"Speechless: Silencing the Christians" Special

[Amora]

I saw an article in the newspaper about this yesterday.

Speechless: Silencing the Christians

It's a one hour special that was supposed to air on various stations around the country. Created as a compilation of the INSP Network's Speechless series, the special targets and attacks the "radical homosexual agenda". The American Family Association, the show's sponsor, says that most Americans get their "information about the homosexual movement from the secular news media and Hollywood, which not only support but promote the gay agenda. What people know is tainted by pro-homosexual propaganda."

WOOD-TV of Grand Rapids, MI, was originally going to air the special right before the president's press conference on Monday night. The station postponed the show to Wednesday night, and after being bombarded with angry calls and emails, pushed it back to Saturday, and eventually canceled it altogether.

Other stations, such as WSXY of Columbus, OH, refused to air the show, and WSPA of Greenville, SC, aired the show along with an apology from the station's manager.

The Human Rights Campaign, the country's largest GLBT rights group, released a statement about the special saying:

The ultra-right wing American Family Association (AFA) says it produced the 60-minute program to air nation-wide.

This program recycles familiar lies: that hate crime laws will "do away with our freedom of speech," or that pastors will be "criminalized for sharing the love of Jesus Christ." (In fact, the proposed federal hate crimes law explicitly states that it only applies to violent acts – not speech.)

The "anchor" of this faux-news program, which may have already aired in smaller markets, is controversial talk show host Janet Parshall, who in 2006 suggested Matthew Shepard's lifestyle was responsible for his murder and called gay adoption "state-sanctioned child abuse."

AFA President Tim Wildemon released this statement:

It's ironic that the very issue we're bringing up -- that Christians are being rendered speechless when they talk about this issue -- is actually happening to us when it comes to the program itself... They've heard from a few of the homosexual, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered supporters out there -- and so they haven't heard massively from our folks yet.

-

Opinions, and not just of the special, but also of the whole 'censoring' ordeal?

[PurpleMint]

the way Americans think about homosexuality has changed over the past few decades and if you think it's an accident, think again

Really?? How enlightening! I thought tolerance increased because of cicada cycles aligning!

[Textual Hedonist Gone Amok]

I have little doubt that this wasn't planned from the git-go.
"Hey, don't blame us, we just wanted to release our hate speech on prime-time, but my producers got scared You're moving with your auntie and unlce in Bel Air of a few phonecalls. We're the silenced victims here!"

Moreover, I don't find this to be "censorship" in the traditional sense. My whole take on censorship is the prohibition and deletion of a programme from being seen as the result of a watchdog council* or individual station/corporation via upper management. This was the result of disgusted and angry viewers calling up their local broadcast company or television station and requesting that they don't want it played. A democratic method to announce that ratings would drop from people refusing to watch the damned thing or instigating a temporary boycott.

*Like the AFA.

Good riddance I say. TV isn't the interbutt- you don't have a(s much) freedom to be a dickface. You have to own up to your viewers, because they pay the bills. And apparently in this case the majority got what the majority wanted.

[Lucrece]

Programs that present themselves as factual but in reality are not should not be aired. These are the lives of LGBT people you're affecting by stirring Christian animosity paired with outright lies through programs like this.

[Marbas]

and so they haven't heard massively from our folks yet.

You mean your idiotic backwater supporters that suffer from a crippling fear of people being different from them?

The "anchor" of this faux-news program, which may have already aired in smaller markets, is controversial talk show host Janet Parshall, who in 2006 suggested Matthew Shepard's lifestyle was responsible for his murder and called gay adoption "state-sanctioned child abuse."

It's not censorship if the stations are buckling under pressure from the public at large. Furthermore, these are private companies aren't they? They can air and refuse to air whatever the hell they want.

These are the lives of LGBT people

They also negatively impact the lives of members of the more liberal branches of Christianity by claiming to speak for Christianity as a whole.

[MoghLiechty2]

Furthermore, these are private companies aren't they? They can air and refuse to air whatever the hell they want.

You're darn right they can.
...
MoghLiechty's view on homosexuality:
ACLU--------------------------------------------------X---------------------------AFA

Standard Deviation: 7 - 's

They also negatively impact the lives of members of the more liberal branches of Christianity by claiming to speak for Christianity as a whole

Heck, I'm as conservative a Christian as they come, and this video still makes me cringe. Probably in the same way that global warming activists cringe when they hear Al Gore talk.

[apeman5291]

This right here is why I'm almost ashamed to admit my religion to anyone. Do we really have to be bigots? Do we? I say no, and it pisses me off to no end when every time I turn around somebody wearing a cross necklace is shouting from the corner about the gays, and the democrats, and how I'm going to hell.

They also negatively impact the lives of members of the more liberal branches of Christianity by claiming to speak for Christianity as a whole.

Word. (pun intended)

[PurpleMint]

I wish they could've aired it and just let people get really, really angry . Anyone susceptible this crap hopefully doesn't know how to vote anyway.

ML: um, I don't think standard deviation is the same thing there

[TheGrammarBolshevik]

Anyone susceptible this crap hopefully doesn't know how to vote anyway.

It's pretty clear that that isn't true. Anyway, as a gay teenager I have to deal with a lot more than legislation, and shit like this doesn't help.

[MoghLiechty2]

ML: um, I don't think standard deviation is the same thing there

Let the random variable be "MoghLiechty2's views on homosexuality, sampled once a day in 2008 on a scale of 0 to 50." The standard deviation would then be the square root of the average of the squared deviation from the mean.

[Amora]

Anyway, as a gay teenager I have to deal with a lot more than legislation, and shit like this doesn't help.

I had to struggle to finish the entire special. I was sent to a private Christian high school, and this special brought back too many bad memories from it.

[Luthen]

This right here is why I'm almost ashamed to admit my religion to anyone. Do we really have to be bigots? Do we? I say no, and it pisses me off to no end when every time I turn around somebody wearing a cross necklace is shouting from the corner about the gays, and the democrats, and how I'm going to hell.

They also negatively impact the lives of members of the more liberal branches of Christianity by claiming to speak for Christianity as a whole.

Word. (pun intended)

As a Christian, I would like to add I hate stupid Christians (people, whatever).

Was I the only one who expected the show to be the exact opposite of what it is from its title? I would have expected "silencing the christians intolerant bigots" to involving proving to them how wrong they were.

I just can't understand their position. Did they miss the memo of "love thy neighbour"? I think I'm off to write an angry modern retelling of the Good Samaritan as the Good Homosexual.

[TheGrammarBolshevik]

Was I the only one who expected the show to be the exact opposite of what it is from its title? I would have expected "silencing the christians intolerant bigots" to involving proving to them how wrong they were.

"Silence" (as a verb) comes across to me as forceful, so no. I get the impression of censorship rather than refutation.

[Luthen]

Was I the only one who expected the show to be the exact opposite of what it is from its title? I would have expected "silencing the christians intolerant bigots" to involving proving to them how wrong they were.

"Silence" (as a verb) comes across to me as forceful, so no. I get the impression of censorship rather than refutation.

It wasn't the censorship/refutation distinction I was referring to. More that I initially thought the special was anti-christian not christian-funded. Sorry if I was unclear/don't know what's going on.

[TheGrammarBolshevik]

That's what I mean: "silencing" sounds like censorship, and you usually don't brag about censoring people.

[SummerGlauFan]

They're idiots. Seriously, it's people idiots like that that give the (vast) rest of Christianity a bad name.

I'd apologize for them, but I don't want to be affiliated with them. Disgusting.

[PurpleMint]

Anyone susceptible this crap hopefully doesn't know how to vote anyway.

It's pretty clear that that isn't true. Anyway, as a gay teenager I have to deal with a lot more than legislation, and shit like this doesn't help.

I was talking about this movie specifically, which I don't think would have worked very well. And what do you mean by pretty clear? Pretty clear because the legislation already exists?

[TheGrammarBolshevik]

I don't know that it would have changed many minds, but there's also a lot of harm done by stirring up bigots and by spewing hate in the faces of gay people in the audience. There's a lot more to heterosexism than legal discrimination.

And what do you mean by pretty clear? Pretty clear because the legislation already exists?

More or less. There's already a significant body of anti-gay statutes on the books, and more are added with each election cycle. This, along with the traditional values/protection of marriage rhetoric that features in political campaigns, demonstrates that bigots are smart enough to vote and numerous enough to cause trouble.

[Aikanaro]

......and THIS kind of idiocy, ladies and gentlemen, is why I'm stuck using my current sig on these fora, even if some other quote strikes my fancy........

EDIT: Almost forgot

Love Thy Neighbor; UR DOIN' IT WRONG!

[Mabus_Zero]

Was she speechless? Yes, she was, when I inserted my -redacted- into her-

Okay, done with my fun. But c'mon, with the whole 'war on christmas' thing petered out, weren't we expecting another one of these?

[Jahoclave]

I think these Fundamentalist Christians missed the memo where we are silencing them because we're tired of hearing their bullshit. Please, if you want to talk, do not go on about a "war on Christmas," "America is a Christian Nation," or "[x] Gays [x]" where "x" is any form of bigotry. We've heard your tired disproved cliches too many times and it's gotten fucking annoying.

[Garm]

I love this crap. People who claim to be discriminated against because they're not being allowed to discriminate. Awesome!

500th post. woo.

[LuNatic]

I just can't understand their position. Did they miss the memo of "love thy neighbour"? I think I'm off to write an angry modern retelling of the Good Samaritan as the Good Homosexual.

Altogether too many do If you do get around to writing that story though, be sure to send a copy my way.

[Dr_Gonzo]

I live in the deep South and I have to put up with this bullshit all the time. It's basically raining hate and ignorance in the Bible Belt.

[mazzilliu]

we should actually have a war on christians so they know what it's actually like. in the meantime they are just the dominant religion of the country and the religion of just about every elected official, which i know can be kind of bad at times so they will have to hang in there till Jesus comes back on a magical flaming 18 wheeler in the sky to save all the good godfearing americans.


also it seems you can get people to believe just about anything if you publish a documentary about it. i need to finish up making my "give lots of money to me without expecting anything back" documentary, which will expose the horrors that not giving me free money has inflicted on society, moral values, and the American Family.

[Jahoclave]

I live in the deep South and I have to put up with this bullshit all the time. It's basically raining hate and ignorance in the Bible Belt.

Yeah, I swear this place has more church pews than people.

[EsotericWombat]

The Christian Right: Now with 200% more passive-agressive-ness!

[lesliesage]

deleted

[defaultusername]

I love the ending:

And now [the gays] have a new advantage; Barack Obama.

They just couldn't resist, could they?

[psyck0]

I wish we COULD silence them...

[Lóng the Dragon]

It's true. Homosexuals are violent.

I watched 3 minutes and 20 seconds of that video, and just wanted to punch her SO HARD.

[lesliesage]

deleted

[Bakemaster]

That's a screencap from Jesus Camp, right? That was a heavy movie.

[mazzilliu]

Strangest thing happened the other day- I was walking down the street and there was this married couple, a guy and a girl with a little baby. Cute. All of a sudden, their wedding rings spontaneously combusted, and their ring fingers flew off leaving an arc of ash. I swear to God. Then the girl started crying that they weren't married anymore, and that there was nothing left for her to do but push the baby stroller into oncoming traffic. It was pure carnage.
Yeah, I live in a country with full gay rights. I guess this kind of thing is going to become more frequent.

One time I saw an entire American Family get destroyed before my very eyes. It was in Massachusetts the moment gay marriage was legalized. father, mother, sister, brother, all up in smoke. then there were gays in the streets marrying each other left and right, even gay marrying innocent bystanders. It's terrible I tell you.

[EsotericWombat]

I saw two dudes getting married, all the while pointing their fingers at the heteros in the audience, to drive home the point that they were getting married AT them.

[lesliesage]

deleted

[Bakemaster]

I accidentally a gay marriage. Is this dangerous?

[XbHW_TestEngr]

When did telling lies stop being morally wrong? Ex 20:16
When did hate become the most important virtue? 1 Cor 13:13

I am not ashamed of Christ. He is my savior.
I am ashamed of some people who claim to speak for Him; not all, just some.
For those who do not claim to live under the teachings of the Bible, how is it that we expect them to adhere our faith?

The Religious right, if they had they had their way, would look and behave very much like the Taliban.
Different religion; same behavior.

(edit ... had to rant some more)
A true Pro-Life stance cannot end with the birth of a child.
Pro-life is pro-education.
Pro-life is pro-healthcare (for all).
Pro-life is pro-childcare.
Pro-life is pro-jobs (real working wages). (I'm biased ... they should be American jobs.)

[/rant]

[Luthen]

I just can't understand their position. Did they miss the memo of "love thy neighbour"? I think I'm off to write an angry modern retelling of the Good Samaritan as the Good Homosexual.

Altogether too many do If you do get around to writing that story though, be sure to send a copy my way.

It's pretty easy to do yourself. Just replace place names and occupations to relfect current society you're in. It's Biblical Mad-libs. I read one Asimov did about racism against blacks but can't find it.

Anyway here is the template, feel free to change more this is just the most important bits:

A <target person's demographic> was going down from <local capital> to <local city or neighbouring city>, when he fell into the hands of robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead with no clothes.
A <important person> happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. So too, a <sub-section of target person's demographic>, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side.
But a <discriminated person>, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, took him to an inn and took care of him. The next day he took out <a lot of money> and gave them to the innkeeper. 'Look after him,' he said, 'and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.'
"Which of these three do you think was a neighbour to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?" The expert in the law replied, "The one who had mercy on him." Jesus told him, "Go and do likewise."

Here's my version, it's not very good though:

A AFA member was going from his home to his father's in a town nearby, when he was attacked by carjackers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and drove away, leaving him half dead with no clothes.
A senator happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man lying by the side of the road, slowed down but did not stop. So too, a Christian, when he drove pass and saw him, slowed down but did not stop.
But a homosexual, as he travelled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. He stopped and bandaged his wounds, cleaning them and giving him aspirin. Then he lay the man in his car's front seat and took him to a hospital to be taken care of. He gave his health insurance to cover the man's expenses and left $200 for other costs. 'Look after him,' he said to the head doctor, 'and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.'
Jesus asked the expert in the law, "Which of these three do you think was a neighbour to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?"
He replied, "The one who had mercy on him."
Jesus told him, "Go and do likewise."

I accidentally a gay marriage. Is this dangerous?

Can I get Gay Marriage from sitting on a toilet seat?

[Arancaytar]

"the gay agenda"

That sounds scary. I bet their evil master plan is to get married (Eek!) and then, I don't know, make us all gay or give us HIV or something!

Meh, if I had to argue with someone like that, I'd just invoke Godwin. "You know who else hated gay people? HITLER."

It's ironic that...

No. That's not ironic. This is ironic:

hate crime laws will "do away with [...] sharing the love of Jesus Christ."

... right.