Gay Students Beware
Just found out that Grove City College, the home of the wonderfully anti-gay , Warren Throckmorton (he'll say he's just pro ex-gay I'm sure), is the
5th worst school in the nation for gay students. That's according to the Princeton Review. Gee, does having a professor with such a hostility to gays have anything to do with that?
Also on the list, my home state's very own Baylor University and football power house--err, they used to be good, give me a break--Notre Dame.
Concert Cancelled
My favorite band, Streetlight Manifesto, was supposed be in town on Wednesday. I had been looking forward to this concert since I saw that they had planned another tour (maybe even before then).
I was going with two friends and my boyfriend. We were all looking forward to listening to some really loud, really energetic punk rock music (well I was at least). But, we get there and the place is empty and the door is completely locked up.
It turns out the place hadn't opened since the hurricane. But, neither the club nor the band had anything on their websites mentioning the show was cancelled. So, I was bummed. And, I'm still bummed. They're not going back on tour until next year. Yuck. Stupid club.
All Gays Have Been Abused? News to Me...
A doozie of a quote from Melissa Fryear at the Exodus "Love Won Out" Conference from the
Agape Press. It goes like this, "Having talked with hundreds of homosexuals, I have never met one that had not been sexually violated in his or her life.”
Really? She's never met a single gay person in her life (out of hundreds) that was not sexually violated? I guess the only reason she can even pretend to believe this is if she has some sort of imaginary definition for what being sexually violated means (i.e. any man that has had sexual contact with another man has been violated). To say that you've never met a gay person that has been violated sexually sounds so incredulous I can't believe it was even reprinted.
I think I' m going to look her up and try to meet her so she can meet one gay person who has not been violated before. How's that sound?
Former Exodus President Joe Dallas later said people should respond to gay activisists' misinformation with truth. Maybe he should confront Melissa Fryear with some truth too. Even if she has somehow managed to beat the odds and never meet a non-abused gay person, he could at least tell her that they exist. Her implication that they don't exist is pretty clear.
But then I realize he won't do it because he comes back with this loving, Christianly quote of his own, "And if the church allows that sociopathic, homosexuality-affirming culture's increasing self-destructiveness to proceed unchallenged to its logical, morbid conclusions, Dallas contends, “God will require the blood of the state at the hands of his visible representation, who allowed itself to be intimidated into silence.”
You know what, this really doesn't sound like "loving the sinner but hating the sin." Blaming a group of people--gays in this case--for the end of the world, and calling general society sociopathic for accepting gays sounds like a lot of hating gays in general, not any sort of sin they may or may not commit. I wonder if he calls himself sociopathic for his own sins.
Texas Amendment (Again)
Expect this topic to come up more and more on my blog as the election date grows near. As I was going through my WORK email today, I got this absurd one from some person I don't even know. I get lots of emails from people I don't know since I hire for my company, but for someone to take the time to just blanket emails to people she doesn't know with this type of garbage really aggravates me. I told her I didn't want to receive any more emails from her (so maybe I didn't say it that nicely, but people should know that there are gays and gay allies out there).
Here's the email:
Don't forget to vote! Get the word out.
Subject: FW: November Election Day - Please vote and encourage othersDate: Tue, 27 Sep 2005 09:25:35 -0500
One of our Atonement members gave me a memo from the office of the Texas Secretary of State. The memo indicates that three proposed constitutional amendments will appear on the November election ballot.
The memo states: "HJR 6 would provide that marriage in Texas is solely the union of a man and woman, and that the state and its political subdivisions could not create or recognize any legal status identical to or similar to marriage, including such legal status relationships created outside of Texas.
"The proposed amendment will appear on the ballot as follows: 'The constitutional amendment providing that marriage in this state consists only of the union of one man and one woman and prohibiting this state or a political subdivision of this state from creating or recognizing any legal status identical or similar to marriage.'"
Voter turnout in non-presidential election years is usually low. This proposed constitutional amendment needs to be passed because we are living in a society today that has an immoral minority that wants to erode the institution of marriage and family by changing the definition of what God established as a man/woman only relationship.
Your vote in favor of this state amendment will support the biblical definition of marriage.
I would hope that voter turnout in favor of this amendment is extremely high because that will send a message to the citizens of every state that there is a large group of people in Texas who still believe that what the Bible tells us about marriage as a man/woman only relationship is true and that we are going to be heard from when the truth of God's Word and marriage are under attack.
In Christ,
Pastor G
----------------------------
I'm not sure who Pastor G is, but I take personal offense when someone calls gay people a minority of immoral people.
Also, last night I called my mom to ask if she was registered to vote (the registration deadline ends October 11th) and as soon as I asked she told me she knew why I was asking because someone in her church had emailed the entire church plus some Mom/Daugther group she is in asking them to vote in favor of this amendment (the anti-gay side). She said she rattled off a few emails back and forth to him expressing her serious discontent with his email. I'm very proud of her. She's also supposed to forward me her response so I can give her tips on how to better argue the case. Go mom!
Runnin' From Rita
Ok, this will probably be my last post about Hurricane Rita. But, my friend Tricia sent me a great email about her 40 hour ordeal, and I couldn't help but repost it here (don't worry, I asked first). This is a long read, but it is well worth it, so read it!
Here goes:
When all you need is gas in an attempt to outrun a hurricane and it's only by luck and good timing that the sweet salvation comes your way, how can I ever complain about what I pay for a full tank ever. I've now told this story about a kajillion times, but I wanted to write it out and let everyone know that I am safe, albeit a little road weary, and at my parents' house in Tulsa after a harrowing journey that took me 5 times as long as it usually does to make it here. The following is a detailed account of my 41 hour ordeal, so get ready for some serious exposition:
Our story begins Wednesday night after it's reported that Rita's been upgraded to category 5 status and the "cone of uncertainty" puts Houston in a very dangerous part of her wake. I've made the decision to flee and have turned on the news in order to get some information on road conditions and what to expect during the evacuation process. They tell me that traffic out of town is completely gridlocked one very major artery (one of many words/phrases that is permanently embedded in my vernacular now) out of Houston, most specifically I-45, the typical way I take to get to Oklahoma. I'm told that it's expected to thin out as the night progresses and by early morning it should be much better, so I set my alarm for 4am and get some rest. First bad idea. I wake up, turn on the news and not only have things not let up it's worse. I decide to try my luck and start down the road a couple hours later. Since the majority of reports were concentrating on the congestion of 45 I make the decision to take 59. Second mistake. A false sense of security sets in on my first 15 minutes of driving as I fly past downtown and get north of loop 610 heading toward the outskirts of town. It's half-way to the Beltway that this security comes crashing down. Complete bumper-to-bumper. My only source of news is the radio DJs and callers who all tell me that once I clear the 'burbs everything should be okay. It becomes clear that this might not be the case after nine hours when I've only made it to the International Airport exit, normally a 40 minute drive. It's around this time when I get off the road in order to "evacuate" in a semi-wooded area. Let me just say at this juncture how I am so not a camper, a.k.a. anyone who can handle doing things in the wild, particularly relieving themselves. This is not the only time it happens along the way. I have a whole new perspective on being one with nature.
I get back on the road and soldier on. I arrive in Kingwood (the 'burbs) about two hours later (only 5 miles from where I had stopped earlier) when I decide to search for gas. It is a futile search as I find not a one station with any to spare. There had been reports the previous day of Houston stations running out, but nothing had been said about this problem in outlying areas. Luckily I had filled up my car on Sunday so I wasn't super-worried at this time, but still a little stressed that this will be a trend the further north I travel. I'm not wrong. Back on 59 I continue at a snail's pace. Every town I pass through has throngs of people in the desperate search for gas. It's honestly like scenes from some end of the world-type movie. Cars broken down on the side of the road, people milling around looking dazed, trash strewn everywhere and blowing in the wind. I wish I had the foresight to take out my camera to document these images, but alas the anxiety clouded my mind.
It's now 2am, I've been on the road 20 hours. I'm at an 1/8 of a tank with no false hope that officials will be opening the "contra-flow lanes" for 59 and I've made it about 65 miles north of Houston, no where near enough space between me and Rita now reported to have her eye fixed on Galveston and moving 13 miles an hour. Hmm, I'm moving around 3 miles an hour, how exactly am I supposed to get out of harm's way in time? I actually didn't do the math then and it's a good thing since there would have been a serious breakdown. So, I pull into a town called Livingston where I run in to the cops directing traffic who tell me that one station is expecting a shipment of gas early in the morning and that I should sit tight in the Super Wal-Mart parking lot across the way until it arrives. This lot is jam-packed, plus there's a line of at least 100 cars down the road waiting to pull into said station when the gas is ready. I settle in for the night and get a few hours sleep.
At dawn the tanker arrives and by 8am people start filling up. Since I haven't poised my car in line and decide that even if I had there wasa good chance nothing would be left. I see several people with canisters coming from the station and find that you could just walk up to a pump I make the bold decision to try it myself. I only had a one-gallon canister but that would give me one more than I had. I getin line to pre-pay my $2.69 and am told I have to choose a pump number right then and that the cashier will turn it on, but if someone else takes my place I'll lose my money. I tell him I'll use pump 9 which had someone filling up a canister, so the odds were better that I could get out there in time. However, miracle of miracles the older gentleman behind me says that it's his grandson at that pump and they will save my place when they're done. I get my gallon of gas, wish them well and head back to my car. While adding the gallon I'm approached by a lady who asks me about what I'd just done, how to do it, if it works etc etc. She doesn't have a container and since all the stores were boarded up and the gas station certainly didn't have any to speak of I decide to "pay it forward" and let her and her husband borrow my canister.
I'm on the road by 9am and it's completely clear, obviously since everyone in the area had to be waiting for gas. As I make it about a mile down the way I see an office for the Texas Department of Transportation with a line of about 30 cars. I stop to investigate, putting my car in line. I wait to talk to the ladies who, by the way, were amazingly nice and patient especially considering the inundation of calls and walk-ins they were receiving, I'm seriously thinking about sending everyone there a Christmas card. I'm told they're giving away 5 gallons of gas (free!) to anyone under ¼ of a tank. The heavens part and the angels sing. The only caveat was there'd be a wait since they had just run out and another tanker was just ordered. There was no way I was going to pass this up so I sit in the sweet air-conditioned office and utilize indoor facilities. Yet another miracle happens when I find an electrical outlet in the lobby which they tell me I can use to charge my phone. Did I mention that my phone had been dead since 8 the night before and I only have an electricc harger? I'm able to charge for about an hour when the line starts to move. Unfortunately this supply also runs out since they're also filling up mobile units helping people stranded along the highway. They order another which arrives about an hour later (via police escort, it's gotten that scary) and this time I'm able to get the five gallons.
On the road again at noon with half a tank, a working phone and my hope renewed I don't run into traffic until 2 miles outside a small town called Corrigan (at this point if you have a Texas road atlas and would like to follow along with "Tricia's Evacuation Journey from Hell" please feel free). My dad and I had worked out an alternate route for me to take rather than stay on 59 and Corrigan was where I was to take Hwy 287 northwest (a direction I was desperate to be heading since the latest reports had the center of Rita fixed on Beaumont and projected to move northeast, the exact path up 59) to Crockett. I'm a little panicky at this point since the wind had started to pick up and the skies were getting cloudy. I have a cry on the phone with my mom and am told that if it looks like my gas will run out my dad is already preparing to come meet me with enough gas for both of our cars to make it back home. I feel a little better and my outlook seems positive by 2:30pm when I'm through the latest batch of gridlock and finally off of 59.
The way is completely clear until I hit yet another small Texas town I'd never heard of but will now never forget called Groveton. Here I see what looks like off-duty officers were helping direct traffic and as I pass by (my windows down and air conditioning off to save gas mileage) a guy asks if I need gas. I can't say yes fast enough and he gives me directions on how to get in line. There are 25 or so cars in front of me, but it looks promising so I stay put. I finally pull upt o a pump and pre-pay my maximum allotted $30. It doesn't get any sweeter than when the auto-stop clicks at $27.65 (yes, I do remember the tiniest of details). It's now 3:30pm and my spirits are completely lifted with a full tank and open road. From here on there are no difficulties, I'm even feeling good enough to stop at a drive-through for real food, well as real as Taco Bell can get anyway, and even make a couple more stops to top off my tank at the behest of my dad.
Our story ends around 11:30 Friday night with me finally pulling in to my parents driveway feeling nothing but relief, well maybe some disgust over the two days worth of stink I've acquired. So, the final tally:
Time spent in the car: 41
Total price of gas pumped: $30.34
Outrunning a hurricane by the skin of my teeth: NEVER AGAIN!
Honestly I don't regret evacuating, but I will seriously never trust major highways in such desperate situations as this in the future, beit Texas or anywhere else. All I can be thankful for is the kindness of strangers, Rand McNally and my own stubborn resolve. Perhaps one day you'll see all of this played out in a Lifetime Original movie entitled "Running from Rita" penned by yours truly.
Texas (Anti)-Marriage Amendment
From Burnt Orange Report, I
learned that the Houston Chronicle is
supporting a no vote to Amendment 2 this November, which would make gay marriage illegal forever in the TX Constitution.
Glad to see that. I didn't really think they would have gone the other way, though. This Amendment is nothing more than pandering trash, and luckily they saw that.
I'd also like to point everyone to Jennifer's
shop opposing the Texas (Anti)-Marriage Amendment. Help out and buy something...
We've Heard it Before
I'm back in Houston, safe and sound. Thanks to all the prayers and well-wishes from everyone. Looks like Houston did very well.
On to the post. We've heard the story before, but it has popped up again. Kid has gay parents, Christian school "finds out" (how they didn't know in the first place is beyond me) and expels the kid. This one happened in Ontario, CA. Story from the
Star-Telegram (free registration required)
Just one question (ok, so maybe two or three). Do they expel kids whose parents lie? Divorced parents? You get the idea.
Rita Evacuation
So I underestimated how many people would be leaving last minute. So did many of my friends. It took my boyfriend and I 12.5 hours to drive to Austin (a drive that normally takes 2.5 hours). Ten of those hours were spent getting about 60 miles outside of Houston. Bumper to bumper traffic, no gas in sight, stranded vehicles everywhere. That was pretty much the story of the day yesterday.
Luckily I made it to Austin, though. Two of my friends were trying to drive north to Oklahoma. One ended up stranded and out of gas, and 22 hours later she is stuck in some small town north of Houston with nothing to do. Another one drove 21 hours only to make it to Huntsville, TX (normally a 1.5 hour drive). Her family has some money, and they are chartering a plane today at noon to get her out.
I'm astounded at what a bad job the local authorities are doing to help people get out. I realize there are a lot of people leaving all at once, but there were some noticeable problems.
Rather than running green constantly or the majority of the time, traffic lights out of Houston and into Austin ran at normal cycles, backing up traffic for dozens of miles and hundreds of cars. The freeway systems were supposed to have all lanes running out of town by 10am yesterday, but when I talked to my friend at 1am last night, the lanes into Houston were still completely empty. Add to that that the Houston officials asked people to use Hwy 290 out of town because they were going to make all lanes of the Hwy go north out of town. Several hours and hundreds of thousands of cars later, they changed their minds and left the cars mostly stranded.
Anyway, the good news now is that we are safe. I'm pretty sure my friends will be too. I hope the Houston roads get cleared soon. I'll update more as I can.
Rita
Hi everybody,
Up to this point, I thought Hurricane Rita would hit far south of us. But now it has moved and will be coming very very close to where I live--Houston. I'll be heading out Thursday evening after work--well before the storm but still after most of the people trying to evacuate. I've been calm up to this point, but I'm admittedly a bit scared now that the storm has moved so close to us. I pray that all goes ok. I hope you will too. This is a big one.
You're prayers and well wishes are apprecited.
I planned on blogging on other things, but I think this will do it for now.
Vote Against the Texas Gay Marriage Ban
As you may or may not know, Texans will be voting on a proposed Constitutional Ammendment to ban gay marriage this November. The good news is that this is a small election, with nothing big on the ballot to speak of. Apparently the people that track this type of stuff say they would be happy to get a 12% voter turnout. I say there is no excuse for not getting a 100% gay voter turnout on this one.
I'll be finding some way to work to get this thing killed.
Here's where you can go to help for yourself.
Being the pessimist that I am, I'm really scared by this, because I think we are going to lose bad, but I can always hope (ok, so I'm not really a pessimist, but this ain't looking too good, so help us!).
Robertson Statement is a Ho
A friend of mine recently sent me this article about uber-bigot Pat Robertson:
Hollywood - Pat Robertson on Sunday said that Hurricane Katrina was God's way of expressing its anger at the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences for its selection of Ellen Degeneres to host this year's Emmy Awards. "By choosing an avowed lesbian for this national event, these Hollywood elites have clearly invited God's wrath," Robertson said on "The 700 Club" on Sunday. "Is it any surprise that the Almighty chose to strike at Miss Degeneres' hometown?"
Robertson also noted that the last time Degeneres hosted the Emmys, in 2001, the September 11 terrorism attacks took place shortly before the ceremony.
"This is the second time in a row that God has invoked a disaster shortly before lesbian Ellen Degeneres hosted the Emmy Awards," Robertson explained to his approximately one million viewers. "America is waiting for her to apologize for the death and destruction that her sexual deviance has brought onto this great nation."
Robertson added that other tragedies of the past several years can be linked to Degeneres' growing national prominence. September, 2003, for example, is both the month that her talk show debuted and when insurgents first gained a foothold in Iraq following the successful March invasion. "Now we know why things took a turn for the worse," he explained.
In order to avoid further tragedy, Robertson called not only for the Television Academy to find a new heterosexual host, but to bar all homosexuals and bisexuals from taking part in the ceremony.
He said employees at the Christian Broadcasting Network had put together a list of 283 nominees, presenters, and invited guests at the Emmys known to be of sexually deviant persuasions.
"God already allows one awards show to promote the homosexual agenda," Robertson declared. "But clearly He will not tolerate such sinful behavior to spread beyond the Tonys."
When I read it, I was outraged; however, I thought it kind of strange that I hadn't read about it in the papers; on gay websites; heard it on Sirius OutQ or saw any mention of it on any of the right-wing websites I visit.
So, I did a GOOGLE search and found a lot of different websites carrying this story; all of these websites link back to Dateline: Hollywood (the site itself seems a bit satirical). I've even checked the archives of CNN, MSNBC and FOX, but found nothing.
Looks like ol' Pat is off the hook on this one. Damn.
Another Blog
I'd like to say hi to Jennifer, who commented here recently, and point everyone over to her blog,
INTOUS. Her post about Kenney Chesney and his "fraud" marriage really made me laugh. Plus, she's got some good takes on gay issues and the religious right. Go say hi.
Do You Have Multiple Partners?
I sure don't, but I'm sure some people do. And they have since biblical times, for those of us that are counting. Anyway, the reason I bring this up is that one of our genious Legislators in TX defended his support of the TX ammendment to ban gay marriages by asking another member about multiple partners. Nevermind the fact that we are talking about gay marriages and not polygamy. I got this from
PinkDome, so thanks to them.
Here's the deal--when your case is weak, just scare the public into voting your way. Honestly, this debate hasn't been about gay marriage ever, it's been about these make believe "chicken little" possibilities that might happen in some fantasy land. The plan is to bring up all kinds of nonsense like polygamy, the destruction of society, the end of the family as we know it, making more gay people, etc. Ignore that Mass. is still surviving fine even with gay marriages.
The funny thing is, as much as these folks won't admit it, all of these arguments were the exact same back when interracial marriage was an issue. Oopsie, let's just keep that quiet for now...
Gay Marriage Here to Stay!
So, it looks like marriage will be an option for gays in Massachusetts for years to come. The attempt to send a constitutional ammendment to voters that would ban gay marriage but allow civil unions
failed miserably this year. The bill has to pass the Legislature in two consecutive sessions before going to the voters, but it didn't even come close this time (even though it did eek through last time).
Even the Republicans in Mass. realize now that the sky hasn't fallen and it's not going to.
Now, if only I could get my home state of Texas to realize this. Unfortunately we are facing our own load of b.s.-- I mean proposed ammendment to ban gay marriage--in November, and it's not looking so good. If only people could see how absurd they really are being. Divorce? Sure. Common law marriage (living in sin)? No problem. Adultery? Why not. But God forbid two gay people in love be able to get married.
What to do, what to do... Well, at least we have something to celebrate for now.
Ex-Gay Richard Cohen to Appear on Howard Stern
A post on an ex-gay discussion board
claims Richard Cohen, an ex-gay "therapist" will appear on The Howard Stern Show on Thursday, 9/15 at 7:30am EST. I've been unable to verify this on either Howard Stern's website or Richard Cohen's website.
It's interesting to note that in the first line of the email that Richard apparently sent out to his distribution list, he refers to himself as "Crazy Cohen," especially considering some of the pretty
strange past that he has, including an arranged marriage, being expelled from the ACA, and a therapy that involves smashing a pillow with a tennis racket while calling it "Dad."
If anyone catches this show, please let me know your thoughts.
Gay and Christian, Can it Happen?
Over at JJ's blog, people are having a
discussion about whether one can be gay and Christian. The whole premise of JJ's blog really delves into that question, and I think nearly every gay person that has any faith has at one point in their lives struggled with this apparent contradiction. Ex-gay Nathan Sheets even comments that JJ just calling herself gay is a sin (the implication is that you can't even be a celibate gay person and be Christian). I'm glad to see JJ hold her ground on that one, especially seeing as how she is completely celibate and is only admitting that she has same sex attractions (honesty that is often not heard from many "ex-gays").
Some people have decided that Christianity does nothing more than cause heartache for gays, and others have decided that their Christian faith can't allow them to be gay, and they try hard to fight it, or even move beyond being gay to being ex-gay.
I'm sure you all know what my stance is by now. I think--I know--I can be Christian and be gay. I really did struggle with this for a long time. It's one of the main reasons I didn't come out until I was 23 or so. After years of fighting, I took a step back and tried to decide what was right and eventually came out--very, very slowly.
I know now that my salvation is not in jeopardy. I know that I can still be a Christian and be gay (no matter what some in the right wing will say). I realize my being gay does not say anything about my morals or ethics (someone please tell the rest of the world this because way too many people don't get this). And, I realize that my religion does not ostracize me (just certain confused members of it do). This is something that has taken me years to deal with, but I'm so much happier now than I ever was before. My only regret is that it took me so long to see the light. My life could have been so much easier and less stressful had I come to this realization earlier.
It's funny though, because so many gay people I know report similar experiences with having the weight lifted off of their shoulders when they came out. But, everything I read from the far right makes it sound like every gay person lives in some sort of a wasteland of humanity with no redeeming qualities.
I heard once that the devil's biggest achievement was homosexuality. Not because he had a group of gay people that were doomed to hell but because he was able to convince other Christians to have such hostility toward gay people, that they will never want to know Jesus. I think it's a good point.
Exodus- Is This the Voice of Compassion?
The Exodus Media Blog
links to an article today that is celebrating Governor Schwarzenegger's announcement that he will veto the proposed gay marriage law in California. Fair enough on it's face--we all know Exodus is against extending rights to gays and how hard they work to prevent these rights. However, when I read the
article, I really began to question Exodus' claim of compassion at all.
A few clips from the article:
Opening line: "This week, the homosexual mafia attempted an end-run around California voters. The sodomites not only lack respect for God's law, but for man's as well. However, Ahhnold will soon terminate their sick fantasy."
"Whether or not the degenerates amongst us understand it..."
"We must confront the sodomites every time they mount an assault against the family. Our complacency can only lead to our destruction."
Let's see. How is calling someone a sodomite, a degenerate, or blaming someone for the destruction of the world compassionate?
Now, in the spirit of honesty, I will say that the Exodus Blog has a disclaimer that says that the articles they link to do not necessarily represent their own viewpoints. But, I must ask, why link to an article that is so downright hateful? This opinion piece does nothing more than call names and incite anger. Surely not the type of thing that a Christian organization would want to affiliate with at all, one would think. Yes, Exodus links straight to the article and in their summary they take out all of the particularly viscious quotes as if to trick people into thinking the article isn't as ill-spirited as it seems.
How does this article do anything but incite anger from gays and towards gays? Why would Exodus want anything to do with it if they were really compassionate and wanted to help all gays?
All of this from an organization whose President
claims "to be a part of the tremendous progress the evangelical church has made in demonstrating a more compassionate and truthful approach to those caught in homosexuality.” Please tell me Mr. Chambers. How exactly is this article compassionate in any way to a person "caught in homosexuality?"
More Shameless PR off of Katrina
This is a little late in coming, but for those of you that haven't heard, a Pastor in my home state (Texas) has joined
Michael Marcavage of Repent America and
blamed the city of New Orleans (and implicitly gays) for the terrible disaster that hit that city. On their main sign, the Woodland Hills Baptisth Church proclaims that, "The Big Easy is the Modern Day Sodom and Gomorrah."
I'm sorry to hear that this church has trouble differentiating between the love of Christ and ugly rhetoric. Tell me, if you were a hurricane survivor from New Orleans, would this sort of sign draw you into that church or fill you with rage and turn you away?
Here's one New Orleans resident's take on what the sign said:
"And to go by and see this church saying that God did this to destroy these people and basically they're celebrating that by putting that sign up there saying look at what God has done. He has destroyed the city of New Orleans because it is evil." She goes on to say, "it's hurtful. It's exremely hurtful."
The Pastor said he put the sign up to "point out the sins of America," but it's pretty easy to point out the sins of America without saying that a city was destroyed explicitly for it's sins. This disaster would be a great opportunity for this church to reach out and show real compassion and offer salvation for survivors and community members alike. It's too bad they decided to pull a PR stunt instead.
On a side note, thanks to Mike over at
Ex-Gay Watch for the kind words and the endorsement. If you are visiting from there, feel free to stick around and comment some, if you feel so inclined.
Another Gay Marriage Note
From the Exodus Media Synopsis
Blog, I found this
article by Bishop Fred Henry in Calgary. The article talks about a few things, but I specifically wanted to address his statements about marriage and gay marriage.
In the article the Bishop says, "By virtue of nature itself, marriage is a union of a man and a woman with an inherent capacity of bringing children into the world." This claim, of course is absurd. Marriage is and always has been a creation of man. Nature and marriage have nothing to do with one another, and to claim that marriage is a creation of nature rather than a social construct is simply deceptive.
He goes on to say:
"It is not unjust, or a limitation of anyone's legitimate rights and freedoms, to insist that marriage is a covenant between a man and a woman. If one were refused such positions because of race, or religion, or ethnic background, or something not related to the nature of the reality at issue, then that would indeed be an injustice and a denial of individual rights.
If, however, one were refused because one excludes basic elements of the role itself, that is not in any way an injustice. "
The last sentence here points out the fallacy of this second claim. His argument is that gays cannot be married because they are unable to produce children. But, there are definite groups of people that also are unable to produce children but are still allowed to marry--the elderly, for example. According to the logic of the Bishop, it would perfectly reasonable to deny marriage to the elderly because by their very nature (their age) they are unable to produce offspring.
This is not to mention how similar this type of arguments sounds to the argument of interracial marriage just a few decades back.
As much as this Bishop and so many others hate to admit it, they are trying to justify their own prejudice rather than address them outright. Rather than taking a deep look at the relationships that gays actually form with their partners--relationships based in love, caring, happiness, etc., the Bishop has hooked on one issue. To admit that gay relationships have everything that straight relationships have rather than just referring to gay people as being "intrinsically disordered," would be to discount his whole worldview. I guess it's just too much to ask, though, to have someone like the Bishop admit that gay couples do have the same type of bond as any other couple in the world. He probably realizes he wouldn't have a leg to stand on at that point, so he'd rather make up a concocted idea that marriage was born of nature rather than of man.
California Gay Marriages? Not Quite Yet
As much as conservatives have been arguing that activist judges should not be in charge of allowing gay marriages, now they have to add another group to that list. I guess even in elected representatives shouldn't be able to make law either. At least that's what Governor Schwarzenegger
thinks. He plans to veto the bill, passed by elected representatives, that would allow gay marriage in California.
I'll admit that I am not at all surprised by this decision. Upset, and disappointed, but not surprised. He sold out on this sadly partisan issue, and I knew it was coming. Arnold has been walking a tight rope on this issue for a long time, and at least we now know where he stands. He cowered, just like everyone else. No matter that divorce is ripping apart our nation, let's keep that legal, as long as we have a nice little scapegoat.
I'm just glad that we didn't wait for the voters to approve any other major civil rights advancement in our nation's history. I guess the Governor and most of the conservatives in this country are going to ignore that fact. Luckily, years from now we'll all see how wrong they were, just like Jerry Fallwell now has to look back and see how
wrong he was about segregation.
New Blog to Read
I found a
blog yesterday that is worth a read. She's a Christian woman trying to work through being gay. The first
post is definitely worth a read because she talks about some issues that I have blogged about before, namely what it means to be gay and celibate and how that differs from straight people that are just waiting to marry. Here's a little idea of her take on the issue:
"By celibacy I mean way more than no sex -- although that does suck, there is no denying that fact. By celibacy, I mean no marriage, no family, no one reciprocating my love..."
I'd personally like to add that celibacy for gays means way more than just sex. It means never finding that romantic love that the rest of the world yearns for. It means never cuddling in someone's arms romantically, never experiencing that passionate kiss or the giddiness of reciprocated attraction. I could go on, but I think you get the point. Anyway, give her a read.
New Judge, New Chief Justice
I'm a little disturbed that President Bush has
nominated John Roberts to be the new Chief Justice, replacing William Rehnquist. I personally don't have anything against Roberts so far, but it seems a bit odd to me to put him at the lead of a court composed of judges that have been there for decades in some cases.
It's like being on a baseball team and having the rookie come in and be the team captain. The current judges have worked long and hard on this court, and for them to be passed up for this type of "promotion" seems a little weird, especially since Roberts seemingly has little or no experience in what goes on behind the scenes in the Supreme Court. Honestly, he's only been a judge at all for 2 years at the appellate level. I feel like this is going to be the case, of the "new boss" coming in and having to take instructions from the people that are already there. Why wouldn't Bush nominate someone already there? There are a couple of Conservatives left to choose from, you know.
The Washington Post
reports that the Democrats will be harder on Roberts now. I kind of expected that. But in this case I think they are justified seeing as how Roberts is being named Chief with not too much experience to go along with it. Does anyone care to say why he should get the spot over some of the current justices with the experience to go along with their resumes?
Katrina Post
I haven't posted on Katrina yet at all. It really is amazingly sad, and I'm having trouble even imagining what these people are having to go through or how long it is going to take the city to recover. I'm can barely even watch the news because of how sad it is.
Unfortunately,
some people are trying to publicize their own agendas in the aftermath of all of this. I am familiar with this particular gay party in New Orleans, and I knew some sort of absurdity like this would come out. I just can't believe someone would be that much of an opportunist, honestly. The
post I found out about this from and the comments later over at Ex-Gay Watch are definitely worth a read also.
Gas is up to about 3 bucks a gallon here in my city now, and I have heard it is over $4 and $5 a gallon in other major cities. When I entered college in 1997, gas was 79 cents a gallon around the block from school. Unbelievable. I know a lot of this has to do with the impaired capacities of the pipelines as a result of the storm, but the gas prices of $2.50 are already absurd. I'm not one to doubt the President--any President, but if this isn't a crisis worthy of releasing at least some of our oil reserves, I'm not sure what is.
My prayers are with everyone affected by Katrina, I hope y'all's are too.
