Saturday, September 20, 2008
Andrew Sullivan on Real Time with Bill Mahar
Andy does it again! Watch the whole thing.
Say what you will about Andrew Sullivan. As I have written before, his are often the loneliest positions to take. And though I do not always agree with him, I respect him immensely. I wish there were more vocal conservatives like him that saw Palin for the farce she is.
Stay strong, Andy! And "never, for the sake of peace and quiet, deny your own experience or conviction" Dag Hammarskjold
Bush wants 700 billion dollars to rescue Wall Street. Just how many zeros is that exactly?
Answer: 12 if you count Bush.
Hahahahahaha. Thank you, I'll be here all week. And I expect credit for the joke, dammit!
Seriously though, the fundamentals of our economy are not strong and John McCain cannot shed his republican skin for political expediency. He is a republican. Republicans got us into this mess. This is not one of those situations where we can say that they are all crooks, both the democrats and republicans. The blame rest at the feet of those that controlled congress for ¾ of the last eight years and at the feet of a president who can barely control his presidency.
This, above all else, is the failure of single issue voting. People who felt Bush was placed in office by God, as Richard Land, the head of the public policy entity of the Southern Baptist Convention, said, need to step out of the spotlight for a minute (or eternity) and seriously consider the impact such statements have on the kingdom of God. However, if there is one thing that is consistent about these people, it’s that they do not learn and now they are saying the same thing about Sans-a blink Palin.
These times are far too serious for Cracker-Barrel politicos who think that spitting out a few key phrases like “sanctity of life” and “sanctity of marriage” is all they need to win. We are now on our knees, on the verge of collapse, about to fork over 700 billion dollars of our money to Wall Street fat-cats and where, I ask, will this money come from?
This may be the end of this great country. And if it does collapse I want those responsible to take the blame. No get out of jail free card by blaming the gays or the liberals or anyone else. Those that voted for Bush better claim their votes. Stand up and tell us who you are. You are to blame.
And for those who are looking for God in all this. Let’s see, once again, what God might be trying to say.
“How much more do I have to reveal to you before you awake from your kool-aid induced slumber? These people who claim my name like it’s a brand on the shelf at Wal-Mart bungled relief efforts with Katrina, took you all into a immoral war based on lies, fleeced your country while they got rich, ruined your economy while they slept, lied to you time and time again. And I have shown it all to you. But instead of standing up and saying enough, you continue to cling to them. Sarah Palin came out of no where and I told you, be careful, don’t get caught up in the hype. She is not what she seems. And then I revealed to you all of her lies. And yet you still will vote for her. Well vote for her if you must, but do not invoke my name while doing so
“It is not pro-life to vote for people who ruin the lives of thousands in war, it is not pro-life to vote for those that would ruin the lives of millions for their greed, it is not pro-life to vote for those that would ruin countless lives by ignoring the environment” --God
Stand up and be counted, Bush admirers. This country’s blood is on your hands. This country’s demise is due to your vote.
And you know what would go a long way? I’m talking to the “character-counts” crowd who rambles about character ad infinitum. Your talk about character has turned to blather because you cannot admit the failures of the last eight years. I assure you it would go a long, long way if you all would simply say “We were wrong. Completely wrong. We are sorry.. And we are going to be a hell (heck, heck’s ok for those wary of the word hell) of a lot more careful in the future when attributing God to individuals”.
But you won’t . You won’t because you are all cowards. Cowards hide behind their decisions even when their decisions are demonstrably fatal. I just pray courageous individuals will be able to clean up this mess you cowards have made.
I pray there is still time.
zeros, zeroes, bailout
Hahahahahaha. Thank you, I'll be here all week. And I expect credit for the joke, dammit!
Seriously though, the fundamentals of our economy are not strong and John McCain cannot shed his republican skin for political expediency. He is a republican. Republicans got us into this mess. This is not one of those situations where we can say that they are all crooks, both the democrats and republicans. The blame rest at the feet of those that controlled congress for ¾ of the last eight years and at the feet of a president who can barely control his presidency.
This, above all else, is the failure of single issue voting. People who felt Bush was placed in office by God, as Richard Land, the head of the public policy entity of the Southern Baptist Convention, said, need to step out of the spotlight for a minute (or eternity) and seriously consider the impact such statements have on the kingdom of God. However, if there is one thing that is consistent about these people, it’s that they do not learn and now they are saying the same thing about Sans-a blink Palin.
These times are far too serious for Cracker-Barrel politicos who think that spitting out a few key phrases like “sanctity of life” and “sanctity of marriage” is all they need to win. We are now on our knees, on the verge of collapse, about to fork over 700 billion dollars of our money to Wall Street fat-cats and where, I ask, will this money come from?
This may be the end of this great country. And if it does collapse I want those responsible to take the blame. No get out of jail free card by blaming the gays or the liberals or anyone else. Those that voted for Bush better claim their votes. Stand up and tell us who you are. You are to blame.
And for those who are looking for God in all this. Let’s see, once again, what God might be trying to say.
“How much more do I have to reveal to you before you awake from your kool-aid induced slumber? These people who claim my name like it’s a brand on the shelf at Wal-Mart bungled relief efforts with Katrina, took you all into a immoral war based on lies, fleeced your country while they got rich, ruined your economy while they slept, lied to you time and time again. And I have shown it all to you. But instead of standing up and saying enough, you continue to cling to them. Sarah Palin came out of no where and I told you, be careful, don’t get caught up in the hype. She is not what she seems. And then I revealed to you all of her lies. And yet you still will vote for her. Well vote for her if you must, but do not invoke my name while doing so
“It is not pro-life to vote for people who ruin the lives of thousands in war, it is not pro-life to vote for those that would ruin the lives of millions for their greed, it is not pro-life to vote for those that would ruin countless lives by ignoring the environment” --God
Stand up and be counted, Bush admirers. This country’s blood is on your hands. This country’s demise is due to your vote.
And you know what would go a long way? I’m talking to the “character-counts” crowd who rambles about character ad infinitum. Your talk about character has turned to blather because you cannot admit the failures of the last eight years. I assure you it would go a long, long way if you all would simply say “We were wrong. Completely wrong. We are sorry.. And we are going to be a hell (heck, heck’s ok for those wary of the word hell) of a lot more careful in the future when attributing God to individuals”.
But you won’t . You won’t because you are all cowards. Cowards hide behind their decisions even when their decisions are demonstrably fatal. I just pray courageous individuals will be able to clean up this mess you cowards have made.
I pray there is still time.
zeros, zeroes, bailout
Rangel calls Palin disabled
In an interview on Friday, September 19th, Congressman Charlie Rangel (D-Harlem) said "You got to be kind to the disabled" when asked what he thought of Sarah Palin. His comments are outrageous and cannot be defended. Disabled people the world over should be insulted that Rangel would attempt to compare them to such a slimebag like Palin. It would be like someone calling Bushie gay. That would be a grave insult to the entire gay community.
Rangel, who is currently embroiled in controversy over his failure to report income taxes on a beachfront property, should shut the hell up.
Calling her: a pathalogical liar, idiot, unfit, in over her head, Bush in a dress, neophyte . Those are fine because they are all true but disabled is unfair. Let the republicans throw around words like "retarded" and "disabled" as insults. They are best at it. It's part of their culture to look down on those that are different.
And republicans are probably going to try and get mileage out of this the next few days. Here's the problem, though. It's the kind of problem the boy had when he cried wolf.
The twisted republicans used their outrage quotient up by feigning outrage -- shock, utter shock -- over the whole lipstick / pig controversy. And while they were using up that outrage they were spreading absolute, 100%, no shred of of truth, blatent lies about Obama.
So now they are going to try and run with this "disabled" comment and it won't work. It especially won't work since the economy may be headed for a "complete meltdown" within the next few days. People are going to see through the republican's attempts to change the subject and it's going to look rather cynical if they feign outrage...yet again... over Rangel.
That's the problem with crying wolf. When you skid your skivvies over things that don't matter, the time comes when they actually do and your skivvies are already stained. And, at that point, there's no one left to wipe your ass.
And, like I said earlier, given Palin's soon-to-be implosion, calling her disabled is an insult to the disabled. Not the other way around
Rangel, who is currently embroiled in controversy over his failure to report income taxes on a beachfront property, should shut the hell up.
Calling her: a pathalogical liar, idiot, unfit, in over her head, Bush in a dress, neophyte . Those are fine because they are all true but disabled is unfair. Let the republicans throw around words like "retarded" and "disabled" as insults. They are best at it. It's part of their culture to look down on those that are different.
And republicans are probably going to try and get mileage out of this the next few days. Here's the problem, though. It's the kind of problem the boy had when he cried wolf.
The twisted republicans used their outrage quotient up by feigning outrage -- shock, utter shock -- over the whole lipstick / pig controversy. And while they were using up that outrage they were spreading absolute, 100%, no shred of of truth, blatent lies about Obama.
So now they are going to try and run with this "disabled" comment and it won't work. It especially won't work since the economy may be headed for a "complete meltdown" within the next few days. People are going to see through the republican's attempts to change the subject and it's going to look rather cynical if they feign outrage...yet again... over Rangel.
That's the problem with crying wolf. When you skid your skivvies over things that don't matter, the time comes when they actually do and your skivvies are already stained. And, at that point, there's no one left to wipe your ass.
And, like I said earlier, given Palin's soon-to-be implosion, calling her disabled is an insult to the disabled. Not the other way around
Oh Happy Day
Today is my birthday and I wanted to say thank you.Thank you to all the readers of my blogs through the years.
Thank you to those that just started reading this blog within the last few weeks.
And thanks, most of all, to Sarah Palin for awakening this blog from its slumber. If it were not for your lying every time you open your mouth, I would not have much to write about.
Friday, September 19, 2008
They will be caught and persecuted
Did our dear president, George W. Bush, just say that those acting illegally during the economic crisis would be "caught and persecuted"? Did I hear that right? He's the decider. He decides whether to prosecute or persecute. That's his strategery. I'm just thankful for the internets to help me decipher what he said.
Whew, well at least they will be persecuted! So after they are caught I guess we get to make fun of them and call them names. That'll teach 'em
Maybe when we catch bin Laden, you know, dead or alive, we can all persecute him too!
Perhaps this is Bush foreshadowing how we will treat those caught. He is afraid that we will persecute his buddies on Wall Street and that makes him sad )-:
The quote was in reference to short selling, I believe, and he said "Anyone caught in illegal transactions will be caught and persecuted
Whew, well at least they will be persecuted! So after they are caught I guess we get to make fun of them and call them names. That'll teach 'em
Maybe when we catch bin Laden, you know, dead or alive, we can all persecute him too!
Perhaps this is Bush foreshadowing how we will treat those caught. He is afraid that we will persecute his buddies on Wall Street and that makes him sad )-:
The quote was in reference to short selling, I believe, and he said "Anyone caught in illegal transactions will be caught and persecuted
Thursday, September 18, 2008
Ghost Town
The picture above is of my friend, Michael, and me at the cast and crew party for Ghost Town (opening nationwide tomorrow, the 19th). At the party we screened the movie and let me just say. Go see it! It is not only crazy funny, it is also tenderhearted. Triple loved it with a cherry on top!
An open letter to the family of Ray Boltz
Recently I received a comment on one of my posts about Ray Boltz. It said it was from a family member of Boltz. It was very kind and it asked that I not publish the comment but gave me permission to use it if I wished. Since my comments are moderated I decided not to publish. Instead I am writing that person (and others in their family) this letter in hopes that they return to my blog and see it.
To the family of Ray Boltz,
As a child and young adult I had many of Ray’s CDs. They brought me comfort and joy in some very dark hours of my life. I even saw Ray in concert once and remember how joyous I felt in that auditorium. He truly touched my life through his music.
I am a gay man and at the age of twenty, while living in Washington DC, the path that was my life split in two. Down one road I could continue to hide who I was, ashamed and alone, so as not to upset my family, most of whom were (and are) evangelical Christians. Down the other road I could pursue truth, and live honestly and openly just as God had created me to be, and accept the consequences that such honesty would bring. The decision was not easy, and in fact in many ways my coming out was not even my own doing.
I know the shock and even pain that my decision caused many in my family. My mother had to deal with not only a gay son but also with the knowledge that her ex-husband, my father, was gay as well. I cannot even begin to imagine what a woman with her beliefs, albeit misguided, went through. The grieving process was probably too much to bear at times.
When I asked my little brother, then just a boy, how my being gay made him feel he responded with tears in his eyes “It makes me love you less”.
He has since grown out of that childlike mentality. Now that little boy is a sophomore at NYU and has no issues with the fact that he has a gay brother.
But even today, over eleven years later, the relationship with my mother is strained due to my being gay. I harbor so much resentment and anger at her for holding on to beliefs that have been repudiated by some of the world's most learned Biblical scholars, not to mention science and common sense and the Bible itself. And the pain that her beliefs cause me is still as raw as it was in the beginning.
I imagine she harbors some anger at me as well. And sadly, she may spend the rest of her life carrying around the needless baggage of antiquated beliefs. It is those very beliefs that caused me to walk away from the church and never look back. It is those beliefs that have caused millions of shepherd boys and girls to walk away.
Which brings me to the purpose of this letter.
I have no idea what each of your beliefs are regarding homosexuality. Actually, for the purpose of what I want to convey, your beliefs are beside the point.
You may be grieving the Ray you thought you knew. You may not know what it is you are supposed to do now (although, as I understand it you all have known for a little while now). I am sure that so many tears have been shed and there are, even now, so many questions yet unanswered.
It’s ok.
It’s ok to curse the heavens and God and everything in between and it is even ok to be angry at Ray. But know this.
He is still the same man. He is still the same man of God. He is still the same man who moved hundreds of thousands of people to a closer relationship with their Heavenly Father. And above all else, he is still the same man who loves you all with all his heart. And I assure you that if there was anything – anything -- he could have done to change himself he would have without hesitation.
And know something else as well.
When I came out I packed up my Christian music CDs, including Ray’s. I could no longer listen to the music of people who believed my very existence to be an abomination. I could no longer praise the God they were praising.
When I heard the news about Ray on Monday I began to cry. And while I was crying I listened to “The Anchor Holds” over and over and over again. And in the end I was on my feet singing with Ray, praising God for the first time in years. The shepherd boy that had walked away from the church so many years ago because he no longer felt welcome, that boy, now a grown man, felt welcome to sing again.
I can now sing those songs, standing with my eyes towards the heavens and remember that no matter what stands in my way, no matter what the religious leaders tell me, no matter what people think of me, no matter how disgusting they think I am, I am still worthy enough to praise God.
That is the gift Ray Boltz gave me on Monday. He gave me permission…
permission to praise God again
Thank you for sharing Ray with us. There are, yet still, many lives to be changed,
Jon-Marc McDonald
To the family of Ray Boltz,
As a child and young adult I had many of Ray’s CDs. They brought me comfort and joy in some very dark hours of my life. I even saw Ray in concert once and remember how joyous I felt in that auditorium. He truly touched my life through his music.
I am a gay man and at the age of twenty, while living in Washington DC, the path that was my life split in two. Down one road I could continue to hide who I was, ashamed and alone, so as not to upset my family, most of whom were (and are) evangelical Christians. Down the other road I could pursue truth, and live honestly and openly just as God had created me to be, and accept the consequences that such honesty would bring. The decision was not easy, and in fact in many ways my coming out was not even my own doing.
I know the shock and even pain that my decision caused many in my family. My mother had to deal with not only a gay son but also with the knowledge that her ex-husband, my father, was gay as well. I cannot even begin to imagine what a woman with her beliefs, albeit misguided, went through. The grieving process was probably too much to bear at times.
When I asked my little brother, then just a boy, how my being gay made him feel he responded with tears in his eyes “It makes me love you less”.
He has since grown out of that childlike mentality. Now that little boy is a sophomore at NYU and has no issues with the fact that he has a gay brother.
But even today, over eleven years later, the relationship with my mother is strained due to my being gay. I harbor so much resentment and anger at her for holding on to beliefs that have been repudiated by some of the world's most learned Biblical scholars, not to mention science and common sense and the Bible itself. And the pain that her beliefs cause me is still as raw as it was in the beginning.
I imagine she harbors some anger at me as well. And sadly, she may spend the rest of her life carrying around the needless baggage of antiquated beliefs. It is those very beliefs that caused me to walk away from the church and never look back. It is those beliefs that have caused millions of shepherd boys and girls to walk away.
Which brings me to the purpose of this letter.
I have no idea what each of your beliefs are regarding homosexuality. Actually, for the purpose of what I want to convey, your beliefs are beside the point.
You may be grieving the Ray you thought you knew. You may not know what it is you are supposed to do now (although, as I understand it you all have known for a little while now). I am sure that so many tears have been shed and there are, even now, so many questions yet unanswered.
It’s ok.
It’s ok to curse the heavens and God and everything in between and it is even ok to be angry at Ray. But know this.
He is still the same man. He is still the same man of God. He is still the same man who moved hundreds of thousands of people to a closer relationship with their Heavenly Father. And above all else, he is still the same man who loves you all with all his heart. And I assure you that if there was anything – anything -- he could have done to change himself he would have without hesitation.
And know something else as well.
When I came out I packed up my Christian music CDs, including Ray’s. I could no longer listen to the music of people who believed my very existence to be an abomination. I could no longer praise the God they were praising.
When I heard the news about Ray on Monday I began to cry. And while I was crying I listened to “The Anchor Holds” over and over and over again. And in the end I was on my feet singing with Ray, praising God for the first time in years. The shepherd boy that had walked away from the church so many years ago because he no longer felt welcome, that boy, now a grown man, felt welcome to sing again.
I can now sing those songs, standing with my eyes towards the heavens and remember that no matter what stands in my way, no matter what the religious leaders tell me, no matter what people think of me, no matter how disgusting they think I am, I am still worthy enough to praise God.
That is the gift Ray Boltz gave me on Monday. He gave me permission…
permission to praise God again
Thank you for sharing Ray with us. There are, yet still, many lives to be changed,
Jon-Marc McDonald
Jim Bramlett , coming to serve Kool-Aid at a church near you!
I'm going to let this email making the rounds in evangelical circles speak for itself. The only thing I have to add is that this email is talking about a woman who cannot even tell the truth on the little things. So according to this man, presumably written by Jim Bramlett who says he records angels singing and that the "Lord began to shout it" to him that we were in the end-times in 1993, God has raised up a pathological liar out of Alaska for such a time as this. When do these people get their pink-slips? I mean this is the same sort of crap they said about George W. Bush, another person who has an allergy to the truth.
Dear friends:Barack Hussein Obama has taken the nation by storm. From obscurity, with zero executive experience, or much of any kind, he has vaulted into the position of Presidential frontrunner. It is stunning. On the surface, it appears attributable only to his eloquent oratory and his race. But an invisible factor may be a strong spiritual force behind him, causing some people to actually swoon in his presence...
Last week at Obama's acceptance speech, that spirit exalted itself in front of a Greek temple-like stage, and to a huge audience like in a Roman arena. Obama was portrayed as god-like. His voice thundered as a god's voice.
At the end, Democratic sympathizer Pastor Joel Hunter gave the benediction and shockingly invited everyone to close the prayer to their own (false) gods. This was surely an abomination, but it was compatible with Obama's expressed theology, and Hunter's leftist leanings.
God was not pleased...
Enter Governor Sarah Palin. With incredible timing, the very next day, Sarah Palin also appeared out of nowhere...
We quickly learned that Sarah is a born-again, Spirit-filled Christian, attends church, and has been a ministry worker.
Sarah is that standard God has raised up to stop the flood. She has the anointing. You can tell by how the dogs are already viciously attacking her. But they will not be successful. She knows the One she serves and will not be intimidated.
Back in the 1980s, I sensed that Israel's little-known Benjamin Netanyahu was chosen by God for an important end-time role. I still believe that. I now have that same sense about Sarah Palin...
Only God knows the future and how she may be used by Him, but may this noble woman serve to bring renewal in the land, and inspiration.
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
Why Ray Boltz Matters...And James Dobson Does Not
Reading the various responses from so called “Christians” over the admission by Ray Boltz that he is gay is enough to make one sick. I expected the outcry to be swift and brutal and the Christianists do not disappoint. Actually, when it comes to their vile condemnation of gays, the Christianists never disappoint.
You know, it’s the usual dribble from people who are unable to think for themselves. Instead they regurgitate old arguments that can be, and have been, refuted time after time.
But when one chooses to “bury my head in the sand” as my mother proudly proclaims, then when revelations such as Boltz’ come out, instead of responding analytically, with reason and deliberate contemplation, Christianists simply become the dog of Pavlov, conditioned to spit out automated responses.
Actually, they are more like the dogs of Dobson, the seemingly perennial leader of the far right. Dobson, from his perch high atop the Colorado mountains, separates the venial sins from the mortal sins for his followers lest they be burdened with such a difficult task.
Yes, Dobson regularly says that everyone’s a sinner and all have fallen short…blah, blah, blah. But this is just another case where his actions are in conflict with his words. Actually his words are in conflict with his words. And no one, including Dobson’s most devout worshippers (Tom Minnery, say what?), can square Daddy D’s obsession with gay people with the totality of the Bible, no matter how hard they try.
Anyway, when something such as the Ray Boltz story breaks, it is religiously wired in the evangelical’s brain to start their symbolic salivating. Before you even read the comments, you know what they will say. And what they say speaks to their horizontal faith, not their God inspired convictions.
Often times they attempt to avoid the religious underpinnings of their bigotry by instead using the words of homosexuals against homosexuals. The most frequently used, and outrageously hilarious, is the book “After the Ball”. This book, by two homosexual marketers, is often cited by the Devout Dobson Do-Nothings as “evidence” that there is, in fact, a homosexual agenda. If you go to a “Love Won Out” conference (a conference aimed at gays who want to “pray away the gay” and those that love them) you will hear references to the book continuously.
In fact, if you were to only listen to Dobson’s Army of Mental Midgets (yep, I’ve settled on that one. The DAMMs from here on out), you would think “After the Ball” was a gay-manifesto that every homosexual had hidden under their mattress for quick reference in case they forget what the “agenda” is.
The book, written in 1989, is proof positive that the gays are using things such as AIDS to garner sympathy for the cause (because, you know, AIDS is an endearing sort of disease). At least that’s what the DAMMs and others such as Robert Knight would have you believe.
But the truth is I, and most of my fellow homos, would have never even heard of the book if it were not for the repetitious citations by the far-right. In fact, I have never even seen the book except once at Strand Bookstore, a used book bookstore, on sale for .75 cents.
That doesn’t stop Papa D from getting his vestments in a wad, though. He believes that the book is a “play-book” to elicit sympathy from the unsuspecting, pure as the driven snow, American public.
This, of course, is intellectually lazy and Dobson knows it. He just knows the DAMMs do not. Taking his continual citation of “After the Ball” to its logical conclusion would inevitably lead to his opponents citing any of the thousands of outlandish books written through the ages by so-called Christians calling for everything from ethnic cleansing to war.
But Dobson depends on the ignorance of his followers. He not only depends on it, he banks on it, literally. The lemmings that worship at the alter of the Dobson empire have made him not only an extremely powerful and dangerous man, but an extremely wealthy man as well.
Ray Boltz’ music has touched millions of people. He is still the same man he was ten years ago. The difference is now we all know. Nothing has changed about Ray Boltz the man. Nothing, except that he has shared with us a burden he has carried within for too long.
Instead of throwing out his music, or waxing poetic about loving the sinner and hating the sin, perhaps the Christianists could try something else. Perhaps they could try simply loving. Period. No conditions, no attachments, just pure, vertical, God-like love. Perhaps they could quit quantifying so called sins and start getting down to what the Bible really does, and does not, say about homosexuality. Perhaps they could tell Daddy Dobson to shut the hell up, tell him that he no longer gets to claim the banner of Christ because he has sullied that banner in the slop for too long. Perhaps there will be a leader, a shepherd boy if you will, that will rise up out of the dust bin of the religious right and call God’s people to a fuller understanding of all of his children. Perhaps those who got teary eyed every time they heard “Thank You” will whisper a prayer of thanks for Ray Boltz instead of praying for Ray Boltz. Perhaps, on the other side of tomorrow we will look back at this dark time in our nation's history and shake our heads in disbelief that someone as spiritually deficient as James Dobson could have even existed, much less influenced so many to hate.
Perhaps…but not likely.
You know, it’s the usual dribble from people who are unable to think for themselves. Instead they regurgitate old arguments that can be, and have been, refuted time after time.
But when one chooses to “bury my head in the sand” as my mother proudly proclaims, then when revelations such as Boltz’ come out, instead of responding analytically, with reason and deliberate contemplation, Christianists simply become the dog of Pavlov, conditioned to spit out automated responses.
Actually, they are more like the dogs of Dobson, the seemingly perennial leader of the far right. Dobson, from his perch high atop the Colorado mountains, separates the venial sins from the mortal sins for his followers lest they be burdened with such a difficult task.
Yes, Dobson regularly says that everyone’s a sinner and all have fallen short…blah, blah, blah. But this is just another case where his actions are in conflict with his words. Actually his words are in conflict with his words. And no one, including Dobson’s most devout worshippers (Tom Minnery, say what?), can square Daddy D’s obsession with gay people with the totality of the Bible, no matter how hard they try.
Anyway, when something such as the Ray Boltz story breaks, it is religiously wired in the evangelical’s brain to start their symbolic salivating. Before you even read the comments, you know what they will say. And what they say speaks to their horizontal faith, not their God inspired convictions.
Often times they attempt to avoid the religious underpinnings of their bigotry by instead using the words of homosexuals against homosexuals. The most frequently used, and outrageously hilarious, is the book “After the Ball”. This book, by two homosexual marketers, is often cited by the Devout Dobson Do-Nothings as “evidence” that there is, in fact, a homosexual agenda. If you go to a “Love Won Out” conference (a conference aimed at gays who want to “pray away the gay” and those that love them) you will hear references to the book continuously.
In fact, if you were to only listen to Dobson’s Army of Mental Midgets (yep, I’ve settled on that one. The DAMMs from here on out), you would think “After the Ball” was a gay-manifesto that every homosexual had hidden under their mattress for quick reference in case they forget what the “agenda” is.
The book, written in 1989, is proof positive that the gays are using things such as AIDS to garner sympathy for the cause (because, you know, AIDS is an endearing sort of disease). At least that’s what the DAMMs and others such as Robert Knight would have you believe.
But the truth is I, and most of my fellow homos, would have never even heard of the book if it were not for the repetitious citations by the far-right. In fact, I have never even seen the book except once at Strand Bookstore, a used book bookstore, on sale for .75 cents.
That doesn’t stop Papa D from getting his vestments in a wad, though. He believes that the book is a “play-book” to elicit sympathy from the unsuspecting, pure as the driven snow, American public.
This, of course, is intellectually lazy and Dobson knows it. He just knows the DAMMs do not. Taking his continual citation of “After the Ball” to its logical conclusion would inevitably lead to his opponents citing any of the thousands of outlandish books written through the ages by so-called Christians calling for everything from ethnic cleansing to war.
But Dobson depends on the ignorance of his followers. He not only depends on it, he banks on it, literally. The lemmings that worship at the alter of the Dobson empire have made him not only an extremely powerful and dangerous man, but an extremely wealthy man as well.
Ray Boltz’ music has touched millions of people. He is still the same man he was ten years ago. The difference is now we all know. Nothing has changed about Ray Boltz the man. Nothing, except that he has shared with us a burden he has carried within for too long.
Instead of throwing out his music, or waxing poetic about loving the sinner and hating the sin, perhaps the Christianists could try something else. Perhaps they could try simply loving. Period. No conditions, no attachments, just pure, vertical, God-like love. Perhaps they could quit quantifying so called sins and start getting down to what the Bible really does, and does not, say about homosexuality. Perhaps they could tell Daddy Dobson to shut the hell up, tell him that he no longer gets to claim the banner of Christ because he has sullied that banner in the slop for too long. Perhaps there will be a leader, a shepherd boy if you will, that will rise up out of the dust bin of the religious right and call God’s people to a fuller understanding of all of his children. Perhaps those who got teary eyed every time they heard “Thank You” will whisper a prayer of thanks for Ray Boltz instead of praying for Ray Boltz. Perhaps, on the other side of tomorrow we will look back at this dark time in our nation's history and shake our heads in disbelief that someone as spiritually deficient as James Dobson could have even existed, much less influenced so many to hate.
Perhaps…but not likely.
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
When others see a faggot boy, God may see King: Ray Boltz comes out of the closet and admits he's gay
UPDATE AT BOTTOM OF POST:
Ray Boltz, a contemporary christian musician who sold over 4.5 million albums, has come out of the closet.
“I’d denied it ever since I was a kid," Boltz, 55, told the Washington Blade. "I became a Christian, I thought that was the way to deal with this and I prayed hard and tried for 30-some years and then at the end, I was just going, ‘I’m still gay. I know I am.’ And I just got to the place where I couldn’t take it anymore … when I was going through all this darkness, I thought, ‘Just end this.’”
I am honestly crying while writing this. The courage it takes for anyone to come out is remarkable. But the brutality he will face from the Christianists for disclosing this will be close to unbearable. His songs will cease being played, he will be rejected at Churches and, as one commenter on Christianity Today put it:
That's their God for ya, Ray! Reject until you repent!
What can be said? We are known by the fruit we bear. So, being a great musician and exalting the Lord is not enough. Repentance is necessary. We read about a man who committed sexual sin in 1 Corinthians-the church was to reject him until he repented. Likewise, Ray should be ignored but welcomed back whenever he truly repents.
But I grew up listening to his music. "Watch the Lamb" and "Thank You" are songs that nearly every Evangelical Christian can recite.
I pray his courage allows others within his industry to come out as well. Lord knows there are more closeted gays in the conservative church than any where else!
Good on 'ya, Ray! Jesus is smiling even though some of those who claim his name are not.
Thank you, Ray, for living your truth. There are many lives that will be changed!
UPDATE: I should note that I was briefly a part of a children's christian singing group, Power Source, that was made famous for a time by a Ray Boltz song Dear Mr. Jesus
The odd circumstances of Trig Palin's birth. Just because the story has gone away does not mean there is not a story
As many have said before, the reason Sarah Palin is so important, and the reason that there is such a focus on her, is because she shows how reckless John McCain’s judgment is and her lies, as we are discovering each day, prove that she was not vetted AT ALL.
Andrew Sullivan has done a wonderful job at disseminating all the facts on Sarah Palin.
But there are more questions that need to be answered. Let’s start with these:
** Bristol Palin, the 17 year old unmarried pregnant daughter of Sarah and Todd, was out of school for a significant amount of time last year (anywhere from 5-8 months) with “mono”. The maximum a child is normally out of school for such a thing as mono is less than three months. Did she have a rare strain? Was she, as one would assume, quarantined so as to not infect others? If so, could someone find out the dates she was out of school? Surely, with such an infectious disease, she would not be having sex while infected? She has been pregnant for, what, five months according to Sarah Palin?
** When Sarah Palin realized she was going into labor, why did she go ahead and make a speech at a governors’ conference in Texas? She says she was leaking amniotic fluid? Who is her doctor and why did they tell her it was ok to make an eight hour trip back to Alaska, on a PLANE? Did Sarah tell any of the flight attendants she was in labor? Did the pilot know? The governor of Alaska was five weeks premature with a special needs child and yet all the powers that be told her it was A-OK for her to travel? On a plane? Leaking amniotic fluid? Why wouldn’t they, for the sake of the baby, do what is in the best interest of the child and deliver in Texas so as not to risk more harm to little Trig? Todd Palin said they wanted the baby to be born in Alaska because “You can’t have a fish picker in Texas?” First of all, what does that even mean? And secondly, they were willing to risk further harm to the baby just so he could have Alaska as his place of birth?
** When she arrived back in Alaska, why weren’t there medical personnel waiting there to whisk away the governor? Why did she drive an additional 45 minutes to get to the hospital when there were others closer?
** Where are Trig Palin’s birth records? This is a legitimate question. After all, Trig had his own webpage on the governor’s state-run website. Where are Sarah Palin’s medical records? Mat-Su, the hospital where Palin gave birth, does not even list the birth of Trig the day the Palins claim. They don’t list the birth at all. Why is this?
** Sarah Palin returned back to work just three days after giving birth to her 5th child. Did her doctor, the one that is apparently MIA, allow this too? Or did Sarah go against her doctor’s wishes? I admit, I am no Sarah Palin. I’m a sissy-boy faggot that can barely move after a week with a slight cold. Sarah Palin, on the other hand, can shoot 437,000 caribou before dusk. But it seems to me that just 72 hours after giving birth to a child with special needs and she returned to work? Am I the only one that finds this not only remarkable, but also hard to believe?
I am sure there are very obvious answers to all these easy questions. Could people just give them to me? In the comments please list the answers if you have them. List the source as well.
Psst. Snopes does not count as a “source”
Also, if there are more questions that I have not listed, list them in the comments.
Oh, and I am fully prepared for the comments calling me crazy, unhinged, reckless. Say what you will. I don’t give a shit. I just want the answers. We deserve the answers. And one way or another, the answers will come out.
Andrew Sullivan has done a wonderful job at disseminating all the facts on Sarah Palin.
But there are more questions that need to be answered. Let’s start with these:
** Bristol Palin, the 17 year old unmarried pregnant daughter of Sarah and Todd, was out of school for a significant amount of time last year (anywhere from 5-8 months) with “mono”. The maximum a child is normally out of school for such a thing as mono is less than three months. Did she have a rare strain? Was she, as one would assume, quarantined so as to not infect others? If so, could someone find out the dates she was out of school? Surely, with such an infectious disease, she would not be having sex while infected? She has been pregnant for, what, five months according to Sarah Palin?
** When Sarah Palin realized she was going into labor, why did she go ahead and make a speech at a governors’ conference in Texas? She says she was leaking amniotic fluid? Who is her doctor and why did they tell her it was ok to make an eight hour trip back to Alaska, on a PLANE? Did Sarah tell any of the flight attendants she was in labor? Did the pilot know? The governor of Alaska was five weeks premature with a special needs child and yet all the powers that be told her it was A-OK for her to travel? On a plane? Leaking amniotic fluid? Why wouldn’t they, for the sake of the baby, do what is in the best interest of the child and deliver in Texas so as not to risk more harm to little Trig? Todd Palin said they wanted the baby to be born in Alaska because “You can’t have a fish picker in Texas?” First of all, what does that even mean? And secondly, they were willing to risk further harm to the baby just so he could have Alaska as his place of birth?
** When she arrived back in Alaska, why weren’t there medical personnel waiting there to whisk away the governor? Why did she drive an additional 45 minutes to get to the hospital when there were others closer?
** Where are Trig Palin’s birth records? This is a legitimate question. After all, Trig had his own webpage on the governor’s state-run website. Where are Sarah Palin’s medical records? Mat-Su, the hospital where Palin gave birth, does not even list the birth of Trig the day the Palins claim. They don’t list the birth at all. Why is this?
** Sarah Palin returned back to work just three days after giving birth to her 5th child. Did her doctor, the one that is apparently MIA, allow this too? Or did Sarah go against her doctor’s wishes? I admit, I am no Sarah Palin. I’m a sissy-boy faggot that can barely move after a week with a slight cold. Sarah Palin, on the other hand, can shoot 437,000 caribou before dusk. But it seems to me that just 72 hours after giving birth to a child with special needs and she returned to work? Am I the only one that finds this not only remarkable, but also hard to believe?
I am sure there are very obvious answers to all these easy questions. Could people just give them to me? In the comments please list the answers if you have them. List the source as well.
Psst. Snopes does not count as a “source”
Also, if there are more questions that I have not listed, list them in the comments.
Oh, and I am fully prepared for the comments calling me crazy, unhinged, reckless. Say what you will. I don’t give a shit. I just want the answers. We deserve the answers. And one way or another, the answers will come out.
Monday, September 15, 2008
On Slaps and Seething Rage
This morning while I was writing a piece entitled “Facts are Not Privy to Opinion” my mother called. This is not unusual, as my mother and I talk at least five or six times a week. What was unusual was how the conversation ended. Actually it did not end. It digressed into a screaming match that culminated in me slamming the phone down (as much as you can slam down a cell phone with a Bluetooth ® ear piece).
Before I go on I should fully disclose something. The entire maternal side of my family are fundamentalists Christians. Most belong to the Southern Baptist Convention, a denomination of Christianity founded on the principle that slavery was not only tolerated, but also ordained, by God. This legacy of slavery has left an indelible stain on the convention that permeates its theology even today. And, sadly, many in my family still cling to the notion that African-Americans are inferior. The word “n*gger” is a word that still is used by many in my family (including my father who, incidentally, is gay but that is another post[s] for another time).
Many say that marijuana is a “gateway drug”. Well religious based racism is a gateway bigotry. Because while I do not doubt that my mom loves me, she does believe that the seven verses in the Bible that – and this is highly debatable – deal with homosexuality (out of the over 35,000 verses in the Bible which is .02%. Read that again. Point. Zero.Two percent) are clear in their condemnation of gays. As such, homosexuality is therefore not in accord with the will of God.
Growing up in such a toxic environment is dangerous for any child. But growing up while realizing I was gay along the way made it close to deadly. At the age of 21, after years of not being able to reconcile my upbringing with my sexuality, I attempted to take my own life.
I was living in a tony apartment in the Georgetown neighborhood of Washington DC. I seemingly had my entire life, and the world, ahead of me. But one morning, facing such despair of which I could not overcome, I went to the medicine cabinet and began taking entire bottles of my roommate’s prescription medications. I chased the pills with 150 year old scotch.
When I came to, at the George Washington University Medical Center, I was surrounded by at least forty of my friends, my father and his partner and…no one else. I asked my dad if my mother knew. He said she did. For two days I sat in that hospital. As friends came and went, there was not one phone call from my mother’s side of the family. No flowers. No cards. Only deafening, undeniable silence.
This was not only odd, it was downright antithetical of my maternal family’s behavior towards the sick. They visit hospitals when someone has a hangnail removed. Granted, I was in Washington DC and they were in Texas. I did not expect them to visit. But I did expect to hear their voice.
Instead, I learned later, my mother (in Texas) sent over two men from a Washington “ex-gay” group. When my father discovered this he made sure they were not allowed in my hospital room. But the damage was done. It was clear that my mother’s answer to my shame of being gay was to send over two men who believed that one could “pray away the gay”. It is something that, to this day, is still the source of tremendous pain and heartache.
The suicide attempt was just three months after my mother found out I was gay. I write “found out” because I did not tell her. Instead, shortly after I moved to DC, my mother broke into my voicemail (keep in mind she lives in Texas) and listened to my messages. One of them was from a guy I was dating at the time. The language he used on the voicemail left no room for anyone that heard it to deny who this guy was in relation to me. Within a week my mother told me she knew. I told her I knew she knew.
My mother repeatedly claims that she does not lie. Never. She says it, you can believe it. That’s that. It has almost become a mantra of hers. In fact, she says it with such frequency and such ferocity that it is borderline clinical in its redundancy.
But on the phone with her the night I confirmed I was gay, I pleaded with her not to tell anyone. She promised me she would not.
She did.
I found out a year later that she had almost immediately told not only my aunt but my grandparents as well. My aunt was (and still is) the director of a pregnancy center that tries to talk women out of abortions and my grandparents (my grandfather, really) were, at one time, big time leaders in the Southern Baptist Convention.
She lied.
This was on the heels of her swearing that she would never file for divorce from my father (although, admittedly, she had every reason to). “Jon-Marc, I will never be the one that files. I promise you that”. Not two months later, she filed.
These were the two most agonizing things in my life – my shame of my sexuality and my parents’ divorce. And in the midst of those two things, my mother lied. She lied big. If I were to quantify the lies I have been told in my life those two would be at the top, hands down.
I write the backstory to put into context the conversation I had with my mother this morning.
She called and we basically talked about nothing. The weather. My grandmother. What my mother had for breakfast. My plans for the day. My weekend.
Then we started talking about Hurricane Ike. This is what went down as I remember it (although I do realize that there are two sides and, as Dr. Phil says, no matter how flat you make a pancake, it still has two sides):
Mother: You know, if it were not for Christians, the victims of the hurricane would not be getting any help, except from the government. The Red Cross, the Salvation Army, the Southern Baptist Men…
Me: Wait, do you really believe that there is no other charitable organization other than “Christian” organizations that are going to help the victims?
Mother: Um, well, yes. Pretty much. I believe that. Why does that make you mad?
I should note something. “Christian” has a very strict definition for fundamentalists such as my mother. Although they will all claim that anyone that believes in Jesus Christ, that he was killed and rose again three days later, is a Christian, their actions speak louder. That is why you will see Focus on the Family, the Family Research Council, Concerned Women for America etc. put quotes around the word Christian when referring to a ministry like Soulforce, a gay Christian ministry.
I should also note that my mom is the assistant director at the pregnancy center where my aunt is the director. The center, incidentally, is a direct beneficiary of Focus on the Family. They receive sonogram machines, money and who knows what else from Daddy Dobson. Dobson has also contributed much to the misery of gay people.
Now back to the conversation. This is where it gets a bit fuzzy.
Basically it got to the point where she said something along the lines of “You slap me in the face with things you say you believe”.
Me: I don’t tell you anything I believe!
Mother: You do on your blog. And you know I read it! You slap me in the face with what you write on your blog! You are trying to hurt me with what you write! I'm hanging up now
(Not sure if she hung up or not)
Me: Slap you in the face? Are you kidding me? You want to talk about being slapped in the face? Try the time you sent two ‘ex-gays’ to my hospital room, try the time you blabbed about me being gay to gran and granddaddy and B (my aunt). Don’t give me this sanctimonious bull-shit about being slapped in the face!
At which point I “slammed down the phone” by pressing the button on my Bluetooth ® headset.
People ask me why the Sarah Palin thing bothers me so much. It bothers me because I know Sarah. She is my mother, she is my two aunts, she every girl and boy I grew up with who ever wore their faith on their sleeve. She is my youth-minister in junior high who told me to stop singing the words to “Jesus Christ, Superstar” because it was blasphemous. She is my best friend in college who told me, in all seriousness, that he thought Bill Clinton was the anti-Christ.
Truth to these people is something they scream from every pulpit and discuss ad nauseum. Hell, they even capitalize the word. We know the Truth…Some people do not know the Truth…Jesus is the one source of Truth.
But when it comes down to the actual truth for fundamentalists, the “Truth” is as malleable as silly-putty, meant to be discarded when it is inconvenient, used as a weapon when it is advantageous, and hidden when it is dangerous to their cause.
It has been proven that Sarah Palin is an outrageous liar. In fact, it has been proven that she is a complete fraud. But in the mind of my mother, and those of my mother’s mindset, they dismiss these “truths” by blaming the “librul (spelled wrong on purpose) media” or “left-wing bloggers”. They throw the baby out because they believe the bathwater has been dirtied by people who do not “know Jesus” the way they “know Jesus” – the gays, the abortionists, the mockers of God. Radical Muslims have a name for them; Infidels. Radical Christians do too. They call them unsaved.
In the minds of the fundamentalists, the scrutiny of Palin feeds into the absurd notion that “Christians” are somehow “persecuted”. The more “truth” that is disclosed, the more resolute they become in their support. It’s the world against the Christianists. They are most comfortable when they believe that the world is out to get them.
Meanwhile the real victims of persecution get further marginalized. Gay kids hide voicelessly in the closet lest they get disowned by their parents and friends, African-Americans get followed in department stores because they are likely to steal, immigrants are blamed for lack of jobs in this country.
And the poor, poor Christianists? You know, the ones who claim the very president of this country as their own and who controlled congress six of the last eight years. Yeah, them! They have the audacity to claim that it is their faith that is in danger of being outlawed. Is this the fucking twilight zone?
So the perceived persecution of poor pitiful Palin is just more reason for them to love her. When it is all said and done, they have no use for the “truth”. The decriers of relativism use truth as their most relative concept.
And Sarah Palin is not a slap in the face I am willing to take. She angers me for the very same reasons my mother angers me – a lack of integrity and intellectual honesty with regards to the truth.
It is times like these when the rage is so hot and the resentment is so acute that I feel like tearing down the dam I have built with all my family secrets. I feel so furious and want to hurt them as badly as they all, while hiding behind their religion, have hurt me. Let the waters flow, let the secrets out and when the flood recedes, let them take inventory of the skeletons amidst the debris. I want to unleash the secrets that only I know. I want the world to know them too. I want the world to see them for the frauds and liars they are.
Let loose the “truth” that they would be forced to face. Let them confront the closet cases, the adulterers, the black blood in the white heritage, the ones that have had abortions and the ones that have mistresses, all within our big “happy” family. Take no prisoners and let them grapple with the consequences and twist in the wind.
Sometimes, times like this, I want nothing more than that.
But in the end I realize that my need to exact revenge serves no purpose beyond temporary satisfaction. Instead I have this blog to vent and to calm down.
Slap, slap!
Before I go on I should fully disclose something. The entire maternal side of my family are fundamentalists Christians. Most belong to the Southern Baptist Convention, a denomination of Christianity founded on the principle that slavery was not only tolerated, but also ordained, by God. This legacy of slavery has left an indelible stain on the convention that permeates its theology even today. And, sadly, many in my family still cling to the notion that African-Americans are inferior. The word “n*gger” is a word that still is used by many in my family (including my father who, incidentally, is gay but that is another post[s] for another time).
Many say that marijuana is a “gateway drug”. Well religious based racism is a gateway bigotry. Because while I do not doubt that my mom loves me, she does believe that the seven verses in the Bible that – and this is highly debatable – deal with homosexuality (out of the over 35,000 verses in the Bible which is .02%. Read that again. Point. Zero.Two percent) are clear in their condemnation of gays. As such, homosexuality is therefore not in accord with the will of God.
Growing up in such a toxic environment is dangerous for any child. But growing up while realizing I was gay along the way made it close to deadly. At the age of 21, after years of not being able to reconcile my upbringing with my sexuality, I attempted to take my own life.
I was living in a tony apartment in the Georgetown neighborhood of Washington DC. I seemingly had my entire life, and the world, ahead of me. But one morning, facing such despair of which I could not overcome, I went to the medicine cabinet and began taking entire bottles of my roommate’s prescription medications. I chased the pills with 150 year old scotch.
When I came to, at the George Washington University Medical Center, I was surrounded by at least forty of my friends, my father and his partner and…no one else. I asked my dad if my mother knew. He said she did. For two days I sat in that hospital. As friends came and went, there was not one phone call from my mother’s side of the family. No flowers. No cards. Only deafening, undeniable silence.
This was not only odd, it was downright antithetical of my maternal family’s behavior towards the sick. They visit hospitals when someone has a hangnail removed. Granted, I was in Washington DC and they were in Texas. I did not expect them to visit. But I did expect to hear their voice.
Instead, I learned later, my mother (in Texas) sent over two men from a Washington “ex-gay” group. When my father discovered this he made sure they were not allowed in my hospital room. But the damage was done. It was clear that my mother’s answer to my shame of being gay was to send over two men who believed that one could “pray away the gay”. It is something that, to this day, is still the source of tremendous pain and heartache.
The suicide attempt was just three months after my mother found out I was gay. I write “found out” because I did not tell her. Instead, shortly after I moved to DC, my mother broke into my voicemail (keep in mind she lives in Texas) and listened to my messages. One of them was from a guy I was dating at the time. The language he used on the voicemail left no room for anyone that heard it to deny who this guy was in relation to me. Within a week my mother told me she knew. I told her I knew she knew.
My mother repeatedly claims that she does not lie. Never. She says it, you can believe it. That’s that. It has almost become a mantra of hers. In fact, she says it with such frequency and such ferocity that it is borderline clinical in its redundancy.
But on the phone with her the night I confirmed I was gay, I pleaded with her not to tell anyone. She promised me she would not.
She did.
I found out a year later that she had almost immediately told not only my aunt but my grandparents as well. My aunt was (and still is) the director of a pregnancy center that tries to talk women out of abortions and my grandparents (my grandfather, really) were, at one time, big time leaders in the Southern Baptist Convention.
She lied.
This was on the heels of her swearing that she would never file for divorce from my father (although, admittedly, she had every reason to). “Jon-Marc, I will never be the one that files. I promise you that”. Not two months later, she filed.
These were the two most agonizing things in my life – my shame of my sexuality and my parents’ divorce. And in the midst of those two things, my mother lied. She lied big. If I were to quantify the lies I have been told in my life those two would be at the top, hands down.
I write the backstory to put into context the conversation I had with my mother this morning.
She called and we basically talked about nothing. The weather. My grandmother. What my mother had for breakfast. My plans for the day. My weekend.
Then we started talking about Hurricane Ike. This is what went down as I remember it (although I do realize that there are two sides and, as Dr. Phil says, no matter how flat you make a pancake, it still has two sides):
Mother: You know, if it were not for Christians, the victims of the hurricane would not be getting any help, except from the government. The Red Cross, the Salvation Army, the Southern Baptist Men…
Me: Wait, do you really believe that there is no other charitable organization other than “Christian” organizations that are going to help the victims?
Mother: Um, well, yes. Pretty much. I believe that. Why does that make you mad?
I should note something. “Christian” has a very strict definition for fundamentalists such as my mother. Although they will all claim that anyone that believes in Jesus Christ, that he was killed and rose again three days later, is a Christian, their actions speak louder. That is why you will see Focus on the Family, the Family Research Council, Concerned Women for America etc. put quotes around the word Christian when referring to a ministry like Soulforce, a gay Christian ministry.
I should also note that my mom is the assistant director at the pregnancy center where my aunt is the director. The center, incidentally, is a direct beneficiary of Focus on the Family. They receive sonogram machines, money and who knows what else from Daddy Dobson. Dobson has also contributed much to the misery of gay people.
Now back to the conversation. This is where it gets a bit fuzzy.
Basically it got to the point where she said something along the lines of “You slap me in the face with things you say you believe”.
Me: I don’t tell you anything I believe!
Mother: You do on your blog. And you know I read it! You slap me in the face with what you write on your blog! You are trying to hurt me with what you write! I'm hanging up now
(Not sure if she hung up or not)
Me: Slap you in the face? Are you kidding me? You want to talk about being slapped in the face? Try the time you sent two ‘ex-gays’ to my hospital room, try the time you blabbed about me being gay to gran and granddaddy and B (my aunt). Don’t give me this sanctimonious bull-shit about being slapped in the face!
At which point I “slammed down the phone” by pressing the button on my Bluetooth ® headset.
People ask me why the Sarah Palin thing bothers me so much. It bothers me because I know Sarah. She is my mother, she is my two aunts, she every girl and boy I grew up with who ever wore their faith on their sleeve. She is my youth-minister in junior high who told me to stop singing the words to “Jesus Christ, Superstar” because it was blasphemous. She is my best friend in college who told me, in all seriousness, that he thought Bill Clinton was the anti-Christ.
Truth to these people is something they scream from every pulpit and discuss ad nauseum. Hell, they even capitalize the word. We know the Truth…Some people do not know the Truth…Jesus is the one source of Truth.
But when it comes down to the actual truth for fundamentalists, the “Truth” is as malleable as silly-putty, meant to be discarded when it is inconvenient, used as a weapon when it is advantageous, and hidden when it is dangerous to their cause.
It has been proven that Sarah Palin is an outrageous liar. In fact, it has been proven that she is a complete fraud. But in the mind of my mother, and those of my mother’s mindset, they dismiss these “truths” by blaming the “librul (spelled wrong on purpose) media” or “left-wing bloggers”. They throw the baby out because they believe the bathwater has been dirtied by people who do not “know Jesus” the way they “know Jesus” – the gays, the abortionists, the mockers of God. Radical Muslims have a name for them; Infidels. Radical Christians do too. They call them unsaved.
In the minds of the fundamentalists, the scrutiny of Palin feeds into the absurd notion that “Christians” are somehow “persecuted”. The more “truth” that is disclosed, the more resolute they become in their support. It’s the world against the Christianists. They are most comfortable when they believe that the world is out to get them.
Meanwhile the real victims of persecution get further marginalized. Gay kids hide voicelessly in the closet lest they get disowned by their parents and friends, African-Americans get followed in department stores because they are likely to steal, immigrants are blamed for lack of jobs in this country.
And the poor, poor Christianists? You know, the ones who claim the very president of this country as their own and who controlled congress six of the last eight years. Yeah, them! They have the audacity to claim that it is their faith that is in danger of being outlawed. Is this the fucking twilight zone?
So the perceived persecution of poor pitiful Palin is just more reason for them to love her. When it is all said and done, they have no use for the “truth”. The decriers of relativism use truth as their most relative concept.
And Sarah Palin is not a slap in the face I am willing to take. She angers me for the very same reasons my mother angers me – a lack of integrity and intellectual honesty with regards to the truth.
It is times like these when the rage is so hot and the resentment is so acute that I feel like tearing down the dam I have built with all my family secrets. I feel so furious and want to hurt them as badly as they all, while hiding behind their religion, have hurt me. Let the waters flow, let the secrets out and when the flood recedes, let them take inventory of the skeletons amidst the debris. I want to unleash the secrets that only I know. I want the world to know them too. I want the world to see them for the frauds and liars they are.
Let loose the “truth” that they would be forced to face. Let them confront the closet cases, the adulterers, the black blood in the white heritage, the ones that have had abortions and the ones that have mistresses, all within our big “happy” family. Take no prisoners and let them grapple with the consequences and twist in the wind.
Sometimes, times like this, I want nothing more than that.
But in the end I realize that my need to exact revenge serves no purpose beyond temporary satisfaction. Instead I have this blog to vent and to calm down.
Slap, slap!
Sunday, September 14, 2008
"I invite the media to grow a pair. And if you can’t, I will lend you mine"
Amy Poehler, channeling Hillary Clinton last night on Saturday Night Live
My fear is that in 18 to 24 months the media, in all their wisdom, will be collectively scratching their heads, wondering why they did not properly expose Sarah Palin for the fraud and liar that she is.
We’ve been through this song and dance before. The media were complicit agents of propaganda leading up to the war in Iraq. Now close to six years later some in the media are finally admitting that they did, at the direction of the White House war machine, play a role in disseminating misinformation to the American public.
It is a dark day in our country when the ladies of “The View” do the job of the actual American press and grill McCain. Joy Behar should be given an Edward R. Murrow award for calling McCain a liar to his face rather than, as is the case with actual journalists this election cycle, write articles calling McCain’s tactics “misleading”.
Pleather is misleading. Clay Aiken is misleading. Push-up bras are misleading. McCain/Palin, on the other hand, are unrepentant liars!
My fear is that in 18 to 24 months the media, in all their wisdom, will be collectively scratching their heads, wondering why they did not properly expose Sarah Palin for the fraud and liar that she is.
We’ve been through this song and dance before. The media were complicit agents of propaganda leading up to the war in Iraq. Now close to six years later some in the media are finally admitting that they did, at the direction of the White House war machine, play a role in disseminating misinformation to the American public.
It is a dark day in our country when the ladies of “The View” do the job of the actual American press and grill McCain. Joy Behar should be given an Edward R. Murrow award for calling McCain a liar to his face rather than, as is the case with actual journalists this election cycle, write articles calling McCain’s tactics “misleading”.
Pleather is misleading. Clay Aiken is misleading. Push-up bras are misleading. McCain/Palin, on the other hand, are unrepentant liars!
Friday, September 12, 2008
The Sarah Palin strategery: Make 'em forget the question
"In what respect, Charlie"
Sarah Palin
Sarah Palin
In the sixth grade, at Chesterbrook Elementary in McLean, Virginia, I learned something about how to get out of trouble. It happened when my teacher, Ms. Smits, pulled me aside after class and asked me if I was helping a classmate cheat on his spelling test.
I was, in fact, helping my classmate Mike cheat. Mike was a cool kid. I was not. And I thought that helping him cheat on a spelling test would earn me the affection of the elusive Chesterbrook glitterati.
However, when Ms. Smits asked me if I helped Mike I panicked and started rapidly talking. I went around in circles, babbling about nothing and at one point, out of nowhere, pointed out that I was left-handed.
Ms. Smits looked at me with a mixture of sympathy and concern. It was clear that she did not comprehend a word I said. And instead of asking me to repeat myself or to explain it again she said “Jon-Marc, there is nothing wrong with being left-handed”.
And she left me alone and never asked about the cheating again.
In many ways I feel like that is what is going on with Sans-a-blink Sarah. The one thing she knows is that she does not know much. But when confronted she spews nonsense and throws in words like “Islamic extremists” and “reformer” and just before she’s done running down the clock she reminds us that she is, above all, a woman who took on the “good ‘ole boys”. She never settles on an argument because she has no idea what the argument is. But instead of saying as much, she believes that rambling on and on will fool us and leave us feeling that our questions, whatever they were in the first place, were answered.
The problem is, this is not sixth grade. Hell, this isn't even Wasilla. The job for which she is essentially applying requires more than platitudes pulled from the back-room of a stale campaign of a once honorable man.
But what it requires of us is to not accept her skirting of the truth. Otherwise we will be just like Ms. Smits and forget the question. “Sarah, there’s nothing wrong with being a woman”.
When we forget the question, we forfeit the prize.
(For Jon-Marc McDonald's baking blog, Bake it 'Til You Make it, click here )
In what respect, Charlie?
UPDATE: My take on Sarah Palin's new strategy with the press here
Ok, I have changed my mind over Barack Obama getting mad. Instead, he should just loop this exchange over and over again in every ad across the country.
"In what respect, Charlie?"
I wish Charlie had responded with "In the respect that DO YOU EVEN HAVE THE SLIGHTEST IDEA WHAT I AM TALKING ABOUT?"
But hey, she's pro-life and that's all that counts, right?
UPDATE: My take on Sarah Palin's new strategy with the press here
Ok, I have changed my mind over Barack Obama getting mad. Instead, he should just loop this exchange over and over again in every ad across the country.
"In what respect, Charlie?"
I wish Charlie had responded with "In the respect that DO YOU EVEN HAVE THE SLIGHTEST IDEA WHAT I AM TALKING ABOUT?"
But hey, she's pro-life and that's all that counts, right?
UPDATE: My take on Sarah Palin's new strategy with the press here
Thursday, September 11, 2008
Today, remember them. Tomorrow, remember what you are fighting for!
"Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil;
There seems to be growing momentum around the country for Barack Obama to get mad. I mean balls-to-the-walls, bare-knuckled, white hot rage.
The thinking goes that if Obama continues to play nice, and McCain keeps dragging this campaign into reality TV sophistication while flat out lying about his opponent, the "swift-boating" will work and we will wake up in November, shaking our heads and wondering what went wrong...again.
When John McCain accused Obama of wanting to teach sex-ed to kindergartners that should've been the last straw.
Many believe there is some danger in getting angry, especially for a candidate like Obama. While McCain could get angry (and has) and that is seen by many as being indicative of his leadership ability, if Obama gets mad the potential is that the public will see nothing more than an "angry black man" full of residual rage and bitterness.
Bull shit!
There is far too much at stake! Since the press will not do their job and, by all appearances, are in the back pocket of McCain it is time for Obama to reach deep within and unleash a righteous rage the likes of which we have never seen before.
If that takes 527s calling Sarah Palin the flat out liar that she is, so be it. If it takes at every press conference calling John McCain a once honorable man but no longer honorable, fine!
I don't mean to suggest that Obama abandon his message of hope. But hope is not relevant unless it is contrasted by despair. And despair is what eight years of Bush --who played to our basest instincts, who called upon our darkest selves, who wrapped himself in the flag carrying a cross -- has given this nation.
John McCain has become the man he once despised. And for that, he deserves not our vote nor our respect.
Fight like hell, Obama! Our nation is on your shoulders now and losing is not an option
who put darkness for light, and light for darkness;"
Isaiah 5:20
There seems to be growing momentum around the country for Barack Obama to get mad. I mean balls-to-the-walls, bare-knuckled, white hot rage.
The thinking goes that if Obama continues to play nice, and McCain keeps dragging this campaign into reality TV sophistication while flat out lying about his opponent, the "swift-boating" will work and we will wake up in November, shaking our heads and wondering what went wrong...again.
When John McCain accused Obama of wanting to teach sex-ed to kindergartners that should've been the last straw.
Many believe there is some danger in getting angry, especially for a candidate like Obama. While McCain could get angry (and has) and that is seen by many as being indicative of his leadership ability, if Obama gets mad the potential is that the public will see nothing more than an "angry black man" full of residual rage and bitterness.
Bull shit!
There is far too much at stake! Since the press will not do their job and, by all appearances, are in the back pocket of McCain it is time for Obama to reach deep within and unleash a righteous rage the likes of which we have never seen before.
If that takes 527s calling Sarah Palin the flat out liar that she is, so be it. If it takes at every press conference calling John McCain a once honorable man but no longer honorable, fine!
I don't mean to suggest that Obama abandon his message of hope. But hope is not relevant unless it is contrasted by despair. And despair is what eight years of Bush --who played to our basest instincts, who called upon our darkest selves, who wrapped himself in the flag carrying a cross -- has given this nation.
John McCain has become the man he once despised. And for that, he deserves not our vote nor our respect.
Fight like hell, Obama! Our nation is on your shoulders now and losing is not an option
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
Fogey dust and Palin's Pearls of Special Needs...Forgetting Andrew Sullivan for a moment
I am going to get off the one-track Andrew Sullivan coverage for a moment. I would note, however, that though he is back to what appears to be regular posting, most of the posts don't include his usual commentary. But moving on.
There is a phrase -- actually, it's a theory -- called the "Willing suspension of disbelief". In very simple terms it basically means that humans often suspend their disbelief of something in order to be entertained.
This phrase (or theory) is often used with movie goers. A movie goer watches a fantastical movie while willingly suspending their disbelief that what is occurring on the screen is actually real. The theory goes that if one were to watch a movie without the suspension, they would not enjoy the movie simply because they would be analyzing how unbelievable it all is.
As children, my cousin and I felt we were growing too old for cartoons. We did not want to be perceived as children any longer. But secretly deep within, we still liked them. So what did we do? We watched the cartoons while loudly decrying their unbelievability. "The smurfs are in no way real. Little blue people. That's just stupid"... "There is no way Punky-power is real. I bet little kids think Punky power is real. They're so stupid"... "He-Man is sooooo fake. There is no way! But look at those muscles. He looks yummy"
Ok, the last one we did not say but I certainly did think it! The point is, whether we are willingly suspending or willingly not suspending our disbelief, we do it for a reason. We do so to either be entertained or, as in the case of my childhood, to feel some sort of superiority.
Enter McCain and Palin.
For the past week, especially at the Republican National Convention convention, we have been told that Palin and McCain are the agents of change that will mend the broken corriders of Washington. The Maverick and the Pit-Bull are going to fly into Washington and shake things up. They are the change that we have been waiting for.
Of course, as everyone knows, there are just a few problems with that scenario. George W. Bush is a republican, republicans have have held both houses of Washington for six of the last eight years and most, if not all, of our nations woes have been at the hands of republicans.
But instead of apologizing for it, McCain and Palin are actually asking us to willingly suspend our disbelief that they represent change. We are to believe that they are not republicans or even conservatives. And the saddest thing is that many Americans are suspending their disbelief of the campaign and republicans in general in order to be entertained. Or, and this is most likely the case, in order to not feel how badly these last eight years have hurt. They want to believe the unbelievable because they need something to believe in again.
Now, you might ask, what about Obama? He brings such freshness and hope. Why aren't Americans gravitating to him more than they are?:
The far-right has put so many pieces of untruth in the minds of voters concerning Obama that voters have been looking for permission to not vote for him. The right-wing has smeared him so much these last 20 months that the voters have a lot of doubts and they want permisson to vote for more of the same. And their permission is Palin.
Forget her record (suspend), forget her lies (suspend), forget her extreme views (suspend). Instead look at the fresh face and keep in mind her genatalia. She's a woman. That's all they want you to know.
And when you don't forget, they turn to page two of this years right-wing playbook:
When the press gets tough, have Sarah and her surrogates clutch their pearls in unison and cry. Cry so loud and for so long that that the press will do anything to quiet you, including quieting themselves.
When Obama makes a reference to a pig and lipstick, scream that he is referencing Sarah. And when the public ask "What..." cut them off and tell them to forget (suspend) that McCain said the same thing about Clinton last October as well as laughed and answered the question "How do we beat the bitch?" from a supporter earlier this year.
And when Obama uses the word "old" in any context wail that he means McCain. Old fish=McCain, old ways of Washington=McCain, old lies=McCain.
And make sure the public believes that taking on either McCain and Palin is either ageism or sexism.
If Obama says the economy has been slowing down for so long that we are, in fact, in a recession respond with: How dare he bring Sarah's son Trig into this! She chose life! Life! He is a down-syndrome child, not slow!
If Obama says the war in Iraq is not working respond with: You want to know who's not working? The executive chef to the governor of Alaska is not working. Now that's not working we can believe in!
If Obama mentions McCain's embrace of Bush respond with: How dare Obama mention John McCain's embrace. Everyone knows John McCain has trouble embracing people ever since he was a POW! He was hurt very, very badly (DON'T SAY TORTURED!) by very, very bad people. He can hardly embrace a thing. I cannot believe Obama would use John McCain's injuries as a political weapon! (Clutch pearls)
Fogey dust and Palin's pearls. That's their strategy heading into November.
In the end, though, all it really is is dandruff and plastic beads.
Will we suspend our disbelief? Let's hope to He-Man we don't!
There is a phrase -- actually, it's a theory -- called the "Willing suspension of disbelief". In very simple terms it basically means that humans often suspend their disbelief of something in order to be entertained.
This phrase (or theory) is often used with movie goers. A movie goer watches a fantastical movie while willingly suspending their disbelief that what is occurring on the screen is actually real. The theory goes that if one were to watch a movie without the suspension, they would not enjoy the movie simply because they would be analyzing how unbelievable it all is.
As children, my cousin and I felt we were growing too old for cartoons. We did not want to be perceived as children any longer. But secretly deep within, we still liked them. So what did we do? We watched the cartoons while loudly decrying their unbelievability. "The smurfs are in no way real. Little blue people. That's just stupid"... "There is no way Punky-power is real. I bet little kids think Punky power is real. They're so stupid"... "He-Man is sooooo fake. There is no way! But look at those muscles. He looks yummy"
Ok, the last one we did not say but I certainly did think it! The point is, whether we are willingly suspending or willingly not suspending our disbelief, we do it for a reason. We do so to either be entertained or, as in the case of my childhood, to feel some sort of superiority.
Enter McCain and Palin.
For the past week, especially at the Republican National Convention convention, we have been told that Palin and McCain are the agents of change that will mend the broken corriders of Washington. The Maverick and the Pit-Bull are going to fly into Washington and shake things up. They are the change that we have been waiting for.
Of course, as everyone knows, there are just a few problems with that scenario. George W. Bush is a republican, republicans have have held both houses of Washington for six of the last eight years and most, if not all, of our nations woes have been at the hands of republicans.
But instead of apologizing for it, McCain and Palin are actually asking us to willingly suspend our disbelief that they represent change. We are to believe that they are not republicans or even conservatives. And the saddest thing is that many Americans are suspending their disbelief of the campaign and republicans in general in order to be entertained. Or, and this is most likely the case, in order to not feel how badly these last eight years have hurt. They want to believe the unbelievable because they need something to believe in again.
Now, you might ask, what about Obama? He brings such freshness and hope. Why aren't Americans gravitating to him more than they are?:
The far-right has put so many pieces of untruth in the minds of voters concerning Obama that voters have been looking for permission to not vote for him. The right-wing has smeared him so much these last 20 months that the voters have a lot of doubts and they want permisson to vote for more of the same. And their permission is Palin.
Forget her record (suspend), forget her lies (suspend), forget her extreme views (suspend). Instead look at the fresh face and keep in mind her genatalia. She's a woman. That's all they want you to know.
And when you don't forget, they turn to page two of this years right-wing playbook:
When the press gets tough, have Sarah and her surrogates clutch their pearls in unison and cry. Cry so loud and for so long that that the press will do anything to quiet you, including quieting themselves.
When Obama makes a reference to a pig and lipstick, scream that he is referencing Sarah. And when the public ask "What..." cut them off and tell them to forget (suspend) that McCain said the same thing about Clinton last October as well as laughed and answered the question "How do we beat the bitch?" from a supporter earlier this year.
And when Obama uses the word "old" in any context wail that he means McCain. Old fish=McCain, old ways of Washington=McCain, old lies=McCain.
And make sure the public believes that taking on either McCain and Palin is either ageism or sexism.
If Obama says the economy has been slowing down for so long that we are, in fact, in a recession respond with: How dare he bring Sarah's son Trig into this! She chose life! Life! He is a down-syndrome child, not slow!
If Obama says the war in Iraq is not working respond with: You want to know who's not working? The executive chef to the governor of Alaska is not working. Now that's not working we can believe in!
If Obama mentions McCain's embrace of Bush respond with: How dare Obama mention John McCain's embrace. Everyone knows John McCain has trouble embracing people ever since he was a POW! He was hurt very, very badly (DON'T SAY TORTURED!) by very, very bad people. He can hardly embrace a thing. I cannot believe Obama would use John McCain's injuries as a political weapon! (Clutch pearls)
Fogey dust and Palin's pearls. That's their strategy heading into November.
In the end, though, all it really is is dandruff and plastic beads.
Will we suspend our disbelief? Let's hope to He-Man we don't!
Tuesday, September 9, 2008
Where's Andrew Sullivan? It's beginning to all come together
Let's look at Andy's last two post:
The most recent is a YouTube video from Desperate Housewives. If you have not heard the Palin/DH/Brie comparison, I suggest you look it up.
The second most recent post:
What one can not speak, thereof one must be silent".
You can see all my posts about Andrew's whereabouts by going to the main page of this blog here.
Something is stirring for sure. Stay tuned
Where is Andrew Sullivan? Wherever he is, he's certainly creating buzz
The most recent is a YouTube video from Desperate Housewives. If you have not heard the Palin/DH/Brie comparison, I suggest you look it up.
The second most recent post:
""Wovon man nicht sprechen kann, darüber muß man schweigen" - Ludwig WittgensteinAs a commenter pointed out, this translates to:
What one can not speak, thereof one must be silent".
You can see all my posts about Andrew's whereabouts by going to the main page of this blog here.
Something is stirring for sure. Stay tuned
Where is Andrew Sullivan? Wherever he is, he's certainly creating buzz
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