Choosing your bigots wisely
By Tom Mountain
The Jewish Advocate
Boston, Massachusetts
December 5, 2008
How to deal with the dilemma of a swastika spray-painted on synagogue property, such as which happened at a Reform temple in Newton?
At a minimum the police need to be informed, an investigation of sorts launched, and hopefully, with due diligence and some luck, the vandals are apprehended. Yet more often than not, they're never caught. Because swastikas written on synagogue property tend to be an isolated incident; the work of hooligans, usually teens, who want to get a rise out of the community. Which is precisely what happened in Newton.
The reaction to this Newton swastika incident was both predictable and repetitive. The police were called, then the mayor rushed in, media in tow, to condemn the vile act, again and again. The local "human rights" activists got involved, as did local clergy and assorted politicians, to express their heart wrenching revulsion. The Newton TAB splashed the incident on the front page, decrying the swastika. The newspaper continued on the next week, front page again, this time detailing the public outcry, including the mandatory No Place for Hate rally with speeches by the mayor, Anti-Defamation League, Human Rights Commission, and a who's who of anguished clergy and politicians.
"Since the ADL is a liberal Jewish organization, it won't protest the hateful bigotry . . . of these gay activists. "
As the cameras rolled, the ADL took charge and declared that Newton is truly a No Place for Hate city, while the mayor bemoaned that "intolerance will not be tolerated," lest Nazi sympathizers hatch plans to takeover the city.
And no doubt, somewhere close by one or more hooligans were toasting all the commotion that they caused through their ten-second-drive-by-swastika. It's good theater for any punk who gets his jollies out of knowing which buttons to press to rile up a community. And all he has to do is lay low and watch the show unfold.
It also gives the ADL a soapbox to pontificate on the evils of spray-painted swastikas, as well as some much needed positive publicity to help shore up its withering No Place for Hate program.
Meanwhile, widespread organized anti-religious vandalism, rioting, and violence have been transpiring across the nation for the past few weeks against other houses of worship- Mormon, Protestant, and Catholic -with nary a peep from the ADL. This is not simply a lone swastika spray-painted on the marquee of a synagogue, but a wave of organized bigotry not seen in decades.
And the ADL has done nothing.
That's because the perpetrators are gay activists, and the victims are conservative Mormon temples, Protestant churches such as the Assembly of God, and Catholic churches. The gays are upset because they lost Proposition 8 in California, which made gay marriage illegal in that state. So they've vented their wrath on these churches, especially the Mormons, because their parishioners have donated millions to the Proposition 8 campaign to nullify gay marriage.
Since the ADL is a liberal Jewish organization which supports gay marriage, the ADL won't protest the hateful bigotry and violence of these gay activists towards these churches. Here is a brief sampling of what the ADL will not condemn:
More than 200 gay activists protested and screamed anti-Catholic obscenities at Our Lady of the Angels church in Los Angeles.
In Palm Springs an enraged crowd of gay activists rallying at city hall attacked an elderly woman holding a cross.
Pastor Rick Warren's Saddleback Church was targeted by hundreds of gay activists, who waved a huge banner displaying a swastika to taunt the parishioners.
Congregants at a Catholic church in Riverside, CA. found Proposition 8 signs arranged as a huge swastika on the church's front lawn.
Gay activists stormed an Assembly of God church in Lansing, Michigan, threw condoms around the sanctuary, draped profane banners from the balcony, screamed anti-church obscenities through a megaphone, then pulled the fire alarm.
Upwards of 5,000 protestors rallied in front of the Mormon Cathedral in Los Angeles, threatening to break through the gates and storm the sanctuary.
Gay activists ran an outrageous anti-Mormon TV ad in California. (You can see it on You Tube- click Anti-Mormon Prop-8 Ad).
In Salt Lake City a crowd of 3,000 rioted outside the Mormon headquarters, chanting hateful anti-Mormon slogans.
In Ventura, CA, about fifty gay activists marched with hateful signs to a local Mormon church.
Gay activists held a public burning of The Book of Mormon in Colorado.
And on and on it goes. Yet the ADL remains silent.
The charter of the Anti-Defamation League clearly states, "ADL fights all forms of bigotry." Except when that bigotry targets Mormons, conservative Catholics, and evangelical Protestants.
Tom Mountain can be reached at tmount117@hotmail.com
