Perhaps the most outstanding attempt at the Gay Blood Libel is The Pink Swastika,
by Scott Lively and Kevin Abrams (Veritas Aeterna Press, 2002, $39.95,
paperback, 1st edition 1995). This book sets off alarms (unintended)
even before perusing it:
1.
It's self-published. There are some really wonderful self-published
books in the mainstream book market, but there are also some truly
dreadful books self-published simply because no reputable publisher
would publish them.
2.
The list price of $24.95 for a paperback book is outrageous. Only the
most biased readers would pay it to add to their "collection."
3.
Pink Swastika is virtually out of print: major retailers like Barnes
& Noble can only obtain used copies at prices much higher than
the "listed" price (as high as $39.95 - for "collectors"). Perhaps
Lively utilizes a print-on-demand process, but that means he hasn't the
funds to do a decent print run.
4. The endorsements include people like R.J. Rushdoony, the founder of Reconstructionism and the Council of National Policy:
The Center for Religion, Ethics and Social Policy at Cornell University considers the Council for National Policy a leading force in the Dominionist movement. TheocracyWatch, a CRESP project, describes it as "an umbrella organization of right-wing leaders who gather regularly to plot strategy, share ideas and fund causes and candidates to advance the theocratic agenda."
5.
The reviews of the book are so polarized that the category of "people
who bought this book also bought" features titles such as The Pink Triangle: The Nazi War Against Homosexuals, by Richard Plant and Marx and Satan, by Richard Wormbrand.
From one review:
This book presents an excellent overview of the degenerate sexual practices that were at the heart of the NAZI ideology and the lives of its highest ranking members. Lively makes a fascinating tie that binds the origins of modern German militarism (from Fred.t Great to Hitler) to the murderous and pederastic society of ancient Sparta.
INCENDIARY RHETORIC AND PURPOSE-DRIVEN HATE
The Pink Swastika has been in the news recently, because author Scott Lively,* now head of Abiding Truth Minitries has found venues to promote its ideals: Uganda and DADT. Lively was one of the instigators of the "Kill the gays" bill in Uganda during his speeches and presentations in Kampala last year. He is, of course, backpedaling about his influence since the bill gained international notoriety, and has promoted the bill only "in parts.""...we were scrupulous in our documentation of homosexuals as the true inventors of Nazism and the guiding force behind many Nazi atrocities."- Forward, The Pink Swastika, 4th Edition
Another
of Lively's organizations, Watchmen on the Wall, based in Riga, Latvia,
caused concern for the LGBT community of Sacramento, California when it
was determined that one gay man's death was
due to the assault of some "Watchmen." The group continues to appear at
gay events and celebrations with a menaciing presence.
The ever-imaginative Bryan Fischer of the American Family Association has also taken up the Gay Blood Libel standard:
Homosexuality gave us Adolph Hitler, and homosexuals in the military gave us the Brown Shirts, the Nazi war machine and six million dead Jews. Gays in the military is an experiment that has been tried and found disastrously and tragically wanting. Maybe it's time for Congress to learn a lesson from history.
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