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“Letter from 2012″ scrapes the bottom of the hate barrel

By David W. Shelton | October 28, 2008 |

Focus on the Family Action sends out a letter from the viewpoint of 2012 — is it future history — or just more hateful rhetoric meant to strike fear in the conservative base?

With the new “Letter from 2012 in Obama’s America” that has been released by Focus on the Family Action, an activist wing of Dr. James Dobson’s rightwing organization, we’re reminded of just how hateful such groups are when faced with the prospect of losing an election. I’ve often said that this election is literally between hope and fear, and I’ve never been more convinced of that than I am right now. With just over a week to go, the “fear” camp is pulling out all the stops.

Since it was released to the public last Wednesday, the now-infamous letter has stroked the breast of fear like no other document in recent months. The letter’s writer is unidentified (after all, who’d want to actually put their name to such garbage?). It is nothing more than one “horrible” example of “liberal policies gone wrong” after another.

It shouldn’t be any surprise to anyone that the first three paragraphs of the actual “results” of an Obama presidency point to the very core of Reich-wing fear: national gay marriage and gay men serving as scoutmasters. The very possibility of these two things is so frightening that they must be the first to rattle the cage. First on the list of possible liberal-stacked supreme court rulings would be the legalization of gay marriage:

President Obama repeated his declaration that he personally was against same-sex “marriage”, but he told the nation there was nothing he could do.  The Supreme Court had ruled, and it was now the law of the land. The president asked the nation to support the decision.

The most far-reaching transformation of American society came from the Supreme Court’s stunning affirmation, in early 2010, that homosexual “marriage” was a “constitutional” right that had to be respected by all 50 states because laws barring same-sex “marriage” violated the Equal Protection clause of the U.S. Constitution. Suddenly, homosexual “marriage” was the law of the land in all 50 states, and no state legislature, no state Supreme Court, no state Constitutional amendment, not even Congress, had any power to change it. The Supreme Court had ruled, and the discussion was over….

…After that decision, many other policies changed, and several previous Supreme Court
cases were reversed rather quickly — raising the question, “Is America still the land of the free?”

(1) Boy Scouts: “The land of the free”? The Boy Scouts no longer exist as an organization. They chose to disband rather than be forced to obey the Supreme Court decision that they would have to hire homosexual scoutmasters and allow them to sleep in tents with young boys.

I rolled my eyes at the gay marriage “prophecy,” but they damn near popped out of my sockets when I saw the Boy Scout scoutmaster bit. Once I managed to keep myself from vomiting, I had to consider just what the hell it was suggesting. Of course, this ignores the reality that every major medical and psychiatric organization understands that gay men are not interested in boys. But hey, it makes for great fear-inducing politics.

Then there comes the simple reality that according to Boy Scout policy, even heterosexual men are not allowed to sleep in the same tents with boys that aren’t their own children. But no, we can’t be interjecting fact into this little romp of hate now, can we? The fact of the matter is that with just this one major glaring falsehood, it throws the entire document into question, and reveals its true, purely evil intent (isn’t it interesting that these people are the only ones who obsess about that kind of thing?).

Once I got through the next two-and-a-half pages of pure anti-gay venom (Gays in the military! Gay adoption! Gay weddings! Preachers can’t speak out against homosexuality!), it then launched into a classic tactic of telling readers that they might not be able to meet with their churches on school campuses, and horror of horrors, schoolkids won’t be able to have a “See You at the Pole” event.

Does this letter writer seriously think that the First Amendment would be tossed aside that easily? It even paints the tale that church ministries would no longer be allowed on college campuses. As if! This is Chicken Little at her best, really.

Then on to abortion. Nurses wouldn’t be able to refuse to give abortions anymore. No more conscientious objection. Out the door with you! Oh, and of course the “Partial Birth Abortion” ban would be overturned! Babies would be mutilated on sight! Once more, the taste of vomit entered my mouth. It’s this kind of hyperbole that would make anyone ill. Well, maybe that’s the point.

Pornography would go onto store shelves everywhere in plain sight! Guns are finally banned! Home schooling is severely restricted! The Sky is Falling! The Sky is Falling!

But wait, theeeeeeeeere’s more!

Now onto the really scary parts. The writer tells of how three cities in the US were bombed. “The entire country is fearful,” they say. And the seemingly-benign Obama might vow that he would in each  “pursue and arrest and prosecute those responsible,” with no results. All of this would be after the American pullout (that even President Bush now supports), which would result in Al Qaeda declaring our “defeat.” Blah, blah, blah.

Russia invades Georgia, Poland, and nearly retakes all of their other former USSR territory! US trades with Cuba and Venezuela! Cuban cigars for everyone!

Then finally, the real bombshell:

Israel: “The home of the brave”? In mid-2010, Iran launched a nuclear bomb that exploded in the middle of Tel Aviv, destroying much of that city. They then demanded that Israel cede huge amounts of territory to the Palestinians, and after an anguished all-night Cabinet meeting, Israel’s prime minister agreed.  Israel is reduced to a much smaller country, hardly able to defend itself, and its future remains uncertain. President Obama said he abhorred what Iran had done and he hoped the U.N. would unanimously condemn this crime against humanity. He also declared that the U.S. would be part of any international peacekeeping force if authorized by the U.N., but the Muslim nations in the U.N. have so far prevented any action.

Make no mistake about this one. This is what evangelicals and fundamentalists fear more than anything, because it would signal events of apocalyptic proportions. Never mind the fact that Israel would kick the living Shiite out of any invading country — nuclear or not. They’ve done it before, and they’ll do it again when provoked.

This isn’t even remotely close to Obama’s or even US policy. But then, we can’t tell the truth now, can we? We must spread fear! But on this note, wouldn’t people who actually believe this tripe -  want the world to end? I’m still scratching my head on this one. Even that’s not the end of this letter…

Union thugs will rule the workplace! Taxes wipe out businesses! Democrats celebrate $7/gallon gasoline prices! Power shortage! Talk Radio goes bland! Conservative talk show hosts get kicked off the air! Christian bookstores forced to remove all anti-gay books!

Bush officials are fired, bankrupt, and prosecuted! (Wow, really? Good!)

Among its final paragraphs was one last ditch effort to chastise Christians:

“Christians didn’t take time to find out who Barack Obama was when they voted for him. Why did they risk our nation’s future on him? It was a mistake that changed the course of history.

The message here is simple: Change is bad. Change is scary. Be afraid of change. Change will make you poor. Don’t change. Jesus hates change. He likes dollars.

Seriously, this entire letter is one psychotic fear-based rant after another, and is intended to do nothing but drive fear. Yet Jesus Himself said clearly, “Fear not!”

Dobson should be ashamed of himself for even allowing this letter to see the light of day. It’s not Christian, it’s not family-oriented, and it’s certainly not an accurate picture of what would happen if Obama becomes President.

It’s this kind of poison that will strike a chord of desperation in order to keep their well-fleeced flock properly submissive. After all, isn’t that just what any good propaganda does?

A final point: while the apparent need for tin-foil hats would surely drive Reynolds Wrap profits into the stratosphere, it’s interesting to see what this letter is all about. Terrorism gets a mere two paragraphs. Homosexuals get nearly three full pages.

Now we know what really makes Dobson and his ilk stay awake at night. And it’s not terrorism.

Here’s the actual letter – but don’t read it on a full stomach.

About David W. Shelton

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