Homosexual love compared to the love Ariel Castro had for women he raped! The trope of dehumanisation.

There you have it. Homosexual love is the same as the love a paedophile has for children and the love Ariel Castro felt for the victims he kidnapped, tortured and raped. These are the words of Chicago pastor, Erwin Lutzer and Fox Contributor, Sandy Rios.

It’s the same, tired old trope of dehumanisation. By dehumanising your opponent it makes it easier to deny them rights, behave cruelly and violently, and in the worst cases, enslavement and death. It’s a technique which has been used since antiquity when ancient civilisations wanted to rationalise their perceived racial superiority and the enslavement of other peoples. Ancient authors viewed neighbouring nations as inferior and described them as such, constantly comparing them to animals and referring to them as wild and unruly, sometimes even saying there were actually part animal. They accused them of baby eating, cannibalism, human sacrifice and incest. All characteristics of an uncivilised people.

The British published demonising propaganda about the American Indians. American Indians were portrayed as savages and barbaric. Any killing of colonial troops or civilians was reported as an outrage, whether or not it was in self defense or even occurred at all. This helped to garner support for further expansion into the Americas and allowed the British forces to due so with as much brutality as they wanted. Even later on during the era of the classic “Cowboy and Indian” films, American Indians were portrayed in a very negative light. This permitted US citizens to continue guilt free about the genocides committed decades prior and continue with the subjugation of the American Indians.

Nazi Germany underwent a decade of propaganda against the Jewish people, the word Jew became synonymous with the word rat. They were blamed for crime, the loss of World War I, the disappearance of children saying they drank the blood of their kidnap victims. Films were commissioned, posters put up on walls, flyers handed out, all in the attempt to depict the Jewish people as uncivilised and sub-human, and incite hatred.

Before the genocide in Rwanda, the Hutus began a campaign of systematic hate speech against the Tutsis. The Tutsis were viewed as little more than cockroaches and were treated as such in the media. Illiteracy was high so the main method of communication was radio. The government ensured that two main radio stations in Rwanda were broadcasting their hate-filled propaganda. Continuously filling the airwaves with hate speech and lies about the Tutsis.

People may think these are extreme examples but I choose them for a very specific reason. The only difference between the dehumanising propaganda being spewed by American evangelicals such as those in the audio clip and the examples above is government backing. The evangelicals are not backed by the government; therefore, their propagandist nonsense is limited in scope and is unable to influence official policy in the same manner as the above examples. But their modus operandi is the same: to slander, debase, dehumanise their target so that it makes it easier for people to view them as unequal, as sub-human. This rationalises prejudiced legislation and enables violence. We are witnessing this in Russia where homosexuality is becoming increasingly discriminated against and violence against homosexuals isn’t just being ignored by law enforcement but also perpetrated by them. Not to mention Uganda where they are attempting to implement the death penalty for homosexuality.

Dehumanisation is the method which bigots rationalise their bigotry, and the foundation which discrimination and violence is built upon.