Back Towards The Locus

Reverend O’Neal Dozier – the bigoted ninnyhammer behind The Judeo-Christian View – has admitted that magazine’s release of 325,000 copies of Obsession was linked to Aish HaTorah…

“The Rev. O’Neal Dozier, pastor of the Worldwide Christian Center in Pompano Beach, Fla., said he mailed 325,000 copies of “Obsession” three weeks ago along with another video “on same-sex marriage and child sacrifice” in the first issue of “The Judeo-Christian View.”

Dozier said he was the “general publisher” but did not pay for the mailing. He refused to name the funder but said that person had been in touch with officials from Aish HaTorah.”

The Clarion Fund can hardly continue to drone that they’re only targeting “radical Islam” if they’re giving hundreds of thousands of copies to someone who was sacked for his anti-Muslim activities.

(Incidentally, isn’t “Same-Sex Marriage and Child Sacrifice” brilliant? I can’t wait for “Female Emancipation and The Occult” or “Hitler was an Evolutionary Biologist”.)

The Proposition 8 campaign is trying to shake off the “intolerant” label by reminding us that they’re full of lurve…

“Tolerance as a gospel treatment means love and forgiveness of one another, not tolerating transgressions.”

True enough, but tolerance in a liberal society means not intervening upon the liberty of another unless they’ve already done so. That’s why this campaign is intolerant. It seeks to impose the moral values of one group upon another, and whether they does this lovingly or not isn’t the point.

Jesus was quick to comment on this development…

*Slaps champagne bottle against hull*

I was going to gush for a while about how brave the campaign is, but the courage of the participants isn’t the point. It’s the people that have to endure life in Gaza every single day that are truly brave.

Mark Kenny sniffs disdainfully at the atheist bus…

“It may even stimulate someone to write a book called “The Tolerant Atheist”, in which the author affirms that while he is not a believer himself, he accepts the evidence that for countless numbers, religious faith gets them through the night: and its beauty, language, optimism, music and architecture helps them relax and enjoy life.”

Er, Mary, how do you square that with this…

“Far from relaxing and enjoying life, most atheists I have encountered are gloomy blighters with a depressing and nihilistic message that there is no purpose to life so where’s the point of anything? They so often fall into the category defined by GK Chesterton: “Those that do not have the faith/Will not have the fun.” You only have to attend one of their dreary humanist funerals to see that – I am never going to another of those, just to be made miserable.”

Firstly, atheism isn’t a belief, it’s a lack of belief. That’s the only characteristic of atheism. Secondly, the religious right, Wahabists and Scientologists are hardly a barrel of laughs, either.*

The point about funerals is taken, though. Next time I go to one I’ll order a weeping mourner to stop bringing down the atmosphere.

Rick Warren has flopped onto the Proposition 8 bandwagon and made a fool out of his already foolish self in the process…

“For 5,000 years, every culture and every religion – not just Christianity – has defined marriage as a contract between men and women…”

Sheer endurance doesn’t add any value to an argument, and this claim – whatever its historical validity – can therefore be dismissed out of hand.

“There is no reason to change the universal, historical definition of marriage to appease 2% of our population.”

Woah, three Amens for the tyranny of the majority. After the “think of the chiiildren” gambit fell on its ass brute force was the only resort.

However many people are available for same-sex marriage is immaterial, anyway. Even if there was nary a homosexual in the world, restricting marriage to unions between a man and a woman would need to be supported by a logical case. It is a clause, not an assumption.

Besides, legalising same-sex marriage in California wouldn’t be changing the definition of marriage; it would be changing the definition of marriage in California. The Netherlands – foppish continentals that they are – legalised gay marriage in 2001. They’re also recognised in Belgium, Canada, Norway, South Africa and Spain.

Incidentally, I’ve re-considered my “don’t piss through Rick Warren’s letter box” policy. Why should I restrict my urinary opportunities to appease 1/6 billionth of humanity?

Last month, The Army Times reported that a Brigade of US troops was to be deployed within America…

“They may be called upon to help with civil unrest and crowd control or to deal with potentially horrific scenarios such as massive poisoning and chaos in response to a chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear or high-yield explosive, or CBRNE, attack.

…

The 1st BCT’s soldiers also will learn how to use “the first ever nonlethal package that the Army has fielded,” 1st BCT commander Col. Roger Cloutier said, referring to crowd and traffic control equipment and nonlethal weapons designed to subdue unruly or dangerous individuals without killing them.”

Happily, the story hasn’t been buried and the ACLU has sent a FOIA request to the Justice Department, Pentagon and DHS, demanding documents related to the decision and outlining the unit’s duties…

“The military’s deployment within U.S. borders raises critical questions that must be answered. What is the unit’s mission? What functions will it perform? And why was it necessary to deploy the unit rather than rely on civilian agencies and personnel and the National Guard? Given the magnitude of the issues at stake, it is imperative that the American people know the truth about this new and unprecedented intrusion of the military in domestic affairs.”

Heh. Indeed. Now read the whole thing!

A new periodical for Clerical Leaders, The Judeo-Christian view, claims that have delivered copies of Obsession to 325,000 rabbis, pastors and priests from every Jewish and Christian congregation in America. The Publishers – led by O’Neal Dozier of The Worldwide Christian Centre – oppose the rise of “militant secular-paganism, militant Islam, or both” but warn against“bigotry against peaceful Muslims“.

Well, Dozier obviously wasn’t considering this when he took part in a protest against the construction of a Mosque…

When the commission meeting started, opponents of the mosque spoke.

“People in the neighborhood feel less safe knowing Muslims are invading,” Dozier said.

And he probably didn’t remember it when he argued that…

“The Islamic religion in my view is a cult. On the show I said that Islam is a dangerous religion.‘

Indeed, Dozier is a big believer in the “MOOSLIMS ARE COMIN’” claims. He was sacked from Florida Governor Charlie Crist’s campaign committee after distributing these delightful Jack Chick tracts..

According to him the tracts are are “just right to help [people] understand the dangers of Islam”. Just as good as Obsession, anyway.

The Judeo-Christian View, like other backers of Obsession, is wildly opposed to Obama. They compare his record on late-term abortions – or, “child sacrifice” – and gay rights unfavourably to McCain’s, and launch an entertaining attack on “G_d-forbidden carnal desires and volitional decisions to pursue immoral sexual relations“.

Before they claim to oppose homophobia (wait, they do) here’s Dozier again, quoted on the Good As You site…

“Why is it one of the paramount of sins? Well, it is a very bad kind of sin because it really hurts society in so many ways. God, however, found a way to punish the homosexuals through HIV-AIDS. It is a type of judgment for such a sin as this one, homosexuality.”

He speaks more from sorrow than anger however, as he…

“…d[oes]n’t want to see God destroy America in the way he destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah.”

Noice.

So, how did this fearmongering bigot get hold of 325,000 copies of Obsession? And when will Raphael Shore admit that his film promotes fear and hatred of Muslims, and not merely of “radical Islamists”?

Tips of the hat to Richard Silverstein and Bartholomew’s Notes

Remember Mehdi Kazemi? The gay Iranian that had to fight just to be granted a reprieve from deportation?

Well, an Iranian activist named Arsham Parsi has set up a new organisation, Iranian Queer Railroad (IRQR), that aims to help those fleeing from the regime find safe places to live…

“Parsi said he and his organization are now in contact with 145 LGBT Iranian refugees currently in limbo and seeking permanent asylum – 85 of them are in Turkey, which shares a lengthy border with Iran and where cultural and political homophobia is rampant, while the rest are scattered throughout Europe, including in the Netherlands, Sweden, Germany, Switzerland, and Norway. Some 22 are in the United Kingdom, which has been extremely reluctant to grant permanent asylum to gay Iranian refugees, and where in the last several years two Iranians have committed suicide after receiving deportation orders back to certain torture and possible death in Iran.”

Obviously, IRQR opposes the theocratic state, but any exploitative hawks loitering nearby will be disappointed to see that they believe that change can be found through “solidarity and cooperation“.

An eminently supportable organisation, then, and one that may become more necessary if Labour pay attention to the witterings of Woolas.