My take: Tony Perkins' captive assault on gays' inner beings

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08/17/2010

by Jeremy Hooper

CNN has given Family Research Council president Tony Perkins a forum to write all about President Obama and his supposed attempt to force "the LGBT agenda™" onto Christians. The piece is headlined:

My Take: President Obama's assault on Americans' first freedom [CNN]

But here's the thing: Tony Perkins is a man who is on record in more than one sermon saying that gays and progressives are "being held captive by the enemy":

#1: 2/28/10, Nashville, Tennessee's Grace Chapel Church:
(click to play audio clip)
[SOURCE]

#2: 7/4/10, First Baptist Church of Houston:
(click to play audio clip)
[SOURCE]

So we have to wonder why CNN doesn't just put that as the headline and save us all a lot of time. Because let's be honest: When you are someone who feels that people of a certain scientifically-backed sexual orientation are "being held captive by an enemy," that is what is informing your views! It doesn't matter about this instance or that example or this senator or that presidential proclamation, all of which are spun through far-right talking points and misrepresentations anyway. If the implication is some sort of demonic possession that needs to be freed from the LGBT person's body, then its the "enemy" possession that is the root of the bias and its exorcism (or "ex-gay" therapy) that is the goal. And it ' both the belief and the solution that deserves prominent placement in the anti-LGBT commentary!

When watching the way the mainstream media treats LGBT issues in the name of equal time, we sometimes feel like we have to escape to an alternate fantasy world. A world where we have to shut off all that we know about and have seen/read/heard from people like Perkins so as to give in to the nature of two-sided debate. But the reality is that we cannot and will not and SHOULD NOT do that! The essential worth of LGBT humans is not an "agree to disagree" situation! The matter of my soul's possession by an enemy is not acceptable fodder for television punditry! And it is not out-of-line or biased for any outlet, from "activist" to "mainstream", to accurately assess the driving forces behind his, her, or "my take."

Now if you'll excuse me, I must go grab a snack. My inner enemy is rumbling.

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