EHarmony

First, I despise eHarmony founder Dr. Neil Clark Warren’s face. He either has the worst facelift in the world, or botox has failed him. Second, I despise the man’s shit-eating smile. Third, Dr. Warren’s smarmy, unctuous voice in the eHarmony ads is an offense against my ears. Fourth, Warren’s manipulative, seductive manner sends out pedophile signals even though I am sure that is not one of his sins. To me, the eHarmony ads are so annoying they make Head On look and sound benign and soothing. When I heard that eHarmony was being sued it made me ecstatic. Warren started his online matchmaking service eHarmony in 2000. He has all the credentials a relationship counselor needs: BA Social Sciences, Pepperdine University (1956) MDiv, Princeton Theological Seminary (1959) PhD Clinical Psychology, University of Chicago (1967) Professor Fuller Theological Seminary (1967) Former Dean Fuller Theological Seminary Grad. School of Psychology (1975-82) Married for 48 years to the same woman. They have three daughters. Warren has written tons of self-help books, a few of which are: “God Said It, Don’t Sweat It”,”Finding the Love of Your Life” and “Catching the Rhythm of Love”. One of Warren’s best friends is evangelical Christian zealot James Dobson, founder of Focus on the Family. But back in 2005, Warren started to pull away from his public association with Dobson. All that fire and brimstone and Dobson’s high political profile were not compatible with Warren’s avuncular style. So. What could be wrong with Warren and eHarmony, other than his doughy face, his oily manner, his treacly message and his manipulative tone? On May 31, 2007 Linda Carlson brought a lawsuit against eHarmony for being anti-gay and for discriminating against gays and lesbians. Carlson’s lawyers say they expect a significant number of gays and lesbians to join the class action. They want unspecified damages for those “denied eHarmony services based on their sexual orientation”, and they want eHarmony to end its discriminatory practices. EHarmony says the allegations of discrimination against gays are false and reckless. “The research that eHarmony has developed, through years of research, to match couples has been based on traits and personality patterns of successful heterosexual marriages. Nothing precludes us from providing same-sex matching in the future. It's just not a service we offer now based upon the research we have conducted," eHarmony said in a statement. Carlson's lawyer Todd Schneider said the lawsuit was "about changing the landscape and making a statement out there that gay people, just like heterosexuals, have the right and desire to meet other people with whom they can fall in love." I surely hope Schneider, Carlson and all the others joining the class action suit win. I hope they win pots of money in damages. Of course Warren is anti-gay. The Evangelical movement is anti-gay. James Dobson is anti-gay. All those nasty little holier-than-you-and-your-mother religious-right fanatics are anti-gay. But I also hope the Carlson lawsuit wins because a lawsuit against 73-year-old Neil Clark Warren for being a far-right religious fanatic with a bad eye-and-jowl lift, a phony smile and an annoying ad campaign would never get anywhere.