I’d like to congratulate the conservative Christian Right. You go on and on about the gay agenda, and how we must work to thwart it. I admit I’ve talked to a lot of gay men and women, and the only agenda they seem to have is to be able to live their lives, to marry the people they love, to be able to go to work or school every day without being persecuted or harassed. That’s a pretty radical agenda! I’m glad you’re all here to help stop them.
Speaking of agendas, you’ve really gone a long way toward accomplishing your own agenda, haven’t you? After all, high on your list seems to be to reduce the number of gays in the world. Well, congratulations. The number of gay teens committing suicide has been increasing steadily since the start of the school year. I’m sure you’re rather proud of the work you’ve done, helping to reduce the number of gays in our school system. I’m sure your wrathful Old Testament God is happy to see those poor young kids off themselves.
Of course, there are many people who aren’t specifically part of the Christian Right but who still think homosexuality is a sin. That’s fine. That’s what your religion says, and I understand that. Of course, some might say that there’s an awfully fine line between following your religion and spreading outright hate, but what do they know? I think somewhere in your Bible there’s bound to be a quote about how it’s for the best that you tell your kids all about how wrong it is. It’s important that you share those values, even if it means going to rallies and holding up signs like this for all to see. I mean, after all, that’s not hateful. It’s not sick and disgusting. It’s simply you exercising your First Amendment rights.
And there is absolutely no denying that the First Amendment protects your right to call homosexuals names. It protects your right to call them sinners, or fags, or worse. After all, God says homosexuality is a sin, and if he’s not here to judge, then somebody needs to do it, right? Who cares what that silly old carpenter had to say! He didn’t know much anyway. That’s why they nailed him to that darn cross! We know that God does want us to judge those who might be different. It says so right there in Leviticus.
And what about our children? It’s important that we protect them. Because they go to school every day with other kids who might be gay, or who might just be a bit different. And since we as adults aren’t there to judge these kids and call them names, it’s important that we teach our children how to do it. It’s for the best, isn’t it? This way, our children will know who to mock. They’ll know who to ostracize. They’ll know that it’s okay to exclude Susie, because she has two moms.
But it’s true that you can’t look at a person and know for sure whether or not they’re gay. So really, the only thing you can do is accuse anybody who might be a bit different of being gay. That way, you’re sure not to miss anybody. So if Sally doesn’t like to wear dresses, or Tommy is too small to play football, it’s perfectly acceptable to assume they’re gay and harass them appropriately. After all, you have a right to protect yourself from their potential depravity, right?
And congratulations to those who have worked so hard to keep sexual education in the schools specifically hetero-centered. Because it’s important that young people, who are already struggling so much with their own identities, be taught that they may wrong. They may be sinners. They may be an abomination in God’s eye. We wouldn’t want these kids to erroneously think that they might be fine. We certainly wouldn’t want them to believe that being confused during puberty is normal!
And if a few kids kill themselves, what of it? You know you’re right. You know God’s laws. I’m sure He’s happy to see young kids, scared and alone and ashamed, hanging themselves in their closets rather than be perceived of as being gay. Because half of these kids were so young, they don’t know yet whether they were gay or not. But other kids called them gay. Other kids teased them for being too small, or too girly, or just being different. And so the Christian Right has succeeded. Not only have you convinced kids that it’s wrong to be gay, you’ve convinced them that it’s better to end their own lives than to even be perceived of as gay. And that’s quite an accomplishment.
So congratulations, conservative anti-gay agenda Christians. You’ve really made your nation, America, the so-called land of the free, proud. I’m sure you’ve made your wrathful Old Testament God proud as well (and who cares about all that stuff in the New Testament anyway, right?). And if that Lava soap isn’t quite enough to wash the blood from your hands, try a little bit of self-righteous indignation. I hear it works great. And I’d sure hate for you to go to bed with a guilty conscience.
Kathleen Hayes
/ October 6, 2010Marie,
I agree that the hatred that many Christians sling about gives a bad name to all Christians. It breaks my heart that people who claim the religion that I love spout such hatred and cause such havoc. When asked, Jesus says the most important commandment, which encompasses all the law and the prophets (read supersedes Levitical law) is love God and love your neighbor. This has two bearings. One, even if you believe homosexuality is a sin, that doesn’t give you the right to hate. And two, any relationship which encourages love, no matter the members’ sexual orientation, is commended by Christ. One of the early Christian fathers wrote, “We have not only to be called Christians, but to be Christians.” Being Christians is about being as Christ-like as possible. Making anyone feel that they are not worthy to live or that death is better option, no matter their race, gender, sexuality, creed, etc is something that Christ would be diametrically opposed to. *Deep Breath* I will now step down off my soap box because I could rant forever. Thank you for your post and your honesty.
Kathleen
Marie Sexton
/ October 6, 2010Thanks Kathleen! I could rant about some of these things forever too.
Linda
/ October 2, 2010Marie you certainly laid it out on the line. It has just torn my heart out everytime I hear about another teen who killed themselves because they were gay or that the other kids thought they were.
My nephew is gay, it took him a while to come out. I remember when he was in high school the latest teen phrase was “oh that’s so gay.” meaning something that is not desirable. He is 18 now, in college. I was concerned that he might have a problem there but so far him being gay is not an issue at all.
I hope the parents, schools and the kids who are doing the bullying wake up before it’s too late for those who are struggling this very minute. And before I hear about another kid who ended it all.
Marie Sexton
/ October 2, 2010Thanks Linda! And good luck to your nephew!
Amanda
/ October 1, 2010So many good points here. You have hit on the reason I have such a hard time with the Christian religion, there seems to be so little Christ actually in it. I don’t think all Christians are this way but the ones that you hear on television, the radical rights seem to have nothing in common with Jesus Christ. It angers me greatly that they use his name to condemn others.
Marie Sexton
/ October 1, 2010That is what makes it so horrific, isn’t it? That they call themselves Christian, and yet it seems they’ve taken none of his teachings to heart. It makes me sad. Thanks for your comment!
Rebecca Goings
/ October 1, 2010Marie,
I am a Christian. These people you rail against are not. The God I follow loves every single person He created. We are all sinners, Christ himself said, “Let he who is without sin cast the first stone.”
THESE are the people, who spew hate and evil in the name of God, that Christ will turn to in Judgment and say, “Depart from Me, I never knew you.”
I am not ashamed to be a Christian, however, I am ashamed at those who claim to be, who claim to know the mind of God. These are the people who seem to forget that Christ himself dined at the homes of prostitutes, tax collectors (who were skimming off the top), liars, and adulterers. Even Christ said He did not come to save the righteous.
The problem is, ain’t nobody’s righteous.
I have no idea if the people who videotaped that poor gay boy who killed himself claimed to be “Christians”. But I’ll quote one of my favorite lines from a Christian singer – “Going to church doesn’t make you a Christian any more than going to McDonald’s makes you a hamburger.”
The point of my post is to say not all “Christians” should be painted with the same brush as these Fundie crazies. There are those who have read the Bible and actually KNOW what Christ taught, and follow His words to the best of our abilities.
~~Becka
Marie Sexton
/ October 1, 2010Becka-
You’re absolutely right, and I don’t mean to imply in any way that all Christians are the same. There are plenty of Christians who really do believe in tolerance and forgiveness, and I in no way mean to insult them.
Thanks for your comment!
Rebecca Goings
/ October 1, 2010Marie – I know that, hun, I’m not offended in the least!
What offends me are these people who sling hate in the name of Christ. I believe they’re going to be in for quite a shock when they cross over…
Marie Sexton
/ October 1, 2010You can tell my blood was really boiling this morning over the whole thing! Hateful people make me so angry.
Christina
/ October 2, 2010What happend?
Marie Sexton
/ October 2, 2010Christina-
You can see a good summary here. There’s actually been a fifth since that article was posted. It just makes me angry.
Christina
/ October 2, 2010Thank you. To be honest, I don’t know what to say… These were children. A thirteen- year old boy bullied for his sexuality for years (!)?
The first thought that always comes to my mind when I read something like that is: What, if this were my son? Harrased for something, he probably doesn’t even know himself if it’s true ore not. Beaten because he ist small, or sensitive or likes the color pink or listens to the “wrong” music. Or because other people don’t like who he loves.
And for the religious aspect. God is not supposed to make mistakes. So when He “makes” a person gay, that’s exactly how he or she should be. It is not a behavior the person can change or a bad attitude or something like that.
)
You can dislike a person for what or who he or she chooses to be. But to disrespect a person for what he or she just IS feels like disrespecting gods creation.
(sorry for my English, I hope I was able to put what I wanted to say in the right words
Marie Sexton
/ October 2, 2010Honestly, I would never have guessed that English wasn’t your first language!
It really makes me mad that the most hateful among them claim to be Christian, and yet ignore the fact that Christ taught understanding and tolerance, not hate. It’s such a tragic thing that these young kids feel that they have no other option. The silver lining may be that people are finally waking up to just how devastating such hateful comments can be. We can only hope this will be the point where Americans (and everybody else for that matter) will stand up and say, “No more!”
Thanks for your comment!
Kassa
/ October 1, 2010well said… well said indeed. *raises a toast*
Marie Sexton
/ October 1, 2010Cheers!
Chris
/ October 1, 2010You’ve articulated what’s been frothing around incoherently in my brain – thank you.
Ah, Leviticus – he was also against getting your hair cut, eating shellfish, and mixing your fibers… things that presumably most of the hate-spewers have done and which would make them equally unclean from Leviticus’s perspective… *sigh*
Marie Sexton
/ October 1, 2010My brain wasn’t going to rest until I’d said it.
Chris
/ October 1, 2010I can understand that!