Holy War

Friday, 8:10 am

By Kate

Jun

17

2005

During my first and second cups of coffee this morning, I spent some quality time over at the Southern Poverty Law Center reading the headliner in their spring 2005 magazine, Intelligence Report, entitled Holy War: The religious crusade against gays has been building for 30 years. Now the movement is reaching truly biblical proportions.

What I think should be noted, if you are not entirely familiar with the Southern Poverty Law Center, is that the Intelligence Report is the publication for their division called the Intelligence Project, which, as they point out, “monitors hate groups and extremist activities throughout the U.S.” So yes, for maybe the first time the groups comprising the Holy Wars are being called hate groups and/or extremists by a well-respected organization that has tracked hate groups and assisted law enforcement personnel in this country for a long time. That is notable.

What I had forgotten is that the religious right has been attacking gays and lesbians, in an organized fashion, for the last 30 years. Taking their cues from Anita Bryant who headed a nasty group called Save Our Children, they have soldiered on, forming powerful coalitions and gaining incredible strength and bright new ideas. Dominionism or Christian Reconstructionism, being one of them. These are serious folks with names we hear in the news often—James Dobson of Focus on the Family, Pat Robertson, Jerry Falwell, D. James Kennedy of Coral Ridge Ministries, former Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore, to name a few.

They are a mixed bag of issues, though they are intensely focused on denying gay rights. And that is probably secondary, but integral, to their goal of “Reclaiming America for Christ” or, in other words, turning the United States into a Biblical Kingdom. Seriously. The anti-gay issues are a galvanizing tool they’ve used effectively to further their more hidden agenda. They’re not doing badly at it, if we recall that through their mighty efforts they stirred the populace in 11 states, this past election cycle, to pass anti-gay legislation. And recently coerced Microsoft into abandoning support for gay rights legislation in Washington state, which led to its defeat. They are fabulously well-funded and their power is increasing across the country, but especially in Washington, DC.

As the article states:

But never has the anti-gay movement had the momentum it has now, and never has it been so close to achieving its larger, ultimate goal. That goal is winning, in the words of Focus on the Family founder James Dobson, a “second civil war” for control of the U.S. government.

Holy Wars is an article you should read. It charts the history of the movement and the players involved. And how they were influenced to use and learned how to use politics as their means for victory.

Also of interest:

Thirty Years War: a timeline of the anti-gay movement.
A Mighty Army: anti-gay group profiles.