Hymn of Equality (Canto II)
Canto II: The Book of Common Belief
If you're intelligent, you can often construct and suitable framework to support your opinions, your beliefs. The scaffolding is already in place, because it's something you believe -- and there's a reason you believe it.
Many evangelicals get whipped into a frenzy by figures they deem their leaders, by supposed-luminaries of religion...but, of course, of their particular bent on Christianity. Methodists aren't going to fall in line behind Pentecostals, Church of Christ members scoff at teachings found in Baptist churches, and none of those congregations are gonna stop by a Catholic church for mass or confession. Yet, all of these denominations point to the Holy Bible as the source of their beliefs.
I once read two opposing briefs on the same case, and both sides made compelling arguments. It was a special effort to step back from the proximity to either side and examine the whole breadth of the concerns and the true root of the issue.
You'll find a familiar pattern to recently published books by fundamentalists that fan the flames of anti-gay rhetoric. These days, there's undoubtedly a chapter or section that backs down from the they-are-wrong-about-this-and-they-must-be-as-we-tell-them-to-be sentiments and insists that Christians actually love homosexuals, that Christians must be sure to remind people that they care about the homosexuals, that contrary to the reality of how most congregations actually treat gays and lesbians, these books now urge Christians to welcome homosexuals with loving arms and concerned hearts -- so that they can barrage them with you-can’t-be-who-you-are diatribes.
The figureheads that feed the others what to think are rightly recognizing a growing perception that they are seen as spewing hate-speech. While they don't want to admit this or reconsider it, they certainly want to mount a campaign to help others view it differently.
It goes something like this:
Suppose I stood at the bottom of a cliff and shouted warnings to the people who walked backwards toward the edge of the cliff (and their certain doom). Others might gather around and say: "Hey. Don't yell at them. You can't tell someone they can't walk backwards. That's hateful. That's hate-speech." But, I'm not hating anyone. I'm only loving them and looking out for their welfare.
Right. That's all it is.
It couldn't be that the Religious Right is focused on promoting legislated discrimination, or that they are seeking to amend the Constitution of the United States (or state constitutions) to forbid some of its citizens from enjoying the same rights and privileges that others receive.
On the one hand, they complain about gays and lesbians not being in committed relationships, while the other hand insists that society should not recognize committed relationships. It the very oppressive fabric of society and I-Speak-For-God evangelicals that keep many gays in the closet out of fear, that force them to seek out the briefest of interactions in anonymous encounters in public restrooms and roadside parks, because they can't pursue these relationships in the light of day -- because they dream they can "make do" with such slight and surface contact with others like them.
The cadres of Christian leaders (who churn out a book per month for their faithful to purchase) make claims so unfounded and distorted that I simultaneously wonder how anyone can accept such blatant foolishness designed only to tell homophobes what they want to hear. Then, I recall military lessons of propaganda: if you tell someone something they want to believe, then they will have no problem accepting it.
Witness:
* * * * * * * * * * *
Several years ago, I was invited to speak at an Exodus Conference. ...At a breakfast table with four or five lesbians, I learned that 80 percent of all lesbians had been molested or otherwise mistreated by men -- often by the father, a baby-sitter, or a stranger.
[p. 37, The Truth About Same-Sex Marriage, Erwin W. Lutzer, Moody Publishers, 2004]
* * * * * * * * * * *
Wow.
That's what I come away with: wow.
Homophobes will quietly tell themselves: "I knew it!" And they believe if these poor lesbians hadn't been mistreated or molested, they'd be normal members of society.
These are the same case-makers who insist that most gay men become gay because they were molested by a gay man when they we children. But, wait. Those arguments conflict. According to Lutzer, if I was molested by a man, then I'd turn away from men and run to relationships with women.
But, the molestation theory helps support their insistence that gays are turned gay or recruited, that it's a choice or decision.
This same thinking decries adoptions by gay parents, because fundamentalists drum up some statistic about children raised by gay parents being gay. Hmm. This doesn't seem likely or reasonable. All of the gay people I know grew up in homes with heterosexual parents.
And with regard to Lutzers quote above, I guarantee 100% of lesbians have been "mistreated by men." In fact, 100% of all humankind has been mistreated by men.
I'm mistreated by men all the time, especially homophobic Christians.
I leave you with the words of televangelist Jimmy Swaggart: "I've never seen a man in my life I wanted to marry. And I'm going to be blunt and plain: if one ever looks at me like that, I'm going to kill him and tell God he died."
If you're intelligent, you can often construct and suitable framework to support your opinions, your beliefs. The scaffolding is already in place, because it's something you believe -- and there's a reason you believe it.
Many evangelicals get whipped into a frenzy by figures they deem their leaders, by supposed-luminaries of religion...but, of course, of their particular bent on Christianity. Methodists aren't going to fall in line behind Pentecostals, Church of Christ members scoff at teachings found in Baptist churches, and none of those congregations are gonna stop by a Catholic church for mass or confession. Yet, all of these denominations point to the Holy Bible as the source of their beliefs.
I once read two opposing briefs on the same case, and both sides made compelling arguments. It was a special effort to step back from the proximity to either side and examine the whole breadth of the concerns and the true root of the issue.
You'll find a familiar pattern to recently published books by fundamentalists that fan the flames of anti-gay rhetoric. These days, there's undoubtedly a chapter or section that backs down from the they-are-wrong-about-this-and-they-must-be-as-we-tell-them-to-be sentiments and insists that Christians actually love homosexuals, that Christians must be sure to remind people that they care about the homosexuals, that contrary to the reality of how most congregations actually treat gays and lesbians, these books now urge Christians to welcome homosexuals with loving arms and concerned hearts -- so that they can barrage them with you-can’t-be-who-you-are diatribes.
The figureheads that feed the others what to think are rightly recognizing a growing perception that they are seen as spewing hate-speech. While they don't want to admit this or reconsider it, they certainly want to mount a campaign to help others view it differently.
It goes something like this:
Suppose I stood at the bottom of a cliff and shouted warnings to the people who walked backwards toward the edge of the cliff (and their certain doom). Others might gather around and say: "Hey. Don't yell at them. You can't tell someone they can't walk backwards. That's hateful. That's hate-speech." But, I'm not hating anyone. I'm only loving them and looking out for their welfare.
Right. That's all it is.
It couldn't be that the Religious Right is focused on promoting legislated discrimination, or that they are seeking to amend the Constitution of the United States (or state constitutions) to forbid some of its citizens from enjoying the same rights and privileges that others receive.
On the one hand, they complain about gays and lesbians not being in committed relationships, while the other hand insists that society should not recognize committed relationships. It the very oppressive fabric of society and I-Speak-For-God evangelicals that keep many gays in the closet out of fear, that force them to seek out the briefest of interactions in anonymous encounters in public restrooms and roadside parks, because they can't pursue these relationships in the light of day -- because they dream they can "make do" with such slight and surface contact with others like them.
The cadres of Christian leaders (who churn out a book per month for their faithful to purchase) make claims so unfounded and distorted that I simultaneously wonder how anyone can accept such blatant foolishness designed only to tell homophobes what they want to hear. Then, I recall military lessons of propaganda: if you tell someone something they want to believe, then they will have no problem accepting it.
Witness:
* * * * * * * * * * *
Several years ago, I was invited to speak at an Exodus Conference. ...At a breakfast table with four or five lesbians, I learned that 80 percent of all lesbians had been molested or otherwise mistreated by men -- often by the father, a baby-sitter, or a stranger.
[p. 37, The Truth About Same-Sex Marriage, Erwin W. Lutzer, Moody Publishers, 2004]
* * * * * * * * * * *
Wow.
That's what I come away with: wow.
Homophobes will quietly tell themselves: "I knew it!" And they believe if these poor lesbians hadn't been mistreated or molested, they'd be normal members of society.
These are the same case-makers who insist that most gay men become gay because they were molested by a gay man when they we children. But, wait. Those arguments conflict. According to Lutzer, if I was molested by a man, then I'd turn away from men and run to relationships with women.
But, the molestation theory helps support their insistence that gays are turned gay or recruited, that it's a choice or decision.
This same thinking decries adoptions by gay parents, because fundamentalists drum up some statistic about children raised by gay parents being gay. Hmm. This doesn't seem likely or reasonable. All of the gay people I know grew up in homes with heterosexual parents.
And with regard to Lutzers quote above, I guarantee 100% of lesbians have been "mistreated by men." In fact, 100% of all humankind has been mistreated by men.
I'm mistreated by men all the time, especially homophobic Christians.
I leave you with the words of televangelist Jimmy Swaggart: "I've never seen a man in my life I wanted to marry. And I'm going to be blunt and plain: if one ever looks at me like that, I'm going to kill him and tell God he died."