Bash Back! News

A member of BB! Lansing explains why Mount Hope Church was the target:

Ok, so again I feel the message of Why we chose Mt. Hope is
getting lost. Here again is the piece we crafted to explain.
Feel free to forward widely.

What was that noise !?

 Bash Back! responds to the backlash

   In the past weeks there has been an unprecedented amount
of controversy and reaction to the Bash Back! action at
Mount Hope Church, in Lansing Michigan. Thanks to the
media (who have failed to cover this with any amount of
effort or concern for the truth), as well as incessant
bloging. Many important pieces of information have been
lost, and at times, changed completely. We would like to
set some things…”straight”! In  order to provide a full
explanation, we will break this into parts.

•        Why Mount Hope Church?
•        Why these tactics and what did we hope to
         accomplish?
•        Dispelling myths.

Why Mount Hope Church?
 The first issue we would like to address is the
nationally wide-spread question of, “Why Mount Hope
Church?” (MHC) Good question. The first thing to
realize is we did not just randomly pick a place, nor
did we pick the biggest place. A lot of issues went
into our decision; I will discuss the major ones:
First, MHC’s stance on queer identities. In their
recent press release, Dave Williams (or D-Willy as
we affectionately refer to him) states that they simply
see being gay as a sin equal to any other, such as,
lying or stealing. This is a sneaky way of getting off
the hook. You can see for yourself that they take it
much more seriously.
    According to one of MHC nearly all forms of sexual
expression (and specifically homosexuality) are
considered “sexual addiction”. Openly lumping homo’s
in with such sinners as peeping-Toms, flashers and even
rapists!!! These “addictions” they work to “cure”
through strict “support groups” such as Dunamai
(see web link at bottom).And at times even send men to
live in brainwashing camps such as Pure Life Ministries (see
bottom). They also organize with other ex-gay organizations
such as Love in Action, Homosexuals Anonymous, and L.I.F.E.
Ministries. It is clear that MHC takes an active approach to
repress queer identity and all forms of sexual expression
outsideof the Christian, straight, married and husband
controlled structure. This ruins people’s whole lives and
families by making them repress their desires so completely
that they grow to hate themselves and/or act out against or
ignore their spouses and families. This church is nothing
short of a disease in the community, and in the minds of
those who attend.
    “D-willy”, Pastor of Mount Hope, (and personal enemy
of Bash Back!) stated that he did not “choose to identify
MHC as anti-choice”. However, every Halloween the Church
puts on the heavily protested “Hell House”, an extremely
offensive and yes RADICAL approach to shock people into
their right wing belief structure. One of the rooms within
this Hell House completely inaccurately depicts a womyn
receiving an abortion. In the act, the doctor uses dirty
tools, and horrible machine sounds play over loud speakers.
With the presence of demons, and her screams of pain, one
leaves feeling like they just witnessed a most violent
atrocity. How is this not actively anti-choice?
   Another important reason that MHC was chosen, was the
deep personal tie many organizers have to the church. Some
members of Bash Back! have been members of MHC. Others were
raised in evangelical churches very similar in message and
method. For them, this was a liberating step. A personal
confrontation with those who had made the journey to
adulthood and personal identity a struggle wrought with
self-hate, repression, guilt and loneliness. All of which
eventually evolved into healthy anger, strength, free sexual
expression, and activism. This has helped to build a strong
community within Bash Back! And we support their choice to
confront those that would choose to put them back in that
dark place of self-hate!
   From here I could go into all the other reasons MHC
should be confronted. For example, the undeniable fact
that mega-churches are really just big business. Seen by
the way they pressure their “congregation” (or audience)
to buy their books and DVD’s and other products. Or the
incredible amount of money grossed by that church in a
year. Another reason is the international church plantings.
MHC has No regard for indigenous culture. There are dozens
of reasons we chose Mount Hope Church.

Related links:

L.I.F.E. Ministries:
http://www.freedomeveryday.org/men/index.php

Pure Life ministries:
http://www.purelifeministries.org/

Dunamai:
http://www.dunamai.org/

related article that mentions MHC’s involvement in
ex-gay work
http://www.ecinc.org/RealChanges.htm

“Our culture is permeated with sexual imagery. Magazine
racks offer pictures of girls in teensy bikinis. Primetime
situation comedies almost continually revolve around sexual
storylines involving teenage promiscuity, extra-marital
affairs, homosexuality and worse.”

“At times, a pastor or counselor may very well find
himself helping men who frequent adult bookstores,
strip clubs, massage parlors and prostitutes. On
occasion, he may also be compelled to minister to men
involved with peeking in windows, exposing themselves
to women, making obscene telephone calls,
sexually assaulting others, or even having sex
with animals. He will most certainly deal with
promiscuity—among teenagers and adults. More than
likely he will minister to homosexuals—both male and
female.”

What did Bash Back! hope to accomplish?  Why these shocking
tactics?

           There were a few main points and goals of this
action:
•        To confront the oppressors that run the church and
show them some of us are unafraid and will resist them.
Calling them out IN FRONT of their congregation was an
important part of that. Showing that we are angry with
their destructive behavior was also an important part
of the message.
•        To provide a space for those who had been
mentally tortured by MHC and other places similar to
confront their “demons” and fight back! Their emotional
health was a very real concern of this action.
•        To show the youth we are not alone! With an
action of great energy and helpful fliers we wanted to
send a message of  acceptance and understanding. We
realize that thinking you might be queer in a church
like that is terrifying. And unbearably lonely. By
tossing out a thousand flyers we provided a way “out”.
Or at least planted the seed.
•        And to generate visibility to Bash Back!! To
build momentum and give us energy to our movement. I
think we nailed that one.