Johnny...are you queer?
(From last week's American Progress Report):"If [a gay man] ever looks at me like that, I'm going to kill him and tell God he died," said televangelist Jimmy Swaggart in a sermon on Canadian TV. Swaggart tried to rectify the situation by explaining his quip about killing homosexuals was a "humorous" cliché he's "jokingly" used thousands of times.
In what sick alternate universe is this funny? Where's the outrage over these comments from all the so-called Christians on the far-right? (And they gotta close down the seminary that produced this hack -- if he even went to one). Why isn't Swaggart being condemned from every church pulpit and cable talk show from sea to shining sea? This is America, dammit! Despite our nation's enormous flaws, our core values are justice and equality! I thought these folks took the Bible literally as the word of god...so shouldn't they be following Jesus' instructions to "love thy neighbor as thyself" (from the parable of the Good Samaritan, among other places) -- and to minister to the poor and oppressed (instead of lining their pockets and promoting their hate-filled political agenda)? During all the time I spent in church and Sunday school, I don't ever recall hearing about god or Jesus speaking in code -- like all the racists, gay-bashers, and cowards do -- condoning the killing of a gay person for looking at them in "the wrong way." JC hung out with prostitutes, beggars, and lepers, not the rich and powerful.
At least if Amerikkka's headed toward a theocracy, god forbid, can't a more moderate version of Christianity be dominant?
On a related topic, there is an interesting New Yorker profile of Gavin Newsom, the current mayor of San Francisco, who ordered the city clerk to conduct gay marriages over the summer (10/4/04 issue). Newsom said he was compelled to act when Bush announced in the 2003 State of the Union address that he was going to ban gay unions -- and Newsom realized that Bush was attacking his own citizens. So a defiant Newsom took action and approved the gay marriages -- to illustrate the injustice of this form of discrimination, and to treat the gay citizens of San Francisco as human beings with civil rights like everyone else. It makes you wish that there were more elected officials who were more concerned with doing the right thing rather than politically expedient thing. Of note, Newsom's hero is Robert F. Kennedy -- and some are calling him and Barak Obama the new stars of the Democratic Party. Here's hoping.
For the record, I fully support gay marriage. Anything less is unconstitutional, immoral, and completely un-American. Here's a bitch-slap back at you and your ilk, Swaggart!
In what sick alternate universe is this funny? Where's the outrage over these comments from all the so-called Christians on the far-right? (And they gotta close down the seminary that produced this hack -- if he even went to one). Why isn't Swaggart being condemned from every church pulpit and cable talk show from sea to shining sea? This is America, dammit! Despite our nation's enormous flaws, our core values are justice and equality! I thought these folks took the Bible literally as the word of god...so shouldn't they be following Jesus' instructions to "love thy neighbor as thyself" (from the parable of the Good Samaritan, among other places) -- and to minister to the poor and oppressed (instead of lining their pockets and promoting their hate-filled political agenda)? During all the time I spent in church and Sunday school, I don't ever recall hearing about god or Jesus speaking in code -- like all the racists, gay-bashers, and cowards do -- condoning the killing of a gay person for looking at them in "the wrong way." JC hung out with prostitutes, beggars, and lepers, not the rich and powerful.
At least if Amerikkka's headed toward a theocracy, god forbid, can't a more moderate version of Christianity be dominant?
On a related topic, there is an interesting New Yorker profile of Gavin Newsom, the current mayor of San Francisco, who ordered the city clerk to conduct gay marriages over the summer (10/4/04 issue). Newsom said he was compelled to act when Bush announced in the 2003 State of the Union address that he was going to ban gay unions -- and Newsom realized that Bush was attacking his own citizens. So a defiant Newsom took action and approved the gay marriages -- to illustrate the injustice of this form of discrimination, and to treat the gay citizens of San Francisco as human beings with civil rights like everyone else. It makes you wish that there were more elected officials who were more concerned with doing the right thing rather than politically expedient thing. Of note, Newsom's hero is Robert F. Kennedy -- and some are calling him and Barak Obama the new stars of the Democratic Party. Here's hoping.
For the record, I fully support gay marriage. Anything less is unconstitutional, immoral, and completely un-American. Here's a bitch-slap back at you and your ilk, Swaggart!
posted by Steve from Moon | 7:29 AM
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