Is Sabotage an Effective Political Tool?

Which is more important: Winning, or the tactics used to win?

That and many other questions come to mind after reading 'Shopping Spree,' an article by Noel Black in The Stranger which suggests that gays engage in some online guerilla warfare tactics as a means to bleed money out of our enemies.

Black has a call to action for gay, lesbian, bi and trans people to hit the Web site of the hyper-anti-gay Focus on the Family and start ordering like crazy all of the free stuff they'll send to anyone who wants it.

It's not illegal, it's just not a good idea.

Focus on the Family is rich with must-see CDs, DVDs and books to, you know, save you from being gay, or help others to save you. Their library covers lots of other sinful habits, too, but a quick glance at some of the titles under HOMOSEXUALITY includes fun stuff like:

'A Parent's Guide to Preventing Homosexuality'

'The Homosexual Agenda: Exposing the Principal Threat to Religious Freedom Today'

'Dare 2 Dig Deeper Series: Amy and Jason: Two True Stories Exposing the Truth About Gender Identity'

And, what every classroom teacher needs:

'Teaching Captivity?' Homosexuality is a lifestyle of imprisonment. In public schools, kids are being taught that it's normal. Here's what you can do to keep them free!

I could go on -- the site has five pages worth of homo-hating titles alone.

And, yes, all these books and materials are free. They ask for donations, but you don't have to give one.

So, Noel Black suggests that all us gays go to FOF's site and start ordering away, knowing that by us getting these things for free, it's costing FOF money -- money that could be spent to produce and distribute more hate-filled propaganda, not to mention funding for their lobbyists and other programs.

Black walks you through 11 easy steps on how to rip off Focus on the Family, including how exactly to get the free stuff, then what to do with it. Send to a friend? Resell it on eBay? He does acknowledge that the practice might make some of us feel guilty, to which he responds:

And if your conscience beginsto bother you, think of it this way: Focus on the Family would probably like for you to have the materials anyway, because there's that minute chance that, once in your hands, the materials may inspire you to have a personal relationship with Jesus.

Do you guys and gals think this is a good idea? I have my doubts. For one, I wouldn't want the crazy right-wingers to do that to, say, the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force or any number of other GLBT groups.

What Black is promoting is dirty pool. And I know that the nut-jobs who want gays to burn in hell are pretty good at playing dirty pool themselves, but does that make it right for us to do the same?

Black himself points out that his guerilla war plan requires your time and energy. You can only order $100 of free stuff at a time, so he suggests you visit daily.

Personally, I think this kind of political action can end up making you feel worse rather than better. It takes a lot of mental and spiritual energy to do something meant to hurt someone else -- even if they're our enemy.

I would much rather see people use their time and energy for good. Write your congressman. Volunteer at a gay rights organization. Help NGLTF or the Victory Fund canvas door-to-door to get out the vote on ballot measures and elections that matter to our community. Better yet, come out to a Republican. That's the best political action any of us can do.

The Focus on the Family shopping spree sounds funny at first. And some of those titles would make some pretty clever gag gifts. But I think we have better, more effective things to do than engage in sabotage as a political tool.

What do you think?




MEANWHILE and in RELATED NEWS



Speaking of sabotage, more than 1000 people who believe they're proud owners of tickets to see Barbra Streisand may be holding phonies.

Theives used bad credit cards to buy tickets via Ticketmaster and then later sold them on Internet resale sites. Tour organizers have said that "anyone holding those tickets would not be admitted to the performances."  Get the rest of the story here.

There is nothing lower than defiling tickets to see Streisand. NOTHING.

 

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