Colorado Shooting Blamed On Gays, Liberals

It was going to happen eventually: the Colorado massacre has now been pinned on the gays.

The pinning was done by Fred Jackson, of the American Family Association, on his radio show yesterday. Thanks to RightWingWatch for the transcription:

I think the sources of this is [sic] multifaceted but you can put it all I think under the heading of rebellion to God, a rejection of the God of the Bible. I think along with an education system that has produced our lawyers, our politicians, more teachers, more professors, all of that sort of thing, is our churches, mainline churches. We’ve been dealing Teddy and I know the AFA Journal has been dealing with denominations that no longer believe in the God of the Bible, they no longer believe that Jesus is the only way of salvation, they teach that God is OK with homosexuality, this is just increasing more and more. It is mankind shaking its fist at the authority of God.

Happily, it's not just the gays responsible for James Holmes's midnight movie massacre -- it's everyone who doesn't share Fred Jackson's exact set of values:

In the community there were community standards that reflected biblical principles, whether people knew it or not, the standard in the community was based on Scripture. In that short period of time, roughly forty years, we have seen such a transformation in values in our communities, whether it's rural or whether it's big city. I have to think that all of this, whether it's the Hollywood movies, whether it's what we see on the internets, whether it's liberal bias in the media, whether it's our politicians changing public policy, I think all of those somehow have fit together — and I have to say also churches who are leaving the authority of Scripture and losing their fear of God — all of those things have seem to have come together to give us these kinds of incidents.

Jackson's rant is an example of the "No True Scotsman" fallacy, and it evinces a peculiar kind of historical blindness. Even if Jackson's assertion -- that the advance of social liberalism is responsible for Holmes's killing spree -- happened to be true, which it isn't, wouldn't it follow that Jackson's own, "Scripture-based" conception of morality was responsible for the atrocities perpetrated before we had "Hollywood movies," the "internets," "liberal bias in the media," and pro-gay churches? The massacre in Rosewood, slavery, the extermination of Native Americans, and so forth? What does he make of the fact that, in strictly statistical terms, we're now living in an era far less violent and oppressive than any in human history?

The blame game is difficult to play. There are no rules, and there are seldom winners. Marilyn Manson's 13-year-old essay on the Columbine massacre remains relevant, and more sensible than most of the scribbling yet done on the subject of Colorado's latest tragedy:

When it comes down to who's to blame for the high school murders in Littleton, Colorado, throw a rock and you'll hit someone who's guilty. We're the people who sit back and tolerate children owning guns, and we're the ones who tune in and watch the up-to-the-minute details of what they do with them. I think it's terrible when anyone dies, especially if it is someone you know and love. But what is more offensive is that when these tragedies happen, most people don't really care any more than they would about the season finale of Friends or The Real World. I was dumbfounded as I watched the media snake right in, not missing a teardrop, interviewing the parents of dead children, televising the funerals. Then came the witch hunt.

Man's greatest fear is chaos. It was unthinkable that these kids did not have a simple black-and-white reason for their actions. And so a scapegoat was needed.

 

Boy Scouts Assured Hate Group Leader Their Anti-Gay Policy Would Stay: AUDIO

The Boy Scouts have a close relationship with AFA's Bryan Fischer and reassured him that they wouldn't be relenting on their anti-gay policies after he raised a stink about it on his hate broadcast.

Listen, AFTER THE JUMP...

Asks Jeremy Hooper: "Did the Boy Scouts call GLAAD? HRC? Did they reach out to any of our groups to discuss their policy, or did they confine their outreach to a man who once said that 'Homosexuality gave us Adolf Hitler' (among countless other things)?"

The NYT reports on yesterday's announcement:

Under growing public pressure to reconsider the issue, in 2010 the Boy Scouts formed a committee of 11 “volunteers and professional leaders to evaluate whether the policy was in the best interests of the organization,” the statement said. The committee “included a diversity of perspectives” and engaged in “extensive research and evaluations,” the statement said. But the committee was kept secret until now, and the Scouts declined to reveal its membership or methods.

Meanwhile, Eagle Scout Zach Wahls and ousted den mother Jennifer Tyrrell responded to the news.

Said Wahls, slamming the group's secrecy:

“This announcement is old news. We've heard this line before, and I'm sure they'll keep saying this until the day they decide to change the policy. This announcement, moreover this ‘process,’ is just a distraction. We know where this is headed.. Above all, what is most disappointing about today's announcement is the secretive nature surrounding how this conclusion was reached. The very first value of the Scout Law is that a Scout is trustworthy. There is absolutely nothing trustworthy about unelected and unnamed committee members who are unwilling to take responsibility for their actions.”

Added Tyrrell, who will deliver 300,000 petitions to Scout headquarters today:

“A secret committee of 11 people can't ignore the hundreds of thousands of people around the country -- including thousands of Eagle Scouts, scout families, and former scouts -- that want the ban on gay scouts and scout leaders removed. This campaign doesn't stop, and we will continue to show the Boy Scouts that discrimination and intolerance have no place in scouting. On Wednesday, I look forward to sharing with the BSA thousands of comments from families like mine that say the time is now to end this anti-gay policy."

AFA's Bryan Fischer: Gays Should Be Denied Custody of Children —VIDEO

American Family Association hate group mouthpiece Bryan Fischer said that gays should not be allowed to parent children because children in same-sex homes are at a higher risk for sexual molestation, citing the deeply flawed Mark Regnerus study and the Jerry Sandusky Penn State abuse case, Right Wing Watch reports.

Watch, AFTER THE JUMP...

Gays Driven by 'Venomous, Seething, Demonic, Heterophobic' Hatred, Says AFA's Bryan Fischer: VIDEO

When Bryan Fischer looks at a rainbow flag, he sees hate, Right Wing Watch reports:

I am convinced that there is plenty of hatred in the debate over homosexuality, there's a lot of hatred, there's a lot of vitriol, there's a lot of venom - it is coming from homosexuals themselves. The real haters are homosexuals. The real venom is coming from those that support the homosexual agenda, either homosexual activists, homosexuals, or those that support the homosexual agenda. They are the real haters. There is a heterophobic hatred, there is a Christophobic hatred that is just seething, there's a dark, venomous, demonic hatred that is in the homosexual community.

Watch, AFTER THE JUMP...

Gay Republican Fred Karger to Appear on Hate Group Leader Bryan Fischer's Radio Show: LISTEN

Gay Republican presidential candidate Fred Karger is set to appear on the radio show of hateful American Family Association mouthpiece Bryan Fischer this Thursday, which should be fun.

Said Fischer in a voicemail, of the show's agenda: "You realize where we're positioned when it comes to pro-family issues and so we'll probably spend some time asking Mr. Karger about how he's oriented towards the homosexual agenda, gay marriage, Don't Ask Don't Tell, some of those issues, homosexual adoption, we'll probably spend some time talking about those issues as well as others."

Listen to Fischer's message to Karger's people, AFTER THE JUMP...

AFA Claims JC Penney Is Blocking Their Anti-Gay Emails

Like other right wing groups, the American Family Association has been hounding JC Penney over the retailer's support of same-sex parents and LGBT rights. And if a recent email to AFA supporters is any indication, JC Penney is intent on ignoring the anti-gay organization.

From that email:

It is obvious that JCP is promoting the normalization of homosexual marriage.

AFA encourages your family to avoid shopping at JCP at least through Father's Day.

TAKE ACTION
1. Call Penney's corporate office at 972-431-1000 and let them know you family will not be shopping their stores this Father's Day (or beyond).

2. Call, or visit your local store manager. Local managers are more likely to listen to your concerns and pass them along to the corporate office. You can find the phone number of your local store here, or in your local phone directory.

3. Because JCP blocks emails from our server, you can send your own personal email to Penney's at jcpcorpcomm@jcpenney.com.

Clearly AFA isn't as committed to a JC Penney as another outraged group, One Million Moms. Notice that the AFA email reads, "avoid shopping at JCP at least through Father's Day."

JC Penney has repeatedly insisted they won't be kowtowing to conservative wingnuts.