Recently, JC Penney came under fire for hiring openly gay comedian Ellen Degeneres to be its spokesperson. The group who was criticizing JC Penney is called One Million Moms. They said, "JC Penney, by hopping on the pro-gay bandwagon, will lose its customers with traditional values." They basically said the same old "gay agenda" bull shit we've heard from the right wing for years now.
But I wonder if they would have said the same thing about conservative Congresswoman Michelle Bachman, saying in 2005 at a church in Minnesota, that, "We need to get them while they're young," referring, presumably, to the supposed importance of influencing and indoctrinating children with conservative values. But I suppose, when fundamentalist Christians of this stripe have a real, explicitly stated agenda, it's given the green light by God himself, and the all the rest of us heathens just need to shut up.
Personally, I don't see anything wrong with a group of any sort that wants to have the same rights as their fellow Americans being vocal and stating those beliefs proudly. But by trying to get Ellen fired, groups like One Million Moms are only exposing how weak their own belief system is. They're so afraid that as a result of seeing a gay person on TV, their children will leave the fold, which will make the baby Jesus cry. They're afraid that JC Penney hiring Ellen will show children that gay people can be successful and well-liked. In the end, these actions by conservative groups make extreme fundamentalist Christianity seem more like a cult than a legitimate faith.
In the end JC Penney stood its ground and stood by Ellen. Way to go JC Penney. Don't give in to bigots and bullies, even if they are Moms.
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