CCR and SMUG also tried to blame Lively for the murder of Ugandan homosexual David Kato, a murder he also publicly condemned, making it the centerpiece of their lawsuit until, and as was noted in Liberty Counsel’s Motion to Dismiss, it was revealed that, as Lively predicted, Kato was actually murdered by his “gay” lover who confessed to the crime, was convicted and is now in prison.
But all of this is incidental. It’s a smokescreen. Keep in mind that we’re talking about protected speech here. Lively is being tried for “crimes against humanity” for merely publicly uttering millennia-old biblical orthodoxy relative to sexual morality.
So how could such an Orwellian lawsuit—clearly designed as a weapon to both harass and intimidate Lively and anyone else who might dare challenge the global homosexual activist political agenda – even make its way into a U. S. federal court?
Well, CCR and SMUG’s angle was to circumvent that pesky ol’ First Amendment, as well as Ugandan free-speech laws, through a gross misapplication of the Alien Tort Statute. Normally, this would have been laughed out of court and, in fact, just last year, even as this case was ongoing, the U.S. Supreme Court unequivocally ruled this very tactic to be unlawful.
But there’s nothing normal about this case.
Meet federal Judge Michael Ponsor. Ponsor, who thumbed his nose at the Supreme Court and denied Liberty Counsel’s slam dunk Motion to Dismiss, is the textbook example of a judicial activist. He has admitted as much, once saying in another context, “At some point I realized that judges are the unappointed legislators of mankind, and what we do is just as creative.”
But for this judicial activist, the case would seem personal. At his inauguration to the federal bench he crowed, for instance, “We have a proud, vibrant gay and lesbian community.” Presumably he knows this because one of his ex-wives reportedly later “married” another woman, while his daughter once revealed publicly on social media that she, too, was a lesbian.
And so, to keep afloat the demonization of Scott Lively (of all Christians, really) despite the Supreme Court’s torpedo, and to keep alive this judicial abuse, harassment and intimidation—Ponsor, as promised, got “creative.”
Still, the case will eventually be tossed. It’s inevitable. But in the meantime, and as Harry Mihet, Pastor Lively’s lead attorney, points out, “Because the Court denied Mr. Lively’s Motion to Dismiss, we are now forced to go through many months and years of expensive and protracted discovery on two continents. Literally thousands of pages of documents are changing hands, and dozens of depositions will be taken. This makes the subpoenas to Houston pastors look like small potatoes.”
“SMUG’s and CCR’s end game is clear: Make war criminals out of anyone who encourages any legislative body to pass any legislation upholding the traditional family. If Scott Lively is guilty of the Crime Against Humanity of Persecution, then so are the Houston pastors and anyone who has ever tried to influence legislation against the homosexual juggernaut. There is no limiting principle,” concluded Mihet.
Yet, either way, for these anti-Christian extremists, the damage is done. The process is the punishment.
This was never about winning or losing.
It was always about intimidation.
Matt Barber is founder and editor-in chief of BarbWire.com. He is an author, columnist, cultural analyst and an attorney concentrating in constitutional law. Having retired as an undefeated heavyweight professional boxer, Matt has taken his fight from the ring to the culture war. (Follow Matt on Twitter: @jmattbarber).
