Joe,

"Why dignify Goode or Falwell or any of these other bigots by taking a stand against them?"

That's an interesting way of looking at it.

Not at all uncommon.

But Shakespeare says it best: "He who steals my purse steals trash, but he who steals my good name steals everything."

If you don't speak out it could be interpreted as your giving tacit consent to the "hijacking" of Christianity.