Ed Brayton is a journalist, commentator and speaker. He is the co-founder and president of 
As this Worldnutdaily article notes, the folks behind the organized Boycott of McDonald's over a $20,000 donation to the National Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce are now using Youtube videos to make their case - and dishonestly using Martin Luther King to make their argument. Here's the video below the fold:
The video quotes Martin Luther King as saying, "Noncooperation with evil is as much an obligation as cooperation with good." King must be spinning in his grave. He was a supporter of equal rights for gays and lesbians, as his widow Coretta Scott King said many times. She was also a staunch supporter of equal rights, including same-sex marriage. Here is how she spoke about her husband's views on the subject:
"We are all tied together in a single garment of destiny...I can never be what I ought to be until you are allowed to be what you ought to be," she said, quoting her husband. "I've always felt that homophobic attitudes and policies were unjust and unworthy of a free society and must be opposed by all Americans who believe in democracy."..."Gays and lesbians stood up for civil rights in Montgomery, Selma, in Albany, Ga. and St. Augustine, Fla., and many other campaigns of the Civil Rights Movement," she said. "Many of these courageous men and women were fighting for my freedom at a time when they could find few voices for their own, and I salute their contributions."...
For too long, our nation has tolerated the insidious form of discrimination against this group of Americans, who have worked as hard as any other group, paid their taxes like everyone else, and yet have been denied equal protection under the law...I believe that freedom and justice cannot be parceled out in pieces to suit political convenience. My husband, Martin Luther King, Jr. said, "Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere." On another occasion he said, "I have worked too long and hard against segregated public accommodations to end up segregating my moral concern. Justice is indivisible." Like Martin, I don't believe you can stand for freedom for one group of people and deny it to others.
The makers of this video should be ashamed of themselves and should remove their invocation of King, who strongly disagreed with their position. To pretend that this great leader supported their position when that is not true is bearing false witness - and doing so to a man who can no longer defend himself against the charge. I'm sorry, you don't get to bathe in the reflected morality of this man; he believed in genuine equality and you don't.
I also love the fact that the video says that "Christian dollars should be withheld from any company which actively promotes that which is contrary to Christian beliefs." Good luck with that. As I wrote last year, doing so is going to be damn near impossible these days.
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Comments
"Christian dollars should be withheld from any company which actively promotes that which is contrary to Christian beliefs."
Wait a second... I'm supposed to be using Christian money? and here I was listening to the Bible and not making/using seperate "temple coin" for anything (which was the whole point of Jesus' little fit in the temple).
If we pay them the price of a Big Mac and Fries can we make them read the whole Bible and not just their favorite passages? I'd literally be stunned if any of them had.
Posted by: kodiak | July 29, 2008 9:47 AM
It's truly bizarre that these people believe homosexuality is the greatest evil in the world today.
Posted by: Taz | July 29, 2008 9:56 AM
Posted by: Chuck C | July 29, 2008 9:59 AM
I like the way they report the success of their boycott of Ford, and how Ford sales steadily dropped thereafter. Oddly, they don't report how Ford sales bounced back after they ended their boycott...
Posted by: Herod the Freemason | July 29, 2008 10:03 AM
The AFA is just trying to protect America's Christian cultural heritage. As I have written here, the Christian principles that built this country are under attack from groups and corporations under the guise of "diversity." McDonald's is just the latest company to endorse "gay marriage" and special rights of gay/lesbians. They are trying to push on the American people the idea that a group of people deserve more rights based on their sexual orientation. I think AFA shouldn't use Martin Luther King in this ad, if Mr. King endorsed gay rights. However, AFA is trying to protect our Christian culture.
Posted by: SteveP | July 29, 2008 10:06 AM
Um, SteveP, what is being asked for are not "special rights". It is merely the right for two people to get married. How is that more then what a heterosexual couple now have?
Also, this "Christian culture" is yours. It is not mine. And we should all fight back against any "culture" that tries to put limits on people's rights.
Posted by: Janine | July 29, 2008 10:17 AM
SteveP,
Can you list for us what these "special rights" are? When you say gay people want "more rights" than you and I enjoy, what are these additional rights?
Posted by: Raymond | July 29, 2008 10:22 AM
SteveP, do you realize that it's not Mr. King, it's the Reverend, Doctor King? (It boggles my mind how people want to remove his titles, particularily the "Reverend" from his name!) He was a Christian minister fighting against inequality for everyone.
Please define "Christian culture" for those of us rubes who believe ourselves to be upright Christian souls and, like the Rev. Dr. King, support wholeheartedly equality for everyone. I don't think that my definition and yours would intersect.
Posted by: kodiak | July 29, 2008 10:33 AM
Christian coins?
"Render unto the Gay Mafia the things which are Gay mafia's" as Jesus said.
Posted by: Paholaisen Asianajaja | July 29, 2008 10:39 AM
I'm thinking MLK is the embodiment of Christian principles... of everything that is good and wise and kind about religion. It makes me very sad to see people dishonoring his hard-fought and blood-won legacy by perpetuating such mean-spirited, judgemental, ignorant, and divisive ideas.
SteveP, did you read Coretta Scott King's words? And if you did, I don't understand how you could not be moved by them?
The majority of this country's citizens are Christian. But American culture is so much MORE than that. Culture isn't just the religion of the people of a nation: it's a way of living (and there are many valid ways of living); it's how we see ourselves in the world (as a place of opportunity); and it's ideals (like freedom). Please don't reduce something so grand and complex and wonderful to being just about one type of belief...
Posted by: marnk | July 29, 2008 10:42 AM
(also, to be pedantic, Martin Luther King was his father... the MLK that we are talking about is Martin Luther King Jr. If we're bothering to type out the rest of the name, why not add those last three characters as well)
Posted by: kodiak | July 29, 2008 10:45 AM
SteveP, diversity and immigrants have been a part of American culture for CENTURIES.
Love it or leave it, SteveP. If you don't like it, why don't you move?
Posted by: gwangung | July 29, 2008 10:47 AM
*snip*
If our country was built on christian principles, why does the first amendment to the constitution prohibit the first commandment from becoming law?
Posted by: Athe the False | July 29, 2008 10:48 AM
SteveP,
McDonalds is part of many many organizations that would run contrary to the AFA's agenda. Why choose the gay issue?
I'll tell you - it raises money. It hits the emotional angle and gets people like you all riled up. And yet you gain nothing from it.
Also your argument would go farther if you didn't just copy and paste the AFA talking points.
Posted by: yoshi | July 29, 2008 10:55 AM
Posted by: Taz | July 29, 2008 11:09 AM
Wow. It looks like SteveP hit every single cliche on my bingo card. What do I win?
Posted by: Jablair | July 29, 2008 11:11 AM
Yes, I would like to know about these special rights I get SteveP. I am sure you can enlighten us.
There is also the question about why a "culture" based on oppression should be protected.
Posted by: Richard Eis | July 29, 2008 11:16 AM
From the Dictionary of the Religious Right:
Rights, pl n. (RYETS)
i. Christian privileges which become "special" when extended to others
ii. The power to use the instruments of government to spread Christianity and control the private behavior of others
iii. The American Constitution insofar as it applies to Christians
Posted by: Wes | July 29, 2008 11:22 AM
A bigger bingo card.
No mention of liberals or protecting the kids, let alone a bible reference.
Posted by: Paul Schofield | July 29, 2008 11:25 AM
SteveP:
It must be lonely in that closet. Come on out and breathe the fresh air. Join us all in a civilized society. One that values and celebrates humanity and doesn't demonize it.
Posted by: Budbear | July 29, 2008 11:30 AM
Yes, from anything resembling coherent thought.
Posted by: Chuck C | July 29, 2008 11:46 AM
SteveP wrote:
Funny, that's exactly what the defenders of slavery said. And exactly what those who opposed giving women the right to vote said. And exactly what those who supported the Jim Crow laws and opposed civil rights for blacks said. I mean virtually word for word exactly what the defenders of all of those "Christian principles" said.
Posted by: Ed Brayton | July 29, 2008 12:06 PM
All this is making me crave a double quarter pounder with cheese and a large chocolate shake.
Go McDonald's! So refreshing that they stuck to their guns when so many cave to the pressure to give into bigotry. I will remain loyal to them and stay the hell away from Wendy's (haven't been back since they pulled their sponsorship of "Ellen" after she came out; I was more amused by Ellen than them).
Posted by: T's Grammy | July 29, 2008 12:28 PM
Hmm. What's weird is that the King quote I find that matches is this:
Wasn't Thoreau's sexuality... questionable? Isn't it ironic that they're condemning homosexuality by using a King quote where he was discussing his admiration for a gay philosopher?
Posted by: Citizen Z | July 29, 2008 12:48 PM
Why is it that "defending Christian culture" in the United States always takes the form of trying to deny rights to or shame/otherwise put down some minority group (gays, blacks, women, Jews, etc.)? Anyone else notice this pattern? OK, rhetorical question.
Posted by: Adrienne | July 29, 2008 12:56 PM
I call Poe on SteveP.
Posted by: AL | July 29, 2008 12:58 PM
This dishonest argumentative tactic is akin to fundamentalists who claim that Einstein was a fellow devout Christian (which is not only a big fat whopper, but also invokes the appeal to authority logical fallacy).
Also, as I mentioned in a previous post, if the bigots really believe that they can avoid anything implicated in the Gay Agenda TM, they're going to find themselves living in a cold, dark cave very soon.
Posted by: Sadie Morrison | July 29, 2008 1:09 PM
"'OUR' Christian culture?" Those morons aren't protecting the Christian culture I grew up in. What you mean "we," paleface?
Posted by: Raging Bee | July 29, 2008 1:20 PM
One scary implication of the AFA boycott of McDonald's is that those hyperchristian pebble-brains who obey it are going to be around to bother the rest of us even longer.
However, not even that prospect combined with the natural craving to defy the Always Fearful Americans™ is (quite) enough to get me to take up the greaseburger habit again.
Posted by: Pierce R. Butler | July 29, 2008 1:33 PM
Because I am a glutton for punishment, I subscribe to AFA and other newsletters of that ilk. Whenever they send me an "Action Alert" I am certain to call or write in support of whomever it is the AFA is against. Usually it's got something to do with teh gay agender. The latest says "It isn't about hating homosexers, it's about McDonald's supportin teh gay agender." They of course forget to say that they HATE Teh Gay Agender!
yeesh. those anti-fun anti-life anti-humanity xtian fundy creotard people make my brain hurt.
Posted by: bybelknap, FCD | July 29, 2008 2:29 PM
I've been boycotting McDonald's for years.
Not for political reasons. I just can't take the "food." Bleah.
Posted by: ShadowWalkyr | July 29, 2008 2:57 PM
The saddest thing in all of the rhetoric of extreme "Christians" ... is the loss of the meaning of Christian.
Anyone remember what it means?
It means to be Christ like.
WWJD is something many Christians like to say.... What Would Jesus Do?
Well, what would he do? Would he deny others who are not like him their rights?
Did Jesus not walk among the leppers?
I am a Christian and it saddens me when I see bigotry and prejudice spouted in the name of Christ.
Posted by: DavidR | July 29, 2008 3:27 PM
I would like to point SteveP to one of Dr. King's strongest long-time organizers, someone who Dr. King had no problems accepting - Bayard Rustin. An openly gay man.
Posted by: natural cynic | July 29, 2008 3:37 PM
Doesn't youtube support 'teh ghey' agenda?
Irony baffles these people.
Posted by: Shawn Wilkinson | July 29, 2008 3:40 PM
I wrote a short letter of thanks and support to McD's. The website is here.
Posted by: natural cynic | July 29, 2008 3:47 PM
What was with the fake African-American voice? That wasn't Dr King, that was a raspy teenager. And "...sales experienced an 8% drop in sales"? Who sells sales? Unless he meant sails...?
A truly disturbing video. Why don't these guys ever go after human rights groups that stop domestic abuse? After all, sons and daughters should be, according to the Bible (esp. Lev and Deut, the same books used in the homophobe's attack), beaten, or even stoned to death, for minor transgressions, and of course, a wife is a man's property... Let's see these backward fucks chase that down.
I used to be appalled by people, but then I realised that they are simply stupid, and what can one expect from stupidity?
Posted by: Alwest | July 29, 2008 4:12 PM
This reminds me of an argument I had with an evangelical conservative co-worker of mine. He was saying typically ignorant things about gay marriage ruining society and I countered with an argument about a more dangerous phenomena, namely child abuse.
I asked him why that wasn't such a huge issue for his religion/political party when it was way more destructive to human lives/society. I got some satisfaction in seeing him flounder for a bit, at loss for words.
But my "victory" was short-lived when he came back with that wonderful propaganda party line of "homosexuals are pedophiles." I was aghast. This is an educated man whom I had thought was fairly worldly. But to prove his contention, he sent me a link to a horrid article claiming to "prove" the connection between the two.
Some people's ideology covers them like the slippery mantle of a sea slug - everything just slides right off...
Posted by: marnk | July 29, 2008 4:58 PM
Apparently these idiots find hate more acceptable if they believe god is hateful too.
How these fucks can go on calling themselves xtian is beyond me....
Posted by: Rick R | July 29, 2008 5:19 PM
In my opinion, Christianity for these people takes a backseat to their beloved bigotry. They use their religion as an excuse for their hatred, but it's just that--an excuse. I don't believe it's the actual cause of their hatred.
Posted by: Sadie Morrison | July 29, 2008 5:33 PM
I don't like Mickey D's food in general, but I may have to see what I can find on the menu nowadays. Breakfast is usually a pretty safe bet; at least they have pretty good coffee...
Posted by: twincats | July 29, 2008 6:11 PM
Posted by: eric | July 29, 2008 6:59 PM
re: Sadie and something I think Gretchen said on another thread, about the motivations behind conservatism
"A study funded by the US government has concluded that conservatism can be explained psychologically as a set of neuroses rooted in "fear and aggression, dogmatism and the intolerance of ambiguity". (The Guardian)
Political Conservatism as Motivated Social Cognition:
The study's authors were quick to point out that they didn't intend to suggest conservatives are mentally ill...
And that's not my contention either. But the one verrrry conservative fellow I know has fear underlying many of his beliefs, or so I believe. He wants a safe world for his kids and thinks staying the course (i.e., traditionalism) can protect them. He's said - derisively - that liberals want to change everything, which to him I guess is a mortal sin. He doesn't realise that change can oftentimes bring growth, and doesn't necessarily correlate with degeneracy. How sad to be so afraid of the world!
Posted by: marnk | July 29, 2008 7:12 PM
Exactly, marnk. The very essence of conservatism is fear of change. This change manifests itself as the liberation of people from patriarchal, provincial, fundamentalist, conformist social mores. For reasons that make little sense to me, this scares the piss out of a lot of people. My question to them, though, is so what? If people want to be afraid of something they have every right to be, but that doesn't mean that the world will or should grind to a halt for them.
Posted by: Sadie Morrison | July 29, 2008 7:17 PM
"I am a Christian and it saddens me when I see bigotry and prejudice spouted in the name of Christ."
This recalls a quote from a character in a Woody Allen picture: "If Jesus came back today and saw the things being done in his name... he'd never stop throwing up."
Posted by: delaware dave | July 29, 2008 9:56 PM
Ed,
People did justify slavery under the guise of Christianity, and that wrong doesn't mean Christians should endorse special rights. If gays and lesbians need to marry, then the laws should be changed. But I will object to this idea that they have a right to marry; nothing in our history, culture or law endorses same sex unions.
Posted by: SteveP | July 30, 2008 12:44 AM
SteveP, people did justify slavery with Christianity because it was sanctioned by the bible.
In other words, slaves better be good the their christian masters.
And SteveP, you have not explained how gay and lesbian marriages are a 'special right'.
Posted by: Janine | July 30, 2008 3:21 AM
SteveP, Law bows to Culture. History is past Culture. If we could only do what was traditional then we would still be sitting in caves. This is called progress. It is the 21st century, leave your parents prejudices in the past where they belong.
And i notice how you are carefully avoiding not answering our question of "what special rights?". You know why, we know why. Why don't you just say you were wrong and then we can move forward. It's that "progress" thing i mentioned.
Posted by: Richard Eis | July 30, 2008 4:59 AM
SteveP blathered:
Nor did anything in our history, culture, or law prohibit slavery or segregation, allow women equal rights, or allow inter-racial marriage. People achieved those advances in spite of legal and historical precedent, and in spite of your paranoid bronze-age fairy tales.
Posted by: Chuck C | July 30, 2008 8:59 AM
SteveP, braindead Christianist drone:
What "Christian principles", asshole? The "Christian principles" enumerated in a Constitution that DOESN'T MENTION CHRISTIANITY EVEN ONCE?. "Christian principles" that explicitly reject any religious test for public office?
Oh, yeah, you don't have any idea what "Christian principles" you're talking about. You're just mindlessly parroting whatever propaganda the AFA feeds you. You don't give a damn if it's true or false, the very idea of reality is against your religion.
More mindless parroting from SteveP:
Oh, "special rights"? What "special rights"? This is a serious question. Countless homophobic idiots run around mindlessly repeating this talking point, but not one of them has EVER been able to explain what "special rights" teh ebil gheys are supposedly demanding, that heterosexuals do not already have, or would not also receive.
So, SteveP, show us the money. What are these "special rights" you babble about?
You've already been asked this question, and you haven't even tried to answer it. And everyone knows why. It's because you don't have an answer, and on some level you have to know it. You're either so brainwashed and stupid that you think squawking "special rights, special rights" without having anything that even looks like an example will convice sane people, or you're just a liar. So which is it, Steve, are you a moron or a fraud? Maybe I'm being too narrow-minded. You could easily be both.
SteveP's idiocy again:
Oh, yeah, AFA is trying to protect our "christian culture" (you remember, the "christian culture" that's based on fraud and willful ignorance?), and for that it's okay to lie. Isn't your imaginary god supposed to have some sort of problem with bearing false witness?
AFA is misrepresenting King. The honest thing to do would be to stop doing so. The fact that they haven't proves that the AFA is not at all interested in honesty. This isn't a surprise to a sane person. But you aren't one of those.
Posted by: phantomreader42 | July 30, 2008 9:12 AM
"McDonald's is just the latest company to endorse "gay marriage" and special rights of gay/lesbians"
You mean equal rights, right?
Posted by: Sven | July 30, 2008 10:24 AM
...nothing in our history, culture or law endorses same sex unions.
Nothing in our history, culture or law endorsed racial equality or religious freedom...until we changed our history, culture and laws, that is.
Posted by: Raging Bee | July 30, 2008 10:37 AM
If gays don't have it, and you do ... it's *you* who has the special right.
Posted by: itchy | July 30, 2008 12:30 PM
But they will soon. And when they do, I invite you to come back here and raise this objection again, just for kicks.
Posted by: AL | July 31, 2008 4:39 AM
itchy - that was beautifully said...
Posted by: marnk | July 31, 2008 5:23 PM
OMG!! Ive just figgured out the AFAs REAL plan. The "boycott" on McD's is a rouse! They want they're own members to stop eating there, making them loose weight, and become stronger. And in turn, all us gay folks will start eating there in droves! We'll all succumb to liver failure in months!
In all seriousness though. I think this boycott will have *very* little effect. McDonalds is a multinational, multi-trillion dollar a year corporation. The number of Fundies who care enough about this issue to actually stop eating the greasy, addictive food they *love* so much (Yeah.. If you check out the boycotts websites comments section, some of these folks eat there upwards of 6 times per week *puke*) The total loss to the McDonalds coroporation is likely going to be little more than a proverbial mosquito bite on the companies ass.
I find it disgusting that these folks would misrepresent Rev MLK Jr like this. My own father has taken part for years in the Nova Scotia Mass Choirs Martin Luther King tribute show. Know what the common theme is in all of them? Something strange called love.. peace.. acceptance. Gosh. Guess most christians find those values to be so out of date now.
Posted by: Gabarus | August 17, 2008 4:45 PM