Nauseating Contempt on Display in the Name of Christianity

In the post-Michael Sam "coming out" story, the sports world is abuzz with talk of "the gays." As I do many days, I listened to the Paul Finebaum Radio Show today. I'm kinda sorry I did.

There were some very progressive, wonderful calls from LGBT advocates, but the majority were people who expressed one or more of the following views, all in the name if their Christian faith.

It's not natural. Animals are not homosexual.

Homosexuality is a mental illness or disorder.

There is therapy and/or faith to cure homosexuality.

You don't have men and women sharing showers, so straight men and gay men shouldn't share showers.

Maybe we should consider gays a different species, said with "all due respect."

We're not bigots because we are just expressing our religious beliefs.

Why do people hate Christians who stand up for what the Bible says?

Being gay is a choice.

Michael Sam's announcement is part of advancing the "Gay Agenda."

He should have just stayed in the closet.

I actually did call in and made a couple of points. But not all of my thoughts made it on air, so, this is my catharsis.

It's not natural. Animals are not homosexual. Uh, yeah, they are. This is just one FAMOUS example.

Homosexuality is a mental illness or disorder. Uh, no it isn't."[E]mpirical evidence and professional norms do not support the idea that homosexuality is a form of mental illness or is inherently linked to psychopathology."

There is therapy and/or faith to cure homosexuality. No, there isn't. It is not a disease and does not need to be cured. The American Medical Association opposes the application of reparative or "cure the gay" therapy.

You don't have men and women sharing showers, so straight men and gay men shouldn't share showers. Guess what, homophobes! You're already are sharing locker rooms and showers with gay people. 10% or more of the human population is gay. You just don't know they're gay. Gay men are not predators. Unless straight men are, this should not be a concern.

Maybe we should consider gays a different species, said with "all due respect." This guy was actually tearful in his sincere sadness over the poor, put-upon Christians who can't express their contempt for the gays without being called bigots. Boo hoo. You are a bigot. A sincere bigot. But a bigot. You actually suggested gays be considered a different specie "with all due respect." So, you mean, NO respect is due to gay people, then.

We're not bigots because we are just expressing our religious beliefs. Yes, you are. You do not have the "right as Christians" to judge or condemn anyone. Yet you do. You DO have the right as Americans in a free society to be as bigoted as you want. Bigot away, Bigots! But please, for the sake of actual Christians who love God, love their neighbor, and refrain from judging as Christianity teaches, stop saying you're showing contempt and condemnation for gays because you're a Christian.

Why do people hate Christians who stand up for what the Bible says? I don't know anyone who hates Christians. I do know of people who HATE the hypocrisy of choosing the parts of the Bible you want to rely on and ignoring others. Are you joining political campaigns to force widows to marry their brothers in law? Are you signing petitions to prohibit divorced people from re-marrying? Do you eat shrimp? Picking and choosing arcane Biblical provisions to marginalize your fellow citizens is not Christianity. At least, it's not any form of Christianity that I would be a part of.

Being gay is a choice. No it isn't. Even the Mormon church acknowledges this. But if you insist, let me ask, when did you "choose" to be heterosexual? But I'm liberal enough to say this: so what if it is? We live in a free society where we choose with whom we associate. Just mind your own business.

Michael Sam's announcement is part of advancing the "Gay Agenda." Ooooo I hope he gets a new toaster! Come on! The only "agenda" is  to be treated with equal respect, equal dignity, and equal legal rights. Is that a threat to you?

He should have just stayed in the closet. This is like the racist who likes "colored folks" just fine so long as they stay on their side of town. Bullshit. It's bigotry. Sickening.

It's not like Utah is a bastion of gay rights (though we do have at least one good federal judge) but the level of ignorance, misinformation, and outright superstition coming from these callers was a little shocking to me. I have no hope that they will get Above Their Raisin'. I'm afraid time and attrition is required to rid our society of this cultural cancer. When faced with this type of hatred, ignorance, and bigotry, I find it comforting to consider what Jesus of Nazareth said about homosexuality.

Not. One. Word.

Throwing Shade on Arkansas

One of the things that I have always appreciated about human beings and human society is that, although it may take too long and require too much sacrifice, we are capable of moments of enlightenment through the intellectual exercise of reason.

Most human beings are taught a moral code based on religious doctrine. Writings considered by said humans to be sacred scriptures, and their interpretation, are used as the yard-stick for "right" and "wrong." Many of these moral standards are universal from one religion to another: Do not kill without certain, defined justifications. Do not have sex with those to whom you are not married. Do not steal. Do not cheat people out of money. You get what I mean. But every once in a while, we lowly humans decide - on our own - that there are moral principles NOT found in scripture.

For example, how a husband treats his wife. For many centuries, how a husband treated his wife was totally up to him. She was his. And if he decided she was disrespectful or - for whatever reason - he could beat her. (The saying "rule of thumb" comes from the English common law that a husband could only beat his wife with a stick as big around as his thumb.) And although you can probably quote some scripture that would suggest that God does not want a man to treat his wife this way, I bet you cannot find one that prohibits all physical punishment of a wife by her husband.

Or what about ending a marriage? The Bible says the only grounds for divorce is adultery. But very few people in our society would suggest making that our law. What if she refuses to ever have sex with him again? What if he takes all the money and loses it gambling? What if she beats the kids? What if he beats her? What if they just HATE EACH OTHERS' GUTS?

But the biggest and best example, IMO, is slavery. The Bible actually has rules on how a master is to treat his slaves, and rules for how slaves are to behave with respect to their masters.

5 Slaves, obey your earthly masters with fear, trembling, and sincerity, as when you obey the Messiah. 6 Do not do this only while you’re being watched in order to please them, but be like slaves of the Messiah, who are determined to obey God’s will. 7 Serve willingly, as if you were serving the Lord and not merely people, 8 because you know that everyone will receive a reward from the Lord for whatever good he has done, whether he is a slave or free.

9 Masters, treat your slaves the same way. Do not threaten them, for you know that both of you have the same Master in heaven, and there is no favoritism with him.

Ephesians 6:5-9 So, on earth, slaves are to treat their masters like gods, but it'll all be OK when they get to Heaven because although the almighty is apparently OK with slavery on earth, we will all be equal in the afterlife.  Be a good slave and you'll get to go to Heaven! YAY!  (I'm being a little snarky, but really, isn't this offensive? It is to me.)

It is at this moment when you might think, "Well, yeah, but the Bible was written 2,000+ years ago when slavery was OK." To which I have 2 responses:

The first is: "EXACTLY! So stop freaking trying to impose its arcane moral code on modern people!! We have science now and we understand human beings down to their DNA molecules. We know that people born with epilepsy are neither "demon possessed" nor a "messenger from God." We know (at least those of us who believe in science know) that gay people are born gay. We know that rain is a result of atmospheric conditions, not dancing, praying, sacrificing goats or chanting. We know that men who beat their wives are douchebags. And we know that slavery is a horrific, evil thing. Stop ignoring the parts you have a problem with and enforcing the parts that make you feel holier than thou (or me). It only makes you look like a hypocrite."

The second is: "No, slavery has always been wrong, and the Bible's failure to say so is not a failure in us but a failure in the text."

Which brings me to the point of the blog (sorry it took so long). A man running for office in Arkansas thinks slavery is an OK thing because Jesus did not say otherwise. I don't mean a man who ran for office in Arkansas in 1857 thought this. I mean a mean running for office NOW thinks this.

I have to concede that this man's ignorance is an argument against evolution, but I suggest that not all members of a specie evolve at the same rate. This may be especially true of old, bearded white men in Arkansas. What's worse: there are actual GOP members and supporters who have endorsed him, including the NRA.

I know of no argument to persuade someone like Loy Mauch (R-AR) how wrong he is. I cannot use the Bible to persuade him, that's the book he's using to defend himself. And I sure as hell cannot rely on his own enlightenment. He is an embarrassment to Arkansas, to the US and to everyone who considers him/herself a Christian. All I can hope for, Arkansas voters, is that you will get Above Your Raisin' and vote against this racist, offensive man.

 

Being from the South Is a Disability

(I will endeavor to be funny in this blog most of the time. But this is a not-really-humorous introduction to this blog. Expect a lot of writing making fun of the South, or alternatively, defending it when some redneck in some other part of the country or world does something to deprive the South if the monopoly on stupid.)

I have lived in Utah for almost 16 years, a place known for being a "Mormon" state, yet I get a consistent barrage of remarks about being from Alabama. Despite the fact that I am more cosmopolitan than many of my fellow Utahans, the comments never really stop. But it's OK. I agree with most of their remarks about Alabama.

I like to get to know people before they know where I'm from. If I don't, assumptions are made. Assumptions about my religious beliefs. Assumptions about my political positions. Assumptions about my attitude about guns, abortion, economics, etc. And even assumptions about my intelligence.

So although I managed to grow up in the South and get educated and find a job that pays in money and not chickens, I am handicapped by my birthplace by perception. People make assumptions about me because of where I came from. So I am constantly trying to get Above My Raisin'. Are you?

Living in Utah, and traveling to other parts of the US, have taught me something: America is a nation populated by redneck, gun-toting, ignorant pinheads from shore to shore and from International Falls, MN to San Antonio, TX. The only difference is the ratio of rednecks-to-normal-people. Alabama is about 3-1 in the cities and about 7-1 in the countryside. Utah is about 3-1, though in Salt Lake City, the balance shifts to almost 1-2.

Life has taught me that (1) the south is not as different from the rest of the country as I once thought, but (2) it is different.

The South does in fact consider secession every time a Democrat is elected President. The rest of the country, not so much.

The South is hospitable, so long as the visitor isn't too different. Then the visitor is seen as a threat, or, to quote one recent FB comment, "creepy."

Only southerners would think it a good idea to celebrate the Confederacy, an institution that committed treason and killed its former countrymen to defend slavery. (BTW, South, the rest of the country thinks you are ignorant for that crap. Let it go.)

If you are my FB friend and you still live in the South, I hope you are not offended, but I am not going to lose sleep if you are. There is no perfect place to live, but if you are going to stay in the South, try to be part of the solution, and stop being part of the problem.

Actually, that applies whether you are in the South or elsewhere.