Thanks Michelle,

Now uninformed readers may think gay people like or in your words, iconize Tammy Faye. Well, as a gay man I can say I dont like her one bit, and never have.

Anyone with half a brain realizes this woman was not only insane, but also part of an evil worse than many evils alive in the world today: the evangelical movement.

To seriously suggest that gay people not only like but idolize her is preposterous. Why would anyone in their right mind do such a thing. now gay men might dres up as her on halloween to scare the bejeezus out of onlookers, but this is as far as any sane gay man would go.

Tammy was a part of a group that demonizes gay men and is responsible for discrimination and oppression of not only gays but anyone who isn't exactly like them

Shame on you for even suggesting gay people like Tammy Faye, who, thanks to her fellow evangelicals and the present pope, would like nothing better than to put the world right back in the dark ages.

Jfrizn,

What you must not realize is that during Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker's height, they embraced gays and worked to end discrimination. They were activists who worked to end discrimination against people with AIDS. Tammy Faye had many gay friends, including Jm J Bullock, with whom she had a short-lived television show.

Tammy Faye embraced her gay following (you may deny it, but it does exist). Over the top? Absolutely. Scary-looking? Sure. But you can NOT tie her in with Falwell and the like (Jerry Falwell, by the way, was one of the pimary reasons for their downfall. He had the most to gain, and hated the fact that they included gays and PWAs in their ministry. He also got their TV satellite when their empire fell.)

She did not demonize gay men, and saying that she does just shows your ignorance of who she was and what she stood for.

no, the shame is on YOU for being the ungodly one in the dark ages, the ones who really hate and will do ANYTHING for their agenda.

As an evangelical myself, I dislike your stereotyping of evangelicals. We are also each unique individuals with different tastes, ways of dressing, different political opinions, etc. The whole world is exactly like us, since there are evangelicals who come from the whole world - every imaginable range of backgrounds and belief systems and nationalities and gender and ethnic groups. How could we discriminate against those who are not exactly like us when we are accepting and loving towards all humanity? Unless of course you refer to the minerals and plants which we eat.

Some evangelical Arabs do not eat pork and do celebrate Ramadan. Most evangelical Americans eat pork and celebrate Christmas. Big deal! You don't come to Christ by taking on certain religious traditions or rules.

You posted that evangelicals "demonize" homosexuals. I think that is a gross misrepresentation. Evangelicals believe that every person is born a sinner, but that does not mean that we demonize everyone on the earth. The Bible says that our struggle is not against people, but against spiritual powers. There are enough real demons to be concerned about without having to treat or view people as demons.

Every human being is a person, regardless of whether we are still in the womb or out of the womb. We are all affected by different temptations. It is sinful to engage in homosexual acts, but it is not a sin to be tempted in a particular area. The Bible says that Jesus was tempted in every area that any man or woman can be tempted in, and that easily includes the temptation to sin in sexual behavior. Are you trying to say that we discriminate against Jesus because he experienced those temptations? All those different tendencies are common to man, and it's not worse to engage in homosexual fornication, lust, or adultery than it is to engage in heterosexual fornication, lust or adultery.

Evangelicals telling others about Jesus are like one group of beggars telling another group of beggars where we found bread. We've found forgiveness and new life in Christ, and we want to love everyone so much that they come to the point of finding that same forgiveness and love in the Kingdom of God! Pointing out that repentace and faith in Christ leads to eternal life is an act of love, not an act of hate - or maybe I should say that it is something usually done as an act of love, since I guess there are ways to tell the truth in hate. Again, each person identifying as an evangelical is a unique individual, and it is not fair to generalize.

Ohboy, very nauseating of you to be pointing the finger and calling this poster ungodly for voicing his anger and suspicion about these people - his viewpoint is valid, and it came about more than likely over years of seeing evangelicals demonize a segment of humanity in the most virulent ways. You should cut him slack.

Well, maybe then it is the intolerant right wing haters amongst you that poison the whole lot, because it is hard for me to listen to your cant too. Many of us doubt the sincerity of your beliefs, and many of us despise the very nature of evangelism, which is to go around and try to convert anyone who is not on board with you. I've had exposure to this strain of American since my early childhood, and they do tend to believe that, tend to believe their way is the only way, and that for many people, including myself, is repugnant.

The separation between church and state is being eroded in an alarming fashion, and maybe there are strains of evangelists who don't want that, but such is our alarm at what is occuring, maybe we do tend to see you all as being singleminded on this issue. You just can't blame us. Your extremists have hurt your movement more than you can imagine. I myself thank my stars every day that I am from a large wild city with many different religions practiced by the populace, from Buddhism to Muslem faith to Wicca as well as the Christian and Jewish faiths, and I love it - I don't know what I would do if I was trapped in evangelic country.

That does not change the fact that they were embezzlers and liars! I find it hard to believe Tammy could have been so ignorant about the millions and millions of dollars in their possession, no matter how liberal their salaries were. They took advantage of naive people, and the absolute worst by my lights, did it "in the name of the Lord".

Yes, and I don't pretend to view that as ok. I just think that painting them as anti-gay is wrong. They, after all, have a gay son whom they adore

As far as their business mistakes, do a little more research. Yes, they oversold timeshares. Happens all the time. They offered refunds to people who wanted them. They were working to build more to keep up with demand. They voluntarily gave up their empire to their "friend" Jerry Falwell, who in cooperation with the government under R. Reagan took it over, squandered it all, closed the theme park and condos which led to people losing everything they had invested, and took their money, TV Satellite and possessions for his own, then used it against them. He (Falwell) is truly evil.