In a video posted on Friday, Ed Kelley, the editor of The Oklahoman newspaper, blasted Sally Kern, her supporters, last week’s “Sally Rally”, and her message.
Author Archive for Joe Brummer Page 3 of 6
Folks like Stacy and Randall Harp, Representative Sally Kern, Peter LaBarbera, Matt Barber and Stephen Bennett don’t see the damage caused by the constant negative images and messages they transmit to the public about gays and lesbians. I think it is hard for them to even believe what they are doing it hurting anyone or dangerous because they believe it is grounded in “God’s Work.” I must admit, I struggle with how to get the message across to them that their message is hurting more people than it helps. Many of these folks I have mentioned truly believe in their hearts that “warning” people of the horrors of the “gay agenda” and “gay” anything is compassionate and loving. Whle the intentions may be in the right place, the end result is not.
What folks, like I have mentioned above, fail to see is the cost of their barrage of negative images is human life. The constant message from these folks is dark and destructive. Can you imagine hearing this message and applying to yourself?
Imagine if you woke up each day, knowing your were gay and hearing messages that said you were not natural, deviant, after the children, a threat to the nation, diseased, perverted, more of a threat than terrorism. How would you feel? How would you feel about yourself?
These negative messages have consequences.
Meet Clive Richards, a man who was gay and so ashamed of being gay he lived in the shadows rather than be out. Like many closeted gay men, he would engage in sexual behaviors in the shadows rather than come out and live in the open with a partner. Clive was arrested for these behaviors. In his fear of being outed as one of those nasty homosexuals of whom he had heard so many negative things, Clive chose to kill himself rather than be outed.
Clive was an involved citizen, teacher and sang in a local choral group. He had friends, family and admirers who loved him. His internal picture of gays and lesbians was so negative, he would rather be dead than have it be known he was gay. On the day before his trial, Clive committed suicide.
Where do you think he got those negative images of being gay?
Why do you think he would be so afraid to be known as gay?
Now, if we could get anti-gay advocates to change the way they present their messages. If we could get them trained in Nonviolent Communication (Marshall Rosenberg, PhD) or some other method of communication, would this whole debate be different? Could we save some lives?
Ex-gay Watch has pointed me to this article and effort by Dr. Warren Throckmorton that is suppose to be the “evangelical Christian Response” to the Day of Silence. Day of Silence is a day where GLBT youth and their supporters vow not to speak for a day in protest of the violence and bullying gay youth experience on high school campuses. Throckmorton is proposing a “Golden Rule” as the Christian response.
Youth who participate in the Day of Silence campaign pass out small cards explaining why they are not speaking. Throckmorton is proposing that Christian youth respond by giving a card back. Dr. Throckmorton writes on his blog:
For those Christian students who attend school on that day, we propose a different option. We believe the teaching of Christ in the Golden Rule should guide our actions and attitudes regarding all. We also believe that we should make school a safe place for all students.
Thus, we advocate students spread a message like this on the Day of Silence:
I pledge to treat others the way I want to be treated.
Will you join me in this pledge?
“Do to others as you would have them do to you.” (Luke 6:31).
Because the Day of Silence participants will be passing out cards describing why they are silent and what the Day means to them, we advocate exchanging a card or paper in return. Write or type the Golden Rule pledge on pieces of paper or an index card and pass it out at your school if the Day of Silence is being observed.
This “christian response” event in itself, is a contradiction to the Golden Rule. Think about it, if you were having an event, would you want another group to “overshadow” or “compete” with your event. The idea of protesting the protest to deliberately take away from the message is not in line with the Golden Rule. The why are Christians doing it?
Why do Christians need a “response” to this event?
Christians can’t let any gay event go by without having the response to it. Yet if you stand up to them, they will scream that you are trying to silence them. Are they not trying to silence the message of the Day of Silence by having their own counter “response” event?
Throckmorton should stop this lunacy and stop trying to take attention away from the GLBT youth and their event. He wouldn’t want someone fudging his event, so why is he doing it to others?
I wasn’t going to address this article written by the husband of anti-gay Christian writer, Stacy Harp. I thought it mostly contains the same ole same old claims that have been refuted a dozen times over. He starts off with the explanation of the Sally Kern issue and tries his best to spin the logic. I don’t think he managed to make his case but that is because his case can’t be made. Sally Kern advocates violence whether intended or not and no matter how you spin it.
The major premise that Mr. Harp is trying to make is that the Gay Agenda is somehow separate from gays and lesbians as a class of people. Randall claims that the gay agenda isn’t the people as a class, but the strategy they are using to gain acceptance of their lives. He uses the gun lobby as an example. I call this idea short sighted and blind.
Randall writes:
In reality, “the homosexual agenda” does not mean gays and lesbians everywhere anymore than “the gun lobby” is synonymous with everyone who owns a firearm. In my estimation, the warning was not about a class of people, but a specific strategy being employed at several levels.
The gun lobby is searching for rights for something outside themselves. GLBT folks are seeking rights for their lives. The gun lobby wants laws to affect an object, whereas GLBT seek laws that affect human beings. The differences between them are so different that to compare them is to compare apples to the people who eat them. The gay agenda is about people not things. If Mr. Harp cannot see this huge difference, I am afraid of him and anyone else who cannot see the difference.
Randall continues with the privacy argument which again is short sighted and minimizing of the real issues at hand. Randall writes:
Now, I tend to lean a bit libertarian when it comes to personal endeavors. What someone does in the privacy in their bedroom is their own deal. If you want to do something with a consenting adult, a magazine, or a picnic table, I’d rather not know about it. That’s your business. If it was a matter of giving people their privacy, I’d be down with that - but there are radical activists pushing an agenda - not just about personal preferences - but a social revolution that entails silencing any opposition.
I always feel irritated when I read the whole “what you do in your bedroom thing” because it minimizes the whole scope of this dialogue down to a sex act. If Randall really thinks GLBT relationships boil down to what happens in the bedroom, I would fear his ability to empathize and understand other’s lives must be seriously impaired. This entire debate is about what happens outside of the bedroom. It is about what happens in the emergency room when our families are sick, what happens when we write up the car insurance policy or in whose name we can put the house. If this entire argument could be minimized to what happen in bed it would have ended many years ago. I would ask Randall, does your marriage simplify down to sex?
Randall then moves on with the whole “indoctrination” thing. He expresses his disapproval that we advocate teaching children from a young age that homosexuality is normal. He calls this teaching indoctrination because that is the current word of the party. Randall is towing the party line. I can’t really argue anything here, other than Randall and I disagree. I believe that we need to start teaching children from a young age that homosexuality is normal. Randall believes this is indoctrination. Our beliefs differ, so be it.
After this, Randall moves on to the scare tactics and fear factors. He brings up the homosexual agenda and lewd pride parades. I find this tactic, not just from Randall, but all anti-gay writers to be intellectually dishonest. Randall writes:
The “homosexual agenda” is about more than school curricula. It’s about lewd displays in “pride parades”, and placing activists at every level of government to ensure that gender is transitory and self-determined, and that one’s sexual preference is not simply tolerated (in the true sense of the word), but mainstream and celebrated in every place of society. Unfortunately, the only way to accomplish this “utopia” - where “breeders” (heterosexuals) are minimized - is to silence, marginalize, or prosecute anyone who does not embrace the same vision. Certainly, the promoters of this agenda are going to deny that such an agenda exists. A used car salesman is not going to tell you about the techniques he is using to sell you a car, nor many a politician tell you what they are hoping to gain by certain concessions.
Randall is careful to include scary stuff about pride parades and lewd behavior. I roll my eyes each time I hear these arguments because the same things could be said of heterosexuals but rarely are. The lewd behaviors of a small minority of gays are no more a part of the “gay agenda” then the small minority of people who strip at Mardi Gras or get filmed in a Girls Gone Wild video from Spring Break are a part of heterosexuals. I find it dishonest that Randall brings this murky stuff because the only intent of mentioning it is to invoke fear and disgust of GLBT folks. Sadly, such things are good at invoking both and the result is always dehumanizing.
He goes on with the “breeders” comment, and the silencing arguments all of which fail miserably under closer scrutiny, but are good at invoking fear and defensive attitudes. He also makes the claim that people say there is no gay agenda. I would agree with that. There is no gay agenda, there are several agendas and the end result of all of them is fair treatment of human beings with same sex attractions.
Randall then trends some dangerous ground comparing the “gay agenda” to carbon monoxide, known as the silent killer. He thinks this is okay, but it is not. He tries desperately to justify his own comments by saying he “knows gay people”, well I am sure many a KKK member knew blacks and Jews, that didn’t make anything, okay. The whole “its okay if I bash this group of people cause I know a few” is bogus.
Randall also claims that he does think people should define themselves by their sexual “preference” and I don’t know anyone who does. I have yet to meet anyone in my life gay or straight who has made a choice to be gay or straight. People have a “preference” for a flavor of ice cream, not their sexual orientation. The fact Randall even uses the word “preference” causes doubt in my mind about his claim of understanding this issue.
Lastly, the comment that made me sit down and write this is this:
“I do not advocate violence, but careful attention and diligence to preserve a world in which those who are willing to get along, can get along. Be watchful.”
Randall, the words “I do not advocate violence” should never, ever be followed by the word “but” or it says you do advocate violence. There is no “but” when it comes to this one. Either you do or you don’t. To say there is a “but” is to say there are times when violence is called for and I disagree with you. Violence should never be an answer, period.
When you create a call to action that some group is indoctrinating children, engaging in lewd behavior and taking over the government and media, you are creating a fear that people should defend themselves against said group.
You cannot run around the village screaming the gays are after the children, the gays are taking over; the gays are going to silence us, we must stop this before like a silent killer, they get us, etc…And then act surprised when someone acts violently towards us. I am not sure how you don’t see this, but I guess somehow you don’t.
I would ask you to start rethinking your strategy before you ask us to rethink ours.
At the “Rally for Sally” a “former” gay man named Stephen Black gave a speech about how homosexuality almost destroyed his life. He talks of the distant father syndrome which has long been a claim of the ex-gay/anti-gay folks for the roots of homosexuality. Claiming that homosexuality is caused because male children don’t have a strong enough masculine role model. This argument seems almost plausible until you look closer at the research and from their it all falls apart.
Dr. D. Michael Quinn in his book, Same-Sex Dynamics among Nineteenth-Century Americans: A Mormon Example (Urbana and Chicago: University of Illinois Press, 1996), pp. 4-6 (notes renumbered) wrote:
Another fallacy involves attaching great significance to the finding of many studies that homosexual men are “more likely” to describe their fathers as “distant, hostile, or rejecting” than heterosexual sons are.[12] Such a pattern is unsurprising in a culture that has negative judgments about homosexuality. In other words, since both heterosexual and homosexual American males report unsatisfactory relationships with their fathers, the higher incidence of strain between homosexual sons and their fathers is more likely a result of the sons’ “homosexual tendencies” rather than the cause.[13]
Other studies that have looked at the father son relationship in gay men have also found little influence but all of these studies are so outdated, none of them have much merit. All mainstream medical and mental health organizations have abandon these as myths. Only certain anti-gay groups like NARTH use these myths as a tactic to scare people into their programs.
Not to discount or minimize it, but Stephen Black’s story is the usual depressing, tragic story we always hear from ex-gays. Not every gay man or lesbian women had these tragic stories of drugs, bad parents and such. I, myself, have a great relationship with my dad. I wrote about that at the link below! My dad was always a part of my life and I still to this day admire and hope to be just like my dad.
Mr. Black also goes on with the myth that gays and lesbians have all been sexually abused. He even gives some numbers but no source for those numbers. He says in the speech:
Events of this type are significant and very common among those who struggle with homosexuality. About 65 percent of the men and more than 75% of the women we serve were sexually abused as children, though most do not really process the abuse until adulthood. The overwhelming majority of those we serve experienced what I call “sexual distortions” in their early childhood, assaulting their innocence. These distortions include voyeurism, exhibitionism, exposure to sexually explicit material from sources like the television, the Internet, porn-magazines, sexual talk from adults and peers.
No way for us to fact check them, but he claims that 65% of men and 75% of the women his ministry serves. That sounds impressive but how many people does his ministry serve? If it is 25 people then 75% is only 18 people. Considering their are an estimated population in America of 301,139,947, and lets say 3% of the population is gay that would mean 9034198 people are homosexual. Suddenly his 75% seems statistically insignificant if not downright meaningless. His use of these numbers is deceiving as what he wants you to believe about gays is not a reality.
The reality is that sexual abuse may confuse a persons sexual identity but it doesn’t cause it. Such myths like the one Stephen Black is spreading, do more harm than good. It is a myth that keeps abused children from speaking out about their abuse for fear people will think they are gay. With the current anti-gay climate, this myth is especially scary. Accurate information is the strongest tool we have in preventing sexual abuse in children. Myths will never help the situation. Ex-gays spreading these abuse myths cause great harm to children because they cloud needed facts.
The web resource for men called MenWeb and (also Male Survivor) writes this:
Myth #5 - Boys abused by males are or will become homosexual.
While there are different theories about how the sexual orientation develops, experts in the human sexuality field do not believe that premature sexual experiences play a significant role in late adolescent or adult sexual orientation. It is unlikely that someone can make another person a homosexual or heterosexual. Sexual orientation is a complex issue and there is no single answer or theory that explains why someone identifies himself as homosexual, heterosexual or bi-sexual. Whether perpetrated by older males or females, boys’ or girls’ premature sexual experiences are damaging in many ways, including confusion about one’s sexual identity and orientation.
Many boys who have been abused by males erroneously believe that something about them sexually attracts males, and that this may mean they are homosexual or effeminate. Again, not true. Pedophiles who are attracted to boys will admit that the lack of body hair and adult sexual features turns them on. The pedophile’s inability to develop and maintain a healthy adult sexual relationship is the problem - not the physical features of a sexually immature boy.
Stand up philosopher and performance artist Peterson Toscano even claims that being abused made him ex-gay, not gay.
The testimonies of ex-gays almost always involve the same dark, depressing stories that Stephen Black is giving. It is part of the one sided picture they present. In an email interview I did with Truth Wins Out Director, Wayne Besen about ex-gay testimonies, Besen states:
“If one reviews the self-reported testimonies of ex-gays, it appears a disproportionate number suffer from addiction, instability or emotional problems. Unfortunately, these individuals often blame their homosexuality for the issues they struggle with, when in reality it has little to do with their sexual orientation. In a state of vulnerability, these people are more susceptible to the seductive ex-gay message, that offers false hope and promises that are seldom delivered.”
Ex-gay ministries and anti-Gay groups like Americans for Truth are good as twisting the science, the facts and what ever else they can to create a picture of gays and lesbians that is complete false. The same old tired myths of over bearing mothers, distant fathers, sexual abuse, etc…. You can find a list of the common ex-gay claims at Truth Wins Out and Beyond Ex-Gay.
See previous articles:
Breaking Myths: The Uninvolved Father Makes Children Gay (with great pic of me and my dad)
Turning a Horrible Tragedy into Just as Horrible Hate Speech (with links to data on sexual abuse)
It is no secret on this website that Martin Luther King, Jr. has been a huge influence on my life. I have spent the last several years of my life studying nonviolence. It is impossible to study nonviolence without learning, reading and on many levels, living the message of Martin Luther King, Jr.
Today, the 40thanniversary of his assassination marks a legacy that was gifted to us. In learning about Dr. King and his message we learn that he believed in the beauty of mankind. He believed that given the opportunity, all men will be amazing. King, a Christian, espoused the beliefs and teachings of a Hindu named, Mohandas Gandhi. His ability to learn and live by the code of another’s religion should be a new lesson for us to learn today. Rather than try to change another’s beliefs to his own, King looked at Gandhi’s religion and work and applied it to his own. If only we could all do that.
King would have been a supporter of Gay rights. I know this with all my heart because I believe in the principles and Steps of nonviolence that King taught. The fist of King’s steps to solve a problem is to gather information. King would have listened to the stories of GLBT folks, read and studied the material available to make a clear decision. He would have seen what the experts say and tested it.
In the letter from the Birmingham Jail King wrote: “In any nonviolent campaign there are four basic steps: collection of the facts to determine whether injustices exist; negotiation; self purification; and direct action.” I believe that in the collection of those facts from all sides, King would have stood on the side of Justice. He would have looked at the studies and seen that the vast majorities of medical and mental health organizations agree on sexual orientation issues. They stand on the side of justice and full equality for GLBT folks.
King would have looked at both sides of the situation. He would have listened to the stories of hardship and discrimination, but he would have also looked at the beliefs which so many hold close to their hearts that claim homosexuality is a sin. In the end, I believe Dr. King would have determined that injustice was living and thriving for gay and lesbians Americans. I also believe he would have supported and fought to help end that injustice.
I have learned much from King’s writings and life story. I have learned that retaliation is a form of violence. I have learned that violence goes far beyond the fist. I have learned the most destructive forms of violence in our society lurk under our noses, racism, poverty, homophobia and religious bigotry. It won’t be the guns or fights that destroy us, but the class warfare and competition to have more power, more influence, more money.
One thing King left us was a legacy of hope that if we stand up, speak out and fight without violence, we can end war and oppression. King left us hope that we can change the world. I hope that we do, but I also realize the first step is deciding the world needs to change. I am afraid not everyone has come to that point.
I have recently been added as a syndication at Planet Atheism. I would encourage all of you to check out some of the thought provoking posts over there. Since I know not all my readers are non-believers, and I know you may not agree with all the thoughts discussed over there, they are still thought provoking, science promoting, cool things to discuss.
Welcome to those readers who have stopped by from Planet Atheism.
I have awaken this morning to find a notice on the Ipower website that they did some repairs to the SQL Database. It appears for now, that this site is running better. The speed and download issues seem to be corrected, if not pretty damn peppy!
All of the major news sources are reporting that around 1000 people showed up for a rally today in support of anti-gay Oklahoma Representative Sally Kern. Concerned Women for America is claiming 2000. Funny how 1000 people can either be missed or not counted. The truth of the numbers will come out in the end.
Either way, it doesn’t matter how many people came out to support Kern and her call to arms against gays and lesbians. Public support for an issue doesn’t make the issue correct. Slavery was popular but not morally correct. Shipping Japannese-American immigants off to camps during the second world war was also publically supported, but it was not morally correct. Having the support of the people, doesn’t make your cause the right one. It just means it is popular.
It seems to me that those who scream the loudest about their belief in Jesus Christ in their words seem to least reflect Jesus Christ in their actions. As the saying goes, it’s all talk but no walk.
I have added Feed Burner to the site. While I am not sure it is working correctly, time will tell.
The ever lacking in compassion, Peter LaBarbera apparently thinks our lives are a joke. Writing today on his AFT website, “Who needs April Fools Day Jokes when you have the radical ‘trans-agenda.’” Does this man think our lives are a joke?
He goes on to agree with and then publish an article written by Laurie Higgins regarding a pregnant, transgendered man. Higgins writes: “The presence in the pregnant woman of a desire to be a man, a clear symptom of a profound psychological disorder, and even the foolish legal accommodation of this symptom, renders this woman a man only in an illusory post-modern fantasy–not in reality where most of us live and breathe and have our being.”
I have two thoughts reading Higgins insensitive remarks, 1) If it is a pychological disorder, then is your idea of compassion to say “Oh, and by the way, I still believe I’m a hobbit trapped in a human body.” and 2) if it is not a disorder why are you writing about it?
When I read the “hobbit comment” from Ms. Higgins, I felt such anger. For someone who is living their life as transgendered, especially for young children who have been seen displaying gender identity disorder at very young ages, this is anything but a joke. The fact LaBarbera and Higgins are both making jokes about the hobbit and April Fools days miniminzes the experiences and hardships of so many families and individuals touched by a trans person in them. I would request that Ms. Higgins and Peter LaBabarbera apologize for their insenstitive handling of this recent news story.
Concerned Women for America, Active Christian Media and other right wing groups are supporting a rally for anti-gay Oklahoma Representative Sally Kern. Being billed as a “free speech rally for Sally Kern”, the rally is a complete misrepresentation of reality. It is nothing more than an inspirational event for gay bashers and could ultimately inspire violence against gays and lesbians.
The press release states: “Recently, Rep. Kern has been under attack from radical homosexual activists and their followers over remarks she made regarding the homosexual agenda. Rep. Kern took a Biblical stand against homosexual activism and has refused to back down from her statements despite receiving death threats.”
This is a complete misrepresentation of the truth.
1) Kern went far beyond a biblical stand. Unless one of these anti-gay Christians can show me exactly where the bible compares GLBT folks to terrorists and cancer. Kern’s stand was not biblical at all, unless lies and corrupted science are biblical. If they are, show me the verse and chapter.
2) The investigators from Oklahoma found no death threats to Kern. This one is a flat out lie according to news reports.
Next, these people are framing this as a “free speech” rally, but Kern’s freedom of speech has never been in question or attack. In fact, this writer would like Ms. Kern to continue speaking exactly as she has been. She along with countless others like Fred Phelps, Stacy Harp, and Peter LaBarbera make it much easier to show what hate looks like in real life. I would ask Ms. Kern to continue speaking out with her outrageous claims, but know that folks like me will be pointing out every flawed piece of research you spew.
The truth lies with us. When everyday folks look around and discover their gay neighbors, teachers, preachers, and work pals don’t look or act anything like the monsters these people have painted us to be, they are the ones who will have to answer to history. It will be these folks that will be looked back at as the oppressors, the monsters and the predators, not us.
As I have said before, these folks have taken their feelings and fears about gays and lesbians and crafted facts to back them up regardless how flawed those facts are. It would have been more humane and scientifically more sound to take the true existing facts and let those shape your feelings. This void of reason will be the fall of their hate.
They say the wages of sin are death, but it would appear that prayer doesn’t exactly help you either. In Clackamas County, Ore., a couple has been charged with murder after allowing their 15 month old child to die of a treatable infection. The reason they failed to get the child medical attention is that they were waiting for “prayer” to cure her. The couple are Followers of Christ Church in Oregon how have a history of choosing faith healing over medical care. This is sad considering it is not the only case of the same offense in recent weeks.
An 11 year-old girl in Wisconsin was allowed to die after her parents failed to seek medical attention, instead opting to wait and see if prayer would heal her. It didn’t work and the girl is now dead.
This more reason to question faith, question the efficacy of prayer. Question god.
Blow is Sally Kerns letter to the editor published today in the Oklahoma paper, the Tribune. I have added my notes and comments as needed.
Sally writes:
Here are some facts for my recent comments about the homosexual agenda. Health Issues: According to the CDC, men who have sex with men (MSM) have an HIV prevalence 60 times higher than the general population. The CDC found that MSM comprise only 1-2 percent of the population yet account for 64 percent of all syphilis cases. “The International Journal of Epidemiology” states that the mortality rate for those engaging in homosexual relations before age 20 have their life expectancy reduced by as much as 30 years. The CDC found both Hepatitis A and Hepatitis B disproportionately affects MSM. The study “The Longevity of Homosexuals” found that the average lifespan for lesbians is only slightly higher than that of homosexual men.
Ms. Kern is using the junk science of holocaust revisionist and pseudo-scientist, Paul Cameron. The study she cites here has been discredited many times over. I feel sad that Ms. Kern most likely doesn’t know that. She is working from her feelings and finding facts to support them. Rather than using the facts to shape her feelings toward gays and lesbians. The result of this can be nothing more than hatred and fear.
Jim Burroway from Box Turtle Bulletin certified Ms. Kern today as a Cameronite. This was not a good thing, but a statement of how misled she is, and she is misleading others with these false facts.
Sally continues:
Homosexuals insist they are born gay, yet a study by Dr. Neil Whitehead and Briar Whitehead on various cultures states: “If homosexuality were influenced by genes, it would appear in every culture, but in 29 of 79 cultures surveyed in 1952, homosexuality was rare or absent.” Regarding homosexual couples and domestic violence, a recent study by the Canadian government states that “violence was twice as common among homosexual couples compared with heterosexual couples.” The American College of Pediatricians cites studies (that report), “Violence among homosexual partners is two to three times more common than among married heterosexual couples.”
Sally spews these lies and studies that are over 50 years old. Just last night, 20/20 aired an episode featuring the largest study ever done on sexual orientation. So far, the lead researcher is convinced that the evidence strongly suggests sexual orientation is determined by biological and possibly genetics. So why is Ms. Kern spewing this? Did she not see the story? Has she not done her homework in sexual orientation or did she only choose to use facts that support her feelings of fear and hate and ignore the facts that say the truth.
She also mentions the American College of Pediatricians. This organization is a small religious organization with few members and no credibility. They have one employee and frequently are cited as a counterpoint to the 60,000 member American Academy of Pediatrics who support and affirm gays and lesbians. I would guess that Ms. Kern is also unaware of this misinformation as well. Sadly, she is a victim of misinformation.
She continues:
The homosexual agenda’s influence on education is evident from their own organization’s literature. Re-authorization of the federal Head Start program assesses children based on the radical ideas of the National Association for the Education of Young Children. Head Start curricula and assessments include gender issues, diversity and multiculturalism. A homosexual advocacy group, Safe Schools Coalition, has books for ages 2 to 8 promoting homosexuality, bisexuality and transgenderism.
Having books that mention or teach homosexuality is not promoting it. If I have books on playing cards, does that mean that every book on playing cards is promoting gambling? The flawed and scary logic anti-gay people use sometimes scares me.
She continues:
The book, “Tackling Gay Issues in Schools,” for K-12 gives teachers reasons for including homosexual, bisexual and transsexual lifestyles in schools. The Gay Straight Alliance offers instruction on teaching homosexuality in every subject. The Gay Lesbian Straight Education Network (GLSEN) has materials promoting the homosexual lifestyle. The National Education Association is sending all 16,000 public school districts in the U.S. a 24-page pro-homosexual booklet telling students that homosexuality is normal. “It’s Elementary” is a training video used in schools to persuade children that the homosexual lifestyle is normal. There is a homosexual agenda in our schools.
The film, “Its Elementary” is an award wining film that gets kids to learn and talk about the difference we all have. I wrote a fact sheet on the film here. Sooner or later the anti-gay, religious forces are going to need to submit to the fact that homosexuality is a normal part of life and always has been. Like many of the other ideas in the bible, science will take the upper hand and disprove the bible.
On she goes:
Anyone who thinks there is no homosexual agenda need only look here in Oklahoma to the newly formed Equal Rights Project created to help elect candidates by bridging the gay/straight community. The Equal Rights Project states “We felt we were uniquely qualified to help those running in the South and the Bible Belt. Running in these communities is much different than in California and New York. Our idea was to train, educate and support all candidates who support equal rights for all.”
Yes, Sally there is a homosexual agenda. It would be to be treated equally with dignity. To not be compared with terrorism and cancer would be high on the agenda.
She ends with:
Homosexuals are already citizens who have equal rights. They want “special rights” for the acceptance of their deviant lifestyle. I’m thankful that Oklahoma is different than California and New York. I pray it stays that way.
Sally seems to not understand, nor want to see the discrimination, abuse and suffering of GLBT Americans. I still contend that if she took the time to really understand GLBT folks, her song and dance would change. I am happy to report that America is changing.
Having millions of people turn out their lights, in thousands of homes, all over the world, all at once, in protest of Global Warming. It is the perfect act of nonviolent direct action in the spirit of Mohandas Gandhi. To make this work, each person must do their part. Turn out the lights tonight, between 8:PM and 9:PM and be the change you wish to see in the world.
FROM: holy bullies and headless monsters
It was just a matter of time.
Besides her Biblical admonitions about homosexuality, Sally Kern said there were studies as to the so-called “danger of homosexuality.”
In the past, she hinted about the studies, focusing on the religious side of the argument. But in a recent letter to the editor, she sent out what she feels are proof of her claims.
She really should have stuck to the religious side of the argument.
Two things stood out in Kern’s letter to the editor:
The study “The Longevity of Homosexuals” found that the average lifespan for lesbians is only slightly higher than that of homosexual men.
I looked it up. And that is a study conducted by our friend Paul Cameron. The entire piece is called The longevity of homosexuals: Before and after the AIDS epidemic
If you aren’t familiar with Cameron, let me give you a few facts about him:
1982 - He invented a story about a child being mutilated in the bathroom by a gay man. When the police investigated and found the story to be false, he admitted to making it up.
1983 - He was kicked out the American Psychological Association after an investigation that he distorted the work of six researchers to prove negative theories about gay men.
1984 - A. Nicholas Groth, director of the Sex Offender Program at the Connecticut Department of Corrections, complained to the Nebraska Board of Examiners of Psychologists about Paul Cameron’s usage of his work to make the claim that gays molest children at a high rate.
1985 - The Midwest Sociological Society censures Paul Cameron. Also, the American Sociological Association and the Society for the Study of Social Problems both pass resolutions against him.
Like pretty much all of Cameron’s work, the study, The Longevitity of Homosexuals, derives from his infamous 1983 survey regarding gays and lesbians. The survey contained many errors. Of over 4,000 people asked questions regarding sexual behavior, only 65 claimed to be gay or lesbian. Also, even before the study was completed, Cameron had publicly said it will prove negatives about gays and lesbians.
To find a good chronology of Cameron’s distortions and lies (and how he has been rebuked and laughed at by legitimate researchers and physicians), you can go here, here, or here (pan down to the time line).
Kern also says:
“The International Journal of Epidemiology” states that the mortality rate for those engaging in homosexual relations before age 20 have their life expectancy reduced by as much as 30 years.”
What Kern does not tell readers is that in 2001, the authors of the study went on record with the International Journal of Epidemiology saying that the religious right was distorting their work:
Over the past few months we have learnt of a number of reports regarding a paper we published in the International Journal of Epidemiology on the gay and bisexual life expectancy in Vancouver in the late 1980s and early 1990s. From these reports it appears that our research is being used by select groups in US and Finland to suggest that gay and bisexual men live an unhealthy lifestyle that is destructive to themselves and to others. These homophobic groups appear more interested in restricting the human rights of gay and bisexuals rather than promoting their health and well being.
The entire letter is here but I doubt Kern will want to read it.
Now I did not decipher the rest of Kern’s letter, but it stands to reason that these two distorted pieces of work she cites negates her entire premise. And I’m sure anyone digging through her letter can find more distortions.
It’s sad on so many levels. The saddest part is that Kern continues to mix distorted studies with Christian beliefs.
Sooner or later this thing is going to come to a point. But who is going to get stuck?
By the way, I wrote a nice, polite letter to the editor outlining the problems with Kern’s sources. The address is tribune@bethanytribune.net
Hint, hint, hint.
The more Kern talks, the irresponsible she reveals herself to be.
But here is the rub. It doesn’t matter as long as the truth doesn’t come out. Someone has to make sure people know exactly what she is doing. Not the fact that she is a “bigot,” or a “homophobe,” but the fact that she is using bad studies from a man so filled with lies that he couldn’t be truthful if his blood was replaced with truth serum.
That is the task that needs to be undertaken here.
I am still having some issues with Ipower and the SQL Server. This is causing the blog to load very slow at times. I got an email this morning saying they are in the last legs of adding some additional hardware to fix the issue. I hope it is repaired soon!
On a happier note, I have added and been added to the Atheist Blogroll. So, welcome to all those visitors who found their way here via the list!
Sally Kern, the Oklahoma State Representative who claims that gays and lesbians are more dangerous than terrorism or cancer has now claimed that PFLAG National has misrepresented her after their recent meeting. This has been the source of great joy for Peter LaBarerba who appears to be having some sort of a happy dance that rumors she was supporting non-discrimination laws are actually false. Rep Kern says:
“PFLAG has also spun my words to say that I am in favor of “sexual orientation” laws. I unequivocally do not support “sexual orientation” laws. While I do not advocate employers going on a witch hunt to fire homosexual employees who are performing their jobs in a manner just like any heterosexual employee, I do not support laws that would force employers to check their First Amendment rights to freedom of religion, speech, and association at the workplace door.”
I actually was starting to think the women had been enlightened until I saw this. It appears she is staying the course of her original call to arms against GLBT folks. Her words are just inspirational speeches for those who would harm gays and lesbians.
The fact Peter LaBarbera and Stacy Harp are still supporting a woman who compares gays and lesbians to other things in life we would seek to eliminate or destroy can only mean that these people are supporting a message of violence against gays and lesbians. People should be outraged at this.
Finding that Sally supports allowing employers to fire employees for being gay proves to me she has little or no understanding of GLBT folks. I feel confident if Ms. Kern spent some time learning about the issues, the struggles and the discrimination, she would sing a different song. I also feel confident that is true for Peter. (We all know that Peter LaBarbera has not understanding of GLBT folks)
For Harp, Labarbera and Kern this is about them not others. This is about them needing to make money, stay elected, and certainly because they are too afraid to stand up after all these years of spreading misinformation about gays and lesbians. Just the fact that everything they have to say about GLBT is negative should be your first clue that they have no balance in their view.
I am angry at this constant barrage of hate, but grateful that the majority of the world is moving away from it.
Tonight’s two-hour show will have a segment on DNA, Biology and Sexuality. Check your Local listings to see the time in your area. I myself would love to see this sitting in a a room with Peter LaBarbera, Matt Barber, Randy Thomas and Steve Bennett. I will instead write about this later after I see the show.
It is expected the show will focus on the science we have so far about sexuality. They are also doing a piece on ex-gays, religion and sexuality. This should be interesting. A printed piece can be found here.
Continuing the small series I have been doing about why I am no longer a Christian, and how I became an atheist, I wanted to point out another of the larger reasons that Christianity and most religions stop making sense for me. In fact, these are some of the larger issues that drew me away from any belief that the bible could be the word of god. It is these beliefs that also caused me to think twice about any of the other explanations for theism.
All of the current religions on earth have two particular flaws that lead me to discount them as myths.The first of these flaws is the scope of unanswered questions about the origins of life. None of the current religions on earth mention earlier species of man or the dinosaurs. They have elaborate stories of the creation of the universe but none of the stories contain anything about the enormous scope of life on earth. There is no mention of the causes of disease which modern science can attribute many diseases to microbial life. Would the written word of god not want to warn us of the things that might kill us like viruses and bacteria?
The Torah, the Islamic text, and the bible are the written scriptures of the three Abrahamic religions. None of these texts mention dinosaurs, earlier forms of man, microbes, any many other forms of life. In fact, they also do not mention most animals outside the geographic location of the writings and beliefs. Hence there were no Kangaroos on the Ark and we never hear of any religion sacrificing a raccoon. Chances are because those animals are not native to the area or the time.
But wouldn’t a book, that is suppose to be the word of god, extend past what is immediately around us? Wouldn’t the creation story of any religion at best mention even briefly things that go beyond geographic locations?
In summary so far, this would make flaw number one: The shabby creation stories and lack of mention of some larger things like animals outside the regional scope.
The second of the big flaws for me was the lack of mention of the scope of the universe in any of the scripts. I feel convinced that a book that claims to be the inspired word of a creator, explaining the creation of all things would have some mention of what else is in the Universe. There is no mention in the texts for any religion (except scientology but that is certainly more a cult) about life outside or beyond this planet. In fact, there is no mention of other planets.
The three Abrahamic religions all mention the stars but speak of them as if they are 1) just there to leads us at night or 2) just decoration for us to appreciate from time to time. We now know that neither of those is accurate. We know what stars are and what they are made of and the explanations in the bible are pretty small compared to the scope of what we are talking about in reality. Billions and billions of stars and the bible barely mentions them? I find that quite suspect if this book were really sent to us by god.
The scope and size of the universe is another piece of the puzzle that lead me away from a belief in Christianity. I had a real hard time grasping the far reaching “saving” thing in the crucifixion and so on. Now, when Jesus died on the cross and saved us from sin, does that cover other life forms or just man? What if there is life out there? Did he go and die on a cross in the other galaxies or was what happen here payment for our sins on every palnet?
When religious folks say the world is fallen, is it just this planet or all the billions and billions and billions of planets? Do the Ten Commandments just apply to us or to every life form we might find?
I know some of you reading this think I am being a smart ass or anti-Christian, but these are really the thoughts I had when I was doing some soul searching over the past 20 some years.
I had a women email me one day and ask me how I could reject god. I don’t reply to those emails but I did think about it. It was never a rejection but more of a disappointment. It was like the light when off and I knew my mom and dad were really Santa. I was sad to stop believing. I wanted to believe in Santa, he sounded like he was just what the world needed, but he just isn’t real. That is exactly what I have gone through emotionally, mentally, and intellectually over the last 20 years.
I have to say, it would be nice to believe in god. The reality is I don’t believe in Jesus or god anymore than I believe in the tooth fairy, santa, guardian angels or unicorns. I use to see god as above all those things, but now the idea of a creator or savior falls into the same category as all the other gods I didn’t believe in like Thor, Allah, Ganesh or Zues. You can now add the god of my childhood, Jesus Christ.
An article from this week’s Divine Providence.
Unconfirmed reports have been presented to Divine Providence that the National Organization for Marriage is opening an office in Rhode Island next month. The National Organization for Marriage, or NOM “is a nonprofit organization with a mission to protect marriage and the faith communities that sustain it…NOM serves as a national resource for marriage-related initiatives at the state and local level” according to its website. In anticipation of the battle for same-sex marriage expected in 2009-2010, the New Jersey-based organization is recruiting support within Rhode Island.
NOM’s Director, Maggie Gallagher, is a nationally-recognized opponent of same-sex marriage and has testified before Congress on the issue. The organization utilizes a split 501c3 and 501c4 structure to permit it the latitude for both lobbying and tax-deductible fund-raising activities. A relatively new (2007) organization, NOM is the brainchild of Gallagher and Robert George, a Princeton professor, Harvard Law Emeritus and long-time foe of GLBT rights. NOM is unique in its academic approach to conservative activism. The Board of Directors includes Chuck Stetson (known for his uncompromising proselytizing of Christian fundamentalism), Witherspoon Institute Founder Luis Tellez, Brigham Young Professor Matthew Holland, Connecticut-based Ken von Kohorn and Brian Brown, and Neil Corkery, a native Rhode Islander (not affiliated with DATA).
Gallagher spoke at a meeting of Rhode Island Catholic leaders in early March. At that meeting, Gallagher stated “The big myth is that this is going to affect only ‘Adam and Steve…you want to ask me how is gay marriage going to affect you? Here’s my answer, people… like you and me who think marriage is the union of husband and wife are [going to be treated] like bigots who opposed interracial marriage.”
Anthony R. Picarello, Jr, General Counsel for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, on the issue of legal avenues available to prevent same-sex marriage in Rhode Island, commented “the litigation will be costly for the Church in terms of money, time and reputation. It seems that politically is where this needs to be stopped, because that’s really the only place where there’s hope, and I’d say there’s good hope.” Picarello’s statements mirror statements by same-sex advocates, who have asserted in the past that the road to marriage in Rhode Island lies through the legislature, not the courts. In October, 2007, The National Organization for Marriage launched a statewide billboard campaign attacking Massachusetts legislators who voted to betray marriage in a June 14 vote on the Massachusetts Marriage Amendment. The first billboard was posted in Springfield criticizing Angelo Puppolo’s for his support of the marriage amendment. Puppolo was one of eleven legislators who changed his vote to support same-sex marriage after asserting his opposition to the amendment. The billboard features prominently “betrayed” and makes reference to Puppolo’s marriage vote.
Active Christian Media, run by Stacy Harp and Faith 2 Action run by Janet Folger are asking folks to support Rep. Sally Kern and her message aginst GLBT folks. Both Harp and Folger claim the Rep. Kern was only “declaring that the homosexual lifestyle is wrong and has serious consequences” but that isn’t what Rep. Kern did at all. Rep. Kern compared GLBT folks to Cancer and made the claim that gays are a bigger threat than terroism. That is far different than simply voicing opposition.
Sally Kern says:
If you got cancer or something in your little toe, do you say, well you know, I’m just going to forget about it because the rest of me is just fine. It spreads, and this stuff is deadly and it’s spreading and will destroy our young people and it will destroy this nation.
Ms. Kern is making a call to arms. She is asking people to destroy GLBT folks before they destroy the nation. Such comments and calls to violence should never be supported. I believe Pastor Scott Jones said it quite bluntly when he pointed out the cancer is something we seek to eradicate and kill. Terrorism is something we seek to eradicate and kill. I am baffled that Ms. Harp and Ms. Folger would ask others to support a message thats seeks to eradicate and kill gays and lesbians.
Whether or not you support gays and lesbians, no one should support messages that compare gay people to things we should eradicate, annihilate and kill. Such statements should be condemn and discouraged. I would request that Ms. Harp and Ms. Folger acknowledge that their friend Rep. Kern just went too far and stop defending speech that ultimately leads to violence.
Peter LaBarbera took some time to write this Easter message that makes the usual false claims about sexuality not being innate and people are not born gay. These statements are not congruent with the medical and scientific community. Study after study shows that homosexuality is linked to biology some way. While all the facts are not organized into little boxes like Peter would like, they are pointing the finger in a direction that is the opposite of anything Peter would have you believe about gays and lesbians. (You can read about the current research including the face study, a new twin study and a study of handedness at this link) I apologize my site is still loading really slow, but be patient it will load.
Peter goes on to make some strange comparisons that are not even real comparisons, like comparing homosexuality to rape, addiction, murder and other colorful but of course all negative things. Keeping in mind, Peter wants you to see gays and lesbians in negative lights and only negative lights.
Jeremy over at GAY took Peter to task over his one sided, myopic religious views and pointed out some of the many flaws and problems that plague Peter’s thinking. He gave Peter the 101 on making proper comparisons just like we were all taught in kindercare and Peter must have forgotten. I was happy Jeremy took the time to address this because I don’t seem to have the drive to correct Peter’s misinformation that I use to have.
Peter thus responded to Jeremy with more of his narrow minded theology and ample scientific errors. Peter writes:
“What Jeremy doesn’t understand is that just because he feels that his homosexuality is some innate “orientation” - a natural, innocuous desire - that does not make it true. The Bible - regarded by Christi-followers throughout the centuries as the divinely-inspired Word of God - takes a view that is polar opposite that of today’s homosexual advocates.”
You’ll see Peter starts off talking about biology and science but then strays off to the bible where science becomes a moot point. Someone should tell Peter that science is explaining sexuality to us and it isn’t saying what the bible is saying. Peter will just need to deal with the fact that the facts don’t line up with his bible, but the facts are reality.
To keep this cat and mouse game going, Jeremy has posted a reply to Peter’s reply that made me laugh out loud. First, it was the picture and caption that makes the ever adorable Jeremy look even cuter, but pretty damn funny trying to look all tough and Al Pacino-like…..(Taxi Driver) Beyond the entertainment value of this, Jeremy again, and as usual makes some great points about Peter’s closed mind and how different this whole conversation would be if Peter would stop and really look at the evidence.
Jeremy also takes Peter to task on his use of crappy ex-gay studies that rather than prove Peter’s point really make ours. The number of people who change their sexual orientation is so low it isn’t worth claiming people can change. Peter can only seem to show a few very unscientific examples of how gays can change and ignore the stories of hundreds of people who have showed him the harm of ex-gay therapy.
DISCLAIMER: This article is solely about my thoughts and beliefs and has no bearing on others thoughts and beliefs. (This article goes deeper into my mind then most, so please hold onto the bar. The following may take several passes before you get what I am saying. Trust me, this has been swimming around my head for 10 years, getting it out in 10 paragraphs might be rough.)
Continuing with my writing this week about my reasons for losing my religion and no longer believing in god, I thought I would write a bit about this Easter. Easter, which is celebrated tomorrow, marks the day Christians reflect on one of the main tenants of their faith, the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
The story of Easter is that Christ died and was then resurrected three days later and with this conquered death (created by god.) This then saved us from sin (also created by god). It is believed that through Christ’s death we somehow have been saved. I have always had the same philosophical question with this: “Saved from whom or what?” God created everything, including sin. He then sent his son to save is from what he created?
Most Christians I know have some very elaborate answers to this, but I still think this makes absolutely no sense whatsoever. Hence, I am no longer a believer. The whole idea that a creator would have to save us from something he ultimately had to have created is baffling to me.
We see the statement on bumper stickers, t-shirts and funny enough spray painted on the side of bridges (it is okay to vandalize as long as your message is from god) “Jesus Saves” is got to be the most popular phrase to spray paint on a bridge. Does it mean he shops discount or cuts coupons? No, it somehow means he saves people from sin (a concept he had to have created if he created everything).
A major belief for Christians is that Jesus died on the cross to “pay” for their sins, but exactly who did he pay? If Jesus is god, then did he pay himself? Of course he did, there is no one else to pay. The long and short version in a nutshell:
God creates man with the ability to sin, names that free will but being all knowing, is aware of everything we will do before we are even created.
God doesn’t like sin and gets angry that Adam and Eve eat fruit they were told not eat. They only ate it because the talking snake, that god had to have created because he created everything, told them to eat it. (Snakes talk?)
He destroys the world because of sin with flood but then starts over but keeping the sin thing as a concept.
God still dislikes sin so much, even though had to have created it, he created everything that he throws down some fire and brimstone on the City of Sodom because of their many sins.
Next, still unhappy people are sinning, he sends his son as payment for sin. The payment must be made (in a bloody, violent, crude and sinful fashion) creating the ultimate contradiction. God said “thou shalt not kill” but then sent his son to be killed “a sin” to stop sin? So the sin of breaking the commandment about not killing is the sin that saved us from sin? Did I mention that Jesus is god? That would mean that God sent himself to die and save us from himself?
If you have read the above and had a hard time making sense of it, that would be due to the fact it makes no sense. As I said, this article is more about why I no longer believe in Christianity and that would be because it stopped making sense.
I read this article on the blog Chester Street where the author is having as hissy about how Jesus is god. This complicates everything even further. Now, we need to add this factor to the mix. God realizes over coffee one day that payment is needed to someone for some reason for sin, so he determines that someone must be killed as payment for this to someone, even though he command us not to kill. He sends himself to earth in the form of his own son to be killed by us. He somehow determined that we need to sin to save us from sin. (Wow, my brain is tired and I am not even done with all the contradictions and philosophical issues with this yet.)
It baffles me even more that many Christians don’t question any of this stuff. They just believe it. Either that or they are not being honest about being “true” Christians. Sadly, they are ready to discriminate based on this stuff, go to war on this and even protest the funerals of those who went to war over this stuff. Is it any wonder that I object?
A bit of reverse Psychology. I think it raises a good conversation on how dehumanizing the whole gay gene search can be.
This is a letter I sent to the Victory Fund today. It would be my hope that this message gets out.
Dear Victory Fund,
Thank you to the Victory Fund for your work exposing the comments made by Oklahoma Representative Sally Kern. Her words were a stark and sad reminder how far we really have to go before we are seen as normal in the eyes of those living in the heartland of America. I thought the video and the show of disapproval were a great way of bringing her comments into the sunlight of justice where they can be seen as the damaging and hurtful call to arms that they are.
Sally Kern’s words filled me with sadness. To be compared to a terrorist because of who I love was and is painful. I remember watching planes fly into the sides of buildings, killing thousands of people on September 11, 2001. I remember wondering who would do such a thing. I wondered how I could ever find empathy for those people. I still struggle to do that, but need and wish to be compassionate and know I cannot truly be compassionate until I can find forgiveness when others do wrong against me. I refuse to be anything but loving, forgiving and stronger than those who hurt me. I believe it takes more strength to stand up in love than it does to lash out in retaliation.
To be compared with the same people who I saw flying planes into the side of a building is hurtful, but again I refuse to sink to the level and energy that produced such comments in the first place. I refuse to hate Sally Kern and I also refuse to wish anything but the best for her. I refuse to applaud those who sent her nasty messages or emails because I believe those things only serve to create more fear. They do us no good.
I do applaud the rallies and petitions that call for her removal. I applaud the nonviolent actions that respectfully and with dignity ask Ms. Kern to step down from her position. I felt confident we could rise above such hate when I saw that a group of GLBT folks wanted to meet with Ms. Kern. Nothing could be more powerful then knowing she has seen us in a true and real light.
I would hope that the next time the Victory Fund is in a position to bring such hurtful and inaccurate comments to the surface, that they urge the GLBT response to be nonviolent. It is sad we need to make such a call but it appears we do. Ms. Kern is no different than the Bull Connors, the Senator Bilbo’s or the Fred Phelps family, but our response must rise above the hate. The only true remedy for hate is love. The only force strong enough to defeat injustice is the power of unarmed and nonviolent truth. We as GLBT Americans must learn from the civil rights movements before us that no matter how much violence and hate they shoot at us we will let no man drag us so low as to make us hate them.
Sincerely,
Joe Brummer
I have been having some interesting chat over at the blog run by DL Foster called, Gay Christian Movement Watch. In this conversation, I have heard from Christians who claim that those who do not believe in god have chosen to reject god. I would suppose that this claim is not only false, it is impossible.
Now the following will be deep and philosophical. You have been warned…..
I find it impossible that anyone could just “choose” at will to believe in god and more than they could choose to believe a tea pot is orbiting the earth. Like all of our beliefs, our belief in god is a conclusion reached by examining evidence (regardless how faulty that evidence may be.) Christians examine the evidence and then come to a conclusion that the god of the Judeo-Christian bible is the one true god. Muslims examine the evidence and come to the conclusion that Allah is the one true god. Atheists on the other hand look at the evidence (and the multitude of choices for a god) and come to the conclusion that none of these are god. Thus the belief is not a choice but a conclusion.
This all becomes more complex when we look closer since we find that a belief in god only scratches the surface. If one were able to just “choose” to be a Christian they would need to suddenly, believe in not just god, but a set of beliefs. First of those being that there is a god followed by the belief that this god is actually involved in our lives, followed by the idea that there is an afterlife and the god choose who gets what in that after life. After all of these belief are now chosen, you would have to choose that the bible is actually written about god, and that historically Jesus existed (which I would agree he did) and that Jesus is actually the son of god, etc..etc.. etc….
Bottom line is that no one could possibly choose to believe all of those things at the drop of a hat anymore than they could believe that Elvis is still alive. To test this hypothesis, I would suggest to you that you “make” yourself or “choose” for yourself, right now to believe that Elvis is alive. Can you?
If you were able to convince yourself, at whim, to believe Elvis is alive then you can now take my theory and toss it out the window. If you were unable to just suddenly “choose” to believe Elvis is alive, would someone be able to say your reject the living Elvis? Of course not, that would be ludicrous. How can you reject something you do not believe exists?
If I said to you that it was snowing outside and it was July in Rhode Island would you be able to “choose” to believe me? Of course not, based on what you know about the universe and the weather, you would conclude I am lying and that it is not snowing in July. This is the same concept as a Christian (or Muslims) telling you believe or else….even at the threat of damnation, no one can just “make themselves” believe in god. It is just impossible. It would involve a process of abandoned reason in order to believe in the god of the bible (or any other god).
To say that I choose to reject god therefore damning me to hell is also a matter of free will. I would suppose that either free will doesn’t exist or that god is not all knowing. You cannot have it both ways. It would make god one sick and cruel creator if he knew before creating me that I would end up in hell, yet he created me anyway. That would make god an asshole! Since I have been told my entire life that “god is love,” then the fact he would knowingly send his creations to a pit of fire means one of two things: 1) He is an asshole after all or 2) He doesn’t really exist. After years of anguish about this, I have concluded on #2.
For the record, if I were a god and I were to create a being, and claim I loved it, it would never have a tortured end. If I, being all knowing, knew my creation would suffer in a fire pit for all eternity, I would simply not create it. I instead would go out for coffee with the other gods or create something that I “knew” would not have a tortured after life.
I am not sure about others, but I have struggled with a bit of frustration at some of the responses from GLBT folks to Sally Kern. There is even a myspace page called “shame of sally” but I don’t see how this type of response helps us. I realize their intentions are great, but those they need to reach are more turned away from this then reached by this. We rally those on our side already and push those against us further away.
People on this myspace page make fun of her hair, her ideas, her religion and then wonder why she dislikes us or finds us a threat. The song on the myspace layout is “if I only had a brain.” I was angry when I saw this. Is our answer to hate just more hate? How does this help?
They are announcing a rally in Oklahoma and they are selling shirts with pictures of Sally Kerns with “witty” things on them. I only hope the witty sayings are respectful.
I am personally embarrassed by the way so many of the GLBT folks have reacted to Ms. Kern’s comments. Hate is no more a cure for hate then violence is a cure for violence. I guess for so many these witty comments are like Chicken soup is for a cold. It doesn’t help at all, but it makes you believe it does.
Americans for Truth has already started to use these replies against us. Any chance the anti-gay forces have to paint us in a bad light and they will take it. So why do we hand it to them so easily? Violence as a tactic, whether it be of word, spirit or fist, will backfire. It fails as the outcome it posed to reach because it invokes fear.
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