Bryan Fischer

The AFA's resident spokesbigot Bryan Fischer operates on a very consistent pattern:  he spends months saying and writing outrageously bigoted things but when some pressure starts to mount over all of the bigoted things he says, he lashes out and accuses his detractors of lying about what he said.

He has done it several times before, and now that Gov. Rick Perry is getting some heat for associating with Fischer and the AFA, he has done it again, taking issue with this Tim Murphy piece in Mother Jones.  Fischer claims that Murphy "strung together a litany of lies and distortions" and then proceeds to try and set the record straight.

In three instances Fischer fully admits to the views attributed to him - gays should be banned from public office and Muslims should be banned from the military and from building mosques:

- "gays should be banned from holding public office" — This is accurate. I do believe this, for the same reason that I believe Anthony Weiner should resign, as did Larry Craig, John Ensign and Mark Foley and numerous other Republicans caught in sexual misconduct. Aberrant sexuality morally disqualifies a practitioner from public office, and whatever else homosexual behavior is, it is aberrant sexual behavior.

- "there should be a permanent ban on mosque construction in the United States" — Partly true. What I have recommended is that local planning and zoning boards no longer issue permits — what about the word "permit" do people not understand? — for the building of mosques. This is because 81% of the mosques in America distribute literature that supports violent jihad and the imposition of sharia law by force, and 95% of Muslims who attend prayers regularly attend one of these mosques. I have suggested our policies toward Islam should be the same as our policies toward the KKK and white supremacist groups, since they are equally and violently antisemitic. Whatever the NAACP thinks ought to be done to halt the spread of the KKK and white supremacists I'll be happy to adopt as our policy against the spread of Islam.

- "Muslims should be prohibited from serving in the armed forces" — True. Serving in the United States military is a privilege not a right, and we should have no room in our military for those whose religion teaches them to "slay the idolaters wherever you find them" (Surah 9:5). If you don't think this policy suggestion makes sense, ask the families of Major Nidal Malik Hasan's homicidal rampage at Ft. Hood, done in the name of Allah.

But Fischer takes issue with several other assertions ... and, in typical Fischer fashion, attempts to clarify the record by more or less reiterating the very thing he claims he never said in the first place:

1. "gays caused the Holocaust." False. What I spoke is the simple truth: the Nazi Party was responsible for the Holocaust. If the question is then further asked, who was responsible for the Nazi Party, the answer, as a matter of simple historical truth: homosexual thugs. The Nazi Party was actually formed in a gay bar in Munich, and virtually all of Hitler's early enforcers in his rise to power were homosexuals.

Here is what I wrote in my column on what Nazi Germany teaches us about the wisdom of allowing open homosexuals in the military:

"Homosexuality gave us Adolph Hitler, and homosexuals in the military gave us the Brown Shirts, the Nazi war machine and six million dead Jews. Gays in the military is an experiment that has been tried and found disastrously and tragically wanting. Maybe it's time for Congress to learn a lesson from history."

So I clearly lay the blame for the Holocaust on the Nazi Party, but attribute the rise of the Nazi Party to homosexual brutes. That's not a matter of opinion, it's a matter of historical fact, as inconvenient as that fact may be to the mavens of political correctness on the left.

2. "gays...are planning on doing it (the Holocaust) again." False.

Here is the transcript of my remarks:

"Homosexual activists, when it comes to freedom of speech, are Nazis. When it comes to freedom of religion, they are Nazis. There is no room in their world for dissent, there is no room in their world for disagreement, there is no room in their world for criticism. You criticize homosexual behavior, they tag you as a bigot and a homophobe and then they go to work to silence you just like the Roman Catholic Church did in the days of Galileo — it's no different; it's the Spanish Inquisition all over again.

"Ladies and gentlemen, they are Nazis. Do not be under any illusions about what homosexual activists will do with your freedoms and your religion if they have the opportunity. They'll do the same thing to you that the Nazis did to their opponents in Nazi Germany."

Clearly the parallel I was drawing here is that homosexuals are out to suppress freedom of speech, religion, and dissent just as the Nazis did. This is indisputable.

So Fischer never said that gays caused the Holocaust and they are going to commit another one against Christians - he simply said that the Holocaust was the fault of the Nazis (who were all gay) and that, if given the chance, gays would do the same thing again today.

So you can see that that is totally different. 

Fischer also claims he never called for the forced conversion of Muslims or their deportation from America:

5. "foreign Muslims should either be exterminated or forced to convert to Christianity" — Horrendous distortion. What I said was that, if we are attacked from or by a Muslim nation, we should go in with military force and neutralize the threat. Then I suggest we bring missionaries in, since it is Christianity that has made the United States the freest, strongest, and most prosperous nation on earth. If they don't want to listen to our missionaries, fine. We'll bring them and our soldiers home. But we let them know that if you attack us again and we have to come back, this time we'll come back not with missionaries but with overwhelming lethal force.

6. "American Muslims should be deported" — Wrong again. What I have written is that American Muslims who have been naturalized of course should remain, as well as American citizens who convert to Islam. But I do believe we should not extend citizenship any longer to immigrant Muslims, even the ones who are here legally. When their legal immigration provisions expire, we should happily bear the cost of repatriating them to their homelands. Immigration is a privilege, not a right, and the god of Islam teaches his followers to kill Americans. It's simply bad policy to extend citizenship to people who have a solemn, sacred, religious obligation to exterminate us.

Fischer was quite clear when he said that when the US goes into a Muslim nation, it must try to convert them to Christianity but if the Muslims refuse to convert, then the next time the US returns, it will be to kill them. 

Likewise, Fischer has asserted that simply by virtue of being a Muslim, they are guilty of treason and that Muslims living in the US ought to be deported.

Yet, somehow Fischer thinks it is an unfair distortion of his views to claim that he supports forced conversion and the deportation of Muslims.

Fischer has a long history of saying openly bigoted things on an almost daily basis ... and he has just as long a history of claiming that all of the bigoted things he said were taken out of context or misrepresented.

As I have said before, it is utterly pointless to try and have any sort of rational debate with Fischer ... and this is further evidence of just why that is the case. 

So long as Herman Cain continues to lie about his pledge to ban Muslims from serving in his administration, we are going to continue writing posts about how Herman Cain continues to lie about his pledge to ban Muslims from serving in his administration.

Cain has recently started claiming that he merely said he's be "uncomfortable" with having a Muslim serve in his administration, not that they would be banned outright and that has apparently become his latest stock response, as he used it on CBS and again to Glenn Beck, telling Beck that he would hire Muslims, provided they could pass some sort of loyalty oath:

BECK: You said you would not appoint a Muslim to anybody in your administration.

CAIN: The exact language was when I was asked, “would you be comfortable with a Muslim in your cabinet?” And I said, “no, I would not be comfortable.” I didn’t say I wouldn’t appoint one because if they can prove to me that they’re putting the Constitution of the United States first then they would be a candidate just like everybody else. My entire career, I’ve hired good people, great people, regardless of their religious orientation.

BECK: So wait a minute. Are you saying that Muslims have to prove their, that there has to be some loyalty proof?

CAIN: Yes, to the Constitution of the United States of America.

BECK: Would you do that to a Catholic or would you do that to a Mormon?

CAIN: Nope, I wouldn’t. Because there is a greater dangerous part of the Muslim faith than there is in these other religions. I know that there are some Muslims who talk about, “but we are a peaceful religion.” And I’m sure that there are some peace-loving Muslims.

But Cain keeps intentionally ignoring the statement he made to Bryan Fischer where he explicitly stated that he wouldn't hire Muslims because most Muslims believe in sharia and he, as President, doesn't have the time to "screen people based on their religious beliefs":

I have been upfront, which ruffles some feathers, but remember Bryan, being politically correct is not one of my strong points; I come at it straight from the heart and straight from the way I see it. And the comment that I made the become controversial, and that my staff keeps hoping will die, is that I wouldn't have Muslims in my administration. And it's real simple: the Constitution does not have room for sharia law. I want people who are going to believe and enforce the Constitution of the United States of America. And so I don't have time, as President of the United States, to try and screen people based upon their religious beliefs - I really don't care what your religious beliefs are, but I do know that most of the people of the Muslim faith, they believe in sharia law. And to introduce that element as part of an administration when we have all of these other issues, I think I have a right to say that I won't.

Cain clearly told Fischer that he doesn't have time to sort through a Muslim's religious beliefs and figure out if they support the Constitution, so he was just going to have a blanket ban on hiring them.

But he is now telling Beck that he would be willing to hire Muslims, provided that "they can prove to me that they’re putting the Constitution of the United States first" ... which is exactly the sort of screening based on religious beliefs that Cain told Fischer he didn't have time to undertake!

There is a reason that PoliFact declared that Cain's pants are on fire in claiming that he never said he wouldn't hire Muslims to serve in his administration.  And yet he continues to lie about it.

As we noted earlier this week, Texas Governor Rick Perry was partnering with the American Family Association and a handful of other Religious Right activists to organize an all-day prayer rally in Houston in August called "The Response: A Call to Prayer for a Nation in Crisis."

Now, obviously the fact that Perry was willing to partner with the AFA was rather eye-raising, given the long history of offensive and bigoted things both the organization and its primary spokesperson, Bryan Fischer, have said.

But, as the Texas Tribune reports, Perry has no problem with any of that and is quite proud to stand with the AFA while Tim Wildmon asserted that anyone who doesn't share the AFA's views is going to hell:

Perry spokesman Mark Miner said the governor had been planning the event since December and was comfortable with the Tupelo, Miss.-based AFA as a host of the social conservative extravaganza. AFA is picking up the tab for the event, including the rental of Reliant Stadium in Houston, home to the NFL's Houston Texans.

"This is an organization that promotes safe and strong families," Miner said. "The governor looks forward to participating in this prayer service." Perry invited all of the nation's governors and various religious leaders to attend the Aug. 6 event. So far, Sam Brownback of Kansas, who ran unsuccessfully for the GOP presidential nomination in 2008, is the only governor who has confirmed he will attend. Miner said there would be more announcements about attendees forthcoming.

...

Former Perry speechwriter Eric Bearse is the chief spokesman for the event ... [and] said neither Fischer's writings nor any controversy surrounding the group were relevant to the event, whose mission is to get Americans to pray for God's help at a time of overwhelming economic and social challenges. Bearse said people of all faiths are invited to attend.

But Wildmon, AFA's president, stressed the Christian nature of the event and said people of other religions were "free to have their own events." He insisted his group did not hate anyone, but he said that people who do not embrace Christianity were headed for eternal damnation.

"It's not just Jews or Muslims," Wildmon said. "It's anybody that rejects the free gift of salvation through Christ. The Bible teaches there's heaven and hell. Those who believe go to heaven. Those who don't go to hell."

Bryan Fischer was in rare form today, spinning out a prediction about how the repeal of Don't Ask, Don't Tell would ultimately lead to the reinstatement of Don't Ask, Don't Tell.

As Fischer sees it, with the repeal of DADT, gays will no longer enlist in the military because a) gays don't really want to be soldiers and b) they know they won't be able to use being gay as an excuse to get out of the military. 

At the same time, the repeal of DADT will also cause straights to stop enlisting in the military because they don't want to have to serve with gays, which will mean that there will be such a drop-off in enlistments that the government will be forced to institute a draft.

At that point, Fischer says, gay activists will demand the reinstatement of DADT so that they will not be forced to serve in the military:

Yesterday we noted that executives of the American Family Association had attended a Home Depot board meeting to inform the company that Christians would boycott their stores until they decided to drop their support for equality and diversity and "remain neutral in the culture war." 

According to the AFA, Home Depot basically told them to take a hike ... and today Bryan Fischer, the AFA's official spokesbigot, conducted an interview with an anonymous fourteen year Home Depot employee named "Robert" who alleged that there is a culture of intimidation and discrimination against Christians within the organization and encouraged Christians to support the AFA's boycott by voting with their dollars until Home Depot changes its policy:

For months, the American Family Association has been running a boycott against Home Depot because the company "has chosen to sponsor and participate in numerous gay pride parades and festivals."

Today, the AFA's Executive Vice President, Buddy Smith, traveled to a Home Deport board meeting to present the company with a petition bearing nearly a half-million names of those who have vowed to stop shopping at Home Deport stores until the company decides to "remain neutral in the culture war."

But according to this update Smith gave to Bryan Fischer today, it sounds like the Home Depot Chairman Frank Blake basically told the AFA to take a hike and reiterated their commitment to promoting diversity.  Smith was especially troubled by this stance because, as everyone knows, "those who are caught in this trap of homosexuality are in the clasp of Satan":

As we noted last month, Bryan Fischer has made it his new cause in life to prove that gay activists are the "number one perpetrators of hate crimes in America." Fischer has made this determination by utterly ignoring the fact that any actual hate crime must entail an actual "crime" and has instead decided that anything he considers to be "harassment"qualifies as hate crime. 

As we've noted before, using Fischer's own absurd standard, he is guilty of committing hate crimes just about every single day ... but that is not going to stop him from continue on this crusade and making outrageously absurd claims about how the repeal of Don't Ask, Don't Tell means gay activists will now commit "virtual genocide" against Christian soldiers:

Now most people understand the difference between a sports leage deciding to fine players for using anti-gay slurs or media outlets suspending a host for vulgar, misogynistic attacks is totally different than making the utterance of such slurs illegal.

But not Bryan Fischer, who is citing these recent incidents in support of his desire to see both blasphemy and the use of profanity made illegal:

As we have noted before, Herman Cain is now trying to walk back his pledge not to allow Muslims to serve in his administration if he is elected president, claiming that what he meant was that he would refuse to hire radical Muslims. 

And that is a point he keeps trying to sell:

[I]n an appearance on outgoing Fox News Channel show host Glenn Beck’s radio program Tuesday morning, Cain clarified the record and said his comments have been “misconstrued.”

“I immediately said – without thinking – ‘No, I would not be comfortable,’” Cain told Beck. “I did not say that I would not have them in my cabinet. If you look at my career, I have hired good people regardless of race, religion, sex gender, orientation and this kind of thing.”

Now let us compare that to what he told Bryan Fischer just last month:

I have been upfront, which ruffles some feathers, but remember Bryan, being politically correct is not one of my strong points; I come at it straight from the heart and straight from the way I see it. And the comment that I made the become controversial, and that my staff keeps hoping will die, is that I wouldn't have Muslims in my administration. And it's real simple: the Constitution does not have room for sharia law. I want people who are going to believe and enforce the Constitution of the United States of America. And so I don't have time, as President of the United States, to try and screen people based upon their religious beliefs - I really don't care what your religious beliefs are, but I do know that most of the people of the Muslim faith, they believe in sharia law. And to introduce that element as part of an administration when we have all of these other issues, I think I have a right to say that I won't.

He very clearly told Fischer that he would have a blanket ban on Muslims working for him because they support sharia, but told Beck the opposite.

If Cain prides himself on being so bold and willing to speak "straight from the heart," then why won't he defend his pledge not to allow Muslims to serve in his administration?