AFA Analysis

Evil wears many masks in this world, but none so dangerous as the mask of righteousness. The American Family Association (AFA) is a group of Christian Fundamentalists who have come together in a common belief that the world we live in has been corrupted by immorality. They have decided to fight back against this corruption by trying to re-instate the "proper" religious morals given to us by the Bible. These moral views are narrow minded in the extreme and are often full of hate and prejudice. They often voice their beliefs that abortion is wrong, that homosexuality is a sin, that separation of church and state is a violation of their rights, that the media isn't biased enough in favour of Christianity and much more. The more I read articles from their website (www.afa.net) the more angry and horrified I become. So why do I keep going to their site? It's like a train wreck. I don't want to see, but I can't turn away. I was thinking of ranting about them in my Rant and Roar section, but there is just far too much that I have to say. That's why I have created this section. Every so often, I will chose an article from their website and analyze it. I don't know if they store their articles on their website or if they remove them after time, so you might encounter some broken links.

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Article:
More Christian Pro-Lifers Arrested in Wisconsin; Lawsuit Promised in Return
By: Rusty Pugh
Written: 10/24/00

 

My response:

Today's article is a small news story about pro-lifers who are outraged by the fact that they are not exempt for the law. They were holding an illegal rally outside a Planned Parenthood meeting and were arrested as a result. Naturally, they were livid. They seem to think it outrageous that the law actually applies to them. The pro-lifers needed to apply for a permit to peacefully picket but didn't. Not only that, but they refused to EVER get such a permit:

Ovadal says his group will never apply for a permit to peacefully picket because he says a
permit is not needed to express one's First Amendment rights.

Talk about your ironies. These people quote a law to denounce a law. Well, that's not good enough. A picketing permit is not an unreasonable law. It's not like these people were denied their permit and decided to picket anyway, they were just too lazy to bother getting one in the first place! That's their own fault. If they wanted to picket peacefully, then they could have gone out and gotten a permit. They didn't, so now they have to face the consequences. To bring in the First Amendment is something that Fundamentalists do a lot and is a poor excuse in this case. The First Amendment doesn't give one the right to do anything he or she pleases. If that were the case then people who commit sexual harassment could use it. "If I can't say what I want about women, then you're violating my First Amendment rights!". Not to mention people who make racist comments "If I can't say what I want about Jews and Blacks, then you're violating my First Amendment rights!" If you're going to disobey the law, then at least stand by your decision and don't pretend to be obeying some high law. That's like a thief who refuses to go to prison because it violates his right to freedom. If you do the crime, then you have to do the time.

Among the people arrested were two pastors, including myself, a man with cerebral palsy
in a wheelchair, a mother with her nursing baby in her arms, and a man who's on dialysis,"
Ovadal says, "and they seemed to have no pity for anyone. They just arrested everyone,
took the signs, and said 'See you in court.' "

I can't help but laugh when I read this quote. This person is actually mad that all the people there were treated as equals. So, according to him, mothers with nursing babies, men in wheel chairs and people on dialysis should be able to commit crimes and not be charged for them. So a mother with a nursing baby shouldn't be arrest for murder BECAUSE she has a nursing baby? Talk about a corruption of our legal system! I think the police should be applauded for their actions. The law applies to EVERYONE. The people there didn't have to be there if they didn't want to be.

Ovadal says his group will be taking the city to federal court.

I wonder if these pro-lifers realize just how incredibly hypocritical they are being by taking this to court. Dennis Miller brought this point up a few years ago in reference to a similar case. The fact is, these people are actually saying "who is the federal government to tell me what I can or can't do with my body?!" Now, if they would just sit down and think about that for a second, they might realize just how stupid they would sound if they made this argument.

 

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