Newsgroups: talk.religion.misc
Subject: Christians at Work in Oregon
From: <SECBH@CUNYVM.BITNET>
Date: Friday, 4 Sep 1992 11:18:30 EDT
Organization: City University of New York/ University Computer Center

The following is exerpted from a piece which appeared on the
Op Ed page of the New York Times on 9/3/92.  It concerns the violence
attending the attempt of an alliance of fundagelical Christian ultras
to get an anti-gay amendment attached to the Oregon state constituion.
A similar piece of legislation has already been passed after the
same Christian group carried on an intensive campaign in the town
of Spring field, Oregon.

Begin excerpts:

"Springfield, Ore.

"In Oregon, something similar to an "ethnic cleansing" is under
 way.  It has transformed a once tolerant, progressive state
 into a repressive, frightful place....

"This energetic campaign is the work of the Oregon Citizens'
 Alliance, whose mass mailings make clear the caliber of its
 propaganda and its intended target: "Homosexual men, on
 average, ingest the fecal material of 23 different men per
 year."  The accusations vary in content, but not in virulence:
 "Homosexuals are 15 times more likely to commit murder than
 heterosexuals."

"While those assertions play well to the ignorant, the
 alliance's most effective rallying cry to the rest of the
 populace -- one that plays especially well in a depressed
 economy -- is its distorted claim that gays are seeking
 preferential treatment: "Homosexuals *already* have the same
 basic rights as everyone else...however homosexuals want
 'special rights' to be granted to their behavior." ...

"In the name of preserving "family values," Lon Mabon, the
 group's leader, often quotes Patrick Henry: "We must fight!
 I repeat it, sir, we must fight!  An appeal to the God of Hosts
 is all that is left us!"

"....  In May, the alliance lobbied in Springfield for a
 measure to prevent the town from "promoting" homosexuality.
 That also passed.

"Mr. Mabon's organization is now pushing an amendment to the
 Oregon Constitution declaring that homosexuality is "abnormal,
 wrong, unnatural and perverse"...

"What is the organization's larger agenda?  To end "reverse
 discrimination," "the dismembering of the unborn child,"
 "redistributionist welfare" and "atheistic humanistic
 liberalism" in Oregon.  Joined by similar organizations in
 California, Maine and Colorado, the alliance plans to take its
 show on the road.

"...After the
 alliance's victory in Springfield, local gay leaders had the
 windows of their cars and homes shattered in the middle of the
 night.

"In the weeks that followed, a lesbian activist was run off the
 road by thugs who screamed, "Queer!"  In Portland, the windows
 of a hair salon with anti-alliance stickers were smashed by a
 gang yelling anti-gay epithets.  The owner of a women's erotica
 shop had her car vandalized by people holding signs that read,
 "Homosexuality is a Perversion."

"In June, the offices of Campaign for a Hate Free Oregon, an
 organization that opposes the alliance, were burglarized.  The
 intruders took only computers, lists of supporters and
 Rolodexes.  Soon thereafter, people whose names were on the
 lists started to receive anonymous, threatening telephone calls.
 Portland's two gay newspapers also had their files stolen.

"The alliance has waged war on government as well.  It is a
 driving force behind an effort to recall Gov. Barbara Roberts,
 who supports gay rights.  The group has also demanded that Tom
 Potter, Portland's police chief, resign because his daughter is
 a lesbian.

"Neo-Nazi groups have picked up the scent of fascism and are
 moving into Oregon, recruiting youths and turning out at
 alliance rallies.  In recent days, a black woman and a white
 woman who live together in Portland had crosses and swastikas
 burned on their lawn.  Officials of the Homophobic Violence
 Reporting Line point to a surge of "firebombings and attempted
 homicides."  Portland police confirm an increase in the
 severity of violent crimes against gays.

"Last month, Mr. Mabon was feted in Washington by Housing
 Secretary Jack Kemp and Republican Senators Orrin Hatch and
 Phil Gramm, who were trying to deter him from an independent
 campaign against Senator Bob Packwood of Oregon this fall.

"Who knows what was promised behind closed doors, but Mr. Mabon
 backed down.  And the Republican Party, whose convention he
 likened to an alliance rally, has been shockingly silent.
 Meanwhile, the campaign of terror in Oregon continues."

End excerpts.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
 Jack Carroll      "We would all be Christians were it not for the
<SECBH@CUNYVM>        the Christians."
                                                         Gandhi

Let's hear it for Jesus: Sig heil!  Sig heil!  Sig heil!

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