There is a pathetic excuse for a human being out there that seems to feel his narrow-mind views have value. His name is Matt Barber from the Liberty Councel. Here he is commenting on the Matthew Shepard act recently (From District Chronicles):
Conservative Christian leaders are fighting a bill that would provide federal hate-crimes coverage to gays and lesbians, prompting questions of who, if anyone, should be protected by such laws.
With a Democrat-controlled Congress and a president who has indicated his support for the Matthew Shepard Act, time may be running out for the bill's opponents. To stop the legislation, a few Christian leaders have suggested repealing all hate-crimes law, which would undo historic protections for race and even religion.
"The entire notion of hate-crimes legislation is extraneous and obsolete," said Matt Barber, director of cultural affairs with the conservative nonprofit Liberty Counsel, adding that he believes hate-crimes laws are unconstitutional.
And, once again a few weeks back, on other issues:
A Christian college in India allows applicants to indicate whether they are male, female, or transgender when they enroll.
Matt Barber, cultural affairs director at Liberty Counsel, says Madras Christian College administrators must have misread the book of Genesis, believing God created male, female, and transgender.
"You know, this is just ridiculous and insane," he contends. "It's really sad that a Christian college is joining in and entertaining this leftist, secular, humanist delusion that is transgenderism."
Way back when I was a younger man I wrote an opinion response in the New York Post voicing my opposition to a commenter who criticized Michael Dukakis for marrying a Jewish woman. At 24-years-old, this kind of religious descrimination sickened me as much then as it does now.
There's little I despise more than a religious figure or religious "representative" quietly (or, sometimes, not so quietly) promoting any kind of intolerance in the name of God. Many of these religious leaders on the far-right are doing just that. From the old school group of Pat Robertson, Jerry Falwell, Jimmy Swaggart to the current assholes holding onto that last handful of hate in a world that has less and less to do with them, their words and actions are embarrassments to the rest of the human race.
Fortunately, in this country, the people are on the other side of their nasty rants:
A 2007 Gallup poll showed a majority of Americans (68 percent) favor expanding hate-crimes protections. Majorities of frequent churchgoers (62 percent), conservatives (57 percent), and Republicans (60 percent) also were in favor of the legislation.
It is no doubt in my mind that this, along with much of the molestation trouble the churches have been publicly dealing with over the last 20 years, is what's made organized religion less and less appealing to the audience it used to own. The average religious person might want to believe in God, but they sure as hell don't want to do it in the name of hatred and narrow thinking. This is why the only "religions" that seem to be flourishing are the extreme ones of which include The Catholic Traditionalist Movement and Al Qaeda. So sad that the weakest minded of our world are finding each other.
And, as far as Matt Barber is concerned, this narrow-minded fuckhead may well find that if there is a heaven, there is also a hell - and his statements might make him the perfect candidate for that particular institution.