New book accuses religious right of distorting studies

[author]

September 3, 2007--According to a new book, there has been a disturbing campaign of misinformation waged against America’s gay community.

And the culprits are organizations collectively known as the religious right
.
“Groups like Concerned Women for America, the Family Research Council, and the Traditional Values Coalition all claim that homosexuality is a deadly lifestyle,” Alvin McEwen said. “This notion is used to give a secular reason to oppose pro-gay laws. However the data they cite to prove the so-called negative effects of homosexuality is the product of junk science, misrepresented studies, and outright lies.”

McEwen, a South Carolina native, spent two years looking at religious right studies pertaining to the gay community. He has put his findings in a book, Holy Bullies and Headless Monsters: Exposing the Lies of the Anti-Gay Industry, which is now available for sale.

He said he wrote the book as a guide that the gay community and their allies can use when confronting religious right claims.

According to Holy Bullies, the religious right routinely:

• relies on the work of a discredited researcher,

• cherry-picks portions of legitimate studies,

• gives incomplete versions of public controversies to accuse the gay community of trying to silence Christians,

• and ignores the complaints of legitimate physicians and researchers when misusing their work.

Holy Bullies also points out other questionable tactics of the religious right, including presenting incorrect beliefs about gays and lesbians as fact, creating phony experts, and using semantics to portray the gay community as aggressive outsiders.

McEwen said he is not trying to demean Christians through his book, but that the religious right deserves scrutiny as well as criticism for their tactics.

“They constantly misrepresent the lives of gays and lesbians and distort science,”McEwen said. “But when they are questioned even a little bit about their tactics, they are quick to play the victim and whine about being attacked because of their religious beliefs.

“So-called deeply held religious beliefs is not meant to be a blank check to tell lies. The behavior of the religious right is not only an affront to Christianity but goes against everything this country stands for.”

Holy Bullies and Headless Monsters is now available for sale. Log onto www.xlibris.com/HolyBulliesandHeadlessMonsters.html for more information, including an excerpt.

Anyone wishing to read an interview with McEwen can log onto www.holybullies.com or contact McEwen at CharleKenghis@aol.com

Press kits are also available.

[Emproph]

http://i186.photobucket.com/albums/x269/Emproph/congratulations.gif

I saw this on Joe's site earlier and immediately bought a copy. You're like Jim Burroway when it comes to picking apart anti-gay research and commenting on the illogic behind it - or maybe I should say he's like you in that sense, since you were first on the scene.

Anyway, I'm salivating at the thought of reading it. http://i186.photobucket.com/albums/x269/Emproph/drool.gif

And thanks for your blog (http://holybulliesandheadlessmonsters.blogspot.com/) too, and your many comments online, you're brilliant.

http://i157.photobucket.com/albums/t43/lizzie_0122/lovepeace.jpg

[sailaway58]

I was trying to think of something to add but I couldn't find anything to copy and paste.

[Progo35]

I need to read the book, but I DO think that there have been some significant conflicts of interest in the last twenty years on the part of secularists across the board who would like to outlaw any kind of religious expression or research that does not conform to the mainstream opinion. But, of course, that is the fault of everyone involved with the secular agenda who is radical in his or her beliefs...but, I do think that there needs to be more consideration on the part of the media, gay rights organizations and secular agencies for the complicated nature of religious belief and the sincerity of many believers in trying to follow their beliefs and avoid/combat homophobia or other kinds of oppression. Obviously, gay individuals and organizations may not fall into the "secular" camp, as Soulforce demonstrates. It's just an issue of each side having an open door in terms of discussion and letting some differences exist without either side attempting to force their beliefs on somone else.

[labguy22]

The religious right* has been misinterpreting and manipulating scripture for their agenda, I guess for as long as they've been around. I'm not at all surprised that they would continue the practice in other areas.

Is it just me, or does anyone else think that their obsession with the GLBT community is just a bit disgusting? I'm gay, they are not; so why should they be so bothered? Whoopi said it best "If your against gay marriage, then don't marry one!" :weee:

*Sorry to group them all together, there may be a few good ones out there???

[author]

I understand where you are coming from, Progo 35, but it is a bit more simpler than that. I have no problems with anyone's religious expression, including the right to believe that homosexuality is a sin.

But those who feel that way need to be cognizant of the fact that not everyone believes the same as them and that their religion does not give them the right to deny any rights that lgbts should have.

And especially the fact that their "deeply held religious beliefs" is not a license to lie.

[BrentRichards]

Precisely, as a very serious Christian, I am offended from both sides, as it were, by the right wing approach to homosexuality: A lie can never be used to serve the truth, and it is the misuse of facts and the distortion of research that is at issue here. Believe what you will, ignore the research as irrelevant if you want, but when you twist the research and USE science to support a position that is otherwise weak (and especially when it harms others), that is distinctly unChristian, and should NOT go unchallenged.