A perfect anti-gay election storm

BY NATASHA BARSOTTI — As expected, at least one preacher has decided that gays are partly to blame for the wrath of Hurricane Sandy as it makes landfall on the American east coast.

Calling Sandy the most powerful hurricane on record, chaplain John McTernan says in a blog posting entitled Hurricane Sandy and the Election that “this monster storm aimed at America and ready to inflict severe damage during election week is not a coincidence. Hurricane Sandy may flood Washington, DC on election day! It is like the hurricane is a huge bucket of vomit in America’s face during the election. What a sign from the holy God of Israel that American politics is an abomination to Him. A pro-homosexual Mormon along with a pro-abortion/homosexual, Muslim Brotherhood promoter, Hard Left Fascist are running for president.”

Of Romney, he adds, “Yes, he is a big time pro-homosexual supporter to the point he will
keep open homosexuality in the military; he wants homosexuals in the Boy
Scouts; and he wants more open homosexuals in the Republican Party.”

On his Defend and Proclaim the Faith website, McTernan says that “just last August, Hurricane Isaac hit New
Orleans . . . on the exact day of Hurricane Katrina. Both hit during the
week of the homosexual event called Southern Decadence in New Orlean!”

Just recently, Maryland pastor Robert Anderson also took aim at gay people and same-sex marriage supporters, saying during a town-hall meeting that “those who practice such things are worthy of death.

“If we don’t vote against it, then we are approving these things that are worthy of death,” Anderson added in reference to Question 6, the Nov 6 ballot measure that could legalize gay marriage in the state.

Of course, he is careful to attribute the “worthy of death” comment to the Bible. “That’s not my words,” Anderson told NBC4 Washington. “That’s from Romans, Chapter 1, written by the Apostle Paul himself.”

“Worthy of death in that they are promoting the lifestyle and they are promoting what same-sex marriage is all about, and that is what we’re standing against,” he elaborates.

Bishop David Ricken, head of the Catholic Diocese of Green Bay, also warned parishioners in cataclysmic language about supporting “wrong” positions on moral issues. In the Oct 24 letter, he suggests that voting for candidates who support “intrinsically evil” positions, such as abortion and gay marriage, could “put your own soul in jeopardy,” northwestern.com reports.

 

And not to be outdone, the indefatigable Billy Graham put out a full-page ad in The New York Times and the Wisconsin State Journal on Oct 28, calling for people to cast their ballots based on biblical principles. “I urge you to vote for those who protect the sanctity of life and support the biblical definition of marriage between a man and a woman. Vote for biblical values this November 6, and pray with me that America will remain one nation under God.”

Graham and his ministry ran ads in USA Today on Oct 19, The Wall Street Journal on Oct 18 and, according to The Huffington Post,”more than a dozen national and battleground state newspapers” leading up to Nov 6.

Natasha Barsotti is originally from Trinidad and Tobago in the Caribbean. She had high aspirations of representing her country in Olympic Games sprint events, but after a while the firing of the starting gun proved too much for her nerves. So she went off to university instead. Her first professional love has always been journalism. After pursuing a Master of Journalism at UBC , she began freelancing at Xtra West — now Xtra Vancouver — in 2006, becoming a full-time reporter there in 2008.

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