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Wednesday, August 30, 2006
Farah Gets High On His Own Supply (Again)
Topic: WorldNetDaily

WorldNetDaily editor Joseph Farah once again demonstrates the dangers of relying on WorldNetDaily as a reliable source of news. In his Aug. 30 column, Farah apparently relies solely on a biased, flawed WND article about proposed and signed gay-related laws in California to make sweepingly bizarre claims.

Farah repeats the article's overstated claim that a new law signed by California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger that adds "sexual orientation" to the non-discrimination provisions any group accepting state money must abide by "effectively tosses out all sexual moral conduct codes at colleges, private and Christian schools, daycare centers and other so-called facilities across the state." Farah then manages to go even further than AgapePress' claim that the law "gives homosexuals new and far-reaching powers":

While much of the world was watching the forced conversions of two kidnapped Fox News journalists in the Gaza Strip, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger took a huge step toward forcing millions of Californians to convert.

It's not Islam that Schwarzenegger and the state are forcibly pushing through all schools that accept any public form of financial aid for students. It's paganism. It's the worship of Baal. It's a primitive form of religion that is making a comeback. It's a faith that says sacrifice your sons and daughters on this altar – or else.

[...]

The law requires all businesses and groups receiving any form of state funding – even if it's a grant for one student – to condone homosexuality, bisexuality, transsexuality and God knows what else.

[...]

I don't want to overstate this, but this is the end of religious freedom in the biggest state in the union.

[...]

By going to virtually any educational institution in California today you are swearing allegiance to the idea that homosexuality, bisexuality, transsexuality and a growing list of other sexual sins and pathologies are just as good, just as normal, just as acceptable, just as healthy as heterosexuality.

Even worse, you are converting to this religious view. You are rejecting your old religious code – if you had one. You are accepting what might be called "the mark of the Terminator."

The basis for Farah's rant is a variation on the description-equals-approval fallacy. He assumes that because you are not allowed to condemn something, you must in fact accept it. This is logically false; as Farah himself points out, people who feel that they must discriminate against gays -- and really, for all of Farah's fulminations, he is essentially arguing that gays must be discriminated against -- they can simply choose not to accept state funding.

As we noted, the WND article on which Farah based his alarming assertions accepts as fact the distorted worst-case scenarios of a California advocacy group that opposes the proposed and signed laws.

Farah might do well to use Tony Montana as a cautionary example about getting high on one's own supply -- or, in Farah's case, relying on his own website as a fair and accurate news provider.


Posted by Terry K. at 11:33 AM EDT

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