Thursday, May 14, 2009

HATE AND DISCRIMINATION ARE NOT USUALLY RESTRICTED TO ONE MINORITY GROUP

Fred Phelps and his group of haters are toothless tigers who aren't worth mentioning, so I'm not even going to mention them, save to use them as but one example of the well known Social Psychological finding that when anyone discriminates against a given minority group, he/she usually discriminates against one or more other minority groups as well.

After years of focusing on gays and lesbians with its protests, the Westboro Baptist Church has a new target — the Jewish community.

The Topeka, Kan.-based church, which features the slogan “God Hates Fags,” protested at three Jewish sites here last Friday afternoon. The protests are part of a series of upcoming rallies that will bring members of the church to Jewish community institutions in Omaha, St. Louis, South Florida and Providence in the next few weeks, according to the church’s Web site and fliers the group is distributing that list scheduled protests and proclaim “Jews Killed the Lord Jesus.”


[For the full article, see here.]

So, most people who discriminate against Gay people are also likely to discriminate against one or more other minority groups, such as Jews, African Americans, immigrants, etc.

Therefore, it is not only hypocritical but self-defeating for any person in a minority group to discriminate against any other minority group, for to do so aligns him/herself with those who at the drop of a hat can, and likely will, turn around and discriminate against him/her! So, it's pathetic when an African American minister, Gregory Daniels, states: "If the KKK opposes gay marriage, I would ride with them." [See here.]

One wonders Daniels' mind-set regarding this bigotry when, after this infamous statement of his, "he did get a provocative letter, he concedes, from a black woman. 'What do you think they gonna do to you,' she asked, 'after the ride?'" [See here.] She understood the dynamics behind bigotry, particularly bigotry that entails aligning oneself with one's own enemies!

Make no mistake: those at the forefront of homophobia are no different than were and are the White Supremacists in the U.S.! They are also likely to have contempt for one or more other minority groups, and one plays the fool if he/she is a member of any minority group who discriminates against, or advocates discrimination against, Gay people, or any other minority group for that matter!

Anyone who discriminates against LGBT people just has to wait a little while before his/her advocacy of such discrimination comes back to bite him/her in the rear end in the form of former "allies" becoming his/her arch enemies in order to express the hatred that lies in their hearts!

Unfortunately, minority group members who advocate discrimination against Gay people, such as fighting against same-sex marriage, are chumps who are aligning themselves with those who are merely using them for their own hateful purposes, and once they perceive that they can no longer gain traction or mileage out of discriminating against Gay people, will likely turn around and express their venom against their former allies, and/or another minority group whom they feel it is safe to persecute.

As it says in the above cited article, "..even hard-line anti-gay groups are embarrassed by Phelps’ church." And rightly so, because Phelps and his "church" verbally and physically express the same hateful animus that resides in the hearts of many of the oppressors of LGBT people.

That's why many "hard-line anti-gay groups" are embarrassed by Phelps! He honestly expresses the venom, the hatefulness, t the ugly side of what resides in the hearts of most strident homophobes who couch their hatred in the form of sanctimony, of unctuous rhetoric, and of religious trappings for the purposes of lending seeming legitimacy to rhetoric and actions that run directly counter to both rationality as well as to Jesus' life and teachings.

The homophobes are not embarrassed by their own hatred and its tragic and destructive consequences! They are embarrassed because Phelps expresses that hatred in its naked form for the whole world to see!

The homophobes are not embarrassed because they spew hateful rhetoric and encourage deprivation of civil rights regarding Gay people that is diametrically opposed to Jesus' Commandment to us to love and not judge others!

They are embarrassed because Phelps puts the same hateful animus that they possess up front for the whole world to see and, thereby, shows forth the lie that seeks to feebly show that these homophobes mean well but are merely trying to "preserve traditional marriage," as well as also putting the lie to any number of other specious justifications for the expression of their homophobic (and likely other) hatred in the name of God.

So, particularly if you are a member of a minority group who seeks to deprive Gay people of any civil right, just recognize that you are aligning yourself with those who at a moment's notice can and will likely turn on you, and who would almost certainly not want you associating with their family.

And, by so aligning yourself, you are a chump!

I hope W.C. Fields was wrong when he said, "You can't smarten up a chump!"

But I'm not sure he was wrong in his assessment when we apply it to so many chumps who seek to deprive others of full and equal civil rights that they, themselves, enjoy, particularly when they and their ancestors were (and, to some degree, still are) victimized and oppressed by the very same kind of people, with the very same mind-set, with whom they are now aligning themselves to oppress others.
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10 comments:

Leonard said...

Thank you for a illuminating update on the ¨Haters¨...I´ve been covering them myself for quite a while and your additional and BREAKING HATE is very helpful to me as I sort out the mind of the shifty, the insecure and disturbed hate/fear-monger.

I´ve used your information extensively today and cross linked and quoted endlessly...hope it´s all ok, you´ve been a great gentleman and wonderful source and I thank you again!

Jerry Maneker said...

Thank you so much, Leonardo. What you wrote means a great deal to me, and I'm very appreciative. Please feel free to use my posts and other writings in any way you see fit.

Educating the ignorant and driving the haters back under the rocks from which they came is what the struggle for LGBT rights in large part entails. My very best wishes, Jerry.

Cany said...

Thanks, Leonardo, for the link here.

Rev., I have been saying this for years!

When I left college years ago, we were in a recession and getting a job in my field was impossible. Finally, I went to a construction trailer and asked for work. After they got done laughing, they hired me. I was the first woman to ever work for the company outside of the office. I was a drywall taper.

It has been many years now, and thus I don't remember his name, but there was an African American man who drove the planking to all their jobs. Every day he would come and annoy me, asking why I wasn't home taking care of my kids ("babies" was actually the word he used).

Finally, I had had enough and delivered a fire and brimstone lecture about how we had to stick together because few liked his color, and few liked my gender...

He chuckled, told me to come down from the scaffolding and say that... I did... and he offered me a coke! No kidding! Every day from then on, he'd come at lunch time and eat with me.

I think he got it!

Jerry Maneker said...

Hi Cany: Thanks to you, he got it! It's so important to have people realize that when they in any way discriminate against a minority group they are setting themselves up to be discriminated against sometime in the future. As you know, this is not rocket science: when anyone's civil rights are in any way abridged, all of our civil rights are up for grabs. Best wishes, Jerry.

genevieve said...

Great post, Cany. A heart was changed because you stood up for what you believed in.

Jerry, you're absolutely right about bigotry come back to bite the tormentor. Seen it happen many times. I'll say one thing about Phelps: at least he's honest and open about his bigotry. With him you know where you stand.

Jerry Maneker said...

Hi Genevieve: Transparent haters are far easier to deal with than those who either couch their hate in sanctimonious rhetoric, claiming to hate in the name of God, or those professing "Christians" who remain silent in the face of the oppression of others. Best wishes, Jerry.

Buffy said...

Very well stated. Bravo!

Jerry Maneker said...

Thanks Buffy. Best wishes, Jerry.

Vanessa said...

A very good point. If we discriminate against someone else because of their difference then we make it okay to discriminate because we're different. It's self defeating, and shameful for people who have experienced discrimination to act this way.

Jerry Maneker said...

Amen, Vanessa! Take care, Jerry.