Mr. Rick Santorum – I am soooo sorry you had to hear about a family and their child that was forced to have a TRANSGENDER kid in the classroom…You make me want to vomit

Leviticus 18:22

The issue of homosexuality is among the most polarizing issues in our society. Without addressing what the “right” answers are, there is no question that there are few issues over which we hurt each other more than how we address homosexuality in general and, far more importantly, gay men and women in particular. How can we stop hurting each other?

The words of that verse, responsible for so much angry debate, read as follows: “Do not lie with a male as one lies with a woman; it is an abomination” (sometimes rendered as “abhorrence”).

As I think about this verse, so often described as being of particular importance because it forbids something that the text specifically calls an “abomination.” I also thought about the 118 other times that the word to’evah (Hebrew for “abomination”) or words with the same root are used in the Hebrew Bible.

Why are those who hold it to be legally binding so obsessed with this prohibition? Is it a reflection of the prohibition’s being somehow unique by virtue of being abominable? Clearly not. If something being an abomination were our concern, then we would also be equally concerned about the other sexual, ritual, and ethical transgressions that are also described as such.

For example, I don’t see people losing sleep over the consumption of pork, also prohibited by the Bible. And the same can be said for the relative calm over those who wear garments that weave together strands of linen and wool, also biblically prohibited. People do not make up ugly terms of derision for those who commit these transgressions as they do for gay people. Nor do they ask that the government intervene in limiting people’s freedom to do these things as they do when it comes to providing full legal equality for gay people.

I am not suggesting that for one to be a good and compassionate reader of the Bible, one must let go of the notion that homosexual sex is biblically prohibited. I am simply suggesting that our culture’s obsession with this issue probably says more about us than it does about either the Bible or our commitment to honoring what we see as its demands.

I wonder what would happen if whenever this issue arises, all those involved, regardless of their views, would start with something other than an explanation of this verse and “what it really means.” I wonder if instead of doing that, we began by explaining why this issue is important to us — by addressing what is at stake for us personally regarding this issue, if things wouldn’t be more productive. Actually, I don’t wonder about that at all — I know that they would.

Let’s stop hiding behind texts, interpretations, claims about what God wants, and what it means to be compassionate (however well-meaning those actions are), and see each other as human beings struggling with what is for many of us a complex issue. And if it is not complex, then explain why it is not for you, instead of beating up those for whom it still is.

Human sexuality, definitions of family, and so much else, have changed more in the last fifty years than in the previous millennium. It would be odd for us not to have real divisions about the implications of those changes. But when things are most divided, especially because of their relative newness, lifting them from the ideological to the personal always helps. Compassion for an idea is hard to generate, but compassion for a real person is less so. And whatever one’s views, it seems to me that we could all treat each other with a greater measure of compassion as we think about living with Leviticus 18:22.

Preaching Hate in Uganda

Miss Beverly Hills (gays should die)….. “I’m a Christian, and it’s in the bible.”

The Pill

I would like to announce that I have discovered the greatest medical advancement of all time! It is something that I have been hoping for, praying for, and contributing to;

….the PILL that will cure you

This PILL is a medical wonder. Not only does its power allow one to alter the unwanted genetic characteristics that one may have, but just one pill will change those characteristics in almost any different trait! That’s right, just about anyone can become plain, home-grown white American!

For example:

1) If you have those annoying slanted eyes, as well as that disgusting yellow tint on your skin that just won’t go away, even with all that scrubbing…than the PILL is for you!

2) If you are above average at dunking a ball into a hoop, not to mention being impossibly impossible to hunt out at night…than this PILL is for you!

3) If you are so stupid that you feel you must wear a towel on your head and bomb planes for an invisible diety..than this PILL is for you!

4) If you enjoy trying to jump barbed wired fences in search of a better tomorrow, as well as just being kinda dirty and poor…than this PILL is for you!

5) Are you one of those gun-bearing trailer-trashin honky tonks, who know are a poor excuse for any mainstream blue-blood American? …than this PILL is for you!

6) Are you one of those retarded white females who just can’t seem to get the full notice of your white male counterparts? Well, just take half of the PILL that is just for you!

7) And finally, the demographic that started this particular genetic Crusade. The demographic that launched this entire medical experiment, and fortunately (for all of us) found a way to cure everyone…the faggots!
This PILL will most importantly cure you! No longer will you have that urge to wake up every morning, wanting to be ostracized by your family! No longer will you want to get married to your long-time lover (crazy!). No longer will you desire to be accepted by your childhood friends and church leaders….why?? Because you have the PILL!

The PILL; why not?!

Flavors come in:

Cherry (Red)

Blueberry (Blue)

And chewable Nazi-Sugar (White)

If we can discuss the question of taking a straight pill, than we should make a more realistic analogy. We can no more be turned straight as anybody else can change who they are, no matter the bigoted stereotypes.  We are who we are, and we all are proud.

Love,
Chase

Gay is the new black…

Another report about the conservative right that makes me want to puke.

Rick Warren, Silent Enabler Of Hatred

One of Rick Warren’s (and president George W. Bush’s) longtime allies in Uganda, Martin Ssempe, is the author of a classic piece of minority-baiting legislation. Its details belong in the history of genocidal hatred:

The Ugandan penal code already criminalizes sexual relations “against the order of nature,” a characterization that is frequently used to prosecute gays. Under the proposed Anti-Homosexuality Bill of 2009, homosexual relations are specifically targeted. Anyone in a position of authority who is aware of a gay or lesbian individual has 24 hours to inform police or face jail time. Individuals found to engage in efforts to sexually stimulate another for the purpose of homosexual relations, or found touching another for that purpose, will face life in prison. Those who engage in “aggravated homosexuality” — defined as repeated homosexual relations or sexual contact with others who are HIV/AIDS infected — will face the death penalty.

This is an act of terror and murder against an already beleaguered minority, and Warren is an accessory to it. As a powerful figure in distributing AIDS funding in Uganda, he cannot bring himself to oppose a law that would condemn someone in a gay relationship to death, and imprison him or her for touching another human being, and inciting a wave of informing on family members and friends and acquaintances in order to terrify a sexual minority. This alleged man of God cannot speak out on this – except to protect his own p.r. His schtick of actually being the nice evangelical – a schtick that got him to Obama’s inauguration – is a lie. If he cannot condemn this fascist act of violence against a tiny minority of vulnerable human beings, then his position in this struggle is clear enough.

Just as he publicly inveighed in favor of stripping gay couples of civil equality in California, and then pretended he didn’t, now he distances himself from Ssempe, while refusing to condemn this law reminiscent of early attempts to wipe out minorities in Serbia, Nazi Germany, and Rwanda. This is classic avoidance in an atmosphere of extreme danger. It is the same as the Catholic church’s disgraceful neutrality in Rwanda and Nazi Germany, as they saw a chance to enable others to wipe out a minority they wished could be wiped off the face of the earth:

Warren won’t go so far as to condemn the legislation itself. A request for a broader reaction to the proposed Ugandan anti-homosexual laws generated this response: “The fundamental dignity of every person, our right to be free, and the freedom to make moral choices are gifts endowed by God, our creator. However, it is not my personal calling as a pastor in America to comment or interfere in the political process of other nations.” On Meet the Press this morning, he reiterated this neutral stance in a different context: “As a pastor, my job is to encourage, to support. I never take sides.”

He lies. He has taken sides, whenever possible, to stigmatize, demonize and now physically threaten the lives of gay people in his own country and abroad. And his silence on this issue means the deaths of others. Warren needs to come out and condemn this law as evil, which it is. And to stop hiding his own enmeshment with the most virulent forms of fundamentalist hatred under the veil of media-savvy benevolence.

Hate Crimes Bill = Christians can’t kill Gays …Oh dear, Pat Robertson, what shall you do?!

In the month of October, 2009, President Obama signed the Hate Crimes Bill into law.

For me, I was so happy to have this additional protection for myself and others who posses added fear pertaining to our sexual orientation. Just like African-Americans may have felt fear by just walking down the street in the 1960s, gays and lesbians continue to fear for their own safety and wellbeing today. President Obama acknowledged this reality, and not only gave gays and lesbians better protection under the law, but also extended this protection to people’s religious beliefs. I found this to be a great step forward to help dissipate hate in every realm of our society. However, I guess Pat Roberston and I have very different options.

Now, before I go off, I will say that I can understand anyone’s general fear of losing one’s right to free speech. Being of the general belief that feels that government should only reach so far, I would not want to be of constant worry that what I say could be misconstrued or come back to bite me in the ass.

But really, c’mon….

For one thing, to actually twist this Hate Crimes Bill into being some sort of attack on free speech or religion completely boggles my mind. I find it humorous that the added protection for one’s own religious beliefs is completely ignored my Mr. Robertson. It proves that people like him really do not want a nation based on civil liberties, like FREE SPEECH….., but only want laws and rights based on his own personal belief and agenda.

But lets get down to the nitty gritty. Mr. Robertson, if you are honestly worried about you or other speakers/pastors being liable for hate crimes, then do not incite hate… seriously, if the Chuch has stooped so low as to be worried about being liable for HATE, then maybe it should refocus itself on more Biblical principlas…..perhaps, love?

This all bears one more important point; AS IF. As if you would actually be held responsible for someone else’s actions. Taking past history for an example, one could look at David Duke, perhaps America’s most well-known racist and anti-Semite. For all the hate he instilled in others, never once was he held liable for other members of the KKK’s violent actions. So, Mr. Robertson, unless you plan on being more radical than an infamous KKK Grand Master, I would say you have nothing to worry about.

I am sure this is not the last bitch/moan fest we will hear from the likes of Pat Roberton Inc. All I hope is that, in the future, we will hear what the bitching and moaning is really all about; Less power for you, equal protection for all.

Love,
CAH

Are you a “God Warrior?”

This clip was taken from an episode of “Trading Spouses,” a reality show that documents two mothers spending time with the each others’ family.  Marguerite Perrin, the jabba-like howler monkey in the clip, traded places with a mother who’s family does not believe in God, let alone Jesus, and ventures more on the mystic side of religion.  As Marguerite spent time time with her new family, she was exposed to ideas and concepts that were foreign to her.  Winter solstices, hypnotism, mendalas …what the hell??!!  Her lack of understanding turned to anger, well…more bitch-ass crazy, when she finally arrived home to her family.

Marguerite became an overnight sensation on the web after the episode debuted, and its not hard to see why.  The raw fury and dramatic over-expression of an obese Christian Fundamentalist makes for damn good television.  Most people, from whatever religion or background, watch this clip and instantly dismiss her as being some crazy back-watered cunt who needs a hard does of reality, and maybe one or two Valium.  At first, I was one of those people.  But as I watched again and again, I realized something:  Marguerite Perrin is the perfect external example of what every conservative right-wing American Christian internally thinks; she just has more balls.

During Marguerite’s time with the other family, she was introduced to a world which she never knew.  She was so ignorant on the symbols, lifestyles, and ideals surrounding her that in the end, she could only categorize them as, “dark sided” and “the this and the that.”  However, what is most interesting is that her confusion did not lead her to find answers, it lead to fear and anger. 

What we have here is the most blatant form of Christian hypocrisy shown in a most embarrassingly oblivious way.  To say you are a Christian is to say you believe in Jesus and His Word.  To say you are a Christian is to state that you have the truth.  Therefore, if you are a Christian, then why fear others who do not have what you have?  If you are a Christian, why is it a threat to understand another belief by all accounts you know is wrong?  If you are so confident in your belief, why is there a fear of being “turned to the dark-side.”  Where is the love that you “believe” is so powerful?

As we progress into an age where information becomes easier to access, where the Internet provides instant answers and countless sources of views, I have discovered an increasingly more hostile stance on religious views, and for good reason.  The bubble is no longer safe. 

There was a time that you could go through life without ever being forced to defend your stance on God.  The world was bigger, but your community was smaller.  The comfort of like-minds and the lack of opposing views made it simple to find meaning and purpose.  You would think that as we progress into this new information age, most people would be amiable to investigating aspects of their own viewpoints and attempt to verify questions which they could never before find an answer.  For many, the opposite has occurred.  The overwhelming terror of discovering a world that has the potential to destroy the essence of everything they have built causes them to reject an understanding of anyone that lacks a similar view.  But my question is this:  How is it that anger and fear can spur from truth?

If you truly believe in God and his Word, than you have nothing to fear, and you have nothing to defend.  How can ones ideas or knowledge spark such fear as to lead you back into the safety and comfort of your Christian community, if you say that you are supposed to share the good news?  That is the height of hypocrisy, and the proof of your religious insecurity.  Finding ways to justify your own belief is not seeking after anything, especially truth. 

I encourage us all to not fight or debate what we think is right, but have enough love and patience for one another that we may sincerely consider everyone’s thoughts.  We of course can disagree in the end, but at least we loved each other in the process.  If you quietly retreat back into the safety of your ignorant community, than you are no better than Marguerite Perrin, for at least she had balls doing it.

Love,

CAH