A Particular Blog By A Particular Atheist: LGBT

Showing posts with label LGBT. Show all posts

Saturday, April 19, 2014

Right Wing Group Priaises Ellen DeGeneres's Oscars Hosting, Ignores Her Sexuality

As far as I can tell, the Parents Television Council does not advertise themselves as religious, unlike the Family Research Council. But they are definitely right wing, founded by Brent Bozell who also founded the Media Research Center, a group dedicated to bitching about the "liberal media".

So, I was surprised when I found that the Parents Television Council had such high praise for Ellen Degeneres' hosting of the Oscars. It wasn't that long ago that Bozell himself was spreading some anti-gay hate or were including DeGeneres in their rants against Hollywood's "Homosexual Agenda".

This time, they didn't mention her sexuality at all. They were just glad she wasn't Seth MacFarlane. It's just one instance, and I'm sure they'll get back to hating on homosexuals, but I see this as a big step forward. Slowly, but surely, they're realizing that they're losing their fight against homosexuality. They're starting to figure out that it's not a fight they can win.

As Seth MacFarlane said about a different movement, "It's about fuckin' time."

Because, as MacFarlane says in the same clip, while the bigots are trying to decide if they're okay with gay people having the same rights as everyone else, they're waiting to get on with their fucking lives.

Monday, October 7, 2013

Sometimes Companies Fix Errors With Class

Part of my morning routine involves checking a small Facebook list I have that includes Shirt.Woot's page^[1], so I can see what new t-shirt they have available. This morning, they had an interesting new pair of shirts^[2].

Maybe you noticed the same limitation I did. It leaves out homosexuals. Other Woot members noticed the same thing, and spoke up about it on the comments section^[3]. So what did Woot do about it?

They fixed it^[4] by adding 2 new options^[5], gave them the 1st day price for the first 24 hours, and will have all 4 available on the same page after that.

It makes me happy when a place where I spend money does something inclusive. It's not that I'd have boycotted^[6] them if they hadn't fixed it. To be honest, I likely wouldn't have even noticed. But that just makes this that much better.

Well done, Shirt Woot peoples.

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1. https://www.facebook.com/shirt.woot
2. http://shirt.woot.com/offers/i-prefer-someone-with-brains
3. http://shirt.woot.com/forums/viewpost.aspx?postid=5577761
4. https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=661666427190476&set=a.485343014822819.120534.122039181153206&type=1
5. http://shirt.woot.com/offers/i-prefer-someone-with-brains-1
6. http://aparticularblogbyaparticularatheist.blogspot.com/2012/07/chick-fil-does-not-want-your-money.html

Wednesday, July 24, 2013

Omaha Has A Few Crazy Ass Religious People

I'm a weird atheist. I listen to Christian radio. I go to church^[1]. Not only that, but I'm an atheist who feels bad when he goes too long without going to church. But it's not so much guilt as it is regret in missing a show that seems like it would be fun. Plus, it's guilt for not working on a project I care about continuing.

Recently, I've had an abundance of places I'm interested in visiting. A local church's banner recently got the attention of Reddit. I made it to that place and wrote about it^[2]. But there's a few other, less open minded churches, I'm still eager to investigate. I still need to make it to Candlewood Church, the people behind the creepy^[3] UNO student group The Rock^[4].

I was mildly curious about Wellspring Lutheran Church before Hemant first wrote about their crazy ass pastor^[5]. That made me quite interested in seeing them up close. My interest grew when their pastor caught Hemant's attention again^[6] by thinking magic is real.

Now another church in Omaha that I was mildly interested in has been moved up to the top of the list, Westside Church, in Omaha. One of their members, Amber Dee Parker, has written a book for kids to teach them to hate^[7].

Endorsed by the American Family Association^[8]? If that was all you knew about this book, that would be enough to know it's anti-gay. The fact that this woman used an interracial couple^[9] for this hate-pushing book is deliciously hilarious.

I'm eager to see what her church is like. I've got a feeling she's far from the only hateful person in there, which makes me sad because it's a massive building.

Her promotional video^[10] for this piece of shit has garnered a couple of responses on YouTube.

[11]

[12]

Thanks to that video, I now know what she looks like. If she's there when I am, I might get to call her a hate monger to her face. That should be fun.

And if church members see this before I get there and kick me out, then it'll simply be a different kind of fun.

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1. http://allthesepiouspeople.blogspot.com/
2. http://allthesepiouspeople.blogspot.com/2013/04/moderate-christians-cognitive-dissonance.html
3. I've heard some very disturbing stories from students describing them as very cult-like.
4. http://youtu.be/ab2WyM6osZI
5. http://www.patheos.com/blogs/friendlyatheist/2013/05/30/christian-pastor-claims-to-have-irrefutable-mathematical-proof-for-christianity/
6. http://www.patheos.com/blogs/friendlyatheist/2013/07/12/christian-columnist-really-believes-magicians-can-levitate-because-of-satan/
7. http://journalstar.com/news/local/same-sex-marriage-debate-comes-to-children-s-book/article_6e1e675a-192b-5c90-9f50-06dc201cbe96.html
8. http://aparticularblogbyaparticularatheist.blogspot.com/search/label/American%20Family%20Association
9. http://www.patheos.com/blogs/friendlyatheist/2011/06/24/16-of-white-evangelical-christians-oppose-interracial-marriage/
10. http://youtu.be/vuWLeqAe5iY
11. http://youtu.be/aw1ZLsTSVzc
12. http://youtu.be/JSCA42uOCac

Wednesday, June 26, 2013

Some Links On The DOMA Ruling

Here's a few stories from today on the death of DOMA.

Thursday, June 13, 2013

Apostacon Offers Free Admission to Grace University Student Suspended For Lesbian Relationship

You may already be aware of the shameful behavior of the administrators of Omaha school Grace University^[1]. Especially if you're on Reddit^[2]. If you're not familiar with it, a Christian school found out one of their students was gay and kicked her out. They're apparently even refusing to even transfer her credits until she pays $6,300 owed because she had her scholarship taken from her. She's since married, and her wife has started a petition to have the debt forgiven^[3].

Today, Omaha Atheists posted that Apostacon has offered her free admission^[4]. Apostacon had sent out the following:

Thursday, June 15th, 2013 — Secular conference “Apostacon”, formerly known as the Midwest Freethought Conference, is offering free admission for their September 20th – 22nd event as a gift to Danielle Powell, the former Grace University student who was kicked out before finishing her bachelor’s degree after it was discovered she was involved a lesbian relationship.

“We take pride in welcoming everyone to Apostacon, regardless of anything as arbitrary as their sexual orientation.” says William Newman, spokesman for Apostacon. “While it may not make up for the financial and educational difficulties she now faces as a result of Grace University’s ridiculous behavior, we hope to show her that there is a large population of the Midwest who welcomes the LGBTQ community with open arms. This conference will be fun while also educational, focusing on secular activism issues like separation of church and state, as well as social justice causes and more. The Flying Spaghetti Monster theme and logo embraces our sense of humor while reminding us to utilize science and reason in our daily lives.”

“As a member of the LGBTQ community, I am saddened by the news that Grace University would exclude any student based on the antiquated laws of an ancient religion, rather than embrace diversity and promote equality,” says Meagan, Treasurer of Apostacon.

“It’s clear that Grace University is falling short of its name,” said David Silverman, President of American Atheists and Apostacon headliner. “This is a textbook example of religiously motivated bigotry. I hope that Grace changes its policy to reflect compassion and acceptance, rather than discrimination and intolerance. It’s pathetic.”

Apostacon 2013 is hosting quite a few speakers supportive of the LBTQ community. Nathan Phelps, son of Fred Phelps from Westboro Baptist Church, is a board member of the organization Recovering From Religion. Mr. Phelps speaks regularly in support of LGBTQ causes and against his father’s “God Hates Fags” placards. AJ Johnson, founder of Be Secular, identifies as bisexual and speaks on the topic “God Really Does Hate Fags.” Also speaking will be Dr. Darrel Ray, author of books entitled “The God Virus” as well as his most recent, “Sex and God,” where he promotes broad and healthy sexuality outside of religious beliefs.

###

If you’d like more information about this topic, or to schedule an interview with Apostacon spokesman William Newman, please contact Apostacon at info@apostacon.org or call (402) 522-6463, or visit the website at www.apostacon.org.

The Christians in this story rejected Powell for being comfortable with who she is instead of repressing her identity to conform to their narrow view of what they say sexuality is Now they want her to pay a debt she shouldn't owe because she only owes it because of their bigotry.

The atheists in this story would welcome her with open arms, no matter her sexuality. Even if she shows up to the conference wearing a cross and proclaiming herself to be a devout Christian. As evidence, our conference last year had two Christians on stage. One of them, Fred Heeren, is someone I've spoken to since and is someone who has my respect. He also opened ReasonFest^[5], gets positive reviews from atheists^[6], and goes with them to speak to governors^[7].

There's a reason I'm so happy that I'm atheist instead of a fundamentalist of any religion. A great number of people in my life do not conform to the narrow minded views of places like Grace University and too many other religionists. If I were like them, I'd be forced to shut of a lot great people out of my life. While Heeren, my new dialogue partner^[8], and my parents^[9] prove it's not an either/or situation, I'd still much rather be good without god(s) than a bigot with a god.

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1. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/06/12/danielle-powell-grace-university_n_3428514.html
2. http://www.reddit.com/r/atheism/comments/1g8iy3/christian_university_expels_student_for_being_gay/
3. https://www.change.org/petitions/grace-university-don-t-force-my-wife-to-pay-back-college-scholarships-because-she-s-gay
4. http://www.omahaatheists.org/2013/06/14/apostacon-offers-free-admission-to-grace-university-student-suspended-for-lesbian-relationship/
5. http://youtu.be/i8z5MWsbFAY
6. http://jrh3k5.blogspot.com/2012/03/show-me-god-stellar-book-review.html
7. http://www.patheos.com/blogs/wwjtd/2013/05/atheists-including-my-fiancee-go-smile-to-smile-with-sam-brownback/
8. http://aparticularblogbyaparticularatheist.blogspot.com/search/label/Discerning%20With%20A%20Christian
9. http://aparticularblogbyaparticularatheist.blogspot.com/2013/04/an-open-letter-to-some-atheists.html

Saturday, June 1, 2013

Religion In Comics

It should be no shock to anyone who knows me that I read comic books as a kid. I favored X-Men^[1] and the 2099^[2] series. I don't recall it ever occurring to me care about the religion of any of them. Nevertheless, someone cared enough to create a database of the religions of comic book characters^[3]. I may not have cared then, but I've found myself amused by what I've found.

Atheists^[4] are as underrepresented as you would expect, but there are some noteworthy entries. The character I was most into, Wolverine^[5], is "sometimes atheist". Henry Pym^[6], who's due to get his own big screen film in 2015^[7], is listed as atheist. Both of them have been on the super hero team The Avengers^[8], who are mostly various kinds of Christian. But, The Avengers also include atheist The Wasp^[9], lapsed Catholic^[10] The Hulk^[11], lapsed Russian Orthodox^[12] Black Widow^[13], secular^[14] Nick Fury^[15], and mostly secular, Iron Man^[16].

Religion for The Avengers is an interesting thing. Of its founding members^[17], only Captain America^[18] is overtly Christian. I suppose that makes sense when another of them, Thor^[19], is worshiped as a god^[20] but is really from another dimension/planet^[21]. Then there's a later member of the group, who is a god of a different non-Christian religion. The Hercules^[22] of The Avengers is the Hercules of Ancient Greek religion^[23].

On the subject of atheists being faced with actual gods, there is the flagship character for Image Comics^[24], Spawn^[25]. He was atheist until he was faced with indisputable proof of the existence of Heaven & Hell. Despite the religious aspect of their most famous character, Image Comics itself, appears to be very light on religion. It's possible that has something to do with Todd McFarlane being atheist^[26], but there were seven other founding members^[27] whose religious views I've been unable to find anything on. Savage Dragon^[28], one of the company's other prominent characters, is atheist.

DC Comics^[29] has its own peculiarities. Batman^[30] is a lapsed Catholic. The first Robin, Dick Grayson^[31], was raised Gypsy (Romani)^[32] but apparently converted to a form of Christianity at some point after his parents' death. Wonder Woman^[33] is a follower of the same Ancient Greek religion^[23] that provided the lore for her character.

Alien Martian Manhunter^[34] follows the religion of his home planet^[35]. Alien Superman^[36] is Methodist^[37] but also follows the Kryptonian religion. His wife^[38] is Catholic^[10], and his arch enemy^[39] is a lapsed Episcopalian^[40] Nietzschean^[41] atheist^[4].

Marvel's^[42] Fantastic Four is comprised of a Ben Grimm^[43] (Jewish^[44]), Reed Richards^[45] (theist humanist^[46]), and Sue^[47] & Johnny Storm^[48] (Episcopalians^[40]). The child of Reed & Sue, Franklin Richards^[49], has godlike powers and is more powerful than those listed above who are actually called gods, but is Episcopalian^[40] like his mother and uncle.

Under religion, some things that aren't really religions are listed. Black Widow^[13] was also listed as "communist"^[50]. X-Men member Colossus^[51], who grew up in the USSR is listed as communist [50] atheist^[4]. I wonder if the CW Show "Arrow"^[52] ever addresses Green Arrow^[53] being an agnostic^[54] and a Marxist.

Many characters' religion is listed as Anthropomorphic Animal^[55], which is more of a race/species than a religion, but it gave the creators of the site something to put for the Disney characters'^[56] religions.

Also not a religion is LGBT^[57]. Other than the glaring lack of gay characters, there's nothing particularly interesting from that page, other than the picture they used for Ace & Gary^[58].

Lastly, there's Christian Knight Comics^[59]. Their lineup^[60], is almost entirely Evangelical Protestant^[61]. They have a character called Mr Christian^[62], who's a former atheist^[4]. And their only villain is also their only Catholic^[10]. I'm sure the stories they tell are fascinating.

Thanks to Alyssa Milano^[63] for sharing and to anyone who actually read this entire thing.

Tuesday, May 14, 2013

How Do You Discern The Bible's Stance On Homosexuality?

The following is part of a series of posts that will be a public discussion^[1] between myself and the Christian author of a blog called "The Discerning Christian"^[2].

The issue I've decided to start with is one where we appear to have a lot agreement^[3], homosexuality^[4]. Plus, it's a topic I care quite a bit about. I've never understood the bigotry^[5] associated with it. I understand it slightly better since growing up and learning that it is, as far as I've ever been able to find, entirely from the religious, but that just tells me that one illogical stance comes from another.

For Christians who are not anti-gay bigots, I have a few questions.

In discussing homosexuality with Christians, you will generally find that most of them agree that the Church has treated the LGBT community wrongly, and I would agree.

That has not been my experience. I suspect that it would not be the experience of my gay friends if they were asked. My experience with Christians and homosexuality tends to be more like the rest of that paragraph.

But unless you’re in a church community which actually accepts homosexuality, you will find that everyone has their own pet caveats for why it’s not okay, even though the Church is not treating homosexuals as it should. You will hear comparisons of homosexuality to addiction to pornography or alcohol. You will hear slippery slope arguments, like how will we say no to one night stands or even bestiality if we can’t say no to homosexuality.

Your post is an admirable defense of homosexuality, something that shouldn't even need defended. But how do you reconcile your reasonable approach to homosexuality with what the Bible says about it?

Do not have sexual relations with a man as one does with a woman; that is detestable. - Leviticus 18:22^[6]

If a man has sexual relations with a man as one does with a woman, both of them have done what is detestable. They are to be put to death; their blood will be on their own heads. - Leviticus 20:13[7]

Do you think you being a Christian, who I presume quotes & reveres the same Bible as Westboro Baptist Church and the countless hate groups whose names contain the word "family", lends credibility to them and others^[8] who use the Bible to justify their anti-gay stances^[9]?

The ancient people were not stupid, but they did not have the knowledge we have and would have written the Bible in accordance with the way they understood things to be.

Do you think the Bible is the inspired word of your god? If you can say that the Bible was written by men who were limited by the time they lived in, how do you justify following it? You clearly think parts of the Bible should be disregarded. How do you go about deciding which parts to follow and which parts to throw out?

I argue that homosexual Christians should learn to order their desires in the same manner as all other Christians, that they express love and commitment alongside any sort of eroticism. That is the Christian ideal for all sexual desire. That is my hope for homosexual Christians, that they are able to live lives where they can express their homosexuality in a healthy manner and in a way which glorifies God.

You certainly could take a worse approach to it, for instance something like the majority of Christian views on the issue that I encounter. But I still have a different take on it. My hope for homosexual Christians is for them to leave the religion that follows a book which says they should be put to death. My hope for homosexual Christians is for them to abandon the religion that is the driving force behind their status as second class citizens^[10].

This probably comes off as harsh, but I don't really know how else to write about this issue. And it is something about Christianity I've long wondered.

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1. http://aparticularblogbyaparticularatheist.blogspot.com/search/label/Discerning%20With%20A%20Christian
2. http://thediscerningchristian.wordpress.com/
3. http://thediscerningchristian.wordpress.com/2013/03/21/a-christian-defense-of-homosexuality/
4. http://aparticularblogbyaparticularatheist.blogspot.com/search/label/LGBT
5. http://aparticularblogbyaparticularatheist.blogspot.com/search/label/Homophobia
6. http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Leviticus%2018:22&version=NIV
7. http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Leviticus%2020:13&version=NIV
8. http://carm.org/bible-homosexuality
9. http://www.bible.ca/s-homo=sin.htm
10. http://www.redstate.com/srachui/2013/04/08/why-christians-cannot-support-same-sex-marriage/

Saturday, March 30, 2013

Saturday Morning Shares - 03-30-2013

Here's the links & tweets to share from the last week. Most were also shared on this Facebook page or retweeted. Please feel free to add any fun or informative stories I missed in the comments.

Random Stuff:

5 Alternatives to Unfriending Someone on Facebook (via @mashable)

Top NewsMax headlines. For those thinking NewMax reports news, you'd be wrong. It's all conservative BS twitpic.com/cdqyfx
— Clay Skot (@ClaySkot) March 23, 2013

Tea Partiers boycotting FOX News for being too leftist. (via @jteberhard)

(via George Takei)

Science!:

Gay Stuff:

GLAAD to Fox News: You're on Thin Ice (via The Advocate magazine)

(via Americans Against the Tea Party)

Religion Stuff:

(via Steven Olsen)

‘Militant Atheism’ Isn’t a Religion; It’s an Oxymoron (via @hemantmehta)

Creationist offers $10,000 to anyone willing to challenge literal interpretation of Genesis in court (via Bob)

How Skeptics Can Break the Cycle of False Beliefs (via Becky)

(via @hemantmehta)

Secular Coalition of America's Weekly Update:

National Secular Movement Update Call (03/28/2013)

Asshole Of The Week:

Once you redefine marriage - who's to say you can't redefine it again - and again - and again? "Do you Fluffy take this human..."
— toddstarnes (@toddstarnes) March 26, 2013

Funniness:

Is it ok to ask a very pregnant librarian if she's overdue?
— Conan O'Brien (@ConanOBrien) March 25, 2013

Saturday, March 16, 2013

Chick fil-A, Still Assholes

Since the publicity last year about Chick-fil-A's^[1] donations to hate groups^[2], I've heard a variety of things about the issue. Some friends have tried to say "it's just a sandwich". But enough people stood up to Chick-fil-A^[3] that they promised to stop the donations^[4].

Last week, Think Progress reported on their 2011 donations to these ant-gay hate causes^[5]^[6].

In 2011, the group actually gave even more to anti-LGBT causes. Its contribution to the Marriage & Family Foundation jumped to $2,896,438 and it gave the same amount to the Fellowship of Christian Athletes and National Christian Foundation as it had in 2010. In total, the anti-LGBT spending exceeded $3.6 million — almost double the $1.9 million from the year before.

...

In essence, Chick-fil-A’s “charitable” contributions in 2011 were no less hateful than in 2010 — just less transparent.

This spike in donations occurred before the promise for them to cease. I wish I expected us to see anything different when the information on their 2012 donations comes out.

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1. Chick-fil-A Does Not Want Your Money
2. http://www.advocate.com/business/2012/07/02/chick-fil-donates-2-mil-antigay-groups#.T_H5UqpmN6R
3. http://news.change.org/stories/yes-chick-fil-a-says-we-explicitly-do-not-like-same-sex-couples
4. http://articles.latimes.com/2012/sep/19/business/la-fi-mo-chickfila-gay-moreno-20120919
5. http://www.facebook.com/beingliberal.org/posts/434487519960515
6. http://thinkprogress.org/lgbt/2013/03/14/1722631/chick-fil-a-foundation-anti-lgbt-spending-nearly-doubled/

Monday, February 11, 2013

Same Shit, New Pope

I share JT Eberhard's disdain for Joseph Ratzinger^[1]. He's a terrible person who's done the world terrible harm. He's probably the only person in the world who's done the world more harm after being a Nazi than while he was.

I hold no optimism that his resignation^[2] will improve the Catholic Church. Their hate, lies about condoms^[3]^[4]^[5]^[6], protection of pedophiles^[7]^[8]^[9]^[10]^[11], and shitty treatment of women^[12]^[13]^[14] aren't limited to just that one man. It's institutional. At best, the next Pope will be marginally better than this one.

The Vatican will continue getting Africans killed, and its members will continue to defend that despicable behavior^[15]. It will continue its efforts to suppress women's rights^[16]. It will continue to protect those who rape children. It will continue to be bigoted toward homosexuals^[17]^[18]^[19], Jews^[20]^[21]^[22]^[23], and sometimes both at once^[24].

It will continue to be the kind of organization who had a questionable relationship with the Nazis^[25]^[26]^[27]^[28]^[29], was later led by one^[30], and has done more harm to world than even they did.

It will continue being one of the most evil organizations^[31] in the history of the world. Just with a different monster running it, pretending to be infallible while pushing clearly fallible nonsense.

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1. The Pope is resigning. Good.
2. Pope Benedict XVI to resign citing poor health
3. Pope claims condoms could make African Aids crisis worse
4. Vatican renews condom criticism
5. Vatican newspaper article says condom campaigns increase AIDS risk
6. The Catholic Church versus HIV/AIDS in Africa
7. Catholic order had 'pedophile ring' in Vic
8. Head of Catholic Bishops Paid Pedophiles to Disappear
9. The Catholic church really is full of pedophiles.
10. Catholic sex abuse cases - Wikipedia
11. A smoking gun letter reveals Vatican directly ordered pedophiles be protected
12. Proper Dress and Behavior for Catholic Women
13. The Vatican's War on Women
14. Vatican Reaffirms: Women's Ordination Invalid
15. What Impact Does Catholic Teaching Have on AIDS in Africa?
16. Vatican Crackdown On Nuns Over Social Justice Issues, Women Ordination
17. The Vatican hates gays
18. Vatican article likens gay marriage to communism
19. Vatican Launches 'Anti-Gay Media Blitz,' Compares Gay Marriage To Polygamy, Polyandry
20. Jewish outrage greets Vatican 'anti-Semitism' remarks
21. Vatican embracing anti-Semitism?
22. The Vatican's Shameful Secret
23. Cables: Anti-semitism in the Vatican
24. Vatican: Homosexuality And Jews Caused Pedophilia Scandal
25. Red Cross and Vatican helped thousands of Nazis to escape
26. Catholic Church and Nazi Germany
27. Vatican City during World War II
28. The Vatican Made Nazism Possible in Germany and Croatia
29. Archbishop Orsenigo Celebrates Hitler’s Birthday
30. Was Pope Benedict XVI (Joseph Ratzinger) A Nazi? Why Join the Hitler Youth?
31. Richard Dawkins on the Catholic Church

Monday, November 19, 2012

Anti-Gay Activist Is Gay

In a completely shocking, never before seen twist, an anti-gay activist has been caught engaging in same-sex behavior.

A Manchester lawyer took a teenage girl to Canada, had her engage in sexual activity and convinced her to let it be filmed, according to federal indictments.

My favorite line of the article:

On Biron’s Facebook page, which was taken down in recent weeks, she had listed the Bible as her favorite book.

I want to rant about the hypocrisy of it, but there really isn't any left to say about it. It's become so commonplace now, there's nothing surprising about it. At least this time it was a female anti-gay hypocrite, but that wasn't all that surprising either.

These stories are just going to keep coming. They're going to keep hating gays, while being gay themselves. They'll eventually stop when the bigots die out. This kind of bigotry will eventually go the way of the Jim Crow style racists. But for now, they're going to keep getting caught trying to sneak a ride in the back of the bus.

In case it wasn't clear, by "back of the bus", I mean gay sex.

(Found via "God of the week")

Saturday, November 3, 2012

Mike Huckabee Can Go Fuck Himself

Perhaps could be nicer about it than the title of this post, but nothing says how I feel about his recent video better than that.

It talks about how, in generations past, the church has pressured people to vote a particular way as if that's a good thing.

It talks about "protecting marriage" as if it's under attack and as if the real attack isn't on gays and the fact that they are unjustly denied marriage equality. But, of course, it doesn't actually mention gays.

It talks about the Affordable Care Act's mandate for insurance to cover birth control (again without actually mentioning what he's referring to) as if it's an attack on religious liberty instead of a common sense policy that would actually save money in the long run. It talks about birth control as if it takes "innocent human life" instead of preventing the abortions he claims to oppose.

It talks about these reprehensible stances as if they are moral "values" instead of bigotry and a false sense of entitlement.

It talks about all this stuff as if it's a "test of fire" instead of a pile of horseshit meant to guilt the religious into voting for Republicans.

In other words, Mike Huckabee can go fuck himself.

Thursday, August 2, 2012

They Won One Battle

Since I last wrote about Chick-fil-A, a media frenzy has erupted. Yesterday was declared "Chick-fil-A Appreciation Day" by Mike Huckabee, and it was quite a success. Bigots came out in force to show their support for the hate group funding restaurant, even here in Omaha.

The only public Chick-fil-A in Omaha was sold out of chicken yesterday so much it affected the menu today.

It was extremely disheartening to see such support for such obvious hate. But then I thought about it. How long can they keep it up? Omaha has enough bigots to sell out one small restaurant on one day. The country has enough bigots to make madhouses of Chick-fil-As across the country. For one day. Hate is a powerful motivator. But can it last? How often will they eat at this restaurant?

I'm not sure there are enough of them to keep it profitable on their own for very long, and that is what it would take. I'm certainly not going to being eating there. I haven't eaten there in years, and in that time, I've been telling everyone I could about their support of hate. The people I tell nearly always join the boycott.

Omaha pulled together over 2,000 people for a vigil in response to a hideous hate crime in Lincoln a few days earlier. Those people are certainly not going to be eating Chick-fil-A anytime soon. And the number of people refusing to eat there will only grow.

I'm sure many bigots will attempt to continue their support of hate. But many will soon grow sick of eating it so often, or they'll simply forget. Boycotts can last forever. It's quite easy to avoid a single restaurant. It's not as easy to keep eating greasy chicken constantly.

They won the day yesterday. They will ultimately lose. We will eventually do the right thing, allow marriage equality, and end the 2nd class citizen status we force upon millions of Americans. The people who hated blacks yesterday and hate gays today will tomorrow have to find another target for their hate.

And just for fun, here's an article on the restaurant's other issues.

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