Ali Rabin Hub
In general, I find it unpleasant when someone tells me who or what God dislikes. This dislike turns dangerous when politicians decide they are prophets, deciding which people or actions are disapproved of by the God they worship.
But that’s only a small part of what disturbed me when I read an email sent to me this week by the Colorado Republican Party that begins with an image of a YouTube video declaring, “God hates the flag” — an apparent reference to a homophobic slogan. The members of the Westboro Baptist Church are a small congregation made up mainly of members of one family, and about 20 years ago, at a funeral for a U.S. soldier, they made headlines by holding signs that read, “Thank You for Our Dead Soldiers,” “Thank You for IEDs,” and “God Hates Disabled Soldiers,” and shouting that the dead soldier would rot in hell.
The text of the email makes it clear beyond a shadow of a doubt that the email is a deliberate reference to a homophobic church slogan. “June is here and the atheists in our society are once again attacking what is decent, sacred and righteous, ultimately seeking to harm our children.”
If the state Republican Party’s claims were not already clear, the party has issued an official X The account said, “#BurnAllPrideFlagsThisJune.”
There is a long history of homophobes using the word “groomer” to paint all members of the LGBTQ community as pedophiles who prey on children. This is an ugly lie. The Anti-Defamation League explained:“The spread of this hateful speech has resulted in a surge in harassment, threats and violence targeted at the LGBTQ+ community. This dangerous development increases the risks faced by already marginalized groups by implicitly (and sometimes explicitly) condoning violence in a way that falsely denounces it as one of the most despicable acts imaginable.”
Moreover, right-wing authoritarian leaders around the world have used similar rhetoric to attack the rights of LGBTQ citizens. In Hungary, the government of Viktor Orbán “Child protection laws” based on groomer shaming. 15 European Union countries The lawsuit said the law “violates fundamental human rights.” Perhaps Orbán should have protected children from his own political ally, who was forced to resign from government office earlier this year after pardoning a man convicted of covering up the sexual abuse of a minor.
The First Amendment protects even the most abhorrent speech, but this is not about whether the Colorado Republican Party has the right to send out emails that contain homophobic insults and reference hate group slogans.
Colorado Republicans should not take solace in their party’s reiteration of the vile hate speech of an extremist cult that has made a name for itself by harassing the families of those killed in combat.
If you’re a Republican, ask yourself: Is this a message you believe will win at the ballot box? Does spreading this hatred advance the conservative cause? Are you proud to be part of a party that references the slogans of hate groups?
If you were a candidate in Colorado, would you accept the endorsement of a party that spreads such a hateful message?
This is not an isolated incident. The state party recently “Every parent in Colorado should aim to remove their children from public education,” another email read. “Democrats want to turn more kids transgender.”
As reported by 9News:These extreme views are reflected by state party chairman Dave Williams. Williams, who is running for Congress, has been endorsed by Donald Trump and has called his campaign “a slam dunk.” “This is a battle for the soul of our party.”
If this were solely about the comments of a congressional candidate in Colorado Springs, I could probably ignore it. There are ignorant and bigoted people running for office all over this country.
But what Williams, and by extension his position as speaker, the state Republican Party is looking for is a darker spirit, one that is at odds with the values ​​most Coloradans believe in.
The sad truth is that the Colorado Republican Party’s message is yet another illustration of how seriously deteriorated our nation’s political discourse has become.
Ari Rabin Havt, a Breckenridge resident, served as Deputy Campaign Manager for Sen. Bernie Sanders’ 2020 presidential campaign and served as an advisor to Sanders from 2017 to 2021. His writing has appeared in The Washington Post, Jacobin, The American Prospect, The New Republic, and other publications. Follow him on Twitter at @arirabinhavt or email him at summitdailyari@gmail.com.
