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Wednesday, Dec 9, 2015 7:24 PM UTC
Sean Hannity’s searing hypocrisy: Having conservative beliefs is only OK if you’re a Christian
Sean Hannity wants Muslims to prove they're liberal enough to live here, but gives a pass to Christians VIDEO
Topics: Sean Hannity, christian hypocrisy, Christian Right, Religious Freedom, Immigration, muslim immigration, muslim travel ban, Donald Trump, aol_on, Media News, News, Politics News
While many Republican politicians are trying to distance themselves from Donald Trump’s call to ban Muslims from entering the U.S. (or returning when they travel abroad), right wing talk show hosts are taking a different approach, by minimizing, making excuses, or arguing that Trump has a point that we should be seriously considering. On “The Sean Hannity Show” Tuesday, Hannity advanced a Trump-supportive argument that was breathtaking in its hypocrisy: That Muslims should be barred from the country unless they can prove they are liberal enough. Media Matters has the clip:
So there is a cultural divide. If somebody from a country that practices sharia, wants to come to America, do we have a right to know and to vet whether or not they are bringing values that are contradictory to our constitutional republic? Do they want the breathe of freedom and a better life for themselves, their daughters, their family? Or do they want to bring their values with them? And how do you ascertain that? And is asking that question really so over the top? If those values are brought with them, are they going to treat American women this way, or treat women in their own families this way? Or gays and lesbians in their own family this way? Why is there such a denial about how sharia law contradicts everything that we believe in our constitutional republic?
Hannity no doubt thinks this is a way to wiggle out of the unconstitutional calls for a religious test on immigrants. But of course, this is still a religious test. Hannity isn’t going to support laws requiring Christians to prove their liberal bona fides in order to earn the right to live here.
If we did have laws like that, of course, Hannity would have to relinquish his citizenship and hope that Saudi Arabia takes him. That’s because Hannity, like nearly all conservatives these days, is a strong believer in the Christian version of “sharia law,” i.e. forcing conservative religious beliefs on the non-believers by law.
Hannity’s theocratic yearnings are particularly strong when it comes to destroying the lives of women and LGBT people. On the topic of women’s sexuality, Hannity loves to rail about how “modern feminism” is all about “abortion” and “free birth control,” sounding quite a bit like some fundamentalist imams issuing dire warnings about women’s liberation and promiscuity.
Hannity may be pretending right now to be concerned about the wellbeing of LGBT people, but as soon as his faux concern stops being a useful shield, he has nothing but hate for queer people. He advocates for the “right” of parents to shame their gay children under the guise of teaching “values.” He also hustles hard to deny transgender people the ability to use the bathroom in peace.
No doubt Hannity’s argument is that his support for forced childbirth, mistreatment of LGBT children, and public harassment of transgender people is OK, because it isn’t as bad as fundamentalist Muslim views on these issue. “I must sound like the liberal here, because I’m one of the ones standing up for women and women’s rights,” he preened Tuesday during his show.
This is because, as he goes on to lay out, he opposes beating women to death for having unauthorized sex. How very generous of him. Sure, he wants to make contraception harder for you to get and force you to give birth if you get pregnant, all while he sneeringly implies you’re a slut on the radio, but hey, he’ll allow you to live. So he’s like practically a liberal, right?
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