First up from the God Machine this week is a closer look at the religious right movement’s reaction to the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling on marriage equality — which can roughly be described as this generation of the movement’s worst nightmare.
To put it mildly, the religious right isn’t altogether pleased. Right Wing Watch pulled together a collection of reactions yesterday from some of the movement’s more notable groups and leaders, all of whom are apoplectic. But only one religious right figure compared the ruling to 9/11 and Pearl Harbor — and then kept going.
Following the Supreme Court ruling striking down state bans on gay marriage this morning, American Family Radio’s Bryan Fischer had a bit of a meltdown on Twitter, which he subsequently cobbled together into a column that he then read on his radio program this afternoon.In the span of two minutes, he managed to compare the ruling to 9/11, slavery, the attack on Pearl Harbor, and Sodom and Gomorrah.“From a moral standpoint, 6/26 is the new 9/11,” Fischer declared, “because it was on this day that five justices of the United States Supreme Court became moral jihadists. They became rainbow jihadists and they blasted the twin pillars of truth and righteousness into rubble. And they did this by imposing sodomy-based marriage on the United States through an act of judicial tyranny.”
Fischer quite literally referred to June 26, 2015 as “a date which will live in infamy. On this day, the United States became Sodom and Gomorrah.”
Stick it in a time capsule. Future generations won’t believe it.
Also from the God Machine this week:
* This is one of the largest and highest profile megachurches in the nation: “A prominent Florida megachurch says a grandson of the Rev. Billy Graham has stepped down as its pastor after a ‘moral failure.’ Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church said Monday that Tullian Tchividjian resigned last week for actions that ‘disqualify him from continuing to serve as senior pastor.’ … He joined the seminary after years of youthful transgressions, offering a prodigal son story when he ascended to the ministry.”
* National Cathedral: “The dean of Washington National Cathedral has called for two stained-glass windows featuring Confederate flags to be taken down from the Gothic edifice, in yet another instance of institutions reconsidering countless tributes to the Southern cause. ‘It is time to take those windows out,’ said the Very Rev. Gary Hall in a Thursday (June 25) announcement.”
* It looks like political conservatives have a new reason to complain about Pope Francis: “People who manufacture weapons or invest in weapons industries are hypocrites if they call themselves Christian, Pope Francis said on Sunday. Francis issued his toughest condemnation to date of the weapons industry at a rally of thousands of young people at the end of the first day of his trip to the Italian city of Turin.”
* In tangentially related news: “For seven years, Geof Peabody — owner and instructor at Peabody’s Shooting Range — has been teaching his fellow church members how to use guns. Peabody said interest in his class has been growing among the faithful, as they feel a need to be prepared in case of an attack.”
* And Etsy this week announced that it will “no longer allow sellers to offer magical incantations, sorcery or other metaphysical boons.” The company’s new guidelines specifically prohibit the sale of metaphysical services that offer “a physical change (e.g., weight loss) or other outcome (e.g., love, revenge)” (thanks to my colleague Will Femia for the heads-up).
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Steve Benen is a producer for "The Rachel Maddow Show," the editor of MaddowBlog and an MS NOW political contributor. He's also the bestselling author of "Ministry of Truth: Democracy, Reality, and the Republicans' War on the Recent Past."