DIAL A GAY ATHEIST 03 August 1994 KILLERS FOR JESUS Welcome to Dial A Gay Atheist, a communications service of American Gay & Lesbian Atheists. American Gay Atheists, Inc., is a non-profit, educational foundation dedicated to keeping state and church separate and promoting freedom of thought and inquiry in the lesbian and gay community. Inquiries should be addressed, in writing, to AGLA, PO Box 66711, Houston, Texas 77266. Contents of Dial A Gay Atheist are protected under the copyright laws of the United States and require written permission for reproduction in any manner. This is Don Sanders for Dial A Gay Atheist. Well, the followers of Jesusism, more commonly known as Christians, have killed again in their war to control the reproductive processes of women. It did not come as a shock nor surprise to us that another raving follower of Jesus Christ had taken the scriptures literally and had not only taken up the sword for Jesus, but had actually used it. Why should we be surprised over another violent act committed outside an abortion clinic? Consider the war-mongering rhetoric coming from most Christian institutions. Little children are told they are "soldiers" in a "war." Bloody Biblical stories, like that of David and Goliath, are taught in Sunday Schools as being worthy of emulation. Christians are constantly referring to their courses of action in such terms as a war, a battlefield, taking up the sword for Jesus, or being a soldier for Christ. And most alarmingly, they speak of the bloody horrors of massacre with glare-filled stares and a kind of artificially cosmetic smile on their faces. Such was the case of Paul Hill, the 40-year-old former Presbyterian minister who opened fire on and killed 69-year- old Dr. John Britton and his associate and good friend James Barrett, 74-years-old, outside Pensacola's Ladies' Center. Barrett's wife, June, 68-years-old, was also hit by Jesus's justifiable bullets, but fortunately only suffered wounds. The city of Pensacola, Florida, has been a flash-point for the anti-abortion terrorists, beginning with the gunning down of Dr. David Gunn in the spring of 1993. But such action should come as a surprise to no one. Whenever persons constantly speak of their motives and actions in terms of war, it is only natural to expect that killing will follow. After all, killing for power is what war is all about. While swords may be an outmoded means for killing, guns certainly aren't. Yes, there is a holy war being waged upon America and the principles of freedom upon which this Republic was predicated. The holy war is being planned and implemented practically upon every front, but its center stage of focus has been, for a number of years, the abortion issue, which is really the right of a woman to control her own reproductive processes. We can expect to see more "battles for Jesus" in the coming years, with the catalysts remaining abortion and reproduction. And when medical and scientific breakthroughs (such as the abortifacient RU-486) make the abortion clinic almost unnecessary, we will see a shift away from this toward openly gay and lesbian business establishments, such as book stores, bars, restaurants and others. The soldiers in the war for Jesus's kingdom on Earth require a visible enemy, and next in line for similar acts of violence and terrorism will be members of our own gay and lesbian community. We'd bet money on that! The common thread linking the modern-day abortion rights movement with that of the lesbian and gay movement is sex. Sex has always been the favorite whipping boy of the Christians. Christianity's hatred of sex can be traced back to its beginnings as a religion. It certainly is not that Christians are deeply concerned over the future lives of fetuses! To the contrary, the focus of being concerned over the welfare of a person yet born is merely a smoke screen for an underlying goal of having control over the reproductive processes of the "sinful" woman. It has only been in recent times that the Christian movement has taken up the idea of defense of the "rights" of the fetus. There is also a "for- profit" motive as a number of Christian "rescue homes" have been set up to take in (mainly) teenage mothers, entice them into giving birth and then persuading them to relinquish their rights as a biological parent so that the Christian "rescue home" may sell the baby to Christian couples who will pay an adoption fee, and, in many cases, continue to pay "tithes" to a church or religious institution for years to come. Oh, what a money-making racket the Christians have in keeping abortion dangerous or illegal! The progression of the women's movement and greater reproductive freedoms have become a threat to the very root of Christianity. Only a few decades ago, if any pregnancy resulted from a so-called adulterous liaison, the yet unborn were also cursed to carry the iniquities of their parents throughout their life, and when they were born and grew up they were labeled bastards and sons or daughters of harlotry. Even though the children were made outcasts, given the most menial tasks to do and frequently starved to punish them for being born out of wedlock, the Christians were adamant against aborting an unwanted fetus, not out of concern for the future of the fetus, but believing they were doing god's will by requiring the fornicator to carry her "seed of sin" to the "time it is ripe" as a warning to what happens to bad girls and women who have coital relations outside the bounds and constraints of holy matrimony. Last spring, Congress passed legislation tightening restrictions on anti-abortion activities outside clinics like that of Pensacola's Ladies' Center. This legislation made it a federal crime to threaten or use force against clinic patients or employees. And just this summer, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld a Florida injunction creating a 36-foot no- picket buffer zone around a local clinic. Most recently, New York representative Charles Schumer called on the FBI to infiltrate the mandatory motherhood groups in the same way it probed the KKK in order to stop future terrorist attacks. Just after the latest killings in the war for control of women, some abortion rights activists were calling for an investigation of a greater, underlying conspiratorial movement at the heart of the bombings, the burnings, the assaults and the killings at abortion clinics. Is there an organized movement of conspiracy? Is there a group or other entity at the heart of the violence seen outside abortion clinics? Well, we think so. We also think that one needs look no further than his own backyard, or perhaps his own corner whereupon the likelihood exists there sits a church. It seems ironic to us that while our Congress and courts have been scrambling to pass laws and render opinions in support of a woman's fundamental right to control her body, the same governments and the same court systems have given us such things as the Religious Freedom Restoration Act. Restoration of religion? Restoration of killing? Freedom of religion has nothing to do with the outright war which is waging against a fundamental Constitutional right to privacy. And if we "restore" religion to any greater degree of honor than it presently has, we all might as well toss in what freedoms we think we have left. Like the Nazis in Hitler's Germany and the fascists of Mussolini's Italy, the modern-day Christian zealots wish to outlaw abortion, homosexuality, and other "sins." They are also prepared to scrap a completely secular Constitution and replace it with one steeped in blood, misery, superstition and despair. There is a war, and whether you like it or not, and despite upon which side of the fence you sit regarding religion, you are a part of it. The Christian Brownshirts have declared that war. As anyone who is being attacked, one either waves the white flag or stands firm and defends his territory. This message has been brought to you by American Gay & Lesbian Atheists. For a free sample copy of the American Gay & Lesbian Atheist newsletter, write to AGLA, PO Box 66711, Houston, TX 77266. At the tone, tell us from where you're calling and what's on your mind. In Houston, watch the American Atheist TV Forum on your community access cable channel on Sunday, August 7 at 7:30 PM. Here's the tone. 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