“The whole purpose of the law is to stifle speech against people who speak against the deviant [gay] lifestyle.” —Bill Keller

The first and second installments of The Devi’s Advocate with Bill Keller drew lots of traffic and comments. Welcome to our third Q&A. I’ll be playing the role of Devil’s Advocate.

One of our most controversial religious figures, Pinellas-based Bill Keller is known for his incendiary rhetoric and unbending view of Bible-based morality. He believes homosexuality is an abomination, abortion is murder and … you can pretty much guess the rest. Click here for a bit more detail on Keller’s ministry.

Today’s Topic: The U.S. Congress is in the process of expanding Hate Crimes laws to include “sexual orientation,” “gender” and “gender identity” to federally protected classes that already include race, religion, color or national origin. Bill Keller doesn’t like this at all.

The Devil’s Advocate: By opposing the addition of gender identity to the existing hate crimes bill, does that mean you’re OK with crimes against gays?

Bill Keller: Absolutely not. I’m not in favor of any hate crimes legislation. If there’s an existing crime statute on the books, you’re going to be punished. If you commit a crime against one of the protected groups, what are you going to get? Three life sentences? It’s redundant.

So why are you concerned about adding gender identity to the law?

Let me tell you how this is going to morph: People who put these laws together say it isn’t there intention, but activists groups, the Perez Hiltons, gay activist associations will go out and make the case that the Bill Kellers are inciting people to violence against homosexuals when there’s no evidence of that happening. I don’t say this out of paranoia. It’s happened in Canada and Sweden and other places where these laws exist. In Canada, three pastors are in jail for this very thing.

So you feel as if you’ll be the target of a crusade by gay activists?

Yes. Let me give you an example of a great analogy from my life. CAIR (Council on Arab-American Relations) goes after any media personality that dares to speak out against Islam when, according to the Bible, it’s a false religion.

They said what I was doing was hate speech and inciting violence against Muslims. Eventually CBS [which aired his call in TV show Live Prayer with Bill Keller] gave me the option to stop talking about Islam or they would take my program off the air. There was no way I was going to let them censor me so the show went off the air. So the analogy is on point: If I speak out against homosexuality as it says in the Bible, I’m inciting violence against them, and there’s no proof of that.

I don’t think your analogy works at all. CAIR used their right to speech as a means to pressure an organization, CBS, to take away that avenue of your speech. That sounds like freedom of speech at work. Were you jailed for hate crimes when speaking out against Muslims?

Muslims aren’t a protected group.

Yes they are. The Hate Crimes legislation includes religion. I know you claim that Islam is not a religion but most everyone accepts it as such — certainly with regard to hate crimes laws.

Muslims can say I used hate speech, but everything they said was a lie.

They might argue that you disavowing Islam as a religion is a lie. It seems like two sides, each with the power of free speech, squared off, and in this case CAIR won out. So why, if you weren’t charged with a hate crime when you spoke out against Islam, do you think you’ll fall victim to Hate Crimes laws for speaking negatively about gays?

Here’s the point: Under this new legislation, homosexual groups will be make allegations against people like me and I could be brought into the legal system. The law is designed to scare people form speaking out against homosexuality.

Do you think it will actually have the effect of anti-gay religious leaders being hesitant to speak out?

Sure, we already have a generation of gutless pastors. It’s going to scare the daylights out of those guys.

So this is good news for the gay community.

Absolutely. The whole purpose of the law is to stifle speech against people who speak against their deviant lifestyle.

All right!

Once this law is on the books, mark my words, within 12 months, I’m going to find myself in a legal situation.

It would have to be a criminal legal situation, right?

Yes. I’m interested in seeing how far the courts are going to go in upholding this law.

Sometimes the headlines can make your LGBT head spin. Take the front page of today’s New York Times print edition, where there were two major stories about gay issues, both above the fold. The good news: the Vermont state legislature’s override of Gov. Jim Douglas’ gay marriage veto. The bad: Openly gay Iraqis are being murdered with the tacit and sometimes overt approval of police and families.

Locally, there was good news for Susan Stanton. Fired in 2007 from her position as Largo City Manager after announcing, as Steve Stanton, that she would be undergoing a change of gender, she has finally found another city manager position after two years of searching all over the country — and she found it in Florida, no less. And meanwhile, here at Creative Loafing, Eric Snider’s Devil’s Advocate feature right here on The Daily Loaf is treating us to the enlightened views of evangelist Bill “I don’t hate gays, they just disgust me” [my paraphrase] Keller, and even better (or worse), the comments of his supporters.

On SiriusOutQ, the LGBT satellite radio station I only recently discovered and can now not live without, the news roundups each hour offer the same head-spinning mix. One day you hear the news that national “pro-family” groups plan to combat the Day of Silence — the anti-bullying initiative famously criticized by Brian Blair — by keeping kids home that day if their school is observing it. And then you hear that, for the first time, gay and lesbian parents are being invited to the White House Easter Egg roll.

It’s a contradictory, confusing, exhilarating time to be gay. We’re welcomed, we’re condemned, we’re cheered, we’re murdered. The progress we have made cannot be denied, but the reminders are there every day that the haters refuse to be denied either.  Stay vigilant.

• Nick of time: Congress acts to remedy the mortgage crisis.
• Alan Greenspan: “We are on the brink.”
• A new documentary on Lee Atwater has conservatives crying foul.
• The IRS opens an investigation of local firebrand Bill Keller. The preacherman cries “Romney!”
• Oh good, Imus is shooting his mouth off again. I had gone months without hearing moronic, racist drivel.
• Bet you don’t know how much oil there is in the world. Turns out, no one does.
• George Carlin’s final interview, a wide-ranging, bittersweet affair, pops up on the Psychology Today’s website. Plus: HBO plans a Carlin marathon and WBAI looks back at history.
• The Mullet drops his cushy ESPN job to become coach the Lightning.

… selling the equivalent of “spiritual crack,” as she pushes her New Age teachings on millions of unsuspecting followers. Keller has been warning the subscribers of his Daily Devotional for years about entertainment icon Oprah Winfrey and how she uses her TV program to promote every New Age philosophy in the world, like the very popular book and DVD last year, “The Secret.”

Keller, who called Oprah, on Neil Cavuto’s FOX News program last Friday, “the most dangerous woman in the world,” and has been quoted in the national media as labeling her a “New Age witch,” states that her current commitment to use her vast entertainment resources to promote New Age teachings that do nothing for people but make them feel good for a moment just like smoking crack, will be responsible for leading millions of unsuspecting souls to hell with these false teachings.

Keller, who did a short guest stint on Howard Stern’s Sirius satellite radio network last year, also had some unkind words for Sirius’ potential merger partner, XM:

Earlier this year, Oprah began teaching a year-long course on her XM Satellite radio channel, “A Course in Miracles.” This very popular New Age course sounds Christian but clearly is NOT. A Course in Miracles is allegedly a “new revelation” from “Jesus” to help humanity work through these troubled times. This “Jesus”–who bears no doctrinal resemblance to the Bible’s Jesus Christ–began delivering his channeled teachings in 1965 to a Columbia University Professor of Medical Psychology by the name of Helen Schucman.

Her latest venture in New Age teachings will be a 10- week seminar over the Internet beginning Monday, March 3rd, when Oprah and best selling New Age author Eckhart Tolle will be teaching his new book, “A New Earth, Awaking Your Life’s Purpose.” Millions have already signed up for this 10-week web cast that will lead them away from Biblical Truth and faith in Jesus Christ through Tolle’s perverted spiritual teachings.

Keller told his 2.4 million Daily Devotional subscribers that, “Oprah is now trying to be the spiritual guru to this nation. Sadly, she is being used as a tool of satan to lead millions of souls to hell with her false teachings.”

I pretty much feel the same way about Oprah, just without any of the Biblical stuff. (Video of Keller on Fox here.)