Catching Anti-Immigrant Vigilantes on Film, p. 18

TheA PUBLICATION OF POLITICAL RESEARCH PublicEye ASSOCIATES SUMMER 2007 • Volume XXII, No.2 $5.25 Churches Under Seige Exposing the Right’s Attacks on Mainline Protestantism

By John Dorhauer n February of the year 2000, in South St. ILouis, Missouri, the 300-member Redeemer Evangelical United Church of Christ got a new pastor. His name was George Dohm. Soon after he arrived, he told select members whom he called his “disciples” that within five years he’d be able to take the church out of the denomination,

David McNew/Getty Images McNew/Getty David which he considered degenerate for failing The Log Cabin Republicans called its 2004 convention in Palm Springs, California, the most important to embrace the inerrancy of the Bible or to one in its history because of the push for the civil rights of gay Americans. Here Richard Sousa, standing to the left of his partner of 52 years, Geri Pranger, receives applause during a discussion of gay marriage. attack gays. We know of his vow to remove Redeemer Evangelical from the denomi- nation because the church organist hap- pened to overhear his remarks. Gay Conservatives In February 2003, Rev. Dohm resigned, but told his “disciples” that he would come Unwanted Allies on the Right back if they completed the takeover of the church. We know this because he was By Pam Chamberlain then working part-time as the UCC’s n the high-adrenaline, and heavily het- ington office in 1993 with hopes of main- Churches Under Seige continues on page 5 Ierosexual, world of Beltway lobbyists, the taining a Republican gay lobbying presence gay Log Cabin Republicans have their work on Capitol Hill. At first it waged an uphill cut out for them. Ostracized by the Repub- battle, viewed by liberals as a political IN THIS ISSUE oxymoron. How could it be that a group lican Party which continues to receive their Letters to the Editor ...... 2 fierce loyalty, the LCR is the group that rep- with second-class status, long associated resents the dilemma of gay conservatives: with liberal or even radical politics, would Defense Against the they want to be players on the Republican choose to support the political party that Dark Arts ...... 3 team, but who is willing to put them in the seemed so unfriendly? Rich Tafel, the first Now online at national president of Log Cabin Republi- lineup? www.publiceye.org ...... 4 Log Cabin Republicans was founded in cans, presented an alternative view in his 1977 to recruit gay Republicans to oppose 1999 memoir, Party Crasher. Book/Film Reviews ...... 18 the Briggs Initiative, which was an attempt I…realized that average gay voters Reports in Review ...... 21 to prohibit gays and lesbians from teach- were very different from the gay lead- Eyes Right ...... 23 ing in California schools. It opened a Wash- Gay Conservatives continues on page 11

THE PUBLIC EYE 1 SUMMER 2007 The Public Eye

TO THE EDITOR ThePublicEye Why Distort History? Publisher The Rev. Katherine Hancock Ragsdale, Fred Clarkson’s piece on “Why the Christian Right Distorts History and Why it Mat- M. Div., D. Min. ters” was terrific, very educational, right on target. Editor But there was something important missing from this piece—or perhaps, an impor- Abby Scher, Ph.D tant set of ideas that should be a companion piece to this one. Design/layout The “companion ideas” are matters such as the motivations of right-wingers for prop- Hird Graphic Design agating these lies, and methods of exposing and stopping them. Printing I assume that one motivation is that these folks are somehow profiting from their lies— Red Sun Press either monetarily, or in some other way, such as amassing power of some sort. So if their Editorial Board “base motivations” were exposed and publicized, I believe more people would disregard Chip Berlet • Pam Chamberlain Frederick Clarkson • David Cunningham, Ph.D what they said. Surina Khan • Roberto Lovato Bear in mind, in past decades, lots of politicians espousing “patriotic” motives and The Rev. Katherine Hancock Ragsdale views, and religious motives, were subsequently found to be common criminals, and Tarso Luís Ramos • Abby Scher Holly Sklar convicted and sent to jail. Given human nature, I suspect that some of today’s crop of PRA right-wing liars have the same motivations for their lies. PRA PoliticalPOLITICAL Research RESEARCH Associates ASSOCIATES Thanks, and keep up the great work. Howard Karten Founder and President Emerita Massachusetts Jean V. Hardisty, Ph.D Staff The Rev. Katherine Hancock Ragsdale, A Breath of Fresh Air Executive Director I read your article [“History is Powerful: Why the Christian Right Distorts History and Chip Berlet, Senior Analyst Why it Matters” by Fred Clarkson] in the most recent Public Eye with great interest. I’d Pam Chamberlain, Research Analyst heard the comment about the United States being a Christian nation many times dur- Helen Crowley, Development Director ing my breaking with the worldview of my parents and their church-going friends. I’m Cindy King, Business Manager Tarso Luís Ramos, Research Director now approaching my 65th birthday, so those discussions happened a long time ago — Abby Scher, Senior Editor but they still have a kind of hold on me, as do many such perspectives learned in one’s Renee Sweeney, Data/Web Master formative years. Interns So I found your article a breath of Michelle Iorio fresh air, and one that targets an Nate Stopper important ideological prop of the Board of Directors dominant culture today. Also, you Richard Gross take pains to argue on grounds that Heeten Kalan the Christian Nationalists will have Vivien Labaton June Lorenzo a hard time finding fault with — Supriya Pillai quoting Jefferson, the Constitution, Mohan Sikka and various religious leaders of the Carlton Veazey Wendy Volkmann revolutionary period. Alea Woodlee But I was troubled by one aspect The Public Eye is published by Political Research of your article and wanted to share my Associates. Annual subscriptions are $21.00 for individuals and non-profit organizations, $10.00 for concern with you. In arguing against students and low-income individuals, and $36.00 Christian Nationalism, you inad- for libraries and institutions. Single issues, $5.25. Outside U.S., Canada, and Mexico, add $9.00 vertently give them purchase for their for surface delivery or $14.00 for air mail. arguments right at the outset — by Please make checks payable to Political Research taking at face value that the United Associates, 1310 Broadway, Suite 201, Somerville, Massachusetts 02144-1837. States is essentially a European nation. 617.666.5300 fax: 617.666.6622 It seems to me that seeing PRA is a non-profit, tax-exempt organization. All donations are tax-deductible to the extent permitted relevant history beginning with the by law. © Political Research Associates, 2007. Jamestown landing accepts, and locks Website: www.publiceye.org All rights reserved. ISSN 0275-9322

To The Editor continues on page 16 Angel Boligan/caglecartoons.com ISSUE 56

THE PUBLIC EYE 2 SUMMER 2007 The Public Eye GUEST COMMENTARY Defense Against the Dark Arts By Doug Muder t’s easy—maybe too easy—for a Demo- Icrat to be optimistic these days. Unless you’re over fifty, you don’t remember the last election night as enjoyable as 2006: 1964, when LBJ apparently crushed the far Right for good. In 2006 Democrats won the close races, took Congressional seats in red states like Indiana, and swept countless contests too obscure to get national coverage. In my own state, New Hampshire, Democrats now control both houses of the legislature for the first time since the Grant administra- tion. And 2008 hangs on the vine like a firm green tomato. Our Senator Sununu, like Republican incumbents nationwide, can only cross his fingers and hope that things work out. He can’t separate himself from Images Sullivan/Getty Justin an unpopular president and a disastrous war It is easy to celebrate 2006’s election upsets, like Montana farmer Jon Tester’s defeat of Republican Sena- tor Conrad Burns. But what should those worried about the Right do next? without alienating his own base of support. As delicious as this moment is, liberals moral crusaders who coincidentally have books beginning with Moral Politics. But like me need to step back from it and ask bad jobs. The progressive working class through it all, most liberals have remained this question: Will 2006/2008 be a historic becomes the religious Right, and the band in denial. It just seems wrong that laid-off turning point, or just a Watergate-like plays “Onward Christian Soldiers” instead factory workers fight to protect Paris Hilton stumble in America’s decades-long march of “Joe Hill” or even “Brother Can You Spare from the estate tax. Minimum-wage earn- to the Right? Are we witnessing the final a Dime?” And liberals—compassionate, ers are just stupid to care more about abor- unraveling of the Reagan coalition, or just tion and gay marriage than their own lack the personal tragedy of George W. Bush? of health insurance and their children’s The answer, I believe, depends on what dwindling educational opportunities. we do now. Sooner or later—maybe sooner Liberals have to shake Eventually, we think, things will get so bad than we think—a slate of Republican that folks will have to wise up. candidates unstained by the Bush/ off their illusions about They haven’t. Iraq and Mark Foley may Iraq/Abramoff legacy will try to rekindle have weakened working-class evangelicals’ the Reagan magic. Will we have a counter- working class faith in current Republican leaders, but the spell by then or not? underlying family-values dynamic is still evangelicals. firmly in place. James Dobson is less influ- t Hogwarts, the Reagan spell would be ential today than two years ago, but the Ataught in Transfiguration class: Lower- Religious Right didn’t die after the Scopes wage workers who coincidentally belong to Monkey Trial or the failure of the Clinton conservative churches are transmuted into decent people that we think we are—are impeachment, and it’s not dead now either. transmuted in their eyes into soul-destroy- We need to be ready when, like Lord You can read Doug Muder’s essays on his own ing monsters. Voldemort, it rises again. blog and under the name Pericles on The Thomas Frank chronicled the effects of Before liberals can banish conservative Daily Kos. He is active in the Unitarian- the spell in What’s the Matter With Kansas? working-class evangelicals’ illusions about Universalist church and lives in Nashua, and George Lakoff has deconstructed the us, we have to shake off our illusions New Hampshire. magic words “family values” in a series of about them.

THE PUBLIC EYE 3 SUMMER 2007 The Public Eye

The first image to banish is the self-sat- to fulfill their duties or renege on them. o undo our transfiguration and cast isfied moralist standing in judgment over Toff our monstrous image, liberals the failures of others. As Ron Sider makes hoice” indeed! If congenital and need to attack the spell head-on. We must clear in The Scandal of the Evangelical “Cinescapable obligations to family, stake our claim as the upholders of soci- Conscience, Religious Right families aren’t community, and God are the ligaments that ety, not its destroyers. And, rather than all Ozzie and Harriet. They suffer their hold society together, then each choice to changing the subject, we need to explain share of divorce, domestic violence, drug renege causes more of the world to come how our positions on the hot-button and alcohol abuse, sexually transmitted dis- apart and puts a greater strain on the liga- issues reinforce our claim. ease, unwanted pregnancy, and all the rest ments that hold. Liberal “freedom” is eas- Can we do that? Yes, because the true lib- of America’s social dysfunctions. Far from ily painted as an invitation to drop your eral ideal is the committed citizen, not the the smug, self-righteous stereotype, Reli- obligations and lead a life of self-indulgence, libertine. Liberal freedom is not about gious Right voters are often perversely community be damned. individual indulgence at society’s expense. unselfish and idealistic. Their votes defend The genius of this dark magic is its It’s about leaving a social role where you fit the Ozzie-and-Harriet archetype that lives topsy-turviness. The more ligaments snap, badly so that you can find one where you in their heads, sometimes at the expense of the more important it is that the remain- fit well. Choice is only half of liberalism. the troubled or broken family that eats at ing ones hold. So the worse the conserva- Commitment is the other half. their table. tive family model is performing, the more We should tell the stories that back this Lakoff gets this. His writings focus not strictly it must be adhered to. And who is up. The15-year-old who chooses abortion on real-life families, but on the dueling and school over motherhood can come images of family in the American imagi- back at 30 to raise wanted children in a nation, and the ways that political rheto- secure home. The gay couple who adopts ric invokes a liberal or conservative family The liberal agenda a child isn’t just exercising their new-found image. But as much as Lakoff tries to be freedom to choose parenthood, they’re detached and non-judgmental, his descrip- sounds like a magician’s picking up the slack —building society up, tions of the “strict father” and “nurturant not tearing it down. parent” stereotypes promote a second illu- misdirection: “Don’t None of that will make working class sion: the harsh and compassionless religious evangelicals slap their foreheads and say, conservative. worry about the “Oh, I get it now.” But it will tell them that In reality, liberals who immerse them- we see the dystopia they fear and have our own selves in religious-right communities are collapse of society. plan for averting it. We are not monsters. often surprised by the warmth they find. And once that transfiguration is broken, Two examples of this near-seduction are Look at this paycheck.” we will not need to change the subject back James Ault’s Spirit and Flesh and Tanya to jobs, education, and healthcare. They Ezren’s Straight to Jesus. In each book, a lib- will raise these issues themselves, and eral social scientist discovers unexpectedly to blame for its failure? Liberals! If even Ted demand our answers. ■ complex and sympathetic human beings— Haggard reneges on his God-given roles and Ault in an upstart Baptist church and duties, how much more pressure falls on the Ezren in an evangelical program aiming to rest of us? Damn that Nancy Pelosi! Now Online at turn gay men heterosexual. Of course, any actual liberal knows that www.publiceye.org! Ault in particular provides a needed the disconnected libertine is not a liberal adjustment to Lakoff’s strictness/nurtu- ideal. The implication seems too absurd to The Anti-Immigrant Backlash rance dichotomy. The key distinction Ault dignify with a denial. Much better, we sees between his own worldview and that of imagine, to ignore this misdirection and Doug Brugge’s review of anti- the fundamentalists he studies is “the cho- change the subject to something mean- immigrant organizing in the United sen” versus “the given.” Ault’s portable pro- ingful like jobs, healthcare, or education. States is as relevant as ever— fessional skills give him a plug-and-play It hasn’t worked for thirty years. And including his insight that liberals’ worldview, which challenges him to find a without the left-blowing wind of war and ambivalence paves the way for great community and a set of social roles he can scandal, it won’t work again. Because once right-wing influence on the issue. commit himself to. By contrast, his work- the ligament-snapping dystopia has gotten ing-class Baptists see themselves as enmeshed into your head, it’s the liberal agenda that From the Summer 1995 from birth in roles whose obligations—to sounds like a magician’s misdirection: Public Eye family, community, and God —are “Don’t worry about the collapse of society. On publiceye.org now! inescapable. Their only “choice” is whether Look at this paycheck.” THE PUBLIC EYE 4 SUMMER 2007 The Public Eye CHURCHES UNDER SEIGE continued from page 1 regional youth director, and, when con- organization bent on fomenting dissent port of the IRD, these renewal movements fronted about it at his last regional staff within and demoralizing from without also are concerned with politics —conser- meeting, he admitted he’d made that Mainline Protestant denominations. Its vative politics challenging economic jus- promise. allies have grown since Rev. Post wrote his tice, egalitarian family arrangements, Within five months, he was back preach- letter, as has its power base. The IRD func- reproductive rights, and other wedge issues. ing in the church as a guest supporting an tions at the behest of funders like the Leading the organization is Jim upcoming vote of the members about leav- Adolph Coors Foundation and the Scaife Tankowitz, former director of convicted ing the denomination. In that sermon, Family Foundation simply to keep those Watergate felon Chuck Colson’s prison which a congregant taped, he told the churches occupied and their prophetic mission, and a member of the Presbyter- story of a father offering his children voices silenced.1 It works by turning inter- ian Church in America, which split from brownies cooked with a touch of dog poop nal disagreements away from dialogue and the Presbyterian Church USA over the as a way to teach them a lesson. The UCC, into all out battles at which the very life of ordination of women. Its board consists of Dohm continued, is the dog crap cooked people identified more for their right- into Christianity—a little bit wrecks the wing politics than their theology: Robert whole thing. Novak of the American Enterprise Institute; In November, a majority of church Mary Ellen Bork, wife of former Bush members indeed voted to leave the denom- What political Supreme Court Nominee Robert Bork; ination. Now with a diminished mem- Roberta Ahmanson, the millionaire phi- bership and restless congregation, the heavyweights like Coors, lanthropist of the Christian Right; and church has become a casualty of a 25- Weekly Standard editor Fred Barnes. One year-old campaign of right-wing conser- Ahmanson, Mellon-Scaife of its principal founders was one Penn vatives to disrupt the mainline Protestant Kemble—a player in the Reagan-era Iran- denominations and thereby diminish their and others are looking for Contra scandal. power in support of social justice. What political heavyweights like Coors, is the guarantee that a new Ahmanson, Mellon-Scaife, and others are The Campaign Begins looking for is the guarantee that a new t is not as if there was no warning. Martin Luther King, Jr. Martin Luther King, Jr. will not emerge. I What they entrust to the IRD is the task On December 29, 1982, Avery Post, the will not emerge. of creating a mechanism that effects the President of the United Church of Christ, silence of the more timid, the marginal- warned in a letter to every UCC minister ization of the more courageous, and the in his denomination that a strange new dampening of the collective will of the adversary was emerging. It had already tar- a congregation is at stake. Even if a church body to engage in matters of weight, geted the National Council of Churches remains within a denomination, too often import, and controversy. (NCC), and it was not going away any its social justice agenda is silenced. In some ways, the United Church of time soon. IRD claims on its website to be able to Christ (UCC), where I serve as the equiv- Rev. Post wrote: “We must not wait for reach and represent 2.4 million church alent of a “bishop” in the St. Louis area, is this attack to be launched in the congre- members through publications, maga- lucky because the IRD does not have ded- gations of the United Church of Christ. I zines, newsletters, and mailings produced icated staff people focused only on attack- urge you to move quickly to tell the min- by their built-in alliance with over thirty ing us. The organization reserves that isters and members of the churches about “renewal” groups. Renewal movements honor for the Episcopalians, Methodists this campaign to disrupt our church life.” have theological disagreements with main- and Presbyterians—the Protestant denom- Hardly anyone took notice. We con- line churches—they are uncomfortable inations with the biggest memberships tinue to pay a high price for that. with debate about how to interpret the and the biggest treasuries (see box). Still, The Institute on Religion and Democ- Bible, seeing religious truth as unambigu- the IRD has succeeded in putting our con- racy is a well-funded, under the radar ous. They emphasize a person’s direct rela- gregations and pastors on the defensive for tionship with Jesus in the fashion of supporting gay rights, abortion access, Rev. Dr. John C. Dorhauer is a staffmember evangelicals, and so oppose the dominant and economic justice—issues I feel are of the United Church of Christ’s Missouri Protestant church tradition of freedom of rooted in our history of preaching the Mid-South Conference and coauthor of the pulpit and the freedom to express one’s social gospel. And the UCC’s decentralized Steeplejacking: How the Christian Right own theology without the constriction of structure can make it difficult for our is Highjacking Mainstream Religion. a mandate from above. But with the sup- denomination to coordinate a response.

THE PUBLIC EYE 5 SUMMER 2007 The Public Eye

For over a decade, I have witnessed the And it confirms what pastors across promote our legislation at their local fruits of these sustained attacks on both my Protestant denominations have long felt, and regional church conventions in denomination and the local churches that that our denominations are being attacked preparation for the larger battles at comprise it. When I started my work as a in a coordinated fashion—that we are not national and church conventions. regional official over four years ago, I was just falling into conspiratorial thinking. A little later they report that immediately thrown into the cauldron of There is a conspiracy. The document out- conflict and dissent that erupts in churches lines how IRD’s alliance with the Associ- …we have crafted resolutions for that have been targeted for attack by trained ation for Church Renewal (ARC), a our supporters to submit to their IRD activists. I have spent the last four years coalition of 30+ groups within various local Annual Conferences… These learning everything I can about the IRD, Protestant denominations promoting con- resolutions are supporting the their alliance with renewal groups, their servative theology, “allows us to synchro- Christian Declaration on Mar- 3 funding sources, their tactics, and their nize strategies across denominational lines.” riage …The process of submitting and motivations. They have identified me as a What strategies might those be? supporting resolutions is an excellent target because of my work.2 “Preparing resolutions for local and training device for conservative Given the covert nature of the activists, even if resolutions are not organization, discovering all the ways approved (italics added for emphasis). in which their tactics have reached Direct lines and links can be drawn into the hinterlands of this denomi- As an officer of the United from the known leaders of the IRD and nation has not been easy. The IRD’s every group in the Association for training sessions are by invitation-only Church of Christ, I have Church Renewal (ACR). “We are the and its allies within churches meet in chief organizer of this coalition [the secret. At best, we are able to present witnessed for over a decade the ACR] of conservative/evangelical strong circumstantial evidence that renewal groups in all the major denom- what is happening in our local churches fruits of sustained attacks on both inations,” states the Executive Sum- and to our denominational leaders is mary. Press releases, fundraising letters, the direct byproduct of the covert tac- my denomination and the local and letters written to elected officials tics of the IRD and their trained insur- on IRD letterhead often list the names gents. churches that comprise it. and titles of every single ACR repre- We have few smoking gun sentative. The Executive Summary moments: moments where the informs us that “ACR leaders meet fomenters of dissent acknowledge their twice a year, issue press releases and cooperation with or even awareness of the regional church conventions;” “focusing statements, share research materials, and IRD. (In many ways, the IRD’s ability to on positive proactive initiatives that unite cooperate on special projects.” effect cooperation even from those who traditional religious believers and dis- don’t know they exist shows the success of credit the Religious Left;” indemnifying Renewing the Church its initiative.) But one smoking gun “electable conservative candidates for enewing the church sounds both noble moment came recently when the executive national church conventions;” helping to Rand innocuous. It is neither. summary of the IRD’s four-year plan “train elected delegates to be effective at “Renewing the church” consists of a mis- leaked out of its secretive networks into the church conventions;” assisting “conserva- sion to return the church to an image of bet- hands of its enemies. Dating to late 2000 tives who serve on the boards of key church ter days, when the authorities got along and or early 2001, the summary outlined IRD’s agencies so as to have direct influence over adhered to rigid moral codes generated by aim to “translate (recent) victories into the permanent staff.” a unanimity of thought around key passages real influence for conservatives within the A few pages later, the IRD names even of scripture, all literally interpreted. permanent governing structures of these more strategies, including the training of Renewal movements focus largely on churches.” The 11-page document predicts conservatives and moderates for the debates highly controversial issues—we refer to that the four-year cost “for influencing on marriage and human sexuality. them as wedge issues. In many of our the governing church conventions” will be We intend to conduct invitation- churches today, the wedge issue is human $3.6 million. The report states that the IRD only training seminars and consul- sexuality, focusing primarily on homosex- briefing of just the Methodist church cur- tations for church leaders covering uality. In past years, activists have driven rently reaches 275,000 Methodist house- biblical, theological, scientific, psy- wedges with such issues as Communism, holds, and is expected to grow to over chological and sociological aspects of feminism (taking the form of intense 500,000 by the start of 2004. human sexuality. Our trainees will debates over the ordination of women and

THE PUBLIC EYE 6 SUMMER 2007 The Public Eye what renewal activists refer to as “Goddess recruit supporters. Then the outsiders use Someone spread a rumor among con- worship”), and abortion. In more recent every argument to enrage them over the gregants that they would not get financial days, both stem cell research and homo- issue of the day. If enough of a coalition can support from the denomination unless sexuality have emerged as the item du jour. be built, then recruits try out new tactics they hired a gay pastor during their current Renewal groups are quick to argue that, at the local church level that will begin to search. Renewal activists printed that accu- with each wedge issue, there is really only erode the spirit of a congregation. Together sation in their newsletter – it was false, but one choice for people of faith: If you are this creates an ethos of intolerance that it was very difficult to prove otherwise to pro-choice, if anything you do or say can breeds contempt of those whose thoughts a group of very angry and highly motivated be portrayed as sympathetic to communist and theologies cross over lines they have people intent on fomenting dissent or socialist agendas or causes, or if you sup- drawn, of boundaries they have estab- between their local church and their port the full inclusion of gays and lesbians lished, of boxes they have constructed. covenant partners. in the life of the church or the culture, you A perfect example of how this works is In this church, we also saw another are then castigated as immoral, heretical, in the church in the South St. Louis that favored tactic: the research committee. and apostate. You are not to be trusted, and came under attack by a trained renewal Renewal movements use nuggets of con- you are publicly defamed and excoriated. activist during the summer and fall of troversy and take quotes out of context to Trained activists distribute pamphlets, 2003 and ended up voting to disaffiliate create propaganda hoping to discredit the brochures, treatises, essays, and books with the United Church of Christ in denomination and foment dissent. They arguing their case in local churches, and November 2003. The “wedge” driven publish this propaganda in renewalist search out allies among the congregation. between the members of the church and newsletters and websites, in their occa- They then arrange secret meetings with the denomination had to do with homo- sional fundraising letters, or in pamphlets members, where they brainstorm and sexuality. they hand out on speaking tours. You see JD Crowe/caglecartoons.com

THE PUBLIC EYE 7 SUMMER 2007 The Public Eye it in press releases that they will coordinate ers of the church’s historic ties to the does not believe in the Lordship of Jesus, with the IRD. denomination—for the first time in my and the denomination does not believe in The renewalists in the south St. Louis own experience—actually took over the the sanctity of life. church drew on this body of work for a 46- process from the agitators. Being very care- The first time I saw these themes emerge page “exposé” they published in the church ful to actually research the questions being in print was at a church in western Missouri newsletter attacking the denomination. asked about the teaching of the denomi- that eventually voted to leave the denom- Two UCC seminary professors earned nation by consulting a variety of church ination in the early 1990s. The pastor later their scorn—Dr. Steven J. Patterson of officials and covenant partners, they pro- asked us to let him remain as a pastor Eden Seminary, and Dr. Burton Throck- duced their own 65-page research docu- within the United Church of Christ. We morton of Bangor Seminary. The article ment. It looks very, very different from the had a 20-plus page document denouncing quotes Dr. Patterson as saying, “The Bible findings of those churches whose research the denomination, complete with his sig- is relevant today because it tells us the reli- is handed to them by outside agents and nature, which he had sent to congregants gious conviction of the earliest Christians; trained activists. during their debate about whether to but to say it is inerrant or infallible is sim- remain as a UCC church. When I asked ply absurd.” Dr. Throckmorton is quoted The Matrix him why he would choose to remain a part as saying: “There is no reason…that I can ven before we read the IRD’s memo, of a denomination that did not believe in see why the church can’t add to its Scrip- Ethose of us on the receiving end of the God, Jesus, the Bible, or the sanctity of life, ture—delete from its scripture. I think the two-decade attack on mainline denomi- he admitted to us that not he but someone church can do with the scripture what it nations managed to identify the coercive high up in the Biblical Witness Fellowship wants to do with the Scripture.” tactics used over and over. A major tactic (the UCC’s IRD-related renewal group) Four pages of analysis follow those is the distribution of a chart comparing had written it. quotes, arguing that the denomination is what it describes as the teachings of the local Within months, we found ourselves clearly out of touch with “Christ’s use of church, the denomination today and in the encountering the same disruption at a Scripture,” with the “Apostles,” with supposed past, and the Bible. We call it church in eastern Missouri and similar “Christ and His Work,” and other such the Matrix. documents. Over time, the screed changed topics. We encounter it in almost every church its look but the content never changed as When yet another church in eastern where we partnered to quell disruptions and it passed through church after church. Missouri came under attack in 2005, its attacks or answered questions about posi- This document is “The Matrix.” members formed a research committee to tions taken by the wider church. As far back It is a multi-page document that has at investigate the United Church of Christ as fifteen years ago, the materials argued the least four columns, sometimes more. In the teachings and whether to stay affiliated with denomination does not believe in the left-hand margin is a list of “issues” that the denomination. Some strong support- authority of scripture, the denomination often include the following: authority of scripture, sanctity of life, homosexuality, lordship of Jesus, belief in bodily resur- The IRD has refined its tactics based on the governance structure of denomi- rection, belief in the virgin birth, etc. nations. In the UCC, local churches enjoy a lot of autonomy, so insurgents tie Across the top of the page are various cat- up the body with a lot of resolutions and try to pry the church away from the egories that include: The Bible, The His- wider denomination, gaining control of its property, endowments, member- toric Church, the name of the church in ships, and annual budgets. which “The Matrix” is being circulated, and In the more centralized Methodist and Episcopal churches, however, this is not The United Church of Christ. possible. Instead, insurgents constantly bring charges against pastors and Down each column then is either a Bishops and initiate trials that can last months, if not years, about such topics “yes” or a “no,” or sometimes a brief inter- as whether to continue the ministry of those who support, sanction, or perform pretation. If we read across the page, we gay marriages. In the Southern Baptist Convention, far and away to this point would discover that column 1 tells us that the most successfully sustained attack on a denomination, the power lay in the the Bible itself upholds and believes in its mission agencies and seminaries. For years, busloads of fundamentalist Bap- own authority; in column 2 we would tists would swarm the General Baptist Convention to cast votes for key posi- learn that the historic church does also; it tions — eventually taking over the denomination and transforming it into would come as no surprise to us that col- something many older Baptists today cannot even recognize. With this influx of umn 3 indicates that the church in ques- power, seminary presidents were replaced and professors were threatened with tion believes in the authority of scripture; expulsion if they did not sign loyalty oaths to certain ideologies and theologies. but column 4 is the shocker: it tells us the UCC does not believe in it. This goes on

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for row after row, issue after issue, some- framing arguments for debate. This work congregational, judicatory, and denomi- times for pages. is done in cooperation with like-minded national leaders in one argument, one bat- When we asked where these charts came groups in seven major denominations (rep- tle, one fierce debate after another as a way from, the critics told us that someone in the resenting nearly 20 million Americans) to weaken churches interested in social jus- church wrote it using information they through the Association for Church tice. downloaded from the Internet. The first Renewal.”4 Some votes, however, go right after time we heard this, we found it hard to The IRD’s four-year plan mentions this church treasuries. One commonly pre- believe. When church after church, in dis- tactic. The IRD wrote of training activists sented resolution asks the church to amend parate parts of the state and even the coun- to author and pass resolutions that are its by-laws so that if the church sells, closes, try, were showing us roughly the same never intended to pass, and even names spe- or disaffiliates from the United Church of content in roughly the same format, it cific issues upon which they will focus— Christ, its property does not revert to the became obvious that someone, somewhere, like marriage equality, the very same issues UCC Conference. was coaching these folks. I want to be clear about one thing: the church has always fought over controver- Forcing Votes sial matters. And those on all sides of issues have written polemical materials with less n almost every church under attack we Tolerance and acceptance Isaw trained renewalists forcing votes than an objective or unbiased point of upon congregations concerning “wedge view. Liberals and conservatives alike are issues.” They will not stop until a vote is are virtues, to be sure. But guilty of that—if, indeed guilt need be taken, sides are chosen, and battles won. attributed. Regular disagreements expected within a they become destructive What makes this different is the goal is congregation turn into church-destroying not debating church positions but allying moments with a little IRD training. when used against a with the IRD to dissolve the denomina- The IRD trains people to conduct these tion and its power. votes as often as possible, and in as many church by activists. venues as possible. Councils take votes to “Calling” Pastors from Outside either support or denounce the actions of the Denomination the wider church. Congregations take he UCC has its own seminaries, and votes at annual meetings, or in more that churches and denominations find Tpastors affiliate because they identify extreme cases in emergency meetings called themselves fighting on every front. Remem- with its mission. Regional church bodies to suggest that the matter at hand is so press- ber the memo read: “We have crafted res- conduct background checks and also screen ing it cannot wait. Congregations are olutions for our supporters to submit… pastors to see if they are authorized to forced to divide themselves and to debate These resolutions are supporting the Chris- serve the denomination, creating lists from issues that seem to emerge out of nowhere tian Declaration on Marriage… The which churches regularly select candidates. and which, to the surprise of many, now process of submitting and supporting res- The pastors are finally chosen by the local seem to be almost life and death matters. olutions is an excellent training device for church board. We saw this most visibly after the UCC conservative activists, even if the resolutions This has created an opening for another General Synod in Atlanta, Georgia voted are not approved…” key disruptive tactic: circumventing our in 2005 to support marriage equality for That last point is a crucial one. The IRD “Search and Call” process by choosing gays. Renewalists in churches across the exists for one reason only. It is not to steal pastors whom the UCC regional officers denomination forced votes either to affirm churches out of our denomination, nor to have not screened, and indeed may not even or deny marriage equality. defrock ministers, not to establish certain know about, who come from outside the This was directly out of the IRD’s play- religious, theological, or biblical principles. denomination, are untrained in the teach- book. The IRD states on its own website, The IRD only exists to tie up churches and ings of the wider church community, and in their mission statement, that they exist judicatories in dissent. That is it. So, its staff indeed are hostile to it. to “unite reform activists,” and admits really doesn’t care if the resolutions they are Here’s how it works. First, an activist that “the IRD trains activists, with topics teaching their activists to present pass or campaigns for by-law changes to allow a ranging from issues (e.g., religious liberty not. They don’t care if the church supports church to call a minister from outside of abroad) to tactics (e.g., proper form for a gay marriage or not. They don’t care if the the denomination. The IRD-linked Bib- motion). At national church meetings, Bible is interpreted literally or not. They lical Witness Fellowship then inundates IRD activists from outside the church only care that activists keep pushing church committees with candidates from assist delegates in drafting legislation and buttons, fomenting dissent, and tying up the “Pastoral Referral Network”—a clan-

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destine organization which has never dis- we coached the pastor to simply say at his time in a very long time their methods are closed the names of the ministers on its list. next council meeting that a council mem- being challenged by many who are no The Executive Director of the Biblical ber was bullying him. Sure enough, after longer going to sit idly by while their Witness Fellowship travels across the coun- slamming his fist down on the table, the denomination disintegrates. try recruiting students from what he calls person resigned and left the congrega- We who do this research have begun dis- “evangelical seminaries” for this network tion. Once secrecy ends, so often does the covering one another, moving slowly out who are then coached on how to use campaign. in wider circles as we open our eyes to the “wedge” issues to generate discontent and But we also learned not to wait for an startling revelation that what we are all expe- disconnect the church from the wider attack to be underway. You can be proac- riencing within our own households of faith UCC family.5 tive and strengthen a church if the pastor is simultaneously going on everywhere. Close to 70 percent of our region’s and lay leaders simply find opportunities That was an important revelation. This is churches searching for new ministers to say why they are part of the church and not a UCC thing. It is not a Methodist receive a packet of information from the the denomination. So when the attack thing. It is not a Presbyterian, Lutheran, or Pastoral Referral Network asking them to comes, the church has built up an internal Episcopal thing. It is an IRD thing. And consider calling one of their “Godly Pas- pride that counters the poison its opponents antagonists from within our respective tors.” Still, in my four years leading the St. want to spread. It is also important to denominations are allied with each other Louis region, only two rural churches model congregational dialogue and debate in a vast network to undo our church, to called a pastor from the network. After the to show that we can have difficult conver- occupy our time, to silence our prophetic experience at Redeemer Evangelical (which sations without being torn apart. Don’t wait witness. They advance the cause—even if predates my tenure), we’ve learned to coach for an IRD-allied congregant to spark the unwittingly—of some very large, very search committees to identify applications discussion on authentic controversies—do powerful, very wealthy, very conservative coming out of the IRD-affiliated network, it yourself. Then if an activist introduces political players. And while this is not and we inform them of the risks – not just a controversial issue or resolution, we can what I imagined the body of Christ would of debilitating schisms in their church but say, “See, we’ve had these conversations ask of me when I took my ordination also of losing the liability portion of their before and know we can disagree.” vows, I cannot see anything more noble in property insurance because the candidate Tolerance and acceptance are virtues, to these times than the defense of that which is not screened by the regional UCC body. be sure. But they become destructive when I have grown to love for the way it has fed activists charge that the church has aban- and nurtured me: this beloved church that Defending our Congregations doned its desire to be tolerant when other is the body of Christ on earth. Shame, and ere in the St. Louis area, we have congregants call them out for their strident, worse, on those whose ministrations and Hfound other ways to defend our con- bullying, and aggressive tactics. What machinations have united in grand con- gregations from IRD-influenced attack. church leaders must be clear about is that spiracy to undo her for political gain. ■ With the pastor’s permission, I worked while divergent theologies can always be tol- with a 200-member congregation whose erated, actions that are destructive of the End Notes rural church was perched on the top of a hill common good cannot be justified by any 1 Jim Naughton, Following the Money: A Special Report from at the end of a long gravel road. An ally had theology. the Washington Window, Part I, http://www.edow.org/fol- the insight that these churches under attack low/part1.html, accessed on March 2, 2007, 2:37pm. are like households with batterers—the vic- Conclusion 2 At the time of this writing, no fewer than eight articles written about me appear on the front page of the scur- tims are bullied into silence. So if you name have traveled the country telling this rilous website www.ucctruths.com. Twice now, I have publicly what is going on, the bullies slink Istory and connecting these dots. I am met been “visited” at one of my workshops by a staff mem- ber of the IRD, who within one week wrote a follow up away. And that is just what happened. The with skepticism wherever I go – until active article about me on the organization’s website. key is that an outsider like me can’t do the church leaders in every mainline denomi- 3 This statement signed in November 2000 by the presi- naming; it has to be a lay leader. nation, and in every corridor of this coun- dent of the National Association of Evangelicals plus a high ranking Roman Catholic Bishop and Southern Baptist, We coached other congregants to speak try realize that what I am describing is urged churches to develop programs helping reduce openly and name the individuals who call precisely what their own personal experi- divorce and promote marriage between men and women. secret meetings without the board or pas- ence affirms. 4 IRD Mission Statement, http://www.ird-renew.org, tor’s knowledge or circulate unsigned mate- And almost every time I am scheduled accessed on March 5, 2007, 9:35am. rials to foment dissent. A young woman in to present this material, someone is there 5 Radio interview with David Runnion-Bareford, director, Biblical Witness Fellowship, on “Issues, Etc.,” KFUO St. her mid-20s became a leader in this effort, representing the IRD or one of their related Louis, June 21, 2004. http://64.233.167.104/ which shut down the bullies who then renewal groups to record the event and to search?q=cache:wQtIo3z5HqgJ:www.kfuo.org/ie_archive _jun04.htm+Issues+Etc.+David+Runnion-Bare- left the church. report on it to their constituents. They are ford&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=2&gl=us Similarly, in a South St. Louis church, taking this very seriously, and for the first

THE PUBLIC EYE 10 SUMMER 2007 The Public Eye GAY CONSERVATIVES continued from page 1 ership that had come to represent vention, the first out member of Congress 2000, about 23%. Gay voters make up 5% them. 1 to do so.4 Perhaps the political moment for of the total vote and have become as nation- Membership, reflecting a strong liber- gay conservatives had arrived. ally significant a voting group as Latino tarian bent, is now up to about 20,000 with But the pendulum swung again. By (8%) and Jewish voters (3%). They are 50 chapters nationwide. 2004, when George W. Bush ratcheted up clearly not voting as a predictably the campaign to promote the anti-gay liberal bloc.7 Why is it that one quarter of Who are gay conservatives? marriage Federal Marriage Amendment, gays and lesbians consistently vote for the climate had turned nasty. In response Republicans? oters are ever more willing to represent to a Log Cabin television ad that attacked The stereotype of a gay conservative is themselves as gay to exit pollsters.2 Gay V the Christian Right’s homophobia in 2004, a white man of means to whom economic voters, who number upwards of four mil- Robert Knight, director of the Culture and security concerns are at least, if not lion in the United States, hold a range of and Family Institute at Concerned Women more, important than identity politics. political views, and no one political organ- for America, advised, “It’s time for the Libertarians, those eager to keep govern- ization can represent them.3 The gay lib- Republican Party to realize its mistake in ment off people’s backs and out of the eration movement of the 1950s and 1960s giving Log Cabin any official recogni- bedroom, have traditionally filled the ranks is almost gone, and in its place are social and tion….The Log Cabin just burned down.”5 of gay conservatives, and this continues to political organizations and institutions rep- Patrick Guerriero, then president of be the case. Village Voice editor Richard resenting a spectrum of political thought Log Cabin Republicans, issued a state- Goldstein has dubbed gay conservatives and activity. Much of this infrastructure rep- “homocons.”8 They sometimes refer resents the interests of libertarian gay to themselves as “classic liberals” in the men, lesbians, bisexuals, and trangen- libertarian sense of Friedrick Hayek’s dered people. This cohort already func- free market economics and as social tions as a market niche to advertisers’ The Log Cabin Republicans was conservatives similar to Gertrude eyes. Himmelfarb and her biting criticism Gay conservatives are a curious ele- founded in 1977 to recruit gay of the 1960s cultural revolution. ment in the political landscape. Embarrassed by a gay community National prominence for the Log Republicans to oppose an attempt that embraces the diversity of drag Cabin Republicans came only in 1995 queens, transgender youth, and adher- when Tafel outed the Bob Dole pres- to prohibit gays and lesbians from ents of exotic sexual practices, these idential campaign for returning the (mostly male) assimilationists express $1000 contribution it had itself teaching in California schools. their sense of entitlement through solicited from the group. Local chap- outrage at being discriminated against ters grew, attracting gay conservatives for being gay. Sexual orientation is for who wanted a place at the table to put ment refusing to endorse Bush for Presi- them the only thing that lies between them pressure on the Republican Party and its dent. He sounded less like a loyal and the American dream, and they consider conflicted positions on homosexuality. As Republican and more like a member of the their own experiences to be representative Republicans held on to power, LCR learned Democratic gay group, the Stonewall of all gays and lesbians. All they want is A to show its loyalty through active partici- Democrats. Place at the Table, as Bruce Bawer’s book title pation in political campaigns, and it devel- about gay conservatism suggests. Such a oped a Washington presence through The President’s use of the bully pul- vision ignores those LGBT people who do lobbying, fundraising, and channeling pit, stump speeches and radio not fit their mold. Several of the books by political contributions to gay-supportive addresses to support a Constitu- gay conservatives, like Tafel’s Party Crasher Republicans. Log Cabin has been able to tional amendment [banning gay and Bawer’s A Place at the Table, are heav- attract prominent Republicans like Arnold marriage] has encouraged the passage ily autobiographical, which encourages a Schwarzenegger and John Danforth to its of discriminatory laws and state con- kind of extrapolation from these white meetings. In 2000, LCR was “delighted” stitutional amendments across men’s experiences to everyone gay. that gay Congressman Jim Kolbe (R-AZ) America. Using gays and lesbians as Gay conservatives have had difficulty spoke at the Republican National Con- wedge issues in an election year is unacceptable to Log Cabin.6 finding a home and a purpose. Many indi- viduals hold a constellation of opinions that Despite Log Cabin Republican’s are variations on classic conservative val- Pam Chamberlain is a senior researcher at attempts to dissuade gays from voting for Political Research Associates and an editorial ues: limited government, lower taxes, per- the GOP, almost the same percentage of gay sonal responsibility, a strong defense, and board member of The Public Eye. voters turned out for Bush in 2004 as in

THE PUBLIC EYE 11 SUMMER 2007 The Public Eye free markets, and they presumably hope including space for mainstream and con- intellectuals to radio celebrities. Conserv- that the GOP would accept them and servative voices, and individuals charac- ative lesbian radio host Tammy Bruce their homosexuality simultaneously. They terizing themselves as spokespeople for hosts a daily syndicated show out of KABC are a new generation, coming of age when their movement began to appear in print. in Los Angeles, but her books, The Death AIDS has become a manageable disease, at Writers such as Jennifer Vanasco, John of Right and Wrong and The New Ameri- least for those with access to treatment. And Corvino, and Paul Varnell appear in the can Revolution do not sell as well as those they have emerged at a time when the pages of the gay press. The rise of conser- from gay conservative men, despite her self Christian Right’s headlock on the Repub- vative gay political pundits rode the wave description as “a chick with a gun and a licans by using its own “traditional values,” of the gay liberation movement which cre- microphone.” It takes the ability to self pro- including a definition of marriage that ated the media vehicles for most of their mote, to negotiate with media representa- excludes same-sex couples, maintains polit- voices to be heard. tives, and above all, to connect with a mass ical purchase. Progressive gay journalist Doug Ireland crossover audience to gain a level of promi- For some, it may be that their sexual ori- has observed, “Even though it’s now dead, nence in a field where being gay and con- entation is not the deciding, or even the pri- the gay liberation movement gave cultural servative is still seen as something of a mary, factor influencing their politics. space for people like [Andrew] Sullivan to contradiction. Only a few have managed Given the estimated one million gay Bush to achieve that level of success. voters, it’s hard for groups like Log Cabin Republicans to find consensus among its Gay Pundits on the Right thousands of members. Their organizing Masculinism is what ndrew Sullivan, 43, is by far the best strategy has been to choose the lowest Aknown of the gay conservative writers, common denominator among their con- holds the conservative as much because of his appearance in main- stituency, the single issue of gay rights. For stream media outlets such as the New the group, this has taken the form of cam- movement together. Republic, the New York Times, Time, and the paigning to erase the legitimacy of sodomy Atlantic as for his intellectual acumen. But laws and the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy Doug Ireland identifies the single most on gays in the military, strengthening important source for Sullivan’s celebrity support for anti-discrimination laws, and thrive without having to hide their sexual status: “TV.” Sullivan regularly appears as a primary focus, promoting the legal- orientation.”9 on talk shows from the Sunday morning ization of same-sex marriage. Emphasizing It is in the blogosphere, however, news reviews to shows like Hardball with “inclusion,” this approach is designed to where political writers like Andrew Chris Matthews and Real Time with Bill pressure Republicans to become more Sullivan, Jonathan Rauch, and the Inde- Maher. Biographies of British-born Sulli- inclusive of gays and lesbians, arguing it pendent Gay Forum, an online collection van highlight his Oxford background, his would improve the party’s image on the fair- of gay conservative writers, have found Harvard Ph.D and his near-celebrity sta- ness scale, and recognize them as an elec- their home. tus. The knowledge that Sullivan’s disser- toral force. These days all the well-known names tation was on British philosopher Michael Incongruously, both the ascension of the among gay conservatives are journalists, a Oakeshott, a difficult, pessimistic, and ulti- Right and the development of gay culture, phenomenon due to several factors. First, mately conservative writer, has certainly especially gay media, have made a space for out gay or lesbian politicians are still rare, influenced Sullivan as a thinker, as has his increased gay conservative visibility. The although the Gay and Lesbian Victory self-understanding as an intellectual. His short-lived perception of conservative tol- Fund, a PAC supporting the full range of media appearances and well-read blog, “the erance for gays and lesbians among many gay candidates, documents 350 gay elected Daily Dish” now on the Atlantic website, Republicans, peaking in the 2000 Bush officials at all levels of government across the boost his name recognition. Also notable election year with Kolbe’s convention country. Most of these are at the local level. is his reconciliation of his Roman Catholic appearance, made it possible for gay con- Household names like members of Con- faith and his sexual orientation. His brand servatives to consider themselves welcome gress Barney Frank (D-MA), and Tammy of conservatism blends the classic theoret- enough in the Republican Party to join Log Baldwin (D-WI) are those rare exceptions ical conservatism à la Oakeshott or Edmund Cabin. A collection of gay newspapers that uphold the rule. Former U.S Repre- Burke, a heavy dose of Libertarianism with and magazines like the Advocate (national), sentative Jim Kolbe (R-AZ), the lone out bits of neoconservatism thrown in. the Washington Blade (D.C.), Bay Area Republican, left Congress in 2006. The author of four books—Virtually Reporter (San Francisco), Gay City News Journalists, through their access to Normal: An Argument About Homosexual- (New York), and Bay Windows (Boston) media, can make names for themselves by ity (1995), Same-Sex Marriage, Pro and offers a arena for political commentary, creating public personas, ranging from Con: A Reader (1997), Love Undetectable:

THE PUBLIC EYE 12 SUMMER 2007 The Public Eye

Notes on Friendship, Sex, and Survival gelical Christians. He also continues to vative politics of sexuality,” later to be (1999), and The Conservative Soul: How We champion the appeal of religious faith as called the Prohibitionists in Virtually Nor- Lost It and How to Get It Back (2006)— his recent “blogalogue” with atheist Sam mal. This position holds the attitude that Sullivan’s interests go beyond his earlier Harris attests.12 But it is possible to suspect homosexuality doesn’t, or shouldn’t, exist. arguments on behalf of a conservative pol- that Sullivan’s interest in driving a wedge “The politics that springs out of this view itics of homosexuality. Recent blog entries between “good” and “bad” religion has of homosexuality has two essential parts: range from lightweight cultural commen- more to do with his insistence on society’s with the depraved, it must punish; with the tary to an ongoing criticism of U.S. state- tolerance of homosexuality than on the sick, it must cure.” He calls adherents to the sanctioned torture and the failure of the war intellectual merits of conservative argu- other, non-Prohibitionist, politics “radicals” in Iraq. Ireland says of Sullivan’s TV advan- ments. Here again could be an example of or liberationists. According to Sullivan, a tage, “On the shows he is always introduced the dilemma of the gay conservative: how radical or “queer” strategy has its limits as as a blogger, driving visits to his site.” to carve out a place for gay people on the well, since its attempts at cultural subver- Before the 2006 election, The Daily Dish Right? sion are as extreme and as uninfluential as reportedly received 100,000 hits a day.10 During his stint as editor at the New the Prohibitionists. The Conservative Soul, his most recent Republic from 1991-96, Sullivan published Far more subversive than the media- book, addresses the future direction of an essay that became the core of his first grabbing demonstrations on the 13 conservative politics in general with little book. He came out in the mid-1980s, and evening news has been the slow effect reference to gay issues. This book is a far- his later discovery of his HIV-positive sta- of individual, private Americans 14 reaching, passionate attack on what to tus seemed to percolate his thinking. becoming more open about their Sullivan’s mind has ruined conservatism— “The Politics of Homosexuality” marked sexuality. The emergence of role fundamentalist thinking, which he an important moment in the develop- models, the development of profes- describes as a mindset of “certainty.” This ment of gay conservative thought. In it, sional organizations and students he contrasts with the posture of doubt of Sullivan attempts to parse out the differ- groups, the growing influence of classic conservatism, calling on Hobbes, ent political responses to being gay as he saw openly gay people in the media, and Burke, Montaigne, and Oakeshott to sup- them in 1993. He categorizes the most the extraordinary impact of AIDS on port his arguments. Critics of the book punitive and judgmental as “the conser- families and friends have dwarfed observed the lack of attention to the complexity of funda- mentalist thinking, as repre- sented by otherwise sympathetic David Brooks from the New York Times: Many people do believe that truth is revealed, and that one must work one’s way toward it. And yet to divide the world between fundamentalists and autonomous free thinkers is to create a dichotomy that distorts more than it reveals.11 Sullivan is an influential writer. His portrayal of fun- damentalism as a scourge of conservatism has roots in the reality of the heavy influence of the Christian Right on the Republican Party, but the superficiality of his argument reinforces an acceptance of blanket stereotyping of Evan- ME Cohen/caglecartoons.com

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radicalism’s impact on the national As far as Sullivan is concerned, besides pants, nipple rings, leather shorts, consciousness. erasing sodomy laws, the two most and tight designer briefs without 19 In painting the Left and the Right as emblematic campaigns that embody this anything covering them. extremist and less important than the classic liberal approach are full equality for His latest book, While Europe Slept: centrist middle, he echoes 1950s intellec- gays in the military and legalized same sex How Radical Islam is Destroying the West tuals Daniel Bell, Richard Hofstader, and marriage. He has been quoted as saying, from Within (2006), has placed him in Seymour Martin Lipset who decried attacks Once we have won the right to the spotlight again. Bawer blames European on the “rational middle” by irrational, marry, I think we should have a liberalism for the unchecked growth of rad- moralistic “extremists” at either end of the party and close down the gay move- ical Muslim thought in the enclaves that political spectrum. ment for good.16 ring European cities. He sees unchallenged Sullivan’s adherence to this line of rea- In 1993, none of these goals seemed Islamic practices as threatening to women, soning reveals his theoretical affinity with realizable. Ten years later, sodomy laws are gay men, and Jews and to the basic dem- the neoconservatives. At the beginning of unconstitutional, and same sex ocratic principles of European politics. the Iraq War, he agreed with the position marriage, although caught in the fray of The book received mixed reviews, easily that the United States had no choice except debate by the Christian Right, is legal in sorted on ideological lines. It has been to enter into war to prevent further ter- Massachusetts.17 labeled “racism as criticism” and “hyper- rorism from extremists. After evidence of Sullivan’s blog portrays him as a man ventilated rhetoric” by members of the weapons of mass destruction evaporated, interested in an agenda much broader than National Book Critics Circle where it was Sullivan did change his mind and has gay rights. His early 2007 posts spend ironically nominated for an award and since been highly critical of prisoner tor- considerable time on U.S. foreign policy. where Bawer has himself been a member. ture and “endless war.” His blog banner Like Bawer and Tafel, however, he appears On the other hand, the conservative jour- describes him as “of no party or clique.” uninterested in the politics of social issues nalist Mona Charen, who has been known On Sullivan’s political map, moderates like poverty and racism. That those inter- to rant against gay marriage, says, “Bawer are a dying breed of both hetero- and ests do not include a multi-issue gay move- writes with intelligence and passion. homosexuals who are privately tolerant of ment is probably lost on his mainstream A fascinating analysis of Europe’s death 20 gays but publicly disapproving, like the old audience, mostly urban male heterosexuals.18 spiral.” closeted gay elite of J. Edgar Hoover and Bruce Bawer, another early conservative The timing of the release of his latest Roy Cohn. He dismisses them as being out spokesperson with a Ph.D. in English, book coincides with a growing anti-Mus- of date, due to the force that made the closet wrote A Place at The Table (1993) and lim attitude among Americans reinforced irrelevant, AIDS. More “durable” is the lib- edited a collection of conservative gay by a popularized understanding of Samuel eral approach, which attempts to legislate political writing, Beyond Queer: Challeng- Huntington’s “clash of civilizations” theory. change in homophobic behavior through ing Gay Left Orthodoxy in 1996. After lay- Huntington’s The Clash of Civilizations: “formulaic civil rights legislation.” This por- ing out the conservative arguments for Remaking of World Order (1996) suggested trays gay people as victims, which in Sul- gay acceptance, focusing on a rejection of that future world conflicts would be along livan’s eyes will never bring about the full queer politics as too radical and unneces- cultural, not ideological, difference. Despite equality of gays and lesbians because they sary for the attainment of gay rights, he criticism that the book perpetuated racist are seen as weak, not as the capable, self- moved from gay themes on to poetry, cul- stereotypes, Huntington’s thesis has helped supporting individuals that gay people tural commentary, and political criticism. propel writers like Bawer whose own polit- really are. Other gay conservative writers Another place Bawer moved was to Europe ical proclivities were toughened by his per- have picked up on Sullivan’s disdain for in 1998 and has been largely a virtual pres- sonal experiences living in a Muslim 15 “victimology.” But an alternative to all of ence on the U.S. scene ever since. Like other neighborhood in Amsterdam. these, the one that Sullivan suggests is the gay conservatives, he is embarrassed by Jonathan Rauch is a journalist with a only path to success, is the “classic liberal” what he sees as the excesses of gay (male, biweekly column “Social Studies,” giving (or libertarian) position of ending all gov- that is,) culture embodied in Gay Pride. him a regular forum at the respected Belt- ernment-sponsored discrimination against way publication National Journal where he homosexuality and maintaining govern- It seemed as if people who wore suits comments on issues from foreign policy to ment neutrality to any other preferences. and ties on the 364 other days of the the environment. He also holds a position year had, on this particular morning, And that is all. No cures or re-edu- at the Brookings Institution, is a contrib- ransacked their closets for their tack- utor to the libertarian magazine Reason and cations; no wrenching civil litiga- iest, skimpiest, most revealing items tion; no political imposition of writes for the Atlantic. Rauch has been a of clothing. There were hundreds of journalist since he graduated from Yale, and tolerance; merely a political attempt bare chests, bare bottoms, mesh to enshrine formal civil equality. his style is readable and intelligent, his

THE PUBLIC EYE 14 SUMMER 2007 The Public Eye interests far-reaching. Rauch began as a mitment, of connectedness, of a cent between a marketable concept and the political commentator on general conser- community bound by stories of love, guilt of betraying those she befriended as vative themes, including a conservative not death.24 a man. take on hate crimes legislation because of Rauch is vice president of the Inde- It could be that there is not much of an the danger of subjective definitions of prej- pendent Gay Forum, an online community audience, or they may be invisible. “I’ve udice. As he wrote in 1991: where he has attracted numerous conser- never met a lesbian conservative,” quips Jo Eliminating prejudice is exactly what vative gay writers. But he is more widely Wyrick, executive director of the National “the country”—meaning its gov- known for a non-gay-related essay. His Stonewall Democrats, an association of gay ernmental authorities—must not 2003 Atlantic article, “Caring for Your democratic clubs. The Independent resolve to do. Not only is wiping Introvert: the Habits and Needs of a Lit- Women’s Forum, a secular anti-feminist out bias and hate impossible in prin- tle-Understood Group,” resonated with organization, has demonstrated, after all, ciple, in practice “eliminating prej- many who found his lighthearted but that women can reject feminist principles. udice” through force of law means dead-on plea for understanding accurate But rather than speculate on the ability of eliminating all but one prejudice— and helpful.25 women to have conservative positions, that of whoever is most politically perhaps this reveals a little-explored area of powerful.21 gay conservative influence. Such Left ana- lysts of the gay right as Richard Goldstein Rauch has lost faith in Bush’s war on ter- and Stanford professor Paul Robinson ror, a position he shares with Sullivan and Andrew Sullivan’s blog have discussed what they call a “masculin- other anti-big government gays and les- ist” tendency among gay conservatives. bians. He has written, “Bush's course is portrays him as a man By this they mean the glorification of male looking less like a long road than a dead experience. As Goldstein explains, end.”22 It is possible to oppose Bush’s inter- interested in an agenda ventionist policies and still remain loyal to The gay right’s message, like that of conservative principles of smaller govern- much broader than the entire Right, is that the power ment, lower taxes, and privatized, dimin- vested in men is justly ished social services. gay rights. assigned….Masculinism is what Rauch’s Gay Marriage: Why It Is Good holds the conservative movement 26 for Gays, Good for Straights, and Good for together. America (2003) presents an argument he As Sullivan has said, “I’m all for the cult shares with two other gay men, Michae- “I’m All for the Cult of of masculinity…. Last time I checked, langelo Signorile and Gabriel Rotello, who Masculinity” that was a major reason I thought of myself while not identifying as political conser- he fact that all the writers represented as a homosexual.”27 vatives, exhibit a conservative attitude There have been male is no coincidence. Enforced gender conformity is a vestige about gay sex. Surprising the liberal gay Few of the emerging lesbian political com- of the closet for LGBT people, and those community at the time, both Rotello and mentators are conservative. Of the 45 who believe in assimilation as a path to sta- Signorile condemned a gay sex culture authors listed on the Independent Gay tus and acceptance will find only straight- that celebrates multiple sexual encoun- Forum website, five are women, and of appearing lesbians acceptable. There is no ters.23 In a New York Times editorial pub- these, only one, Jennifer Vanasco, is steadily real room for women’s issues, unless they lished in 2006, Rauch reiterates his writing about gay issues. Camille Paglia, cer- avoid a focus on the bad hand that women position. AIDS had changed everything. tainly an intellectual iconoclast, has been have been dealt, which requires ignoring dismissed as being too liberal. Tammy The master narrative for gay life was: the effects of sexism. Bruce has bona fide conservative credentials, come out, leave home, gorge at the Because women and their problems but she is seen as more of a shock jock than banquet of sexual liberation…. [have been marginalized by gay con- an intellectual force. Norah Vincent, a Sul- Though few said so (no one wanted servatives], they find it easy to discard livan protégé with an arsenal of anti-liberal to be callous, not with people dying), the notion that gays are victims of the themes (second-wave feminists are “those many also knew that the culture of same patriarchal values that keep saber-rattlers of the ‘70s”), stepped away promiscuity and alienation was a women in their place.28 from her syndicated column to write a culture of death. To me the idea of book about gender attribution, and the Some gay conservatives expose the ten- same-sex marriage sounded like the experience wounded her emotionally. Self- sion between how many define them by Coast Guard’s hail to a castaway. It Made Man (2006), a memoir of living in sexual orientation and a frustration at promised a new narrative: of com- drag as a man for 18 months, stranded Vin- being defined only in this way. A recent

THE PUBLIC EYE 15 SUMMER 2007 The Public Eye

Vincent quote: Who’s Got the Clout? assuage straight anxiety about homosexu- We will have won the battle against hat can be said about the gay right’s ality by presenting acceptable images of gays Puritanism in America not when Winfluence? At this political moment and lesbians. “This preserves the illusion sexuality is run up the flagpole, but when many assume the gay vote to be con- that stigma can be overcome by good 33 when it is irrelevant.29 sistently liberal, about 25% of gay voters behavior.” Further, the celebritization of identify as Republicans, and the percentage gay conservatives has strengthened the This hope that sexuality will someday of gay voters who call themselves conser- representation of gay people as individu- recede from public policy debates is rem- vative is increasing.32 Joined with an also- als, not as a community or as a political iniscent of the Right’s attempts to appro- increasing group of independents, these movement. Singling out individuals gives priate language from civil rights leaders to voters certainly can carry a message on the select few a higher status and helps to justify a “colorblind” society.30 Hoping Election Day. Is the percentage of gay con- keep the rest of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, that discrimination will disappear without servative writers representative of this group? transgender, queer-identified population undue governmental intervention, though, Goldstein argues that the mainstream divided and invisible. remains a dilemma. media encourages gay conservative writers The gay right has influenced the broader Among the cadre of gay conservative since they are more acceptable to centrist gay movement, even without many notic- writers, people of color are also conspicu- editors than radical ones. Because main- ing. Their goal, full equality for gay and les- ously absent. This makes sense if we real- stream media publishes conservative gay bian people, is indeed the gay rights agenda. ize that issues like affirmative action, racism, writers, according to Goldstein, this skews But that vision is narrower than that of the and public education are mostly off the mainstream readers’ image of gay opinion gay liberation, which sought sexual freedom radar of gay right pundits. While gay con- to the right. It promotes the value of assim- in alliance with feminists and recognized servative people of color certainly do exist, ilating gays and lesbians with this reader- common ground with other disenfran- their relationship with the gay movement 34 ship by allowing the voices of assimilation, chised groups. In September 2006 the Gill has been problematical, and no one has like Vincent, Bawer, Rauch and Sullivan, Foundation, a Colorado-based national emerged to represent them nor has anyone to dominate. The New York Times recently LGBT funding and movement organiza- been sustained by the usual media. signed Norah Vincent on to review gay tion, initiated Gill Action, a 501(c)4 bipar- The power of gay conservative pundits books such as John Cornwell’s Seminary tisan organization prepared to get involved has successfully focused LGBT issues on the Boy and Jennifer Baumgardner’s Look Both in electoral politics with Patrick Guer- narrow frame of gay marriage. This has Ways. (Gay conservative bloggers, up to per- riero as its first Executive Director. Of the effectively erased from their line of vision haps 40 in number but mostly consisting seven members of its new political team, those LGBT people who do not stand to of unknowns, remain a distinct minority three have associations with Log Cabin receive its benefits, those not in the solid in the realm of the thousands of conserva- Republicans. middle class, poor single parents, and the tive political bloggers as a whole.) In 2007, the gay agenda that so worries uninsured.31 Goldstein suggests that gay conservatives the Christian Right as a radical remaking of society amounts to the single issue of gay TO THE EDITOR continued from page 2 rights, manifest in a primary demand of gay us into, a settler version of U.S. history. centrality of expansionism, or empire- marriage and the remnants of interest in What about the native peoples who were building, in U.S. life today, getting things non-discrimination of gays in the military. here already? These peoples are clearly not wrong back at the beginning can unwit- While gay conservatives may not have part of the worldview of Christian Nation- tingly lend support to the way the dominant consciously engineered this single issue alism — but shouldn’t they be part of ours? forces picture the U.S. role today. focus, their increasing visibility in the And if we accept and bring into the story I realize that these points go deep into the cause during a period of conservative resur- the reality of the Indian peoples and their self-image of many people in the United gence reinforces the narrow scope of con- struggles, doesn’t that upset right from the States, and do so in unsettling ways. They temporary gay politics. start that fiction that “we” are a Christian are not easily accepted, since people want Strikingly, these narrow goals can be seen nation. to feel good about the country and its ori- as conservative, or non-radical demands— The vision of a country we need to gins. It’s good that there was the light of reli- to be allowed to defend national security uphold, in my view, is one that finally gious tolerance enshrined in the and to be recognized as identical to het- comes to terms with this wretched past of Constitution — and that’s the main point erosexuals under the law. This toes the genocide. It should give due place in the of your article. But the real source of enlight- line of the gay conservative position as country’s creation story to the native peo- enment is the history of all our people. does the reality that the gay movement, ples — and to their continuing struggles for –Chip Smith, Fayetteville, despite its political diversity, has embraced self-determination. Given the continuing North Carolina same sex marriage as its central political

THE PUBLIC EYE 16 SUMMER 2007 The Public Eye demand. Whether done consciously or on the Republican Unity Coalition’s advi- meter.com/?a=stats&s=sm3DishStats&r=1. not, this choice allows some, including parts sory board. But the use of anti-gay 11 Davis Brooks, “Where the Right Went Wrong,” New York of the Right, to separate the LGBT com- rhetoric as a pillar of Republican organiz- Times, October 26, 2006, Section 7, 14. 12 “Is Religion Built Upon Lies?” http://www.belief munity into “good gays,” those who just ing placed the Coalition in an untenable net.com/story/209/story_20904.html . want to get married and settle down, and position. Charles Francis, the founder of 13 Andrew Sullivan, “The Politics of Homosexuality,” “bad gays,” those who flaunt their sexual- the organization, recently said, The Repub- New Republic, May 10, 1993, 208(19):24-37. ity, demand radical change, or challenge lican Unity Coalition “is now in a sort of 14 Jamie Glasov, “Frontpage Interview: Andrew Sullivan,” Front Page Magazine, January 20, 2004, gender-normative images. This, riding on frozen state, like Walt Disney’s body. It’ll http://www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/ReadArti- the demise of a functioning radical gay left, come back someday. We’re waiting for a cle.asp?ID=11761 . represents the true influence of gay con- better time.”35 ■ 15 Jonathan Rauch, “Beyond Oppression,” New Republic, servatism on the politics of homosexuality: May 10, 1993, 208(19):18-23; Tafel, op.cit. 16 the gay movement continues to be pulled End Notes Richard Goldstein, Homocons: The Rise of the Gay Right, 26. to the right. 1 Rich Tafel, Party Crasher: A Gay Republican Challenges Pol- itics as Usual (New York: Simon and Shuster, 1999) 17. 17 Lawrence v. Texas, 539 U.S. 558 (2003); Goodridge v. Meanwhile, Log Cabin Republicans Department of Public Health 440 Mass. 309. 2 Political language is always in flux. This article uses the continue on their resolute path towards the word gay when referring to groups or individuals who have 18 “Reader Demographics,” http://www.andrewsul construction of a “big tent” Republican used the term to describe themselves. We use LGBT as livan.com/info.php?artnum=0000demo. Party that will somehow acknowledge, if shorthand to refer to the broad collection of identities that 19 Bruce Bawer, A Place at the Table (Crofton, Md.: Posei- includes bisexuals and trangendered people. don Press, 1993), 55. not embrace, the one million gay voters 3 http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2004/pages/results/ 20 Patricia Cohen, “In Books, a Clash of Europe and who went for Bush in 2004. The homo- states/US/P/00/epolls.0.html . Islam,” New York Times, February 8, 2007. (E)1; Mona phobia fueled by Focus on the Family’s 4 http://www.logcabinwa.com/archive/200007241832. Charen, While Europe Slept dustjacket quote, available shtml. at http://www.randomhouse.com/catalog/display.pperl? James Dobson, by the Family Research isbn=9780385514729&view=quotes. 5 WorldNet Daily, September 4, 2004. http:// Council’s Tony Perkins, by Traditional www.wnd.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=40296. 21 Jonathan Rauch, “Beyond Oppression,” New Republic, May 10, 1993 (208, 19) 18-23. Values Coalition head Lou Sheldon, and 6 Nonna Gorilovskaya, “Gay Republicans Come Out of the by the American Family Association’s Don- Cabin,” Daily Mojo, September 4, 2004, http:// 22 Jonathan Rauch, “Unwinding Bush,” The Atlantic, ald Wildmon is a powerful obstacle to www.motherjones.com/news/dailymojo/ October, 2006 (298,3) 27-8. 2004/09/09_505.html . 23 their plan, one that no amount of white- Gabriel Rotello, Sexual Ecology: AIDS and the Destiny 7 http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2006/pages/results/ of Gay Men (New York:Dutton, 1997); Michaelangelo washed images of gays will overcome. A states/US/H/00/epolls.0.html. Signorile, Life Outside:the Signorile Report on Gay Men: Sex, Drugs,Muscles, and the Passage of Life (New York: Republican Unity Coalition formed in 8 Richard Goldstein, Homocons: the Rise of the Gay Right Harper Collins, 1997). (New York: Verso, 2003). 2001 to be “a sort of gay/straight alliance 24 9 Jonathan Rauch, “Families Forged by Illness,” New of politicians.” David Rockefeller, Alan Telephone conversation with Ireland, February 13, 2007. York Times, June 4, 2006, (4) 15. 10 Simpson and Mary Cheney all agreed to be The Daily Dish, Sitemeter, http://www.site 25 Jonathan Rauch, “Caring for Your Introvert: the Habits and Needs of a Little-Understood Group.” The Atlantic, March 2003; (291, 2), 133. 26 Goldstein, 61, 75. POLITICAL RESEARCH ASSOCIATES REPORTS 27 Quoted in Goldstein, 72. Reports from the premier watchdog on the US Right 28 Paul Robinson Queer Wars: The New Gay Right and its Critics (Chicago: U. of Chicago Press, 2006) 3. Our Activist Resource Kits 29 Norah Vincent, “Both Sides Now,” New York Times, Sec. 7, February 18, 2007, 19. Defending Justice (2005): $10 30 See Martin Luther King, Jr.’s “I Have A Dream” speech. Defending Immigrant Rights (2002): $5 31 For a description of these groups, see Kara S. Suffredini Defending Public Education (1999): $5 and Madeleine V. Findley, “Speak Now: Progressive Special rates for Considerations on the Advent of Civil Marriage for Same- Defending Reproductive Rights (2000): $3 Sex Couples,” Boston College Law Review, 45 B.C.L. Rev. Defending Democracy (2001): $3 Public Eye readers! 595 (2003-2004). 32 Robert W. Bailey, Out and Voting II: The Gay, Lesbian Special Reports: $3 and Bisexual Vote in Congressional Elections, 1990-1998, (New York: National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, Deliberate Differences: Progressive and Conservative 2000) 18-19. Campus Activism in the United States (2004) 33 Goldstein, 47. Privatizing the Common Wealth: The Pioneer Institute (2002) 34 Surina Khan, “Gay Conservatives: Pulling the Movement to the Right,” The Public Eye (10,1) Spring 1996, Calculated Compassion: How the Ex-Gay Movement http:www.publiceye.org/magazine/v10n1/gaycons.html . Serves the Right’s Attack on Democracy (1998 ) 35 Thomas Mallon, “They Were Always in My Attic,” Challenging the Ex-Gay Movement: A resource packet (1998) American Heritage Magazine, March 2007, http://www.americanheritage.com/articles/maga- To order, visit www.publiceye.org zine/ah/2007/1/2007_1_10.shtml .

THE PUBLIC EYE 17 SUMMER 2007 The Public Eye Book/Film Reviews BORDER WATCHERS: CATCHING precipitating a confrontation with the FBI that results in his arrest ANTI-IMMIGRANT VIGILANTES ON FILM and the shooting of his bodyguard. The following year, a fed- Walking the Line eral judge awards the entire Ranch Rescue compound to a pair Jeremy Levine & Landon Van Soest (57 minutes, 2005). of undocumented migrants whom Nethercott was convicted of English & Spanish with English subtitles. $12 for individuals assaulting. In another case of apparent just desserts, retiree Richard Crossing Arizona Kozak, who tells harrowing tales of shootouts with Mexican drug smugglers seeking to cross his property, is later arrested follow- Joseph Mathew & Dan DeVivo (95 minutes, 2006) ing the discovery of 224 pounds of marijuana in his home. English & Spanish with subtitles in both languages. $25 for individuals; producers available for community screenings. If Walking the Line’s main virtue is allowing anti-immigrant militants to speak for themselves, its treatment of the larger forces Rights on the Line/Derechos Sobre la Línea driving migration is less satisfying. Handled more deftly is the Ray Ybarra & Tamaryn Nelson (25 minutes, 2006). tragedy of desert migration across the Tohono O’odham Nation, Subtitled or dubbed in Spanish. $25 for 3-DVD kit. the busiest point of entry for border crossers and also the dead- Reviewed by Tarso Luís Ramos liest—accounting for some 1500 crossings each day and 87 of These days it’s not just coyotes, Homeland Security agents, and 205 known migrant deaths in a single year. Addressing the strain vigilantes surveilling the U.S. border with Mexico. Back before on her impoverished community, Tribal Chairwoman Vivian- the Minutemen became darlings of CNN’s Lou Dobbs Tonight, Juan Saunders soberly observes, “If this happened anywhere else several documentary film teams headed to the border to explore in America this would be viewed as a crisis. But it’s not here on the role of anti-immigrant militants in shaping the national debate Indian land.” on immigration and the fate of Latino migrants. The films con- In 1993, U.S. Border Patrol began pushing the migrant stream sidered here are among the best video resources on this topic avail- from cities and towns into Arizona’s deadly Sonoran desert by able to educators, organizers, and the general public. militarizing urban crossing points, first in Texas, followed by Cal- Made by a pair of Ithaca College students who in the fall of ifornia and Arizona. Crossing Arizona demonstrates how the 2003 traveled to Cochise County, Arizona, Walking the Line current humanitarian crisis was shaped by a combination of this is a polished product that captures many of Arizona’s leading border militarization, anti-immigrant hysteria, and the deci- anti-immigrant players showing off their armaments and mation of Mexico’s farm economy as U.S. exports flooded that justifying why they organize undeputized posses to hunt country following implementation of the North American migrants in the desert. Free Trade Agreement in 1994. The longest of the three docu- Most of these white men migrated to Arizona from other states mentaries, Crossing Arizona is also the most compelling and has specifically to confront border crossers. Chris Simcox, in his won jury and audience awards at festivals from Munich to Austin. Tombstone Militia days (prior to the Minuteman Project), Its complexity and nuance make it a good option for audiences calls on U.S. armed forces to “eradicate these non-English-speak- with diverse or undecided viewpoints. Indeed, its producers use ing thugs who rule entire neighborhoods in com- screenings—facilitated by local pastors—to spark munities across this country” and constitute community debate over immigration policy. “sleeper cells, potential terrorists.” Glenn Spencer Crossing Arizona opens in Altar, Mexico, a stopover of American Patrol—who the filmmakers neg- on the migrant trail, where a coyote relates that the lect to mention was a major backer of California’s journey has gradually increased from two to forty landmark anti-immigrant ballot initiative 187— declares, “I became convinced this is part of what they call ‘La Reconquista,’ essentially revers- ing the result of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo by migratory means and placing the Southwest under the juris- diction of Mexico.” . Throughout, the filmmakers give the vigilantes just enough rope to hang themselves. One episode involves an internal power struggle in which Casey Nethercott ejects Ranch Rescue Arizona Crossing founder Jack Foote, prompting Foote to label Nethercott “a sociopath” with “psychotic tendencies.” As if determined to prove the charge correct, Nethercott runs a Border Patrol roadblock, Photos courtesyPhotos of

THE PUBLIC EYE 18 SUMMER 2007 The Public Eye hours—three days of walking in temperatures that often exceed tance of alternative media to human rights education and pro- 100 degrees. A young man preparing himself for the crossing gressive movement building. Don’t expect to see these films at observes, “Some people leave and never return and their fami- the local Cineplex. Seek them out. lies are waiting, thinking that they’re working—but they never Tarso Luís Ramos is research director of Political Research made it.” Associates and on the editorial board of The Public Eye. Douglas, Arizona, Mayor Ray Borane, who once advocated border militarization, describes how it has forced migrants RACISM IN THE SERVICE OF SCIENCE “further and further into the desert—and that’s when the dying started.” Rather than deterring migration, the strategy resulted Medical Apartheid in over 3,000 migrant deaths. “You can hold the American The Dark History of Medical Experimentation on Black government specifically responsible for that,” he concludes. Americans from Colonial Times to the Present Some of the same players float through all three documen- by Harriet A. Washington taries, casting into relief how large social, political, and economic Doubleday, 2006, 501 pages, $27.95 hardcover. forces are playing out on the small stage of Arizona’s border com- Reviewed by Eleanor J. Bader munities. The film tracks Chris Simcox’s emergence as a national No matter how much you think you know about America’s figure with the success of the Minuteman Project, a media-ready racist underpinnings, medical ethicist Harriet A. Washington’s event that mobilized anti-immigrant activists along a stretch of Medical Apartheid will make your head spin. This is the true Arizona border in April 2005. As the calls pour in from national stuff of shock and awe, an almost numbing account of three news bureaus, he perceives the significance of the moment: “We’re centuries of heinous experimentation on people of color. going for the masses now.” Lou Dobbs of Washington begins at the beginning, in the CNN is captured chumming it up with colonial United States. She tells us that in anti-immigrant activists in the desert and 1700, the country was home to approxi- championing their cause on the airwaves. “Some people leave and mately 20,000 Africans-turned-slaves; by Pursuing the anti-immigrant movement 1776 their numbers had reached 550,000, from bullet cartridges to the ballot box, never return and their comprising 20 percent of the total popula- Crossing Arizona documents Proposition tion. In her rendering, backbreaking labor, 200, the ballot initiative in 2004 which families are waiting, poor nutrition, and medical neglect collide required voters to provide proof of citizen- with the pathogens of North America, ship, barred undocumented immigrants thinking that they’re Europe, and Africa. The result is a “bewil- from receiving many public services, and dering array of unfamiliar infectious dis- compelled state employees to turn undocu- eases, such as hookworm, types of malaria, mented clients over to immigration agents. working—but they and yellow fever” that inevitably disabled a At a pro-200 conference, anti-immigrant large number of the enslaved. Of course, standard bearer, Rep. Tom Tancredo (R- never made it.” Col.), implores his audience to “battle with owners and overseers saw it differently and this philosophy of extreme multiculturalism cast aspersions on the slaves, calling them that tries to tear Americans apart.” In a indolent and inferior. poignant moment, a Latino hotel employee cleaning up after Some colonists compared slaves to beasts, others compared the conventioneers laments, “I heard really bad things about them to children, but the common denominator was their sub- immigrant people… We come to do better this country, not to ordinate status. Since planters had the power to call—or not destroy this country.” call—a physician to care for a sick worker, it was the planter, Produced by American Friends Service Committee and two not the worker, who decided what, if any, treatment to allow. other activist groups, Rights on the Line: Vigilantes at the What’s more, Washington writes, slave-owning physicians prof- Border is an excellent option for those seeking a concise and com- ited from their slaves not only in the usual ways—from field- pelling summary of conflict at the border. Its examination of vig- work, housework, and as breeders—but often used them “to ilantism, though brief, in some respects surpasses the other conduct experiments too painful, too risky, or otherwise too documentaries by exposing how the anti-immigrant backlash objectionable to inflict on whites.” has reinvigorated white supremacist groups. At just 25 minutes Slaves were routinely subjected to hazardous chemicals with (there’s also 12 minute version), the film makes an ideal opener neither their consent nor their understanding. Not surprisingly, for community group discussions and a companion organizing women were particularly vulnerable to medical research. In one guide can be downloaded online. of Medical Apartheid’s most stomach-churning sections, Wash- The compelling storylines and astonishing footage of these ington describes the efforts of Dr. James Marion Sims to staunch films entreat audiences to take action, and demonstrate the impor- tetany, a neuromuscular disease characterized by muscle spasms

THE PUBLIC EYE 19 SUMMER 2007 The Public Eye and convulsions. Although the disorder was eventually linked given the option of taking the life-saving treatment then in to malnutrition, Sims believed it was caused by displacement existence; of skull bones during childbirth and utilized cobbler’s tools to • During the early years of the 20th century, the eugenics move- surgically pry apart the heads of newborn babies. His minis- ment worked to restrict procreation to the “mentally fit” and trations invariably killed his patients. His response? He castigated “well born.” Highly educated women from the upper classes “the sloth and ignorance of their mothers and the black were considered eugenically superior; the uneducated, midwives who attended them.” recent immigrants, the poor, and those labeled “feeble- Sims was not deterred by his medical failures. In fact, his hor- minded” were deemed inferior. By 1941, Washington rific track record encouraged him to devise new writes, between 70,000 and 100,000 women were subjected strategies not only for tetany but for a host of other ills. He also to forced sterilizations, usually without either their consent refused to use ether to anesthetize his patients and boasted that or knowledge. Although Nazi experimentation sullied the Black women did not feel the same pain as their more-sensitive eugenics movement, as recently as the 1980s risky forms of white counterparts. birth control such as Norplant and Depo-Provera were tested “Sims’ surgical exploitation of enslaved blacks was consonant on Black women; with the medical practice of his time,” Washington writes. “For black women, forced experimentation was the standard of care.” • Prisoners, disproportionately Black, were burned by radi- Elders were also targets, and owners regularly sent aged ation and used to test hundreds of drugs between 1962 and slaves to hospitals as “clinical material.” Slavemasters “were glad 1966. Other inmates, she writes, took psychotropic drugs to rid themselves of old, sick and unproductive slaves,” Wash- from the mid-1950s until the 1970s to see which might work ington continues. “It was a sage bargain on the slave owner’s part as a “truth serum” during interrogations. Subsequently, sev- because the hospital took over all or most of the cost of feeding, eral experienced “temporary paralysis or helplessness” while housing and treating the unproductive. If the slave died, his owner one man went into “a catatonic state from which he could was spared the inconvenience and expense of burying him, neither communicate nor react to his surroundings.” Oth- because the hospital would retain the body for dissection or exper- ers suffered from prolonged nausea or became uncharac- iment. If the slave recovered, the master would once again profit teristically violent. Although today’s inmates typically from his or her labor and breeding.” receive a small stipend for their participation in medical test- The Civil War did little to free African Americans from being ing, Washington nonetheless questions the efficacy of using scientific objects. Rampant racism led White Americans to devise prisoners, especially if they are not told the nature of the outrageous programs to scrutinize the Black body. In the early experiments they’re going to participate in. 1900s, for example, Benga, a pygmy from the Congo, was put • At least 126 boys were given fenfluramine between 1992 and in a cage at the Bronx Zoo alongside an orangutan and gorilla. 1997 by the New York Psychiatric Institute and a Colum- Although New York’s African American community expressed bia University research program. Parents/guardians were outrage, Whites interested in Darwin’s increasingly popular the- told they’d receive $100 for allowing their children to ory of evolution flocked to the installation. P.T. Barnum and other receive a single dose of a “harmless” medication, slated as a hucksters also lured curious onlookers to sideshows showcasing mood regulator. Predictably, the boys were all from low- Black anatomy. income African American or Latino households. In adults, Such lurid fascination carried into medicine, and African Washington writes, fenfluramine is known to cause symp- Americans remained fodder throughout much of the 19th and toms including anxiety, headaches, visual impairments, early 20th centuries. “Because of the widespread use of blacks pulmonary hypertension and heart valve damage. It was taken as teaching material, new physicians left their medical school off the market in 1997. And the boys? Complaints of severe training with a deeply ingrained habit of looking upon blacks headaches, panic attacks, hyperventilation, breathing prob- as demonstration material,” Washington concludes. lems and nightmares now fill their medical charts. Her catalog of horrors includes a nauseating array of examples: Medical Apartheid is a brilliant, enraging, grotesque, and tragic • In 1932, a U.S. Public Health Service study of syphilis, aka narrative that situates medical abuse within the pathology of racism. the Tuskegee Syphilis Study, ostensibly offered free medical The legacy of race-based medical exploitation that Washington care to 600 impoverished Black sharecroppers from Macon exposes will knot your stomach and drop your jaw, but it will also County, Georgia. The 40-year investigation was meant to leave you aware of a shameful piece of American history. monitor the disease’s progression. Participants believed Eleanor J. Bader is a Brooklyn-based teacher, writer, and activist. they were being treated, but they were not. Instead, the study She is the coauthor of Targets of Hatred: Anti-Abortion Terror- sought to eventually track the ravages of the disease in the ism (St. Martin’s Press, 2001). men after their deaths through autopsies. The men were never

THE PUBLIC EYE 20 SUMMER 2007 The Public Eye ……Reports in Review…… REPORT OF THE MONTH Dramatic Shift to the Democrats Gingrich revolution of 1994 seems to be another peak, this time for Trends in Political Values and Core Attitudes: 1987-2007 fiscal conservatives: only 57 percent of those surveyed thought “gov- ernment should care for those who can’t care for themselves” in 1994, Pew Research Center for the People and the Press, Washington, D.C., compared to 69 percent today – admittedly still a pretty dismal num- March 22, 2007. ber. The shift is equally dramatic when it comes to support for the http://people-press.org/reports/display.php3?ReportID=312 government giving the needy food and shelter: from 59 percent in If we can believe this survey, support for the Republican Party has 1994 to 69 percent today. dropped drastically since 2002, with only 35 percent oriented toward Support for unions has remained strong over the years, but there the GOP today compared with 43 percent five years ago. The Democ- was a slight dip in support from 2002, with 68 percent showing sup- rats, meanwhile, are much more popular, with support rising from 43 port now versus 74 percent in 2003. A big surprise is the steady growth percent in 2002 to 50 percent today. More independents lean toward in support for affirmative action since the mid-90s, when only 58 Democrats, but true party partisans are as divided as ever. percent thought women, blacks, and other minorities should get a Some of the most dramatic shifts are visible when comparing the boost in securing jobs. Today 70 percent do. And a whopping 19 1990s to today, especially in support for gay rights, government help percent of Generation Y—those born from 1977 on—say they are for the needy, and religiosity. You see key socially conservative posi- at least agnostic if not totally a-religious. Even the boomers aren’t so tions peaking in 1999, right before the election of George W. Bush, skeptical, with 11 percent at least agnostic. This report is full of such and a decline since then: for instance, 55 percent said prayer was a surprises and worth a browse. daily part of their lives in 1999, compared with 45 percent today. The – Abby Scher

Other Reports in Review Questioning the President’s and “the supremacy of each branch in its asserted the power of its intelligence com- Power own assigned area,” it still told the Nixon mittees to have access to the information. Background on Executive Privilege Administration it could only keep direct com- George Washington even ceded to Congress’s Brennan Center for Justice, NYU School of munication with the president secret. Con- first request for information related to a mil- Law, March 23, 2007. gress’s power to investigate the executive itary defeat in 1791. – Abby Scher http://www.brennancenter.org/stack_detail.asp branch and the pursuit of justice in the courts ?key=348&subkey=48270&proj_key=54 could also trump Presidential privilege, accord- Labor Rights as Human Rights ing to the Supreme Court. Later, a circuit court Condoleezza Rice says she will ignore Discounting Rights: Wal-Mart’s Violation confirmed that it didn’t cover people in the Jus- Congress’s subpoena calling her to testify of U.S. Workers’ Right to Freedom of tice Department who were not communi- about the Bush Administration’s notorious Association cating with the President, and that it was not claim that Saddam Hussein had secured ura- Human Rights Watch, New York, May 2007. an absolute privilege even in relation to the nium in Niger. And in their investigation of http://hrw.org/reports/2007/us0507/ president. the firing of U.S. Attorneys last year, the Sen- Wal-Mart is the world’s largest employer, The Bush Administration has also been ate Judiciary Committee has subpoenaed and Human Rights Watch studied its egre- pushing “deliberative process privilege” with Karl Rove’s emails to the Justice Department. gious anti-union activities and illegal conduct roots in common law, not the Constitutional But the Administration repeatedly claims as “a case study in what is wrong with U.S. separation of powers of the three branches of executive privilege in refusing to cooperate. labor laws.” But this 200-page report goes government. This would cover staff’s policy- If you want to sort out claims and coun- beyond corporate misconduct to evaluate the making debates that come before a decision, terclaims about the various forms of executive system of labor rights both domestically and but, while recognized by the Supreme Court, privilege, this short briefing paper will help you internationally. it does not hold when there is the possibility even though it does not examine any of the Discounting Rights argues that Wal-Mart of misconduct. So Congress often overrides cases now in the news. While the Supreme (and other scofflaws) should be sanctioned not it in its investigations. Court recognized the constitutionally rooted only because they violate U.S. labor law but When national security is involved, the Presidential privilege as a way to protect can- also because they violate the right to freedom courts give the executive branch more latitude dor in decision-making in the White House of association guaranteed by international to keep secrets, but Congress has aggressively

THE PUBLIC EYE 21 SUMMER 2007 The Public Eye law. A worker’s ability to organize is a basic It seems that the bias in the equation is not For the study, youth were randomly human right that the United States should located in the higher education community assigned either to the program group—their defend, Human Rights Watch argues, because but in the authors of the studies themselves. school’s abstinence program—or to the con- it is party to international treaties like the Along with methodological flaws, the most trol group, which did not participate in any Universal Declaration of Human Rights and common error was mistakenly assuming that abstinence program. Following up on both the International Covenant on Civil and a correlation indicated causation. In other groups four to six years later, researchers Political Rights. As the premier non-govern- words, an academic department with a major- found “no differences in rates of unprotected mental watchdog of international human ity of registered Democrats on its faculty does sex” between the groups, and striking simi- rights violations, Human Rights Watch knows not necessarily lead to the systematic exclu- larities in the median age of first sexual inter- the territory. sion of conservative ideas or to preventing con- course, and number of sexual partners. They Its analysis of U.S. labor law describes a sys- servatives from getting promotions. found the programs are effective in building tem weakened by anti-labor interests and Unfortunately, this propaganda masked as awareness of sexually transmitted diseases, skewed in favor of employers. For example, research has been used as material in the edi- although 25% of adolescents have an STD. while the National Labor Relations Board torials and commentary of conservative Although authorized and funded by Con- must ask for an injunction when evidence pundits, and it is thanks to the publication of gress, Crouse dismisses the study as “based on exists of serious union misconduct, it is not these “scientific” studies that state legisla- flawed methodology” and an example of the required to do so when the evidence focuses tures invite groups such as the American Left’s effort to push their own “sex-is-no-big- on management. The report illustrates how Council of Trustees and Alumni to testify. deal” and “sex-without-consequences” agen- to construct an exposé of labor violations Fortunately, JBL’s study pulls the rug out das by undermining the programs. With a bit using a human rights frame. from under proposals like the Academic Bill of “flawed methodology” of her own, Crouse –Pam Chamberlain of Rights and exposes their authors for the overlooks the possibility of any “intervening ideologues they really are. variables” in arguing that the abstinence pro- Is a Liberal Arts Education Too –Michelle Iorio and Nathan Stopper grams must work because teen sexual activ- Liberal? ity and teen birthrates have dropped since the Abstinence Programs A Bust programs won federal support ten years ago— The “Faculty Bias” Studies: Science or now to the tune of $87.5 million a year. Propaganda? Impacts of Four Title V, Section 510 –Michelle Iorio By John Lee, JBL Associates, Inc., Bethesda, Abstinence Education Programs Maryland, November 2006. Mathematica Policy Research, Inc., April http://www.freeexchangeoncampus.org/index.p 2007. hp?option=com_docman&task=cat_view&gid http:www.mathematica-mpr.com/ =22&Itemid=25 publications/PDFs/impactabstinence.pdf INTERNS WANTED! On behalf of the coalition Free Exchange Why the Left is Attacking Abstinence on Campus, JBL Associates looked into the Programs The Public Eye recent claims that U.S. universities are left- Dr. Janice Shaw Crouse, Beverly LaHaye The Public Eye welcomes interns leaning and thus not welcoming of conser- Institute, May 2, 2007. to join us in producing the only vative views, students, or faculty. These http://www.cwfa.org/articledisplay.asp?id=128 magazine dedicated to exposing accusations stem from eight studies largely 88&department=BLI&categoryid=reports conducted by conservative groups such as the U.S. Right. A recent government-sponsored study the American Council of Trustees and Alumni. won the attention of Janice Shaw Crouse, pol- Their “scientific” ammo arms conservatives Political Research Associates icy director of Concerned Women for Amer- like David Horowitz to demand that state leg- Political Research Associates, ica’s Beverly LaHaye Institute, since it islatures pass his so-called Academic Bill of the parent think tank of The decisively shows that abstinence-only educa- Rights, which would essentially force U.S. uni- tion “had no overall impact on teen sexual Public Eye, offers a research versities to hire the professors whose politics activity.” internship, and a communica- he likes. Mathematica Policy Research evaluated tion and development internship. JBL Associates, a postsecondary education four programs for the U.S. Department of policy research and analysis firm, analyzed the Health and Human Services, and found that To apply, just email a letter and research strategies used in the eight studies to regardless of the children’s age and socioeco- resume identifying the internship see just how legitimate they are. The conclu- nomic status, program intensity, and avail- that interests you to sion: “None of the eight reports meets all of ability of other sex education services, the [email protected]. the minimum research standards for a valid programs were a bust. research study.”

THE PUBLIC EYE 22 SUMMER 2007 PRA NL 07263 5/21/07 9:54 AM Page 23

The Public Eye

Brief History.” For example, did you know from being expert witnesses, the group says that, “At present, the Gay Rights Movement they are violators of the state’s ban on staff Eyes has taken over nearly all professional organ- influence on political bodies. The novelist RIGHT izations not only in America but also in the Tom Clancy, on the other hand, is the kind United Nations and throughout the world”? of expert witness that passes muster with Or, “The Civil Rights Movement…began in Sports Association’s president Gary Mar- the 1850s and was one of the causes of the but. He is quoted in a press release as saying: SATANIC IMMIGRANTS Civil War.” We are angry that FWP employees The “best of the best” of the Republican Party. But his most egregious statement was continue breaking the law, employees That is how Lt. Governor Gary Hebert about Africa and slaves. “It could be pointed who think they are above the law. described the Utah County Republicans at out…that Africa at the time of slavery was FWP has been warned repeatedly that their convention in April, but the honchos still primarily a jungle, as yet uncivilized or their personnel are in violation of the in GOP headquarters in Washington may not industrialized. Life there was savage, as sav- law. Tom Clancy says there is a name agree. First the local Republicans discussed age as the jungle for most people….Those for people who break the law, includ- internal corruption and the pesky protests of brought to Europe, South America, Amer- ing government employees—crimi- a local Dick Cheney appearance. Then they ica, and other countries were in many ways nals. (Clear and Present Danger, page moved on to the grand finale: the Satanic better off than they have been in Africa.” This 432) attracted protests from the National Black nature of illegal immigration. Thanks for that citation, Gary. A party member introduced a resolution Justice Coalition. (And thanks to Montana Human Rights stating that, “Satan’s minions want to elim- According to Brentin Mock at SPLC, Network Policy Director Travis McAdam for inate national borders and do away with these over-the-top comments were too much this priceless tidbit.) sovereignty.” Legislator Don Larson brought even for some NARTH supporters who himself to tears discussing the “illegal aliens’” resigned in protest. The Schoenewolf article Source: Montana Shooting Sports Association News Release, February 1, 2007. plot to “destroy Christian America.” Not has since been removed from NARTH’s web- everyone listening was on board, it seems, site but is available on request from PRA. since some of them refused to give their Source: Brentin Mock, “One More Enemy: Essay by YOU’RE A MONKEY TOO Promoter of “Ex-gay” Movement Sparks Racist Charges,” name to the newspaper reporter covering the Southern Poverty Law Center Intelligence Report, In a recent subscriber pitch, the National event. Winter 2007. http://www.splcenter.org/intel/intelreport/ Review could have used some of retired edi- Due to low attendance, no official action article.jsp?aid=717 tor William F. Buckley’s famed wry humor could be taken on the issue. However, one and conservative insight. “The establish- TOM CLANCY AS AN Senator fretted that “liberal media” would use ment media write about conservatives as if EXPERT WITNESS the debate to “give negative attention to the we were rare specimens under their micro- Republican Party.” He may be right. In February, the Montana Shooting Sports scope. We’ve turned the tables on them. We Source: Caleb Warnock, “Convention Ends with Satan Association filed suit to gag the state’s Fish, look at them as if looking at, well, monkeys and Immigrants,” Daily Herald (Provo, Utah), April Wildlife and Parks employees from testify- 29th, 2007. in the zoo. It’s rather a lot of fun!” http://www.heraldextra.com/content/view/220065/4 ing about policies in their bailiwick. Far Source: May 2007 direct mail for National Review.

SLAVES HAD IT GOOD A New York psychotherapist with a penchant Read the best analysis about the Christian Right for revisionist history has created something of a controversy for NARTH, the National on Talk2Action.org! Association for Research and Therapy of Talk2Action is a group blog led by Public Eye writer and Homosexuality, a notorious anti-gay group. The Southern Poverty Law Center’s (SPLC) editorial board member Frederick Clarkson. Read weekly Intelligence Project News reports that Ger- contributions from Fred, Political Research Associates ald Schoenewolf peddled some hard-to- researcher Chip Berlet, and the rest of the best thinkers believe historical truths while ranting about about the Christian Right. political correctness on NARTH’s website in his “Gay Rights and Political Correctness: a Visit Talk2Action.org.

THE PUBLIC EYE 23 SUMMER 2007 The Public Eye

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