DIAL A GAY ATHEIST 03 August 1994 KILLERS FOR JESUS Welcome to Dial A Gay Atheist, a commu

DIAL A GAY ATHEIST
                         03 August  1994
  
                      KILLERS FOR JESUS


     Welcome to Dial A Gay Atheist, a communications service
of American Gay & Lesbian Atheists. American Gay Atheists,
Inc., is a non-profit, educational foundation dedicated to
keeping state and church separate and promoting freedom of
thought and inquiry in the lesbian and gay community.
Inquiries should be addressed, in writing, to AGLA, PO Box
66711, Houston, Texas 77266. Contents of Dial A Gay Atheist
are protected under the copyright laws of the United States
and require written permission for reproduction in any
manner. This is Don Sanders for Dial A Gay Atheist.
 
     Well, the followers of Jesusism, more commonly known as
Christians, have killed again in their war to control the
reproductive processes of women. It did not come as a shock
nor surprise to us that another raving follower of Jesus
Christ had taken the scriptures literally and had not only
taken up the sword for Jesus, but had actually used it. Why
should we be surprised over another violent act committed
outside an abortion clinic? Consider the war-mongering
rhetoric coming from most Christian institutions. Little
children are told they are "soldiers" in a "war." Bloody
Biblical stories, like that of David and Goliath, are taught
in Sunday Schools as being worthy of emulation. Christians
are constantly referring to their courses of action in such
terms as a war, a battlefield, taking up the sword for Jesus,
or being a soldier for Christ. And most alarmingly, they
speak of the bloody horrors of massacre with glare-filled
stares and a kind of artificially cosmetic smile on their
faces.  

     Such was the case of Paul Hill, the 40-year-old former
Presbyterian minister who opened fire on and killed 69-year-
old Dr. John Britton and his associate and good friend James
Barrett, 74-years-old, outside Pensacola's Ladies' Center.
Barrett's wife, June, 68-years-old, was also hit by Jesus's
justifiable bullets, but fortunately only suffered wounds.
The city of Pensacola, Florida, has been a flash-point for
the anti-abortion terrorists, beginning with the gunning down
of Dr. David Gunn in the spring of 1993. But such action
should come as a surprise to no one. Whenever persons
constantly speak of their motives and actions in terms of
war, it is only natural to expect that killing will follow.
After all, killing for power is what war is all about. While
swords may be an outmoded means for killing, guns certainly
aren't. 
 
     Yes, there is a holy war being waged upon America and
the principles of freedom upon which this Republic was
predicated. The holy war is being planned and implemented
practically upon every front, but its center stage of focus
has been, for a number of years, the abortion issue, which is
really the right of a woman to control her own reproductive
processes. We can expect to see more "battles for Jesus" in
the coming years, with the catalysts remaining abortion and
reproduction. And when medical and scientific breakthroughs
(such as the abortifacient RU-486) make the abortion clinic
almost unnecessary, we will see a shift away from this toward
openly gay and lesbian business establishments, such as book
stores, bars, restaurants and others. The soldiers in the war
for Jesus's kingdom on Earth require a visible enemy, and
next in line for similar acts of violence and terrorism will
be members of our own gay and lesbian community. We'd bet
money on that! 

     The common thread linking the modern-day abortion rights
movement with that of the lesbian and gay movement is sex.
Sex has always been the favorite whipping boy of the
Christians. Christianity's hatred of sex can be traced back
to its beginnings as a religion. It certainly is not that
Christians are deeply concerned over the future lives of
fetuses! To the contrary, the focus of being concerned over
the welfare of a person yet born is merely a smoke screen for
an underlying goal of having control over the reproductive
processes of the "sinful" woman. It has only been in recent
times that the Christian movement has taken up the idea of
defense of the "rights" of the fetus. There is also a "for-
profit" motive as a number of Christian "rescue homes" have
been set up to take in (mainly) teenage mothers, entice them
into giving birth and then persuading them to relinquish
their rights as a biological parent so that the Christian
"rescue home" may sell the baby to Christian couples who will
pay an adoption fee, and, in many cases, continue to pay
"tithes" to a church or religious institution for years to
come. Oh, what a money-making racket the Christians have in
keeping abortion dangerous or illegal! 

     The progression of the women's movement and greater
reproductive freedoms have become a threat to the very root
of Christianity. Only a few decades ago, if any pregnancy
resulted from a so-called adulterous liaison, the yet unborn
were also cursed to carry the iniquities of their parents
throughout their life, and when they were born and grew up
they were labeled bastards and sons or daughters of harlotry.
Even though the children were made outcasts, given the most
menial tasks to do and frequently starved to punish them for
being born out of wedlock, the Christians were adamant
against aborting an unwanted fetus, not out of concern for
the future of the fetus, but believing they were doing god's
will by requiring the fornicator to carry her "seed of sin"
to the "time it is ripe" as a warning to what happens to bad
girls and women who have coital relations outside the bounds
and constraints of holy matrimony.
 
     Last spring, Congress passed legislation tightening
restrictions on anti-abortion activities outside clinics like
that of Pensacola's Ladies' Center. This legislation made it
a federal crime to threaten or use force against clinic
patients or employees. And just this summer, the U.S. Supreme
Court upheld a Florida injunction creating a 36-foot no-
picket buffer zone around a local clinic. Most recently, New
York representative Charles Schumer called on the FBI to
infiltrate the mandatory motherhood groups in the same way it
probed the KKK in order to stop future terrorist attacks.
 
     Just after the latest killings in the war for control of
women, some abortion rights activists were calling for an
investigation of a greater, underlying conspiratorial
movement at the heart of the bombings, the burnings, the
assaults and the killings at abortion clinics. Is there an
organized movement of conspiracy? Is there a group or other
entity at the heart of the violence seen outside abortion
clinics? Well, we think so. We also think that one needs look
no further than his own backyard, or perhaps his own corner
whereupon the likelihood exists there sits a church. It seems
ironic to us that while our Congress and courts have been
scrambling to pass laws and render opinions in support of a
woman's fundamental right to control her body, the same
governments and the same court systems have given us such
things as the Religious Freedom Restoration Act. Restoration
of religion? Restoration of killing? 

     Freedom of religion has nothing to do with the outright
war which is waging against a fundamental Constitutional
right to privacy. And if we "restore" religion to any greater
degree of honor than it presently has, we all might as well
toss in what freedoms we think we have left. 
 
     Like the Nazis in Hitler's Germany and the fascists of
Mussolini's Italy, the modern-day Christian zealots wish to
outlaw abortion, homosexuality, and other "sins." They are
also prepared to scrap a completely secular Constitution and
replace it with one steeped in blood, misery, superstition
and despair.

     There is a war, and whether you like it or not, and
despite upon which side of the fence you sit regarding
religion, you are a part of it. The Christian Brownshirts
have declared that war. As anyone who is being attacked, one
either waves the white flag or stands firm and defends his
territory.  

     This message has been brought to you by American Gay &
Lesbian Atheists. For a free sample copy of the American Gay
& Lesbian Atheist newsletter, write to AGLA, PO Box 66711,
Houston, TX 77266. At the tone, tell us from where you're
calling and what's on your mind. In Houston, watch the
American Atheist TV Forum on your community access cable
channel on Sunday, August 7 at 7:30 PM. 

     Here's the tone. Call this American GAY Atheist anytime.

  
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