DOCSLIB.ORG

The Public Eye, Winter 2018

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
The Public Eye, Winter 2018 WINTER 2018 The Public Eye In this issue: One Year In: A Q&A with Tarso Luís Ramos Emmanuel Macron and Authoritarian Liberalism The Far Right and Neopaganism A Manual to Restore a Christian Nation That Never Was editor’s letter THE PUBLIC EYE It’s been a long year since Trump was elected, and the assaults on civil and human rights QUARTERLY are almost too many to name. Some of what’s happened has been “predictable in broad out- PUBLISHER lines, if not always the details,” notes PRA Executive Director Tarso Luís Ramos in a discus- Tarso Luís Ramos sion with Public Eye, At the start of Trump’s term, PRA warned that “One Year In” (pg. 3). EDITOR White supremacist and other bigoted groups would be emboldened, the Christian Right Kathryn Joyce rewarded, and Trump’s economic populist campaign promises abandoned to deliver culture COVER ART war tokens in their stead. But there’s “a gift in this moment,” finds Luís Ramos, as masses Karl Orozco of people “are newly aware of themselves as historical actors and are forming (or reforming) LAYOUT their sense of purpose in this extended moment of crisis.” There’s also a challenge: that Gabriel Joffe anything-but-Trumpism doesn’t convince progressives to settle for an old status quo that PRINTING enables more right-wing victories down the road. Red Sun Press EDITORIAL BOARD Frederick Clarkson • Alex DiBranco That threat is the subject of Ajay Singh Chaudhary’s essay, “In the Court of the Centrist Gabriel Joffe • Kapya Kaoma King” (pg. 6), about the rise of France’s supposedly liberal savior, President Emmanuel Greeley O’Connor • L. Cole Parke Macron. Squared off against Far Right candidate Marine Le Pen, and in a European elec- Tarso Luís Ramos • Zeina Zaatari tion season marked by a frightening array of xenophobic, nationalist and even neo-fascist candidates, Macron’s victory was greeted with a nearly universal sigh of relief. And yet, in The Public Eye is published by governance, Macron’s regime has come to resemble an “authoritarian liberalism”: rejecting Political Research Associates civil rights and equal protection, committed to neoliberal economic reform, and skeptical Tarso Luís Ramos about democracy itself. “While Donald Trump has been stymied in fulfilling many of his EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR promises to suspend or abridge U.S. civil liberties,” writes Chaudhary, “Macron, the sup- Sarah Burzillo posed avatar of ideological opposition to Trumpism, is pulling it off with speed and effi- FINANCE MANAGER ciency in France.” Frederick Clarkson SENIOR ReseARCH ANALYST Cloee Cooper In Shannon Weber’s report, , the cross-At- “White Supremacy’s Old Gods” (pg. 11) ReseARCH ANALYST lantic influence flows both ways, as some U.S. and European Far Right factions commonly Gabriel Joffe find in neopagan beliefs a framework for anti-immigrant sentiment and violent White na- PROGRAM COORDINATOR tionalism. While the reach of neopaganism in the U.S. is quite limited, it has an outsized Kapya Kaoma influence in White supremacist circles. In part, that’s because it offers White supremacists SENIOR ReseARCH ANALYST a belief system grounded in hypermasculinity, a sentimental connection to a mythic Euro- Greeley O’Connor COmmUNICATIONS DIRECTOR pean past, and a justification for considering North America a White homeland. White su- L. Cole Parke premacist neopaganism also strongly corresponds with bias-related violence, from attacks ReseARCH ANALYST on Muslim schoolgirls in Oregon to vigilante Odinist squads in Finland to “black sun” flags Shayna Parker at Alt Right rallies. OpeRATIONS COORDINATOR Zeina Zaatari ReseARCH DIRECTOR The more traditional version of the Religious Right—the Christian Right—has continued to work steadily over the last year to translate Republican dominance of all branches of gov- FELLOWS ernment into victories for their agenda, chipping away at the secular state in dozens of ways Tope Fadiran • Spencer Sunshine • Mariya Strauss at once. The effects of their work are clear; how they got to this position of influence, not INTERNS so much. But in carefully reviewing an overlooked Family Research Council manual, Fred- Konstantin Gorbunov • Elizabeth Rideout erick Clarkson finds a grassroots playbook that’s serving as a blueprint for today’s Christian Julia Taliesin Right. In “A Manual to Restore a Christian Nation That Never Was” (pg. 17), Clarkson BOARD OF DIRECTORS explores the underreported world of local churches’ Culture Impact Teams—the cellular Dania Rajendra, Chair Paulina Helm-Hernandez • Lynette Jackson building blocks of a national Christian Right action network—and the dubious historical Hamid Khan • Jenny Levison • Scot Nakagawa claims they use to justify a Christianity-first vision of religious freedom. Mohan Sikka • Zeke Spier Carla Wallace • Susan Wefald In between issues, PRA will continue its coverage and analysis of the Right, with new blog posts, online-only features, and reports every week, so make sure to follow us at po- FOUNdeR Jean V. Hardisty, Ph.D. liticalresearch.org. Kathryn Joyce 1310 Broadway, Suite 201 Somerville, MA 02144-1837 Tel: 617.666.5300 [email protected] © Political Research Associates, 2018 All rights reserved. ISSN 0275-9322 ISSUE 93 www.politicalresearch.org q & a BY KATHRYN JOYCE One Year In A Q&A with Tarso Luís Ramos n the anniversary a privatizing, crony capitalist of Donald Trump’s way) before the “sticks” of Mus- inauguration, PRA lim and trans military service Executive Director bans and so on. OTarso Luís Ramos talks about Given the hollowness of his some of what’s changed in the economic populism, it seemed past year, and what progres- inevitable that the regime sives should be alert to going would have to deliver tangi- forward. ble non-economic benefits to Trump’s electoral base. And I Tarso Luís Ramos EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR PE: What should we make of think we’ve seen that: No stu- Sarah Burzillo this anniversary? dent loan relief, but the revo- FINANCE MANAGER As relentless a year as it’s cation of guidelines for redress Frederick Clarkson been, the Trump camp accom- around sexual assault on cam- SENIOR ReseARCH ANALYST plished less of its agenda than pus, as well as challenges to Cloee Cooper they might have. They’ve not higher ed access for Black and ReseARCH ANALYST Gabriel Joffe been able to fully convert on Brown students. No policies PROGRAM COORDINATOR GOP control of both chambers to revive manufacturing, but Kapya Kaoma of Congress and it took them a crackdown on “Black iden- SENIOR ReseARCH ANALYST a full year to win a major—if tity extremism.” No reining in Greeley O’Connor devastating—legislative victo- of Wall Street excesses—peo- COmmUNICATIONS DIRECTOR ry in the form of the tax heist. ple forget that was part of his L. Cole Parke ReseARCH ANALYST The widespread and fierce re- stump speech, before the Gold- Shayna Parker sistance to the Trump agenda Women’s March on Washington, January 21st, 2017. Photo: Molly Adams / Flickr. man Sachs appointees—but OpeRATIONS COORDINATOR from the Women’s March on- Muslim bans and a steady drip Zeina Zaatari ward compelled congressional Demo- PRA warned that White nationalists of antisemitism. ReseARCH DIRECTOR crats to take a harder line of resistance would make a show of force; that the Yet after the election came a chorus of FELLOWS than they could have, and deep divisions Christian Right would be rewarded with liberal critics calling on progressives to Tope Fadiran • Spencer Sunshine • Mariya Strauss on the Right scuttled repeal and replace- things like judicial appointments and reject identity politics—by which they INTERNS ment of the Affordable Care Act and oth- pushback against LGBTQ communities. meant appeals to gender or racial jus- Konstantin Gorbunov • Elizabeth Rideout er administration initiatives. Trump has It was clear that Trump was going to en- tice—in favor of the supposed universal- Julia Taliesin had to rely disproportionately on execu- gage in eliminationist policies, directed ism of economic populism. We at PRA BOARD OF DIRECTORS tive power, and by all accounts his is not at Muslims, refugees, and immigrants, heard this as a call to a different sort of Dania Rajendra, Chair a tight ship. This is all to say that things and expanded targeting of Black com- identity politics: White identity politics. Paulina Helm-Hernandez • Lynette Jackson could be—and may yet become—much munities. The Trump campaign combined White Hamid Khan • Jenny Levison • Scot Nakagawa Mohan Sikka • Zeke Spier worse. We also warned that Trump would not racial grievance with toxic masculinity Carla Wallace • Susan Wefald Of course, tremendous damage can make good on his promises of economic and economic populism. It linked, espe- and has been done through executive ac- populism and argued that it would be cially, race and the economy, blaming FOUNdeR tion and the full implications of changes the job of progressives to reveal Trump’s people of color and immigrants for the Jean V. Hardisty, Ph.D. at the various federal departments have betrayals as quickly as possible. That declining economic fortunes of White not been fully felt. Yet looking back on nobody, including Trump voters, would people. Trump campaigned on the lie 1310 Broadway, Suite 201 what PRA anticipated from a Trump pres- deserve what was coming. Even we, that bigotry can bring prosperity. The Somerville, MA 02144-1837 idency, a lot of things that have come to who may have a reputation for gloomy challenge for progressives is not to shut Tel: 617.666.5300 [email protected] pass were predictable in their broad out- forecasts, thought Trump would lead up about race, gender, and sexuality, © Political Research Associates, 2018 lines, if not always in the details. with the “carrot” of infrastructure (if in but to do a better job of addressing them All rights reserved.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • 1327 American Grand Strat Text
    DAY V U.S.-CHINA RELATIONS:THE U.S. DOMESTIC CONTEXT THOMAS E. DONILON1 PARTNER O’MELVENY & MYERS LLP u U.S. relations with China have for decades been subject to the push and pull of domestic politi- cal influences and pressures. As Ambassador Richard Holbrooke recently noted, “[w]hat vastly complicates U.S.-China relations is that every major policy issue between the two countries is also a domestic matter with its own lobbying groups and nongovernmental organizations ranging across the political spectrum.”2 These influences have ebbed and flowed over time. During the 1950s, the “Who Lost China” debate and domestic fears over Communist infiltration played a major role in shaping U.S. attitudes Seven Presidents from both toward “Red China.” By the 1970s, the strategic priority of containing the Soviet political parties have pursued a bloc had submerged hostile domestic atti- strikingly consistent policy of tudes toward China and allowed President Nixon to make his historic “opening” in engagement toward China. 1972. Subsequently, the collapse of the Soviet Union eroded the foundation on which the Sino-American relationship had been built, leaving it exposed to the currents of domes- tic opinion and the hailstorm of criticism after the events at Tiananmen Square on June 4, 1989. Through it all, seven Presidents from both political parties have pursued a strikingly consistent policy of engagement toward China with the goal of integrating the People’s Republic into full and constructive membership in the international community.3 On the surface, the George W. Bush years have seen stability and relative calm in U.S.-China relations.
    [Show full text]
  • Family Research Council As Amicus Curiae in Support of the Respondent ______
    Nos. 18-1323 & 18-1460 In the Supreme Court of the United States _____________ JUNE MEDICAL SERVICES LLC, ET AL., Petitioners and Cross-Respondents, v. DR. REBEKAH GEE, SECRETARY, LOUISIANA DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HOSPITALS, Respondent and Cross-Petitioner. _____________ ON WRITS OF CERTIORARI TO THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FIFTH CIRCUIT _____________ BRIEF OF FAMILY RESEARCH COUNCIL AS AMICUS CURIAE IN SUPPORT OF THE RESPONDENT _____________ TRAVIS S. WEBER JONATHAN F. MITCHELL KATHERINE BECK JOHNSON Counsel of Record Family Research Council Mitchell Law PLLC 801 G Street NW 111 Congress Avenue Washington, DC 20001 Suite 400 (800) 225-4008 Austin, Texas 78701 [email protected] (512) 686-3940 [email protected] [email protected] Counsel for Amicus Curiae ! TABLE OF CONTENTS Table of contents ................................................................... i! Table of authorities ............................................................. iii! Interest of amicus curiae ...................................................... 1! Summary of argument .......................................................... 2! I.! The plaintiffs lack statutory standing to challenge Act 620 ....................................................... 5! A.! The plaintiffs must identify a cause of action that authorizes them to sue state officials who violate the constitutional rights of third parties ......................................... 6! B.! There is no cause of action that authorizes abortion providers to sue state officials who violate
    [Show full text]
  • The Heritage Foundation and Family Research Council: Mirror Images of Hate
    The Heritage Foundation and Family Research Council: Mirror Images of Hate The Heritage Foundation is fond of branding itself as a think tank of establishment conservatives. In reality, Heritage regularly spouts hateful ideas that are detrimental to LGBTQ individuals, women, people of color and low-income workers. Heritage’s policy positions are not dissimilar from those of peer organizations such as the Family Research Council (FRC) that have earned designation from the Southern Poverty Law Center as hate groups. More information on Heritage’s hateful policies and its influence on the Trump administration can be found in our report, “The Heritage Foundation’s Health Department: How an Increasingly Radical Right Wing Think Tank Is Controlling HHS — to the Detriment of Reproductive Health and Other Human Rights.” Policy Position Comparison Between The Heritage Foundation and the Family Research Council The Heritage Foundation Family Research Council Anti-Abortion Heritage Is Opposed to a Women's Right to FRC Believes Roe v. Wade Was Wrongly Obtain an Abortion and Works to Undermine Decided and Actively Works to Have the Women’s Access to Reproductive Healthcare Decision Reversed "Since Roe v. Wade and Doe v. Bolton "Few things touch on the sanctity of effectively legalized abortion on demand, more human life more than the practice of than 58 million children have been denied the abortion. A pregnancy should not simply right to life. For over forty years the pro-life be 'terminated,' as if it were something community has worked to counter the impersonal and problematic and it cannot devastating impact abortion has had on be without physical and emotional mothers, fathers, and their unborn babies, consequences.
    [Show full text]
  • The Radical Roots of the Alt-Right
    Gale Primary Sources Start at the source. The Radical Roots of the Alt-Right Josh Vandiver Ball State University Various source media, Political Extremism and Radicalism in the Twentieth Century EMPOWER™ RESEARCH The radical political movement known as the Alt-Right Revolution, and Evolian Traditionalism – for an is, without question, a twenty-first century American audience. phenomenon.1 As the hipster-esque ‘alt’ prefix 3. A refined and intensified gender politics, a suggests, the movement aspires to offer a youthful form of ‘ultra-masculinism.’ alternative to conservatism or the Establishment Right, a clean break and a fresh start for the new century and .2 the Millennial and ‘Z’ generations While the first has long been a feature of American political life (albeit a highly marginal one), and the second has been paralleled elsewhere on the Unlike earlier radical right movements, the Alt-Right transnational right, together the three make for an operates natively within the political medium of late unusual fusion. modernity – cyberspace – because it emerged within that medium and has been continuously shaped by its ongoing development. This operational innovation will Seminal Alt-Right figures, such as Andrew Anglin,4 continue to have far-reaching and unpredictable Richard Spencer,5 and Greg Johnson,6 have been active effects, but researchers should take care to precisely for less than a decade. While none has continuously delineate the Alt-Right’s broader uniqueness. designated the movement as ‘Alt-Right’ (including Investigating the Alt-Right’s incipient ideology – the Spencer, who coined the term), each has consistently ferment of political discourses, images, and ideas with returned to it as demarcating the ideological territory which it seeks to define itself – one finds numerous they share.
    [Show full text]
  • Religious Freedom for Churches the U.S
    Protecting how we practice our faith BRUCE HAUSKNECHT, ESQ Paying a High Price 2 PAYING A HIGH PRICE Religious Freedom for Churches The U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Obergefell v. today for religious freedom in the U.S. (and not just and Religious Organizations 3 Hodges,1 handed down on June 26, 2015, made in regard to marriage): same-sex marriage the law of the land and created Religious Freedom a “new” set of constitutional rights. By a vote of 5-4, ■ Aaron and Melissa Klein3 are a Christian in the Military 5 the millennia-old, one-man, one-woman definition couple from Gresham, Oregon, who owned of marriage was tossed aside in favor of sexual a bakery. They were fined $135,000 by the Religious Freedom liberty—a decision that will have profound effects state for failing to bake a cake for a same-sex in Public Schools 7 on American life and the freedoms we often take wedding, and have been forced to close their for granted. bakery due to the controversy. Religious Freedom in the Workplace 10 In 2016, the Obergefell impact spread to the issue of “gender identity” as the U.S. Department of Education issued an edict to the nation's schools, Religious Freedom in Government saying that boys who claim to “identify” as girls (and and the Public Square 11 vice versa) can choose to use the restrooms, locker rooms, and shower facilities of the opposite sex. What Can I Do to Common sense, public safety, and the orthodox Protect Religious Freedom? 13 Christian view2 that “male and female He created them” have been rejected in the government push for the new sexual orthodoxy made possible by 4 ■ Barronelle Stutzman, a florist in the Obergefell ruling.
    [Show full text]
  • Litigation, Argumentative Strategies, and Coalitions in the Same-Sex Marriage Struggle
    Florida State University College of Law Scholarship Repository Scholarly Publications Winter 2012 The Terms of the Debate: Litigation, Argumentative Strategies, and Coalitions in the Same-Sex Marriage Struggle Mary Ziegler Florida State University College of Law Follow this and additional works at: https://ir.law.fsu.edu/articles Part of the Civil Rights and Discrimination Commons, Constitutional Law Commons, and the Litigation Commons Recommended Citation Mary Ziegler, The Terms of the Debate: Litigation, Argumentative Strategies, and Coalitions in the Same- Sex Marriage Struggle, 39 FLA. ST. U. L. REV. 467 (2012), Available at: https://ir.law.fsu.edu/articles/332 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by Scholarship Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in Scholarly Publications by an authorized administrator of Scholarship Repository. For more information, please contact [email protected]. THE TERMS OF THE DEBATE: LITIGATION, ARGUMENTATIVE STRATEGIES, AND COALITIONS IN THE SAME-SEX MARRIAGE STRUGGLE MARY ZIEGLER ABSTRACT Why, in the face of ongoing criticism, do advocates of same-sex marriage continue to pursue litigation? Recently, Perry v. Schwarzenegger, a challenge to California’s ban on same-sex marriage, and Gill v. Office of Personnel Management, a lawsuit challenging section three of the federal Defense of Marriage Act, have created divisive debate. Leading scholarship and commentary on the litigation of decisions like Perry and Gill have been strongly critical, predicting that it will produce a backlash that will undermine the same- sex marriage cause. These studies all rely on a particular historical account of past same-sex marriage decisions and their effect on political debate.
    [Show full text]
  • United States Commission on International Religious Freedom Annual Report 2006
    � C�� ��� �� S� �� � �� � � � � � � � U I � � � � � � � � � � � � � �� F � �� �� R������ United States Commission on International Religious Freedom Annual Report 2006 Annual Report of the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom May 2006 U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom 800 North Capitol Street, NW Suite 790 Washington, DC 20002 202-523-3240 202-523-5020 (fax) www.uscirf.gov United States Commission on International Religious Freedom Commissioners Michael Cromartie Chair Felice D. Gaer Nina Shea Vice Chairs Dr. Khaled M. Abou El Fadl Preeta D. Bansal Archbishop Charles J. Chaput Dr. Richard D. Land Dr. Elizabeth H. Prodromou Bishop Ricardo Ramirez John V. Hanford, III, ex officio Joseph R. Crapa Executive Director United States Commission on International Religious Freedom Staff Tad Stahnke, Deputy Director for Policy David Dettoni, Deputy Director for Outreach Christy Klaassen, Director of Government Affairs Anne Johnson, Director of Communications Mark Hetfield, Director of International Refugee Issues Carmelita Hines, Director of Administration Patricia Carley, Associate Director for Policy Angela Stephens, Assistant Communications Director Dwight N. Bashir, Senior Policy Analyst Robert Blitt, International Law Specialist Catherine Cosman, Senior Policy Analyst Deborah DuCre, Receptionist Scott Flipse, Senior Policy Analyst Mindy Larmore, East Asia Researcher Tiffany Lynch, Assistant to the Deputy Director for Policy Jacqueline A. Mitchell, Executive Assistant Tina Ramirez, Human Rights Researcher Allison Salyer, Legislative Assistant Stephen R. Snow, Senior Policy Analyst � C�� ��� �� S� �� � �� � � � � � � � U I � � � � � � � � � � � � � �� F � �� �� R������ United States Commission on International Religious Freedom Washington, DC, May 1, 2006 The President The White House Dear Mr. President: On behalf of the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom, I am transmitting to you the annual report, prepared in compliance with section 202(a)(2) of the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998, 22 U.S.C.
    [Show full text]
  • Univerzita Karlova Filozofická Fakulta Diplomová
    UNIVERZITA KARLOVA FILOZOFICKÁ FAKULTA Ústav filosofie a religionistiky Studijní obor: religionistika DIPLOMOVÁ PRÁCE Radical Paganism: Contemporary Heathens in Search of Political Identity Bc. Martina Miechová Vedoucí práce: Tereza Matějčková, Ph.D. 2019 Prohlašuji, že jsem práci vypracovala samostatně, že jsem řádně citovala všechny použité prameny a literaturu a že práce nebyla využita v rámci jiného vysokoškolského studia či k získání jiného nebo stejného titulu. V Praze dne 29.7.2019 ........................................ Poděkování Tereza Matějčková, Ph.D. mě podpořila povzbuzujícími konzultacemi, podnětnými připomínkami a trpělivostí během doby, kdy práce vznikala. Jagodě Mackowiak vděčím za přátelskou podporu a Mgr. Veronice Krajíčkové za neocenitelnou radu v začátcích. Nepřímo se o mou práci zasloužil i Adam Anczyk, PhD, který ve mně vzbudil zájem o téma novopohanství a jeho transformace v dnešní společnosti. Všem bych tímto ráda upřímně poděkovala. ABSTRAKT Tato práce si klade za cíl zmapovat vývoj politického myšlení Severského novopohanství a určit faktory, které vedou k politizaci konkrétních typů novopohanských skupin a k jejich příklonu k pravicovému radikalismu. První kapitola po úvodu sestává ze čtyř případových studií, z nichž každá představuje jiný typ skupiny z pohledu místa a okolností vzniku, kontextu, v němž se se vyvíjela jejich náboženská a politická přesvědčení, a ze způsobu legitimizace jejich případného politického aktivismu. Následující dvě kapitoly se soustředí na analýzu historických souvislostí, které zapříčinily rozdílné ideologické směřování skupin v rámci dvou hlavních typů Severského pohanství, Ásatrú a Odinismu, a to ve dvou odlišných kulturních prostředích Evropy a Spojených Států. Závěrečná kapitola přináší syntézu zkoumaných skupin ve vzájemných souvislostech spolu s jejich historickým pozadím; tato syntéza pak nabízí možnou interpretaci procesu jejich radikalizace.
    [Show full text]
  • Countering War on Faith 3.Indd
    Th e War On Christians And Th e Values Voter in 2006 March 27-28, 2006 at the Omni Shoreham Hotel, Washington, DC • “Th ere is an anti-Christian bias in this country, and it is more on display at Christmas than any other time.” Bill O’Reilly, Th e O’Reilly Factor • 59% of Americans believe “Christianity is under attack” in the U.S. today. 11/05, Fox News poll • “Our government “is moving each day closer to a theocracy, where a narrow and hateful brand of Christian fundamentalism will rule.” full-page ad in Th e New York Times (12/2/05) signed by Jane Fonda and others • “Under God” in Th e Pledge of Allegiance violates a student’s right to be “free from a coercive requirement to affi rm God.” U.S. Distrcit Judge Lawrence Karlton • Evangelical Christians are “a clear and present danger to religious liberty in America.” Former Labor Secretary Robert Reich • Religious people are “moral retards... Th ey are an ugly, violent lot.” Timothy Shortell, professor of sociology, City University of New York. Christians are under attack -- from Hollywood, the media, activist groups and judges. Learn about it and how to stop it at Th e War On Christians Conference. Sponsored by Vision America CONFIRMED SPEAKERS PANELS INCLUDE Early registration (before Feb. 16th) Individual Registration $125 Congressman Tom DeLay, Taking Our Faith To Th e Ballot Box Married Couples $224 Sen. Sam Brownback, Th e Gay Agenda: America Won’t Be Happy Registration (After 2/15) Individual Registration $149 Gary Bauer, Th e ACLU And Radical Secularism: Married Couples $259 Sen.
    [Show full text]
  • OPEN LETTER to REPUBLICAN NATIONAL COMMITTEE CHAIR REINCE PRIEBUS Where Does the GOP Stand on Gay Bashing?
    OPEN LETTER TO REPUBLICAN NATIONAL COMMITTEE CHAIR REINCE PRIEBUS Where Does the GOP Stand on Gay Bashing? Dear Mr. Priebus, Fifteen years ago, your predecessor called for party members to shun the Council of Conservative Citizens because of the group’s “racist views.”1 “A member of the party of Lincoln should not belong to such an organization,” GOP Chairman Jim Nicholson said.2 His comments had their intended effect: Senior members of Congress distanced themselves from the group. Today, Chairman Priebus, we ask that you take a similar stand and call upon Republican officials to disassociate themselves from the groups behind the upcoming Values Voter Summit. The reason is simple: These groups engage in repeated, groundless demonization of LGBT people — portraying them as sick, vile, incestuous, violent, perverted, and a danger to the nation. The Family Research Council, the summit’s host, is vigorously opposed to extending equal rights to the LGBT community. Its president, Tony Perkins, has repeatedly claimed that pedophilia is a “homosexual problem.”3 He has called the “It Gets Better” campaign — designed to give LGBT students hope for a better tomorrow — “disgusting” and a “concerted effort” to “recruit” children into the gay “lifestyle.” 4 He has condemned the National Republican Congressional Committee for supporting three openly gay candidates.5 Bryan Fischer of the American Family Association, a summit sponsor, has said the U.S. needs to “be more like Russia,” which enacted a law criminalizing the distribution of LGBT “propaganda.”6 He also has said, “Homosexuality gave us Adolph Hitler, and homosexuals in the military gave us the Brown Shirts, the Nazi war machine, and six million dead Jews.”7 Similarly, Mat Staver of the Liberty Counsel, another summit sponsor, has compared those who do not denounce same-sex marriage to those who remained silent during the Holocaust.
    [Show full text]
  • Special Message to the 117Th Congress: Don't Draft Our Daughters
    Special Message to the 117th Congress: Don’t Draft Our Daughters August 31, 2021 Dear Senators and Representatives, We write to you united in serious concern about the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for 2022 which the Senate Armed Services Committee approved on July 21. The legislation is unacceptable because it would amend the Military Selective Service Act (MSSA) to require young women to register with Selective Service for a possible future draft. Sen. Jack Reed’s deceptively simple language – reportedly to change the MSSA words “male citizens” to “all Americans” – is unnecessary, unwise, and, in our view, outrageous. Imposition of Selective Service obligations, including a possible future draft of our daughters, sisters, and nieces, would not only hurt women, it would compromise our military’s essential function during a time of catastrophic national emergency. A monumental and consequential reversal such as this should not be approved behind closed doors, and the full Senate and House should not rubber-stamp “Draft Our Daughters” language in the NDAA. The only acceptable option is to strike the Reed amendment and seriously, thoroughly, and responsibly consider what the Selective Service law really means. This is a matter of national security – not “women’s rights,” “men’s rights,” or civilian volunteer service. Article 1, Section 8 of the U.S. Constitution assigns to Congress the authority to establish and support the armed forces and to ensure that they are prepared to secure our nation and defend our freedom. As the Supreme Court has recognized, the purpose of a draft is not to fill various non- combat billets, it is to quickly provide qualified replacements for combat casualties.
    [Show full text]
  • Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern
    ARIZONA SUPREME COURT BRUSH & NIB STUDIO, LC, et al., Supreme Court No. CV-18-0176-PR Plaintiffs/Appellants/ Cross-Appellees, Court of Appeals v. No. 1 CA-CV 16-0602 CITY OF PHOENIX, Maricopa County Superior Court Defendant/Appellee/ No. CV2016-052251 Cross-Appellant. All Parties Consent to Filing this Amicus Brief. AMENDED BRIEF OF AMICI CURIAE ETHICS & RELIGIOUS LIBERTY COMMISSION OF THE SOUTHERN BAPTIST CONVENTION, JEWISH COALITION FOR RELIGIOUS LIBERTY, ARIZONA CATHOLIC CONFERENCE, ASSOCIATION FOR BIBLICAL HIGHER EDUCATION, ASSOCIATION OF CHRISTIAN SCHOOLS INTERNATIONAL, NORTHWEST CHRISTIAN SCHOOL, CHRIST’S COMMUNITY CHURCH OF EL MIRAGE, COMPASSIONATE COUNSELORS, INC., AND CALVARY CHAPEL FARMINGTON IN SUPPORT OF APPELLANTS Of Counsel: Joshua Carden, SBN 021698 Michael K. Whitehead Joshua Carden Law Firm, P.C. Whitehead Law Firm LLC 16427 N. Scottsdale Road, Suite 410 229 SE Douglas St. #210 Scottsdale, AZ 85254 Lee’s Summit, MO 64063 (480) 454-1100 (816) 398-8967 [email protected] [email protected] TABLE OF CONTENTS INDEX OF AUTHORITIES ....................................................................................................... ii IDENTITY AND INTERESTS OF AMICI CURIAE ................................................... 1 INTRODUCTION AND SUMMARY OF ARGUMENT......................................... 1 ARGUMENT .................................................................................................................................... 4 I. Business owners or workers who affirm man-woman marriage must
    [Show full text]