Christian fundamentalists are
suggesting gays and lesbians are to blame for Wall Street's woes, a
frequently made charge in the wake of national calamities.
In a September 25th blog
post titled The Nation Will Right Itself If It Fixes Sex,
Christian Civil League of Maine Executive Director Michael Heath
writes that the financial crisis facing Wall Street is a symptom of
America's sinful sexual culture, including the acceptance of gay
unions.
“Our crisis is a symptom, not the
cause,” writes Michael Heath. “I am not saying I know whether
this financial crisis is God's judgment or not. It is not for me to
know that definitively.”
Heath goes on to list policy changes
that would make God “crack a smile,” including: End abortion
rights and defund non-profit groups supporting it, amend state
constitutions to ban gay marriage and eliminate domestic partnerships
and civil unions for gay and lesbian couples, and end discrimination
against private religious schools and homeschools.
A related post by Center for
Immigration Studies Executive Director Mark Krikorian at the National
Review's website pushes a similar theme, this time focusing on
Friday's failure of WaMu.
Krikorian suggests the big bank failed
because it was too accommodating to minorities, including gays,
African-Americans and Hispanics.
In his September 26th post
titled Cause and Effect?, Krikorian
writes, “I really thought this was a joke, but it's not. WaMu's
final press release, before it sank beneath the waves.”
The
press release lists the general accomplishments of WaMu in
diversifying its workforce, including earning a perfect score on the
Human Rights Campaign's Corporate Equality Index – a rating
indicative of the gay-friendliness of a company's official policies.
“Diversity
is an integral part of cultivating a welcoming, innovative and
dynamic workplace here at WaMu,” the release reads. “We are
proud to be recognized for the opportunities and benefits we offer to
all our employees, including the specific efforts we have made to
engage Hispanics and the GLBT [gay, lesbian, bisexual and
transgender] community.”
Blaming
gays and lesbians for disasters big and small is nothing new.
Fred
Phelps, the founder of the Westboro Baptist Church, blamed gays and
lesbians for hurricane Katrina, the deadliest and costliest hurricane
in U.S. history that led to years of dystopia in New Orleans. “New
Orleans, symbol of America, seen for what it is: a putrid, toxic,
stinking cesspool of fag fecal matter. ... Pray for more dead bodies
floating on the fag-semen-rancid waters of New Orleans.”
And in
2001 televangelists Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson blamed terrorists
attacks on New York's World Trade Center and the Pentagon (the 9/11
attacks) at least in part on gays and lesbians.