http://abcnews.go.com/WNT/Business/story?id=827643&page=1The newest battle in the culture wars is being waged on the telephone lines. In a departure from the standard telemarketing calls aimed at selling long distance service, United American Technology has taken telemarketing to a whole new level.
The Oklahoma-based long distance carrier, which describes itself as a Christian conservative company, is seeking like-minded customers by bad-mouthing bigger rivals for their "sinful" behavior.
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"I got a phone call," Mirman said. "It was a recording and it said: 'Hi, I'm the mother of three, and I don't support gay marriage. If you don't support gay marriage press one.' I have something hooked up to my phone to record phone calls, and so I scrambled and found it … Every time they would call, I would record it because it was crazy."
In one of the "crazy" exchanges he recorded, the telemarketer starts her sales pitch by asking about Mirman's stance on same-sex marriage:
UAT TELEMARKETER: OK. Eugene, did you press 1 to oppose same sex marriages?
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UAT: Exactly. Uh, Mr. Mirman, our organization is dedicated to people such as yourself who want to stop same-sex marriages and to quit doing business with companies that promote and profit from the homosexual lifestyle.
MIRMAN: Some companies profit from homosexuality?
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UAT: No. Such as AT&T, what they do …
MIRMAN: AT&T sells sex favors?
UAT: No, no. What it is is they own the Hot Network, which is a hardcore pornography channel … They also give millions of dollars to the Gay and Lesbian Alliance group.
(AT&T actually has sold its division that owned the Hot Network, but Thompson says that's immaterial since the company still makes money off phone sex calls.)
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on and on it goes