You're All a Bunch of Bullies!

[FOAnatic]

Posted: 3/11/14 at 8:44am

Well, ok, not all of you. But some of you.

Including me, apparently. I had no idea.

Still reeling from the demise of Arizona’s “right-to-discriminate” bill, Michele Bachmann said last week that she is tired of gay people “bullying” her and the American people.


Linkety Link

[DottieD'Luscia]

Posted: 3/11/14 at 9:29am

I'd like to know what happened to the probe into her campaign finances that was supposed to get her locked up. This skank needs to shut the f*ck up!

[Eris0303]

Posted: 3/11/14 at 4:25pm

Got this in my email today - not sure how since I never signed up for it. I truly doubt ANYONE wants people to lose their incomes. Times are hard and I'd hate for anyone to lose their businesses. That being said - if you are unwilling to serve your whole community then you're in the wrong business.

********************************************************************

A Personal Note from Tim Wildmon

March 11, 2014

Kristin,

In Portland, Ore., Melissa Klein was the owner of Sweet Cakes bakery, a small storefront operation. Her husband Aaron helped her. Last year two lesbians walked into the bakery and said they wanted Melissa to make them a wedding cake. The Kleins said they were sorry, but their Christian convictions were that marriage was between a man and a woman and they would not be able to make a cake for a same-sex ceremony.

Afterward, one of the women filed a complaint with the Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industries claiming she was a victim of discrimination. The same thing happened in Colorado to a Christian florist and in New Mexico with a Christian photographer. They refused to participate in gay or lesbian "weddings" and they were punished by their respective state governments. In Oregon, the bureau spokesperson said the Christian couple needed to be "rehabilitated." They subsequently had to shut down the store.
Seeing this, some states, including Kansas, Arizona and Mississippi, have considered or are considering legislation to try to protect small business owners like the Kleins. Some in the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgendered movement (GLBT) want to force Christian business owners out of business.

However, at least one person in the GLBT community sees this for the slippery slope that it is. In a recent column, radio talk show host Tammy Bruce wrote: "As a gay conservative woman, I supported Arizona's religious freedom bill, which was just vetoed this week by Gov. Jan Brewer...Under these rules, freedom of conscience is squashed under the jackboot of liberals, all in the Orwellian name of 'equality and fairness.' Here we are dealing with not just forcing someone to do something for you, but forcing them in the process to violate a sacrament of their faith as well...If we are able to coerce someone, via the threat of lawsuit and personal destruction, to provide a service, how is that not slavery? If we insist that you must violate your faith specifically in that slavish action how is that not abject tyranny?...Of all the people in the world who should understand the scourge of living under constant threat of losing life, liberty or the ability to make a living because of who you are, it's gays.

"Horribly, the gay civil rights movement has morphed into a Gay Gestapo. Its ranks will now do the punishing of those who dare to be different or dissent from the approved leftist dogma. To all the young gays who tweet and email me that this is about 'equality,' how exactly? Forcing someone to do something against their faith has nothing to do with equality for you, has nothing to do with bigotry and has everything to do with a personal, spiritual understanding of right and wrong. In other words, I tell them, not everything is about you..."

This does beg the question about freedom of religion, freedom of association and what the government can compel its citizens to do. Should the government punish the Jewish photographer because he refuses to take pictures for a gathering of Skinheads? Should the government levy fines against an African-American printer who refuses to print posters for a Ku Klux Klan rally? Should a homosexual painter be forced to paint signs for the infamous Westboro Baptist Church in Topeka that reads "God Hates Fags!"
The answer is no to all of these.

The government should not compel an individual to engage in a business transaction that violates their conscience. The "Gay Gestapo" (of which not all gays and lesbians are a part) is now pushing well beyond "live and let live" territory into using the law to punitively enforce their political and social agenda.
Sincerely,

Tim

Tim Wildmon, President
American Family Association

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 3/11/14 at 4:38pm

is now pushing well beyond "live and let live" territory

every step of which territory Wildmon and crew pushed back against and sent out panicked fundraising letters

[AC126748]

Posted: 3/11/14 at 4:49pm

Bachmann's and Wildmon's is classic conservative (and bully) logic: blame the other people for doing to you exactly what you are doing to them

Updated On: 3/11/14 at 04:49 PM

[Eris0303]

Posted: 3/11/14 at 4:57pm

"How dare you bullies tattle on us for discriminating against you!"

[bobs3]

Posted: 3/11/14 at 5:45pm

Have you ever heard Bachmann's husband (who runs an ex-gay ministry) speak? I keep expecting pearls to spill out of his mouth as he lisps his anti-gay propaganda.

[Huss417]

Posted: 3/11/14 at 6:09pm

The pearls spilling out of his mouth will match the pearl necklace I would bet he loves having someone give him. :)

[AEA AGMA SM]

Posted: 3/11/14 at 7:28pm

"If we are able to coerce someone, via the threat of lawsuit and personal destruction, to provide a service, how is that not slavery?"

Luckily the same Bible that says it's cool to hate someone for being gay also says slavery is pretty neat-o as well.

[GavestonPS]

Posted: 3/11/14 at 8:31pm

Exactly, AEA. I'll be more sympathetic to the rights of Fundamentalists when they start subjecting their customers to comprehensive "Christian value tests" and stop discriminating on just one, arbitrarily chosen, issue.

[James885]

Posted: 3/11/14 at 8:39pm

This woman really needs to just stop speaking and go away.

[bwayrose7]

Posted: 3/12/14 at 7:46pm

I wish people would stop using "faith" as an excuse for their actions. I was born, raised, educated, and still practice as a Catholic woman. And the primary tenet of faith I was always taught was love for others as fellow human beings. Period. Please know that all people who self-identify as Christians are not judgmental, nor do we force our beliefs on others. Just the very vocal minority get the attention.

Also, in case anyone cares, the infamous verse from Leviticus that most of these "Christians" use as their defense for homophobia? If I remember right, the language used in the original text was a word specifically used for a male prostitute, not just a man in general. I think most people who try to use the Bible to back up their judgmental opinions haven't the faintest idea what they're actually quoting.

[Eris0303]

Posted: 3/12/14 at 11:21pm

When people play the "God card" I like remind them of this passage from Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves. It sums up my feelings on the subject pretty succinctly.

Azeem: Salaam, little one.
Small Girl: Did God paint you?
Azeem: Did God paint me? [laughs] For certain.
Small Girl: Why?
Azeem: Because Allah loves wonderous varieties.

God made us all just the way we are because He loves wondrous varieties.

[AHLiebross]

Posted: 3/14/14 at 10:30pm

I'm definitely in favor of the Civil Rights laws, which bar places of public accommodation (e.g., stores, restaurants) from discriminating on the basis of race, religion, national origin, etc. I believe that these laws should extend to sexual preference and gender identification. However, I keep debating with myself regarding whether they should bar discrimination on the basis of someone's exercise of first amendment rights. Here's a true example that happened a couple of years ago: A bakery refused to decorate a birthday cake with a 7-year-old's name because the boy was the child of neo-Nazis and his name was Adolf Hitler Smith (actually I don't know the last name). The bakery flat out said "No," when asked to print "Happy Birthday Adolf Hitler" on the cake.

Does it make a difference if the business sells a product or provides a service? For example, if a wedding planner says, "Look, I don't believe in same sex marriages and, frankly, I wouldn't have my heart in it, so you don't want me," is that different from refusing to provide a cake? May a political consultant refuse to work for the Republican party? (Of course.) May a landlord refuse to rent office space to the Republican party? (Good question.) What is the difference between a kosher caterer who discourages non-Jewish clients by pointing out that he's more expensive than non-kosher caterers and no he won't do a pig roast and a caterer who refuses to serve non-Jews? Does it make a difference if the kosher caterer tells a non-Jew who wants him to cater his event, "I'd do it if it were Sunday, but I'm closed Saturdays?"

Once again, I emphasize that I support the Civil Rights laws and their extension to sexual preference and gender identity. However, the answers to these questions are not always easy.