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Friday, Jul 10, 2009
Under government scrutiny for their ties to antiabortion anthrax hoax letters, the Army's leaders are spouting new, violent rhetoric against gays.
Feb 19, 2002 | "Let us give thanks," Army of God "chaplain" Rev. Michael Bray proclaimed on the Army of God Web site, after sword-wielding officials in Saudi Arabia beheaded three gay men New Year's Day. The official Saudi Press Agency reported that the men had "committed acts of sodomy, married each other, seduced young men and attacked those who rebuked them."
Best known for its terror campaign against abortion providers, the militant Army of God has lately displayed a virulent antigay animus in recent postings on its Web site. The sudden trend has set off alarms among human rights groups.
"This is really chilling," Surina Khan, executive director of the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission, told Salon. "It really disturbs me, in terms of the rhetoric and what effect it has."
Ironically, the Army of God is expressing new solidarity with Muslim extremists just as the right-wing extremists have come under new scrutiny by the U.S. government for their own links to terror, post-Sept. 11. The violence-prone Army of God drew intensified federal attention thanks to its praise ("great idea!") for the anthrax scare at 550 clinics and abortion rights organizations last fall, perpetrated by self-described antiabortion "terrorist" Clayton Waagner. Waagner signed his threats "Army of God."
Deputy U.S. Marshals in Ohio captured Waagner in December after 10 months on the lam -- during which he merrily robbed banks, bought weapons and surveillance equipment, stole cars, and stalked clinics and clinic personnel. Arresting officers found that he had $10,000 cash in his pocket and computer components and a loaded handgun stashed in his stolen Mercedes-Benz. U.S. Marshals arrested Waagner, an escaped federal fugitive, and turned up the heat on the Army of God, which had supported his flight from justice, even allowing him to post communiques to the antiabortion community on its Web site. It probably doesn't help, in this age of vigilance against terror, that several Army of God figures have repeatedly expressed approval for the use of chemical and biological agents against abortion providers.
After years of complaining that federal officials weren't taking threats against them sufficiently seriously, abortion providers and advocates are relatively happy with the way the federal government has responded to the latest anthrax threats. Apparently feeling the heat of federal law enforcement agencies, Rev. Michael Bray even canceled his annual White Rose Banquet, usually a high-profile fundraiser and Army of God rally held near the nation's capital every January on the anniversary of the Supreme Court's Roe v. Wade decision. Bray held a "private meeting" instead.
And yet, with its antiabortion threats coming in for more government scrutiny, the Army of God has apparently decided to ratchet up its antigay rhetoric. The antigay animus of the group's Web master and spokesman, Rev. Donald Spitz, has erupted into obsession in the two special sections of the group's Web site. One offers a selection of links to various news stories, some from dubious sources. For example:
"Saudi Arabia chop the heads off three homos" [sic]
"Homosexual fag Elton John says he is lucky not to have AIDS"
"Presbyterians Wrestle Over Ban on Homo Clergy. If they have an question about it, they are obviously apostate."
"American Red Cross to give 9/11 funds to sodomites" (about a story on providing aid to 9/11 victims regardless of sexual orientation)
"Homo fag TV channel will soon be broadcasting their filthy crimes against humanity" (on the prospect of an all-gay cable TV channel)
"Massachusetts Governor picks sex perverted sodomite as running mate" (after Massachusetts Acting Governor Jane Swift picked an openly gay man as her candidate for lieutenant governor)
Another section of Spitz's site is devoted to explaining "why you should never give money to the United Way." The reason? The United Way gives money to family planning organizations and abortion providers like Planned Parenthood but "refuses money to the Boy Scouts because the Boy Scouts will not let child molesting homosexual sex perverts become Scout Masters and take your children out to the woods to molest them."
