(1)LGBTQ persons are being mocked, bullied, tormented, and discriminated against at this very moment, possibly jailed or even executed overseas.(2) Some in recent days have taken their own lives as a direct result of this hateful treatment.(3) Every second we fail to stand up and declare unequivocally that God loves them and they are welcome, is a second we acquiesce to bigotry and tacitly support bullies.(4) It is time to begin undoing the harm official church policies of exclusion have wrought.
Commentary
1. We can be thankful that the Church is no longer, in the United States, and other industrialized countries at least, able to lend it's open support to mocking, bullying and torment of LGTBQ persons, any more than the Church can any longer support anti-Semitism, as it did for many centuries. This is not the case in most of the rest of the world. The Church still can and does lend it's open support to exclusion, of course - that is part of what is at issue here.
2. Here we are of course speaking of the most notable example of Uganda, where homosexuality may become a capital offense. Rather than winking and nodding at such reprehensible legislation, the Church should be denouncing it thoroughly and clearly in every possible venue.
3. We have seen in the news that mocking, bullying and torment can drive LGBTQ persons, as well as others in groups which are the targets of derision, to commit suicide. Again, as with the case in Uganda, the Church should take pains to distance itself from such reprehensible behavior. Instead, the position of the anti-inclusion crowd isn't that the bullies and mockers are wrong, only that they use the wrong methods.
4. And not only bullies, but possibly execution-squads and lynch-mobs as well. What in affluent, industrialized society is an issue of bullying is much more serious in failed or tenuous states which do not provide their citizens with the many protections we enjoy.
12 comments:
This church, by its teachings about homosexuality, is complicit in acts of intimidation, bullying, discrimination and bigotry against GLBTQ persons in this country. It is also complicit in the suicides of GLBTQ persons. Such teachings provide, whether intended or not, the moral justification for such acts of violence.
True enough, John! The deaths from risky sexual behaviors (not to mention the general two-decade drop in life expectancy) makes outside violence against homosexuals a drop in the bucket compared to the actual incidence and proportion of deaths occurring from natural consequences of the behavior.
It's just shameful that this fact is ignored.
This is actually getting really frustrating now, Chris. Have you even read what we've been writing? We tore apart the argument that there are such things as homosexual-only sex practices. So stop commenting here right now, go back and actually read what we've said, and try to argue against it. Then, if you are successful (best of luck) come back here and try to make this argument again.
I'm really tempted to just delete comments that don't take into account anything else that we've written. Here's just one place (among many) where we've dealt with this persistent fallacy you're trying to shill.
http://twofriarsandafool.blogspot.com/2010/11/lgbtqord-homosexuality-is-dangerous.html
NARTH was reporting the findings of a 2003 issue of the American Journal of Public Health dedicated to the topic. Did you just see that the link had NARTH and commit the genetic fallacy?
No, Chris, I skimmed the entire article, which was a polemic interpretation of the said AJPH article, giving the standard NARTH interpretation. And, again, you post a response while ignoring the important points of what I said entirely. So I'm done. I'll delete your comments until you deal substantively with the issues we're discussing.
Doug,
"I'll delete your comments until you deal substantively with the issues we're discussing."
I realize he's frustrating, but please don't lower yourself to the tactics of the oposition.
A good point - also I realized that in order to delete his comments, I'd have to continue to read them, and I'd continue to be tempted to try to continue pounding my head against a wall. Time to put Chris back on my "/ignore" list and get to something where there is hope of progress.
Also, "deal substantively" is something that hasn't happened in most of his 30-odd recent comments, so why would it start now?
/ignore Chris
I have to agree with Kattie, Doug. Almost every blog hosted by the BFTSs deletes comments. Don't lower yourself to that level. Let the stupidity stand and show itself for what it is.
At the same time, even bothering to respond to comments that, for example, reference a group so thoroughly refuted as the snake-oil salesmen at NARTH gives such ideas a degree of authenticity they do not deserve. While I like to poke the bloated egos of the BFTSs as much as anyone, actually attempting to engage with their BS seriously is a waste of time.
Well, I can't speak for everyone or every situation, but I find that trying to deal with Chris is a waste of time in this case. So, as I said in another thread:
/ignore Chris
Though I'll periodically read your (and Kattie's) humorous responses, a discussion requires two participants, and if I want to I can talk to myself in a way that is less vexing than pretending Chris will address any issues that we bring up in a meaningful way.
Post a Comment