Mathew Staver's Anti-Gay Agenda Marked by Intellectual Dishonesty

Mathew Staver is the Dean of Fallwell's Liberty Law Madrassah.He is also the head of the "Christian" law firm — Liberty Counsel. "Liberty Counsel is a litigation, education and policy organization." Staver is often the clapper in the bell that starts the noise that reverberates throughout the right wing echo chamber.

Last October, as part of the Proposition 8 campaign, an article titled 'Homosexual Marriage' Colliding with Parental Rights, Religious Liberty Around the Country, ran in the Baptist Press. Therein, Staver is liberally quoted,  That polemic is now being revised and recycled in opposition to same-sex marriage in Iowa and Vermont (among others). It hit the front page of Black Christian News this morning. The article focuses on the complaints of a few parents in Massachusetts.

According to the President of the Massachusetts Family Institute, "The sky is falling in Massachusetts in two key areas: parental rights and religious liberty." Oh, my!

Readers might recall the feigned outrage of the Wirthlins, a Massachusetts couple. The story goes that their son came home in 2006 and told his parents his teacher had read the class a children's story about a prince "marrying" another prince. The book ends with a picture of the two men kissing. This saga was milked for all it was worth in the Proposition 8 campaign.

"The list goes on and on," Mathew Staver, chairman of Liberty Counsel, a religious liberty legal organization, told BP. "Whenever you have same-sex marriage or same-sex civil unions, you end up having a clash between the same-sex agenda and freedom of religion. The two are not compatible, because the same-sex agenda seeks to force by law acceptance of its view, and that will inevitably collide with Christian values.... People really need to wake up, because this, I think, is the greatest threat to our liberty that we face today -- bar none."

You might think that Staver sounds like Sally Kern. Actually, Kern sounds like Staver. Note that we have a new "same-sex agenda." Moreover, Staver is equally opposed to civil unions. Staver's claim that same-sex marriage or civil unions and religious freedom are incompatible is absurd per se.  As a "threat to our liberty" it rises to the level of incoherent hyperbole.

At the heart of this argument is the notion that there is some damage done to religion or children if those children learn that there are gay people and that those gay people sometimes marry. In turn, that becomes so egregious that gay people should not enjoy equal protection under the law. Aside from the fact that Staver seeks to unconstitutionally impose his religious beliefs, there are two indisputable facts:

1. There are gay people in the world and;
2. Sometimes, they lawfully marry.

I  refuse to be apologetic or defensive for children learning that which is true. Exactly why parents should be fearful of the truth or how this creates collateral damage to freedom of religion is never explained by Staver. It is sufficient to trot our the fear to accomplish his agenda. Another issue of fact is that children are going to learn many things in school that parents may disagree with. It might be evolution; It might global warming; it might pertain to facts about the Iraq war, torture or other issues relating to the Bush administration. In Home Economics, children might learn that pork must be cooked to 180 degrees. Should Jews be offended that children learn that some people consume pork and shellfish? Or, perhaps, they are sufficiently confident in their parenting skills to explain their religious beliefs. Staver continues with the reliable talking points that go unchallenged:

"That's the agenda. It's always been the agenda," Staver said. "There is no question that if same-sex marriage becomes legal, that churches eventually will have their tax-exempt status threatened -- no question whatsoever. If churches today discriminate against race, they would not be able to have tax-exempt status today. If churches discriminate on the basis of same-sex marriage -- if it became legal -- then same-sex marriage becomes the equivalent of race, and churches would not be able to have tax-exempt status if they oppose same-sex marriage."

If there is "no question … no question whatsoever" that same-sex marriage will be a threat to the tax-exempt status of churches then Mr. Staver is obligated to explain the connection. Appallingly, Staver "explains" the connection with an inaccurate comparison to race. In point of fact, there are houses of worship that are openly discriminatory to race or other religions and, yet, remain tax exempt. As a lawyer, Mr. Staver knows that there is nothing in the tax law preventing religions from being intolerant. Nothing!

There is an incompatibility that Staver will never address. It is the impossible reconciliation of critical thinking and Mr. Staver's brand of Christianity

As for the Wirthlins, they filed a lawsuit in federal court against the school which was dismissed (PDF). The court ruled that "diversity is a hallmark of our nation" and that such diversity "includes differences in sexual orientation."  A federal appeals court upheld the decision. It is unknown if their child continues to attend public school. The named plaintiff, David Parker, was apparently never exploited in the Prop 8 campaign (to the best of my knowledge).