Ever since the Supreme Court ruling on gay marriage, the right wing nuts and evangelicals are doing what we all expected. They are screaming at the top of their lungs that the sky is falling and we are going to hell in a hand basket. In light of that, I found an article by Brian Tashman of Right Wing Watch, in which he details some of the dire warnings the right is spouting.
When I read his article I thought that, since 2004 when Massachusetts allowed gay marriages in the state, we’ve seen none of these dire predictions. In fact, most people didn’t notice any change. The original article is in italics.
1) Prepare for Jail!
According to Huckabee, gay marriage will lead to “the criminalization of Christianity” and “criminal charges” against pastors who preach against it or refuse to officiate the wedding of a gay couple. Another GOP presidential candidate, Ted Cruz, also predicted that “Christian pastors who decline to perform gay marriages” or “speak out and preach biblical truths on marriage” will be punished for committing “hate speech.”
…. Rick Scarborough, a Religious Right activist and leading proponent of the “hate speech” myth, has insisted that gay marriage will make it “illegal” to “share the Gospel” and predicted that jails will soon fill up with pastors. He has even told conservatives that they should be prepared to “burn” if the court backs marriage equality.
If anyone in Massachusetts knows of a pastor that has been jailed for speaking out about “biblical truths on marriage”, let me know. Interestingly more churches here have been doing gay weddings and it seems that we have more gay pastors and ministers than before. Of course we don’t have many, if any Southern Baptist churches here so maybe we haven’t seen any of these pastors going to jail.
2) Civil Disobedience
Following the Hate Crimes Act debate, Religious Right leaders unveiled a manifesto called the Manhattan Declaration, vowing to commit civil disobedience in the face of what they said was growing anti-Christian persecution as a result of gay rights.
This speaks to the effort by some right wingers to promote the idea that pastors will be “forced” to do gay weddings. No one in Massachusetts is or has been “forcing” a minister or pastor to do any gay weddings. There are plenty of churches here that are willing to perform gay weddings. What a surprise.
3) Revolution & Civil War
“This is the thing that revolutions literally are made of,” Mat Staver said. “This would be more devastating to our freedom, to our religious freedom, to the rights of pastors and their duty to be able to speak and to Christians around the country, then anything that the revolutionaries during the American Revolution even dreamed of facing. This would be the thing that revolutions are made of. This could split the country right in two. This could cause another civil war.”
The stakes are high, according to Justice Moore, since a Supreme Court decision backing marriage equality will “literally cause the destruction of our country.”
Maybe I missed it but we’ve had no civil war here.
4) Secession
“Will a U.S. Supreme Court decision declaring ‘same-sex marriage’ a ‘right’ warrant secession by some state willing and eager to reclaim America’s Judeo-Christian heritage and foundation?” WorldNetDaily editor Joseph Farah asked. “Is there one state in 50 that would not only defy the coming abomination, but secede in response? The rewards could be great. I would certainly consider relocating. How about you?”
It wouldn’t hurt me in the least to see all these crazy evangelicals leave. Massachusetts is still part of the U.S. of A. and I don’t see that changing in the near future. Texas, on the other hand, could secede and it wouldn’t bother me. With all the B/S Senator Cruz and his ilk spout, I wonder how much of this secession talk would actually get put in place.
5) Holocaust
Seeing that Religious Right activists regularly call gay rights activists terrorists, Al Qaeda and ISIS members, fascists, Nazis, and the ones who are to blame for the Holocaust, it comes as no surprise that several activists had warned of an impending holocaust of American Christians if gays and lesbians can get married nationwide.
One article that became popular among right-wing groups even stated that the gay rights movement will do to American Christians what the Turks did to the Armenians and what the Hutus did to the Tutsis. The author even warned that American Christians will soon be facing persecution as Christians do in Syria.
Not to be outdone, Keyes has claimed that gay marriage is part of a communist plot that paves the way for “the murder of the masses.”
Gay marriage is part of a communist plot? Everything is part of a communist plot according some right wing nuts. They need to look to Russia where gays are actively rounded up. Russia, when I checked last, is still a somewhat communist state. Russia has not done what the U.S. has done by legalizing gay marriage.
6) Child endangerment
The civil disobedience pledge signed by Huckabee, Santorum and dozens of Religious Right leaders includes a stern warning that “authorizing the legal equivalency of marriage to same-sex couples undermines the fundamental rights of children and threatens their security, stability, and future,” a theme frequently repeated by anti-gay conservatives.
I get tired of this one. It’s all about protecting the children so they claim. Wouldn’t it be better for kids growing up in a stable family environment, whether it is straight or gay, rather than dealing with broken homes, as so many heterosexual ones are. If the wing nuts would think about it, more marriages and stable environments benefit everyone. But they don’t think.
7) God’s wrath
Mike Huckabee has warned that gay marriage will unleash divine punishment on America. While he didn’t get into specifics, others on the Right have been happy to describe in detail the divine ramifications of gay marriage.
I guess God’s wrath came upon Massachusetts and New England last winter when we had so much snow. Wait a minute, that happens a lot in New England. I know, God’s wrath was the cause of Hurricane Katrina because of the gays in New Orleans. Alternately it was God’s wrath or Obama’s fault, pick one.
The hyperbole from these right wing nuts is nauseating!
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