I'll keep this one short.
We got another gay-genocide-happy Xian preacher, this time in Kansas.
"They should be put to death. That's what happened in Israel. That's why homosexuality wouldn't have grown in Israel. It tends to limit conversions. It tends to limit people coming out of the closet. — 'Oh, so you're saying we should go out and start killing them, no?' — I'm saying the government should. They won't but they should. [You say], 'oh, I can't believe you you're horrible. You're a backwards neanderthal of a person.' Is that what you're calling scripture? Is God a neanderthal backwards.. in his morality. Is it his word or not? If it's his word, he commanded it. It's his idea, not mine. And I'm not ashamed of it." -- Pastor Curtis Knapp, New Hope baptist Church, Seneca, KS
Of course, this one doesn't want to get his hands dirty. He wants tax dollars to pay for it. Figures that a RWNJ like him doesn't mind when the government pays for what he personally wants, but health care for all -- screw that.
So is this genocide thing a trend, or is it just a bandwagon?
Maybe if more people spoke up against this....
And for those people and organizations who don't have the time or resources to address every single anti-gay genocidal bigot out there, maybe they could pool their time and resources and send out something like this:
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Recently in the media, we have witnessed coverage of statements and sentiments, supposedly based upon Biblical principles, from our Christian brethren and sisters advocating the forced removal of GLBT people from society. While we would hope that this would never happen again as it has happened before throughout history, we are saddened and sickened that anyone would even suggest denigrating and disposing of human beings in such a manner. It is our belief that we are all God's children, and as such deserve better from and toward each other.
It is our hope that in standing up to this appalling abuse of Christianity, we can show everyone that they are valued and loved by God and by God's followers. Communities of faith which welcome, value, and affirm all do exist, and as the faithful in God, we of the {insert name(s) of denomination(s) here} send out this message in the furtherance of God's love and the love that is Christianity --
{insert name(s) of signatory/-ies representing official position of denomination(s) here}
This can be used and re-used over and over, ad infinitum, for all manner of occasions, until Hell itself won't have it anymore.
It doesn't mention GLBT's specifically (if that's a concern), and it doesn't call out anyone specifically, which seems to make SOME PEOPLE nervous.
It's a simple matter of gathering signatories with the weight of their denominations behind them JUST ONCE (might take some time though), and then a cut-n-paste on demand (five seconds).
And bonus -- it can easily be edited to include whichever group needs or is giving the support. So pass it along -- edit as you see fit. Hell, re-do the whole thing.
I sent my copy off to the local UU and MCC churches with a note for the pastors, asking for their time and consideration to speak up as a denomination. I hope it does some good.
In the end, I think it boils down to this:
"All that is necessary for the triumph of evil in America is for good men to do nothing." -- attributed to Edmund Burke, 1729-1797, but what he really wrote was:
"When bad men combine, the good must associate; else they will fall one by one, an unpitied sacrifice in a contemptible struggle, " Edmund Burke, 1729-1797 (from "Thoughts on the Cause of Present Discontents").
and this:
"In Germany they came first 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." -- Martin Niemöller 1892-1984, from "The Path to Freedom" (F.M. Hellbach, Stuttgart, 1946)
(original German: "Als die Nazis die Kommunisten holten, habe ich geschwiegen; ich war ja kein Kommunist.Als sie die Sozialdemokraten einsperrten, habe ich geschwiegen; ich war ja kein Sozialdemokrat. Als sie die Gewerkschafter holten, habe ich geschwiegen; ich war ja kein Gewerkschafter.Als sie die Juden holten, habe ich geschwiegen; ich war ja kein Jude. Als sie mich holten, gab es keinen mehr, der protestieren konnte." -- Der Weg ins Freie, Martin Niemöller (F.M. Hellbach, Stuttgart, 1946)
"If I am not for myself, who will be for me?
If I am not for others, what am I?
And if not now, when?" -- Rabbi Hillel (30 BC - 9 AD)
9:09 AM PT: Update: I heard back from my local UU church this morning. The clergy there was already aware of Knapp and Worley, and the pastor is busy writing his sermon for Sunday: The Bible, Gay Marriage, and Civil Unions. Pastor also mentioned that he is planning a "strongly worded denouncement" of both of these clods. Good news!
Update #2: This just in from a friend on Facebook:
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For those of you with Facebook, there's even a a page:
Our Hearts Are With You