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Wayne Besen
PO Box 25491
Brooklyn, NY 11202
Police are seeking a man in connection with a gun and hatchet attack at a gay bar in New Bedford, south of Boston. Three people were wounded in what authorities said they suspect were hate crimes. Authorities described suspect Jacob D. Robida, 18, of New Bedford as violent, armed and dangerous, and suicidal. He is wanted on suspicion of three counts of attempted murder and hate crimes, police said. Police said Robida has dark hair, is about 5 feet 6 inches tall and weighs about 200 pounds.
He is believed to be driving a 1999 green Pontiac Grand Am with Massachusetts plate number 85EC58.
For those who haven't heard, Robida entered Puzzles Lounge and asked if it was a gay bar. When he heard that it was, the fiend took out a hatchet and attacked bar patrons. Then he pulled a gun. One bar patron suffered deep cuts on his head and was shot in the face, and two others were shot in the back and chest, authorities said.
This hate crime reminds me of a story I posted earlier today where fundie groups were outraged because openly gay actor Chad Allen was cast in a Christian movie. One Web log, nossobrii.blogspot.com, written by Kevin T. Bauder, president of Central Baptist Seminary in Minneapolis, stated in a Jan. 13 entry:
"Granted, we must not overreact. And it would probably be an overreaction to fire bomb these men's houses. But what they have done is no mistake. It is a calculated strategy."
As you can see, these hate-filled moralists create a climate where unstable people, such as Robida, feel it is okay to attack homosexuals. Once the lives of a minority are devalued, twisted people can justify their sick fantasies.
15 Comments:
And Bush's hate speech on SOTU and his veiled attack on gay marriage only exacerbates the problem. Its nothing more than government-sanctioned homophobia. Fascism is alive and well in the U.S.
Wayne- compare this post to the one directly below it.
And no, I'm not saying cartoons should be censored, but isn't it equally likely some unstable person could run with the sentiment expressed in the Muhammed cartoons and attack Arabs?
posted by Boo, at
2/03/2006 10:38 AM
Comments on the Muhammed cartoon thread seem to be broken, so I'll make the comment here.
I usually respect Wayne's opinions and agree with most of what he writes, but his comments about the cartoons are perhaps the most colossally stupid thing I've ever seen him write. Consider if the cartoons were of Roman Catholic priests depicting them getting ready to enter the bed of a young boy. Would that be funny, appropriate, or publishable? Do you not think the Vatican would have a fit?
While I can echo the sentiments that radical Islamists are a threat and need to be dealt with, didn't anyone have the common sense to think about how these cartoons would be percieved by the billion or so peace-loving Muslims?
The fact that his very next post talks about the effects of hate speech on impressionable youth (that seemingly caused the young man to attack the bar patrons) really indicates that Wayne doesn't get it.
Wayne, I think you need to post some kind of followup to the Muhammed cartoon thread, possibly with an apology or something.
posted by wayneFan, at
2/03/2006 2:37 PM
Wayne doesn't owe anyone any apology. Yes, the Vatican would have a fit if they saw a cartoon of a priest getting into bed with a boy, but I doubt they would resort to murder and firebombs in the name of their God.
Maybe 500 years ago, sure, but I think that Wayne's broader point here was to illustrate the savagery of so-called "people of faith" who riot over a dumb cartoon. No, we aren't going to supress our free speech because some half-human, half-Neanderthal might blow up a building as a result.
These people act like savages for goodness sakes. If they are offended, fine. Do what we do. Boycott, demonstrate, write letters and so forth. Work within the system. But their violence and barbaric emotionalism is what shows them up for who they really are. They are primitive and embarrassing.
posted by Chris L., at
2/03/2006 3:26 PM
-- POSTING RESPONSE HERE RE: ISLAM CARTOON -- Why is it in our world today the first knee jerk reaction to something is censorship? Free Speech is a right that we enjoy in this country (and for the sake of this particular subject I'll stay on topic so just go with it and disregard the obvious and blatant attempts by our own current fascist regime at curtailing it - as that can be a wholly separate but equally important rant all on its own) Free Speech must be protected - even in those instances when the speech itself is so obviously offensive that it raises the bar to 'hate speech'.
I just read that the Westboro Baptist Church will be picketing at Coretta Scott King's funeral in Atlanta. Here is a group of folks that *most* reasonable people find offensive to the highest degree. Very much akin to the way I've always felt when I would see the KKK rally and march in southern cities spewing their brand of equally hateful rhetoric.
But the one thing that I will never - Ever do ... is request that their First Amendment Rights be curtailed. Yes, I will even defend the right for these folks to speak out. Because once we venture out on the greasy slope of curtailing those that we disagree with .... then who gets to decide what is and what is not offensive? No - I will continue to cringe when I hear about the WBC picketing and protesting no matter where it may be ... but I won't begin to try and stop them.
And for the record - Wayne owes no one an apology, nor should he feel that he has slighted anyone by posting and speaking out ( Exercising His First Amendment Rights) about the cartoon controversy that is sweeping Europe and the Middle East.
Having said my peace about those that *immediately* jump on the bandwagon of censorship ... let me just add my two cents about the cartoon and the trouble brewing in the Middle East. First of all - *it was a fucking cartoon*. Secondly, we cannot continue to retreat and give ground to religious fanatics that threaten violence when someone speaks out against their views or criticizes their beliefs - whether its at home or abroad - whether christian or muslim.
The same rhetoric is taking place here in our own country - and there are those christian fanatics that threaten the use of violence even here at home (EX: Firebombing abortion clinics) ... albeit not as overt and certainly not in the numbers we see in the middle east. But nonetheless we see and hear christians who raise hackles over the most mundane issues (EX: Upcoming Will and Grace or The book of Daniel).
No - enough is enough. I do not believe in censorship and I do not believe that we should cow- tow to religious fanaticism. Anyone remember the old playground chant about "sticks and stones"?
Of course no one should be censored, but you notice in this post Wayne does a 180 when it's anti-gay speech.
posted by Boo, at
2/03/2006 9:49 PM
-- Boo:
I re-read Wayne's post and I do not see where Wayne contended that we should *censor* hate speech.
I agree with Wayne's assessment ... "hate-filled moralists create a climate where unstable people, such as Robida, feel it is okay to attack homosexuals". In my example I used the Westboro Baptist Church and the old standard of the KKK. I believe that we have an obligation to speak out against these "hate filled moralist" or the "hate filled rascist" and I would even go one step further and suggest that it is our *moral obligation* to point out the harm that these people *can* cause with their rhetoric. But once again - I would never call for their speech to be denied them -- as dispicable and disgusting as it may be -- and neither did Wayne unless I'm missing something.
That is why the WBC will be allowed to picket at Coretta Scott King's funeral and why they were allowed to picket at Mathew Shepherd's funeral and even at fallen US soldiers' funerals. These bigots do have the ability to shape young or "unstable" minds through speech ... but then expressing bigoted hateful views and acting out with violence is a wholly different proposition.
An elementary school teacher once punished me for punching another kid for calling me a fat-sissy when I was growing up - and I remember whining that it was unfair and that I shouldn't be punished because *the other kid started it by calling me a fat-sissy*. The teacher looked at me and said, "Yes he was wrong for doing that and he will be dealt with accordingly - but you made the decision to reply with violence and for that you will be punished". She reiterated that childhood chant - Remember "sticks and stones may break your bones ... but words can never hurt you" ... and she added "unless you let them".
I didn't say Wayne said anyone should be censored. I said the sentiment he expressed in this post is the precise opposite of the one he expressed in the Muhammed cartoons post, which it is.
posted by Boo, at
2/04/2006 12:41 AM
-- OK Boo ... fair enough. I can't read Wayne's take on the subject because someone has hacked his site ... obviously because they can't tolerate Free Speech when it comes to a Mo-Ham-Ed cartoon.
Here is an interesting quote from the website astropro.com. "Meanwhile, I see that pundits and politicians are puzzling over the way recent elections in the Middle East have empowered murderous thugs (as happened in Germany in the 1930s). Democracy without a secular culture and a history of freedom and justice - an Athens, a Roman Republic, a Magna Carta, a Bill of Rights, etc. - is just mob rule; and absent a separation of church and state, it's genocide waiting to happen. The Muslim world is still mired in warlords, tribal feuds and honor killings. Democracy? It took the West centuries to go from tribalism to the Magna Carta . . . let alone anything approaching modern democracy. Can it be any different for the Muslim world? Elections are necessary for a democracy, but they are not sufficient."
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