[Bryan]Fischer, a prominent voice for the American Family Association for many years, makes ugly and ridiculous comments — about minority faiths, about gays, about Democrats, et al — on a nearly daily basis. But going forward, Fischer will no longer make ugly and ridiculous comments in his capacity as a spokesperson for the AFA. Rachel reported on the show last night that the AFA has fired Bryan Fischer from his post[.]
I’m normally loathe to provide Bryan Fischer with any sort of attention. I’ve written about him WAY too much over the years, and I honestly think that Fischer feeds off the condemnation directed his way. For some folks, ‘tis better to be despised than to be ignored…because at least they’re talking about you.
Fisher, the (now former) “Director of Issues Analysis”- i.e., the American Family Association’s Hater-in-Chief- has used the cover of working for AFA as a platform from which to broadcast his hateful, joyless, bastardized flavor of Christianity. In the name of (his flavor of) Jesus Christ, Fischer has insulted, demeaned, and degraded those with the temerity not to believe as he does. The truly sad thing is that I don’t know that I’ve ever heard more mainstream Christians push back against him. If you believe silence equals consent (and I do), one would have to wonder if Fischer just isn’t the one with the courage to give voice to what many Christians believe in their heart of hearts.
It appears that even Fischer’s just-slightly-to-the-left-of-Westboro-Baptist-Church employer has determined that he’s too toxic for them. AFA’s fired Fischer, and though no concise, believable official reason has been provided, it seems that he may he become politically inconvenient. As of Wednesday night, Fischer’s bio page on AFA’s website has been removed.
Don’tcha just LOVE it when Karma and Schadenfruede collide??
The timing of this unexpected shakeup is probably not a coincidence: the American Family Association, despite years of right-wing extremism, is partnering with Reince Priebus and members of the Republican National Committee on a trip to Israel, which created an awkward dynamic. Why would the RNC team up with a group whose spokesperson says things like, “Counterfeit religions, alternative religions of Christianity have no right to the free exercise of religion”?
Before we get all gleeful over Fischer’s career demise, it should be made clear that while Fischer has been fired from his job at AFA, he’s now “just a radio host” for the group. Fischer himself has said that his radio show will continue to air in the same time slot on the same radio station, same as it ever was. So what’s really changed?
The question this raises is whether AFA’s termination of Fischer wasn’t just so much window-dressing intended to assuage the American Jewish community, who’ve had good reason for some years now to take offense at Fischer’s belittling of Judaism. With the AFA paying for the membership of the Republican National Committee to travel to Israel it would have been…inconvenient for a confirmed anti-Semite like Fischer to remain on their payroll, though I suspect not much has actually changed.
[I]t seems at this point that the American Family Association has indeed fired Fischer as a spokesperson for the organization, but will keep him on as the host of an AFA-backed radio program. When AFA President Don Wildmon described Fisher as “just a talk show host,” the unstated subtext may have been “just our talk show host.”
He may be a religious bigot, a hater, and an anti-semite, but as far as AFA is concerned, he may well be “just [our] talk show host.”
In the world of the Religious Right, the haters never really go away. They just change hats…and carry on as if nothing was ever amiss. Because nothing ever was.
