Randall Terry vs. Sonia Sotomayor

Browsing about Judge Sonia Sotomayor, I came a Post on a Forum I had not visited before, it is named 'ff free though forum', it has the following entry that I thought other people should read, it was posted by The Lone Ranger and he really washes Randall Terry's filthy laundry.

People as Randall is what passes today as Christianity, this malady is what we confront today, it is monstrous, sick, warped and deadly, this is what we are facing, but the real crime is that there is a legion of Hatemongers on the Media giving air space so sickos like Terry can spew their hatefully pernicious messages.

Randall Terry of "Operation Rescue" spoke locally yesterday. He was urging people to oppose Sonia Sotomayor's appointment to the Supreme Court. If he gave any specific reasons to oppose her nomination, the local paper didn't mention them.

I strongly suspect it's because Sotomayor hasn't said anything to indicate that she's a virulent opponent of Roe v. Wade. I'm sure that Terry would oppose any Supreme Court nominee who wasn't.

***

What struck me as interesting was Terry's comment that Obama is "this baby killing monster in the White House." He also told listeners to "Think of death when you think of Sotomayor."

Now, see, I'm reasonably certain that Obama has never before killed a baby. Or, for that matter, performed an abortion.

So how can we possibly make sense of Terry's claim that Obama is a "baby killing monster"? I can only presume that he means to emphasize that the words and actions of public figures have impact, and that someone who's a prominent public figure therefore has a duty and responsibility to consider that what (s)he says and does will influence the behavior of others.

Ah, that makes sense, and I applaud Terry's understanding that public figures have a responsibility to consider that their words and actions will influence others.

***

So, given this, I'm sure someone can explain to me why Terry goes around openly advocating hatred and murder?

"Intolerance is a beautiful thing...There are people that are politically correct that want to say the cardinal sin of the hour is intolerance and I think that is a bunch of junk."

-- Randall Terry

"Let a wave of intolerance wash over you. I want you to let a wave of hatred wash over you. Yes, hate is good.... If a Christian voted for Clinton, he sinned against God. It's that simple.... Our goal is a Christian Nation... we have a biblical duty, we are called by God to conquer this country. We don't want equal time. We don't want Pluralism. We want theocracy."

-- Randall Terry, from The News Sentinel, Fort Wayne, Indiana, Aug 15, 1993

"When I, or people like me, are running the country, you'd better flee, because we will find you, we will try you, and we will execute you. I mean every word of it. I will make it part of my mission to see to it that they are tried and executed... If we're going to have true reformation in America, it is because men once again, if I may use a worn out expression, have righteous testoserone flowing through their veins. They are not afraid of contempt for their contemporaries. They are not even here to get along. They are here to take over... Somebody like Susan Smith should be dead. She should be dead now. Some people will go, "Well how do you know God doesn't have a wonderful plan for her life?" He does, it's listed in the Bible. His plan for her is that she should be dead."

-- Randall Terry, at the Aug 8, 1995 U.S. Taxpayers Alliance Banquet in Washington DC, talking about physicians who perform abortions and volunteer escorts]

***

More to the point, perhaps somebody, anybody, can explain to me why Terry and his ilk claim to be shocked -- shocked, I tell you -- whenever someone who has listened to their spewing of hate goes out and does something entirely predictable, like shooting up a family planning clinic.

Because, for the life of me, I can't understand how someone can insist that public figures should be held responsible for the effects of their words and actions on others -- but that someone who openly advocates hatred, intolerance and murder should not.

Cheers,

Michael

When "Disagreement" Becomes Murder

SOURCE:

THE HUFFINGTON POST

By:

Mikko Alanne

Posted December 26, 2008 | 11:40 PM (EST)

Some people seem genuinely puzzled by the uproar over Obama's choice of anti-gay activist and megachurch pastor Rick Warren as inaugural speaker. It's just words, they argue, free speech, what's the big deal? Obama himself said of Warren: "We can disagree without being disagreeable."

The problem, as many commentators have noted, is that we're not disagreeing about abstract ideas -- we're disagreeing about civil and human rights.

I would argue that we're disagreeing about most basic human right of all -- the right to live a life free of violence.

Because words are where violence begins. And in America, violence against gays, lesbians, and transgendered people most often begins in hateful and intolerant words spoken in right-wing churches like Rick Warren's Saddleback. Warren has compared gay and lesbian people to pedophiles and perpetrators of incest. His words may often be cloaked more politely, but in his intolerance, Warren is really no different than James Dobson, Jerry Falwell, Fred Phelps, or other peddlers of anti-gay hate.

And the seeds of that hate are growing faster than ever.

This year, the FBI reported a 1% decline in hate crimes in the United States. At the same time, they revealed a 6% increase in hate crimes against gay, lesbian, and transgendered people. In the past few months alone, shocking murders have been reported across the country from Oxnard, CA to Brooklyn, NY, and most recently, San Francisco.

From The Associated Press:

A woman in the San Francisco Bay area was jumped by four men, taunted for being a lesbian, repeatedly raped and left naked outside an abandoned apartment building, authorities said Monday.

Detectives say the 28-year-old victim was attacked Dec. 13 after she got out of her car, which bore a rainbow gay pride sticker. The men, who ranged from their late teens to their 30s, made comments indicating they knew her sexual orientation, said Richmond police Lt. Mark Gagan. "It just pushes it beyond fathomable," he said. "The level of trauma -- physical and emotional -- this victim has suffered is extreme."

The 45-minute attack began when one of the men approached the woman as she crossed the street, struck her with a blunt object, ordered her to disrobe and sexually assaulted her with the help of the other men.

When the group saw another person approaching, they forced the victim back into her car and took her to a burned-out apartment building, where she was raped again inside and outside the vehicle. The assailants took her wallet and drove off in her car. Officers found the car abandoned two days later.

This is the reality of what gay people in this country endure while right-wing Christians like Warren claim to be 'the real' victims of intolerance ("Christ-o-phobia," to use Warren's word). For years, these people of faith have successfully lobbied to prevent Federal hate crimes statutes to be amended to include crimes against gay, lesbian, or transgendered people, arguing it would infringe on the faithful's right to "speak freely."

That argument is nonsense, of course, but even if it weren't, should a person's right to incite bigotry, intolerance, and murderous hatred from the pulpit trump people's right to simply live in peace?

And should such a person ever be invited to a post of honor and respect at a Presidential inauguration?