not like police cars displaying rainbows during pride parades.

Mat Staver has devoted a good portion of his life to denigrating people he disapproves of. Staver's obsession is irrational and coupled with a comic book villain's mean streak. I am no expert but Staver's abject hatred of LGBT people is certainly not Jesus-like. Is this a manifestation of Staver's insecurity? Seeking a rational explanation to irrational behavior is probably pointless. However, there has to be some explanation for what can only be described as evil madness.