When it was announced that the A&E network had suspended “Duck Dynasty’s” Phil Robertson over anti-gay statements he made in an interview with GQ magazine, it was only a matter of time before anti-gay activists began screaming about supposed persecution and violations of free speech.

It is remarkable how, for the Religious Right, the First Amendment seems to mean that they are entitled to say anything they want without receiving any criticism or suffering any consequences, but that appears to be the belief of those who are rushing to Robertson’s defense, like the National Organization for Marriage, which has launched a petition in support of him:

Well guess what — homosexuality IS a sin in the bible, and virtually every other sacred text out there. Engaging in homosexual sex IS considered by God to be sinful according to the teachings of most religions. And sin is NOT logical. Sin is deceitful, harmful and degrading to the human soul. What Phil Robertson has done is express the traditional Christian view of homosexuality — decry the sin but love the sinner. It’s what every major Christian leader including Jesus Christ himself has taught us. But Christianity, and every other major religion, be damned in the eyes of the HRC, GLAAD and their allies. They will brook no objection, tolerate no dissent and accept no disagreement when it comes to their orthodoxy. In their twisted worldview, anyone who dares to speak the truth about homosexuality must be punished and effectively banished from civil society. They are brutal bullies, plain and simple. We’re not going to take the bullying of Phil Robertson and every other person of faith quietly. Will you join with us and immediately sign our petition demanding that Phil be reinstated with an apology from A&E?

But no response to this controversy can hold a candle to the screed penned by Theodore Shoebat, the son of anti-Islam activist Walid Shoebat, and an anti-gay activist in his own right, who railed against the “Sodomite nazis” who are attacking Robertson “simply because he pointed out a truth to the darkness of the sick, violent, and twisted mindset of homosexuals”:

What the homosexuals want to do to Christians in America is what Muslims are already doing to Christians: slaughter and enslave them. This is why we must fight this evil, and help save persecuted Christians in the Muslim world. Donate now and save Christian lives. The sodomites, the purest haters of all that is just and godly, immediately went for the attack … The only thing vile in this situation is what sodomites contrive and partake in, they indulge themselves in acts so diabolical, in things worthy of death” (Romans 1:32), and yet we are so careful to make sure that they are tolerated. The sodomite just quoted spoke of “loving and committed gay and lesbian couples.” Really? Let me show you how sinister these morally inept and demonic followers of Satan are.

Shoebat then linked to a report about two men charged with sexually assaulting and abusing a young boy to declare that “this is what the sodomite agenda brings: tyranny and pederasty” and seemingly call for gays to be put to death: