The Religious Right Supports Affirmative Action

I can’t believe it. Several prominent folks from the religious right are coming out strongly in support of the idea that a job candidate’s qualifications can be eclipsed in importance by demographic issues.

If you think that I am making this up, think again. Here’s Matt Barber Director of Cultural Affairs from the Liberty (HA!) Counsel:

He may very well be qualified for this position, but…

Of course, I am taking his quotation out of context for the time being to show that Barber thinks it’s appropriate to judge issues other than a job candidate’s qualification for the job in question.

So what’s all this about? Barack Obama has appointed Amanda Simpson as the Senior Technical Advisor to the U.S. Department of Commerce. Simpson has an M.S. in engineering, an M.B.A., and an undergraduate degree in physics. She has 30 years’ experience in private aerospace and defense work. Her job at Commerce is to oversee the export of weapons to foreign countries. Given her credentials, this should be right in her wheelhouse.

Case closed. Right?

Well, not to the theocrats on the right. They object to Simpson because she is transgender. Here’s Barber in context:

He may very well be qualified for this position but it appears that he was not picked (merely) for his qualifications, he was picked because of his wardrobe. That is not diversity or tolerance. It’s political correctness run amok.

Peter LaBarbara from Americans for Truth (HA!) About Homosexuality added this:

Is there going to be a transgender quota now in the Obama administration? How far does this politics of gay and transgender activism go? Clearly this is an administration that is pandering to the gay lobby.

Obama is pandering to the gay lobby by hiring someone to do a job for which she is qualified. Ostensibly, Barber and LaBarbera would prefer that Obama hired someone else for the position because of their gripes with Simpson’s gender. Note that they have no complaints with her qualifications. Sounds like affirmative action to me.

When we look back on this in 50 years, it will be similar to the way we now feel about the racists who threw black cats on the field to protest and harass Jackie Robinson. In the bright light of history, this primitive and ugly behavior will appear withered and rotten to almost everybody.

Update: I almost forgot. The article I used as a source comes from the Catholic News Agency. The news agency of an organization whose leadership is comprised of old virgin men. Of all the people to gripe about transgendered people, I’d think that the organization with that kink built into its hierarchy would be a little more understanding of sexual behavior that deviates from the norm.