Anti-Gay 'Christian' Activist Cites Radical Anti-Semite
Peter LaBarbera has spent more than 20 years on the hard edge of the religious right, ranging from a stint as a reporter for The Washington Times to a as what he calls a âconservative critic of the homosexual activist movement.â He has been an official of far-right groups like Concerned Women for America, the , the Illinois Family Institute, and Accuracy in Media. The founder of the gay-bashing Lambda Report, LaBarbera is now president of Naperville, Ill.-based .
LaBarbera is no friend of gay people, whose lifestyles he characterizes as âaberrantâ and whom he accuses of working diligently to âpenetrateâ the schools. But up until now, he hasnât relied on the help of radical anti-Semites.
That ended the other day when LaBarbera â who claims to operate âin a spirit of love and truthâ â portions of an by one Ted Pike (right), the Oregon-based reverend who heads the National Prayer Network and who was described by LaBarbera as simply a âpro-family advocate.â (Pikeâs article described an April 12 encounter in Champaign, Ill., which ended with one college student charged with an anti-gay hate crime for attacking another.) Pike may or may not be pro-family â but he is most definitely anti-Jew, as reflected in his endless rants about the âJewish origins of bolshevism, Jewish dominance of Hollywood and the media, [and] Jewish control of Congress.â Last year, Pike that the Jewish holy book, the Talmud, âis full of moral filthâ and attacked mainstream Christian evangelical leaders for âcarefully concealing the Jewish identity of those who corrupt Christian culture.â
Perhaps thereâs a reason LaBarbera didnât provide a link to Pikeâs website.
Pike doesnât go into his theories about âevil Jewish leadershipâ in his website posting. But right up there with the story in his siteâs are headlines like these: âJewish Media Corrupts Teen Girls,â âJews Pressure Bush to Sign Hate Crime Bill.â âJews Attack National Day of Prayer Committee,â and âJews Behind âthe Tenâ.â
The that enraged both LaBarbera and Pike, the âpro-family advocate,â occurred on April 12, when University of Illinois student Steven Velasquez was walking with a group of friends. Another student, Brett VanAsdlen, yelled something at Velasquez and the two had a physical confrontation that ended with Velasquez hospitalized for a head injury overnight. Pike and LaBarbera claim to have spoken to the mother of VanAsdlen â who LaBarbera describes as âa strapping, clean-cut, All-American looking young manâ â and heard assertions that throw doubt on officialsâ contention that Velasquez was victimized.
LaBarbera wasnât the only activist who latched on to Pikeâs essay. So did David Duke, the notorious neo-Nazi and former Klan leader, who posted the article on his website under this banner headline: âZionist-Inspired âHate Legislationâ Railroading Christian Teenagers in Illinois.â