Demonization in Detroit

[MarkCharles]

"Fight Back Against Demonization in Detroit

A large stadium in Detroit will be packed tonight with America's most radical religious extremists -- and Truth Wins Out will be there. TWO will monitor hate preacher Lou Engle's 24-hour prayer rally at Ford Field to report on the mischief and mayhem spewed by these zealots.

Engle is notorious for his angry sermons that use violent imagery against LGBT people. In 2010, Engle brought his organization, The Call, to Uganda, where the legislature was already considering the infamous "Kill the Gays Bill." His rally stoked the fires of homophobic hatred and helped to create an even more frenzied climate of intolerance in that country.

The twin goals of the noxious Detroit event are to convert nearby Dearborn, Michigan's large Muslim population to fundamentalist Christianity and to demonize LGBT Americans. (Yes, they actually preach that homosexuality is caused by gay demons) "

http://www.truthwinsout.org/blog/2010/06/9408/#more-9408

“If we’re struggling with a homosexual, same-sex desire, LET THE BIBLE KILL YOU, rather than make it easier for you, and say well, there must be a better scriptural answer to this … Brothers and sisters, let the Bible kill you rather than you twist the scriptures! And in that killing, it will break you so that you can find a redeemer and a savior! Oh, I believe there are those struggling with same-sex desires who will stand, having done everything to stand, and maybe they won’t find the deliverance they’ve been looking for, but they refuse to let the world dictate their theology; they’re gonna stand on the Bible. And they may go for thirty years in an agonizing struggle, but they go into heaven because they stood with God rather than standing with the ideologies of this world.”

This is the first of many egregiously offensive quotes from Engle’s talk, and it merits a moment’s examination. Engle will claim later in the talk that this sort of speech is symbolic, but I find that explanation to be lame for a couple of reasons. For one thing, the penalty for same sex (male) intercourse in Torah was indeed death. In some parts of the world, we have evolved past that sort of animal behavior, but in some places, we obviously have not. Uganda, for instance, from which Lou Engle just returned, and by some accounts, expressed support for the anti-gay genocide bill in that nation. This is the beginning of a pattern that runs rampant throughout Engle’s talk to his followers: Say something extremely violent, and then attempt to gloss over it or reframe it as something less violent and hateful. (This, as you will hear, also is occasionally followed by a third step: Openly worry about whether this is being taped.) So I believe it’s a fair criticism to point out that not only is Lou Engle invoking some of the most violent imagery in scripture, but is putting his feet on the ground and lending aid and comfort to people who are likely to act on that teaching in the most literal way possible.

http://thecall.com/Group/Group.aspx?ID=1000080537

[Denninmi]

1. Oh, goody.

Just what my home town needs, more fundies running amok. We already had Terry Jones in town yesterday for a court hearing regarding his April stunt at the mosque in Dearborn. He's probably attending this as well.

Go home, bigots, Detroit doesn't need you.

[beam me up scottie]

2. Good luck, guys.

Be careful, this kind of mob needs little provocation to turn on infidels.

[MarkCharles]

3. And our nation continues to give tax exempt status to these slick, unapologetic

salesmen of hatred and ignorance.

I wonder how many thousands of dollars of taxpayer money will go into police and other services to keep that group "safe" while they preach their hatred of gays and Muslims.

[NMMNG]

4. Gay people don't struggle with being gay

They struggle with intolerant assholes who feel the need to abuse others with their insane, backwards theology.


LET THE BIBLE KILL YOU

He's just filled with Christ's love, isn't he?