Bryan Fischer

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According to Fischer since "evolution is completely irrational and scientifically bankrupt," the "most logical thing in the world" is to believe that God created the universe.<ref>http://www.rightwingwatch.org/content/fischer-evolution-completely-irrational-and-scientifically-bankrupt</ref>
 
According to Fischer since "evolution is completely irrational and scientifically bankrupt," the "most logical thing in the world" is to believe that God created the universe.<ref>http://www.rightwingwatch.org/content/fischer-evolution-completely-irrational-and-scientifically-bankrupt</ref>
  
===Hiv denialism===
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===HIV-denialism===
 
Fischer has also wholeheartedly endorsed [[HIV denialism]].<ref>http://www.rightwingwatch.org/content/bryan-fischer-aids-denialist</ref>
 
Fischer has also wholeheartedly endorsed [[HIV denialism]].<ref>http://www.rightwingwatch.org/content/bryan-fischer-aids-denialist</ref>
  

Revision as of 18:52, 1 June 2012

Bryan Fischer is a radio host and Director of Issues Analysis for the American Family Association (AFA), a conservative Christian organization classified as a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center,[1] who cited in particular Fischer's controversial comments on racial and ethnic minorities.[2] Fischer hosts the talk radio program Focal Point on American Family Radio, and writes posts on the AFA-run blog Rightly Concerned.

Fischer is known for his rabidly insane views and comments on abortion, universal health care, science, evolution, reality, gay adoption, reasoning, same-sex marriage, race, honesty, and politics, and has a long history of making controversial statements. The AFA is generally ambivalent about whether they endorse Fischer’s columns or not (even though they do recognize him as a spokesperson for the organization). According to Buster Wilson, the General Manager of American Family Radio, Fischer says “things that a lot of people on the conservative side of things think but they won’t say,”[3] and people in the organization not only tolerate Fischer’s rants but actively encourage him.[4]

Contents

Views on Religion and Politics

Being an avowed dominionist, religion and politics are two sides of the same coin for Bryan Fischer.

Freedom of religion

His beliefs on freedom of religion in America are extreme enough to merit their own section. Essentially, Fischer believes there is none for Muslims, and "alternative religions to Christianity" in general. As such, he has called on the U.S. military to ban all Muslims from serving,[5] and raised questions as to whether Muslims should be allowed to emigrate to the United States at all, apparently unaware that Islam is a religion, not a country. He has also argued that:

  • First Amendment protections do not apply to Muslims[6] or Mormons.[7]
  • Individual states have the right to regulate religious expression. He only mentions Muslims, of course.[8]
  • No permits should be granted to build any more mosques in the United States of America.[9]

Fischer also stated that "counterfeit religions, alternative religions to Christianity, have no First Amendment right to the free exercise of religion."[10]

Views towards liberals

Fischer has claimed that liberals “hate the Declaration of Independence”.

Views towards president Obama

Fischer believes that Obama is a racist towards white people, and has declared that he honestly believes that President Obama is deliberately trying to destroy America because he thinks America "is one big, giant Ku Klux Klan meeting", and that the Department of Homeland Security is hoarding ammunition in a liberal plot to shoot Fischer and his allies.[11]

He has also argued that anyone who criticizes Sarah Palin is really controlled by Satan,[12] and that an attack on Rick Santorum is an attack on Jesus.[13]

Controversial statements about race and ethnic minorities

In 2012 Fischer raised some eyebrows when he claimed that treating Native Americans like the Israelites treated the Canaanites in the Old Testament (i.e., total genocide) would be justified on account of the tribes' rejection of Christianity.[14] He has also warned us about Obama's policies toward American Natives: "President Obama wants to give the entire land mass of the United States of America back to the Indians. He wants Indian tribes to be our new overlords."[15]

Fischer and homosexuality

Fischer’s expressed views on homosexuality, gay marriage, and gay adoption can be summed up as an ongoing attempt to outdo himself with crazy. Against accusation that he has claimed that all gays should be “locked up”, Fischer pointed out that he had claimed no such thing; he merely wishes to criminalize homosexual behavior and force gays and lesbians into reparative therapy since “homosexual behavior represents a severe threat to public health, and is even more dangerous to human health than intravenous drug abuse.”[16] Being the exception that proves the rule of Haggard's Law, we have no evidence that Bryan Fischer has ever, past or present, engaged in homosexual acts of any kind.

Yet.

Homosexuality and (religious) freedom

At the 2010 Values Voter Summit Fischer gave a speech in which he claimed that the American people would have to choose between the homosexual agenda and freedom, because the two cannot coexist. [17] The incompatibility of freedom and LGTB rights is a mainstay in Fischer’s rants, but it is always a little unclear why, exactly, they are incompatible. Maybe we should let Fischer himself clarify?

The homosexual agenda is just like Islam: there is no room for dissent, there is no room to leave, once you're in, you can't leave. Muslims won't let you leave, homosexuals won't let you leave. [...] There's no freedom of choice, there's no freedom of religion - if you have religious views about homosexual behavior, you are squashed. I mean, ladies and gentlemen, they are Nazis. Homosexual activists, when it comes to freedom of speech, are Nazis. When it comes to freedom of religion, they are Nazis. [...] it's the Spanish Inquisition all over again.
—Bryan Fischer on AFA focal point[18]

Nope.

Homosexuality and Nazism

Fischer is apparently a fan of Scott Lively’s contention that homosexuals were to blame for the rise of Nazi Germany, but as usual he is not willing to let someone else have the most extreme views on the issue. Thus, Fischer has declared that Hitler himself, as well as many members of the Nazi Party, were homosexual and that their homosexuality was responsible for the Nazi atrocities.[19] In his own words

  • “Homosexuality gave us Adolph Hitler, and homosexuals in the military gave us the Brown Shirts, the Nazi war machine and six million dead Jews. Gays in the military is an experiment that has been tried and found disastrously and tragically wanting. Maybe it's time for Congress to learn a lesson from history.”[20]

Indeed, Godwin's Law is realized very, very quickly whenever Fisher talks about teh gays.

Fischer on science

According to himself, Fischer is “committed to science”, and it is because of his commitment to science that he rejects such phenomena as global warming and evolution.

Global Warming

Fischer appeared in a "documentary" by E. Calvin Beisner which alleges that global warming is part of the Pagan cult of environmentalism that is attempting to institute a world government through the United Nations and something about Al Gore.

Evolution

According to Fischer since "evolution is completely irrational and scientifically bankrupt," the "most logical thing in the world" is to believe that God created the universe.[21]

HIV-denialism

Fischer has also wholeheartedly endorsed HIV denialism.[22]

Miscellaneous nuttery

Fischer is deeply concerned that the United States Congressional Medal of Honor has become "feminized".[23]

In 2010 he caused some controversy when he blamed a grizzly bear attack at Yellowstone National Park on America for turning its back on God: "History reveals that God's covenant with an ancient nation suggests that one of the consequences for a nation which walks in his statutes is that it will have nothing to fear from wild animals;" however "[I]f you will not listen to me and will not do all these commandments ... I will let loose the wild beasts against you."[24]. (Apparently he overlooked 2 Kings Chapter 2.) He went on to argue that we should kill every single wild animal in existence.

The inescapable conclusion

He is, in short, a douchebag.[25]

Footnotes

  1. "Groups that helped oust Iowa judges earn ‘hate group’ designation", The Iowa Independent, November 23, 2010.
  2. http://www.splcenter.org/blog/2010/12/15/splc-responds-to-attack-by-frc-conservative-republicans/
  3. http://www.rightwingwatch.org/content/afa-stands-by-their-man
  4. http://www.religiondispatches.org/archive/politics/3443/former_employees%3A_racism_%26_abuse_in_leading_religious_right_org.
  5. Blog post from November 26, 2009
  6. Column from March 24, 2011
  7. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FSydFOV6QO4&NR=1
  8. Blog post from August 16, 2011
  9. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FSydFOV6QO4&NR=1
  10. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FSydFOV6QO4&NR=1
  11. http://www.rightwingwatch.org/content/bryan-fischer-goes-completely-rails
  12. http://scienceblogs.com/dispatches/2011/01/palin_vs_satan.php
  13. http://freethoughtblogs.com/dispatches/2012/02/28/fischer-an-attack-on-santorum-is-an-attack-on-jesus/
  14. Article from February 8th referring to statement, the original post was taken down.
  15. http://scienceblogs.com/dispatches/2010/12/the_new_crazy_anti-obama_argum.php#more
  16. http://scienceblogs.com/dispatches/2010/02/02/afa-favors-forced-reparative-t/
  17. Oddly enough, this year's summit schedules Mitt Romney (a Mormon) to speak, immediately followed by Bryan Fischer - who does not believe Mormons have the right to free speech or to practice religion freely in America.
  18. http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=skFskFNpWZM
  19. Blog post from May 27, 2010
  20. http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/2010/05/28/beware-the-gay-stormtroopers/
  21. http://www.rightwingwatch.org/content/fischer-evolution-completely-irrational-and-scientifically-bankrupt
  22. http://www.rightwingwatch.org/content/bryan-fischer-aids-denialist
  23. Blog post from November 16, 2010
  24. http://scienceblogs.com/dispatches/2010/06/godly_grizzly_bear_attacks.php
  25. Google proves it!

External Links

A 2011 documentation of crazy things Fischer has said; he has a knack for outdoing himself, however, and has said plenty of even crazier things after that article was written.

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