With Texas Prayer Rally, American Family Association Mixes Politics and Faith
At AFA being pro-family means hating all things LGBT, all single moms, all contraception, Gay civil rights and women’s rights. To AFA’s Bryan Fischer being a true Christian means hating all atheists, all of Islam, all Muslims, all gays, and waging a holy crusade against them.
Fundamentalist hate groups are the genesis of most US prejudices and hate propaganda in this millennium, and AFA is standing shoulder to shoulder with Westboro Baptist and Terry Jones of Quran burning fame - their rhetorical approach might differ but they say the same things and are for the exact same causes.
The very large difference is that AFA has much more funding, sympathetic politicians, lobbyists, a huge internet presence, and 192 radio stations worth of 24X7 hate speech.
AFA is bent on dominating the GOP through their myriad issues groups, their dominionist think tanks, and their monstrous noise machine. You don’t have to think long to determine which of these hate groups is the most dangerous to our freedoms and civil rights.
Also note that it’s a great shame for Kansas that our Governor, Sam Brownback, has signed up to attend the AFA sponsored hatefest in Houston.
To its admirers on the religious right, the American Family Association is a stalwart leader in a last-ditch fight to save America’s Christian culture and the values of traditional families. To its liberal critics, it is a shrill, even hateful voice of intolerance, out to censor the arts, declare Muslims unfit for public office and deny equality to gay men and lesbians because they engage in sinful “aberrant sexual behavior.
Broadcast on its 192 talk-radio stations, streamed over the Internet and e-mailed in “action alerts” to 2.3 million potential voters, the American Family Association’s pronouncements have flowed forth daily from its sleek offices here in the Deep South.
But now it is doing more than preaching to the choir. This summer, the association has thrust itself into presidential politics by paying for and organizing a day of prayer to save “a nation in crisis” that Gov. Rick Perry of Texas is convening this Saturday. Several Republican presidential aspirants, including Michele Bachmann, Newt Gingrich and Tim Pawlenty, have appeared on a radio program on the group’s American Family network.