Who'd a thunk there'd come a day when the "good ol' boy" American South, the "Gods, Guns, and Glory" clan, would embrace a Cold War KGB agent as their personal religious hero? But that's just what the Morally Superior Bryan Fischer has done, clasping one hand on the Bible and the other on the figurative hammer and sickle.
According to Wikipedia: Bryan Jonathan Fischer is the Director of Issues Analysis for the American Family Association (AFA). He hosts the talk radio program Focal Point on American Family Radio and posts on the AFA-run blog Instant Analysis (formerly Rightly Concerned).
Fischer also recorded a long form piece for the Voice of Russia praising Putin for his brave and Godly anti-homosexual stance toward gays in Russia, where violence against them is expected, if not encouraged. Fisher in his own words:
"Russia is not being homophobic, it's homo-realistic -- the Russian government is trying to take the issue into consideration and establish public policy to contribute to public health, as this lifestyle is not be promoted, endorsed or granted special legal protection...
"I think the Russian government is right to be concerned with propaganda on teenagers who are at the age of struggling through sexual identity issue and we should help to channel these urges in productive behavior. Heterosexuality is God's design. Policies that encourage young people to think this are good ideas."
I wonder if Fischer sees beating a gay Russian teenager to a bloody pulp is a health issue of concern? Or is it just "God's will"? Fischer isn't the only Rapture Rightie out there siding with the Ruskies on this. The report from MSNBC continues:
"The Catholic Family and Human Rights Institute said it 'admires' Russia's anti-gay moves; Peter LaBarbera of Americans for Truth About Homosexuality lauded Russia for rejecting 'America's reckless and decadent promotion of gender confusion'; and the Illinois-based World Congress of Families has scheduled its 2014 conference for the Kremlin.
"And then, of course, there's evangelical activist Scott Lively.
"If Lively's name sounds familiar, it's probably because of his work in Uganda, where he brags he is known as the 'father' of the anti-gay movements. When Uganda took up a 'Kill the Gays' bill, proponents said it arose out of an anti-gay conference that Lively headlined in 2009. Earlier this year, the Washington Post reported that Lively has spent the last decade working 'systematically to strip away human rights protections from LGBT people' around the world, becoming 'a kind of persecution consultant, strategizing with influential leaders and cohorts in other countries about ways to further silence and remove LGBT people from basic protections of the law.'
"And wouldn't you know it, Lively conducted a 50-city speaking tour of Russia in 2007, where he recommended the very measures Russia is now pursuing. From an AP report last year:
"'Russia could become a model pro-family society,' he wrote. 'If this were to occur, I believe people from the West would begin to emigrate to Russia in the same way that Russians used to emigrate to the United States and Europe.' [...]
"'Russians, even after glasnost, are comfortable with an authoritarian style,' he said. 'That wouldn't work in the United States.'"
What is it the "good ol' boys" always said? America, love it or leave it? Go to Russia if you don't like it here?
Maybe they'll follow their own advice.
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