Jennifer Williams’ manager attacking gubernatorial running mate.
/By Sussex Watchdog
Sussex County Republicans are so successful because they view their Republican opponents as friends-in-waiting. Oh, the play is hard, but after it is all over, former opponents are invited in, become friends, their careers are advanced, and they have an opportunity to run things.
Republicans in some other places must do things differently. This week we’ve seen some Mercer County GOPers in operation. First, they shit the bed, then they threw it at someone they disagreed with while forgetting that they were on the ballot together. All the while managing to be so disgustingly over-the-top that they will certainly end up in court – which, regardless of the outcome, is never inexpensive.
We are discussing here the Jennifer Williams faction of the Mercer County GOP. Williams is running to become the “first transgendered” elected member of the Republican State Committee, having come up short in an earlier attempt at becoming the “first transgendered” elected member of the New Jersey Legislature.
Now, we don’t quite know what added value is given to these enterprises by Jennifer being the “first transgendered”. After all, Jan Morris isn’t a better writer for being transgendered, but then, how could she be?
Jennifer Williams is on the June 8th Republican primary ballot as a candidate for Republican State Committeewoman. Jennifer is running on a line topped by Republican gubernatorial candidate Phil Rizzo. Both declare that they are conservative Republicans. Jennifer’s campaign manager, a state employee named Nick Micharski, also calls himself a conservative Republican.
On Sunday, a blog that advocates on behalf of Republican gubernatorial candidate Hirsh Singh put out an attack against Jennifer’s running mate, Phil Rizzo. The pro-Singh blog (which also calls itself conservative and Republican) put up a post that linked Rizzo to the non-profit conservative education organization he founded, Arise-NJ, to a member of its Board of Directors who was once gay, who later – in his words – “found Christ” and became an ordained minister, and then successfully pursued a non-gay way of life. To our thinking, this is not only entirely plausible, but it is this man’s personal business and should not be the centerpiece of a campaign for Governor of New Jersey.
Bizarrely, for a conservative blog, the pro-Singh blog reacted violently to the suggestion that someone can be “ex-gay”. The writer at the pro-Singh blog was clearly exercised about it:
“Parents and friends of ex-gays organization stuck out to me, because why ex?
…the advocacy of Pastor Phil Rizzo on the ground and through initiatives, you can see that they all believe in conversion therapy’s efficacy. Some of the men involved (the pro-Singh blog then attacks another conservative Pastor) pride themselves on being ex gays and are proponents of conversion therapy being successful. Conversion therapy by any means, because even doing as far as rape and sexual abuse of minors… among many other abuse tactics towards minors.”
The pro-Singh blog links gubernatorial candidate Rizzo to these accusations, in the very next line, by writing:
“Pastor Phil Rizzo is the founder of a school and many sleep away summer camps for children. Why aren’t we outraged yet? Why is he being given a platform by parents and adults, if that platform means allow abuse tactics into NJ for the children?”
The pro-Singh blog is clearly suggesting something disgusting here. When called out on it, the blog and the troll Facebook page used to distribute the attack, claimed to be simply engaging in good, old-fashioned pro-LGBTQ+ commentary in opposition to a controversial mental health treatment called “conversion therapy” – a behavioral modification treatment used by some practitioners in the field of mental health to reverse homosexuality.
“Conversion therapy” is the term generally used by politically left-leaning members of the LGBTQ+ community. Among mental health professionals, it is more often called “reparative therapy” – although it has been argued that, strictly speaking, “reparative therapy” refers to a specific kind of therapy associated with the psychologists Elizabeth Moberly and Joseph Nicolosi.
Dr. Nicolosi postulated that same-sex attraction is a person's unconscious attempt to “self-repair” feelings of inferiority. Reparative therapy is talk therapy. All therapy seeks to repair something. But reparative therapy has become a highly charged concept that embraces political and religious themes, with those on the political Left – as well as liberal and New Age religious groups – opposing it (and explicitly calling it “conversion therapy”).
On the other hand, political conservatives and traditional religious denominations tend to approve of reparative therapy. For instance, in 2014, the Republican Party of Texas endorsed “counseling, which offers reparative therapy and treatment” in their party platform.
Conversion therapy (or, if you like, reparative therapy) is legal and is practiced in much of the world. And while psychoanalysts critical of Nicolosi's theories have offered LGBTQ-affirmative approaches as an alternative to reparative therapy, none have attacked it in the way that it was by this pro-Singh blog, which explicitly called it “rape and sexual abuse of minors”.
Of course, in all likelihood, those responsible for the hit on Rizzo were merely backing into the “conversion therapy” argument after getting caught in what is a disgusting, over-the-line political hit.
They’ve never shown an interest in such things before. Who really knows? Perhaps we should give them the benefit of the doubt and assume that they were formerly closeted on such matters and have now come out? That at least would explain the weird intensity. It is always the converts. So much to prove.
But where it all gets really strange is with the behavior of Jennifer’s campaign manager. He shared and posted the attack on Rizzo. Yes, that’s gubernatorial candidate Phil Rizzo, his own candidate’s running mate.
Like the writer at the pro-Singh blog, Jennifer’s campaign manager appears to be someone who is militantly opposed to conversion therapy – a position generally advocated by LGBTQ+ activists. We don’t quite know why. Some personal or imagined trauma, perhaps?
*
It is important to note that in some jurisdictions of the United States, including Washington, DC, “ex-gay” is an officially recognized sexual minority. In this light, Jennifer Williams’ campaign’s attempt to link ex-gays to the sexual abuse of minors is curiously similar to historical accusations by the larger community against gay men. My how quickly the once abused become abusers.
*
We could understand a ban on parents engaging psychoanalysts for the purposes of reparative therapy or conversion therapy, if those on the Left would consent to a ban on parents engaging surgeons for the purposes of gender reassignment surgery. We understand that both are intrusive… but which leaves the most scars?
We are probably wrong to use the phrase “on the Left” in this instance because there is more to it than that. This is really a clash of theological doctrines. Just as it is faith-based for Pastor Phil Rizzo, it is the same for Jennifer Williams, Jennifer’s campaign manager, and the writer at the pro-Singh blog. They all sincerely believe themselves to be “conservative Republicans” but how can that be so?
Well, it can be, if it is not about politics. Phil Rizzo believes in God. His is the God of the Bible. The God who tells us that it is by his Grace alone that we can achieve a perfect happiness. For the others, they believe in a kind of god too. Their faith informs them that the ultimate good is happiness now, immediately. Their faith might not believe that water can be changed into wine, but they do believe that man can be changed to woman. It is by faith alone that all those chromosomes are washed away. The surgeon’s blade does the rest.
We do not doubt their sincerity.
“The oppressed, instead of striving for liberation, tend themselves to become oppressors... The oppressed want at any cost to resemble the oppressors.”
Paulo Freire
N.B. We welcome a conversation on this and all topics raised on this website. Jersey Conservative is entirely open to your ideas and opinions. To submit a column for publication, please contact us at jerseyconservativetips@protonmail.com.
