Christian Leftist

Well, that’s what President Bush will essentially say if and when he vetoes his third and fourth bills, the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, which would make persecution and discrimination of employees based on their sexuality illegal, and H.R. 1582, also named the Matthew Shepard Act, which would enhance existing hate crime legislation. Current hate crime laws state that violent crimes committed with motivations based on race, gender, religion, etc. are especially heinous and therefore subject to stiffer penalties; the House bill that has just passed would add sexual orientation to that list.

Of course, the anti-gay hate speech, which is still perfectly legal in this country as long as it doesn’t incite violence, has flared surrounding the issue, with several right-wing groups urging Bush to veto both bills. They argue that the legislation would forbid preachers from citing biblical references to homosexuality as a sin.

This whole issue makes me furious, but I’ll refrain from saying exactly how I feel about these people. Instead, I’ll quote Human Rights Campaign President Joe Solmonese from an article on Southern Voice:

“It’s no surprise the religious right is so concerned about hate speech — for them, hate appears to be a cottage industry,” Solmonese said. “But they have nothing to fear. Even after the hate crimes legislation is passed, the religious right will continue to have the federally protected right to preach hatred from the pulpit.”

Pwned.

The problem to me is, how can you reconcile teaching ignorant, gullible parishioners to hate their fellow citizens and human beings and still claim to serve the will of God?

The Los Angeles times reports that the religious right is fighting yet another war on campus battlegrounds across the country. They are freedom fighters–for intolerance, that is.

Ruth Malhotra, president of the College Republicans, argues that Georgia Institute of Technology’s tolerance policy that requires its students to be respectful of and to not discriminate against GLBT people violates the civil rights of Christians. Malhotra believes that homosexuality is wrong because of her interpreation of the people; therefore, forcing her to be tolerant of homosexuals (here used as an all-inclusive term) is in itself intolerant of her religious beliefs.

One does not need to point out that the Bible has been used to justify racism and segregation less than half a century ago. Jon Davidson, legal director of Lambda Legal, a gay rights group (NOT to be confused with NAMBLA, for all of you South Park watchers), says that if Christian conservatives claim a right to discriminate against gays, what’s to stop others from claiming the freedom to hate people on the basis of race, religion, social status, gender, etc? Jeremy Gunn, director of the American Civil Liberties Union’s Program on Freedom of Religion and Belief, goes even further. He posits that “they’re [religious right-wingers] trying to devlop a
persecution complex.”

Malhotra argues that being gay is not the same as being African-American. Presumably, this point of view derives from an assumption that people ‘choose’ to be gay. It is not certain exactly what she said to this effect, but the College Republicans did send a letter to the Gay-Straight Alliance, calling their group something akin to a ’sex club.’ As in, like a strip joint.

This is only one instance in a large number of defiant actions the religious right has undertaken nationwide. Many of them also wear anti-gay slurs on T-shirts to high school, denounce Gay Pride Week at work, refuse to attend diversity training…the list goes on.

So, what do you think? Do religious conservatives have the right to be bigots?

The Easter Egg Roll. (I love how on the afore-linked news page, there’s a link to a video on the “phenomenon of peeps.” Back to the story: a century-old tradition of plenary indulgence for tots on a day of spiritual purity, a festival of youthful races and happy snapshots, and a sea of rainbow leis! Yup–about a hundred or so gay and lesbian couples gathered with the festive Hawaiian decorations to escort their kids to the fun.

Naturally, conservative Christian groups threw a fit, and several radicals (wow! Imagine calling someone besides a liberal *radical!*) stood by the lines to get in and held up signs and shouting epithets in colloquial (read: bad) English, as Jon Stewart so eloquently pointed out on Tuesday.

I’m not sure I approve of singling one’s self out by wearing a rainbow-colored necklace, especially if the point is to simply blend in and be seen as “normal.” On the other hand, I wouldn’t want to walk up to a couple and start a conversation only to have them toss expletives in my face. What was funny was that Bush only appeared for the Katrina victims and the VIP guests. I really don’t get why everyone couldn’t enter the lawn area for the speeches if the same number of people were going to occupy the same space an hour later. Maybe Laura thought the gay couples were going to chuck their leis at her during her speech?

There is one person in American politics who almost no one slanders without severe repercussions, and he was assassinated over 35 years ago. Martin Luther King, Jr. didn’t have the opportunity or the motivation to talk about gay marriage, but his family does now, and thus they are a house divided.

Coretta Scott King, his widow, supports the full and equal rights of the BGTL community.
One of her sons supports her in opposing a Constitutional ban on gay marriage, but has not gone so far as to say that he supports full and equal rights for all.
Her daughter has marched in support of a ban on same-sex marriage.

Does anyone else see the hypocrisy in defending one group of people previously chained by supposed Biblical support for slavery (which has now been debunked) and hating another group of people based on the same premises?

Hate and bigotry will never convince people to accept Christ as their savior. It will, however, serve to further alienate them from those who try to do good in His name.