Naming names: Christ Church of Peace, a nondenominational church in Jacksonville, Fla., has published on the Internet the names of 400,000 Floridians in 60 counties who signed a petition supporting a state constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriages. While publishing the names violates no privacy law, wingnut supporters of the amendment are predictably crying foul, according to the Miami Herald.
”It’s a gross invasion of people’s privacy,” said John Stemberger, president and general counsel of the Florida Family Policy Council, an offshoot of James Dobson’s national Christian conservative group Focus on the Family.
‘It’s time for another voice that is Christian to be heard.’
- Gary Debusk, pastor of Christ Church of PeaceStemberger argued that, if Christian conservatives published the names and addresses of gay-rights activists, they would likely be condemned as hatemongers. ”A lot of people would be outraged and say it’s a hateful, un-Christian gesture,” he said.
Yes, John, it would be a hateful, un-Christian thing to do, much like the hateful, un-Christian act of signing a petition in support of a repressive, discriminatory constitutional amendment.
Gary Debusk, pastor of Christ Church of Peace, said the church began the ”Know Thy Neighbor” effort Monday to encourage dialogue and prevent voter-signature fraud. As the head of a congregation that supports same-sex marriage, Debusk said he also wanted to add a new perspective to a debate that he said has been dominated largely by religious conservatives. ”It’s time for another voice that is Christian to be heard,” he said.
The website, knowthy neighbor.org/florida, is linked to the church’s home page and contains a searchable database of names. The names on such petitions are part of the public record, according to the Florida Department of State.
I went on the site and searched for my last name, and out of four pages of names found that neither my mother nor my siblings had signed up. Checking under my mother’s maiden name, however, revealed an aunt in the town where I was born who did sign the petition. A page of folks with the same last name as Editor Trish who might or might not be related to her also signed up.
Are you a Floridian? Have relatives who live in Florida? Want to find out if they are intolerant, would-be discriminators and hatemongers? Go to the site at http://www.knowthyneighbor.org/florida/ and look them up. And then let us know what you discover.
As a fellow brother of the faith, I have to aplaud efforts to stem the tide of hate mongering hiding behind a veil of righteousness. It’s well past time the body of Christ does something about this. I will admit that I have seen good arguments from both sides of the homosexuality/morally sound camps and have no firm beleif one way or another concerning how God sees this. But, I can say this much for certain: Christ said “Let he with no sin cast the first stone.” I can tell you honestly that man isn;t me and I certainly will protect my gay friends and family from hate mongering as it’s the compassionate, God fearing thing to do.
Relieved to see there are no relatives I know of personally on the list. I am white, while most Florida Ponders are black. Which is not to say we aren’t related — I’m sure we all are. However no one on this list is anyone I ever heard of. Whew.
When anti-abortion activist posted the names of the doctors who provided abortions on a website the left was justifiably outraged. Like you, the right argued that this was ‘public’ information. So, how is this any different? In truth, this tactic backfired and the right-wing extremist were roundly vilified.
Most Americans understand that one has the right to state their views without feeling beleaguered and harassed. For those of you who applaud the efforts of this church, I hope you feel the same when your enemies employ the same tactic against you.
Thoughtful -
The abortion doctors were vulnerable to harrassment, physical assault — even death — from the lunatic fringe of your ideology.
There has never been an instance that I’m aware of in which gay rights supporters attacked people who signed petitions against them. The likelihood that this would ever happen is nearly zero.
This is not about abortion; it’s about conservative hypocrisy. Conflating two unrelated issues is a standard tactic used by the rightwing when its members feel threatened.
Won’t work here.
I guess it depends on what your definition of attack is. I read recently that a volunteer fireman, Skip Childs, was released from his duties specifically because he signed the Massachusetts marriage petition. While neither of us can cite a particular instance of physical assault due to the “Know Thy Neighbor” website there is always the potential. It doesn’t matter what terms you use to justify it (i.e. revealing conservative hypocrisy), it still places people in danger.
Also, you have no idea what my ideology is and I resent being pigeon-holed simply because I disagree with a tactic. In most instances I could be considered a liberal Democrat. As a black person, I am particularly sympathetic to persons being placed on ‘lists’. Most of the people I know would NEVER sign a petition of any kind because we always understood the potential for its abuse. Actually, it doesn’t make me feel particularly good to find that our fears were justified.
My mom used to say that you know the course you are taking is right if you would do the same to a friend. I guess that’s the question we need to ask ourselves. Would you condone this tactic if were employed against you or someone you care about.
Thoughful –
Petitioning is an act of public solicitation to support a movement or cause. There is no such thing as a “secret petition.” Since signing a petition is a public actit is, by definition, open to public scrutiny.
On the flip side, an individual exercises his or her right to free speech when signing a petition. In fact, when a voter signs a petition to advocate a cause for government action, the act of signing the petition is constitutionally protected.
If a fireman in Massachusetts was fired for signing a petition, the firing was an illegal act.
When someone signs a petition, they are not “put on a list” by someone else, they put themselves on the list by the act of signing the petition, which is, as I said, a public document.
If a friend or acquaintance of mine were to sign a petition advocating a position he or she secretly supported but were publicly were ashamed of, I would feel pity for that person — especially if that secret loathing were related to a matter of sexual identity, because that would indicate deep and disturbing inwardly directed conflict.
I would urge that person to seek help.