Last week I posted a video of human rights activist Mitchell Gold taking on smug Christian fundamentalist Peter Sprigg. Got quite a lot of hits, and some interesting comments. One of the comments, from reader Teresa, got me thinking. I’ve edited it for ease of reading (not content) and added hyperlinks to the text she refers to:

I clicked on the Faith in America link and came across this great document, “A Report by Faith in America: Addressing Religious Arguments to Achieve LGBT Equality.”

I found this in the document.

“In 2006, the organization began a series of four-week educational campaigns in a number of communities across America with print newspaper ads, billboards and radio ads with polling conducted prior to the start and several weeks after each campaign – which had closed with a community meeting to discuss religion-based bigotry toward the LGBT community. Polling in each campaign showed positive movement in acceptance levels.”

How do we go about doing this in Montana before the next legislative session?

How indeed?

I think it’s very important to remember that unchallenged religious views are among the most damaging forces to human equality. Many of the fundamental negative things people believe about gay people aren’t scriptural- they’re anecdotal, anti-scientific, anti-experiential and don’t hold up under scrutiny. And I’m sick of people hiding behind Christian belief in order to promote their intolerance.

Maybe it’s time to challenge them on a broader level in Montana.

Anybody own a billboard?