Hate Mail Campaign Targets Colorado Gays

[Quetzal]

Hate Mail Campaign Targets Colorado Gays

(Denver, Colorado) The FBI and Colorado's Joint Terrorism Task Force is investigating a hate mail campaign targeting gays in the Denver area.

The letters are all signed by the "Watcher" and have been sent to people who had letters to the editor supporting gay rights and same-sex marriage published in two Colorado newspapers or were quoted in news stories on gay issues.

The mailings contain a leaflet titled "Homosexual Rights or Bold Faced Lie?" and lists biblical passages the author says condemn homosexuality.

Some leaflets contain handwritten notes, which in at least one case read "I will enjoy -- watching you die."

more...

Hate Mail Campaign Targets Colorado Gays

[Bill McBlueState]

1. a response...

If a hundred or more DUers sent LTEs supporting gay rights to Denver-area newspapers, it would keep the "Watcher" pretty busy.

[trogdor]

2. Nice people, them Christians.

Why is it that decent Christians must have their reputations sullied by nutjobs like these?

[saigon68]

3. Especially the Rev. Fred Phelps and his merry congregation

Wonder how bigotry starts? Look at the children -- Disgusting

[louis-t]

9. N-i-i-ce photo, contributing to delinquency..

of minors is a crime isn't it?

[elfwitch]

11. Maybe because "decent Christians"

Don't do enough to shut these people down.
You gotta police you own sometimes.
If the only "Christians" that are doing the speaking are the whack-jobs, then people are going to think that all Christians are that way.

[FiveGoodMen]

13. Amen

The silence of the majority of Christians -- the complete lack of outrage toward these hate groups masquerading as followers of Jesus -- has been a total shock to me.

I'm not religious, but if I was, I would think it was my DUTY to stand up for the message of the Prince of Peace and oppose the use of Jesus' name as a rallying point for organized hatred and discrimination.

But the church has remained aloof. One can only assume that this sort of thing is okay with the average church-goer.

[Occulus]

18. I think the majority of Christians agree, actually,

on one level or another. It's only a matter of degree.

Go ahead; flame away at me if you like. I'm not being bigoted here; the verses are right there, in their holy book, for all to see. To disagree with The Book is to disagree with God- not something looked highly upon in the whole of the Christian faith.

While it is true that there are some sects that may pay less attention to Lev. 18-22 than others, the fact remains that those sects are in the minority. Few stand and deliver on Sundays, in front of their fellow congregants and in defiance of their pastor on any issue, much less this one.

Sorry, people, but every time I've heard of a targeted killing of any gay person, the religion of the perpetrator has always been a factor. I'm sure there are exceptions to this, but I treat it as a rule, because my life is in danger from these people. In a word, Christians scare me. I never know what kind of Christians they are.

That guy driving the car with the magnetic fish on it just might kill me if he knew I was gay. Think about that, about how sad that is. And sorry, but I have to paint this with a broad brush because, like homosexuality, one can never know on sight what a total stranger is really all about. Bigotry, like homosexuality, does not show its face to the public at large.

I treat all (especially self-proclaimed, in-your-face) Christians as a potential threat. If I learn otherwise, I cease doing so for them. If being in constant fear of my life from the predominant organized religion in this country is called bigotry, fine. It's my life that's in danger, and I won't apologize for that.

[justin899]

28. No, I agree with you

I think you're absolutely correct. I've seen it too many times.

[Occulus]

30. I really, really hate feeling that way about it.

I despise the fact that the practitioners of the religion, through their silence or their vocal consent or even their outright participation, allow people like me to be verbally lambasted, shunned, beaten and killed simply because one single set of acts we do behind closed doors with other consenting adults who happen to be of the same sex doesn't conform with a very few selected verses from their Bible- and this when some of those performing those acts are not of the Christian faith, and also while the professed Christians themselves perform prohibited acts from the very same book their sexual persecution comes from.

(Whew! That was a mouthful!)

This, again, isn't a matter of bigotry or intolerance at all; this to me is a matter of life and death. While not actually being overtly threatened in any way, I'm suddenly feeling the need for a CCW license, just because the climate around me is slowly becoming more and more intolerant of me. It's a frightening feeling, that my life could be a target to those who profess compassion and acceptance.

Who am I kidding? I am a target. All us fags are.

I really don't like to feel this way about any religion, but I'm feeling as though I have little choice at this point. Do I believe in God? Yes! Do I believe in the modern day Christian God?

Apparently not.

[theHandpuppet]

14. Thank you!

My thoughts exactly.

[BiggJawn]

15. "Oh, but *WE* aren't like THOSE people..."

"We're the GOOD Christians! We love EVERYBODY!"

"Then what are you doing about those people who've hijacked your church and are spreading Hate in your God's name?"

"Uh....Uh....Uh....Oh, lookit-the-time-gotta-run-buh-bye-Jesus-loves-you!"

I do think they're all that way. There's the VOCAL ones, like the Jim Dobsons, "The Watchers", the Freddy Phelps.

Then there's the Silent Ones, who say nothing but quietly nod their approval with their silence.

[theHandpuppet]

19. Here's a quote for the "Silent Ones"

In Germany they first came for the Communists
and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Communist.
Then they came for the Jews,
and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Jew.
Then they came for the trade unionists
and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a trade unionist.
Then they came for the Catholics
and I didn't speak up because I was a Protestant.
Then they came for me
and by that time no one was left to speak up

-- Reverend Martin Niemöller, a pastor in the German Confessing Church who spent seven years in a concentration camp.

[Mari333]

20. That phrase keeps crossing my mind as my neighbours

ignore us, and people dont associate with me in my town because of my vocal anti war stance. They took my kid, but the Bu$h admin hasnt taken their kid yet, so they stand mute.
and they stay shut up. Because it doesnt affect them that our kid is under mortar attack, all they care about is that they arent going thru it, and they stay silent.
Oh well. I have my dog and my husband. and DU.
the draft will wake them up
http://www.bushdraft.com

[Almost_there]

31. Very true...

It is tough sometimes being a Christian when people manipulate and distort any message into their own sick, twisted viewpoint. But, I guess that can be said of just about anything... Even Ghandi was pretty well used as a pawn when Pakistan broke away from India. I shudder to think what Ghandi felt when that happened.

Nice avatar, btw... Anime Strong Bad... sweet... time to check "the email!"

~Almost

[David__77]

4. What fools...

This stuff hurts their cause a lot! One must wonder...

[fudge stripe cookays]

5. Someone was doing this in Dallas as well.

Two friends of mine each got letters after writing LTE. Fortunately, one's husband is an attorney, and very well-placed.

[atreides1]

6. Inside Job

I'm not sure how it works in Denver, but here in Tucson, letters to the editor don't usually contain the writers address.

So how was the "Watcher" able to obtain the addresses of the people involved.

Wondering minds would like to know.

[kegler14]

10. It depends

Here where I live the paper does print a hometown. If the name is unusual you can find at least some people either in the phone book or with an Internet search. Recently, liberal letter writers to my paper have been getting postcards telling them their village is looking for its idiot or generally accusing them of causing all the ills of the world. The postcards aren't threatening but some folks who thought they were allowed to express an opinion without being ridiculed get a little rattled.

Real mature stuff from the conservatives.

Richard

[newyawker99]

26. Hi kegler14!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[Earth_First]

7. I recieved hate mail from Tom Metzger...

from my affiliation within the Kucinich Campaign, my contact information is available via a simple internet search, low and behold, the self-proclaimed leader of the aryan race emails me with "words of advice"

What is wrong with America?

[murielm99]

16. Isn't Metzger in jail?

[Technowitch]

8. No specific prohibition for lesbians though...

The Bible passages most often mentioned as speaking out against homosexuality are in Leviticus (talks about men lying with other men as they would with women) and Paul's Letters to the Romans I.

Here's the relevant passage in Romans I, verses 26-27:
"For this reason God gave them up to degrading passions. Their women exchanged natural intercourse for unnatural, and in the same way also the men, giving up natural intercourse with women, were consumed with passion for one another. Men committed shameless acts with men and received in their own persons the due penalty for their error."

Now then, in the verses preceeding these ones, Paul says that this happened because the Romans were worshipping false idols. Thus, we're talking about a bunch of punishments for failing to worship the Judeo/Christian 'God'-figure alone.

(It's also strongly implying that 'natural intercourse' is the only sex that's okie-dokie in God's eyes. Thus, masturbation, oral sex, hand-jobs, dry-humping, anal penetration, sex toys, and anything else that isn't penis-in-vagina sex is 'unnatural' -- and the passage makes no particular mention as to which is worse than the other. The passage also makes no moral distinction between pleasuring onesself with a Hitachi MagicWand versus some guy screwing a sheep.)

But anyway, the causal implications are as follows:
- A certain people worship false idols.
- God punishes many of them with 'unnatural, irresistable passions'

Thus we reach the inevitable conclusion: Gays and lesbians are the way they are precisely because God made them that way. Their 'sin' isn't the sex act itself, but that of idolatry -- putting them on equal footing with all non-Jews and non-Christians.

Interestingly though, there's no specific mention, description, or prohibition for lesbian sex. A few mentions that guys shouldn't do the nasty with each other, but nothing in there specifically saying women shouldn't enjoy each other's bodies.

Of course, Leviticus also prohibits mixed fibers in clothing, beard-shaving, going with head uncovered, women speaking in church, and the consumption of shellfish.

Odd how these folks pull out the rules they want to follow, but conveniently ignore all the rest, huh?

But then again, as these Christian folk often say, 'The Devil can quote scripture for his own benefit.'

cheers,
Technowitch

[revcarol]

12. Would not be at all surprised if the Focus on the Family group is

orchestrating this. Denver not very far from Colorado Springs.

[Bertha Venation]

17. at the risk of being flamed

I doubt that a group like Focus on the Family would be behind this campaign. Perhaps assorted individuals who work there would be involved, or fanning the fire. Perhaps assorted individuals who hang on Dobson's every word. But not the organization itself.

Contrary to popular opinion, and even contrary to what their message about gays ultimately boils down to, FOTF doesn't teach hate. They teach ignorance, and the ignorant use that teaching to bolster their own hatred and confirm their own righteousness in that hatred.

[theHandpuppet]

22. i beg to differ...

"Focus on the Family" encourages its followers and members to be vocal and politically active. One trip to their website bears this out. There are entire pages devoted to homophobic propaganda and instructions for how to conduct campaigns to defeat pro-gay rights legislation, among other progressive and human rights issues.

After reading just this page from their site -- http://www.family.org/cforum/fosi/homosexuality/maf/a0028248.cfm I can only say we are splitting hairs beween whether they are teaching ignorance or hate.

[Bertha Venation]

29. I'll put it another way.

Focus On The Family does not teach beating homosexuals, sending homosexuals hate mail, or even telling fag jokes.

They do teach (1) what they believe: that homosexuality is a sin and that its acceptance (whatever that is) will cause the downfall of the by God U S of A, and (2) what they think is right for their followers to do: exactly what every American has the right to do, which is raise their voices for what they think is right.

You and I see hatred. They don't.

You see hatred in action at FOTF. I see ignorance in action. Call it hairsplitting if you like; I don't care.

Someone suggested that FOTF might be behind the Denver hate mail campaign. I'll eat my hat if anyone can show me that they are directly behind it -- that the leadership or the organization or that some clearly stated policy is behind this mailing of hateful and threatening messages to CO gay people.

[Ediacara]

21. I HATE SMALL TOWN NEWSPAPERS

You know why?

Because normal newspapers sign LTTE like this:

Body of the letter

Joe Shmoe,
Kalamazoo, MI

But a small town paper will add in this detail:

Body of letter

Joe Shmoe
436 W Apple St
Kalamazoo, MI

You see the difference? You see why I hate small town papers?

[sniffa]

23. oh wonderfuL

i'm sure we can expect a prompt rebuke and offer for assistance from the top cop.

[Lindacooks]

24. You always know you're on the right side, morally

when your side is the one getting hate mail and death threats. Because people who spew this shit are seriously stupid, sick, and cruel.

[saigon68]

27. stupid, sick, and cruel and would watch a public execution

These are the assholes who used to go to an old fashioned hanging.. If public hanging was still being practiced most of these whack jobs would put out their lawn chairs ahead of time to watch the fun.. their kids would be present too.

See Fred Phelps picture above.

[xchrom]

25. gives me the willies

these people are every where.
and yes there are so many christians who give the faith a bad name -- it's pathetic, i sometimes think there is an 11th commandment that i didn't get -- thou shalt not be a thinking being.