For Chuck Colson, It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year to Demonize Gay Folks

by Michael Jones · 2009-12-28 13:45:00 UTC
Topics:

Chuck ColsonTwenty-five years ago, Chuck Colson spent the holidays in the Maxwell Correctional Facility in Alabama, having pleaded guilty to the charge of "obstruction of justice" after trying to spoil the reputation of Daniel Ellsburg, the man who released the "Pentagon Papers" in the early 1970s. Colson also had the distinct pleasure, twenty-five years ago, of being one of the Watergate defendants, indicted for conspiring to cover up the burglary of the Democratic National Committee headquarters.

Fast forward twenty-five years, and what is Chuck Colson doing? He's using the holidays as a delicious time to demonize LGBT people, particularly those that support same-sex marriage. For Colson, it's the most wonderful time of the year to harsh on people you disagree with.

Colson has a lovely piece, "Marriage and Family," that offers some post-Christmas reflections on the warmth that family can bring during the holidays. But only if you're heterosexual, and not divorced. That's a big no-no in the world of Colson. Turns out that in twenty-five years, the more things change for people associated with Richard Nixon, the more they remain the same.

After Colson was released from prison for violating federal laws and participating in one of the most chaotic political scandals in U.S. history, Colson became one of the most devout religious right figures in the country, if not the world. Through his prison ministry program, Colson has been selling conservative biblical principles for decades, and jumping in when he can to join anti-gay religious right causes (like his recent support of the Manhattan Declaration, the right wing's call to arms against gay marriage).

This holiday season is no exception, where Colson ironically gets that holidays can be a time for family to come together. He just wants to make sure that no LGBT families are getting together.

"The best way to destroy the family is to destroy marriage," writes Colson. "During this Christmas season, pray. Pray that God will preserve the institution of marriage and protect the family. Pray as if our civilization depends on it."

Ah, way to politicize Christmas, Chuck Colson. Just when you think right-wing religious types have sunk to their ultimate lowest, you realize that their house has yet another basement.

Good thing folks like Chuck Colson represent an older (and largely decreasing) wing of the evangelical movement.

(Photo courtesy of souder.house.gov)

Michael Jones is a Change.org Editor. He has worked in the field of human rights communications for a decade, most recently for Harvard Law School.
PREVIOUS STORY:
Senegal Tries to Compete with Uganda for Homophobia Title
NEXT STORY:
Bullied high schooler convinces MPAA to change ‘Bully’ rating to “PG-13”

COMMENTS (7)

    Comment Policy

    · All fields are required to comment.

    [X]

    Comments on Change.org are meant for further exploration and evaluation of the campaign on Change.org. To that end, we welcome constructive comments. However, we reserve the right to delete comments which, as determined solely in our discretion: (1) are offensive, abusive, or off-topic; (2) include content solely intended to personally attack the campaign creator, (3) are designed to subvert or hijack comment threads rather than contribute to them; and/or (4) violate our terms of service and/or privacy policy. Repeat offenders may be permanently removed from the site at our discretion. Please also be advised that: (A) we do not actively curate and/or monitor in any manner whatsoever the comments made on the Change.org platform, and (B) the creator of each campaign on Change.org may remove any comment at her/his/its discretion.