A petition urging CNN to fire or suspend lesbian contributor Sally Kohn for her comments attacking Christians in the wake of the Orlando shooting has garnered 400 signatures in just over 24 hours. The petition calls Kohn “a hateful bigot,” and attacks “her disgusting, bigoted tweets that slander Christians and people who choose to love God in a different way than her own.”
Following the Pulse nightclub attack in Orlando, Fla., Kohn repeatedly tied Christians and the “Christian Right” to the shooter, who was linked to the Islamic State group, a radical Islamic terror organization which claimed responsibility for the attack. Kohn alleged that Christian opposition to the LGBT agenda is different in degree but not in kind from the kind of hatred unleashed by the shooter.
Here are some examples.
Islamic extremists kill LGBT people.
Christian and Jewish extremists just drive us to commit suicide.
Either way, #HateIsHate.
— Sally Kohn (@sallykohn) June 13, 2016
Hey right wing Christians desperately trying to point out that right wing Muslims are more anti-gay than you are: Your guilt is showing!
— Sally Kohn (@sallykohn) June 13, 2016
“Our religion’s extremists hate gay people we just don’t slaughter them or throw them off buildings” is a very strange #ChristianHumblebrag — Sally Kohn (@sallykohn) June 12, 2016
So it’s “petty” to mourn the incredibly destructive role Christian Right ideology has played in US gay community? https://t.co/E2jsV3We8S — Sally Kohn (@sallykohn) June 13, 2016
Kohn seems to be arguing that there is a difference in degree, but not in kind, between the “hateful” Christian view that homosexual practice is a sin and the terror attack in Orlando. Because Omar Mateen hated gays and Christians (and Jews) hate gays, she argues, Christian hate is partially responsible for his shooting. Never mind Mateen’s declaration of allegiance to the Islamic State or that organization’s claiming responsibility for the attack.
“Sally Kohn has an unhealthy and very inaccurate view of Christians, not just Christianity but Christians themselves,” wrote Ali Akbar, author of the petition, in an email statement to PJ Media.
Akbar defended calling Kohn a bigot. “Bigotry is when you hate an entire group and generally believe you have a superior view. That’s clearly what Kohn believes,” he declared.
He argued that the Left has “a broader view that ‘intolerance’ is the real evil and their original sin. Richard Dawkins and the rest of them–all of them believe religion is used to control people instead of communing with the Creator.” Akbar continued: “Sally Kohn truly believes that Christian ‘intolerance’ leads to this attack and all other ails of society, including the gay suicide rate and other tragic things.”
Akbar emphasized that “there’s no evidence for her accusation. It’s bigotry. These are the same people, like Samantha Bee, who say ‘f*ck your prayers’ and other things. What they want is legislation and their worldview to reign supreme. That’s bigotry.”
“Kohn shares more in common with the killer in Orlando that I do or any right-leaning American, yet we don’t blame her,” the petition author wrote. “That would be bigoted to lump folks in together like that. I’m opposed to that and CNN should be too.”
Next Page: A lesbian gun owner agrees with Akbar, petition signers call for boycott of CNN.
Commenters explained their reasons for signing the petition and calling for Kohn’s head.
“I understand the right to free speech, but if any other person made a statement like that they would be fired. The same should go for her,” wrote Jessica Burke of Sugar Hill, Ga.
“I am happy to sign because I am everything she hates. I am Christian, I am White, I am a Gun supporter and I am a LESBIAN that totally disagrees with the crap that the LGBT supports,” added Kathy Carpenter of Hempstead, Tex. She added that Kohn “is a disgrace to the human race and I refuse to be as despicable as her.”
Jimmy Hickman of Jonesboro, Ark., called for a boycott of CNN as a network. “Christians aren’t murderers and I’m offended and my family and myself will not watch this program as long as shes [sic] on the air, why attack Christians they had nothing to do with this,” he declared.
Amy Held-Grootemaat of Waukesha, Wis., wrote that she too would avoid CNN. “I’m sick and tired of biased journalists with agendas! When are you finally going to take action CNN. You have lost me as a viewer!!”
Akbar’s petition never called for a boycott of the network, and he even called CNN “my preferred cable news channel.” Nevertheless, it might be the logical result of his petition if CNN does not take action.
If the petition reaches 500 signatures, it will be sent to CNN headquarters and Jeff Zucker, president of CNN Worldwide.
It is important that malicious statements like Kohn’s be taken seriously. Christians may think that homosexual acts are sinful, but Christianity itself is based on the idea that all men and women are sinful, and that only the mercy of God can redeem us. Christians do not (or at least should not) view themselves as better than other people, we merely have accepted Jesus’ free gift of eternal life.
Furthermore, Christians do not call for the murder of homosexuals or anyone else, and many of us joined our voices in lament for the senseless violence this past weekend.
The equivalence between the Islamic State and the Christian Right is not only wrong, it is malicious, and a self-respecting news organization like CNN should at least rebuke a contributor for such remarks. It is this kind of behavior that makes American Christians feel like second-class citizens in our own country.
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