Christian extremists at the Florida Family Association are coming under fire for leading a boycott against All American Muslim, a new TLC reality show. Critics claim the boycott is an exercise in fear, ignorance, bigotry and hatred.
After pressuring Lowe’s and 65 other companies into pulling advertisements from the television program about American Muslims the Florida Family Association (FFA) has experienced a backlash from people rejecting the Christian hate and bigotry being promoted by the conservative Christian group.
Backlash
On Monday, Anonymous hacktivists, outraged by the boycott, punished the Florida Family Association (FFA) by hacking into the FFA website, releasing email and IP addresses of members receiving newsletters, as well as a sample of members credit card information offered as proof of the hack.
Also on Monday, the Florida Family Association website was not available for some time, presumably it was the victim of a DDoS (distributed denial of service) attack conducted by sympathetic Anonymous enthusiasts.
In addition, ABC reports the FFA has been receiving a large volume of angry emails after the boycott received national attention.
Islamophobia
Critics claim the All American Muslim boycott campaign is based in a pernicious Islamophobia. According to the FFA website, the Christian extremist group is angry that the reality show “profiles only Muslims that appear to be ordinary folks.” Apparently the FFA will only be happy if Muslims are portrayed as bomb throwing terrorists.
Christian hate
The FFA has a long history of promoting Christian hate. The fringe group often targets the gay and lesbian community for harassment. The group has opposed initiatives to prevent the bullying of gay and lesbian children, and has targeted numerous television programs that dare portray members of the LGBT population as normal, happy, productive members of society.
In addition to the garden variety homophobia so common among Christian extremists, the FFA is particularly dedicated to spreading hatred for Muslims and Islam. Right Wing Watch reports:
- The FFA created a highly-edited video that tries to make President Obama appear to be Muslim and derided the “extraordinarily strong bond that President Barack Obama has with Islam.”
- The group went after Campbell’s soup for boosting the “advancement of Islam and Sharia law in the United States” because the company made halal soups and sponsored a conference held by a Canadian Muslim relief organization.
- Predicting that “Islam will not sweep into America overnight though it could under the current president” as the “Islamization of America will most likely happen city by city,” the FFA launched a website to combat the purported “Islamization” of Tampa, warning that “Tampa is headed toward embracing Islam.”
What do you think about the Florida Family Association's boycott of All American Muslim?
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