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05/08/2014
Inability to pinpoint problem remains anti-gay 'victims' problem
Responding to HGTV's decision to not move forward with a reality show planned around Operation Save America scions David and Jason Benham, the would-be TV stars surmised:
"If our faith costs us a television show then so be it." [SOURCE]
So yet again we have the subject(s) at the center of the storm shirking all responsibility for what they did to earn controversy. Because that's always the way. Whether it be persecuted faith, stifled free speech, or some other convenient escape chute, the people at the heart of these matters never actually talk about the actual things they did to garner public pushback.
Here is just some of what the more vocal of the two brothers, David Benham, said and did:
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-- Bemoaned "homosexuality and its agenda that is attacking the nation"
-- Said trying to "change the biblical and historic definition of marriage is as absurd and ridiculous as trying to change the pattern of the sun" (2:40-3:04)
-- Equated fighting marriage equality with fighting Nazis: "If evil is being accepted and appreciated at the national level, aggressive Christian men must lead the charge against it. In the late 1940′s England realized this truth with Neville Chamberlain’s Policy of Appeasement and the Nazi regime. Chamberlain thought he could somehow “appease” the fuehrer, yet Winston Churchill aggressively stood against this policy and proclaimed that they must kill Hitler and destroy the regime in its entirety. It wasn’t long before Chamberlain’s “politically correct” policy fell flat on its face, and Churchill – the more aggressive man – took the reins and joined America in defeating the beast called, Naziism"
-- Says: "If you want to end [abortion and the homosexual agenda], elect Muslims. Sharia law will surely take care of both of those issues. But we are not here to simply destroy those issues—we are here to bring another kingdom whose king is Jesus Christ. And conversions are what truly change the land"
-- Says marriage equality “erodes the moral fabric of our society” and “threaten[s] future generations,” which he coupled with the claim that "death is the punishment for homosexual sin"
-- Has referred to Muslims as "the enemy attacking" America
-- From his company website: "With respect to marriage, do we vacillate on gay marriage because the two love each other? Never. Marriage is the sacred institution of God. It is so sacred we should not as Christians accept divorce except in the cases the Scriptures mention."
-- Protested Charlotte, NC, LGBT pride parade; provided custom water bottles for "God Has A Better Way" protestors (who encourage gay people to "change") to pass out at pride parades
David Benham [GLAAD CAP]
This is not mere faith—it's using faith at the exclusion of others' civil freedoms, peace of mind, and general welfare. The Benham brothers, like their extremely vocal father before them, have spent the past decade protesting and rallying and lobbying and engaging in a "culture war" that they've waged against people who do not think, live, pray, or marry the way that they do. This is much more than simply being one of the millions of Americans who identity as people of faith.
I will have so much respect for the first anti-LGBT person who, in the aftermath of a controversy, stands up and says, "Yeah, I am a vocal advocate against homosexuality and I don't care who knows it!" I'm not even joking—I will respect that person so much more than those who hide behind spineless spin campaigns designed to mask their own hostile views. Combing through some of his stuff, I came across many instances where David Benham bemoaned and begrudged his fellow Christians who refuse to stand up for their faith in the public square, so it's quite ironic that he and his brother, here at a time when national attention is on them, are backing down from their own years of trying to force their own personal theology into everyone else's public life and/or policy.