Watchmen on the Walls
Encyclopedia
Watchmen on the Walls is an international evangelical
ministry based in Riga
, Latvia
. It describes itself as "the international Christian
movement that unites Christian leaders, Christian and social organizations and aims to protect Christian morals and values in society." According to a Southern Poverty Law Center
(SPLC) Intelligence report the group's name derives from the Old Testament book of Nehemiah
, in which the "watchmen" guard the reconstruction of Jerusalem. "The cities they guard over today, say the contemporary Watchmen, are being destroyed by homosexuality
."
The group was founded by former California American Family Association
director Scott Douglas Lively
and New Generation Church preacher Alexey Ledyaev. Lively is a co-author of The Pink Swastika
, a controversial book that posits homosexuality found in the Nazi Party contributed to the extreme militarism of Nazi Germany
. Leaders of the Watchmen support conversion therapy, a controversial practice discouraged by mainstream mental health organizations as detrimental to individuals and society,Conversion therapy is discouraged by mainstream mental health organizations as not only causing harm to LGBT
individuals, but also causing social harm by disseminating inaccurate views about sexual orientation
and the ability of gay
and bisexual people to lead happy, healthy lives. that attempts to change sexual orientation
and suppress lesbian
, gay
and bisexual behaviors. Watchmen leaders have told audiences at ex-gay
events "one of the most important things you can do is start an ex-gay movement here." A Watchmen member was a featured keynote speaker at Focus on the Family
's travelling ex-gay ministry Love Won Out
in 2007.
Watchmen on the Walls is listed as a hate group
by the SPLC which considers the Watchmen "a virulently anti-gay group". Being listed on SPLC's website "does not imply a group advocates or engages in violence or other criminal activity." Leaders of the Watchmen on the Walls movement insist "they do not hate gays — or anyone else." The SPLC states "In Latvia, the Watchmen are popular among Christian fundamentalists
and ethnic Russians
, and are known for presiding over anti-gay
rallies where gay
s and lesbian
s are pelted with bags of excrement." According to the SPLC the Watchmen have a following among Russian-speaking evangelicals
in the Western U.S. among immigrants from the former Soviet Union and members are increasingly active in several cities "long known as gay-friendly enclaves", including Sacramento, Seattle, and Portland.
Evangelicalism
Evangelicalism is a Protestant Christian movement which began in Great Britain in the 1730s and gained popularity in the United States during the series of Great Awakenings of the 18th and 19th century.Its key commitments are:...
ministry based in Riga
Riga
Riga is the capital and largest city of Latvia. With 702,891 inhabitants Riga is the largest city of the Baltic states, one of the largest cities in Northern Europe and home to more than one third of Latvia's population. The city is an important seaport and a major industrial, commercial,...
, Latvia
Latvia
Latvia , officially the Republic of Latvia , is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by Estonia , to the south by Lithuania , to the east by the Russian Federation , to the southeast by Belarus and shares maritime borders to the west with Sweden...
. It describes itself as "the international Christian
Christianity
Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...
movement that unites Christian leaders, Christian and social organizations and aims to protect Christian morals and values in society." According to a Southern Poverty Law Center
Southern Poverty Law Center
The Southern Poverty Law Center is an American nonprofit civil rights organization noted for its legal victories against white supremacist groups; legal representation for victims of hate groups; monitoring of alleged hate groups, militias and extremist organizations; and educational programs that...
(SPLC) Intelligence report the group's name derives from the Old Testament book of Nehemiah
Book of Nehemiah
The Book of Nehemiah is a book of the Hebrew Bible. Told largely in the form of a first-person memoir, it concerns the rebuilding of the walls of Jerusalem by Nehemiah, a Jew who is a high official at the Persian court, and the dedication of the city and its people to God's laws...
, in which the "watchmen" guard the reconstruction of Jerusalem. "The cities they guard over today, say the contemporary Watchmen, are being destroyed by homosexuality
Homosexuality
Homosexuality is romantic or sexual attraction or behavior between members of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality refers to "an enduring pattern of or disposition to experience sexual, affectional, or romantic attractions" primarily or exclusively to people of the same...
."
The group was founded by former California American Family Association
American Family Association
The American Family Association is a 501 non-profit organization that promotes conservative Christian values, such as opposition to same-sex marriage, pornography, and abortion, as well as other public policy goals such as deregulation of the oil industry and lobbying against the Employee Free...
director Scott Douglas Lively
Scott Lively
Scott Lively is an American author, attorney and ex-gay activist. Lively is the president of Abiding Truth Ministries, a conservative Christian organization located in Temecula, California. Abiding Truth Ministries is classified as a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center. Lively has called...
and New Generation Church preacher Alexey Ledyaev. Lively is a co-author of The Pink Swastika
The Pink Swastika
The Pink Swastika: Homosexuality in the Nazi Party is a book first published in 1995 by Scott Lively and Kevin Abrams.-Synopsis:According to the authors, homosexuality found in the Nazi Party contributed to the extreme militarism of Nazi Germany...
, a controversial book that posits homosexuality found in the Nazi Party contributed to the extreme militarism of Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
. Leaders of the Watchmen support conversion therapy, a controversial practice discouraged by mainstream mental health organizations as detrimental to individuals and society,Conversion therapy is discouraged by mainstream mental health organizations as not only causing harm to LGBT
LGBT
LGBT is an initialism that collectively refers to "lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender" people. In use since the 1990s, the term "LGBT" is an adaptation of the initialism "LGB", which itself started replacing the phrase "gay community" beginning in the mid-to-late 1980s, which many within the...
individuals, but also causing social harm by disseminating inaccurate views about sexual orientation
Sexual orientation
Sexual orientation describes a pattern of emotional, romantic, or sexual attractions to the opposite sex, the same sex, both, or neither, and the genders that accompany them. By the convention of organized researchers, these attractions are subsumed under heterosexuality, homosexuality,...
and the ability of gay
Gay
Gay is a word that refers to a homosexual person, especially a homosexual male. For homosexual women the specific term is "lesbian"....
and bisexual people to lead happy, healthy lives. that attempts to change sexual orientation
Sexual orientation
Sexual orientation describes a pattern of emotional, romantic, or sexual attractions to the opposite sex, the same sex, both, or neither, and the genders that accompany them. By the convention of organized researchers, these attractions are subsumed under heterosexuality, homosexuality,...
and suppress lesbian
Lesbian
Lesbian is a term most widely used in the English language to describe sexual and romantic desire between females. The word may be used as a noun, to refer to women who identify themselves or who are characterized by others as having the primary attribute of female homosexuality, or as an...
, gay
Gay
Gay is a word that refers to a homosexual person, especially a homosexual male. For homosexual women the specific term is "lesbian"....
and bisexual behaviors. Watchmen leaders have told audiences at ex-gay
Ex-gay
The ex-gay movement consists of people and organizations that seek to get people to refrain from entering or pursuing same-sex relationships, to eliminate homosexual desires, to develop heterosexual desires, or to enter into a heterosexual relationship...
events "one of the most important things you can do is start an ex-gay movement here." A Watchmen member was a featured keynote speaker at Focus on the Family
Focus on the Family
Focus on the Family is an American evangelical Christian tax-exempt non-profit organization founded in 1977 by psychologist James Dobson, and is based in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Focus on the Family is one of a number of evangelical parachurch organizations that rose to prominence in the 1980s...
's travelling ex-gay ministry Love Won Out
Love Won Out
Love Won Out is an ex-gay ministry launched by Focus on the Family in 1998. It was founded by John Paulk. Its stated purpose is "to exhort and equip Christian churches to respond in a Christ-like way to the issue of homosexuality." Love Won Out was sold to a former affiliate Exodus International as...
in 2007.
Watchmen on the Walls is listed as a hate group
Hate group
A hate group is an organized group or movement that advocates and practices hatred, hostility, or violence towards members of a race, ethnicity, religion, gender, sexual orientation or other designated sector of society...
by the SPLC which considers the Watchmen "a virulently anti-gay group". Being listed on SPLC's website "does not imply a group advocates or engages in violence or other criminal activity." Leaders of the Watchmen on the Walls movement insist "they do not hate gays — or anyone else." The SPLC states "In Latvia, the Watchmen are popular among Christian fundamentalists
Fundamentalist Christianity
Christian fundamentalism, also known as Fundamentalist Christianity, or Fundamentalism, arose out of British and American Protestantism in the late 19th century and early 20th century among evangelical Christians...
and ethnic Russians
Russians
The Russian people are an East Slavic ethnic group native to Russia, speaking the Russian language and primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries....
, and are known for presiding over anti-gay
LGBT rights opposition
LGBT rights opposition refers to active opposition to lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender civil rights. Organizations influential in LGBT rights opposition frequently challenge judicial rulings, and legislative initiatives, and dispute findings that sexual orientation is an immutable...
rallies where gay
Gay
Gay is a word that refers to a homosexual person, especially a homosexual male. For homosexual women the specific term is "lesbian"....
s and lesbian
Lesbian
Lesbian is a term most widely used in the English language to describe sexual and romantic desire between females. The word may be used as a noun, to refer to women who identify themselves or who are characterized by others as having the primary attribute of female homosexuality, or as an...
s are pelted with bags of excrement." According to the SPLC the Watchmen have a following among Russian-speaking evangelicals
Evangelicalism
Evangelicalism is a Protestant Christian movement which began in Great Britain in the 1730s and gained popularity in the United States during the series of Great Awakenings of the 18th and 19th century.Its key commitments are:...
in the Western U.S. among immigrants from the former Soviet Union and members are increasingly active in several cities "long known as gay-friendly enclaves", including Sacramento, Seattle, and Portland.
See also
- Christianity and homosexuality
- Ken HutchersonKen HutchersonKenneth Lee Hutcherson is a former American football linebacker in the National Football League who is now the pastor of the Antioch Bible Church in Kirkland, Washington, where he has been since 1985...
- World Congress of FamiliesWorld Congress of FamiliesThe World Congress of Families is a worldwide conservative-religious coalition that purports to "stand up for the position of the traditional family, in a time of eroding family life and declining appreciation for families in general".Dr...