November 21, 2005

In Ohio, anti-gay evangelist Rod Parsley kicked off his new Reformation Ohio project with what he was pleased to call a "spiritual revival" on the steps of the Ohio Statehouse. Parsley insists his organization is non-partisan, and never you mind just how well it goosesteps with republican Kenneth Blackwell's campaign for governor.

Parsley is a hatemonger who has a long record, of inciting religious passions toward gay and lesbian people with rhetoric that is both fiery and militant. Yet during last Friday's rally he was heard to bemoan, without any apparent irony, how nervous his brand of religiosity made people:

"For some reason it has become chic to say that everybody should have a voice in that public square, but when born again or evangelical Christians begin to lift up their voice, everyone gets nervous,"

No fooling? Say rev...you think maybe this might have something to do with it:

"A Holy Ghost invasion is taking place. Man your battle stations, ready your weapons, lock and load."

In Santa Ana, California, a jury this week convicted a man of first-degree murder for the brutal killing of a retired immigration agent who was found with his head smashed in, his ears cut off and a slur against gays written on his back. Lock and Load.

Copyright © November 21, 2005 by Bruce Garrett
All Rights Reserved.

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