Month: October 2013

PFOX Plays The Victim; Wants To Fix One Problem By Causing Another

Today, the Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays dropped a news release criticizing Virginia’s public universities for failing to distribute their literature to students. In the release, PFOX claims discrimination based on religion and ex-gayness is what motivates the lack of ex-gay literature.
While I don’t doubt that some of those counseling center staffers have problems with conservative religion, I submit that they are correct in their decision not to provide PFOX literature to students.  Much of what PFOX and related groups (e.g., International Healing Foundation, Voice of the Voiceless) promote is scientifically questionable and should be avoided for that reason alone.
The irony is that the group who conducted the undercover investigation accuse the university centers of suppressing accurate information when it is the ex-gay groups which (also?) do this. They know there is no peer reviewed research on therapeutic change that supports them. They also know that at least one of their therapeutic methods (i.e., cartharsis) has been evaluated via research and found to be harmful in some instances. They also know that their narrative regarding homosexuality (i.e., failures in the parent-child relationship) is scientifically dubious and yet they continue to promote this view as if it is supported by research and experience.
It may be that the counseling center directors favor gay affirming religion over non-affirming religion. If so, this would be problematic if the centers are publicly funded. However, any such finding of fact would not be reason to hand out erroneous literature to students. If there are non-affirming groups on campus or in the community (e.g., Andrew Marin’s groups or some other religious group which does not promote debunked theories and methods) then information about those groups should be made available to religious students. Therapeutically neutral approaches should be taught to center counselors to help them avoid establishing an approved religious stance on the subject in a public university. However, PFOX and Voice of the Voiceless should not be allowed to use religious discrimination as a basis to promote their problematic materials.

League Of The South President: Study The Constitution To Understand Government's Contempt For Law

The Institute on the Constitution’s Michael Peroutka offers a course on the Constitution in his Maryland office and via a series of resources to trainers throughout the nation. The latter approach has spread rapidly, especially in Southwest Ohio.
In their courses, IOTC leaders and trainers portray the current government as out of touch with the Constitution. Given that message, one might think that the IOTC leaders want people to study the Constitution in order to restore the nation to Constitutional roots. However, IOTC founder and League of the South board member Michael Peroutka has expressed doubts about the viability of the current government. He even reassured his secessionist League of the South earlier this year that he did not believe the current regime could be reformed. At their national conference, Peroutka said:

I don’t disagree with Dr. Hill at all, that this regime is beyond reform. I think that’s an obvious fact and I agree with him…I am saying that because I don’t want the League of the South, for one minute to think that I am about reforming the current regime, and that studying the Constitution is about reforming the regime.

Current IOTC instructors might be surprised to learn about the League’s aim to abandon the current republic and start over. I have provided the video of Peroutka’s League of the South comments below with full transcript.
To be sure, the League of the South leadership doesn’t think very highly of the Constitution. On twitter, League president Michael Hill (who Peroutka agrees with about the government) recently expressed his disdain for the Constitution and preference for the Articles of Confederation.
https://twitter.com/MichaelHill51/statuses/390680766482370560
Twitter user Scott Moore than asked Hill what would take the place of the Constitution:

So then last night, I asked Hill why his fellow League board member Michael Peroutka taught the Constitution if indeed the League has no confidence in it. His answer:

According to two League board members, one of which developed the materials, the reason to study the Constitution is to illustrate what they consider to be fundamental principles. The League believes this republic is beyond reform but knowing fundamental law will be important for the survival of an independent white Southland. If I am understanding Hill correctly, perhaps he hopes students will form an impression that the nation has drifted so far from what calls “fundamental law” that secession will seem like a better alternative to reform.
I am sure many IOTC instructors believe they are helping to restore something about the current republic when they teach their classes. Unfortunately, they may not realize what aims they are advancing.
2013 League of the South annual conference:

Here is a transcript of his comments:

We have a basic Constitution course, now again I don’t disagree with Dr. Hill at all, that this regime is beyond reform. I think that’s an obvious fact and I agree with him. However, I do agree that when you secede, or however the destruction and the rubble of this regime takes place and how it plays out, you’re going to need to take a biblical worldview and apply it to civil law and government. That’s what you’re still going to need to do. Whether we’re going to have to have this foundational information in the hearts and minds of the people, or else liberty won’t survive the secession either. You see what I’m saying? So this view, I am saying that because I don’t want the League of the South, for one minute to think that I am about reforming the current regime, and that studying the Constitution is about reforming the regime. I like many of you, and like Patrick Henry, probably have come to the conclusion that we smelled a rat, smelled a rat from the beginning. However, we believe that it is essential to take a biblical view of law and government and then make those applications so we publish actually three courses of instruction.
I’m in the commercial mode now, this is a commercial. We publish a course on the U.S. Constitution. We feel like it would be a great builder for you in your workshops, in your, when Dr. Hill said somebody called and said, ‘nothing’s going on.’ Well this could be going on. This is something you could do. You could be discussing with your neighbors a true American view of law and government, and then discussing how that could be applied. And then you could be reading the Grey Book too as well which is also a great vision for how, for what a civil government should look like in America. This is a 12 week course of study, excuse me, it is 12 lectures, we do it every 12 weeks but you could do it faster or slower. But it is I believe a great party building or organization building tool because it creates the commonality of understanding on which we’re going to march forward, that is to say, there is an American view of law and government and a biblical view that we need to understand. So that’s what our U.S. course is about.
We actually conduct it three ways, we conduct it live in person in Pasadena, MD, Pastor David Whitney, myself and some other instructors give this class. It’s conducted around the country by people who take this kit itself and do it. This is like a turnkey operation here, you can take this and use the student manual, there’s a teacher’s manual, it’s like a home school course on the U.S. Constitution and American history. We rehearse what an American view of law and government looks like, like I’ve just been doing. We talk about the religious belief of the founders, we talk about the biblical beliefs of the founders and the political philosophy of the founders. Then we talk basically about the Constitution in the words of the Constitution itself. In other words, ‘thou shalt know the rules.’ And then we talk about how courts have degradated and moved away, and subverted the Constitution, and we talk about ways we can move back to this biblical understanding.

When Peroutka says American view of law and government, let’s recall who he calls “American.” In an editorial on his website, Peroutka referred to the Confederate troops as the “American forces.”

League Of The South President: Ethnic Nationalism Better Than Democratic Process

Yesterday, I posted a tweet from League of the South president Michael Hill concerning the options non-white Southerners would have if Southern states secede. Hill again identified true Southerners as being of European descent, and added:

To us, “Southerners” are of European descent. They [referring to non-whites] can either go along with it, fight against it, or get out.

Hill’s answer was not enough for the Twitter user Jimbo. He then asked Hill what would happen when the non-white people refuse to turn over their homes to the whites.

At the time, Hill did not answer. Last night, I asked Hill if he would answer Jimbo’s question. What will happen when non-whites vote no on secession? Hill’s answer was evasive but it may indicate something about his political philosophy.
https://twitter.com/MichaelHill51/statuses/392444347901169665
Hill seems to argue against the vote of all people as a means of taking power but rather hopes for a society run by a single group which, according to his prior statements, would be Southern whites. This is still vague because we don’t hear from him about how he would accomplish this victory for Southern whites.

League Of The South's President To Blacks: Go Along, Fight, Or Get Out

The League of the South often talks about an “Anglo-Celtic” (white) Southern secession from the nation but less frequently discusses what to do about the non-whites who now live there.  The League’s president recently gave us a clue about how that “problem” would be handled.
A Twitter user, Jimbo, used a racial slur to ask Hill how he would get blacks to go along with secession. Note Hill’s response:

Once again, Hill makes clear that the League of the South does not advocate for non-whites in the South (read the rest of the conversation). The League is not interested in a multi-racial South unless non-whites go along with the League’s belief that the South is a homeland for whites of European stock. Elsewhere, Hill has made it clear that, in the eyes of the League, Southerners are white people.
In light of Hill’s comments, I again ask League of the South board member Michael Peroutka if he supports his president and fellow board member’s rhetoric? Mr. Peroutka, are Southerners only of European descent? Do you still pledge the work of the Institute on the Constitution to the League’s vision of the South?

Barton's Big 12: What Colleges Are On The List?

Last week, David Barton told Oklahoma Wesleyan University president Everett Piper that OWU is on a short list of “about a dozen” colleges that are “right on the Bible, right on the Constitution, right on American history.”
I figure Ohio Christian University is another one since they are giving Barton an award. Liberty University is probably there as well given Barton’s frequent appearances in their chapel.
A bit of chatter has taken place in various places about other schools on the list. For instance, Patrick Henry was nominated but then discounted by others.
Gentle readers, what others schools do you think are on the list?
UPDATE: John Fea has good reason to identify six schools in the Barton Dozen.