Staver Warns: Gay Marriage Means ‘Ghettoization Of Christianity’ And Christian Holocaust

Staver Warns: Gay Marriage Means ‘Ghettoization Of Christianity’ And Christian Holocaust   AUTHOR: SHANNON BARBER MAY 13, 2015 12:31 PM

 

If you don’t know who Mat Staver is, you need to. He is one of the most rabidly hateful homophobes in America. He is a leader in the anti-gay hate group, the Liberty Counsel, and he recently warned on a “Faith and Freedom” radio show that same-sex marriage would lead to an American Holocaust. Yep, you read that right. This man actually believes that if gay people get married, Christians will be treated just as Jews were during the Nazi Holocaust. To use his words, marriage equality will lead to “the ghettoization of Christianity.” Staver ranted:

“We’re talking about the ghettoization of Christianity, and this is what happened to the Jews in Nazi Germany, they put the Jews in ghettos, they put other people in ghettos. They took away their ability to earn a living, then they isolated them to ghettos, they stigrmatized them, they ultimately destroyed their humanity in the minds of others and then the next step was easy, in the sense that they had gone to the point where they had lost respect for humanity.”

Now, please tell me, Mr. Staver, what signs you are seeing that anything like that is about to happen? For one thing, there are many LGBT-accepting and affirming Christian churches. Not everyone who is a self-proclaimed Christian practices your hate-filled brand. Also, every single marriage equality law has a religious exemption. No church, minister, or clergy member will ever be forced to perform a same-sex marriage if it violates the tenets of their faith. Further, as I’ve said in many articles addressing this fake Christian persecution, Christians actually have more rights and recognition than any other religion in this country.

Despite the steady decline of the number of Americans who self-identify as Christians, you are still 71% of the American population. Your deity is referenced on our currency, in our pledge of allegiance, on license plates (when often expressions of other faiths and no faith are forbidden), and all of your religious holidays are also recognized as national holidays. From Christmas to Easter, every year, nowhere in America can one exit one’s house without being assaulted with displays of Christianity, where often, other faiths are denied that same privilege, even on government property, which violates the Establishment Clause of the U.S. Constitution. So, praytell, where are you getting the bizarre idea that somehow gay people are coming to put Christians in ghettos?

I’d say Mr. Staver is off his meds. He ranted on:

“This is a serious manner because this ghettoizes Christianity. This stigmatizes those who have Christian beliefs. This ultimately punishes those and prohibits those individuals from earning a living or working in the marketplace. And this is the beginning of ultimately dehumanizing the person and when you dehumanize the person, terrible things can happen.”

Again, Mr. Staver, there is no punishment here. However, I hear your dog whistle. You are not afraid of any Christian Holocaust. You are lamenting the fact that you and people who hold the same bigoted views that you do will not be able to legally discriminate in places of business any longer. Well, I’ve got news for you. That’s not persecution, and it certainly isn’t the precursor to any sort of Christian Holocaust. It simply means that you cannot discriminate against people just because you don’t like them in the public square. That’s it.

That’s what freedom is, Mr. Staver. You have to live and let live, and in public, despite our differences, we have to all try to get along and treat one another equally. That includes those with whom we vehemently disagree. I don’t expect you to understand that, but it really is that simple. That is how things work in a truly free and civil society. You do as you like in your churches and in your echo chamber of hate over at the Liberty Counsel, but, other than that? In the public square, we’re all equal. That isn’t the ghettoization of anything, that is common sense, equality, and freedom. Something you’d do well to learn the real definition of.