Ted Cruz and insane person Kevin Swanson: "Kill the Gays" is part of their faith
By Patrick
While we and many others focused on Donald Trump during the recent months, there is of course somebody else we should be concerned about as well, and we certainly haven't forgotten about him: Senator Ted Cruz, who wants to become the President and the Ayatollah of the USA, and who wants to seriously transform the USA into a Christian fundamentalist country.
However, very often, Ted Cruz "is getting away" with his extreme religious views: He is a very experienced "talker", famous for his sharp debating skills which he successfully developed and practised as a student. Therefore, it is not often the case that he is "caught in the act", as he often manages to hide his real views with polished language, and he certainly is also an expert when it comes to avoiding tough questions. These are the skills which eventually might earn him the Republican nomination, considering that Donald Trump is currently on the verge of self-destruction.
But if you take a closer look, it is pretty easy to discover what "faith" really means to Ted Cruz. It is apparent that Ted Cruz's "faith" includes the right to hate, oppress and even kill others. In this respect, he is no different from radical Islamists, who believe the same, just the other way round.
If one is looking for a good case to highlight Ted Cruz's extremism, his relationship to insane preacher Kevin Swanson is the ideal case study.
Kevin Swanson is a pastor radio braodcaster from Colorado, who hosted an anti-gay "religious liberty" conference in November 2015 in Des Moines, Iowa, and three of the featured guests of this conference were: Mike Huckabee, Bobby Jindal, and Ted Cruz.
But words are not enough to explain the vulgarity of this event. "Anti-gay" is not a term which shocks people any more. What Kevin Swanson said during this conference really needs to be seen in order to be believed.
Samantha Bee thankfully published a summary, which is a good starter - this is a must-see clip, also great for sharing:
Yes, Kevin Swanson said a lot of very inflammatory and very dangerous things during this conference, as well as other crazy things. This man clearly is insane. The fact that people like him have the influence to be visited by "high ranking guests" like Ted Cruz is just beyond belief. Many Americans might be frightened by "Muslims", but there is much more reason to be frightened by Christian extremists in their own country, like Kevin Swanson.
Just watch this - CLIP 1:
CLIP 2:
CLIP 3:
At this conference, Ted Cruz comes on stage and is being greeted by Kevin Swanson, who then starts a "Q & A" session with him.
WATCH:
Rachel Maddow showed a report about this event:
"The Young Turks" also had a very good report:
"Bonus" clip, not related to this conference - according to Kevin Swanson, the Girl Scouts turn children into lesbians:
Now comes the really interesting part, which exposes Ted Cruz for the evil person he truly is:
Ted Cruz was a few days later asked by CNN about the fact that he attended this anti-gay conference, and the presenter asked Ted Cruz whether he "endorsed conservative intolerance."
So how did Ted Cruz respond? Did he actually admit that it was possibly wrong to execute gays, and that these people like Kevin Swanson were "intolerant"...?
No, that's not how Ted Cruz responded.
As mentioned above, Ted Cruz is a highly skilled debater. That clearly was an inconvenient question by CNN, although also a fully justified question. So Cruz decided to unlock his arsenal of debate weapons, and gave the following reaction:
1. First response: Ignore the question.
2. Ted Cruz "doesn't know what the gentleman (Kevin Swanson) has said or hasn't said."
3. Then he goes straight to the issue of "religious liberty", which has been his"passion" for "decades." Also, under the Obama-adminstration, there has been an "assault on religious liberty from the Federal government", and so on.
WATCH:
So Ted Cruz did not even try to defend himself in this interview, which he gave several days after the conference. He skillfully deflected the question, and clearly was not concerned at all to have attended an event which celebrated religious hate. He also did not bother to answer the question whether people like Kevin Swanson are "intolerant."
I get the impression that Ted Cruz believes that only those people who disturb him in hating others are "intolerant."
While this gay-hating conference was just "talk" and does not have immediate consequences on US politics, people in other parts of the world are not that lucky. For example, Kevin Swanson and his fellow gay-haters are active supporters of anti-gay legislation in Africa, for example in Uganda. This legislation, which includes life imprionment and the death penalty for gays, has been defended by Kevin Swanson, as should come as no surprise for anyone who watched the clips I posted above.
Fortunately, the latest development, the "Uganda Anti-Homosexuality Act" from 2014 had been ruled invalided by the Constitutional Court of Uganda, and it seems that it won't be re-introduced.
The sad thing is that in other parts of the Western World, a politician who attended such a gay-hating conference would never ever be invited again by any TV-network, and would never be taken seriously again. He or she would be a "persona non grata", and would be close to prosecution for hate crimes. However, in the USA, it remains a very sad fact that this person could very well be the next candidate for US president of one of the two main political parties - and his rival in this race is a celebrated racist and bully.
There is a "postscript" to this report, because several months later, in February 2016, Ted Cruz's suddenly said that it was a "mistake" to attend the gay-hating conference in November 2015.
A "mistake"...!
Don't worry, Ted, hardly anyone noticed.
Have a good weekend, everybody!
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UPDATE:
I just saw that Ted Cruz's father, Rafael Cruz, was a speaker that this 2015 "National Religious Liberty Conference" as well, which makes Ted's assertion that it was a "mistake" to attend this conference even more ridiculous. They knew very well who they were associated with!
However, video from the conference is hard to find apart from the clips which were posted by "Right Wing Watch" on the internet.
Screenshot from the conference webpage (click to enlarge):
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UPDATE 2:
"Right Wing Watch" just posted yesterday about another one of Ted Cruz's crazy "pastors", with lots of frightening info:
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UPDATE 3:
Today (April 12, 2016), "Ring Wing Watch" published an unexpected update on the story regarding Kevin Swanson's "National Religious Liberty Conference."
Just yesterday, Ted Cruz was confronted in a radio show, the "John and Ken Show", about his appearance at the conference. Cruz then denied that he agrees with Kevin Swanson's views, and claimed that he "denounced them at the time." This is of course a bold lie, and "Right Wing Watch" correctly states that Ted Cruz now wants to rewrite history.
(h/t KarenJ)
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UDPATE 4:
Extensive video recordings from Kevin "kill the gays" Swanson's conference can be viewed in full here.
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