Oh yeah. They’re all selling something. And let me tell ya’ it ain’t the real thing.

especially when what they are pushing is a string of falsehoods.

Regarding the statement that ‘we saw it happen in the black community’…I’m thinking I must have seriously underestimated Jayhuck’s age. Violence as a means and method for achieving racial equality flourished in the 1960’s and, to some extent, the 1970’s. Neighborhoods were torn apart, buildings burned, vehicles trashed, rocks thrown. The violence, although most could understand its roots, was often misdirected and had the innocent among its victims. (I was writing letters to the editor in my teens, co-edited our high school’s ‘underground newspaper’, graduated 1970, took a job at an all-black swimming pool and later moved into a racially mixed neighborhood that bordered on our city’s racial hot-spot.) And, while I admit to having a strong anti-violence nature (an official ‘conscientious objector’ during the Vietnam Era), I never saw that the violence brought about any ‘good’ or advancement for the equal rights cause.

JAG, thanks for a more cordial tone! I appreciate it. The letter you quoted is an embarrassment to concerned Christians; the incessant appeals for financial support are downright crass. (I contacted a number of agencies responsible for such tactics back in my ‘involved days’ and criticized both their message and their begging strategies. I’m sure you can guess that my criticisms fell mostly on deaf ears.)

To be fair though, there’s a certain amount of hysteria on both sides. I didn’t get the mailing you quoted because I’m not on any such mailing lists. I did however have a visit from the Human Rights Campaign at my door a few weeks ago. Although I politely told the young man that I wasn’t interested and that I was quite busy at the moment, he was quite persistent. LOL! I was in the middle of blogging here, it took about 5 minutes to get rid of him and that was after I threatened to report him for trespassing. (He was INSIDE my ‘secure building’ going door to door and when I asked who gave him access he lied and said ‘the landlord’. I checked with both the landlord and the caretaker.) No, I’m not saying HRC is a bunch of pushy, trespassing liars. I’m saying this particular canvasser was.

BTW: Before anyone starts ironing their judge robe, I have signed Human Rights Campaign petitions in the past and have donated. I had my name taken from their rolls when I realized that my signature in support of Equal Rights for Gays was also being used in support of other non-gay issues where I disagreed. I don’t like ANYBODY telling me how I’m supposed to respond to a particular issue and I certainly don’t like them saying I support something that I don’t. From that point on, I’ve avoided ‘campaigns’ of any sort electing instead to actually voice my own opinion when I feel it’s necessary or called for. BTW: I NEVER signed any church-sponsored petitions or contributed to any religious/political causes because I didn’t support all of THEIR agendas either.

From those parts of this discussion that have remained on track, it appears that some appropriate steps have been taken to thwart Wyant’s misrepresentation and his advocacy of violence as a means to an end. I say we keep a watch on his doings–and whether he seems to be gaining any credibility. The most dangerous thing about people with such views is that, when they find even a few others who agree with them, it often spurs them to live out their fantasy or to encourage these others to live them out for them.