RACHEL MADDOW HAS IT OUT WITH RICHARD COHEN; RICK WARREN'S ANTIPATHY TOWARD GAY PEOPLE

This 17 minute video with Rachel Maddow skewering Richard Cohen [Pictured], alleged "ex-gay" author, shows the bankrupt nature of both the notion of one becoming "ex-gay" in any meaningful sense, and the bankrupt nature of the "science" that lies behind the ideologically (and often materialistically motivated) saturated rhetoric and actions that can, and might well, lead to the imprisonment and murders of countless Gay people in Uganda and, perhaps, elsewhere:


Although, in my opinion, Cohen is a pathetic buffoon, there are a lot of other buffoons who give him credibility! Yet he makes no pretenses about being a Christian and falsely telling people what the Bible allegedly says about being Gay.

However, the Rick Warrens of the world do just that so, frankly, I have even more antipathy toward the Rick Warrens of the world who sanctimoniously degrade Gay people than I do the pathetic Richard Cohens of the world who should lack any credibility with anyone with even a modicum of intelligence and decency!


Rick Warren [Pictured], after undoubtedly being the recipient of a lot of pressure, finally urged Ugandan pastors to not support the Anti-Homosexuality Bill. However, his too little too late speech, unfortunately lauded by some like Wayne Besen who seem to be satisfied with incremental crumbs of niceties, despite their still being defamed and demeaned, contained the following:

While we can never deny or water down what God’s Word clearly teaches about sexuality, at the same time the church must stand to protect the dignity of all individuals — as Jesus did and commanded all of us to do. Let me be clear that God’s Word states that all sex outside of marriage is not what God intends. Jesus reaffirmed what Moses wrote that marriage is intended to be between one man and one woman committed to each other for life. (See here.)

How do you think statements like that make a Gay kid (or adult, for that matter) feel about him/herself? How is biblical literalism apart from cultural context helping anyone? How is self-righteous and self-serving rhetoric that seeks to impose one's religious ideology onto others doing any kind of service to civil society, or to anyone who seeks spiritual solace from the Prince of Peace? How can the legalists and perfectionists of the institutional Church world distort the Gospel of grace, faith, love, peace, reconciliation, and inclusiveness and yet be of any use in spreading the "Good News" that Jesus came to set the captives free from the yokes of bondage placed upon them by the likes of those homophobic legalists?

Here is the video of Warren's address to Ugandan pastors:



And in case there is any doubt about Warren's antipathy toward LGBT people even if it were found that being Gay is something with which one was born, please see this brief video:



Please know that there is absolutely nothing in the Bible that condemns Gay people or same-sex love! God does not hate what God creates!

[Thanks to LGBT POV for the last two videos.]

SOME TALKING POINTS ON CHRISTIANITY AND HOMOSEXUALITY

Some years ago, I wrote the following article that I think is appropriate to post at this time. When we have a seemingly progressive state like New York preventing same-sex marriage in spite of the fact that the Governor said he would sign that bill if it ever reached his desk; when we have a seemingly progressive state like California that affirmed Prop. 8 in spite of the fact that the California State Supreme Court voted same-sex marriages as being constitutional; when we have the debacle in Maine that rescinded same-sex marriage rights; when New Jersey is waffling on this issue; when the egregiousness of having Gay civil rights be put on any ballot to be voted upon by the electorate, it is my distinct feeling that homophobic clergy have inordinate and uncalled for influence on politicians, the electorate, and on professing Christians who take to heart their ignorant and/or mendacious rhetoric, and actually believe that being LGBT and LGBT civil rights including that of same-sex marriage are diametrically opposed to being "a good Christian." Nothing could be further from the truth, and I hope that the following article helps lay that big lie to rest:

About a year ago, after my giving a talk on how the Bible doesn't condemn, but actually affirms, same-sex love, a woman with a gay brother, raised in a Christian family, asked me to write out "talking points" on the subject of the consistency between Christianity and homosexuality, so that she could share that information with her brother. This article is the result of my answering her request.

Hitler's propaganda minister, Joseph Goebbles, stated what is, unfortunately, a profound truth. He said that no matter how big the lie, if it's repeated often enough, people will come to believe it. Just as that axiom proved true in Nazi Germany, it certainly proves itself to be true regarding the relationship between Christianity and homosexuality. For centuries, we have been repeatedly told from assorted pulpits throughout the world that homosexuality is a "sin," so that so many professing Christians and others come to think that it's a no-brainer, that it is, in fact, a "sin."

The fact is, as the Reverend Troy Perry has said, "Jesus came to take away our sins, not our sexuality." In addition, as I have said for many decades, "Never let other people define your reality or put you into bondage to their ways of thinking!"

Simply put, if we remove the patriarchal and legalistic trappings of "Christianity," that presents the false gospel of legalism perfectionism, and exclusion, we see that the only Gospel to be found in Christianity, the Gospel of grace, faith, love, peace, reconciliation, and inclusiveness demands that we embrace all of God's children, we be authentic as God created us to be, and we recognize that we commit a grievous sin when we reject the wonderful gift bestowed upon us by God, the gift of being able to love another person. As Rev. Troy Perry has said, "God didn't create someone whom He could sit around and hate!"

You also commit a grievous sin if you reject the sexual orientation given you by God! We are to never chafe under the sovereign choices of God, and so many LGBT Christians fail to recognize that they are God's gift to the Church and to society! Always remember, God has gifted you with the capacity to love and that you are God's gift to the Church and to this world!

As I read a while back, "We are not here to prove ourselves to the world, but to be ourselves in the world!" This is a good point and truth worth meditating on each and every day of our lives. Read Isaiah 2:22 and Galatians 1:10 for further confirmation of this truth!

I hope these talking points are of help, not merely to address the prejudice of others, prejudice that, unfortunately, rationality and facts are frequently unlikely to penetrate, but that they affirm all of us as God's children, and once and for all erase any possible reason for anyone to have shame or self-loathing because of sexual orientation, or for any other reason. God is not stupid and God doesn't make any mistakes!

Here are the talking points that I hope you find useful:

1. All of the Commandments are fulfilled by loving God and loving others. We are never to judge others. (Matthew 7:1; Romans 2:1) Read Romans 1 in detail and then Romans 2:1.

2. The "clobber passages" in Leviticus and Deuteronomy concern the "Holiness Codes" that have been fulfilled in Jesus. "Toevah" means "abomination" or "detestable" as related to idolatry and cult prostitution that were engaged in by the Canaanites.

3. The Bible also contains prohibitions against eating shell fish; there are also the cultural practices of stoning to death those who commit adultery, stoning to death those who work on the Sabbath, stoning to death recalcitrant children, women not being allowed to talk in the Church, women not being allowed to teach men, women always keeping their heads covered in church, not wearing mixed fibers in one's clothes, etc. Why not picket Safeway for selling shell fish and picket K Mart for selling shirts made of cotton and polyester?

4. The "sin of Sodom" (Genesis 19) has nothing to do with homosexuality. It deals with gang rape. Whenever Sodom and Gomorrah are mentioned in the Bible, homosexuality is never mentioned as its sin. Its sins are primarily inhospitality and not taking care of the poor.

5. In a tribal society, living on the edge, surrounded by enemies, homosexual activity is condemned because in this way people can't "be fruitful and multiply." However, we are no longer a tribal society living on the edge; it's inappropriate to blindly translate the cultural practices of ancient societies to contemporary society as witness as a widow having to marry her husband's brother. If she loved that man, that's wonderful. But if she didn't love that man, she still had to marry him and one can't legitimately argue that God is in favor of serial rape!

6. If homosexuality was so important, why is it not mentioned in the Ten Commandments; why did the prophets never write about it; why didn't Jesus ever condemn it? If it were that important, don't you think that it would have been mentioned in at least one of these contexts?

7. Why was the centurion so concerned about this particular slave as recorded in Matthew 8? After all, slaves were a dime a dozen. As it says in Luke, this is a slave who was "dear to him." (Luke 7:2) Why is the Greek word "pais" translated as "servant" in English, when this Greek word is best translated "slave boy?" (See "Our Story Too…Reading the Bible with New Eyes," by Rev. Nancy Wilson, located at http://www.mccchurch.org/.) "Doulos" is the Greek word for slave! A "pais" was frequently one who had a romantic-sexual relationship with an older man; that may well be why the centurion was so concerned about this particular young man and asked Jesus to heal him. If such a relationship was a sin or in any way inappropriate, wouldn't Jesus have taken this opportunity to condemn or censure the centurion for having such a relationship? Instead, Jesus merely commended the centurion on his faith and promptly proceeded to heal the man's slave boy. [It must be noted that pedophilia or ephebophilia are independent of this biblical account; slaves misused by their masters is similarly independent of this account.]

8. Same-sex love is certainly affirmed in reading of the relationship between King David (called "a man after God's own heart") and Jonathan. See 1 Samuel 16:12;20:1-23;35-42;20:41;28:32-34;20:12-17;42; 2 Samuel 1:26. If one reads the account of Deborah, a Judge and esteemed warrior in Israel, one comes away with a feeling that she may well have been transgendered, as she certainly didn't live up to the cultural expectations of how a "woman" is to behave. (See Judges 4:1-24)

9. Particularly in the New Testament, same-sex love is never condemned! What is undoubtedly condemned is male cult prostitution, as seen in the fact that in Corinth, where the Book of Romans was undoubtedly written, there were many religions, one of them being the fertility cult of Aphrodite. Here, sex was frequently a worshipful act in homage to various pagan deities for purposes of fertility, having the crops grow, etc.

10. The word "homosexual" never appears in any biblical manuscript, as it was a word coined in the late 19th Century and first appeared in an English Bible translation, the Revised Standard Version, in 1946. The Greek word used for "homosexual," arsenokoitai, is an obscure word that doesn't seem to appear in any other ancient writings, and may very well have been only used by the Apostle Paul. Its literal meaning is "male bed." No one knows what Paul was referring to but, if he wanted to denote same-sex love, there were other words available to him that he could have easily used.

11. The word translated "effeminate" in 1 Corinthians 6:9 is malakoi. It means "soft." It's used elsewhere in Scripture to denote soft clothing. (Matthew 11:8) In this context it probably refers to people of soft morals, or people who lack courage. In any case, to translate it as "effeminate" in a pejorative way would contradict Paul's assertion of the equality of men and women in Christ. (Galatians 3:28)

12. Regarding the word "para physin" that is usually translated "against nature," this phrase is also used in regard to God's welcoming the gentiles into the fold. (Romans 11:21-24) The phrase is probably best translated, "unexpected," or something not done in the usual way.

13. Biblical principle must always trump biblical practice! The biblical principle is the Gospel, the Good News, of God's grace (unmerited favor) to us that we appropriate through our faith in Him. (Romans 5:1-2; Ephesians 2:8-9) As Peter J. Gomes writes in his excellent book that I strongly urge you to read, The Good Book: Reading the Bible with Mind and Heart, when we read any passage of the Bible we must try to discern what it says, what it means, the subtext, the context, what we bring to the text, and what we take out of the text. Much of the mind-set and many of the words that appear in Scripture don't mean what we think they mean from our perspective.

14. As Christians we are to show forth the Fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23), and live out the Gospel of grace, faith, love, peace, reconciliation, and inclusiveness. We are in no way to align ourselves with wolves in sheep's clothing who stigmatize and oppress gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender people for their own psychological, political, social, and financial gains, particularly when they have absolutely no Scriptural authority to do so.

[So, next time you hear the utterances of homophobic clergy who appeal to the Bible to justify their prejudices, remember that they speak out of ignorance and/or hatefulness, and pay them no mind! They are wolves in sheep's clothing, and even many of them are too clueless to know that fact and, unfortunately, many of their followers are too gullible to see through their lies.]

STRIDENT HOMOPHOBIA STEMS FROM THE UNCONSCIOUS

It might seem strange that my major intellectual influence has been Sigmund Freud. Although I don't place much faith in his therapeutic modality, psychoanalysis, as being any more or less effective than any other therapeutic modality, particularly since it resists empirical study and possible verification or lack of verification, what makes Freud so important, in my opinion, are the insights he drew from his analyses of the human condition and the human psyche.

One of his many insights is stated quite succinctly by him: The ego is not master in its own house. ("A Difficulty in the Path of Psycho-Analysis," 1917.)

That is, our conscious desires and motivations, our rational processes, are trumped by our unconscious drives and longings of which we are unaware! That is, our unconscious drives and needs are the major determinants of our thoughts, prejudices, rhetoric, and actions. In other words, we do not have the control of our beliefs and actions that we think we do!

When confronting another's prejudices, that person may, when asked, seem to come to a rational explanation for those prejudices, with appeal to assorted "scientific" and "biblical" claims yet, when push comes to shove, those reasons are mere rationalizations used by the person in order to justify in his/her mind and in the minds of the questioner(s) why those prejudices are "rational" when, in fact, they are anything but rational but emanate from the unconscious longings and repressions, the resistances and the untamed and untamable forces that reside within the unconscious of the person with whose prejudices we are dealing.

In the case of homophobia, it is eminently clear that ignorance and/or hate are the root causes of those prejudices, and that hateful animus that propels and compels one to consistently seek to demean the other, and deny equal rights to Gay people, is coming from the unconscious of that person, those tempestuous forces of which he/she is largely, if not solely, unaware.

However, the homophobe's conscious mind must make him/her and his/her homophobia seem "reasonable" to those who ask the question as to why that person is homophobic, so there is an attempt by the homophobe to invoke "credible evidence" in his/her conscious mind, particularly the homophobe's interpretation of certain selected biblical verses, so that credibility can be sought and often, unfortunately, irrationally obtained by gullible people to the hateful utterances made by clergy and by other professing Christians in the name of God and the Prince of Peace.

Therefore, "sitting down and reasoning together" with strident homophobes, particularly religious homophobes, is a waste of time and energy, and is bound to degenerate into profound resistance and hostility on the part of the homophobe because his/her unconscious structure and drives make it virtually impossible for rational discourse to penetrate that structure and change those drives.

So, what is the answer in dealing with homophobia? Social Psychology has provided that answer in regard to many types of xenophobia!

Attitudes can only be changed by there first being a change (even a forced change, if necessary) in one's behavior and then, over time, one's xenophobic attitudes will change. For example, regarding the African-American civil rights struggle, it wasn't until certain key court decisions and mandated integration in the military, public accommodations, and in schools occurred, and when Whites and Blacks were forced to work together as equals, that White attitudes toward Blacks became much more accepting and benign.

I'm not suggesting that Black-White relations are a bowl of cherries now, and that racism still doesn't exist! What I am suggesting is that institutional racism is far less acute than before that forced behavior change; Black-White relations are much more convivial than existed prior to that forced behavior change.

So, we don't change attitudes to evoke a certain desired behavior, but changes in behavior eventually create a change in attitudes! Therefore, we don't work to change the attitudes of people, such as we see with the onerous attempt to appeal to "the milk of human kindness" by many Gay activists when Gay civil rights are despicably put up for a vote of the electorate, but we force the dominant group to deal with full and equal civil rights that come from the Judiciary and then, over time, Gay people will be far more integrated into the society than now exists; full and equal civil and sacramental rights will become a reality.

I understand that there are many Gay people who do not want to be integrated into dominant society, and they should be free to ghettoize themselves if they so choose. However, I have to believe that most Gay people do want equal rights and do want to embrace all of the rights of citizenship that heterosexuals enjoy, and if that is the goal, time, activism, monies, and energy must be spent and directed at the political-judicial arenas to force behavior change on the part of the dominant group so that their homophobic attitudes will eventually change.

And, over time, the unconscious drives and fears that prompt and propel homophobia will change to become more accepting of Gay people, and then, unfortunately, another minority group will be sought after for discrimination by those whose unconscious drives force them to discriminate.

But that fact is the subject of another civil rights struggle at some future time!

CLERGY DISGRACE OF PREFERRING "UNITY" TO "JUSTICE"

THE Archbishop of Canterbury today called on American Anglicans to block the appointment of a lesbian bishop.
Dr Rowan Williams warned that the selection of a new homosexual bishop could push the divided Anglicans over the edge into full-blown schism.

The Archbishop spoke out after leaders of the Church of England's sister church in Los Angeles chose 55-year-old Reverend Mary Glasspool as an assistant bishop.

He said the choice raised 'serious questions' and warned it was a threat to the 'bonds' that tie 77million Anglicans together.

[For the full article, see here.]

And Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, is supposed to be a "liberal." However, it seems that "unity" at the expense of "justice" is his idea of the manifestation of "Christianity."

He's shown himself to be a traitor to equal rights, and to Jesus' teachings that we are to love God (by trusting God over and above seen circumstances) and to love and not judge other people.

For the likes of Williams, the Pope, and many other professing Christian homophobes to be in a leadership (or any) position in any denomination professing to represent the teachings, life, ministry, and work of Christ on earth is a disgrace to all who long for justice and equal rights for all of God's children.

MY GRATITUDE FOR THIS BLOG BEING NOMINATED AS BEST GAY BLOG OF 2009

I can't tell you how grateful and honored I am that my blog was nominated under the Political Blogs Section as The Best Gay Blog of 2009. It means more to me than I can express. Those who nominated this site, and those who read this site, also mean a great deal to me, and I just hope that we can all work and struggle together for full and equal rights for LGBT people, and agree that we will never quit until they shove six feet of dirt in our faces. God bless you all!

JAMES HIPPS' INTERVIEW WITH FRANK SCHAEFFER.

Below is a very interesting interview with Frank Schaeffer by James Hipps on Blog Talk Radio, about, in part, the need for the separation of Church and State. Please also listen to James Hipps' commentary at the end of his interview with Frank Schaeffer.

For a flavor of where Frank Schaeffer is coming from, here is an excerpt from his latest post on his blog, Frank Schaeffer, dated December 3, 2009, entitled, Will Rick Warren Go to The Hanging (Killing Gays) Or Just Duck (Again)? I urge you to read his post in its entirety:

Nothing illustrates the danger we face from our own Taliban better than the way American "Christians" are now tangled up with the homophobic—now potentially gay murdering – Ugandan Christian/political leadership.

The Ugandan Parliament is considering a bill that would impose the death penalty on gays. One American must be cheering from the grave. Here’s what the late R.J. Rushdoony, Reconstructionist theologian and founder of the modern movement of that name, wrote in a letter to gay rights activist Mel White: “God in His law requires the death penalty for homosexuals.”

Disclosure: Both Mel White and Rushdoony were friends of mine, back in the day I was a Religious Right leader and sidekick to my father – the late Francis Schaeffer – who is “credited” by many, including by Karen Armstrong and Max Blumenthal – with being a key father of the Religious Right… along with RJ Rushdoony. I quit the movement over its hate for the “other” and got out by the late 80s and started writing novels like Portofino, aimed at the heart of the movement through humor at fundamentalist’s expense.

Back in the day before Mel came out he was working with me on one of my father’s movie/book projects. We both left our far right “faith.” Mel acknowledged that he was gay and I said I’d had it with hate. These days I propose an anti-right progressive Christianity in my book PATIENCE WITH GOD: Faith for People Who Don’t Like Religion (or Atheism)

That said… The problem of American exceptionalism combined with a theocracy in which the “we” of evangelical faith finally destroy the “they” (everyone else) is growing. Who do you think Fox News rabid followers are? Who do you think calls Obama "Hitler" while using the tactics of fascism themeselves?...

More "respectable" leaders like Warren, Huckabee and Palin won’t admit it but they would like to do here what the Ugandans are doing there, and not just to gays, to all the "other" who are in the way of their taking America into the darkness of theocracy.

Pastor Rick is the epitome of the two-faced friendly evangelical leader today: say one thing for the public, believe another thing and work for it.

Reconstructionists persist and the movement is growing while key figures in Congress to big time pastors routinely deny they are part of this political/religious movement. Meanwhile they’re fixin’ to go to a hangnin’ in Uganda, with the blessing of the smiling nice guys like Rick Warren and and a wink and a nod from the Reconstructionist handmaid Sarah-Tea-Bagger-Palin.

Here is James Hipps' interview with Frank Schaeffer that I think you'll enjoy:

SAMES-SEX MARRIAGE DEFEAT IN NEW YORK AND ELSEWHERE: IT'S ALL ABOUT HATE

The New York state senate on Wednesday voted down a marriage equality bill by a wide margin following months of delay and protracted political drama.

In a special legislative session, the senate voted 38-to-24 against the bill, eight votes short of a majority, with no support from Republican senators. A state assembly marriage bill had passed for a third time late last night.

Governor David Paterson, who made marriage equality a centerpiece of his agenda, issued a statement a few hours after the vote that acknowledged the widespread sense of disappointment among advocates for the bill.

[For the full article, see here.]

New York City is my old stomping grounds! It was progressive forty years ago when I left, and I assume that it's progressive now!

I remember thinking after I left NYC that I didn't leave another state, but I left another country! I didn't appreciate the cosmopolitan nature of NYC when I lived there for 28 years until I left it!

However, other parts of New York State are not that progressive and, although I don't know what political motivations and machinations ensued to make possible this defeat for equal rights, I do know that "hate" was and is the major motivator when religious leaders and politicians seek to deny equal rights to any minority group!

The distortions and down right lies perpetrated about Gay people, not the least of which is that Gay merely equals Sex, has a lot to do with such defeats that occurred in New York.

People are not told that same-sex couples love each other every bit as much as heterosexual couples love each other, and that to deny the same dignity and rights that accrue to heterosexuals to same-sex couples is to deny their love the dignity it deserves, and deny Gay people equality that the Constitution assures us belongs to every citizen in the U.S.

I can't but believe that politicians who want to get re-elected are as much influenced by homophobic clergy who have undeserved but great influence in the larger, secular, society, taking upon themselves the undeserved mantel of being the arbiters of "morality," and thereby sadly convince most of the electorate that being Gay is "immoral," and that same-sex marriage is similarly "immoral."

Hence, the ignorant and/or hatefully based hyperbole that same-sex marriage will destroy the family, hurt children, force schools to teach homosexuality, hurt clergy and churches, etc.

Let's make no mistake! This defeat in New York and other defeats for same-sex marriage that have been suffered is not about the well being of the family, children, or the larger society.

Whenever any politicians or clergy seek to deny equal rights to Gay people, it is about "hate," and about nothing else! And they can couch their hateful animus in unctuous, sanitized, sanctimonious rhetoric all they want to, but the bottom line is that they are ignorant haters, and they must be exposed and confronted for that fact!

And the gullible lemmings who follow their lead are no better; only more pathetic, for they don't get any of the rewards of the hateful clergy and politicians, save for satiating their hateful animus that is primarily fueled and fostered by ignorant and/or mendacious clergy.

In this connection, I want to reiterate what James Hipps of Gay Agenda wrote:

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it now…again, the anti-gay movement in this country is NOT about marriage. It’s NOT about the sanctity of a religious institution. It’s not about protecting anyone or anything, it’s about hate, intolerance and bigotry.

[For the full article, see here.]

HUMAN NATURE, REACTIONARY POLITICS, AND HOMOPHOBIA

I have found little that is "good" about human beings on the whole. In my experience most of them are trash, no matter whether they publicly subscribe to this or that ethical doctrine or to none at all. That is something that you cannot say aloud, or perhaps even think. (Sigmund Freud)

There are two races of people in the world: the decent and the indecent. (Paraphrase from Viktor Frankl)

These two quotes by two different people represent the essence of the dilemma of what destructive forces can reside in the human heart, and nowhere is this dilemma better seen than in the current reaction to Gay people, and the affinity with reactionary politics, by many of those who profess themselves to be "Christian."

When we see professing Christian leaders enmeshing themselves and their tax exempt funds with reactionary politicians and politics; when we hear the hate-mongering of a Rev. Gregory Daniels who said, "If the KKK opposes gay marriage, I would ride with them"(See here.), we can see that there is a very sinister force that resides in much, if not most, of the institutional Church.

Franklin Graham -- Billy's son and nepotistic "heir" to the Graham empire -- says he wants to help the poor. So what is he doing standing next to Sarah - "death panels" - Palin at a press conference as she denounces health care reform as a "Government takeover of the US economy"?

What is Franklin Graham doing promoting Palin's plan to destroy the Republican Party in order to push for a pure far right agenda that would leave old style Republicans (like the late William F. Buckley or Barry Goldwater) screaming bloody murder about incipient fascism?

Franklin is part of today's evangelical "leadership" that has remained mute on the blasphemous misuse of the Bible in the infamous Psalm 109: 8 T-shirt scandal wherein the verse calls for the death of the President (dressed up as a "prayer request.") But Franklin has lent the Graham family name to Palin's book tour. And he stood next to her as she urged the defeat ("some changes") of all incumbent congressmen who vote to give health care to all Americans.

Franklin Graham-- the Islamophobe and gay-basher -- is now backing the symbol of the "America" that wants legal torture but not universal health care. He is impressed by the "spirituality" of a bare faced liar who equated health care reform with "death panels."

For the full article, see here.]

And this brief video shows the tacit, if not overt, involvement of many professing Christians in what may well come to be the genocide of LGBT people in Uganda And you will recall that it was Pastor Rick Warren whom President Obama chose to give the prayer at his inaugural:

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

(Thanks to Gay Agenda.)

I must tell you that, although I subscribe to Frankl's belief that prefaces this post, my experiences with most clergy and with most parishoners in assorted churches and denominations has shown me that, regarding most professing "Christians" with whom I've dealt over the past 25 years, that Freud was absolutely correct!

AN INTERVIEW AND SOME INFORMATION ABOUT "THE FAMILY"

This interview with Jeff Sharlet is an eye-opener about The Family and their often gross distortion of the Gospel!

By the way, regarding the National Prayer Breakfast, that was founded by The Family, it would be wise to hear Jesus on this subject:

And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you , They have their reward. But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly. (Matthew 6:5-6)

It would be naive to think that The Family and its allies don't have a great deal of direct and indirect political sway both in the U.S. and most likely in other parts of the world as well.

Implications of groups like The Family for LGBT rights should become obvious and that's why, whether or not homophobic professing Christians are associated with this group or not, they are certainly on the same page as is this group and what it seems to represent, certainly regarding Gay civil rights, and many people in positions of political power are certainly influenced by the values of this group, as explicated in this interview!

All too often we have seen Christianity represented by mere thugs, often with smug, self-righteous, and sanitized rhetoric, who link what they call "Christianity" with Americanism, jingoism, capitalism, and militarism! And the gullible among us (and there are a lot of them) buy into this perversion hook, line, and sinker!

(In this connection, you might be interested in an article that I wrote concerning the enmeshment of most of the institutional Church with the Power Elite that is comprised of those who have positions in the highest places of the corporate, political, and military worlds, entitled, It's Not About Issues.)

When professing Christians seek to deny civil rights to others; when they seek to deny universal health care to others; when they transform the Gospel of grace (God's unmerited favor) into the worship of power; when they affirm or don't speak out against unjust wars; when they transform faith (trusting God over and above seen circumstances) into their own political machinations; when they demonize and bear false witness against Gay people; when their values are given credibility by others, whether or not they know of this group and those with whom they are directly or indirectly allied, the precipitous deterioration of our country and of the global community is certainly seen and is certain to even further deteriorate as time goes on.

That's one of the reasons I've always felt that the separation of Church and State is a myth in America, the very essence of "Christianity" has been perverted by ignorant and/or mendacious thugs, and I have long stated that LGBT people are the current canaries in the mine-shaft of society!

The way LGBT people are horribly treated; the way they and their love and sexuality and gender expression are denied dignity and equality that accrue to heterosexual citizens and citizens who can easily be compartmentalized into constructed binary boxes, shows those with eyes to see the poison gas emanating from those who would pervert Christianity, and all decency, to be in accord with their own prejudices.

Just one example: No other minority group would be allowed to suffer the indignity of having their civil rights be put up to a vote of the electorate! What do you think would be the result if a group sought to put on the ballot that African-Americans could no longer enter through the front doors of any public buildings? There would be justifiable outrage expressed, and it would come from virtually all quarters. However, when it comes to Gay people, the rules, rationalizations, and "justifications" become different, for some reason!

As I wrote above, no other minority group would allow itself to suffer the indignity of having its civil rights be put up to popular vote! This fact shows how the poison gas of others' ignorance and/or hatefulness and/or quest for political and "moral" hegemony in the name of "Christianity" has even influenced so many LGBT people!

This is a brief excerpt of the interview, an interview that I strongly urge you to read in its entirety:

And some of the, really the core rhetoric of The Family is this idea that most of us misread the New Testament, that Christ's message - the bottom line of Christ's message wasn't really about love or mercy or justice or forgiveness. It was about power. So Doug Coe, the leader of the group, tries to illustrate this, for instance, by saying, sort of posing a puzzle: name three men in the 20th century who best understood that message of The New Testament. And most people are going to say someone like Martin Luther King, or Bonhoeffer; or maybe they're more conservative, they're going to say Billy Graham. And Coe likes to give in answer: Hitler, Stalin and Mao, which just makes your jaw drop. And he will say - he's quick to say these are evil men, but they understood power. And that message recurs again, and again, and again in The Family.


When I was at the C Street house, I sat in on a session between Doug Coe and Congressman Tiahrt of Kansas. And Coe was encouraging Tiahrt to understand the message of Jesus by thinking about the model of power exemplified by Hitler, Stalin, Mao, Pol Pot. There are so many examples of this, and I give several because I don't want people to think that I'm cherrypicking one bad choice of words. This is a core idea of The Family. There is actually video that �NBC News� found of Coe talking about the fellowship that he wants to model the things on is like that of the great friendship enjoyed by Hitler, Goebbels, and Himmler.

Now, he is not a neo-Nazi. What he is doing there is he's fetishizing strength. He is not looking to democracy, but this model of absolute strength, and that leads The Family into relationships with men like Museveni in Uganda. Before him, their key man for Africa was a guy named Siad Barre of Somalia, for whom Chuck Grassley became a kind of defacto lobbyist as the United States pumped up his military, which he then used to absolutely destroy his country to such an effect that Somalia has never recovered and today is a haven for al-Qaida, for terrorism, for piracy. It's a lawless nation. The Family says that's part of God's plan.

[For the full interview, see here.]

[Now, also please read The Secret Political Reach of "The Family".]

For a ten minute interview by Thom Hartmann with Jeff Sharlet about The Family, please seen the following video:

PLEASE WATCH THIS BEAUTIFUL VIDEO ON THE CHRISTIAN LIFE

PLEASE WATCH THIS BRIEF AND BEAUTIFUL VIDEO TO UNDERSTAND THE ESSENCE OF THE CHRISTIAN LIFE.

THE IGNORANT ATTEMPT TO "TRANSFORM" GAY PEOPLE

His [Phillip Lee] Way Out ministry contends in its brochures that its position comes from the authority of Scripture rather than social sciences and medicine.

The ''sexually broken'' can be transformed through close reading of Scripture and openly discussing temptations, the ministry contends.

"Since it is acquired it can be unacquired." Lee said. "And like I said, a lot of people have bought into the born-that-way theory. There's no Scripture to support that theory."

[For the full article, see here.]

How often we have heard from professing Christian homophobes that being Gay is "an inclination," "a life style," "a temptation," "a sin" by their referring to what they call "the authority of Scripture!" The fact is that that reference to, and interpretation of, Scripture is a lie perpetrated by the ignorant and/or the mendacious and/or the haters in the world!

I defy anyone to show me chapter and verse where same-sex love is condemned, or where same-sex marriage is condemned!

To resort to some Old Testament passages to support the specious argument that being Gay is destructive is terribly misleading, not only because Christians are not bound by the laws of the Old Testament, and that the context of these "clobber passages" are in the framework of a tribal society living on the edge that needs to propagate in order to survive, but that other cultural practices in ancient Israel are affirmed in the Bible that no sane person would currently adopt, such as stoning to death recalcitrant children, stoning to death those caught in adultery, and stoning to death those who work on the Sabbath. I'm not even going into such prohibitions listed in the Bible as the eating shell fish and the wearing of mixed fibers in one's clothes!

More to the point, the attempt to "transform," or in any way suppress, that which God has made is a sin in and of itself!

Being Gay is "acquired" the same way that being Straight is "acquired!" God made us in these ways, and it is a sin to thwart God's plan for any of God's children, for to do so not only does inexplicable harm to that person, but also thwarts the will of God and shows a definite lack of trust in God and in God's plan for each person's life!

Even secular psychologists affirm the possible danger that accrues to those who are the victims of attempts to change their sexual orientation, and Christians should know enough to agree with that affirmation as well, even on purely biblical grounds. Our sexuality is a wonderful gift from God, and that is true whether we were created to be Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, or Transgender!

The love story of David and Jonathan (1Samuel 18-20), and the story of Deborah (Judges 4-5), a Judge and fierce and well-respected warrior in Israel whom I have always considered to be Transgendered, shows that God mightily uses God's Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgendered children for God's own purposes; God creates us the way God wants, and God doesn't make any mistakes!

For those who believe in "transforming" Gay people into something other than the way they were created to be by God is to show a decided lack of faith in God, and the Bible makes very clear that without faith it is impossible to please God! (See, for example, Hebrews 11:6.)

So, it is those who don't trust God and God's creative abilities, and who think that God makes mistakes, and who refuse to understand that God specializes in diversity, who are the real sinners!

And LGBT people who are comfortable in and with their own bodies, knowing that they are not some mistake, know that God created them just as God ordained from the foundation of the world (for example, see Ephesians 1:4), who are the ones who express their faith in God, and are thereby enabled to live the abundant life that Jesus promises all of us who abide in Him!

Please don't listen to ignorant wolves in sheep's clothing, be they clergy or not, who are seeking to thwart God's will for your life!

Put your full trust in God, and don't trust the rhetoric of others who may well have prejudices based on unresolved sexual conflicts in their own lives, thereby trying with all their might to suppress in you what they are often trying to suppress in themselves!

THE BLIGHT OF MORAL COWARDICE

“The Vice Chancellor of City University London, Julius Weinberg, should resign. He is refusing to take any action after the Islamic Society hosted a fundamentalist preacher, Abu Usamah, who advocates the murder of gay people and of Muslims who give up their faith,” said human rights campaigner Peter Tatchell.

Abu Usamah was recorded on Channel Four’s television documentary, Undercover Mosque, as saying: “Do you practice homosexuality with men? Take that homosexual man and throw him off the mountain....”

Another speaker given a platform at the same City University event on 4 November, Murthadah Khan, was also caught on the Undercover Mosque documentary calling Jews and Christians “enemies” and “filthy”.

[For the full article, see here

I strongly urge you to read the full article, as it not only shows the vile hatred that is spewed in the public arena but, more to the point of this post, shows the moral cowardice of people like the Vice Chancellor of City University London.

Having been a professor, and serving in assorted administrative capacities, for forty years, I've never ceased to be amazed at the moral cowardice of most faculty and administrators who inhabit universities!

As we see in the above cited article, even the most egregious, hateful, rhetoric is spewed without the Vice Chancellor condemning that rhetoric that affirms both hatred and hateful acts perpetrated against others in the name of "free speech."

As Chief Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes succinctly stated, free speech does not entitle one to shout "fire" in a crowded theater!

"Fire" is being shouted by assorted homophobic (and other xenophobic) clergy who are given a platform that enhances their undeserved credibility to help cause untold harm, suffering, and even deaths to others, and they do so in the name of God, no less!

If we don't confront this hatred, be be that hatred expressed in rhetorical form or in actions, the bullies win!

As every schoolchild knows, when a bully confronts you, if you tolerate that confrontation, he/she will escalate his/her bullying. If you fight back, he/she is likely to climb back under the rock from which he/she emerged.

Bullies are basically cowards! So, in this case, we have one coward allowing other cowards to have their way, and the bullies win because of this lack of confrontation!

It is unfortunate that Christians are expected to be milquetoasts! We are, indeed, called upon to suffer all types of indignities for the sake of God!

The tragedy is that if we stand for the bullying of others, we are behaving diametrically opposite to what God expects of each of God's disciples, because we are allowing evil to prosper at the expense of others' well-being.

Turning the other cheek is relevant to one's own cheek! It is not up to us to turn the cheek of those who are being victimized, and that is what we precisely do when we keep silent amidst hate-speech and discrimination directed against others!

It is moral cowards like Weinberg seems to be who have allowed hate to prosper; discrimination to endure; suffering to escalate; suicides, assaults, and murders to occur!

I imagine Weinberg is not a Christian, but his silence amidst this atrocity mimics so much of what I have seen within universities and by clergy and their followers within churches that comprise most of the institutional Church!

Those who remain silent amidst the oppression of others leave a hateful legacy that further erodes the civility of society; escalates the hatred evinced by the bullies among us; terribly hurts our fellow human beings; despite rhetoric to the contrary, defames God!

THE SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCE BETWEEN BEING A CHRISTIAN AND JUST GOING TO CHURCH

[Thanks to Jason Turner and Pete Zayonce.]

INTERNATIONAL TRANSGENDER DAY

INTERNATIONAL TRANSGENDER DAY. ALSO SEE HERE.

THE IRONY AND IRRATIONALITY OF MINORITY GROUP HOMOPHOBIA

This is how Bishop Harry Jackson [Pictured] spent his summer vacation: He hustled back and forth across the District rallying his faithful flock who oppose gay marriage. He leaned into microphones over at the Board of Elections and Ethics, quoting biblical verse, decrying those who would trumpet marriage between man and man, woman and woman.

He continued his protests when the leaves began to fall and the early darkness crawled across the sky. He heard amen this and amen that from the pulpit of his Beltsville church. They sent him out to spread their version of the Gospel, and off he went, hopscotching across the country. Sometimes crowds would gather around him like geese, in Denver, in Los Angeles, sometimes 10,000 at a time. He spoke to swelling groups of people who felt the same way he did about same-sex marriage: No, no, no.

He popped up on national talk shows. The conservative radio commentators ushered him into their studios.

[For the full article, see here.](Thanks to AmericaBlogGay.)

Bishop Harry Jackson is a man who, as an African American, has a legacy of grinding oppression and unimagined suffering relieved only by intensive civil rights agitation by those who endured what Martin Luther King called "a season of suffering." It was this "season of suffering" that enabled the Harry Jacksons of the world to have what credibility they enjoy, but by no means deserve to the degree that they seek to deny the same civil rights of which they were once deprived but that they now enjoy precisely because of that civil rights struggle.

Now, Harry Jackson, and those minority group members who agree with him regarding the minority group of LGBT people, is exhibiting what may be seen to be a version of what Vilfredo Pareto, a famous early twentieth century Sociologist called, "the circulation of elites," whereby a deprived group, once it gets some measure of power, then turns around and oppresses another minority group.

Jackson invokes the Bible and God to seek to justify his homophobia, his intense desire to prevent same-sex loving couples from benefitting from the institution of marriage, with all of the civil and sacramental rights that accrue to that institution. (In this connection, please read my October 21, 2009 post, The Danger of the Religious Right.)

The irony of a member of one minority group seeking to prevent full equality of another minority group, beyond invoking the Bible and God to justify that oppression, is seen when we read of many of the "justifications" used by professing "Christian" White Supremacists to maintain the institutions of Slavery, Segregation and Jim Crow laws that once were institutionalized in the U.S. Indeed, "...religious endorsement of Jim Crow went a long way to sanctifying segregation as a widespread social reality." (See here.)

It would be instructive for the Harry Jacksons of the religious world to learn from the following:

For centuries, Christian artwork had depicted Satan and his demons as black. In Christian literature, Satan was described as black, even specifically as an African, such as in Athanasius' Life of Saint Anthony and the medieval best-seller Voyage of Brendan. Not surprisingly, Christians decided that Africans and Indians were a lot closer to Satan than white-skinned Europeans and acted accordingly to protect themselves from the "pollution" of contact with dark-skinned peoples. Read historian Forrest G. Wood's The Arrogance of Faith for an in-depth exploration of the Christian origin of racism, slavery and segregation.

That's why defenders of slavery in the antebellum South repeatedly use the Bible and refer to Christian concepts in their arguments. Read The Ideology of Slavery, which reprints slavery defenses, edited by Drew Gilpin Faust, to see how devoutly Christian the defenders were. Defenders correctly note that the Bible repeatedly condones slavery, even commands it at times, and never condemns it. Even the Tenth Commandment condones slavery; so much for the Commandments as a source of moral virtue. Also read Proslavery, by Larry E. Tise, pages 116-120, for surveys showing the overwhelmingly Christian character of slavery defenses. In one survey of pro-slavery tracts, clergymen wrote more than half.

In the aftermath of the Civil War, it's no surprise that Sunday morning became the most segregated time of the week. Nor is it surprising that it was agnostics and atheists in various liberal movements who spoke out first against segregation and racism. That's one reason that white segregationists--clergy included--labeled the civil-rights workers "communists," a word they considered synonymous with atheism.

[For the full article, see here.]

Part of an Abstract of an article entitled, God, Preachers, And Segregation, reads as follows:

In 1965, transcripts were collected of 72 sermons on the issue of racial integration preached between 1955 and 1965. The sermons, all given by Baptist, Methodist, Presbyterian, or Episcopal ministers in the southern United States, were examined to determine the position advocated by the minister. The sermons deemed segregationist were then analyzed for recurring strategies used to defend the segregation viewpoint. The major arguments of the segregationists may be summarized as follows: (1) segregation is the divine will of God as expressed in the Bible; (2) desegregation leads to mixed marriages, which are undesirable; (3) segregation is a universal law of nature...(5) the motives of those who support integration are improper; (6) segregation does not necessarily entail discrimination....

So, the irony of the homophobic pronouncements of the religious Harry Jacksons of the world is that those pronouncements virtually mimic much of the rhetoric of the White Supremacist clergy that was used against their ancestors, and that helped to provide "justification" for the institutions of slavery and segregation in society.

As I wrote in an article, It's Not About Issues:

...we have the irrational and surreal phenomenon where we have people aligning themselves with the Power Elite by directly working against their own interests, so that we see the spectacle of some African American clergy willing to align themselves with the KKK to oppose same-sex marriage, as seen by Rev. Gregory Daniels who is quoted as having said, "If the KKK opposes gay marriage, I would ride with them."

The reactionary mind-set of the Power Elite has even infiltrated many other African American clergy and their gullible followers who should certainly know better, so that they perversely use the very same rhetoric, justifications for, and advocacy of, discrimination against LGBT people and their acquisition of full and equal civil rights that were once used against African Americans by the allies and members of the Power Elite, and they are now willfully blind to the fact that it was those "activist judges," "liberals," and courageous people, Black and White, which and whom they now roundly condemn, that made possible the end of slavery and segregation.

Unfortunately, appeals to rationality and to the essence of the Gospel message seems to have little, if any, influence on deeply prejudiced people, particularly if those people can get their fifteen minutes of fame, and acquire a great deal of power, prestige, and wealth by bearing false witness against Gay people, and preaching exclusionary rhetoric that appeals to people's prejudices and xenophobic feelings and unfounded fears.

It comes down to the fact that the rhetoric of the Harry Jacksons of the religious world are not merely bankrupt, but that there are all too many gullible people who take their rhetoric seriously, and thereby suppress and subvert the "season of suffering" that their ancestors endured; they also renounce the entire Gospel that they falsely say they preach, as well as they renounce the Prince of Peace, the very God, Whom they say they represent!

PLEASE LISTEN TO THIS FIVE MINUTE SERMON

Bishop Yvette Flunder, Senior Pastor of City of Refuge, UCC published this brief video on Facebook yesterday, and I very much want you to see it and circulate it to all LGBT people and their families.

SANITIZED HOMOPHOBIA THAT APPEALS TO "ITCHING EARS"

The Apostle Paul told his son in the faith, Timothy, the following: "For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables." (2Timothy 4:3-4)

"Sound doctrine" in Christianity is the Gospel of grace, or God's unmerited favor bestowed on all those who trust God over and above seen circumstances! It's this Gospel that is at the heart of Christianity, as it reflects Jesus' life, ministry, and teachings! There is no other Gospel than the Gospel of grace that one appropriates through faith in Christ!

Rhetoric of legalism and perfectionism, the do's and don'ts that all too many clergy ram down people's throats in the name of the Bible, Christianity, and God is a perversion of the faith, does an injustice to Christians, to non-Christians who might wish to know more about Christianity, and to God!

Unfortunately, the sound doctrine of grace is rarely to be heard within most of the institutional Church, and those with "itching ears" who long for gurus to tell them what to think and how to live are in abundance to the degree that even megachurches exist where, as in the case of Joel Osteen, pastor of Lakewood Church in Houston, Texas, has memberships as high as 40,000 or even higher.

And why not? Most people who attend most churches within the institutional Church are told what they want to hear by someone who presumes to know what God wants from others; what they say God wants usually reflects their own prejudices, so that someone like Osteen has the temerity to say that being Gay is "not God's best."

He doesn't say that being Gay is a sin, because he doesn't have to! The confident smile on his face and his sanitized rhetoric regarding this subject is sufficient to get this message across without his having to resort to virulent homophobic remarks, and thereby not risk offending even many of those who consider themselves to be "liberals."

No one asks him how he knows this seeming fact that being Gay is "not God's best," and how his oracular pronouncement on this subject jibe with the Gospel of grace; how his pronouncements jibe with the fact that Jesus never condemned same-sex love; same-sex love is never mentioned in the Ten Commandments; same-sex love is not condemned by any of the prophets.

Indeed, no one even thinks to asks such questions of him or of many other clergy because the constant inundation visited upon us by homophobic clergy has transformed a big lie into what is considered "the truth" in the eyes of gullible people who have "itching ears."

With a perpetual smile on his face, bespeaking to me a self-satisfied confidence in himself and his "knowledge" of "God's best," Osteen's smarmy rhetoric is difficult for me to bear or even hear, and it is, therefore, difficult for me to even watch him in action in the following video.

However, I did have enough stomach to listen to the following five minute video so that I could share with you what I consider to be the bankruptcy of so much of what purports to be "Christianity."

All too often there are clergy who equate and even enmesh "Christianity" with Americanism, jingoism, capitalism, and militarism, and do so in the name of God, and craft their messages so that people can leave church "feeling good," even amidst the injustices of life, and amidst the oppression of others for which these very clergy provide the principle "justifications." This is not the "Christianity" that I know and that I see in the Bible!

Here is the video with Joel Osteen: [Thanks to Gay Agenda.]

TOWARD OUR FINAL AND BLESSED DESTINATION

Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven....Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. (Matthew 5:3,10)

WHEN SEXUAL SUPPRESSION TRUMPS THE GOSPEL MESSAGE

The Catholic Archdiocese of Washington said Wednesday that it will be unable to continue the social service programs it runs for the District if the city doesn't change a proposed same-sex marriage law, a threat that could affect tens of thousands of people the church helps with adoption, homelessness and health care.

[For the full article, see here.]

The following is a slightly edited version of what I wrote to some friends of mine regarding this article:

This is my take on it: When people are forced to suppress sexual activity, a most primal urge, the frustration borne of such an unnatural yoke of bondage often manifests itself in self-destructive ways and also in ways that are often destructive to others. When that phenomenon is coupled with what I call "Genital Theology," where morality, Christianity, and religion are largely and falsely seen to be based on sexual matters; when such "theology" (be it in the RC Church or in reactionary protestant churches) is a money-maker that attracts true believers who are usually one-dimensional in their thinking, that mind-set takes on a life of its own.

And, therefore, these true believers can see no contradiction between professing to be "Christians" on the one hand and also hold deeply seated prejudices on the other hand. And they'll even hold the poor and children hostage to their one-dimensional thinking and prejudices, all largely based on their own sexual suppression, and see no contradiction between RC dogma regarding sexuality and caring for the poor that Jesus taught His disciples to do.

Moreover, having the temerity to seem to take the "moral high ground" deflects concentration from the RC Church's egregious sexual scandals and projects them, and blames them, on Gay people, further providing false justification for their prejudice against Gay people, which is often a projection of the self-loathing and frustration of many RC clergy as Gay and/or sexually confused and immature bureaucrats.

And, when obedience to that bureaucracy is inculcated into its clergy to the degree that it is through formation in seminaries and beyond, most (though by no means all) hold to the Vatican's party line.

[For an excellent letter to the D.C. archdiocese of the RC Church, see here.]

EVIDENCE OF OBAMA'S CONTEMPT FOR LGBT PEOPLE

This link provides all the evidence we need to show the disdain, the contempt, that Obama has for LGBT people!

One more thing: Donnie McClurkin is the person Obama courted and used in his campaign.

In this connection, regarding Donnie McClurkin, you might be interested in my article, Self-Loathing, Being Duped, and Believing a Lie.

Also, The Miseducation of Donnie McClurkin, by Don Charles.

THE COARSENING OF OUR SOCIETY AND HOMOPHOBIC CLERGY

The reason I'm linking to this article is that it highlights and reinforces the increasing coarsening of our culture that makes homophobic rhetoric, even the most vile and bizarre of such rhetoric, viewed as acceptable and even seem legitimate to many people within our society.

There are certain things that decent people don't do! Discussing one's sex life with one's spouse (or any other person, for that matter) in the public arena, divulging intimate details about the other person regarding the most intimate dimension of that relationship, is truly indecent and disgusting!

And if such betrayal and indecency is able to be leeched out into the public sphere, shame knows no bounds! We see such coarsening in all too many relationships, "religious" and political rhetoric, and much of what passes for "humor" and "commentary" in the media.

One only has to listen to most radio talk shows to see that coarsening of the culture and how it resonates with all too many gullible people who are unable or unwilling to allow their dark sides, dark sides we all possess to one degree or another, to become subordinate to the values that Jesus and other religious leaders have historically articulated. What makes this coarsening so egregious, beyond the obvious, is that hateful rhetoric, hatred and hate-mongering, are no longer on the fringes of many societal institutions but have taken center stage in much thought, words, and actions.

So, even the most reprehensible and irrational demagogic pronouncements from the pulpit regarding LGBT people is often seen by many as being consistent with biblical teaching, and with "conservative Christianity," when, in fact, such pronouncements are diametrically opposed to anything with which, Jesus, the Gospel, and Christianity have to do.

And, far from being "conservative Christianity," or "Bible-based," these pronouncements and often discriminatory actions by many clergy and their gullible followers represent another "religion" or world-view altogether! They have absolutely nothing to do with Christianity, and that fact must be hammered home every chance we get in any and every venue possible!

Since when can the life, ministry, teachings, and works of the Prince of Peace, the Embodiment of Love, the One Who tells His disciples to care for each other and for all of God's children be seen as being consistent with homophobic rhetoric and actions by those who have the temerity to call themselves "Christians"; be seen as being within the domain of "conservative Christianity?" Such a view is bizarre on its face!

Yet, that view is not often seen as being bizarre to the degree that our society has become increasingly coarsened!

And that coarsening is no better served than by homophobic clergy who falsely presume upon themselves, and pronounce themselves, to be arbiters of morality and yet bear false witness and defame God's LGBT children, and frequently do so to loud applause!

The indecency of such clergy mimics the indecency of any spouse who would divulge the sex life he/she had or has with his/her spouse! The only difference (and it's a big difference) is that the latter makes no assertion that he/she is taking the moral high ground, and is a representative of God on earth!

So, the tell-all spouse, as reprehensible as he/she is, is even more decent (and honest) than are homophobic clergy who presume to represent Jesus and yet who are ravenous wolves who lead gullible sheep astray and who have caused untold suffering to God's Gay children!

A COMMENTARY BY DON CHARLES ON BISHOP JOHN SPONG'S MANIFESTO

Please read the excellent two-part post, You Can't Go Halfway, by my good friend Don Charles.

It deals with Bishop John Spong's essay, A Manifesto! The Time Has Come!

All Christians and all decent people should read both Spong's essay and Don Charles' two-part post.

It's important to remember that one can be a decent person and not be a Christian! However EVERY SINGLE Christian is a decent person, and if one is not a decent person, he/she is not a Christian!

THE CHURCH OF UGANDA AND THE "ANTI-HOMOSEXUALITY BILL"

In April 2009, Archbishop Henry Luke Orombi said, "I am appalled to learn that the rumours we have heard for a long time about homosexual recruiting in our schools and amongst our youth are true. I am even more concerned that the practice is more widespread than we originally thought. It is the duty of the church and the government to be watchmen on the wall and to warn and protect our people from harmful and deceitful agendas."

[For the full paper, see here.]

In the above cited November 6, 2009 letter, the Rev. Canon Aaron Mwesigye of the Anglican Province of Uganda says this issue of increasing terms of imprisonment for Gay people is still being considered by the Church of Uganda so that The Church of Uganda is studying the proposed "Anti-homosexuality bill" and, therefore, does not yet have an official position on the bill.

This statement is profoundly offensive on its face! The Church of Uganda doesn't have an official position on imprisoning and depriving others of their liberties and freedom? What kind of "Christianity" does this obscenity represent? It's certainly not the Christianity of Jesus, of the Gospel of grace, of the Bible!

Some of the details of the proposed Anti-Homosexuality Bill are as follows:

Over recent months, there has been increased campaigning against homosexuality in Uganda, led by churches and anti-gay groups. The media have joined this campaign, and have publicly pointed to individuals they accuse of being gay or lesbian.

People suspected of being gay have faced death threats and been physically assaulted. Many have been ostracized by their families or faced discrimination, including dismissal from their place of employment.

This new draft bill includes a provision that could lead to the imprisonment for up to three years of anyone, including heterosexual people, who fails to report within 24 hours the identities of everyone they know who is lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender, or who supports human rights for people who are.

[For the full article, see here.]

Also:

The bill criminalizes "promotion of homosexuality" in the form of funding and sponsoring LGBT organizations and broadcasting, publishing, or marketing materials on homosexuality and punishes these acts with a steep fine, 5-7 years of imprisonment, or both. Any person in authority who fails to report known violations of the law within 24 hours will also be subject to a significant fine and up to 3 years in prison – even when this means turning in their colleagues, family, or friends. More shocking, the bill claims jurisdiction over Ugandans who violate its provisions while outside of the country.

The bill effectively bans any kind of community or political organizing around non-heteronormative sexuality.

[For the full article, see here.]

And so the Anglican Church of Uganda is "considering" such a bill, and those who do so portray themselves as "Christians!"

And, where is the outrage by most of the institutional Church? Where are those who are Christians indeed who are called to speak out against such an obscenity? How is it possible to sing "Amazing Grace" and other such hymns and feel no cognitive dissonance in either their advocacy or silence when such a Bill is "considered" by professing Christian clergy?

Where are those professing Christians who say, "Enough is enough! Not in the name of Jesus, not in the name of God, will you slander God, the Gospel, Christianity, and us by your ignorant and hateful prejudices that spit in the very face of God?

Those in the world-wide institutional Church who remain silent in the face of such an obscenity, of the oppression of LGBT people in the name of God, are just as guilty of the sufferings, suicides, assaults, murders, tortures, and imprisonment of LGBT people (and those perceived to be LGBT) than are the thugs who call themselves "Christians," yet whose hearts are filled with the values and prejudices of the demonic!

The level of homophobia within the institutional Church, and clergy rhetoric and discriminatory actions in both the religious and civic arenas, should leave us no doubt that the demonic has strongly infiltrated the institutional Church!

IT WASN'T GOD WHO TOLD HIM TO HATE GAY PEOPLE

No, it was ignorant, homophobic clergy who told him to hate Gay people!.

LEAVE THE PLAINS OF HOMOPHOBIC CHURCHES AND PICK UP YOUR TENT AND MOVE TO HIGHER GROUND

A foundation that supports gay rights has delivered a petition to Mormon church leaders asking them to reconsider their policies and political activism against gay marriage.

[For the full article, see here.]

Part of the Petition reads as follows:

We believe that the time is right for healing over this issue to begin, for those on both sides to manifest forgiveness, magnanimity, and especially, love. We believe reconciliation requires us to strive for open hearts and minds so that we might live together in peace and mutual respect. It is long past time for those on both sides to begin treating one another with greater dignity, respect and understanding.

[To see the full Petition, see here.]

In conjunction with this Petition, there is a very compelling, heart-felt, video entitled, "Bring Them In From The Plains":



Over many years, ample evidence has been presented that homophobia that is linked with many clergy's interpretation of selected Bible verses that has been enmeshed, if not fused, with their views of Christianity and "morality," is not going to be swayed or altered by appeals to emotion or to reason. Indeed, their homophobia is not even going to be swayed by biblical exegeses refuting the interpretation of those same passages that homophobic clergy use to bear false witness and discriminate against LGBT people!

It's high time that LGBT Christians make a cold turkey choice, if they haven't done so already! Stay in denominations and churches that view you as objects of disdain and ridicule OR flee those toxic denominations and churches and not subject yourselves to such gross indignities visited upon you "in the name of God."

This choice hinges on at least two criteria:

1. The degree of self-loathing/masochism that you possess.

2. The degree of loyalty you have to an institution that disparages you and seeks to deny you full and equal civil and sacramental rights.

Bishop John Spong of the Episcopal Church, in his article entitled, "A Manifesto! The Time Has Come!," in part wrote the following:

I will no longer seek to slow down the witness to inclusiveness by pretending that there is some middle ground between prejudice and oppression. There isn't. Justice postponed is justice denied. That can be a resting place no longer for anyone. An old civil rights song proclaimed that the only choice awaiting those who cannot adjust to a new understanding was to "Roll on over or we'll roll on over you!" Time waits for no one.

I will particularly ignore those members of my own Episcopal Church who seek to break away from this body to form a "new church," claiming that this new and bigoted instrument alone now represents the Anglican Communion. Such a new ecclesiastical body is designed to allow these pathetic human beings, who are so deeply locked into a world that no longer exists, to form a community in which they can continue to hate gay people, distort gay people with their hopeless rhetoric and to be part of a religious fellowship in which they can continue to feel justified in their homophobic prejudices for the rest of their tortured lives. Church unity can never be a virtue that is preserved by allowing injustice, oppression and psychological tyranny to go unchallenged.

[For the full article, see here.]

LGBT people who choose to remain in homophobic denominations and churches must dig deep into their psyches and seek to discern why they choose to remain in those toxic institutions!

The spurious canard that "It's my church too," as I heard one Roman Catholic say on TV, is embarrassing on its face! You don't make the doctrines, you don't make the dogmas, you can't preach from the pulpit, you have no voice in the formal dimensions of that denomination or church to get your own theological and/or personal views across, you have no right to excommunicate anybody. It is clearly not your church too!

So, I consider the above mentioned Petition to the Mormon Church to be well-meaning but pathetic on its face!

People, particularly clergy, who misuse Scripture and distort the lives of LGBT people as part of their theology and rhetoric; who raise countless millions of dollars to deny one or more civil rights to Gay people; who discriminate against Gay people, have no right to be treated with any degree of deference, let alone given credibility by being given petitions appealing to their reason and/or emotions; they have no right to be given credibility by your presence and your money, or the presence and money of any decent person who professes to be a Christian.

Enough is enough! If the role of the LDS Church, the RC Church, and most churches within the institutional Church regarding Prop. 8 in California and the recent vote removing the right of same-sex marriage in Maine doesn't make you angry enough to remove yourselves from these toxic institutions, I don't know what will.

All decent people and LGBT people who attend homophobic churches must examine their hearts and try and discern whether inertia should overcome anger; whether loyalty to one's tradition should overcome exposing oneself to lies and hateful rhetoric; whether any degree or even vestige of self-loathing should overcome giving credibility to institutions that misuse the Bible; whether any taint of masochistic needs should overcome discrimination and oppression visited upon LGBT people "in the name of God."

To all LGBT people, and all decent people who call themselves "Christians," I ask that you examine your psyches and ask yourselves why you choose to attend toxic institutions that demean and hurt others, and that cause untold suffering by their rhetoric and oppression of others in both the religious and civic arenas.

HOW CAN IT BE CONSTITUTIONAL TO PUT ANY GROUP'S CIVIL RIGHTS UP TO A VOTE OF THE ELECTORATE? A COMMENT BY DON CHARLES.

My friend, Don Charles, who blogs at Christ, The Gay Martyr. posted the following comment on gay.americablog.com that is well worth reading. As you know, I've always been against putting any minority group's civil rights up to a vote by the electorate, having any group's civil rights be beholden to the will and whim of the dominant group in society, and his comment beautifully hammers that point home.

What is both stunning and depressing is how many millions and millions of dollars are wasted on these hate campaigns. If you add up all the 31 pro-gay campaigns we have lost, both sides have flushed hundreds of millions of dollars." What's really stunning and depressing is the cluelessness of the so-called Gay community and its spokesmen, including otherwise intelligent folk like Joe Sudbay and John Aravosis. When and how did we become convinced that voting on citizenship rights was a sane thing to do? Who decided that knocking on doors and trying to promote compassion in the same way you'd promote a political candidate would work? You can't root out deeply entrenched prejudice that way, especially not when there's a preacher in a pulpit every Sunday morning undermining your efforts with hateful doctrine! We've once more allowed ourselves to be punked by the religious Right Wing. We've willingly let them trick us into playing a game they know we can't win. Like it or not, people, marriage equality is a fight for the courts, not for the ballot box! We do immeasurable damage to the US Constitution when we participate in and validate anti-Gay ballot measure battles! We help set dangerous precedents! This issue is bigger than marriage equality. It's about our very democracy, and how we unwittingly help our enemies to destabilize it. Our energy and resources should be going toward legal challenges, not futile campaigns like Proposition 8 and Question 1! When will we learn?"

WHY ARE THE CHURCHES SILENT AMIDST LGBT OPPRESSION IN UGANDA AND ELSEWHERE?

The Ugandan embassies of France and the United States publicly condemned Uganda's proposed Anti-Homosexuality Bill on Monday, but officials in the African nation plan to move forward with the discriminatory legislation....

The bill would amplify the country's antigay laws, including criminalizing any public discussion of homosexuality and penalizing individuals who knowingly rented property to a homosexual.

[For the full article, see here.]

I'm afraid that to ask the question posed by the title of this post is to answer it!

Most all of the institutional Church is patriarchal, heterosexist, bureaucratic, cowardly, and supports the status quo from which it profits by receiving its members' contributions in the collection plates that keep ministerial careers afloat!

There is nothing in Christian theology that supports discrimination of any kind, and to keep silent in the face of such discrimination, of such oppression, whether in Uganda, Jamaica, or anywhere else, is to support that discrimination and oppression, and makes those who remain silent just as culpable in the oppression, assaults, imprisonment, and murders of LGBT people than those who actively support these egregious acts!

And no disciple of Christ can either advocate discrimination, actually discriminate, or remain silent in the face of discrimination against LGBT people or against any other minority group!

So much of what passes for "Christianity" has been mere thuggery often couched in sanitized terms designed by many professing Christian clergy and their followers to seduce gullible people into buying into their homophobic prejudices by falsely appealing to such terms as "tradition," "traditional family values," "for the good of the children," "morality and decency," and "it's in the Bible."

And, sometimes the terms are not at all sanitized! For example, hear Bishop Isaac Orama’s getting caught saying that LGBT people are “inhuman, insane, satanic and not fit to live.” [See here.]

And hear Archbishop Peter Akinola:

Homosexuality and lesbianism, like divorce, breed a society of single parents which gives rise to a generation of bastards. And in the context of much poverty and lack of education, this further produces an ill-bred generation of hooligans, portending much terror to the peace and stability of the society. [See here.]

And hear our homegrown "religious" demogagues, the late Rev. Jerry Falwell, with Pat Robertson concurring, opining on why 9/11 happened:

Rev. Jerry Falwell: I really believe that the pagans and the abortionists and the feminists and the gays and the lesbians who are actively trying to make that an alternative lifestyle, the ACLU, People for the American Way, all of them who try to secularize America...I point the finger in their face and say you helped this happen." [See here.]

And most all churches within the institutionalized Church remain silent amidst this oppression because their congregants are quite comfortable with their incestuous socialization, spending their time discussing building beautification programs, attending church regularly, and singing their pious hymns.

Indeed, most clergy within the institutional Church, by their homophobic rhetoric and frequently warped doctrines and dogmas that make that rhetoric sound "godly" to their gullible followers, have encouraged rank discrimination against LGBT people both in the U.S. and in places like Jamaica and Uganda.

Is it any wonder that the moral high ground in the struggle for LGBT rights is not taken by most within the institutional Church, but is taken by most who are outside that structure, many of whom are not even Christians? And this fact is a profound embarrassment to all Christians worthy of the name!

It is a tragedy when secular forces lead the way in condemning the oppression of LGBT people, and when professing Christians encourage discrimination and oppression of others by their rhetoric, by their actions, and by their silence!

In this most significant and crucial civil rights movement of our time, full civil and sacramental equality for LGBT people, Jesus tells all who claim to be His disciples, and who persist in remaining silent amidst the oppression of LGBT people, what Mordecai told his cousin (whom he raised when her parents died) Esther, when the Jewish people in Shushan, which was in Persia, were slated to be murdered:

For if thou altogether holdest thy peace at this time, then shall there enlargement and deliverance arise to the Jews from another place; but thou and thy father's house shall be destroyed: and who knoweth whether thou art come to the kingdom for such a time as this? (Esther 4:14)

All Christians should meditate on Mordecai's admonition to Esther!

ONLY A WARPED THEOLOGY COULD SEE SOME TYPES OF DISCRIMINATION AS BEING "JUST"

In an article entitled, "Churches Welcome Gay Bans" the following mind-blowing statement by Roman Catholic Cardinal George Pell appears:

"It is important to protect people from unjust discrimination but it is ridiculous to claim discrimination every time we show a preference for some people over others.

[For the full article, see here.]

If showing a preference for some people over others, and seeking to allocate dignity and rights based upon those preferences, isn't prejudicial and discriminatory, then I fail to see the very definition of "unjust discrimination" from any Christian (or any other rational) world-view!

Moreover, the very adjective Pell uses, "unjust," shows that he seems to see that certain types of discrimination can be "just."

And this is part of the heart of the problem of homophobia by many professing Christians when RC and other clergy advocate discrimination against one or more minority groups: they seem to feel that such discrimination and deprivation of civil and sacramental rights are "just!"

So we have self-professed representatives of the Prince of Peace, Who, told all who would be His disciples to love God and love and not judge others, advocating prejudice and discrimination, and further viewing such prejudice and discrimination as being "just" according to their warped theology.

And, of course, their view of "unjust" discrimination would entail anything that would offend a denomination's self-interest; the interests of such vulnerable people as foster children and recipients of charity, as seen in the above cited article, are being held hostage to anything that thwarts that warped view:

Charities and religious groups could discriminate against gay people or anyone else who might offend their values after a landmark decision quashed a finding in favour of a gay couple who wanted to become foster parents.

Both the Catholic and Anglican churches have praised the ruling and Cardinal George Pell said anti-discrimination cases threatened churches' ability to do charity work.

What an indictment against professing Christians who would sacrifice the vulnerable in society to their discriminatory dogmas; bear false witness and see nothing wrong with discriminating against God's LGBT children!

Let this sink in:

...and Cardinal George Pell said anti-discrimination cases threatened churches' ability to do charity work.

SAME-SEX MARRIAGE RIGHTS IN WASHINGTON, D.C.

Scores of people cheered and waved signs as ministers and religious activists delivered speeches Sunday during a Freedom Plaza rally against same-sex marriage in the District of Columbia.

Chanting “let the people vote,” Bishop Harry Jackson, pastor of a church in Beltsville, Md., and Rev. Walter Fauntroy, Washington’s former congressional delegate, were among a series of speakers to call on the D.C. City Council to allow a voter initiative that seeks to ban same-sex marriage in the city.

[For the full article, see here.]

Same-sex marriage, despite much "religious" rhetoric to the contrary, is a civil rights issue! Indeed, LGBT rights is the major civil rights issue of our time!

To deny same-sex couples the civil and sacramental rights that accrue to heterosexuals who wish to make a lifetime commitment to each other is downright discrimination!

And for African-Americans who have a legacy of suffering unspeakable oppression in the U.S. to not understand this fundamental principle is amazing to me, and should be amazing to any rational person!

In the above cited article, Rev. Anthony Evans said, "...We were astonished to hear the chairman of the City Council not only willing to ignore God’s word but was determined to defy the teachings of Christ concerning marriage and defy God by declaring same-sex marriage as not a religious issue but a human rights one.”

Rev. Evans invokes "God's word" but fails to mention (or perhaps even see) Jesus' statement in the context of heterosexual marriage: "For there are some eunuchs , which were so born from their mother's womb...." (Matthew 19:12)

Rather than exegete the above passage here, which Faris Malik has superbly done, it must be emphasized that "God's word" by no means discounts same-sex marriage; same-sex marriage in no way "[defies] the teachings of Christ concerning marriage," and, contrary to Evans' assertion, the conferring of same-sex marriage rights is not a religious issue but is, in fact, a human and civil rights issue!

Same-sex marriage is a civil right, and our civil rights are not to be given or withheld by appealing to the Bible (or, more particularly, certain people's interpretation of selected verses of the Bible), but we are under the Constitution, the Judicial interpretation of which defines our civil rights; those civil rights are not to be up for grabs by the vote of the majority or by the assertions of any religious or secular leaders!

Shame on people like Rev. Harry Jackson and Rev. Anthony Evans who seek to deny the dignity and sanctity of marriage to others, bearing false witness against and discriminating against Gay people, while at the same time profiting from the legacy of civil rights activists that have enabled them to enjoy the liberation that they seek to deny to another minority group!

A MUST READ: THE INVISIBLE MONSTER

On his excellent blog, Christ, The Gay Martyr, my good friend Don Charles has just written a two-part post entitled, The Invisible Monster that deals with discrimination against LGBT people in the work place; he uses some of his own experiences in his discussion

Two excerpts from his two-part post read as follows, and I strongly urge you to read both parts of his excellent post in their entirety:

If you're a perceptibly homosexual or transsexual person working in a heterosexist environment, it's best that you police your sense of humor. If you don’t, someone else will! Office humor is notoriously raunchy, but you must be extremely careful of what you say in jest. Any joke or humorous comment with even a hint of sexual connotation can and surely will be used against you. Remember what the heterosexist mentality dictates: LGBT folk should be viewed as purely sexual beings who can't help but act out inappropriately. Their uncontrollably prurient impulses must be kept in check!....

The worst thing about heterosexism on the job is that it's so damn hard to prove! Bigoted managers and administrators are smart enough not to call you a "tranny" or a "faggot" or a "dyke" to your face. Although you strongly suspect the motive behind what’s going on, you're hard-pressed to affix a label to the kind of harassment you're enduring. There's nothing concrete you can point to that screams "I hate Gay people" or “I hate transfolk” in such a way that an EEOC investigator could understand it....

What is particularly sinister about the kind of job discrimination to which Don Charles refers is what Sociologists call "Moral Alchemy." That is, "in-group virtues" are made by xenophobes to be "out-group vices" when discounted members of a minority group engage in the very same behavior that is strongly approved when a member of the dominant group engages in that behavior .

So, for example, if a Straight person seeks to better him/herself on the job, he/she is viewed as "a valuable employee." If a Gay person seeks to better him/herself on the job, he/she might well be viewed as a mere sycophant who is trying to be a rate buster who is trying to make other people look bad.

In other words, what is viewed as being a positive when a member of the dominant group does something, is frequently viewed as a negative when a discounted member of a minority group does the very same thing.

Moreover, there is discrimination visited upon discounted minority group members that are not easy to classify as "discrimination," save when it is members of that minority group that are uniquely treated in a discriminatory manner! And, particularly in a large organization, that proof is very hard to ascertain.

Don Charles concludes his post by asking: "Do you have a personal story of heterosexism and/or transphobia on the job? Please share it with me in my comments section."

I strongly urge you to take him up on his offer in the comments section of his two-part post, The Invisible Monster.

Your comments would help so many other people struggling with discrimination in the work place!

OBAMA TO SIGN BILL WIDENING HATE CRIMES LAWS

At a ceremony in the White House Rose Garden Wednesday afternoon, President Obama plans to sign a bill into law that was more than a decade in the making. It is an update to the federal hate crimes statute that Congress initially passed in 1968.

For the first time, the law that had previously protected people from attacks motivated by race, religion or ethnicity will include gay, lesbian, transgender and disabled people.

[For the full article, see here.]

You can also hear the audio on the above site.

PETITION FOR FULL EQUALITY

Please sign this Petition for Full Equality.

ROMAN CATHOLIC HERESY AND SAME-SEX MARRIAGE

Bishop Richard Malone made this brief Youtube video affirming that only heterosexual marriage is to be recognized, to which I want to call your attention (Thanks to Pam's House Blend.):



Now, notice two major points:

1. He begins by saying, "We believe...." People believe a lot of things, and a lot of those beliefs are not necessarily true!

2. However, and even more egregiously, he states, ""Living a Christian sacramental marriage is a fundamental way of attaining salvation." Where did that idea come from? It's certainly bears no relationship to any Christian theology with which I am familiar! His statement is not only preposterous, but it is heretical!

The Bible teaches, particularly through the Apostle Paul, that God imputes salvation to us, and that imputation occurred before the worlds were even formed. (See, for example, Ephesians 1:4; Romans 8:29); the free gift of God's grace (unmerited favor) is appropriated by our faith (trusting God over and above seen circumstances). (See, for example, Romans 5:1-2)

Moreover, read Galatians 2:16: "Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified."

Gay Christians can and do trust Jesus! If one lives under the Law, the strictures of mere human beings, the yokes of bondage placed by such institutions as the Roman Catholic Church, he/she has nullified faith and thrown God's gift of God's grace back in God's face.

The Bible makes it clear that it is only by faith that we can please God (Hebrews 11:6), and not some man-made belief system that serves to justify organizational and individual prejudices for which there are usually financial, psychological, social, and political rewards to be garnered.

To even suggest that heterosexual marriage within the Christian tradition "is a fundamental way of attaining salvation," Bishop Malone is not only being heretical, contravening the Bible, but is grasping at false straws to make an argument in a way that merely shows his and others' desperation due to the bankruptcy of their prejudices against same-sex marriage.

And for him to pontificate that Gay people should not be discriminated against, also shows the Bishop Malones of the institutional Church world to be terribly naive or cynical in the extreme.

Gay people are discriminated against, and the RC Church is one of the major religious vehicles that provokes and seeks to justify that discrimination.

And, as we see in this brief video, that discrimination is based on false biblical exegeses, heretical theology, and just plain downright blind prejudice!

ROMAN CATHOLIC CLERGY SEXUAL SUPPRESSION IS OFTEN TOXIC TO OTHERS

I'm 5'6" tall and have never played professional basketball! What kind of credibility would I have in your eyes if I lectured you on the proper way to play professional basketball? Clearly, the answer is likely, "none."

Now, Roman Catholic clergy presumably do not engage in romantic/sexual relations, so why do people give credibility to those RC clergy who would dare teach us on the subjects of romance and sexuality?

Compounding this bizarre scenario where gullible people do take seriously the toxic pontifications of assorted RC clergy and the Vatican regarding sexual matters, is the fact that there is so much condemnation emanating from all too many RC sources regarding sexuality that they view as "normal" and also sexual expression that is, in their eyes, "disordered" or even "intrinsically evil."

So, we have the hateful rhetoric of the Archbishop of Guam regarding same-sex love and its protections:

Islamic fundamentalists clearly understand the damage that homosexual behavior inflicts on a culture. This is why they repress such behavior by death...It may be brutal at times, but any culture that is able to produce wave after wave of suicide bombers...is a culture that at least knows how to value self sacrifice.

[For the full text, see here.]

So, Gay people must suppress their God-given sexuality because of the "damage that homosexual behavior inflicts on a culture," damage that is elusive to any rational person. And this Archbishop's statement goes so far as to applaud Islamic fundamentalists who "repress such behavior by death."

And this egregious pronouncement is done in the name of "Christianity?" This is not any type of Christianity to which any Christian can relate!

Fundamentalists of any stripe, be it from the RC Church, the LDS Church, or from any denomination, church, or secular authority are birds of a feather who flock together. Hence, the Vatican holds its arms open to reactionary Anglicans, even going so far as to allow them to have their own liturgy and married clergy within the context of Roman Catholicism, some doctrines of which are antithetical to those of Anglicans and protestants in general.

Just as I wouldn't trust someone like me to lecture you on the finer points of professional basketball, I wouldn't trust presumably celibate clergy who (unless called by God to do so) suppress their God-given sexuality and seek to impose the warped values and questionable psychological dynamics they possess onto others who have no reason to see any contradiction between sexuality and spirituality.

The Apostle Paul said, "For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace." (Romans 8:6) I wholeheartedly agree with his statement!

That's why when those who succumb to enforced celibacy seek to impose their own sexual views and values onto others, they are projecting their preoccupation with sex borne of its daily suppression; their condemnation of others' sexuality and sexual expression is likely a projection of their own sexual frustrations borne of sexual suppression that is not healthy unless one is gifted by God to be celibate.

Moreover, by suppressing such a primal urge as sex, sex is what is largely thought about in that person's daily life, even more than when one is free to express him/herself sexually. We all think of sex quite frequently (Yes, even at my age!), but can you imagine the preoccupation with sex when one suppresses this very God-given primal urge?

Therefore, one is carnally minded particularly when one is forced to be celibate; the healthy integration of sexuality with one's spirituality allows one to live a full, abundant life that partakes of all of the gifts that God has bestowed on God's children! So, one can truly be spiritually minded when his/her sexuality is integrated into his/her life that, for the Christian or for any religious person, has been dedicated to God.

Moreover, to enforce celibacy, as occurs among RC clergy, contradicts the Apostle Paul's admonition:

Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils; Speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron; Forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from meats, which God hath created to be received with thanksgiving of them which believe and know the truth. For every creature of God is good, and nothing to be refused, if it be received with thanksgiving: For it is sanctified by the word of God and prayer. (1Timothy 4:1-5)

Paul well knew, as do most of the rest of us, that carnality is borne out of repression and suppression, and that whatever God has created is good! And God created sexuality for our pleasure, as well as for procreation for those for whom that is possible. And no person or institution should be in the business of "forbidding to marry!"

Why would God make sexual activity so pleasurable if God wanted us to abstain from it, or restrict it to only one type of relationship that is not natural for a given person? For a heterosexual it is unnatural for him/her to want to marry someone of the same sex; for a homosexual it is unnatural for him/her to want to marry someone of the opposite sex. This is not rocket science!

Since God created Gay and Straight (and bisexual and transgender) people, God wants us to live abundant lives that only comes from living lives of authenticity that comes from partaking of the unique gifts, among them our sexuality, that God has conferred upon us.

And like being Straight, being Gay is a gift from God, and to deny that gift is to not only stunt the spirituality of that person but is tantamount to throwing that gift back in God's face.

The Archbishop of Guam, the Vatican, and all religious homophobes are advocating that others throw God's gift of sexuality back in God's face, and by so doing are helping to create lives of self-loathing manifested in untold suffering, suicides, assaults, and murders of LGBT people.

And this suppression of sexuality, the projection of one's warped views of sexuality onto others, and the condemnation of the sexual lives of Gay people bears no relationship to Christianity!

FILM: THE MORMON PROPOSITION

The Mormon Proposition will explain once and for all just how the Mormon Church operates, and how they have led the fight against marriage equality all across the United States since Utah became the first state to ban same-sex marriage in 1995. 29 states have followed Utah's lead, and the Mormon Church has made sure of that.

The film also goes into great depth about how the Mormon Church has destroyed so many lives and families in its desire to impose its will on others.

Please tell the world about this incredible documentary. It is a film for all to see.

[For the full article, see here.]

[Also check out its website.]

What is the Mormon proposition? The film is expected to showcase the major gay marriage battles the Mormon Church has backed since Utah became the first state to ban gay marriage in 1995. And how church officials attempted to conceal their deep involvement in the issue. Is the Mormon Church the mastermind puppeteer of the anti-gay marriage movement?

In a blog post, [Director Reed] Cowan said the film had divided his family.

“My determination [to finish the film] has been tested. At this writing, I have lost communication with my sisters and my mother and my father. They are wonderful people and they are Mormons. The fear they have over what this film will say has worn thin to the point that our relationships are stressed and I fear broken forever,” he said.

The film is being considered for a Sundance Film Festival premiere in January.

This is the trailer from The Mormon Proposition:

THE DANGER OF THE RELIGIOUS RIGHT

It’s sad, in this day and age, that people don’t study history, and people have never stopped giving to those who seek power and control. Of course, there are many who don’t want to take responsibility for their own lives, so this works for them. They financially support others (religious right leaders) who in turn excuse their lives from their actions by placing what happens in the hands of their “God”.

[For the full commentary, see here.]

Many people want to be told what to do and even what to think!

Indeed, many people go so far as to ideologically and financially support clergy who impose their prejudices onto their followers, frequently enabling those clergy to live lavish lifestyles, and who give their gullible followers permission to justify prejudice against a targeted minority group, and do so in the name of God.

By equating their own prejudicial and often self-serving interpretations of certain selected verses of Scripture, whether against women, African-Americans, or LGBT people, with what they say is "God's will," they are contravening two of the Ten Commandments: committing the sin of idolatry (equating the Bible with God) and bearing false witness.

Indeed, by elevating their own preconceived prejudices and xenophobia as Divine law, they are committing the worst kind of idolatry: idolizing of one's own prejudicial self-interests by equating those prejudices and interests with God's will, thereby worshiping themselves as god; they further compound their idolatry by condemning people whom God has made in God's image.

Adding insult to injury, they often ignorantly and/or willfully misrepresent what verses of Scripture they select to support their xenophobic claims, and they often lie about those whose civil and sacramental rights they seek to deny. In addition, they neglect far more weightier aspects and verses of Scripture that provide the very foundations of Christianity, the Christian life, and the Gospel of grace!

For example, when was the last time you heard a homophobic clergy person quote from "The Sermon on the Mount," Matthew 5-7? These verses come closest to revealing the heart of Jesus and His will for our lives than anything else in the Bible!

I also doubt anyone has ever heard a homophobic pastor quote from Matthew 19:12 where Jesus, when asked about heterosexual marriage, says: "For there are some eunuchs, which were so born from their mother's womb...." These eunuchs are undoubtedly God's LGBT children! (See here.)

We often hear from homophobic clergy that same-sex marriage presents a threat to the institution of marriage, a claim that is foolish on its face. It's divorce of heterosexuals that provides that threat and same-sex couples who seek to marry (or who are married in the handful of states where same-sex marriage is legal) can in no rational way be seen as being any kind of threat to the institution of marriage.

However, rationality plays no part in separating one from his/her prejudices, particularly when those prejudices are spoon fed by clergy as being "in the will of God."

And when clergy and other professing Christians remain silent amidst the oppression of LGBT people (or any other minority group), they are just as culpable in that oppression as are those who spew hateful rhetoric against God's LGBT children!

Moreover, financial, psychological, social, and political capital can be gained by creating "outsiders" to denigrate and even demonize! (I strongly suspect and suggest that if there were more money to be made by supporting LGBT rights many, if not most, reactionary clergy and politicians would be proudly marching in Gay Pride Parades!)

In this connection, I want to conclude this post by quoting a few excerpts from an article I wrote some time ago entitled It's Not About Issues, that I hope you will read in its entirety:

The same hatred shown toward African Americans in the justification of White Supremacy is the exact same hatred shown toward LGBT people and the justification of heterosexism! Some of the manifestations of that hatred are, of course, different, but the hatred and the justifications for that hatred are exactly the same!....

By portraying Christianity as being under attack, they are using the same rationale and tactics as was used by White Supremacists in creating an "enemy" so that they could portray themselves as victims of a grave threat that only by electing someone who had a mind-set like theirs, regardless of religious or spiritual commitment, could help remedy. Such a portrayal not only garners increased revenue for religious reactionaries, the handmaidens of the Power Elite, but helps enable them to ensure the status quo that they perceive will keep them in control and help keep the minority group(s) they despise under their thumb, so as to maintain their influence and control of most of the institutional Church, maintain what they tout as the moral high ground, and maintain their definition of "Christianity" in the public's mind....

What is important to them is to maintain their mind-set of exclusion of "the other," their constructed enemy, be that "other" African Americans, women, LGBT people, or whatever enemy they seek to construct so as to maintain both their hegemony in society, and to help assure that the existing social structure continues to favor them and their ideology, an ideology that has relatively little to do with their "Christian" profession, and certainly nothing to do with Christianity itself!

LOVE AND BOLDNESS IN THE FIGHT FOR LGBT CIVIL RIGHTS

Sigmund Freud once remarked: How bold one gets when one is sure of being loved.

For close to 50 years, I've been blessed with unconditional love by the Light of my life, and it's been her love that has enabled me to live my life and to achieve any success I might have achieved.

As an invaluable co-worker with God, she has made possible every good thing that has ever happened in my life!

Only a profoundly good and intuitive person like my wife, Eileen, a saint if there ever was one, could have put up with a madman like me for close to half a century, and the following song by Jr. Walker and the All Stars states that feeling far better than I can.

I very much want same-sex couples to have the same dignity, legitimacy, rights, and joy that my wife and I have had, and for them to know that they are unconditionally loved by God and, hopefully, by other people in their lives.

I am absolutely convinced that LGBT people hold a special place in God's heart, and are among God's most wonderful gifts to society and to Christ's Church.

And that knowledge by LGBT people of God's (and, hopefully, others') unconditional love will yield the boldness necessary for us to fight like hell for full and equal civil rights for LGBT people and for same-sex couples, and empower us to never give up that fight until they shove six feet of dirt in our faces.

This song is dedicated to the Light of my life, Eileen:

INTERVIEW WITH REV. PETER J. GOMES

Whether you are a Christian or not, this video of the interview with Rev. Peter J. Gomes, minister at Harvard University, is a wonderful explication of both the Bible as well as its relationship to God, Christianity, the spiritual life, and the stuff of life amidst which we all live.

Rev. Gomes is the author of several books, two of which I think are absolutely superb: "The Good Book: Reading the Bible With Mind and Heart"; "The Scandalous Gospel of Jesus: What's So Good About the Good News?" I strongly urge you to read both of these books!

Rev. Gomes is a gay Christian who is about the most thoughtful and erudite contemporary exponent of the Christian faith and the Gospel who will give you a perspective about the subjects with which he deals that you may well not have been exposed to before!

This interview occurred before Obama was elected President, and Gomes deals with the role of race and class in U.S. society, and predicted that "race" would be a significant issue that would have to be dealt with in every aspect of U.S. society should there be a Black President. One doesn't have to listen to too many reactionary radio talk shows to hear some of the hosts and callers talk about, "taking our country back" which, in my opinion, is often code for them wanting a white person back in the office of President.

I must say that I disagree with Rev. Gomes when he attributes equal authority to the Old and the New Testaments; advocates the relevance of the Law within the Old Testament.

I firmly believe that Jesus fulfilled the whole Law within Himself; His life, death, resurrection, and ascension into heaven replaced the Law with the Gospel of grace (God's unmerited favor to those who trust God over and above seen circumstances.) that the Apostle Paul beautifully explicated, particularly in the Books of Romans and Galatians.

This is the video of the interview with Rev. Gomes that I urge you to see in its entirety:

THERE IS NO ROOM FOR COMPROMISE WHEN IT COMES TO CIVIL RIGHTS!

In an article entitled, Solmonese Responds to Calls He Resign that appears in The Advocate, one commentator, Lonnie Lopez stated the case for aggressive grassroots activism very clearly:

As Howard Zinn put it: We are citizens. We must not put ourselves in the position of looking at the world from their eyes [meaning the politicians] and say, "Well, we have to compromise, we have to do this for political reasons." We have to speak our minds. This is the position that the abolitionists were in before the Civil War, and people said, "Well, you have to look at it from Lincoln's point of view." Lincoln didn't believe that his first priority was abolishing slavery. But the anti-slavery movement did, and the abolitionists said, "We're not going to put ourselves in Lincoln's position. We are going to express our own position, and we are going to express it so powerfully that Lincoln will have to listen to us." And the anti-slavery movement grew large enough and powerful enough that Lincoln had to listen. That's how we got the Emancipation Proclamation and the 13th and 14th and 15th Amendments.

Some people want to believe that there is inherent justice in the world; some people believe that politicians have their constituents' best interests at heart; some people believe that administrators of Gay rights organizations are being as aggressive as they can in this civil rights struggle; some people believe that "the milk of human kindness" will eventually win out without aggressive grassroots and organizational activism to achieve equal rights; some people leave the fight to achieve equal rights for LGBT people to others; some people believe that Obama has too much on his plate to issue an Executive Order removing DADT and aggressively deal with Congress to remove DOMA.

There is to be no room for the allowance of second-class citizenship in any society, let alone the U.S. that boasts itself to be "the land of the free," and where "separate is not equal."

There is no "freedom" in any civil society when a minority group is deprived of civil rights that accrue to the dominant group!

If heterosexuals are allowed to marry, same-sex couples must be allowed to marry!

Heterosexual love is in no way superior to same-sex love, and that reality must be codified into law and, eventually, it will thereby be codified in the hearts of most people in society!

And without aggressive grassroots and organizational activism, there will never be federal recognition of same-sex marriage (and all of the other civil rights that are likely to ride on its coattails).

Had it not been for the organizational and activist skills of Bayard Rustin, Martin Luther King, Malcolm X, A Philip Randolph, Fannie Lou Hamer, Thurgood Marshall, and others, we would still have segregation and Jim Crow laws!

And the fight for LGBT civil rights is no different, and no less important, than the struggle for African-American civil rights that occurred not all that long ago in the U.S.!

WHEN IT COMES TO EQUALITY FOR LGBT PEOPLE, THE LDS CHURCH KNOWS NO SHAME

Just in case you aren’t familiar, the Mormon Church used to preach segregation. It was their firm belief that being a person of color was a punishment from God and people of color were lesser than white people…and that was up until 1978! It was in that year former President Jimmy Carter threatened the LDS church with taxation if they did not stop preaching segregation, and amazingly enough, God spoke to the elders, and within weeks of the taxation threat, told them being a person of color was no longer a punishment from God, therefore they should be accepted into the church.

Secondly, how is anyone, who enjoys full benefits of marriage, employment, housing, etc….you know, all the rights, liberties and freedoms offered to everyone in America except for those of us in the LBGT community, going to claim they are being oppressed…and compare their oppression to that of what people of color experienced during and prior to the Civil Rights Movement?

This statement [By Elder Dallin Oaks that he did not consider it provocative to compare the treatment of Mormons after the passage of Prop. 8 to that of blacks in the civil rights era.] is not only stupid and delusional, but it’s extremely disrespectful towards anyone of color, and it demonstrates the lengths people will go to in their attempt to prevent American citizens who are a member of the LGBT community from ever enjoying full equality and maintain our second class citizenship.

[For the full article, see here.]

At least one Mormon leader has the ignorance and/or temerity to equate anti-LDS backlash regarding their hateful animus against same-sex marriage and their strident advocacy for Prop. 8 with the way Southern blacks were intimidated during the civil rights movement.

If this isn't an outright disgrace, and if this isn't symptomatic of toxic religion and the attempt to brainwash gullible people into believing that the LDS Church is the "victim" in this backlash by decent people who demand equal rights for LGBT people and same-sex couples, I don't know what is!

The LDS Church and the Roman Catholic Church, along with most churches within the institutional Church, by their rhetoric and/or actions and/or silence amidst the oppression of our LGBT sisters and brothers, are a disgrace to God, to Christianity, and to biblical scholarship!

They must be called to account and confronted for the lies they perpetrate, and the untold suffering and damage they do to LGBT people and their families, and they must also be taxed!

They are spewing their hatred that often results in spiritual, emotional, and physical violence, and they do so with the benefit of tax-exemption.

MORE EVIDENCE OF THE CYNICAL BETRAYAL OF OBAMA AND THE WHITE HOUSE

What is surprising to me is that LGBT people and progressives are surprised that Obama and the White House hold us in disdain. After they drank the Kool Aid of Obama's empty rhetoric, they may now be seeing the truth of his cynical betrayal of many of the values we hold dear, such as equal rights for LGBT people.

So which Barack Obama is it -- the one who said to challenge him, or a fragile flower that panders to LGBTs then has a coward source backstab? To me the WH has just declared war on us after a wine and dine with the right kind of LGBTs that don't make trouble for them. Someone has to answer to this....

So the gay community, and its concerns about President Obama's inaction, and backtracking, on DADT and DOMA, are now, according to President Obama's White House, part of a larger "fringe" that acts like small children who play in their pajamas and need to grow up. (And a note to our readers: The White House just included all of you in that loony "left fringe.")

[For the full article, see here.]

Here's the video alleging the White House's position :

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ANDREW SULLIVAN CALLS FOR THE RESIGNATION OF JOE SOLOMNESE OF THE HRC

In this brief video, Andrew Sullivan tells it like it is, and highlights the pathetic and seemingly self-satisfied acquiescence of the head of the Human Rights Campaign (which, as Sullivan accurately states, should be called the LGBT Rights Campaign) to the status quo by giving Obama a pass until 2017.

Sullivan calls for Joe Solomnese's resignation! As you probably know, Joe Solomnese is the head of the Human Rights Campaign, the nation's largest asserted LGBT Rights organization.

Solomnese, of course, is quite unlikely to resign, particularly given the fact that he "received a total compensation package of $338,400 in 2008." [See here.]

With that kind of compensation package, why wouldn't Solmonese be quite satisfied?

Plus, he and a number of other professional "activists" seem to enjoy the empty rhetoric of Obama, particularly if they can be in his presence, rub elbows with him and other politicians, and even be invited to share finger food and even dine with him!

It cannot be said of Solomnese, and some other seeming political "activists" who court and hope to be rewarded by the status quo and/or with Obama's favor, of what Shakespeare said in his play Henry lV, "Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown."

This is the video with Andrew Sullivan that is well worth watching:

REV. TROY PERRY'S SPEECH AT THE NATIONAL EQUALITY MARCH

Please listen to this heart-felt talk by Rev. Troy Perry at the National Equality March. [Thanks to Kittredge Cherry on Facebook for highlighting this speech.]

Rev. Perry is one of God's greatest LGBT civil rights activists that the world has ever known!

WE WANT ACTION

When thousands of gay rights activists march to the Capitol at noon today for the National Equality March, they will be looking for more than speeches from the White House.

"Last night, President Obama made that speech [at the Human Rights Campaign’s annual dinner in Washington]. He had no intention of addressing our community and he took the bully pulpit, and he got up there, and he expressed very beautiful intentions," march organizer Sherry Wolf said. "It was a very beautiful speech. [But] what is he going to do? And when is he going to do it? That’s the question."

[For the full article, see here.]

The Equality March, if nothing else, will present a concerted voice from the grassroots that rhetoric (especially empty rhetoric) is no substitute for action!

Hopefully, this march will not only put pressure on Obama and other "liberal" politicians to back up their rhetoric with actions that give LGBT people full and equal civil rights, but will motivate the grassroots within local jurisdictions to lobby their legislators and agitate for equal rights under the law as currently accrue to all heterosexual citizens.

As you know, at the local levels, I feel that one of the best tactics is to choose one homophobic church and continuously peacefully picket that church each and every Sunday when they have services, carrying signs and forthrightly stating how their rhetoric of hate and discrimination is antithetical to the Gospel of Christ!

We cannot underestimate the impact that homophobic religion has had in denying full and equal civil rights to LGBT people, including, of course, the right to same-sex marriage.

MORE OF OBAMA'S EMPTY RHETORIC TO THE HUMAN RIGHTS CAMPAIGN

"I will end 'don't ask-don't tell,'" Obama said at the annual dinner of the Human Rights Campaign, a gay civil rights advocacy group. Obama reaffirmed his commitment to end the ban, but did not give a timetable or the specifics that some activists have called for.

The law was passed by Congress in 1993 and signed by President Bill Clinton, who also promised to repeal the ban on homosexuals in the military but was blunted by opposition in the military and Congress.

"We should not be punishing patriotic Americans who have stepped forward to serve the country," Obama said. "We should be celebrating their willingness to step forward and show such courage ... especially when we are fighting two wars.

"I appreciate that many of you don't believe progress has come fast enough," Obama said. "Do not doubt the direction we are heading and the destination we will reach."

[For the full article, see here.]

This is the same old tired cynical rhetoric we've heard from Obama for the last several months, and I have no doubt that many in the HRC, and many others, continue to buy into it!

Only a very naive, often self-loathing, gullible masochist can take his empty rhetoric seriously!

It must be remembered that Obama can merely issue an Executive Order eliminating DADT! That decision rests solely with him and, to this date, he has yet to eliminate it.

His mere rhetoric shows his disdain for LGBT people, and his likely belief that many, if not most, will buy into his empty rhetoric and "charm" that has gotten him so far on so little in his political career.

His empty rhetoric is pathetic, and anyone who takes that empty rhetoric seriously is even more pathetic!

THE PATHETIC HUMAN RIGHTS CAMPAIGN

If there was any doubt the Human Rights Campaign was colluding with Democrats and the White House to give Barack Obama a pass on your civil rights, confirmation arrived yesterday, when the organization told its "millions" of members not to judge the president today, but wait until January 19, 2017....

It's preposterous that an organization charged with defending and demanding the rights of LGBT Americans — and already facing allegations of telling Obama to give preference to some gay rights legislation while ignoring others — just told the entire world that the gay community can wait until Obama is moving out of the White House to expect our rights. The ramifications of HRC's message are dire; the media and other gay organizations around the world take cues from this organization, and if this is the agenda they are pushing, we worry it'll reverberate into a message the "gay community" is behind....

[For the full article, see here.]

With friends like these, who needs enemies?

Professional "activists" who make money and build careers around their pseudo-activism, often in the name of political expediency, that may even go so far as to caution the powers that be to retard the struggle for full and equal civil rights are, at the very least, pathetic and, at the very worst, traitors to the cause that they say they espouse and for which they are handsomely paid.

Here's Jason Bellini's commentary on this matter, and we can only hope that the rhetoric and passion of Dan Choi as seen in this brief video is reflected in the speeches to be held at the Equality March tomorrow.

I can assure you that Rev. Troy Perry's speech will reflect that passion, a passion he has exhibited for over 40 years.

BROTHER OUTSIDER: THE LIFE OF BAYARD RUSTIN

Any time, and particularly as we approach the National Equality March this weekend, it is enlightening and emboldening to see the video of the life story of the consummate hero, organizer, and activist for the African American civil rights movement, Bayard Rustin.

It was Bayard Rustin who taught Martin Luther King the essence and techniques of non-violence, and it was he who organized the 1963 March on Washington which was a protest against the horrific oppression and discrimination visited upon African Americans in the U.S.

Unfortunately, as a gay man, he was relegated to the background, and even Martin Luther King accepted his resignation when Adam Clayton Powell threatened to out Rustin and falsely state that he and King were having an affair and, thereby, threaten the credibility of the civil rights movement.

To Rustin's shock, MLK accepted his resignation, and it was A. Philip Randolph, a prominent and well respected civil rights leader, who brought Rustin back into the fold.

The heroism of Rustin can't be over-estimated! If any one person can be credited with the organizational, tactical, and strategic success of many of the key aspects of the African American civil rights movement, it is Bayard Rustin, and I strongly urge you to watch the following videos detailing his life and work, entitled Brother Outsider: The Life of Bayard Rustin.

At a time when LGBT people are routinely defamed, and are still viewed and treated as second-class citizens, and are deprived of most of the fundamental rights that accrue to heterosexuals, the story and legacy of Bayard Rustin is a breath of fresh air amidst the bearing of false witness against LGBT people by most of the institutional Church (just as occurred against African Americans prior to the success of the African American civil rights movement), and by many gullible people in secular society who falsely believe the lies and distortions emanating from the mouths of ignorant and/or mendacious clergy and their followers!

The National Equality March promises to be a major step in galvanizing both anger and meaningful activism at both the grassroots and organizational levels and, of course, I hope that promise bears fruit.

Please click on this link to see Brother Outsider: The Life of Bayard Rustin.

MORE OF OBAMA'S UPCOMING CYNICAL RHETORIC REGARDING LGBT RIGHTS

President Obama will speak to a gathering of gay rights activists this weekend, a day before thousands of people are expected to march on Washington in a demonstration calling for greater legal protections for gays, lesbians and transgendered Americans....

While the president has professed support for overturning the ban on gays in the military and called the law that precludes federal recognition of same-sex marriages discriminatory, he has not engaged on gay rights issues as actively as some had hoped.

[See here.]

Ya think?

In a post I wrote on September 19th entitled, Obama Has Shown Himself To Be A Traitor, A Liar, And A Coward In Regard To LGBT Rights I said, in part:

Obama is, in my opinion, a traitor, a liar, and a coward in regard to LGBT rights, who is also out of his league as President for other assorted reasons that are beyond the purview of this blog to deal with; he is likely to be a one-term President, if the Republicans can get someone with "charm" and name recognition to run against him in 2012.

And, particularly given his cynical betrayal of LGBT people, I will not be at all unhappy should that scenario occur!

For any LGBT person, ally or Progressive to take his words regarding equality for LGBT people seriously is living in denial; anyone who believes his stated "support" for Gay rights when he could merely issue an Executive Order (which would take him about 5 minutes to write) rescinding DADT; when his Justice Department affirmed DOMA in federal court, invoking pedophilia and incest as two of its points, is living in a dream world.

He's a two-bit loser, and it's time that more progressives got their heads out of the sand, woke up, and smelled the coffee of his cynical betrayal of LGBT people, and progressives.

And his likely upcoming typically cynical rhetoric, whether at this coming Saturday's annual dinner for the Human Rights Campaign (a day before the Equality March), or to any other LGBT Rights group, makes his past, current, and likely future betrayal of LGBT people even that much more egregious and offensive!

He might well throw much of his constituency a bone by signing the bill on ENDA which Congress, given its current composition, is likely to pass, but that doesn't take much courage as it both acquiesces to the Congress' initiative and also courts the votes he needs to win the 2012 presidential election.

It's high time that we swallowed the bitter pill that Obama doesn't give a damn about equality for LGBT people, and that he probably never has! [For example, see here.]

COUNCIL MEMBER DAVID CATANIA INTRODUCES A BILL TO MAKE SAME-SEX MARRIAGE LEGAL IN THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

Great News for Washington, D.C!

Also notice Rev. Harry Jackson's familiar rhetoric that he wants this civil right for Gay people put up to a majority vote of the electorate. He's so clueless that if his stance had been taken regarding African-Americans, we'd still have segregation and Jim Crow laws.

HOMOPHOBIC AND TRANSPHOBIC VIOLENCE AS KILLING THE SELF

Dr. Nancy J. Chodorow, in a report given to a group of psychoanalysts, in part said the following in seeking to explain the roots of homophobia:

In particular men and in particular situations, both gender and sexual orientation are rigidly dichotomized, fragmented identifications, and any internal challenge to the separateness of maleness and femaleness or of heteroerotic and homoerotic fantasies and attachments threatens real disintegration. Characteristically, the badness, femininity and submissiveness to men has to be split off and projected outward where these in turn become extremely persecutory potential identifications. Those who represent the split off and bad projections threaten not only persecutory return, but also disintegrative flooding to meld and fuse with the self. They need to be attacked and destroyed. [See here.]

It might be stated that the often erroneous dichotomizing of sexual and gender categories, once experienced as not really being part of one's self, frequently results in the need, the intense desire, to persecute that now recognized part of one's self that often becomes projected upon the person (or group of people) that has called attention to the unconscious, unwanted, homosexual and/or transphobic feelings aroused by the very existence of that other person; it is felt that that person and what he/she represents has to be destroyed, for in destroying that other person, the self-identified "heterosexual" victimizer is seeking to destroy that unwanted homosexual part of himself.

This brief video highlights the frequent relationship between homophobia and homosexual desire:



As my good friend, Don Charles wrote on his blog, "Christ, The Gay Martyr," regarding "Machismo" as being a taken for granted fact of life that underlies much of homophobia and transphobia:

In a culture dominated by Machismo, there is no room for persons of blended gender! We undermine the gender fascism that Machismo preaches. We contradict the world view that demands dominant men and subservient women. We will always be perceived as a threat to the concept of "pure" masculinity; our sexual orientation alone guarantees that. As I've stated before, all it takes to qualify as a gender outlaw is to be a man-loving-man or a woman-loving-woman. [See here.]

Gay people and people of blended gender threaten the man-made construction, the fiction, of sexual and gender polarities as being "normal," as being "the way things are meant to be." Hence, the homophobic and transphobic rhetoric emanating from the pulpits in most of the institutional Church, justifying such unchristian rhetoric and discrimination in the names of "the Bible," "morality," "tradition," "family values," "for the good of the children," etc.

And, often to help "sanitize" the rhetorical victimizing of Gay and transgender people by many professing "Christians" is to appeal to the Bible and to God, as irrational as are those "justifications" to those who have even a scintilla of spiritual sense!

For the homophobic and transphobic, any person, group, or event that brings to consciousness the realization of a threat to his avowed sexuality (particularly male heterosexuality) results in a profound threat to those whose very unconscious lives put the lie to "the normality" of sexual and gender polarity; the fiction of the homophobe's "avowed heterosexuality" which, as a defense, he has selected as the core part of his avowed identity.

Hence, his felt need to suppress his sexual feelings by projecting his anger onto any person or group that exhibits any attributes that bring to his consciousness, or even highlight, his repressed sexual feelings.

And when that core part of his identity is in any way threatened by bringing to his consciousness the reality of his actual sexuality and/or gender status, he feels the need to engage in Reaction Formation by victimizing "the other" whom he has spent a lifetime trying to hide and avoid within himself.

Hence, homophobia and transphobia often results in the murder of that "other" that, in reality, is unconsciously (and sometimes consciously) experienced as the desperately unwanted and resented part of the perpetrator's self.

So, the victimizer or murderer is in a very real sense futilely seeking to murder that very part of himself that he terribly despises, and that he has projected upon that very person or group that has brought to his consciousness the reality that he can't bring himself to acknowledge, even to himself.

So the terrible irony of much of the dynamics of homophobia and transphobia is that many of those who are most phobic regarding sexuality and gender performance are very likely to be those who are most threatened by those very features that they, themselves, resentfully (and often unconsciously) possess!

AN EMAIL FROM MICHAEL MOORE

The following is an email sent out by Michael Moore that is very appropriate for those who label themselves "Christians," yet in one way or another oppress any of God's children:

For Those of You on Your Way to Church This Morning ...a note from Michael Moore

Sunday, October 4th, 2009

Friends,

I'd like to have a word with those of you who call yourselves Christians (Muslims, Jews, Buddhists, Bill Maherists, etc. can read along, too, as much of what I have to say, I'm sure, can be applied to your own spiritual/ethical values).

In my new film I speak for the first time in one of my movies about my own spiritual beliefs. I have always believed that one's religious leanings are deeply personal and should be kept private. After all, we've heard enough yammerin' in the past three decades about how one should "behave," and I have to say I'm pretty burned out on pieties and platitudes considering we are a violent nation who invades other countries and punishes our own for having the audacity to fall on hard times.

I'm also against any proselytizing; I certainly don't want you to join anything I belong to. Also, as a Catholic, I have much to say about the Church as an institution, but I'll leave that for another day (or movie).

Amidst all the Wall Street bad guys and corrupt members of Congress exposed in "Capitalism: A Love Story," I pose a simple question in the movie: "Is capitalism a sin?" I go on to ask, "Would Jesus be a capitalist?" Would he belong to a hedge fund? Would he sell short? Would he approve of a system that has allowed the richest 1% to have more financial wealth than the 95% under them combined?

I have come to believe that there is no getting around the fact that capitalism is opposite everything that Jesus (and Moses and Mohammed and Buddha) taught. All the great religions are clear about one thing: It is evil to take the majority of the pie and leave what's left for everyone to fight over. Jesus said that the rich man would have a very hard time getting into heaven. He told us that we had to be our brother's and sister's keepers and that the riches that did exist were to be divided fairly. He said that if you failed to house the homeless and feed the hungry, you'd have a hard time finding the pin code to the pearly gates.

I guess that's bad news for us Americans. Here's how we define "Blessed Are the Poor": We now have the highest unemployment rate since 1983. There's a foreclosure filing once every 7.5 seconds. 14,000 people every day lose their health insurance.

At the same time, Wall Street bankers ("Blessed Are the Wealthy"?) are amassing more and more loot -- and they do their best to pay little or no income tax (last year Goldman Sachs' tax rate was a mere 1%!). Would Jesus approve of this? If not, why do we let such an evil system continue? It doesn't seem you can call yourself a Capitalist AND a Christian -- because you cannot love your money AND love your neighbor when you are denying your neighbor the ability to see a doctor just so you can have a better bottom line. That's called "immoral" -- and you are committing a sin when you benefit at the expense of others.

When you are in church this morning, please think about this. I am asking you to allow your "better angels" to come forward. And if you are among the millions of Americans who are struggling to make it from week to week, please know that I promise to do what I can to stop this evil -- and I hope you'll join me in not giving up until everyone has a seat at the table.

Thanks for listening. I'm off to Mass in a few hours. I'll be sure to ask the priest if he thinks J.C. deals in derivatives or credit default swaps. I mean, after all, he must've been good at math. How else did he divide up two loaves of bread and five pieces of fish equally amongst 5,000 people? Either he was the first socialist or his disciples were really bad at packing lunch. Or both.

Yours,
Michael Moore
MMFlint@aol.com
MichaelMoore.com


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MARRIAGE EQUALITY PROPOSED IN ILLINOIS; VATICAN, LDS, AND RELIGIOUS ANTIPATHY TO GAY RIGHTS

Illinois state senator Heather Steans introduced the legislature's first marriage equality bill on Thursday. Called the Equal Marriage Act, the bill was assigned the cheer-friendly number of 2-4-6-8. [See here]

This is the video of Sen. Steans' announcement:



In contrast, even while foaming at the mouth in its antipathy toward same-sex marriage and defamation of LGBT people, the Vatican is dancing as fast as it can in relation to its many sexual scandals. [See here]

"Sex" provides much of the root of homophobia: Such as the fear of sex; the fear of one's sexuality; the fear of one's being perceived as not clearly being in a (falsely) culturally approved and constructed dualistic box of gender performance and/or identification that is viewed by others as being appropriate to his/her anatomy.

It is no accident that the Roman Catholic Church is notoriously homophobic while at the same time having sexual scandals involving young victims that seems to know no bounds; offenses committed and facilitated by men who claim to be celibate heterosexuals who wear dresses and gowns.

Moreover, despite the admonition of the Apostle Paul that no one could or should forbid anyone to marry, all priests (who must, according to Roman Catholic doctrine, be men) must remain celibate.

Despite often stated "spiritual" reasons for mandated celibacy among the RC priesthood, the bottom line is that sexual expression is viewed by the Vatican as something that is largely antithetical to living a truly spiritual life that, to its way of thinking, can only accrue to those who remain celibate.

So, it's no wonder that with this warped view of sex and sexuality, the RC Church and most of its clergy would feel, and express, revulsion against same-sex love, since many of their clergy are likely to be sexually fearful and/or sexually frustrated and repressed, unless they have been called by God to be celibate for God's sake.

The Apostle Paul wrote, "Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils; Speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron; Forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from meats, which God hath created to be received with thanksgiving of them which believe and know the truth. For every creature of God is good, and nothing to be refused, if it be received with thanksgiving: For it is sanctified by the word of God and prayer.(1Timothy 4:1-5)

Despite the biblical admonition to not ever forbid anyone to marry, the RC Church contravenes that admonition, often attracting sexually and/or emotionally stunted people to its ranks, and rejects healthy Gay people from its seminaries in favor of those who are often self-loathing closet cases who live lives of almost unendurable suffering by having to repress this most primal urge; they sometimes externalize their repressed sexuality onto vulnerable young people.

And, to add insult to injury, the Vatican blames Gay people for their sexual scandals [Also see here.], rather than blame itself for flouting Scripture regarding enforced celibacy; for rejecting healthy Gay people; for tacitly encouraging repressed, self-loathing closet cases; for consigning sexuality to an inferior position regarding the spiritual life.

The healthy integration of sexuality and spirituality is seemingly foreign to their views of sex and sexuality!

Similarly, it is no accident that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is notoriously homophobic while at the same time having a history of polygamy that was integrated into its theology until they were threatened by the federal government.

In 1890, "The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the government could deny the right to vote or hold office to all Mormons who practiced the Law of Abraham, or who merely believed in plural marriage. Later in the year, they ruled that the Edmunds-Tucker Act was constitutional, and that the federal government could repeal the LDS church charter and dissolve the church." [See here.] So, given this court ruline, pragmatism overrode theology for the LDS Church!

Given its checkered history of sexual/marital practices, it is remarkable that the LDS Church argues against same-sex marriage based on its belief in "traditional family values."

So, we have the tragic situation where major denominations within the institutional Church are notoriously homophobic, and most denominations within that institutional Church are homophobic to varying degrees, and a courageous politician, Heather Steans of Illinois, seeks to move the ball of equality forward by doing the right thing!

The Church should be in the vanguard of fighting for equal rights and justice for all of God's children!

Yet, regarding most of the institutional Church, we see the very opposite, where so many intelligent, decent, and sensitive people accurately see much of what is proclaimed to be "Christian" to be nothing more than Reactionary sham religion that seeks to deprive people of equal rights and medical care; most of its gullible followers bearing false witness against God's very own LGBT children.

Whether she knows it or not, Senator Steans is doing God's work!

And those who seek to deprive LGBT people of equal rights, and who defame them as much as they can, and who give money to keep them as second-class citizens who are often viewed as pariahs precisely due to the lies promulgated by homophobic clergy and their blind followers, are doing nothing short of serving the demonic!

SPEAKERS AT THE EQUALITY MARCH, OCTOBER 11TH

The following is a complete listing of speakers to date for October 10 and 11:

Stuart Applebaum, Richard Aviles, Jarret Barrios, Dustin Lance Black, Julian Bond, Marsha Botzer, Staceyann Chin, Lt. Dan Choi, Tanner Efinger, Hawaii Board of Education member Kim Coco Iwamoto, Cleve Jones
, Michelle Lopez
, Robin McGehee
, David Mixner
, Nicole-Murray Ramirez
, Chloe Noble
, Tobias Packer
, the Reverend Troy Perry
, New York City Council speaker Christine C. Quinn, Los Angeles City Council member Bill Rosendahl, Babs Siperstein, Judy Shepard
, Maxim Thorn
, Urvashi Vaid
, Derek Washington
, Falls Church City Council member Lawrence Webb
, Kip Williams
, Sherry Wolfe, and Kit Yan
.

[See here.]

I can't tell you how happy I am that my friend, Rev. Troy Perry, will be one of the speakers. He's not only the most charismatic, articulate and courageous LGBT rights activists in modern history, but he's got a heart for God and has been called by God to show all LGBT people that God created them just as they are, and loves them as God's very own children.

If you want a treat, ">buy the DVD, "Call Me Troy," which details his life!

He was the Founder of the Metropolitan Community Churches in 1968, and was its Moderator for thirty-seven years! Now, he travels all over the world speaking about God's unconditional love for LGBT people!

To learn more about Rev. Troy Perry, I strongly urge you to read his books: "The Lord is my Shepherd and He Knows I'm Gay"; "Don't Be Afraid Anymore"; "10 Spiritual Truths For Successful Living For Gays And Lesbians (and Everyone Else)."

Troy Perry: Pastor and Prophet," edited by Chris Glaser details significant of his life, struggles, and work by those who know him best, and who have worked with him over these many years. That, too, is a treat to read!

He's a genuine inspiration and hero! And I'm delighted that he will be speaking at the Equality March!

THE BLOOM BETTER BE OFF THE ROSE REGARDING OBAMA

The Advocate asked, “Over the weekend, former president Clinton came out in full support of same-sex marriage and he called his previous position against it 'untenable.' What does the president think about that?”

Gibbs responded, “I have not talked to him. I did not see President Clinton’s comments and I haven’t talked directly to [President Obama] about it.”

[For the full article, see here.]

Despite superficial rhetoric, it's clear that Obama doesn't give a damn about LGBT people, their second-class citizenship, and their lack of equal rights.

He shows he has no desire to remove DADT which he could do by merely issuing an Executive Order; he is in favor of DOMA (contrary to his cynical electioneering rhetoric), and Obama and Gibbs must think we're chumps who would buy into their deceit.

One has to live in a cave not to know of Bill Clinton's turnabout regarding same-sex marriage, now being in favor of it.

Gibbs, as Press Secretary, and Obama had to know about Clinton's current position, and for them to deny it shows a crass indifference to LGBT people.

LET'S GET RID OF INCREMENTALISM, RELIGION'S RIGHT TO DISCRIMINATE, AND ALLOWING A TYRANNY OF THE MAJORITY

Nearly a year after California voters overturned same-sex marriage, voters in three other states will weigh in this fall on whether to reverse gay rights initiatives ranging from anti-discrimination measures to marriage benefits.

In Maine, voters will decide whether or not to uphold the state's legalization of same-sex marriage. In Washington state, a so-called "everything but marriage" law that expands the state's current domestic partnership law will be on the ballot. And in Kalamazoo, Mich., voters will decide on an ordinance that prohibits discrimination against gays, lesbians, bisexuals and transgender individuals....

Lawmakers in Washington state have taken an incremental approach to increasing gay rights without actually taking on the state's marriage ban, which was upheld by the state Supreme Court in 2006. The following year, lawmakers passed the state's first domestic partnership law granting a handful of rights, like hospital visitation, to gay and lesbian couples.

In 2008, that law was expanded to add more rights, and this year the latest law added such partnerships to all remaining areas of state law where currently only married couples are mentioned. The statutes range from labor and employment rights to pensions and other public employee benefits.

Nearly 12,000 people in Washington state are registered as domestic partners, and while the underlying law that was passed in 2007 allows some older heterosexual couples to register as domestic partners, most of the couples are gay.

Conservative Christians rallied to get Referendum 71 on the November ballot, arguing that Washington state's latest move is the last step before full civil marriage for gay and lesbian couples in the state.

[For the full article, see here.]

Incrementalism has no place when civil rights are at stake! "Equality" is all or nothing! You either have equality or you don't!

There is no such thing as having "some equality," and LGBT people, leaders, and allies must come to recognize this basic fact of life!

Although such incremental gains as Domestic Partnerships and Civil Unions seem attractive in the short-run, particularly when hope is held out by the states that the same rights that accrue to Marriage will also accrue to these other institutions, by using any other label than "Marriage," same-sex love is still consigned to an inferior category to that of heterosexual love; deprives same-sex couples of the federal benefits (over a thousand of them) that heterosexual married couples enjoy.

Moreover, incrementalism, by throwing some crumbs of promised "equality" to Gay people, blinds LGBT people and allies to the fact that civil rights for any minority group must never be allowed to be put to a vote by the electorate!

Also, since when is it acceptable to allow tax exempt religious institutions to practice discrimination, denying same-sex marriage within most of those institutions, and also having the gall to seek to impose their own prejudiced and erroneous interpretations of the Bible onto our civil society; seek to remove and/or prevent equal rights for Gay people?

What kind of "Christianity" (or any other religion for that matter) seeks to deny dignity and civil rights to members of any minority group? Disciples of Christ love and don't judge others; seek to embrace all of God's children; are agents of God's grace in this world!

Also, what kind of LGBT rights "leadership" affirms the warped views of exclusivist and discriminatory religion as seen in the following article?

Los Angeles-based Love Honor Cherish proposed ballot language to strike the ban approved by state voters in November as Proposition 8.

The new ballot proposal says religious institutions would not be required to perform same-sex unions if it conflicts with their beliefs.

"The refusal to perform a marriage under this provision shall not be the basis for lawsuit or liability, and shall not affect the tax-exempt status of any religious denomination, church or other religious institution," reads the exemption, an attempt by Love Honor Cherish to defuse one of the arguments Proposition 8 sponsors used to garner support last fall.

Submitting wording to the California attorney general is the first step in qualifying a measure for an election. Once the language is approved, backers would have until mid-April to gather the 695,000 signatures needed to put the initiative on the November 2010 ballot.

[For the full article, see here.]

By affirming the right of religions to discriminate against Gay couples who seek to make a lifetime commitment to each other, the authors of this new ballot proposal (a bad idea to begin with) tacitly agree with the right of religious institutions to discriminate against Gay people! By futilely attempting to do an end run around expected ads that would argue that ministers would be subject to arrest if same-sex marriage were instituted in California, the authors of this new ballot proposal are playing right into the oppressor's hands by giving discriminatory, tax exempt religion a pass!

As my good friend, Don Charles, wrote to me: "Some marriage equality activists make Stepin Fetchit look like Huey Newton."

Since when is it acceptable or even Constitutional for one's civil rights to be determined by the will, whims, and desires of the electorate, made up primarily of the dominant group that usually has little or no interest in granting such rights; can be easily swayed by simplistic sound bites that are bought and paid for by monies and lies from tax exempt religious and other allied institutions?

As I previously wrote:

We can't spend our time and tremendous amounts of monies trying to get the majority of the electorate to vote for equal rights. If integration of African Americans was put on the ballot in each state during the civil rights era, we would still have segregation and Jim Crow laws! There must be meaningful, coordinated, and aggressive grassroots, street, and organizational activism, coupled with the filing of civil suits at the federal level, to achieve equal rights. "Separate is not equal," and that fact must be, and undoubtedly will be, affirmed by the Judiciary in regard to Gay people, as it was for African Americans, and not left to the will and whim of the majority of the electorate, for to do so demeans Gay people, and puts each and every minority group's rights up for grabs. We would never think of putting one or more civil rights of Jews, of African Americans, of Asians, etc. on the ballot to be voted upon, and Gay people's civil rights must not be treated any differently.

So, it is inappropriate, counterproductive, and downright wrong to affirm the right of religious institutions to discriminate; allow discriminatory religious institutions to maintain their tax exempt status; settle for crumbs of incrementalism regarding civil rights; put civil rights to a vote of the electorate, thereby allowing a tyranny of the majority.

These issues demand meaningful and coordinated activism at the local and national levels, with their Constitutional adjudication occurring at the Supreme Court level.

And I hope that the Equality March on October 11th serves as a credible vehicle to help promote and stimulate the grassroots and organizational activism necessary to achieve the goal of full equality for people who are now consigned to second class citizenship within a society that defines itself as a Representative Democracy that was deliberately designed as such by our Founding Fathers to prevent a tyranny of the majority; a tyranny to which all too many LGBT leaders and others are willing to subscribe.

THE GOSPEL AND UNITY IN LOVE MUST OVERRIDE DOCTRINAL DIFFERENCES IN CHRIST'S CHURCH

The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America [ELCA] adopted a new social statement on sexuality last month that allows gay men and lesbians in committed relationships to serve as pastors.

The statement, which passed in a 559 to 451 vote at the denomination's national assembly in Minneapolis, was a controversial decision in a debate that has roiled the church for 25 years.

[For the full article, see here.]

I was recently asked to write a piece that could be presented to a member church of the ELCA that would help prevent some people from leaving that church as an expression of their revulsion against the decision of that denomination to allow gay men and lesbians in committed relationships to be able to fulfill God's call on their lives to become pastoral ministers.

This is a slightly edited version of what I wrote:

Each Christian has a ministry or ministries given to him/her by God, and it is an offense against God to prevent any Christian from fulfilling that ministry, or calling, that God has placed in his or her heart.

No greater contemporary social issue challenges the ELCA, and all professing Christians, to live up to Martin Luther's emphasis upon the prophet Habakkuk when the latter wrote, "...the just shall live by his faith." (Habakkuk 2:4) And the Apostle Paul provided the foundation of that continuing truth, resurrected by Luther in the sixteenth century, that is the hallmark of the Christian life when he reiterated this principle in Romans 1:17 and Galatians 3:11; the author of Hebrews similarly reiterated this principle in Hebrews 10:38.

Paul wrote, "So we, being many, are one body in Christ, and every one members one of another." (Romans 12:5) So, our faith both justifies us as being disciples of Christ as befits the life, work, teachings, and ministry of Jesus; the witness of Scripture; the legacy left us by the Great Reformer, Martin Luther.

Let's not let what differences people may have over any doctrinal or social issue in the ELCA, or in any other denomination or church for that matter, override that unity in love that is professed, and that Christians are to live out in our lives and as members of Christ's Church! If it is genuinely Christ's Church, any doctrinal or theological differences must be subordinated to the Gospel and our unity in love!

The Gospel of grace (God's unmerited favor) that we appropriate through our faith (trusting God over and above seen circumstances) must override any differences we might have about any matter; we must never thwart the will of God when He has called some of His children to the pastoral ministry.

Gay men and women called to the pastoral ministry within ELCA, and any other denomination, and who thereby desire to fulfill that ministry, are conforming themselves to the will of God for their lives, and none of us must do anything to thwart their desire, for to do so is to thwart God's will.

IT'S QUESTIONABLE THAT THE YOUNGER GENERATION OF GAYS AND ALLIES WILL BE MORE ACTIVIST THAN THE CURRENT GENERATION

If someone is ridiculed for their sexual orientation [in the work place], an atheist hesitates to draw attention to himself. Someone in the racial minority tends to fear participating for fear he’ll be the next target. There is a domino effect.

Surprisingly it’s younger LGBT workers who are more likely to hide their identity, with only 5 percent of employees in the 18 to 24-year-old age group saying they are totally open at work. Some fear losing connections, being passed over for advancement or getting fired if their boss or co-workers knew about their identity. Many fear for their safety.

[For the full article, see here.]
[For the full report, "Degrees of Equality," please see here.]

Beyond showing that all minority groups share in the need to advocate for their own and for each others' rights, it should come as no surprise that younger LGBT people are very hesitant to come out at the work place, and this may well put the lie to the hope that younger Gay people will be more aggressive in overriding the homophobia of others that prevent the acquisition of full and equal civil rights.

It seems to me that, although younger people are more "liberal" regarding attitudes to LGBT people than are older people, Gay people may well be no more likely to become activists on behalf of the acquisition of civil rights than is the current generation, and less likely to become activists than the previous generation that was embroiled in the 1960's culture where activist rhetoric and action was normalized in the U.S. and much of Western Europe.

The irony may well be that the ferocity of the oppression of the 1950's-1970's helped breed the courageous activists that made possible what gains have been made in the last several decades; the seeming liberalizing of attitudes toward LGBT people and issues might well lead to subordinating the fight for equal rights by Gay people and allis to an indolence borne of careerism and the desire to conform.

The hope that the future generation of LGBT people and allies will become more activist than the current generation may well be a false one.

JAMAICA'S GAYS WORSHIP IN THE CLOSET

Most of the institutionalized Church in the world has done inestimable harm to LGBT people. In Jamaica, it's unbelievable how the ignorance and mendacity of most of the clergy and their followers in the institutional Church has caused untold suffering, including murders, of LGBT people.

Where are the voices of the clergy against this horror? Where are the voices of the sanitized professing Christians in the U.S. and elsewhere against the venomous rhetoric of the clergy in Jamaica and in all other places where homophobia is equated with "spirituality" in the minds of demented and warped individuals who have the temerity to sing such hymns in church as "Amazing Grace"?

KINGSTON, Jamaica — It takes just 15 minutes to set up an underground church.

Two boxes and a white sheet make up the pulpit. The altar is a card table. Folding chairs constitute the pews. Then Rev. Robert Griffin, a solidly built gay American minister in his mid-40s, unpacks a battered cardboard box; inside is a wooden chalice, two candle holders, a communion plate and a dog-eared copy of the King James Bible. Add a pianist warming up on an electric keyboard and suddenly an empty meeting room is transformed into the Kingston branch of the Sunshine Cathedral, Jamaica’s only gay church.

“We call it church in a box,” said Griffin, who travels to Jamaica once a month from Florida to hold services for Jamaica’s gay community. He helped found this congregation five years ago after reading a Human Rights Watch report about institutionalized anti-gay violence in Jamaica....

Ministers here regularly condemn homosexuality as a mortal sin, citing the story of Sodom and Gomorrah and God’s destruction of these cities because of the immoral behavior of their gay inhabitants. They also frequently quote verse 20:13 of Leviticus, which declares: "If there is a man who lies with a male as those who lie with a woman, both of them have committed a detestable act; they shall surely be put to death.”

“Ministers here are endorsing violent acts, calls for murder, to incite riots,” Griffin said. “I hear it being done here, I read it in the papers here, I have even heard it myself. They tell me: ‘We don’t believe in homosexuality and homosexuals should be killed because that’s what the scripture says.’” These beliefs also feed another equally pernicious notion about homosexuality. Since gayness is seen as an ungodly and unnatural act it is widely believed that the only way a young person becomes gay is by being coerced or raped by a gay man.

“That’s a misuse of the pulpit to me,” he said, with a look of outrage on his face. “In this culture, sex and homosexuality seems to pack the churches on Sunday morning. And if a minister is perceived to have not preached against homosexuality on Sunday morning, then that minister has not actually preached, if you will.”

“But we know that scripture says a lot of things,” he said. “My pushback is to ask why is that one particular verse up higher than other verses in that particular section of the Bible? There is another passage that says, 'Slaves, obey your masters.' Well, that particular part of the Bible hasn’t changed. But our attitudes certainly have changed about how we look at slavery."

[For the full article, see here.]

OBAMA HAS SHOWN HIMSELF TO BE A TRAITOR, A LIAR, AND A COWARD IN REGARD TO LGBT RIGHTS

The Obama administration has urged a US court to dismiss a lawsuit by gay married couples from Massachusetts who say they were unlawfully denied federal marriage benefits....

"No court has found such a right to federal benefits to be fundamental – and the federal courts that have considered the question in the context of DOMA (Defence of Marriage Act) itself have rejected such a claim," the Justice Department said in the filing.

The department urged that the lawsuits be dismissed because their claims either were without merit or the individuals did not have a legal right to sue.

[For the full article, see here.]

If you have the stomach to read it, here is the full Memorandum Of Law In Support Of Defendants' Motion To Dismiss [Thanks to AmericaBlog.]

As I wrote to a friend of mine and previously posted on this blog, although I knew from the very beginning that Obama was no champion of equal rights for LGBT people, I voted for him because I thought he was the lesser of two evils.

However, had I known the depth of his treachery to LGBT people, I never would have voted for him, and would have voted for McCain/Palin instead. As stupid as much of their rhetoric and mind-sets are, they at least were honest about their prejudices and values.

Obama is, in my opinion, a traitor, a liar, and a coward in regard to LGBT rights, who is also out of his league as President for other assorted reasons that are beyond the purview of this blog to deal with; he is likely to be a one-term President, if the Republicans can get someone with "charm" and name recognition to run against him in 2012.

And, particularly given his cynical betrayal of LGBT people, I will not be at all unhappy should that scenario occur!

DON CHARLES' POST: I AM CASTER SEMENYA

I strongly urge you to please read the two part post entitled, I Am Caster Semenya that was just written by my good friend, Don Charles on his blog, Christ, The Gay Martyr.

In an email Don Charles sent, he wrote the following:

If you are in any way non-traditional in your expression of gender, society will indeed make you suffer! Prepare yourself for ridicule. Prepare yourself for ostracism. Prepare to fend off irrational hostility that can escalate into violence against your person. Prepare to be condemned by your school, your church, your family. Prepare for difficulty earning your living, for jobs that you keep or lose based on how tolerant of difference your supervisors and co-workers are. Get ready to be banned from the Boy Scouts, from the US military, from the pulpit, from the wedding chapel. This is how they do you when they decide you are "queer"! The wrenching testimony that Gay, Lesbian and transsexual people could give a fact-finding commission would make South Africa's Truth and Reconciliation hearings of the 1990s look like silly parlor games.

God doesn't put people in boxes, and neither must we! God specializes in diversity, and for anyone to put this young woman through this sadistic ritual abuse is nothing short of small-mindedness, mean-spiritedness, and sinful!

Here is a brief excerpt from Don Charles' post that I hope will whet your appetite to read his two-part post in full:

Are you a butch Lesbian? An effeminate Gay man? A transsexual who refuses to hide? An intersex person in body or spirit? If so, then you are one of God’s transgender children, too. You are Caster Semenya! I am Caster Semenya. We are all Caster Semenya, and we should all be mad as Hell, and we shouldn't . . . we mustn't . . . tolerate this sexist, transphobic oppression anymore!

The same goes for any Christian, regardless of gender identity. The inclusive Gospel of Jesus Christ mandates humankind to repent of transphobia: You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength (Mark 12:30). How is it possible to love the Lord but despise His creations?

Please click on this link to read his two-part post, I AM CASTER SEMENYA in full.

WHAT OBAMA AND ALL OF US MUST LEARN CONCERNING REACTIONARIES AND RACISTS

There can be no meeting of the minds between people of good will and haters! All the intellectual arguments, all the emotional testimonies, all the rationality in the world is transcended by those for whom hate and deep-seated prejudices are their major motivators, and for whom appealing to the hate that lies in the human heart is politically and/or materially profitable.

Just listen to the most popular radio talk shows; just listen to sermons in most of the institutional Church that deal with LGBT issues!

As you know, I'm no fan of Obama, although I voted for him as being what I thought was the lesser of two evils.

However, much of the antipathy directed to him and to his programs by many Reactionaries is, in my opinion, largely racially motivated, and that thesis must be surfaced lest it be submerged under rhetoric that sanitizes and masks the true reasons for the heat from those Reactionaries and racists that he and his family have had to withstand since he decided to run for the office of President, and that continues to this day.

In my opinion, when I hear some radio talk show hosts say, "We must take our country back," that is mere code for, "Let's get a white man back in the President's office."

Certainly conservative media is stoking the flames. Fox News' Glenn Beck, Bill O'Reilly, and Laura Ingraham, for example, have for months been ratcheting up the racist and cold war sentiment on their programs, suggesting that the president and his supporters vacillate between hating white people and fomenting socialist revolution.

Even as President Obama tries to strike a middle ground on health care and the high school address, conservative talk show hosts, bloggers and some elected officials continue to escalate the antagonism, hostility and name calling (demonizing the president as Hitler and his team as communists, socialists, and Marxists).

These voices daily are helping to nurture an atmosphere of racial confrontation and in the process bring the hatred above ground. [See here.]

Let me be clear, I am in no way, shape, or form suggesting that white people in general are racists. What I am suggesting is that a majority of those hostile to minorities in power and specifically a black man as President mostly reside in the “base” of the GOP. These are people who regularly watch people like Glen Beck, listen to people like Rush Limbaugh, and read people like Ann Coulter. By the way, I’m not suggesting that all their supporters are racist either, but let’s not play dumb either. They know, just like GOP strategists know, that if they want to sell books, drive up ratings, make money, or create political havoc for Democrats and the President, all they have to do is feed this group coded language and innuendo’s that allow them and give them the talking points that will ensure that they can say what they really feel without just plainly stating the obvious: “We don’t want and don’t like the fact that a black guy is the President” so they hide behind ridiculous issues and pretend that’s not the case, but it’s quite obvious what’s going on here....

What are all these chants about wanting their country back, from whom we should reply? A black man stole “their” country, that’s what they mean. In “their” country, Presidents should look like them, it’s really that simple when you get down to the bottom of it. In “their” country, they don’t have to accept that one day soon they will not be the majority. Deep down at the core, is their primal fear of genetic annihilation, the fear that their whiteness will give way to more people of color in both the world as a whole but particularly in this nation and in power. It’s akin to a mental illness if you ask me, because the God of whom I believe, revealed that He created us in different hues and tongues so that we may know one another and celebrate our diversity as a gift from the divine that also bears testimony to the greatness of His creation. But when your fears are rooted in being afraid of other because they don’t look, act, or believe as you do, then in my humble opinion you are against God and following the path of Satan....

Think about this for a minute: Obama wants to tell kids to stay in school and white parents who no doubt support the GOP are taking their kids out of school! Why? Because they are “afraid” that Obama will say something to their kids other than what he and past Presidents have normally said, such as stay in school!!!!! It would be funny if it were not sad. I wish we really had true journalism that would call this what it is. Let’s be real, they don’t want their kids to be faced with the reality of a black man as President in an environment where their careful coaching will be absent. Obama represents the reality that many of them still have not faced and refuse to accept. The reality that black men can and have been more than criminals, thugs, etc. The reality that black men can and have been good parents, educated, successful, and in this case ascending to the highest office in the land. How dare their kids be exposed to such vile things and hearing vile messages, that if given by any other President (white of course) like in the past, no one would bat an eye.

[Please read the full article here.]

The normally nonchalant Barack Obama looked nonplussed, as Nancy Pelosi glowered behind.

Surrounded by middle-aged white guys — a sepia snapshot of the days when such pols ran Washington like their own men’s club — Joe Wilson yelled “You lie!” at a president who didn’t.

But, fair or not, what I heard was an unspoken word in the air: You lie, boy! [See here for a good Op Ed piece by Maureen Dowd.]

The value of understanding the hateful, and usually intractable, underpinnings of rhetoric from racists and/or Reactionaries can teach us at least five very important lessons.

Those lessons are:

1. Racism's (and, of course, homophobia's) ugly face must be exposed every chance we get.
2. We cannot and must not cozy up to Reactionaries and racists, people of ill will, and falsely think that we can come to any meeting of the minds.
3. Obama and all ethnic minorities must come to realize that those who are racists, who hate them because of the mere color of their skins, are cut from the same bolt of cloth (and are usually one and the same) as those who seek to deprive LGBT people of full and equal civil rights.
4. Ethnic minorities who in any way seek to deprive LGBT people of equal civil rights are akin to White Supremacists, and are aligning themselves with many of the very people who resent, if not despise, them.
5. LGBT people, allies, and all people of good will must fight for full equality for LGBT people, so that they are no longer viewed and treated as second-class citizens, deprived of any of the civil rights that heterosexuals enjoy.

It would be good for President Obama and for LGBT people if Obama learned and took these lessons to heart, the lessons that racism and homophobia are two sides of the xenophobic coin, and assertively acted on them, so that equal rights for LGBT people would that much sooner become a reality!

IT DOESN'T TAKE MUCH TO CO-OPT SOME PEOPLE

One hundred or more members and guests of several national LGBT groups took a special White House tour last month, according to officials with the groups.

A White House spokesperson said the LGBT groups were among a wide range of constituency organizations that were invited by the administration to arrange for guests of their choosing to take the tour.

The guests of select LGBT groups visited the East Wing of the White House and saw the same ceremonial and historic rooms in a self-guided tour that the general public sees. Those who attended the tour said there were no Obama administration officials present.

“I’ve heard from a number of guests how pleased they were to be invited and how much they enjoyed the tour,” said Leslie Calman, executive director of the Mautner Project, a Washington-based lesbian health organization.

[For the full article, see here.]

To add insult to injury, this tour occurred while Obama and his family were on vacation!

They couldn't loudly and publicly say "no," could they? After all, it might have been "rude."

No wonder Obama treats LGBT people with contempt!

When you can buy off "liberals" and "activists" with some finger food and with a tour of the White House when you are not around to even have to talk with them, why should LGBT equality be taken seriously by Obama, or by most other politicians for that matter?

WHAT AN INDICTMENT OF OUR HUMAN RIGHTS RECORD IN THE UNITED STATES

Bethany Smith, a private who deserted the U.S. Army, is seeking refugee status in Canada.

Smith says she feared for her life because of the treatment she suffered as a lesbian. "I had to endure not only verbal and physical harassment, but death threats and harassment letters on my door every day," she said, according to the CBC....

If Smith is forced to return to the United States, Liew says she may face military charges of indecency for homosexual conduct as well as charges for desertion and being absence without leave.

Military cases are decided by tribunal members from the accused's own unit, which means that the same people who assaulted Smith could decide her fate.

[For the full article, see here.]

It seems that DADT is selectively used, and used after the person has served her/his role as possible cannon fodder for a military stretched too thin, in part given our war-mongering.

For a Gay person in the United States to seek asylum in another country with a better human rights record when it comes to LGBT people, is a tremendous indictment of the human rights record in our country that boasts itself to be "the land of the free and the home of the brave."

BARNEY FRANK WANTS TO BE ON OBAMA'S CABINET

Barney Frank has turned out to be just another political careerist, selling out Gay people just as he sold out Transgender people during the ENDA discussions in Congress.

His following in lockstep Obama's traitorous actions in regard to equal rights for Gay people now makes more sense:

Rep. Barney Frank is interested in capping his political career as a member of the president’s Cabinet, according to a new biography of the Financial Services Committee chairman.

Frank (D-Mass.) told author Stuart Weisberg that he would like to be Housing and Urban Development secretary. However, the 69-year-old lawmaker stresses that his departure from Congress is not imminent.

He first wants to pass more legislation on affordable housing, saying, “I want at least two years with President Obama and a solidly Democratic Senate so that we can get the federal government back in the housing business.”

[For the full article, see here.]

His "changing his mind" in regard to Obama's Justice Department invoking incest and pedophilia in its support of DOMA in federal court is "explained" in his press release at that time:

Congressman Barney Frank issued the following statement in response to a newspaper story regarding his position on the brief by the Department of Justice about Smelt v. United States.

“When I was called by a newspaper reporter for reaction to the administration’s brief defending the constitutionality of the Defense of Marriage Act, I made the mistake of relying on other people’s oral descriptions to me of what had been in the brief, rather than reading it first. It is a lesson to me that I should not give in to press insistence that I comment before I have had a chance fully to inform myself on the subject at hand.”

“Now that I have read the brief, I believe that the administration made a conscientious and largely successful effort to avoid inappropriate rhetoric. There are some cases where I wish they had been more explicit in disavowing their view that certain arguments were correct, and to make it clear that they were talking not about their own views of these issues, but rather what was appropriate in a constitutional case with a rational basis standard – which is the one that now prevails in the federal courts, although I think it should be upgraded.”

[For the full press release see here.]

Anyone who thinks that a smart politician like Frank, at this late stage of his career, was anything but cynical when he said, "It is a lesson to me that I should not give in to press insistence that I comment before I have had a chance fully to inform myself on the subject at hand," is terribly naive!

For Frank to seemingly seek to cap his career by appealing to political expediency in selling out Transgender people during the ENDA discussions, and now by seeking to be in Obama's cabinet by selling out his Gay brothers and sisters so that he can cozy up to Obama like a lap dog, giving preeminence to "housing" as an issue rather than equal rights for LGBT people, is likely to stain his legacy as a man who could have been a hero in the equal rights movement, but ultimately showed himself to be a traitor to that movement!

TO PLACE THE CIVIL RIGHTS OF GAY PEOPLE IN THE HANDS OF THE ELECTORATE IS DEMEANING AND UNCONSTITUTIONAL

This brief video highlights the need to forego seeking to win the votes of the electorate to affirm same-sex marriage, or any other civil right for that matter. Civil rights are to be fought for in the courts and not be subject to the whims of the electorate! Indeed, the very need for Gay people to fight for civil rights accorded to all citizens under our Constitution is demeaning in itself!

HOMOPHOBIA IS AKIN TO WHITE SUPREMACY

“I don't call myself a white supremacist. I'm a civil rights activist concerned about European-American rights.” [Statement by White Supremacist, David Duke.]

Let me rephrase the above statement as a professing Christian homophobe would likely phrase it: "I don't call myself a homophobe. I'm a Bible-believing Christian concerned about the well-being of the family and of our society."

Most everyone does what he or she thinks is the right thing to do! In this case, the issue is does the rhetoric and actions of professing Christians reflect the teachings of Jesus? Jesus said His disciples are to be humble, love other people, not judge other people, care for the well-being of other people.

In a secular vein, the question must be asked if it's rational for a person to defame and seek to discriminate against LGBT people, and seek to codify his or her prejudices into law, by demanding that a minority group's civil rights be up for grabs according to the will and whim of the electorate? Our Constitution and Supreme Court rulings have established that "separate is not equal" and that we have "equality under the law."

A minority group's civil rights cannot be decided according to the will of the people, lest there be a tyranny of the majority, something our founding fathers abhorred: hence we have a Democratic Republic (Representative Democracy) rather than a simple Democracy.

It is supremely ironic when an African American pastor feels free, as a professing Christian, to both advocate discrimination against another minority group; align him/herself with the mind-set of White Supremacists who in the not too distant past sought to deny African Americans equal rights, and who still defame them. This irrational irony was brought into sharp relief when African American pastor, Rev. Gregory Daniels of Chicago stated: "If the KKK opposes gay marriage, I would ride with them."

What homophobic Black pastors and their followers seemingly fail to recognize is that they are seeking to deprive another minority group of equal rights, just as many of those with whom they are aligning themselves sought to prevent equal rights for African Americans; they are aligning themselves with people many of whom wouldn't even associate with them if they weren't fighting on the same side in this LGBT civil rights struggle, a struggle not any less important than the struggle from which Black people profited by winning full and equal civil rights in the 1960's.

It is my contention that the same mind-set that existed (and, in many cases, still exists) among White Supremacists exists among homophobes who seek to deny equal rights to LGBT people! I heard much the same type of rationalizations and appeals to the Bible in the 1950's and early 1960's among those who fought against integration as we do today among professing Christian homophobes who seek to deny same-sex marriage and other civil rights to Gay people.

The profound, ultimate, tragedy is when many of those who profited from the African American civil rights struggle then turn around and seek to oppress members of another minority group, and even have the temerity to do so as professing Christians and clergy, do so in the name of God, and mimic the mind-set and much of the rhetoric of those who once oppressed their ancestors, and would oppress them again if they had the opportunity.

The following video [Thanks to Towleroad.] shows Rev. Harry Jackson's approach as a professing Christian to preventing same-sex marriage in both Washington,, D.C. and in most of the rest of the country. In light of the above discussion, its irony shouldn't escape any of us:

MARY CHENEY AND THE PATHOLOGY OF THE GAY CONSERVATIVE

Mary Cheney, the daughter of former Vice President Dick Cheney and onetime gay outreach director for Coors Brewing Company, gave $1,000 to a Republican Senate hopeful who voted against same-sex marriage and allowing gay couples to adopt children in the District of Columbia.

Cheney, 40, has a two-year old son with her partner of 17 years, Heather Poe. The donation to former Rep. Rob Portman (R-OH) was made in May. Portman is seeking the Senate seat that will be vacated by Sen. George Voinovich (R-OH) when he retires in 2011.

[For the full article, see here.]

I can't possibly do justice as to why a Gay person would support in any way any politician (or any clergy, for that matter) who would seek to prevent full and equal civil rights for Gay people. The self-loathing in such a person, be it conscious or unconscious, must be so palpable to the point that he or she would support their own oppressors; if confronted by that anomaly, he/she would resort to explanations and rationalizations that would confound any rational person's ability to fully comprehend.

About two years ago, I wrote an article entitled, "The Pathology of the Gay Conservative" that I wrote to help shed light on this seemingly inexplicable phenomenon.

Although I don't know Mary Cheney's reasons for in any way supporting a person who demeans her and other Gay people and their families, and seeks to keep them as second-class citizens, I hope that this article that I wrote might help shed some light on the phenomenon of why any Gay person, save for sheer mendacity, would support efforts to keep her/him and other Gay people consigned to the netherworld of pariah in our or in any society.

Please click on this link to read "The Pathology of the Gay Conservative.

EQUAL RIGHTS WILL ONLY BE WON THROUGH THE JUDICIAL PROCESS

As we saw in the African American civil rights struggle, it is only when there is the force of law, or the threat to use the force of law, that integration into mainstream society, with all the civil rights available that accrue to all citizens, occurs. Whether it is the bringing of civil and/or criminal suits or the threat and/or actual removal of tax exempt status from religious institutions that help cause the suicides, assaults, and murders of LGBT people, full equality will only occur by means of the judicial system and not merely by appealing to the will and whims of the electorate.

For example:

A school district in Herkimer County, N.Y. has agreed to take immediate action to protect a gay student before the academic year begins in September.

The agreement is only a step in resolving a lawsuit that was filed on behalf of a 14-year-old student who was constantly harassed by students at his high school for his sexual orientation....

"It shouldn’t take a lawsuit to motivate school district officials to protect a student from vicious harassment," said NYCLU staff attorney Corey Stoughton, lead counsel on the case. "Our case will proceed until the district addresses the systemic failures that allowed it to ignore Jacob’s plight for two years."

NYCLU executive director Donna Lieberman added that the district must take steps to "ensure that all students are safe at school and treated with the dignity and respect they deserve."

[For the full article, see here

Although the lead counsel in the case said, ""It shouldn’t take a lawsuit to motivate school district officials to protect a student from vicious harassment," the fact is that it is such a lawsuit, or the mere threat of such a law suit, that will move prejudiced people to act in a civilized manner and protect those under their care. Mere appeals to bureaucrats' "better natures" will often be of no avail, just as the appeal to the electorate's "better natures" cannot and should not be counted upon to acquire full and equal civil rights.

As with secular institutions, the same mechanics hold true with "religious" institutions:

Calvin College professors say they want a campus discussion about academic freedom after being told it is "unacceptable" for them to advocate for homosexual issues and same-sex marriage.

College employees received a memo last week saying the Board of Trustees has revisited issues surrounding the college's position on homosexuality, concluding it is "unacceptable" for faculty and staff to teach, write or advocate on behalf of the issue....

The board says there are cases where academic integrity will "require acquainting students with alternate views. However, the position of the church and the college should be clearly and sympathetically presented [Notice, that consigning Gay people to pariah status is to be taught "sympathetically."], and advocacy of homosexual practice and same-sex marriage is not permitted."

[For the full article, see here.]

Regarding the Roman Catholic Church:

Catholic bishops in New Jersey have started their new campaign against ending marriage discrimination.
The fight has been prompted by the anticipation of a possible vote on same-sex marriage by New Jersey lawmakers after the November election.

Under direct order of bishops, a 2,300-word letter was distributed inside Sunday bulletins at parishes across the state. The note included mention that it’s a long-standing Catholic value that marriage is only “the union of one man and one woman.”

[For the full article, see here.]

Whether it is a professing "Christian" college or a "religious" denomination such as the Roman Catholic Church, it will be the threat and/or actual removal of tax exempt status that will enable them to "get another revelation" (Just as it did with the Mormon Church when Jimmy Carter, in 1978, threatened to remove its tax exempt status unless they stopped their discrimination against African Americans.), and stop their hateful rhetoric and behavior directed against LGBT people.

Regarding the Mormon Church, it is instructive to read the following, in order to see how the legal threat to diminish its coffers, and how this tactic can get other "religious" institutions to immediately stop discriminating and poisoning the society in which it is allowed to exist, if not flourish:

Prior to 1978, Mormon leaders forbid Blacks from holding the Mormon Priesthood. In 1978, due to mounting pressure from pending lawsuits concerning racism, Spencer W. Kimball suddenly received a revelation that Blacks could now enter the temple and hold the Mormon Priesthood. If the Mormon Church had not changed its views on Black people, it would have lost its Tax-Exempt 503(c) status - as pending litigation in several states in America was proceeding.

Today the Mormon Church flatly denies that it's revelation was based on losing its Tax-Exempt 503(c) status - however a great deal of evidence exists showing that it did.

[For more discussion of this particular topic, see here.]

As James Hipps of "Gay Agenda" wrote in regard to this matter:

It wasn’t that long ago (1978 to be exact) when former President Jimmy Carter had to threaten the church with taxation if they didn’t stop preaching segregation. It was only three weeks later the church’s leader heard a voice from “God” or had some “vision” that people of color were human too! [See here.]

It would behoove Gay Rights organizations to learn from previous civil rights and other discrimination issues and use their energies and monies to take discriminatory institutions to court and/or lobby the IRS and Congress to remove tax exempt status from any religious institution that advocates discrimination, and attempts to codify or reinforce their prejudices into civil law, that in any way deprives LGBT people of full and equal civil rights.

TWO EXAMPLES OF PROFESSING CHRISTIAN HATERS

This is a brief video of a speech by Wiley Drake, Pastor of First Southern Baptist Church in Buena Park, California, praying for the death of Pres. Obama:


In case you think that Drake is merely some isolated looney tune, realize that he was second vice president of the Southern Baptist Association in 2006-2007. [See here.]

Another Pastor, Steven Anderson, Pastor of the Faithful World Baptist Church, in Tempe, Arizona, had this to say about Obama:

I'm not gonna pray for [Obama's] good. I'm going to pray that he dies and goes to hell. When I go to bed tonight, that's what I'm going to pray. And you say, 'Are you just saying that?' No. When I go to bed tonight, Steven L. Anderson is going to pray for Barack Obama to die and go to hell.

[For the full article, see here.]

By the way, "Anderson wants the death penalty for homosexuals. The source for such a draconian response? The Bible, of course." [See here.]

A friend of mine who called me last night and told me about these Pastors who pray for the death of Obama, and who have the temerity to call themselves "Christians," and appeal to the Bible to justify their hate, wrote me the following email:

Both Pastors Drake and Anderson are on the record for praying for President Obama to die and go to Hell. What kind of Christianity is this that claims that God told Pastor Drake to pray for the President's death? To allow Jesus & God to be used in this manner should not be ignored by those of us that know better. These are the faces of the new Christianity that drive sane people away from our faith, because there is an unwillingness among other pastors to say that that is wrong.

Notice his last sentence: "These are the faces of the new Christianity that drive sane people away from our faith, because there is an unwillingness among other pastors to say that that is wrong."

Where are the other clergy and the other professing Christians who remain silent in the face of this unspeakable madness? Where are those moral and spiritual cowards who allow such hate to be preached in God's name and yet remain silent amidst the oppression of others?

As I've written before, when a person hates one minority group, almost invariably he/she hates one or more other minority groups! So, if one hates African Americans, chances are he/she hates Jews and/or Latinos and/or LGBT people and/or.....

Those professing Christians who remain silent in the face of such hate being spewed in the name of God are just as guilty of the sinful oppression of LGBT people as are the overt haters who are in the public eye! By their silence, they enable, and even tacitly condone, the hateful rhetoric of the Drakes and Andersons of the world; tacitly affirm that they have a right to spew their hateful venom and still call themselves "Christians."

I've said it before and I'll say it again: One of the best coordinated grassroots activities in which we can engage is to select one homophobic church in each city or jurisdiction, and then each and every Sunday during the times of their services picket those churches and let people know that the hate preached in those churches, and in churches like them, is antithetical to the Gospel and to anything that is of God!

If anyone thinks we can or should make nice to professing Christian (or other) haters, please listen to the following audio message from Pastor Anderson, and realize that there can be no common ground between those who struggle for full and equal civil rights for LGBT people and the Pastor Andersons of the world and those whom he represents who, either by their rhetoric and/or behavior or by their silence, seem to comprise most of the institutional Church:

Please click on the audio link on this web page to hear an example of the venom of Pastor Anderson.

ONE SURE WAY TO ELIMINATE HOMOPHOBIC CHURCHES

To assure elimination of homophobic messages and church advocacy of discrimination against LGBT people, just threaten to remove their tax exempt status! (Indeed, in my opinion, all churches should lose their tax exempt status!)

It is important to keep in mind that tax exemptions are a matter of “legislative grace,” which means that no one is necessarily entitled to tax exemptions and that they are not protected by the Constitution. If a government doesn’t want to allow tax exemptions, it doesn’t have to. It is up to taxpayers to establish that they are entitled to get any exemptions which the government allows: if they fail to meet that burden, the exemptions can be denied.

Such denial is not, however, an infringement upon their free exercise of religion. As the Supreme Court observed in the 1983 case of Regan v. Taxation With Representation of Washington, “a legislature’s decision not to subsidize the exercise of a fundamental right does not infringe the right.”

[For the full opinion, see here.]

[Also see here and here and here for some different perspectives on this issue.]

James Hipps of the blog,"Gay Agenda," put it best:

Former president Jimmy Carter threatened the LDS with taxation in 1978 if they didn’t stop preaching segregation…low and behold, three weeks later, the Mormons no longer believed being a person of color was a punishment from God.
I just can’t believe we let these tax-exempt cults dictate laws and rights. This really has to stop!

He's absolutely right!

In the case of homophobic churches and clergy who spew hateful rhetoric about LGBT people, bear false witness against them, and advocate discrimination against them, a sure way to silence these destructive forces that have provided much of the impetus to prevent and eliminate full and equal civil rights for LGBT people, would be to threaten to remove their tax exempt status.

We must threaten to remove the tax exempt status from any church or religious institution that poisons the well in our society, and homophobic churches and clergy do just that!

VIDEO: MICHELANGELO SIGNORILE AND LOG CABIN REPUBLICAN'S CHARLES MORAN

The following video is a brief discussion with Michelangelo Signorile and Log Cabin Republican Charles Moran.

At the beginning of the video, where it shows Obama expressing his support for LGBT people, notice how he haltingly expresses himself in his talk, indicating to me that he is at best ambivalent about equal rights for LGBT people, and at worst is merely seeking to shore up part of his base so as to win the next presidential election.

As you know, the latter is my view. I feel that Obama is a mere two-faced narcissist who doesn't care one bit about equal rights for LGBT people, or for much of anything else that can't garner him political mileage to meet his narcissistic needs and self-interest.

LGBT RIGHTS MUST BE AFFIRMED IN THE FEDERAL JUDICIAL AND POLITICAL ARENAS

I'm probably in the minority of those who advocate for marriage equality for same-sex couples when I say that I find the following advertisement for same-sex marriage in Maine to be depressing:



I find it depressing because it adapts itself to the idea that it is the right of the electorate to vote on minority group civil rights!

As I've written in a previous post:

We can't spend our time and tremendous amounts of monies trying to get the majority of the electorate to vote for equal rights. If integration of African Americans was put on the ballot in each state during the civil rights era, we would still have segregation and Jim Crow laws! There must be meaningful, coordinated, and aggressive grassroots, street, and organizational activism, coupled with the filing of civil suits at the federal level, to achieve equal rights. "Separate is not equal," and that fact must be, and undoubtedly will be, affirmed by the Judiciary in regard to Gay people, as it was for African Americans, and not left to the will and whim of the majority of the electorate, for to do so demeans Gay people, and puts each and every minority group's rights up for grabs. We would never think of putting one or more civil rights of Jews, of African Americans, of Asians, etc. on the ballot to be voted upon, and Gay people's civil rights must not be treated any differently.

We will not "win the hearts and minds" of people by merely saying the equivalent of "We are people and families too." The fight for full and equal civil rights, including the right of marriage, will not be ultimately won by going hat in hand to the electorate and trying to appeal to logic and to "the milk of human kindness" to win this struggle.

Indeed, even if this struggle were to be won state by state, it would take an inordinate amount of time to legalize same-sex marriage, and it would still leave other civil rights of LGBT people up for grabs, each to be dealt with incrementally. That's why the Dallas Principles are worthy of great consideration and implementation, particularly taking into account the excellent critique of Don Charles in his two part post, "Democratizing the Dallas Principles," Part One and Part Two, that are posted on his blog, Christ, The Gay Martyr.

Putting LGBT rights (or any other minority group's rights, for that matter) to a vote of the electorate is likely to lose, in large part due to the lies and distortions of the "religious" and secular homophobes, as well as to the free floating fears, frustrations, and anger of people, many of whom are living in economically uncertain, if not hard, times, and who consciously or unconsciously look for scapegoats upon whom to vent their fears, frustrations, and anger.

And reactionary clergy, talk show hosts, and organizations play upon those fears, frustrations, and anger by claiming to represent "traditional family values," "the sanctity of marriage," "the well-being of our children," and all sorts of other buzz words that grab people emotionally by playing upon the fear of change, a change that they say is designed to accommodate those whom they constantly vilify as, in one way or another, being "deviant" and even "dangerous."

Specious appeals to "tradition," "the Bible," and even "God," ring true to those who are ignorant and/or gullible and/or frustrated and/or fearful and/or angry enough to believe the one-dimensional mind-set of those who have a lot of money to bring to the propaganda table so as to further vilify LGBT people, and who also monopolize much of the media and most of the institutional Church, making the likelihood of an electoral win in California in 2010 or 2012, or in Maine, Washington, D.C., or any other state increasingly less likely to occur.

The more the lies are allowed to be spewed in the "religious" and secular market places, the more likely it is that those lies will be increasingly believed and, hence, the more likely subsequent ballot initiatives designed to reinforce second-class status on LGBT people will continue to be successful. As Joseph Goebbels, Hitler's propaganda minister said, "If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it."

...[Brian S.] Brown [the Executive Director of the National Organization for Marriage] said that a solid majority of voters in every state or jurisdiction in which same-sex marriage has been placed on the ballot has voted down same-sex marriage — or similar legal rights for same-sex couples granted through domestic partnership benefits.

“Whenever we’ve been able to have a direct vote on the issue, we’ve won — in 30 out of 30 states,” Brown said.

He said his organization is poised to help local ministers fight plans by the D.C. City Council to pass legislation this fall that would allow same-sex marriages to be performed in the District.

He said NOM also will join local opponents of same-sex marriage to seek to overturn the law passed by the Council in May, and later cleared by Congress, that allows the city to recognize same-sex marriages performed in other jurisdictions.

Brown said NOM would “definitely” contribute funds to pay for a court challenge of D.C. Board of Elections & Ethics and D.C. Superior Court rulings that stopped a ballot measure on the issue from taking place.

Both the election board and a Superior Court judge ruled in June that a referendum calling for overturning the same-sex marriage recognition law could not be held because, if approved, it would violate the city’s Human Rights Act, which bans discrimination based on sexual orientation.

“The people of D.C. deserve the right to vote on this issue,” he said. “It really sort of boggles the mind that one of the key issues in the District is the idea of voting rights. There’s a lot of support for voting rights, especially coming from some of those who support same-sex marriage.

“And while there’s a push for voting rights and the idea that D.C. would have a right to vote in Congress, it’s a little incongruous that there’s this attempt to block the right of D.C. voters to have their say on an issue of this much import — the very definition of marriage.”

[For the full article, see here.]

Ironically, both Brown and many LGBT activists take for granted the acceptability of having one's civil rights voted upon, whereas constitutional questions must be decided by the judiciary. Hence, the need for federal civil rights cases brought before the judiciary, just as Ted Olson and David Boies are doing, in conjunction with coordinated grassroots (such as the National Equality March) and organizational activism is so important in making sure that LGBT people have every single civil right that heterosexuals have.

HYPOCRITICAL POLITICIANS AND CLERGY

The mayor of Anchorage on Monday vetoed a ban against discrimination based on sexual orientation, saying it was unclear that such discrimination existed....

“This ordinance was going to force small-business owners particularly to accommodate people who choose a certain lifestyle,” said the Rev. Jerry Prevo, pastor of the Anchorage Baptist Temple and a leader of the measure’s opponents.

“Once you give special rights to homosexuals,” Mr. Prevo said, “then the next step is you legalize homosexual marriage and so forth.”

For the full article, see here.]

How a seemingly limited human being like the Rev. Jerry Prevo became a pastor of a church that professes to be "Christian," I'll never know, save to say that he represents far more "ministers" than any Christian would feel comfortable with having seemingly represent "Christianity."

The deceitful and distorted mantra that Gay people "choose a certain lifestyle" and that they want "special rights" is very sinister in its distortion, and it's being repeated so often by many clergy in the institutional Church, so that ignorant and/or gullible and/or hateful people professing to be decent, and even "Christian," seem to thrive on that lie, so that a ban on discrimination is vetoed, the reason given being that it "unclear that such discrimination existed."

For anyone to deny that there is discrimination against Gay people is a downright lie! And, worse than that, it is a hypocritical lie! And we have assorted pastors who call themselves "Christian," fueling such discrimination and lies against Gay people, all the while lying about the lives of Gay people.

Another reality is that hypocrisy is not restricted to any one political party, in that we have a narcissistic hypocrite in Pres. Obama who both assiduously affirms DOMA while at the same time he condemns it.

President Barack Obama insisted Monday he still wants to scrap what he calls a discriminatory federal marriage law, even as his administration angered gay rights activists by defending it in court.

The president said his administration's stance in a California court case is not about defending traditional marriage, but is instead about defending traditional legal practice.

Justice Department lawyers filed new papers Monday seeking to throw out a lawsuit brought by a gay couple challenging the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act, or DOMA. Gay rights groups say that by doing so, the administration is failing to follow through on campaign promises made by Obama last year to work to repeal the law.

[For the full article, see here.] [Also see here and here and here.]

Ya think?

Please see this video of Rachel Maddow talking with Howard Dean on the subject of Obama's Justice Department's brief in federal court regarding DOMA:

GAY DOES NOT ONLY EQUAL SEX MUST BE EMPHASIZED

A judge has dismissed a federal lawsuit against Tennessee school districts that once blocked access to gay-themed Web sites. The schools already had agreed to remove the filters to the sites.

If that agreement is broken, the case will return to court, according to the American Civil Liberties Union, which fought in favor of students suing the schools.

The suit that included Metro Nashville Public Schools and Knox County was over access to sites that were nonsexual.

[For the full article, see here.]

Given the sexual obsession of so many people, mixed with often "religiously" sanctimonious and negative messages to which we are exposed, any perception of adult relationships has "sex" as a major component, save for that of heterosexual marriage. For some reason, when one thinks of "marriage," sexual relationships are both taken for granted as well as virtually non-existent in the minds of those discussing marriage as a subject.

Therefore, since in the minds of many Gay=Sex, and that love is usually not even considered in same-sex relationships by homophobes, the very existence of same-sex marriage brings sex front and center in their minds; their often ambivalent, if not negative, view of sex connotes salaciousness that invades their comfort zones in this area of their lives.

When one hears homophobes rail against Gay people, they virtually always betray their own ambivalent, if not negative, views of sex and sexual matters; rarely, if ever, is love discussed in the context of same-sex relationships or in the struggle to legitimize same-sex marriage. Since sex is a subject with which many are uncomfortable, and that discomfort is highlighted by homophobes who emphasize that subject, Gay people have become both the target and the mirror of that discomfort; the attempt to prevent same-sex marriages can largely be seen to have its roots in the negative or ambivalent views of sex that so many homophobes have.

Since in these people's minds, Gay=Sex, anything that has to do with Gay people is seen solely in sexual terms by those who are uncomfortable with sex in one way or the other and, therefore, it is not surprising that internet sites that even have the word "Gay" in the title are viewed as inherently salacious, and there are attempts by those who feel they are "protecting the children" to seek to filter out anything that deals with Gay issues.

Indeed, a couple of years ago a friend of mine told me that he couldn't access this blog in his public library, as the filter the library used blocked it from access. He assured the librarian that this site was non-pornographic and the filter was removed.

One wonders how often this blog, and sites like it that have the word "Gay" in their title are inaccessible to young (and even older) people. The fact that "Christianity" also appears in the title of this blog was irrelevant, as the word "Gay" trumped all other terms and considerations and that fact can be attributed to the equation of Gay with Sex and little or nothing else.

All people involved in the civil rights struggle for full and equal LGBT rights must emphasize the emotional component of same-sex love and relationships; enable potential Straight allies to see that just as heterosexual relationships and marriage are seen as largely based on love, the same holds true of same-sex relationships.

By so doing, a lot of the stigma and perceived "deviance" of same-sex relationships held by many is likely to be diluted, with the goal of having people see that just as "love" is at the core of heterosexual marriage and relationships, "love" is also at the core of same-sex marriage and relationships.

Working toward this goal is crucial, as full and equal civil rights can only be achieved when potential Straight allies see same-sex marriage as being based on the same criteria as are heterosexual marriages, and the nonsense that occurred (and may yet occur) in Tennessee and elsewhere will be seen for the ignorance it displays.

A WONDERFUL VIDEO ABOUT SISTER PAULA, TRANSGENDER EVANGELIST

This relatively brief video captures some of the delightful spirituality in the life and message of Sister Paula who preaches the Gospel in a genuinely authentic way. I strongly urge you to follow her podcasts on her website Sister Paula Ministries.

THERE MUST BE NO ACCOMMODATION TO TOXIC RELIGION OR ANY WARPED VIEW OF FAITH

This article,The APA Nixes "Ex-Gay Therapy": A Win for the Religious Right? article is worth reading for the simple reason that it reaffirms the fact that fundamentalism of all stripes, particularly including that which invokes "religion" and its view of God, are antithetical to any kind of meaningful dialogue. Facts don't matter to "true believers"; they will often twist facts with which they are confronted to meet their preconceived prejudices and mind-sets.

An excerpt from this article reads as follows:

On Wednesday, the American Psychological Association made headlines by repudiating gay-to-straight therapy. In a report, the APA found that not only is there no evidence that the practice actually works, but it can also lead to depression and suicidal tendencies. Considering that so-called "reparative therapy" has been enthusiastically championed by the religious right, you might be surprised to learn that they're touting the report as a major victory.

One tragedy of the conclusion of the American Psychological Association's findings regarding the harm of "ex-gay therapies" is that the APA saw that "religion" could adversely impact a person's identity as being Gay and, therefore, one could legitimately deny a Gay identity, and deny him/herself a life as a Gay man or woman, for the sake of that religious belief.

So, we have the following possible outcome regarding a fundamentalist mind-set, be it from assorted religious leaders or from those who wish to accommodate such fundamentalists:

According to new APA guidelines, the therapist must make clear that homosexuality doesn't signal a mental or emotional disorder. The counselor must advise clients that gay men and women can lead happy and healthy lives, and emphasize that there is no evidence therapy can change sexual orientation.

But if the client still believes that affirming his same-sex attractions would be sinful or destructive to his faith, psychologists can help him construct an identity that rejects the power of those attractions, the APA says. That might require living celibately, learning to deflect sexual impulses or framing a life of struggle as an opportunity to grow closer to God.

"We're not trying to encourage people to become 'ex-gay,'" said Judith Glassgold, who chaired the APA's task force on the issue. "But we have to acknowledge that, for some people, religious identity is such an important part of their lives, it may transcend everything else."

[For the full article, see here.]

So, even the APA gives the startling conclusion to its unsurprising findings as to the harm of "ex-gay therapies" that it's OK to redirect one's sexuality to other pursuits for the sake of "religion," even, as in the case of fundamentalism, even toxic religion!

And they give this conclusion, despite their statement:

No solid evidence exists that such change is likely, says the resolution, adopted by a 125-to-4 vote. The association said some research suggested that efforts to produce change could be harmful, inducing depression and suicidal tendencies. [See here.]

As Frederick Schiller once remarked, "Against stupidity, even the gods contend in vain!"

So, they have the temerity to state that when one's being Gay counters the client's perception of what it means to be a Christian: "That might require living celibately, learning to deflect sexual impulses or framing a life of struggle as an opportunity to grow closer to God."

Apparently, in its attempt to accommodate toxic religion, and even their client's misunderstanding of God, faith, and sexuality, the APA affirms that it might be OK to suppress these primal needs in spite of the fact that any attempt to "change could be harmful, inducing depression and suicidal tendencies."

This seeming attempt to accommodate those religious true believers who see a contradiction between sexuality and religiosity just goes to show how toxic religion has impacted our culture, even impacting behavioral and social scientists who should know better than to make such an accommodation.

The Chair of the APA's task force stated the veritably inconceivable as a presumed attempt to accommodate fundamentalists and other misdirected people: "But we have to acknowledge that, for some people, religious identity is such an important part of their lives, it may transcend everything else."

Rather than confront the destructive lie that "religious identity" and "sexuality" are not inconsistent with each other, save for those whom God gifted with the call to celibacy, the APA allows toxic religion to rear its ugly head in the name of "mental health." I'll never know why they wouldn't confront this destructive lie by redirecting their client to, or working in tandem with, a credible clergy person who could help their client see that being Gay is consistent with God's will for that person's life; being Gay is certainly not a sin!

The "client still believes that affirming his same-sex attractions would be sinful or destructive to his faith" because he has been taught that lie!

What kind of "faith" is it that in order to claim one of God's gifts to us, God's grace, we have to relinquish another one of God's gifts to us, our sexuality?

It is incumbent upon all clinicians and clergy to affirm God's Gay children as having been gifted with their sexuality and the capacity to love, the latter of which is tragically missing in many self-professed "Christians."

And it is not the clinician's business to help his or her client accommodate to any warped view of faith or to the toxic religion that teaches that warped view!

Indeed, the client, LGBT people, and Straight people must learn that the attempt to deny what God has made shows a decided lack of faith, a faith without which it is impossible to please God! (Hebrews 11:6)

NATIONAL EQUALITY MARCH, OCTOBER 10TH AND 11TH, 2009

Here is a video of a rousing speech given in Utah by Cleve Jones demanding full and equal civil rights for LGBT people and announcing the March on Washington that is to be held on October 10th and 11th.


This march will likely have little impact on Obama and on other politicians at this time, for the simple reason that most of those who are not in favor of equal rights for LGBT people have yet to see what political mileage and career enhancements can come from people who they think make up a relatively small part of their constituency, except in a relatively few selected jurisdictions in this country.

The major impact that this march is likely to have will be to generate enthusiasm to demand equal rights; enable latent anger to become manifest both to others and to oneself; reinforce the need to demand equal rights across the board, without settling for any incremental steps, the indignity of having one's civil rights voted upon by the electorate, or settling for empty rhetoric from some smiling politician who counts on his charisma and charm to override his having to do anything to deliver on his empty promises.

Obama cannot be counted on to deliver on his cynical rhetoric for the simple reason that I feel that he is homophobic as well as having a narcissistic personality that enables him to say one thing and do the very opposite without his seeming to have any hint of guilt, or perhaps even of his seeing any contradiction between his words and his deeds.

To him, it seems, just looking good and saying what he perceives people want to hear, transcend what values he has if, indeed, he holds any core values that he uses as a compass with which to navigate his behavior and decisions regarding the welfare of others.

Moreover, I think his extreme narcissism enables him to also transcend any contradiction between his words and his deeds because he may well be oblivious to such contradiction; if that contradiction is pointed out to him, his narcissism is likely to override what would be very embarrassing to an average person.

His homophobia that makes a mockery of his public rhetoric regarding LGBT people is abundantly evident, from his being against same-sex marriage, aligning himself with Donnie McClurkin and Mary Mary during part of his campaign, having homophobic Rick Warren give the inaugural prayer, allowing highly decorated military personnel such as Lt. Dan Choi and Lt. Col. Fehrenbach to be discharged under DADT under his watch, aggressively defending DOMA under his watch, and also pressuring Rep. Alcee Hastings to withdraw his Amendment to not fund DADT.

Rep. Alcee Hastings was interviewed by Rachel Maddow, and this interview is instructive as to Obama's level of commitment to living up to his lofty, though patently empty, rhetoric to LGBT people:


It seems that the National Equality March is coming at an appropriate time!

LESSONS FROM AN INTERVIEW WITH EXODUS INTERNATIONAL'S PRESIDENT ALAN CHAMBERS

The President of Exodus International, Alan Chambers, recently published a book entitled, "Leaving Homosexuality," and the interview he gave regarding his "leaving homosexuality" is instructive.

Alan Chambers said: For so long I’ve heard gay activists say to me, “You’re just in denial. You’re not grasping the reality of the situation. You’re just denying who you really are.” The truth is, I am in denial, but it is self-denial. I’m not in denial of who I used to be. I’m not in denial of the temptations that I could still experience. I am denying the power that sin has over me.

Sin does not have any power that we don’t give it, and what I’ve found is that my freedom – and the freedom of others I’ve known who’ve left homosexuality -- was centered around denying what might come naturally to us regardless of how it got there. And once you deny sin’s power, you can live a free life.

The most authentic part of my life is first and foremost my relationship with Christ, but sitting here where I’m doing this interview in my back yard -- with my kids and with my wife -- this is who I am. This is who I want to be. This is the truth of my life. This is who I was created to be. And this is what brings me happiness.

[For the full interview, see here.]

Moreover, in his April 20th blog post he wrote the following:

I'm a follower of Christ and believe every word of the Bible is true and infallible....[I say] to the gay community: it is my great hope that we as a Christian church will give you no more reasons to justifiably doubt God's love for you. I am sorry for the times when I have contributed to that.

Jesus does tell us to deny ourselves and pick up our respective crosses and follow Him! However, to view same-sex love as a "cross" is merely internalizing the oppressor's mind-set, rhetoric, and presumed values rather than seeing same-sex love as one of God's many gifts!

Chambers says that he believes that "every word in the Bible is true and infallible," and that statement is both specious and tautological (Not even the Bible makes that claim for itself!); he presumes that his interpretation of the Bible is the only possible one; he presumes that his exegeses of certain biblical passages are true, undoubtedly because homophobic clergy have been interpreting those passages for him, and he has internalized their erroneous views of both the Bible and of those passages.

He seems to have allowed Gay people's oppressors to create an identity for him that is divorced from his "temptations" and "denying what might come naturally" to him, and replacing them "with my kids and with my wife." About the latter he alleges: "this is who I am. This is who I want to be. This is the truth of my life. This is who I was created to be. And this is what brings me happiness."

By creating an identity consistent with what he undoubtedly feels is the world-view of most of the secular world, and with the world-view of most of the institutional Church (and certainly of virtually all of the fundamentalist wing of the institutional Church with which he seems to identify), his manufactured identity and place in life "brings me happiness," not necessarily because he is living in accordance with his true identity as a gay man, but because he is conforming to both the expectations of most people in society and with the professing Christians with whom he identifies--those who believe that "every word in the Bible is true and infallible"; living as a Gay man or woman is a sin. Hence, he has made himself believe that he was "created to be" something that does not come naturally to him, as he himself says that he is daily struggling with his perceived need for "self-denial" in this crucial area of his life.

He feels that he has "left homosexuality" because he is now married and has children! However, Jesus says that one's true identity is based on one's thoughts and not merely on how one acts! (Matthew 5:21-22; 27-28) Indeed, Proverbs 23: states: "For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he...." Chambers, along with many others, seems to feel that being Gay is what you do! However, being Gay is what one is!

Chambers or anyone else can be heterosexually married and have numerous children and yet still be Gay, because that's how God created them, and no amount of self-denial or, more accurately in this area, self-torture, can or should change that fact.

It doesn't seem to appear to Chambers and others in or out of the "ex-gay" movement that by seeking to deny this emotional/sexual primal part of their very selves, their souls, that they are throwing one of God's precious gifts back in God's face, and that they are preventing themselves from living "abundant" lives that Jesus promises His disciples so that they can fulfill the ministries that God has given each of them to do.

By viewing as an axiom that living as a gay man or woman is a sin, Chambers sets himself and many other Gay people up for seeing their sexual orientation and the thoughts, "temptations," behaviors, and relationships that go along with that sexual orientation as being inherently sinful! He doesn't seem to ask himself why God would create Gay people if God didn't approve of Gay people and their faithful relationships in the first place?

He seems to feel that the Bible condemns as sinful one's living life as a gay man or woman, which it clearly doesn't, despite repeated homophobic messages from assorted clergy and others who ignorantly think that one can "leave homosexuality"; tellingly, he omits consideration of the passage in Matthew 19:12 where Jesus is clearly talking about Gay people: "For there are some eunuchs, which were so born from their mother's womb...."

"Eunuchs" who are born that way are undoubtedly God's Gay children! I'm not surprised that Chambers and so many others who are fundamentalist professing Christians never refer to this verse, as their homophobic assumptions and commensurate reading of the Bible hide this important truth from them.

I have genuine compassion for the Alan Chambers' of the world!

And I have even greater compassion for all of God's Gay children who have been cruelly victimized by the mind-set that would in any way bear false witness against them!

AN EXCELLENT POST BY DON CHARLES: THE 2ND DUMB DORA AWARDS

My good friend, Don Charles, has a two-part post entitled, The 2nd Dumb Dora Awards on his excellent blog, Christ, The Gay Martyr that I urge you to read.

Part of his post reads as follows, and clearly deserves your attention and wide distribution:

Barely had I cleared away the streamers and confetti from my first Dumb Dora Awards celebration than new nominees started presenting themselves. "No!" I cried. "It's too soon! Shouldn't there be at least six months between awards ceremonies?" I resisted, but it soon became apparent to me that ignorance follows its own timetable.

Over and over again, I was astonished by routine displays of arrested intelligence among Gay activists. I saw idiocy on parade; buffooneries by the dozen; lunacy galore! There were clowns to the left of me and jokers to the right, each new one more embarrassing than the one that came before. Believe me, darlings, I was simply spoiled for choice!

Yet somehow, I did manage to choose, narrowing down ten winners from scores of finalists. Now here we are again, gathered together to honor the dishonorable; my eyes glisten with tears as I watch my presenters line up behind the imbecile's podium, holding the dreaded tin jackass statuettes. These tokens of contempt will all be in the hands of deserving recipients when this evening is over. Conductor, cue the orchestra; stagehands, draw back the curtain! Let the 2nd Dumb Dora Awards begin!


Don Charles characteristically pulls no punches in naming names and dealing forthrightly with "activists" who, in one way or the other, have capitulated to the mind-set of the oppressor!

At a time when the struggle for civil rights must be ratcheted up, such betrayal of LGBT rights that Don Charles points out must be highlighted and condemned!

Please click on this link to read Don Charles' full two-part post, and please alert those on your mailing list to read it and widely distribute it as well.

REPEAL OF DADT IS NOWHERE IN SIGHT

Please read this statement by Rep. Alcee Hastings (Florida) regarding DADT.

Part of this statement reads as follows:

“I introduced an amendment to H.R. 3326, now withdrawn, prohibiting the use of funds in this bill to investigate or discharge our dedicated service men and women on the grounds of ‘telling’ their sexual orientation. The Policy Concerning Homosexuality in the Armed Forces – commonly called ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ – provides that a service member can be separated from the Armed Forces for stating that he or she is a homosexual or bisexual. Due to pressure from some of my Congressional colleagues and from the White House, I have withdrawn my amendment. I would, however, like to note that it is most unfortunate that we are not addressing Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell at this time. We should not be appropriating funds to enable qualified service members to be booted out just because they are honest about whom they are.

Anyone who still thinks that Obama cares about full equality for Gay people, or even cares about removing DADT, is sorely mistaken. Too much of his duplicity in this matter has been revealed to have us believe that he can be trusted.

It would behoove those participating in the March on Washington, scheduled for October 11th, and those who participate in Pride Parades, to focus on both Obama's unfulfilled promises and empty rhetoric, as well as demand full and equal rights befitting any and all citizens in the United States.

It is inconceivable that votes must be taken by Congress and by the electorate to determine what civil rights to which LGBT people are entitled and to which they are not entitled in our country where all citizens are guaranteed equal protection under the law as stated in our Constitution. Obama has the Bully Pulpit in this matter, and he refuses to use it, which seems to me that he doesn't give a damn about equal rights for Gay people.

In this connection, further redundant discussions regarding DADT are due to occur. Here is Sen. Kristen Gillibrand (New York) talking about the politically expedient strategy that is felt to be needed in order to rescind DADT:

SOME THOUGHTS ON OBAMA

I think Obama is an angry man who seeks to be a people pleaser as well as being politically correct that goes along with being a people pleaser. These two characteristics are in conflict within him: being a people pleaser and politically correct that are in conflict with his deep seated anger, resulting in his masochistic self-sabotage.

Hence, the winning smile on the one hand and inviting Rick Warren to give the invocation on the other hand. He perversely knew on some level that there were other less controversial people he could have chosen to give the invocation, but he chose Warren at a time when he told Gay people that he was for their equality.

I think deep down he's a masochist who is manifesting that anger both toward himself and toward others who could be his allies. So, he sabotages Gay people with DADT and his Justice Department's legal brief on DOMA; he gets flack for what Rev. Jeremiah Wright preached so he dissociates himself from his friend and mentor of 20 years; he says he wants to remove troops from Iraq, and not only doesn't he do that but increases troop strength in Afghanistan in a war that we can't possibly win; he talks about "change" and continues to bankrupt this country, assuring rampant inflation, devaluation of the Dollar, risking the Dollar not being reserve currency anymore, etc.

He's one angry man, and that anger is manifested both internally and externally, and will eventually destroy him and his presidency, as well as do irreparable harm to this country.

Now, this anger manifests itself in his masochism by commenting on a situation about which he knows nothing, the Henry Louis Gates incident, which also sabotages himself.

Self-sabotage seems to be part of his life-script, and is, unfortunately, affecting virtually every American, particularly those who placed their hopes in him and in his empty rhetoric.

PORNOGRAPHY, SEXUAL COMPLEXITY, AND HOMOPHOBIA

...the fact is, millions of women use and enjoy "explicit sexual imagery."

What's perhaps more surprising, given the latest scientific research, is that more of us don't.

In the first three months of 2007, according to Nielsen/NetRatings, approximately one in three visitors to adult entertainment Web sites was female; during the same period, nearly 13 million American women were checking out porn online at least once each month.

Theresa Flynt, vice president of marketing for Hustler video, says that women account for 56 percent of business at her company's video stores. "And the female audience is increasing," she adds. "Women are buying more porn." (They're creating more of it, too: Female director Candida Royalle's hard-core erotic videos, made expressly for women viewers, sell at the rate of approximately 10,000 copies a month.)

Meanwhile, science is finally buying into the idea that women are at least as stimulated by porn as men.

In a 2006 study at McGill University, researchers monitored genital temperature changes to measure sexual arousal and found that, when shown porn clips, men and women alike began displaying arousal within 30 seconds; men reached maximum arousal in about 11 minutes, women in about 12 (a statistically negligible difference, according to the study).

Even more compelling were the results of a 2004 study at Northwestern University that also assessed the effect of porn on genital arousal. Mind you, a copy of "Buffy the Vampire Layer" and a lubed-up feedback device isn't most girls' idea of a hot night in. But when the researchers showed gay, lesbian, and straight porn to heterosexual and homosexual women and men, they found that while the men responded more intensely to porn that mirrored their particular gender orientation, the women tended to like it all. Or at least their bodies did.

[For the full article, see here.]

It might seem strange to some of you that a Christian would be writing anything about porn, save to blindly and blankly condemn its existence.

Actually, porn can serve very vital functions! (I remember reading many years ago that the definition of a pornographic book is a book that you read with one hand.) Indeed, as this article points out, many women also enjoy porn which was hitherto blindly thought by many to be largely within the province of men to enjoy.

Porn can give one new ideas regarding sexual expression with one's partner; it can stimulate a couple to engage in sexual activity during or after watching it; it can be sexually pleasurable by the mere watching of it for pleasure's sake; it can help defuse one's pent up sexual energy with or without culminating in orgasm.

Interestingly, there is one significant aspect of most porn that this cited article ceases to point out: in most porn flicks sex is seen as a largely mechanical enterprise devoid of emotional feeling, attachment, or commitment to another person!

This separation of "sex" from "emotional attachment or commitment" in most pornography is a fact that can be very instructive.

That is not to say that porn is necessarily "bad" or "dangerous," but it is to say that most porn as currently exists must be seen as being restricted to sexuality in and of itself, rather than it usually including emotional attachment or commitment.

As with Straight people, many Gay people separate sexuality from emotional attachment or commitment, as does most porn. Yet, what makes us "Gay" or "Straight" is not restricted to our "sexual preference" as those labels encompass our "emotional preference" as well.

And it's that combination of sexual preference or orientation with our emotional preference or orientation that determines what box we choose (and others choose) to place us.

There is such a phenomenon as sexual attraction without emotional attraction, and vice versa, and it is this very discordance that helps make sexuality such a complex matter.

Most homophobes seem to define "Gay" in merely sexual terms, whereas "Gay" like "Straight" must be seen in the combination of emotional and sexual components in one's very being.

Unfortunately, some Straight and Gay people identify themselves as "Straight" or "Gay" because of their sexual preference or orientation, even if that preference or orientation is not in line with their emotional preference or orientation. Hence, some people (And I'm not referring to Bisexuals, who can emotionally and sexually relate to both sexes.) who identify themselves as "Straight" or "Gay" may questionably do so because of the former orientation even if they lack the latter orientation.

Hence, some of the complexity of sexuality, and the difficulty, if not downright error, of placing people in nice, neat boxes or categories, when the realities of sexuality are so much more multifaceted and complex.

It is largely because of this complexity that some self-identified "Straight" people occasionally seek out furtive sexual activity with people of their own sex; some "Gay" people occasionally seek out sexual activity with people of the opposite sex, sometimes to the point of them even marrying a member of the opposite sex. (This latter phenomenon is, of course, largely aided and abetted by the culture's emphasis on heteronormativity.)

Also, the above cited article is suggestive that some self-identified Straight people (most likely women) may occasionally have same-sex sexual fantasies to stimulate them into having sexual relations with a person of the opposite sex to whom they have an emotional attraction; some self-identified Gay people (most likely women) may occasionally have opposite-sex sexual fantasies when engaging in sexual relations with a person of the same sex to whom they have an emotional attraction.

This phenomenon may well also affect some men and, therefore, given these complexities, a Ted Haggard or a Larry Craig can and may honestly feel that he is "Straight" when he engages in same-sex relations; many self-identified Straight people can be rabidly homophobic because there is a part of them that is "Gay" and they unconsciously and/or consciously repress and/or suppress that part of themselves by verbally and/or even physically attacking Gay people in order to relieve their own sexual insecurities and anxieties.

It may be that the nature of pornography can be seen to stimulate a great field for analysis of some of the complexities of sexuality, and that the nice, neat boxes in which we seek to place ourselves and others are in many cases designed to make us feel more comfortable, but may well be useless, if not downright dangerous, constructs.

And much homophobia can be attributed to both the complexity of sexuality, to the need for social acceptance, and to the futile quest for certainty in life by those who can't tolerate ambiguity in life and in their own psyches.

AN ARTICLE BY DAN AGIN: BIGOTRY AND RACISM IN AMERICA: WHAT HARVEY LEFT US

This is a provocative article that I urge you to read.

It begins as follows:

Grandchildren are prone to think of the lives of their grandparents as ancient history, a collection of sentimental anecdotes of no use in deciding what slogan to put on your tee-shirt. But history is history, it's our history, and before we argue about the way things should be it's wise to understand the way things were and how we got to where we are now. After watching elected representatives of Alabama and South Carolina badger an Hispanic woman who has more gumption, class, and intelligence in one of her little fingers than they have in their whole heads, I started thinking about Harvey Cushing, the great neurosurgeon at Harvard who did so much to poison us with his bigotry and racism, it's a wonder we're still here.

My good friend, Don Charles, called this article to my attention, and I wrote him the following response in this slightly edited email:

The author states, "We have so much diversity in America, it can hardly be cataloged. And yet of all advanced countries in the world, we excel in tribal hatreds that apparently seep everywhere in the American psyche."

"Tribal hatreds" seeped into the American psyche largely because of perverted "Christianity," and unbridled capitalism that is extolled as a virtue by Social Darwinism (Survival of the fittest.) that has taken root in this country and in almost every American's psyche!

When we have professing Christians arguing against universal health care; clergy preaching hate and discrimination against LGBT people; capitalists who profit from socialism when it suits their greedy interests, yet condemn socialism when there is an attempt to use it to help the poor (As we see in reference to universal health care.), we can see that the rot within America, and the typical American's psyche, is less "personal" than it is "structural," aided and abetted by many clergy and by politicians who are in the pockets of those capitalists, and rely on them to keep their careers and that money rolling in.

The power structure has a vested interest in having people think in "personal" rather than in "structural" terms! So, for example, we are told that voting is essential to having a democracy, rather than highlighting, questioning, and changing the very nature of the existing political process in America where we now have a series of pathetic choices from which to select, so that many of us choose who we consider to be the lesser of two evils, rather than confidently choosing someone of whom we can be justifiably proud and who we feel can best fulfill the high office for which he or she is seeking election.

Moreover, many clergy and other professing Christians have also internalized the perceived virtue of Social Darwinism to the degree that they have aligned themselves with reactionary politics that are symmetrical with capitalist interests and, therefore, they see no inconsistency between the Gospel of Christ and their extolling as virtues: Americanism, jingoism, capitalism, and militarism.

This perversion of Christianity has enabled them to feel no guilt when they demonize others and when they advocate principles and actions that are explicitly contrary to Jesus' teachings!

Whether or not "we excel in tribal hatreds" compared with the rest of the world, I do not know. When we see such institutional and personal hatreds toward LGBT people, or even those perceived to be LGBT, in Jamaica, it is hard to quantify evil and fathom the roots of such evil, regardless of where it exists.

However, we can see that in both the United States as in Jamaica, perverted Christianity is seen as a root cause, if not the major root cause, of this evil and its perpetuation!

The following excerpt, although directed to Jamaica, could just as easily be attributed to religious conditions in most of the institutionalized Church in the United States:

Many in this highly Christian nation perceive homosexuality as a sin, and insist violence against gays is blown out of proportion by gay activists. Some say Jamaica tolerates homosexuality as long as it is not advertised - a tropical version of former President Bill Clinton's "don't ask, don't tell" policy for the U.S. military.

Jamaica's most prominent evangelical pastor, Bishop Herro Blair, said he sympathizes with those who face intolerance, but that homosexuals themselves are actually behind most of the attacks reported against them.

"Among themselves, homosexuals are extremely jealous," said Blair during a recent interview. "But some of them do cause a reaction by their own behaviors, for, in many people's opinions, homosexuality is distasteful."

Other church leaders have accused gays of flaunting their behavior to "recruit" youngsters, or called for them to undergo "redemptive work" to break free of their sexual orientation.

[For the full article, see here.]

Sound familiar?

Christians who are Christians in fact must stand up and confront the perversion of Christianity visited upon the larger society by ignorant and/or mendacious clergy and their followers, resulting in (among other things) the sinful treatment of LGBT people; bearing false witness against them; defaming them; denying them full and equal civil rights; providing phony "religious" justifications for consigning them to pariah status within any society by downright lies and biblical distortions!

Failure to do so has been, and continues to be, a tragic indictment of the state of most of the institutional Church and its representatives and functionaries!

Jesus has His own indictment of the professing Christian legalists who seek to place yokes of bondage onto others, those who would in any way harm, or in any way be complicit in doing harm, to any of His children, be they Gay or Straight:

Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whit