Scary prediction of US fundamentalism and gay equality

[Virge]

[SIZE="4"]If you read this before commenting you will see it is not about abortion and your comments should reflect that. Don't interpret this as being pro-abortion because if a young unmarried woman in 1987 had chosen to have an abortion rather than give a baby up for adoption I'd not be here.
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In the USA abortion became legal in 1973.
For about 20 years anti-abortion forces used every means possible to them an influence courts, presidents, legislators to roll back laws giving access to abortions. They accomplished next to nothing during that period other than building a nationwide resistance to abortion dominated by fundamentalist christians.

Then, EXACTLY 20 years after abortion became legal an era of 'domestic terrorism' began against abortion clinics, staff and doctors. Bombings. Murders. Even shooting a doctor in his church. Naturally churches were quick to deny any connections to the killings and bombings. But at the same time many of them were celebrating bombings and murders as birthday presents for Jesus.

Think I'm making this up? I haven't been here long enough to post links.
Search wikipedia for " anti-abortion violence in the USA " see it for yourself.

Since the christian fundamentalist era of domestic terrorism there has been a steady nationwide trend to make abortions less and less accessible to the point that many states have no facilities for performing them. The fundamentalists have infiltrated state legislatures where they have passed so many restrictions on obtaining abortions that it is impossible to get one.

In South Dakota a woman wishing to get one will have to travel to three different cities spread hundreds of miles apart for counseling appointments several weeks apart in order to make sure she is well into the second trimester of her pregnancy and ineligible for any abortion. This is how fundamentalists work now.
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Fundamentalists in the USA are better organized than they have ever been. They are also more extreme and irrational than ever.

An old gay man, a historian and possibly one of the most intelligent men I've ever met has made some predictions based on how the fate of abortion has been changed by fundamentalists in the USA.

He predicts no later than 2020 there will begin another era of domestic terrorism this time directed towards gays and the people who support their efforts towards equality. With fundamentalists being both better organized now and with even more of their own in government the direction of gay equality is still very much undetermined. He predicts it may very well turn out much worse for a very long period before the fundamentalists are pushed out of power.

I've been spending much time for several months trying to find anything to make me think this guy's predictions are wrong. I haven't yet.

Thoughts?

_________________
The most dangerous man to government is the man who thinks things out ignoring superstitions and taboos. Inevitably he see the government he lives under is dishonest, insane, intolerable. H.L Mencken I guess that sums me up

[Bowyn Aerrow]

Pre-World War II Germany had some of the most progressive stances on homosexuality for that era.

Then came the crack down.

I squint at the new laws that allow LGBT to publicly register for marriage and domestic partnerships and I wonder if the time isn't coming where those lists will be used to round up the jews, erm, I mean LGBT.

It wasn't that long ago that it was perfectly ok to target gays for all manner of evil. Since we are still not that far from those times, it is real easy to see that those times could come rushing back in at any moment.

Considering the global scene and how so many countries have adopted a strong anti-LGBT stance, I can readily see it happening here.

Like it or not fascism is on the rise. Fascism works best if it has a target population to keep the citizens hating while the government does its thing.

[AlohaShannon]

My thoughts are that you should never get your source for anything from Wikipedia. I'm reminded of a commercial where a woman said, "they can't put anything on the internet that isn't true".

I argue that the number of aborted fetuses prove that obtaining one is not as difficult as you might lead us to believe. I don't think your information is factual and is sounds like nothing more than conspiracy theory.

Prove me wrong with factual, scientific, peer-reviewed journals...not through someone's rants or through an EXTREMELY faulty website.

[Iceblink]

If fascists came to power today, gays and lesbians would certainly have to worry. The rights we've gained would disappear, and worse, we would be a target of hate and fanaticism, like we already were in Nazi Germany. But like then, I think we would be the secondary target. My prediction is the main target would be Muslims. You already see this in European countries and the U.S. Many people view Muslims as a direct assault on their culture, values, and religion and never look at even those generations of Muslims of ethnic minorities born in their countries as citizens of their countries.

[Virge]

My thoughts are that you should never get your source for anything from Wikipedia. I'm reminded of a commercial where a woman said, "they can't put anything on the internet that isn't true".

I argue that the number of aborted fetuses prove that obtaining one is not as difficult as you might lead us to believe. I don't think your information is factual and is sounds like nothing more than conspiracy theory.

Prove me wrong with factual, scientific, peer-reviewed journals...not through someone's rants or through an EXTREMELY faulty website.

You focused on the abortion issue just as I asked everyone not to. The abortion issue was solely a well known historical example of the relationship between social change and the violence that follows. As far as thinking any of those bombings, murders or anything else you question is less than factual, please research them from other sources and let me know if you find any on my link that are less than factual.

If you'd been specific with any your hints that I'm exaggerating or making things up I'd have a starting point to offer you something. The way you attempt to minimalize me as a conspiracy theorist is pretty presumptuous when you think about it.

Do you know anything about the "wedge document" or "wedge strategy" created in 1998 by the Discovery Institute?... That's the people who gave us Intelligent Design.... and the wedge document is their bread and butter #1 priority. Read that off any source you wish and you'll know none of what I wrote is conspiracy. You can download the PDF on the entire Wedge Document if you like.

Also while you're at it go to youtube and search for "Bryan Fischer American Family Association US hate Group" A video should pop up with HATE in big letters. He's with the group exporting US fundamentalist homophobia to Uganda and other African nations but you need to hear what else he has to say.

If you need more PM me

[Camfer]

It's a lot harder to hate a minority when they're in your immediate family. So the best way to prevent future discrimination against gays is for as many people as possible to be fully out to family, friends, and co-workers.

[ChadCoxRox]

It's a lot harder to hate a minority when they're in your immediate family. So the best way to prevent future discrimination against gays is for as many people as possible to be fully out to family, friends, and co-workers.

And it is just as important for us all to become educated about the political system and advocate for voting and the legal system to do what it can to further equality.

I like the idea of getting facts straight, backed up with undeniable sources before purporting strong statements that fuel fear and hate.

Lastly, and if you premise holds, most importantly,
Would you be willing to go to war and lay down your life for freedom?

[Virge]

And it is just as important for us all to become educated about the political system and advocate for voting and the legal system to do what it can to further equality.

I like the idea of getting facts straight, backed up with undeniable sources before purporting strong statements that fuel fear and hate.

Lastly, and if you premise holds, most importantly,
Would you be willing to go to war and lay down your life for freedom?

In the USMC I took an oath to defend my nation from all enemies, both foreign and domestic. As far as I'm concerned there was no expiration date on that. The answer is yes.

[AlohaShannon]

You're right chicken little...the sky is falling. My bad, I forgot to check Wikipedia.

[Aike]

Bottom line first: pay attention to economics.

The anti-abortion violence was merely a part of a general conservative movement, which Susan Faludi calls a "backlash" against women. (Check out her book with the same title.) This conservative turn coincided with the rise of neoliberalism (Reagan, Thatcher & co.), the political attempt to roll back public spending and social welfare, crush trade unions and kick labor in the head in an attempt to jack up the rate of profit of the private sector. The backlash against women can be read in the context of this in so far as the neoliberal project made use of conservative imagery and slashed social spending targeted on women.

The recent rise of right wing and fascist movements in Europe is likewise to be read in the context of the economic crisis and the politics of austerity. Ruling parliaments have done an excellent job undermining their own legitimacy and hard times are calling for scapegoats (immigrants seem to be cast to this role mostly). As long as we remain in this crisis without viable political alternatives I see no end to the rising popularity of the right wing.

My eternal paranoid fear is that the LGBT population will be drawn onto the ideological battleground, where gay rights are being opposed and supported for all the wrong reasons. What I fear is that working people might oppose gay rights, but not because of any religious conservatism or because of plain intolerance, but solely because "the gay agenda" can be seen to represent the will of the ruling class (politicians, the corporate/financial elite, the bourgeoisie). "Why are you giving gay people rights when we're being kicked out of work? Why do you care about them but not me?" etc. My other fear is that gay rights are being used as an ideological weapon to divide and rule the working-class and undermine whatever is left of their potential for political resistance.