AFA's Sany Rios: the Face of Bigotry (and Insanity)

Since it's Sunday morning, it's timely to look at some of the batshit craziness being spewed by the "godly Christian" crowd.  Always a contender for the title as one of the most hate filled and virulently anti-gay members is Sandy Rios, of the certified hate group, American Family Association.  Rios like most of the Chriatofascists has a bizarre fixation on gays and gay sex whether it's because she secretly longs to have some gay sex of her own or because we threaten her flimsy faith  system is hard to discern.  The woman needs a mental health care intervention in my view.  Right Wing Watch looks at Rios' latest explosion of verbal diarrhea.  Not surprisingly, the always racist Rios attacks Barack Obama as well.  Here are highlights:

After denouncing First Amendment protections for Muslim-Americans, American Family Association talk show host Sandy Rios saidthat despite the political setbacks of the Religious Right, “God will even the score” with President Obama and “homosexual activists.” She said that Obama and “homosexual activists” will be punished in the end for “breaking all kinds of moral laws and mocking everyone in the process.”

I would not want to be in the shoes of any of the left right now. I would not want to be in Barack Obama’s shoes. I would not want to be in the shoes of homosexual activists. I say that with humility and with fear for them because God will even the score, he will sort things out, he will be God and he will not be mocked. Whereas they think they are getting away with breaking all kinds of moral laws and mocking everyone in the process, they just don’t know God, they don’t know who they are up against and we do. And that should bring out some mercy in us because I wouldn’t want to be—what did that old evangelist say: ‘it’s a fearful thing to fall into the hands of an angry God.

Personally, I love her reference to "that old evangelist."   We have no idea who actually wrote the books of the New Testament other than it wasn't those to whom they are attributed and we know the Bible has been manipulated and re-edited over and over again over the course of the first 1,000 years of the Church.   As for "God punishing" Obama and gay activists, Rios is unclear as to whether she is call for far right nutcases to inflict the punishment as instruments of God or if that will only happen on the supposed Judgment Day.  The woman is insane and she's dangerous in that she spews hate and venom that could incite violence.

I would not want to be in the shoes of any of the left right now. I would not want to be in Barack Obama’s shoes. I would not want to be in the shoes of homosexual activists. I say that with humility and with fear for them because God will even the score, he will sort things out, he will be God and he will not be mocked. Whereas they think they are getting away with breaking all kinds of moral laws and mocking everyone in the process, they just don’t know God, they don’t know who they are up against and we do. And that should bring out some mercy in us because I wouldn’t want to be—what did that old evangelist say: ‘it’s a fearful thing to fall into the hands of an angry God. - See more at: http://www.rightwingwatch.org/content/rios-god-will-even-score-obama-and-gays#sthash.rpj2Sdvi.dpuf

I would not want to be in the shoes of any of the left right now. I would not want to be in Barack Obama’s shoes. I would not want to be in the shoes of homosexual activists. I say that with humility and with fear for them because God will even the score, he will sort things out, he will be God and he will not be mocked. Whereas they think they are getting away with breaking all kinds of moral laws and mocking everyone in the process, they just don’t know God, they don’t know who they are up against and we do. And that should bring out some mercy in us because I wouldn’t want to be—what did that old evangelist say: ‘it’s a fearful thing to fall into the hands of an angry God. - See more at: http://www.rightwingwatch.org/content/rios-god-will-even-score-obama-and-gays#sthash.rpj2Sdvi.dpuf

After denouncing First Amendment protections for Muslim-Americans, American Family Association talk show host Sandy Rios said that despite the political setbacks of the Religious Right, “God will even the score” with President Obama and “homosexual activists.” She said that Obama and “homosexual activists” will be punished in the end for “breaking all kinds of moral laws and mocking everyone in the process.” - See more at: http://www.rightwingwatch.org/content/rios-god-will-even-score-obama-and-gays#sthash.rpj2Sdvi.dpuf

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Staunton Newleader Endorses Gay Marriage in Virginia

Last week's gay marriage rulings will be placing more and more pressure on Virginia to move into the 21st century, especially with Maryland and the District of Columbia both having marriage equality just across the Potomac River.  The Christofascists led by The Family Foundation - which deserves a hate group designation by the Southern Poverty Law Center - and their  puppets in the Virginia Republican Party will resist, but the tide is inevitable, and some are calling on Virginia to change rather than ultimate face the ignominy of another ruling like that in Loving v. Virginia.  The Staunton News Leader is leading the call:

Last week’s gay rights victories in the Supreme Court leave Virginia with this question: Will ours be one of the last states to allow same-sex marriage?

It took another Supreme Court case – Loving v. Virginia in 1967 – to make interracial marriage legal across the country. We hope the Commonwealth is not such a high-profile holdout on this century’s marriage issue.

Gay marriage will eventually become the law of the entire land. Even social conservative Gov. Bob McDonnell recognized this . . . . 

Surely many Virginians agree with our local congressman, Rep. Bob Goodlatte, in thinking that “preserving the institution of traditional marriage is crucial to the stability of our society and serves the best interest of American families.”

However, more and more of us cringe at statements like Goodlatte’s. A tradition that denies loving, committed, adult couples the privileges of marriage is a tradition our society has outgrown, much as we have segregation, forced though we were, again by the Supreme Court. Any implication that families created from gay marriages undermine “the stability of our society” is either ignorant or pandering to a segment of the population that claims to be conservative but, when it comes to social issues, is really about control over other people’s lives.

The term “family values” has been co-opted by social conservatives who want all families to look a certain way. Virginia is growing beyond this. We value all families. May our constitution soon reflect this progress.

Head hate merchant at The Family Foundation, Victoria Cobb, is likely acting like someone peed in her Cheerios if she's read this editorial.

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Christianists Vow To Defy Supreme Court If It Rules For Marriage Equality

It yet another display that they believe themselves to be above the civil laws and that their rights should trump those of everyone else, some 200 Christofascists are vowing to defy the rulings of the U. S. Supreme Court should it hand down decisions supportive of gay marriage.  With the Christofascists, it is always first and last all about them and their demand that they have the unfettered right to mistreat and discriminate against others of differing beliefs, and all too often, different skin colors.  The Christofascists have truly made Christianity into something ugly and contrary to the principles of the Founding Fathers.  Think Progress looks at this mindset which is akin to that of the hardcore segregationists who sought to defy Supreme Court rulings in the 1950's and 1960's.  The list of those issuing the threat comprises a who's who of hate group leaders and far right Republicans.  Here are article excerpts:

Drawing what they called a line “we cannot and will not cross,” more than 200 conservative activists released a letter Thursday vowing to ignore any U.S. Supreme Court ruling in favor of marriage equality for same-sex couples. The signers include prominent anti-LGBT activists and major figures from the national conservative movement.

Circulated by Liberty Counsel Action chairman Mat Staver and Common Good Alliance chairman Deacon Keith Fournier, under the banner of the equally ironically named Freedom Federation, the statement bore the title, “We Stand in Solidarity to Defend Marriage and the Family and Society Founded Upon Them.” After arguing that same-sex marriage goes against “natural moral law,” the signers claim that the Supreme Court has “no authority to redefine marriage,” writing:

As the Supreme Court acknowledged in the 1992 decision of Planned Parenthood v. Casey, its power rests solely upon the legitimacy of its decisions in the eyes of the people. If the Supreme Court were to issue a decision that redefined marriage or provided a precedent on which to build an argument to redefine marriage, the Supreme Court will thereby undermine its legitimacy. The Court will significantly decrease its credibility and impair the role it has assumed for itself as a moral authority. It will be acting beyond its proper constitutional role and contrary to the Natural Moral Law which transcends religions, culture, and time.

Worse, the letter ends with a clear threat that conservatives will refuse to comply with any court ruling in support of marriage equality: “[M]ake no mistake about our resolve. While there are many things we can endure, redefining marriage is so fundamental to the natural order and the true common good that this is the line we must draw and one we cannot and will not cross.”

In addition to designated hate group leaders like Family Research Council president Tony Perkins and Traditional Values Coalition chairman Rev. Louis Sheldon, the list included Tea Party activist Ben Carson, Oklahoma State Rep. Sally Kern (R), former Ohio Secretary of State Ken Blackwell (R), former Republican presidential candidate Gary Bauer, . . . . , Focus on the Family founder Rev. James Dobson, birther Joseph Farah, and disgraced Abramoff scandal figure Ralph Reed.

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Gay Marriage Doesn’t Affect Opposite-Sex Marriage Rates

One of the most ludicrous and disingenuous talking points of the anti-gay marriage crowd (they are really anti-gay and not just anti-gay marriage) is that somehow gay marriage will harm heterosexual marriage and damage the "institution of marriage."  A new study confirms that such claims are - like just about everything else that comes out of the mouths of the Christofascists, Southern Baptist Convention and the Catholic hierarchy - lies.  Thus, the only real motivation for opposing gay marriage is to keep same sex couples inferior under the law so that the "godly Christians" can feel superior and point to anti-gay laws as a justification for their own hate and bigotry.  Here are highlights on the study findings via Think Progress:

States that have passed marriage equality legislation have seen no impact on their rates of opposite-sex marriage, according to a new study published Tuesday. 

The study, authored by Alexis Dinno and Chelsea Whitney of Portland State University’s School of Community Health, was published in the online research journal PLOS ONE. Dinno and Whitney compared rates in the 13 states which had legalized marriage equality or strong civil unions before 2009 to those in other states, finding that opposite-sex marriage rates did not differ in those states to a statistically significant degree:

“We found that state rates of opposite sex marriage in the U.S. from 1989–2009 do not significantly differ when same sex marriage and union laws are in force compared to when they are not in force, contrary both to concerns raised by opponents of same sex marriage and same sex civil unions,” the authors wrote.

The idea of marriage equality as an “attack on traditional marriage” is a favored talking point of opponents. In April, former Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum said legalizing same-sex marriage would discourage marriage among heterosexual couples because the traditional understanding of marriage as a means of reproduction would erode. The Family Research Council has argued that “traditional” marriage keeps men from cheating on their wives once the women are no longer fertile. Two anti-marriage equality advocates from the Heritage Foundation said it would lead to the erosion of marital norms, even though opposite-sex couples already cheat, divorce, and decline to have children (or are unable to), even in states that still restrict marriage.

While there is no harm to opposite-sex couples, studies have shown that ballot initiatives banning same-sex marriage are actually psychologically harmful to the gay community.

Yes, there is documented harm to same sex couples and that's the goal of opponents to gay marriage.  They actively seek to harm same sex couples and punish us for failing to adhere to their sick, ignorance, fear and hate based religious beliefs.   Yes, it's an ugly truth, but that is the face of conservative Christianity in 2013. And leading the charge are hate groups like FRC and NOM - and, of course Catholic bishops across the world.

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Even if DOMA Falls, Many Gay Couples Will Remain Second Class Citizens

With more and more people waiting for the Supreme Court's rulings in Hollingsworth v. Perry (the Prop 8 case) and United States v. Windsor (the DOMA case), increasing analysis indicates that absent a nationwide ruling for gay marriage, a striking down of DOMA alone will leave many same sex couples screwed.  We will remain second class citizens unless we emigrate from our home states to states that recognize full gay marriage.  That, of course, is precisely the goal of hate groups like Family Research Council and the National Organization for Marriage which seek to keep discrimination and mistreatment of LGBT citizens alive and well as long as possible.  They don't give a damn about "protecting marriage."  No, it's all about keeping gays inferior under the law.  A piece in the New York Times reviews the limited impact that the striking down of DOMA will have for most of us at least unless and until federal regulations and in some cases legislation is rewritten.  Here are highlights:

A Supreme Court ruling this month that could overturn the ban on federal benefits for same-sex couples is presenting the Obama administration with a series of complicated and politically sensitive decisions: how aggressively to overhaul references to marriage throughout the many volumes that lay out the laws of the United States.

The decisions could affect Social Security checks, immigration laws and military benefits for same-sex couples, among other issues, with the outcomes based on whether the couples live in a state that allows them to marry. 

Gay rights advocates, aware that a Supreme Court ruling that overturns the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act would be the beginning of their push to have the federal government recognize same-sex marriage, are urging White House officials to plan to modify hundreds of mentions of marriage throughout federal statutes and regulations.

If the justices do strike it down, they will sweep aside a law that has for years prohibited gay couples from receiving a vast array of federal benefits that married couples take for granted. But whether gay couples actually get those benefits would depend on where they live — and how vigorously President Obama seeks to change the legal language that determines whether a couple is married in the eyes of the federal government. 

For Mr. Obama, who appears eager to have his legacy defined in part by the advancement of civil rights for gay Americans, his administration’s actions after the ruling may be as important as the ruling itself.

Activists, however, are warning gay couples not to expect that federal benefits would arrive immediately, because government agencies vary widely in how they determine whether a couple is legally married. 

Some federal agencies, like the I.R.S. and the Social Security Administration, make that determination by looking to the state where a couple lives. Even with the 1996 law overturned, those agencies would deny benefits to gay couples who live in one of the 38 states that do not allow same-sex marriage.

Other agencies, like the Defense Department, already base their decision on the location of a couple’s wedding, regardless of where the couple lives now. The same-sex spouse of a service member would get health care benefits no matter where the couple lives, as long as the two married in one of the 12 states where same-sex marriage is legal. 

“Without sweeping decisions from the court, we’ll continue to have a patchwork across the country that denies all families equal protection,” Mr. Sainz said. “We are going to fight for full equality in all 50 states, including marriage.” 

It's not encouraging.  Those of us in Virginia - one of the most anti-gay states in America - will still be largely screwed and not equal citizens.  And should the GOP statewide ticket of gay haters be elected in November, an already bad situation will become far worse.  As I've said before, if family circumstances were different, I'd leave Virginia in a hear beat.

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