For years here on JMG we've been following the case of
Lisa Miller, the "ex-gay" woman who
kidnapped her daughter
to Central America after losing several court cases that awarded
custody to her former partner. The preacher accused of facilitating that
crime is about to go on trial, prompting American Family Association
radio host Bryan Fischer to issue calls for an anti-gay "Underground
Railroad" to help shield the kidnappers of the children of gay parents.
As
you may recall, that "Underground Railroad" already exists in the form
of the virulently anti-gay Liberty Counsel, as the kidnapped child was
found living in the Nicaraguan home of the father of a Liberty Counsel
employee. Over at Dead Jerry Falwell's Liberty University, students were
taught that it's sometimes best to obey "God's laws" rather than "man's
laws" and that "righteous kidnapping" in cases such as Lisa Miller's
were justified. Those classes were taught by Liberty Counsel president
Mat Staver and Lina Lindevaldsen, both of whom represented Miller in
her failed custody attempts. The students
were then tested on whether they'd break the law for God.
That semester’s midterm exam, obtained by Religion Dispatches,
included a question based on Miller’s case asking students to describe
what advice they would give her “as a friend who is a Christian lawyer.”
After laying out a slanted history of the protracted legal battle, the
exam asked, “Lisa needs your counsel on how to think through her legal
situation and how to respond as a Christian to this difficult problem.
Relying only on what we have learned thus far in class, how would you
counsel Lisa?”
Students who wrote that Miller should comply with
court orders received bad grades while those who wrote she should engage
in civil disobedience received an A, the three students said. “People
were appalled,” said one of the students, adding, “especially as
lawyers-to-be, who are trained and licensed to practice the law—to
disobey that law, that seemed completely counterintuitive to all of us.”
Still, some knew what they needed to “regurgitate,” in order to get a
good grade. “It was obvious by the substance of the class during the
semester the answer that they wanted,” said one of the students. “The
majority of people that I am acquainted with who did get As wrote that
because it was expected of them.”
As word broke
late last year that the federal government was about to find Lisa
Miller, Fischer and other anti-gay sites declared that the FBI had been
infiltrated by the "gaystapo."
Lisa
and Isabella are not free. The FBI is after them. At any time, they may
be captured. At any time, Isabella may be kidnapped by the FBI and her
mother arrested. America is resurrecting Sodom with a vengeance,
supported by the formidable power of the State. While Christian social
services in the US are losing their traditional right to help children
because they refuse state orders to adopt children to homosexual
couples.
Fischer's tweets from yesterday (at the top
of this post) have generated widespread condemnation, which is an
everyday occurrence when he bloviates on
any topic. But this time
even some anti-gay and Christian sites are backing away from him,
resulting in today's flurry of "clarifications."
I recommend reading last week's exhaustive
New York Times
cover story on the kidnapping. We can only hope that after the
preacher's trial will come multiple conspiracy counts for Mat Staver and
his Liberty Counsel accomplices.
Labels:
Bryan Fischer,
gay families,
gay parenting,
hate groups,
Janet Jenkins,
kidnapping,
LGBT rights,
Liberty Counsel,
Lisa Miller,
Mat Staver,
religion
Reposted from Joe
"Everybody
in this country has the right to say what they think and feel and what
best represents them. The people at Chick-fil-A have the absolute right
to say and do what they want. It doesn’t matter that all of these people
disagree with their opinion. The question was how would the people that
agree with what that man said do to support the company and how would
the ones against his anti-gay remarks protest. What you’re seeing here
are the elements of the American Constitution in all of their glory.
It’s a wonderful thing to see happening and talk about and the fact that
everyone is discussing the gay rights issue is great. I don’t think
that man thought too much about the business consequences of what he
said, but I think he was standing for what he believes in. I don’t agree
with him at all, but God bless the man. It’s as simple as that." -
Openly gay heavy metal star Rob Halford, speaking to Ultimate Classic Rock. (Tipped by JMG reader Greg)
