One Million Moms Is a Hate Group

Normally I’d resist giving attention to any group as idiotic as One Million Moms, an “activist” offshoot of the odious American Family Association, but their current campaign to try and force the retail outlet JC Penney to fire Ellen DeGeneres as their new spokesperson (“DeGeneres is not a true representation of the type of families that shop at their store. The majority of JC Penney shoppers will be offended and choose to no longer shop there.”) is so obnoxious that I think they need to be called out by as many people as possible. And they have been. Ellen herself responded to the campaign on her talk show, but even people as far-ranging and unexpected as Bill O’Reilly and Howard Stern came out against the ignorant, offensive, and time-wasting moves by this organization that, in my opinion, is a disgrace to true Christian values and a horrible model for the children they claim they are working to “protect.”

 

  

I speculated earlier this week that their optimistic use of “One Million” was probably more like 300 although Ellen pointed out that their Facebook page had 40,000 likes (“I get it, they’re just rounding up to the nearest million!”). Their page was down for several hours yesterday so they could do “a clean sweep of negative comments.” They had their work cut out for them in that regard—following Ellen’s remarks on her TV show, they had thousands of comments decrying their ridiculous campaign, many by self-professed religious Christians. But OMM had the audacity to respond to their critics by saying, “As you can see, some folks are always going to have a bigoted and narrow mind when our faith is expressed.” THEIR FAITH? Or is it their narrow-minded hate? Oh, the stupidity that is so often expressed in Jesus’ name.

JC Penney is just one of the group’s current targets. They are also going after Macy’s (one of their ads featured a wedding cake with two grooms on top), advertisers for the TV show “Modern Family,” Jenny Craig for featuring “an extremely sensual and scantily clad Mariah Carey” in one of their commercials, Mattel for teaming up with the Kardashian sisters for a line of limited-edition dolls, ABC and “Good Morning America” for featuring “lingerie photos” of comedian Kathy Griffin, Target, Ben & Jerry’s for some of their “tasteless flavors,” and all advertisers for “Dancing with the Stars” because of Chaz Bono’s involvement with the show. After listing that show’s sponsors and urging their members to insist that the companies pull their support, they added, “Thousands of Christian counselors and pastors are available all across the country to help anyone who is struggling and living in any kind of sin including homosexuality, gender identity disorder, or gender dysphoria.” Oy.

Oh, there’s more, lots more: Oreos, Febreze, Dentyne, Old Navy, J. Crew (I love their headline, “J. Crew Plants the Seeds for Gender Identity Confusion”), Burger King, NASCAR, even Disney for their offensive disregard for “Christian values.” Don’t even get them started on the TV show “Glee” (“Openly homosexual producer Ryan Murphy is pushing his lifestyle choice on teens. Teenagers are being desensitized, but parents can do something about this hidden agenda.”)

All of this would almost be funny in a sad kind of shoulder-shrugging way if so many of the advertisers and other groups weren’t so quick to cave to the crazy demands of these irritating people. As they gleefully point out, sometimes all it takes is one letter or phone call to these nervous companies for them to pull their “offensive” ad or change their entire marketing plan.

But One Million Moms really miscalculated when they went after Ellen, a person who is admired and watched by millions of people of every stripe. Following the public outrage over the group’s actions, they published an op-ed piece yesterday on the site of their parent organization, the American Family Association. Here are some excerpts:

As you are certainly aware by now, JC Penney has chosen an open and avowed lesbian to serve as the face of the company. This spokesman is by all accounts warm, engaging and funny. But she is more known by America for what she does off camera than on. Why should this matter to pro-family Americans? It matters for one simple reason: role models matter. 

When a company with the visibility and reputation of JC Penney deliberately chooses as its representative someone who engages in a sexually abnormal lifestyle, it is not an insignificant thing. JC Penney’s choice will further lower the bar of what Americans consider sexually acceptable behavior. 

“Deviancy” means, according to the dictionary, “actions or behaviors that violate cultural norms.” A generation ago, virtually all Americans would have agreed that homosexual conduct violated cultural norms. It represented a violation of the laws of nature and nature’s God. We shared an understanding that such behavior was immoral, unnatural and unhealthy, and represented behavior that society should discourage rather than promote. 

What America considers sexually deviant behavior has been redefined downward, downward, downward. And JC Penney has done its part by celebrating and rewarding a practitioner of behavior which has serious psychological and physical consequences. 

Will America’s young women be just a bit more likely to experiment with lesbianism now that JC Penney is mainstreaming it? To any objective observer, the answer must be yes. Is this a good thing? To any objective observer, the answer must be no.  Research has indicated that lesbians suffer from increased levels of depression, suicidal ideation, substance abuse, breast cancer and vaginal diseases compared to heterosexual women.  

Wait, what? Lesbians have more breast cancer and “vaginal diseases” than heterosexual women? How did I miss that research? The co-opting and twisting of words like “faith” and “family values” by groups like this infuriates me to no end. It’s sad that these women can’t harness all that energy in more productive ways. On the other hand, I may be with them about those Kardashian dolls. What was that website address?

Comments

[Jeff]

Thanks for putting a spotlight on this bigotry and I'm glad people are fighting back. It makes me so incredibly angry when groups like this co-opt phrases like "pro-family." These people need to considered right alongside members of the KKK or Nazi Party.

[Wendi Goodman]

Another great post, Danny. Can't wait to post this all over the internet!!!

[A]

I always wonder (when TV criticizers criticize TV) -- what's wrong with their "on/off" button on their remotes?

[Sheila Linderman]

Wow, I did not realize that shopping at JCP's would make women just a bit more likely to experiment with lesbianism. Such a "duh!" That would make them far less likely to get pregnant and need an abortion. OMM should be thrilled!

[Judy Clar]

Seems like some people need a job! Maybe they should try volunteering to reach out to others in a positive way. Don't like JCP? Don't shop there. Not that great a store anyway! Simple. "Christian values"? What if you are not Christian? The whole thing is utter nonsense. They should spend their energy by doing good. Not by spouting negative rhetoric.

[[email protected]]

Dear Danny,
Would Bill Orally come out in defense of a gay man, if that man was chosen as the spokesman for JC Penney ? I seriously doubt it. Never the less, I have to give him credit (and admit that I'm absolutely shocked) for defending Ellen DeGeneres and JC Penney.

As a gay man, I look at something like this and I can't believe anybody would waste one second waging a protest against it.

What's the "Gay Agenda ?" Our agenda is EQUAL RIGHTS, nothing more, nothing less.

What's our "Lifestyle ?" We want a decent job that pays the bills. We want a decent home in a decent neighborhood. We get up in the morning, shower and shave, get dressed, go to work, come home, greet the dog, make dinner, clean up the kitchen, watch a little TV and/or use the internet, then go to bed. Sound familiar ?

Thanks, Danny, for always lending your intelligent, compassionate, common sense voice to all subject matter.

--Gordon