A CHRISTIAN VOICE FOR GAY, LESBIAN, BISEXUAL, AND TRANSGENDER RIGHTS

THE COARSENING OF OUR SOCIETY AND HOMOPHOBIC CLERGY

2009-11-10T06:05:00.000-08:00

The reason I'm linking to this article is that it highlights and reinforces the increasing coarsening of our culture that makes homophobic rhetoric, even the most vile and bizarre of such rhetoric, viewed as acceptable and even seem legitimate to many people within our society.

There are certain things that decent people don't do! Discussing one's sex life with one's spouse (or any other person, for that matter) in the public arena, divulging intimate details about the other person regarding the most intimate dimension of that relationship, is truly indecent and disgusting!

And if such betrayal and indecency is able to be leeched out into the public sphere, shame knows no bounds! We see such coarsening in all too many relationships, "religious" and political rhetoric, and much of what passes for "humor" and "commentary" in the media.

One only has to listen to most radio talk shows to see that coarsening of the culture and how it resonates with all too many gullible people who are unable or unwilling to allow their dark sides, dark sides we all possess to one degree or another, to become subordinate to the values that Jesus and other religious leaders have historically articulated. What makes this coarsening so egregious, beyond the obvious, is that hateful rhetoric, hatred and hate-mongering, are no longer on the fringes of many societal institutions but have taken center stage in much thought, words, and actions.

So, even the most reprehensible and irrational demagogic pronouncements from the pulpit regarding LGBT people is often seen by many as being consistent with biblical teaching, and with "conservative Christianity," when, in fact, such pronouncements are diametrically opposed to anything with which, Jesus, the Gospel, and Christianity have to do.

And, far from being "conservative Christianity," or "Bible-based," these pronouncements and often discriminatory actions by many clergy and their gullible followers represent another "religion" or world-view altogether! They have absolutely nothing to do with Christianity, and that fact must be hammered home every chance we get in any and every venue possible!

Since when can the life, ministry, teachings, and works of the Prince of Peace, the Embodiment of Love, the One Who tells His disciples to care for each other and for all of God's children be seen as being consistent with homophobic rhetoric and actions by those who have the temerity to call themselves "Christians"; be seen as being within the domain of "conservative Christianity?" Such a view is bizarre on its face!

Yet, that view is not often seen as being bizarre to the degree that our society has become increasingly coarsened!

And that coarsening is no better served than by homophobic clergy who falsely presume upon themselves, and pronounce themselves, to be arbiters of morality and yet bear false witness and defame God's LGBT children, and frequently do so to loud applause!

The indecency of such clergy mimics the indecency of any spouse who would divulge the sex life he/she had or has with his/her spouse! The only difference (and it's a big difference) is that the latter makes no assertion that he/she is taking the moral high ground, and is a representative of God on earth!

So, the tell-all spouse, as reprehensible as he/she is, is even more decent (and honest) than are homophobic clergy who presume to represent Jesus and yet who are ravenous wolves who lead gullible sheep astray and who have caused untold suffering to God's Gay children!

A COMMENTARY BY DON CHARLES ON BISHOP JOHN SPONG'S MANIFESTO

2009-11-08T15:11:00.000-08:00

Please read the excellent two-part post, You Can't Go Halfway, by my good friend Don Charles.

It deals with Bishop John Spong's essay, A Manifesto! The Time Has Come!

All Christians and all decent people should read both Spong's essay and Don Charles' two-part post.

It's important to remember that one can be a decent person and not be a Christian! However EVERY SINGLE Christian is a decent person, and if one is not a decent person, he/she is not a Christian!

THE CHURCH OF UGANDA AND THE "ANTI-HOMOSEXUALITY BILL"

2009-11-07T09:16:00.000-08:00

In April 2009, Archbishop Henry Luke Orombi said, "I am appalled to learn that the rumours we have heard for a long time about homosexual recruiting in our schools and amongst our youth are true. I am even more concerned that the practice is more widespread than we originally thought. It is the duty of the church and the government to be watchmen on the wall and to warn and protect our people from harmful and deceitful agendas."

[For the full paper, see here.]

In the above cited November 6, 2009 letter, the Rev. Canon Aaron Mwesigye of the Anglican Province of Uganda says this issue of increasing terms of imprisonment for Gay people is still being considered by the Church of Uganda so that The Church of Uganda is studying the proposed "Anti-homosexuality bill" and, therefore, does not yet have an official position on the bill.

This statement is profoundly offensive on its face! The Church of Uganda doesn't have an official position on imprisoning and depriving others of their liberties and freedom? What kind of "Christianity" does this obscenity represent? It's certainly not the Christianity of Jesus, of the Gospel of grace, of the Bible!

Some of the details of the proposed Anti-Homosexuality Bill are as follows:

Over recent months, there has been increased campaigning against homosexuality in Uganda, led by churches and anti-gay groups. The media have joined this campaign, and have publicly pointed to individuals they accuse of being gay or lesbian.

People suspected of being gay have faced death threats and been physically assaulted. Many have been ostracized by their families or faced discrimination, including dismissal from their place of employment.

This new draft bill includes a provision that could lead to the imprisonment for up to three years of anyone, including heterosexual people, who fails to report within 24 hours the identities of everyone they know who is lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender, or who supports human rights for people who are.

[For the full article, see here.]

Also:

The bill criminalizes "promotion of homosexuality" in the form of funding and sponsoring LGBT organizations and broadcasting, publishing, or marketing materials on homosexuality and punishes these acts with a steep fine, 5-7 years of imprisonment, or both. Any person in authority who fails to report known violations of the law within 24 hours will also be subject to a significant fine and up to 3 years in prison – even when this means turning in their colleagues, family, or friends. More shocking, the bill claims jurisdiction over Ugandans who violate its provisions while outside of the country.

The bill effectively bans any kind of community or political organizing around non-heteronormative sexuality.

[For the full article, see here.]

And so the Anglican Church of Uganda is "considering" such a bill, and those who do so portray themselves as "Christians!"

And, where is the outrage by most of the institutional Church? Where are those who are Christians indeed who are called to speak out against such an obscenity? How is it possible to sing "Amazing Grace" and other such hymns and feel no cognitive dissonance in either their advocacy or silence when such a Bill is "considered" by professing Christian clergy?

Where are those professing Christians who say, "Enough is enough! Not in the name of Jesus, not in the name of God, will you slander God, the Gospel, Christianity, and us by your ignorant and hateful prejudices that spit in the very face of God?

Those in the world-wide institutional Church who remain silent in the face of such an obscenity, of the oppression of LGBT people in the name of God, are just as guilty of the sufferings, suicides, assaults, murders, tortures, and imprisonment of LGBT people (and those perceived to be LGBT) than are the thugs who call themselves "Christians," yet whose hearts are filled with the values and prejudices of the demonic!

The level of homophobia within the institutional Church, and clergy rhetoric and discriminatory actions in both the religious and civic arenas, should leave us no doubt that the demonic has strongly infiltrated the institutional Church!

IT WASN'T GOD WHO TOLD HIM TO HATE GAY PEOPLE

2009-11-06T09:06:00.000-08:00

No, it was ignorant, homophobic clergy who told him to hate Gay people!.

LEAVE THE PLAINS OF HOMOPHOBIC CHURCHES AND PICK UP YOUR TENT AND MOVE TO HIGHER GROUND

2009-11-04T21:15:00.000-08:00

A foundation that supports gay rights has delivered a petition to Mormon church leaders asking them to reconsider their policies and political activism against gay marriage.

[For the full article, see here.]

Part of the Petition reads as follows:

We believe that the time is right for healing over this issue to begin, for those on both sides to manifest forgiveness, magnanimity, and especially, love. We believe reconciliation requires us to strive for open hearts and minds so that we might live together in peace and mutual respect. It is long past time for those on both sides to begin treating one another with greater dignity, respect and understanding.

[To see the full Petition, see here.]

In conjunction with this Petition, there is a very compelling, heart-felt, video entitled, "Bring Them In From The Plains":

Over many years, ample evidence has been presented that homophobia that is linked with many clergy's interpretation of selected Bible verses that has been enmeshed, if not fused, with their views of Christianity and "morality," is not going to be swayed or altered by appeals to emotion or to reason. Indeed, their homophobia is not even going to be swayed by biblical exegeses refuting the interpretation of those same passages that homophobic clergy use to bear false witness and discriminate against LGBT people!

It's high time that LGBT Christians make a cold turkey choice, if they haven't done so already! Stay in denominations and churches that view you as objects of disdain and ridicule OR flee those toxic denominations and churches and not subject yourselves to such gross indignities visited upon you "in the name of God."

This choice hinges on at least two criteria:

1. The degree of self-loathing/masochism that you possess.

2. The degree of loyalty you have to an institution that disparages you and seeks to deny you full and equal civil and sacramental rights.

Bishop John Spong of the Episcopal Church, in his article entitled, "A Manifesto! The Time Has Come!," in part wrote the following:

I will no longer seek to slow down the witness to inclusiveness by pretending that there is some middle ground between prejudice and oppression. There isn't. Justice postponed is justice denied. That can be a resting place no longer for anyone. An old civil rights song proclaimed that the only choice awaiting those who cannot adjust to a new understanding was to "Roll on over or we'll roll on over you!" Time waits for no one.

I will particularly ignore those members of my own Episcopal Church who seek to break away from this body to form a "new church," claiming that this new and bigoted instrument alone now represents the Anglican Communion. Such a new ecclesiastical body is designed to allow these pathetic human beings, who are so deeply locked into a world that no longer exists, to form a community in which they can continue to hate gay people, distort gay people with their hopeless rhetoric and to be part of a religious fellowship in which they can continue to feel justified in their homophobic prejudices for the rest of their tortured lives. Church unity can never be a virtue that is preserved by allowing injustice, oppression and psychological tyranny to go unchallenged.

[For the full article, see here.]

LGBT people who choose to remain in homophobic denominations and churches must dig deep into their psyches and seek to discern why they choose to remain in those toxic institutions!

The spurious canard that "It's my church too," as I heard one Roman Catholic say on TV, is embarrassing on its face! You don't make the doctrines, you don't make the dogmas, you can't preach from the pulpit, you have no voice in the formal dimensions of that denomination or church to get your own theological and/or personal views across, you have no right to excommunicate anybody. It is clearly not your church too!

So, I consider the above mentioned Petition to the Mormon Church to be well-meaning but pathetic on its face!

People, particularly clergy, who misuse Scripture and distort the lives of LGBT people as part of their theology and rhetoric; who raise countless millions of dollars to deny one or more civil rights to Gay people; who discriminate against Gay people, have no right to be treated with any degree of deference, let alone given credibility by being given petitions appealing to their reason and/or emotions; they have no right to be given credibility by your presence and your money, or the presence and money of any decent person who professes to be a Christian.

Enough is enough! If the role of the LDS Church, the RC Church, and most churches within the institutional Church regarding Prop. 8 in California and the recent vote removing the right of same-sex marriage in Maine doesn't make you angry enough to remove yourselves from these toxic institutions, I don't know what will.

All decent people and LGBT people who attend homophobic churches must examine their hearts and try and discern whether inertia should overcome anger; whether loyalty to one's tradition should overcome exposing oneself to lies and hateful rhetoric; whether any degree or even vestige of self-loathing should overcome giving credibility to institutions that misuse the Bible; whether any taint of masochistic needs should overcome discrimination and oppression visited upon LGBT people "in the name of God."

To all LGBT people, and all decent people who call themselves "Christians," I ask that you examine your psyches and ask yourselves why you choose to attend toxic institutions that demean and hurt others, and that cause untold suffering by their rhetoric and oppression of others in both the religious and civic arenas.

HOW CAN IT BE CONSTITUTIONAL TO PUT ANY GROUP'S CIVIL RIGHTS UP TO A VOTE OF THE ELECTORATE? A COMMENT BY DON CHARLES.

2009-11-04T11:10:00.000-08:00

My friend, Don Charles, who blogs at Christ, The Gay Martyr. posted the following comment on gay.americablog.com that is well worth reading. As you know, I've always been against putting any minority group's civil rights up to a vote by the electorate, having any group's civil rights be beholden to the will and whim of the dominant group in society, and his comment beautifully hammers that point home.

What is both stunning and depressing is how many millions and millions of dollars are wasted on these hate campaigns. If you add up all the 31 pro-gay campaigns we have lost, both sides have flushed hundreds of millions of dollars." What's really stunning and depressing is the cluelessness of the so-called Gay community and its spokesmen, including otherwise intelligent folk like Joe Sudbay and John Aravosis. When and how did we become convinced that voting on citizenship rights was a sane thing to do? Who decided that knocking on doors and trying to promote compassion in the same way you'd promote a political candidate would work? You can't root out deeply entrenched prejudice that way, especially not when there's a preacher in a pulpit every Sunday morning undermining your efforts with hateful doctrine! We've once more allowed ourselves to be punked by the religious Right Wing. We've willingly let them trick us into playing a game they know we can't win. Like it or not, people, marriage equality is a fight for the courts, not for the ballot box! We do immeasurable damage to the US Constitution when we participate in and validate anti-Gay ballot measure battles! We help set dangerous precedents! This issue is bigger than marriage equality. It's about our very democracy, and how we unwittingly help our enemies to destabilize it. Our energy and resources should be going toward legal challenges, not futile campaigns like Proposition 8 and Question 1! When will we learn?"

WHY ARE THE CHURCHES SILENT AMIDST LGBT OPPRESSION IN UGANDA AND ELSEWHERE?

2009-11-03T06:05:00.000-08:00

The Ugandan embassies of France and the United States publicly condemned Uganda's proposed Anti-Homosexuality Bill on Monday, but officials in the African nation plan to move forward with the discriminatory legislation....

The bill would amplify the country's antigay laws, including criminalizing any public discussion of homosexuality and penalizing individuals who knowingly rented property to a homosexual.

[For the full article, see here.]

I'm afraid that to ask the question posed by the title of this post is to answer it!

Most all of the institutional Church is patriarchal, heterosexist, bureaucratic, cowardly, and supports the status quo from which it profits by receiving its members' contributions in the collection plates that keep ministerial careers afloat!

There is nothing in Christian theology that supports discrimination of any kind, and to keep silent in the face of such discrimination, of such oppression, whether in Uganda, Jamaica, or anywhere else, is to support that discrimination and oppression, and makes those who remain silent just as culpable in the oppression, assaults, imprisonment, and murders of LGBT people than those who actively support these egregious acts!

And no disciple of Christ can either advocate discrimination, actually discriminate, or remain silent in the face of discrimination against LGBT people or against any other minority group!

So much of what passes for "Christianity" has been mere thuggery often couched in sanitized terms designed by many professing Christian clergy and their followers to seduce gullible people into buying into their homophobic prejudices by falsely appealing to such terms as "tradition," "traditional family values," "for the good of the children," "morality and decency," and "it's in the Bible."

And, sometimes the terms are not at all sanitized! For example, hear Bishop Isaac Orama’s getting caught saying that LGBT people are “inhuman, insane, satanic and not fit to live.” [See here.]

And hear Archbishop Peter Akinola:

Homosexuality and lesbianism, like divorce, breed a society of single parents which gives rise to a generation of bastards. And in the context of much poverty and lack of education, this further produces an ill-bred generation of hooligans, portending much terror to the peace and stability of the society. [See here.]

And hear our homegrown "religious" demogagues, the late Rev. Jerry Falwell, with Pat Robertson concurring, opining on why 9/11 happened:

Rev. Jerry Falwell: I really believe that the pagans and the abortionists and the feminists and the gays and the lesbians who are actively trying to make that an alternative lifestyle, the ACLU, People for the American Way, all of them who try to secularize America...I point the finger in their face and say you helped this happen." [See here.]

And most all churches within the institutionalized Church remain silent amidst this oppression because their congregants are quite comfortable with their incestuous socialization, spending their time discussing building beautification programs, attending church regularly, and singing their pious hymns.

Indeed, most clergy within the institutional Church, by their homophobic rhetoric and frequently warped doctrines and dogmas that make that rhetoric sound "godly" to their gullible followers, have encouraged rank discrimination against LGBT people both in the U.S. and in places like Jamaica and Uganda.

Is it any wonder that the moral high ground in the struggle for LGBT rights is not taken by most within the institutional Church, but is taken by most who are outside that structure, many of whom are not even Christians? And this fact is a profound embarrassment to all Christians worthy of the name!

It is a tragedy when secular forces lead the way in condemning the oppression of LGBT people, and when professing Christians encourage discrimination and oppression of others by their rhetoric, by their actions, and by their silence!

In this most significant and crucial civil rights movement of our time, full civil and sacramental equality for LGBT people, Jesus tells all who claim to be His disciples, and who persist in remaining silent amidst the oppression of LGBT people, what Mordecai told his cousin (whom he raised when her parents died) Esther, when the Jewish people in Shushan, which was in Persia, were slated to be murdered:

For if thou altogether holdest thy peace at this time, then shall there enlargement and deliverance arise to the Jews from another place; but thou and thy father's house shall be destroyed: and who knoweth whether thou art come to the kingdom for such a time as this? (Esther 4:14)

All Christians should meditate on Mordecai's admonition to Esther!

ONLY A WARPED THEOLOGY COULD SEE SOME TYPES OF DISCRIMINATION AS BEING "JUST"

2009-11-02T06:05:00.000-08:00

In an article entitled, "Churches Welcome Gay Bans" the following mind-blowing statement by Roman Catholic Cardinal George Pell appears:

"It is important to protect people from unjust discrimination but it is ridiculous to claim discrimination every time we show a preference for some people over others.

[For the full article, see here.]

If showing a preference for some people over others, and seeking to allocate dignity and rights based upon those preferences, isn't prejudicial and discriminatory, then I fail to see the very definition of "unjust discrimination" from any Christian (or any other rational) world-view!

Moreover, the very adjective Pell uses, "unjust," shows that he seems to see that certain types of discrimination can be "just."

And this is part of the heart of the problem of homophobia by many professing Christians when RC and other clergy advocate discrimination against one or more minority groups: they seem to feel that such discrimination and deprivation of civil and sacramental rights are "just!"

So we have self-professed representatives of the Prince of Peace, Who, told all who would be His disciples to love God and love and not judge others, advocating prejudice and discrimination, and further viewing such prejudice and discrimination as being "just" according to their warped theology.

And, of course, their view of "unjust" discrimination would entail anything that would offend a denomination's self-interest; the interests of such vulnerable people as foster children and recipients of charity, as seen in the above cited article, are being held hostage to anything that thwarts that warped view:

Charities and religious groups could discriminate against gay people or anyone else who might offend their values after a landmark decision quashed a finding in favour of a gay couple who wanted to become foster parents.

Both the Catholic and Anglican churches have praised the ruling and Cardinal George Pell said anti-discrimination cases threatened churches' ability to do charity work.

What an indictment against professing Christians who would sacrifice the vulnerable in society to their discriminatory dogmas; bear false witness and see nothing wrong with discriminating against God's LGBT children!

Let this sink in:

...and Cardinal George Pell said anti-discrimination cases threatened churches' ability to do charity work.

SAME-SEX MARRIAGE RIGHTS IN WASHINGTON, D.C.

2009-10-30T08:13:00.000-07:00

Scores of people cheered and waved signs as ministers and religious activists delivered speeches Sunday during a Freedom Plaza rally against same-sex marriage in the District of Columbia.

Chanting “let the people vote,” Bishop Harry Jackson, pastor of a church in Beltsville, Md., and Rev. Walter Fauntroy, Washington’s former congressional delegate, were among a series of speakers to call on the D.C. City Council to allow a voter initiative that seeks to ban same-sex marriage in the city.

[For the full article, see here.]

Same-sex marriage, despite much "religious" rhetoric to the contrary, is a civil rights issue! Indeed, LGBT rights is the major civil rights issue of our time!

To deny same-sex couples the civil and sacramental rights that accrue to heterosexuals who wish to make a lifetime commitment to each other is downright discrimination!

And for African-Americans who have a legacy of suffering unspeakable oppression in the U.S. to not understand this fundamental principle is amazing to me, and should be amazing to any rational person!

In the above cited article, Rev. Anthony Evans said, "...We were astonished to hear the chairman of the City Council not only willing to ignore God’s word but was determined to defy the teachings of Christ concerning marriage and defy God by declaring same-sex marriage as not a religious issue but a human rights one.”

Rev. Evans invokes "God's word" but fails to mention (or perhaps even see) Jesus' statement in the context of heterosexual marriage: "For there are some eunuchs , which were so born from their mother's womb...." (Matthew 19:12)

Rather than exegete the above passage here, which Faris Malik has superbly done, it must be emphasized that "God's word" by no means discounts same-sex marriage; same-sex marriage in no way "[defies] the teachings of Christ concerning marriage," and, contrary to Evans' assertion, the conferring of same-sex marriage rights is not a religious issue but is, in fact, a human and civil rights issue!

Same-sex marriage is a civil right, and our civil rights are not to be given or withheld by appealing to the Bible (or, more particularly, certain people's interpretation of selected verses of the Bible), but we are under the Constitution, the Judicial interpretation of which defines our civil rights; those civil rights are not to be up for grabs by the vote of the majority or by the assertions of any religious or secular leaders!

Shame on people like Rev. Harry Jackson and Rev. Anthony Evans who seek to deny the dignity and sanctity of marriage to others, bearing false witness against and discriminating against Gay people, while at the same time profiting from the legacy of civil rights activists that have enabled them to enjoy the liberation that they seek to deny to another minority group!

A MUST READ: THE INVISIBLE MONSTER

2009-10-29T06:05:00.000-07:00

On his excellent blog, Christ, The Gay Martyr, my good friend Don Charles has just written a two-part post entitled, The Invisible Monster that deals with discrimination against LGBT people in the work place; he uses some of his own experiences in his discussion

Two excerpts from his two-part post read as follows, and I strongly urge you to read both parts of his excellent post in their entirety:

If you're a perceptibly homosexual or transsexual person working in a heterosexist environment, it's best that you police your sense of humor. If you don’t, someone else will! Office humor is notoriously raunchy, but you must be extremely careful of what you say in jest. Any joke or humorous comment with even a hint of sexual connotation can and surely will be used against you. Remember what the heterosexist mentality dictates: LGBT folk should be viewed as purely sexual beings who can't help but act out inappropriately. Their uncontrollably prurient impulses must be kept in check!....

The worst thing about heterosexism on the job is that it's so damn hard to prove! Bigoted managers and administrators are smart enough not to call you a "tranny" or a "faggot" or a "dyke" to your face. Although you strongly suspect the motive behind what’s going on, you're hard-pressed to affix a label to the kind of harassment you're enduring. There's nothing concrete you can point to that screams "I hate Gay people" or “I hate transfolk” in such a way that an EEOC investigator could understand it....

What is particularly sinister about the kind of job discrimination to which Don Charles refers is what Sociologists call "Moral Alchemy." That is, "in-group virtues" are made by xenophobes to be "out-group vices" when discounted members of a minority group engage in the very same behavior that is strongly approved when a member of the dominant group engages in that behavior .

So, for example, if a Straight person seeks to better him/herself on the job, he/she is viewed as "a valuable employee." If a Gay person seeks to better him/herself on the job, he/she might well be viewed as a mere sycophant who is trying to be a rate buster who is trying to make other people look bad.

In other words, what is viewed as being a positive when a member of the dominant group does something, is frequently viewed as a negative when a discounted member of a minority group does the very same thing.

Moreover, there is discrimination visited upon discounted minority group members that are not easy to classify as "discrimination," save when it is members of that minority group that are uniquely treated in a discriminatory manner! And, particularly in a large organization, that proof is very hard to ascertain.

Don Charles concludes his post by asking: "Do you have a personal story of heterosexism and/or transphobia on the job? Please share it with me in my comments section."

I strongly urge you to take him up on his offer in the comments section of his two-part post, The Invisible Monster.

Your comments would help so many other people struggling with discrimination in the work place!

OBAMA TO SIGN BILL WIDENING HATE CRIMES LAWS

2009-10-28T07:26:00.000-07:00

At a ceremony in the White House Rose Garden Wednesday afternoon, President Obama plans to sign a bill into law that was more than a decade in the making. It is an update to the federal hate crimes statute that Congress initially passed in 1968.

For the first time, the law that had previously protected people from attacks motivated by race, religion or ethnicity will include gay, lesbian, transgender and disabled people.

[For the full article, see here.]

You can also hear the audio on the above site.

PETITION FOR FULL EQUALITY

2009-10-27T13:42:00.000-07:00

Please sign this Petition for Full Equality.

ROMAN CATHOLIC HERESY AND SAME-SEX MARRIAGE

2009-10-26T12:01:00.001-07:00

Bishop Richard Malone made this brief Youtube video affirming that only heterosexual marriage is to be recognized, to which I want to call your attention (Thanks to Pam's House Blend.):

Now, notice two major points:

1. He begins by saying, "We believe...." People believe a lot of things, and a lot of those beliefs are not necessarily true!

2. However, and even more egregiously, he states, ""Living a Christian sacramental marriage is a fundamental way of attaining salvation." Where did that idea come from? It's certainly bears no relationship to any Christian theology with which I am familiar! His statement is not only preposterous, but it is heretical!

The Bible teaches, particularly through the Apostle Paul, that God imputes salvation to us, and that imputation occurred before the worlds were even formed. (See, for example, Ephesians 1:4; Romans 8:29); the free gift of God's grace (unmerited favor) is appropriated by our faith (trusting God over and above seen circumstances). (See, for example, Romans 5:1-2)

Moreover, read Galatians 2:16: "Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified."

Gay Christians can and do trust Jesus! If one lives under the Law, the strictures of mere human beings, the yokes of bondage placed by such institutions as the Roman Catholic Church, he/she has nullified faith and thrown God's gift of God's grace back in God's face.

The Bible makes it clear that it is only by faith that we can please God (Hebrews 11:6), and not some man-made belief system that serves to justify organizational and individual prejudices for which there are usually financial, psychological, social, and political rewards to be garnered.

To even suggest that heterosexual marriage within the Christian tradition "is a fundamental way of attaining salvation," Bishop Malone is not only being heretical, contravening the Bible, but is grasping at false straws to make an argument in a way that merely shows his and others' desperation due to the bankruptcy of their prejudices against same-sex marriage.

And for him to pontificate that Gay people should not be discriminated against, also shows the Bishop Malones of the institutional Church world to be terribly naive or cynical in the extreme.

Gay people are discriminated against, and the RC Church is one of the major religious vehicles that provokes and seeks to justify that discrimination.

And, as we see in this brief video, that discrimination is based on false biblical exegeses, heretical theology, and just plain downright blind prejudice!

ROMAN CATHOLIC CLERGY SEXUAL SUPPRESSION IS OFTEN TOXIC TO OTHERS

2009-10-24T09:28:00.000-07:00

I'm 5'6" tall and have never played professional basketball! What kind of credibility would I have in your eyes if I lectured you on the proper way to play professional basketball? Clearly, the answer is likely, "none."

Now, Roman Catholic clergy presumably do not engage in romantic/sexual relations, so why do people give credibility to those RC clergy who would dare teach us on the subjects of romance and sexuality?

Compounding this bizarre scenario where gullible people do take seriously the toxic pontifications of assorted RC clergy and the Vatican regarding sexual matters, is the fact that there is so much condemnation emanating from all too many RC sources regarding sexuality that they view as "normal" and also sexual expression that is, in their eyes, "disordered" or even "intrinsically evil."

So, we have the hateful rhetoric of the Archbishop of Guam regarding same-sex love and its protections:

Islamic fundamentalists clearly understand the damage that homosexual behavior inflicts on a culture. This is why they repress such behavior by death...It may be brutal at times, but any culture that is able to produce wave after wave of suicide bombers...is a culture that at least knows how to value self sacrifice.

[For the full text, see here.]

So, Gay people must suppress their God-given sexuality because of the "damage that homosexual behavior inflicts on a culture," damage that is elusive to any rational person. And this Archbishop's statement goes so far as to applaud Islamic fundamentalists who "repress such behavior by death."

And this egregious pronouncement is done in the name of "Christianity?" This is not any type of Christianity to which any Christian can relate!

Fundamentalists of any stripe, be it from the RC Church, the LDS Church, or from any denomination, church, or secular authority are birds of a feather who flock together. Hence, the Vatican holds its arms open to reactionary Anglicans, even going so far as to allow them to have their own liturgy and married clergy within the context of Roman Catholicism, some doctrines of which are antithetical to those of Anglicans and protestants in general.

Just as I wouldn't trust someone like me to lecture you on the finer points of professional basketball, I wouldn't trust presumably celibate clergy who (unless called by God to do so) suppress their God-given sexuality and seek to impose the warped values and questionable psychological dynamics they possess onto others who have no reason to see any contradiction between sexuality and spirituality.

The Apostle Paul said, "For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace." (Romans 8:6) I wholeheartedly agree with his statement!

That's why when those who succumb to enforced celibacy seek to impose their own sexual views and values onto others, they are projecting their preoccupation with sex borne of its daily suppression; their condemnation of others' sexuality and sexual expression is likely a projection of their own sexual frustrations borne of sexual suppression that is not healthy unless one is gifted by God to be celibate.

Moreover, by suppressing such a primal urge as sex, sex is what is largely thought about in that person's daily life, even more than when one is free to express him/herself sexually. We all think of sex quite frequently (Yes, even at my age!), but can you imagine the preoccupation with sex when one suppresses this very God-given primal urge?

Therefore, one is carnally minded particularly when one is forced to be celibate; the healthy integration of sexuality with one's spirituality allows one to live a full, abundant life that partakes of all of the gifts that God has bestowed on God's children! So, one can truly be spiritually minded when his/her sexuality is integrated into his/her life that, for the Christian or for any religious person, has been dedicated to God.

Moreover, to enforce celibacy, as occurs among RC clergy, contradicts the Apostle Paul's admonition:

Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils; Speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron; Forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from meats, which God hath created to be received with thanksgiving of them which believe and know the truth. For every creature of God is good, and nothing to be refused, if it be received with thanksgiving: For it is sanctified by the word of God and prayer. (1Timothy 4:1-5)

Paul well knew, as do most of the rest of us, that carnality is borne out of repression and suppression, and that whatever God has created is good! And God created sexuality for our pleasure, as well as for procreation for those for whom that is possible. And no person or institution should be in the business of "forbidding to marry!"

Why would God make sexual activity so pleasurable if God wanted us to abstain from it, or restrict it to only one type of relationship that is not natural for a given person? For a heterosexual it is unnatural for him/her to want to marry someone of the same sex; for a homosexual it is unnatural for him/her to want to marry someone of the opposite sex. This is not rocket science!

Since God created Gay and Straight (and bisexual and transgender) people, God wants us to live abundant lives that only comes from living lives of authenticity that comes from partaking of the unique gifts, among them our sexuality, that God has conferred upon us.

And like being Straight, being Gay is a gift from God, and to deny that gift is to not only stunt the spirituality of that person but is tantamount to throwing that gift back in God's face.

The Archbishop of Guam, the Vatican, and all religious homophobes are advocating that others throw God's gift of sexuality back in God's face, and by so doing are helping to create lives of self-loathing manifested in untold suffering, suicides, assaults, and murders of LGBT people.

And this suppression of sexuality, the projection of one's warped views of sexuality onto others, and the condemnation of the sexual lives of Gay people bears no relationship to Christianity!

FILM: THE MORMON PROPOSITION

2009-10-23T06:00:00.000-07:00

The Mormon Proposition will explain once and for all just how the Mormon Church operates, and how they have led the fight against marriage equality all across the United States since Utah became the first state to ban same-sex marriage in 1995. 29 states have followed Utah's lead, and the Mormon Church has made sure of that.

The film also goes into great depth about how the Mormon Church has destroyed so many lives and families in its desire to impose its will on others.

Please tell the world about this incredible documentary. It is a film for all to see.

[For the full article, see here.]

[Also check out its website.]

What is the Mormon proposition? The film is expected to showcase the major gay marriage battles the Mormon Church has backed since Utah became the first state to ban gay marriage in 1995. And how church officials attempted to conceal their deep involvement in the issue. Is the Mormon Church the mastermind puppeteer of the anti-gay marriage movement?

In a blog post, [Director Reed] Cowan said the film had divided his family.

“My determination [to finish the film] has been tested. At this writing, I have lost communication with my sisters and my mother and my father. They are wonderful people and they are Mormons. The fear they have over what this film will say has worn thin to the point that our relationships are stressed and I fear broken forever,” he said.

The film is being considered for a Sundance Film Festival premiere in January.

This is the trailer from The Mormon Proposition:

THE DANGER OF THE RELIGIOUS RIGHT

2009-10-21T06:05:00.000-07:00

It’s sad, in this day and age, that people don’t study history, and people have never stopped giving to those who seek power and control. Of course, there are many who don’t want to take responsibility for their own lives, so this works for them. They financially support others (religious right leaders) who in turn excuse their lives from their actions by placing what happens in the hands of their “God”.

[For the full commentary, see here.]

Many people want to be told what to do and even what to think!

Indeed, many people go so far as to ideologically and financially support clergy who impose their prejudices onto their followers, frequently enabling those clergy to live lavish lifestyles, and who give their gullible followers permission to justify prejudice against a targeted minority group, and do so in the name of God.

By equating their own prejudicial and often self-serving interpretations of certain selected verses of Scripture, whether against women, African-Americans, or LGBT people, with what they say is "God's will," they are contravening two of the Ten Commandments: committing the sin of idolatry (equating the Bible with God) and bearing false witness.

Indeed, by elevating their own preconceived prejudices and xenophobia as Divine law, they are committing the worst kind of idolatry: idolizing of one's own prejudicial self-interests by equating those prejudices and interests with God's will, thereby worshiping themselves as god; they further compound their idolatry by condemning people whom God has made in God's image.

Adding insult to injury, they often ignorantly and/or willfully misrepresent what verses of Scripture they select to support their xenophobic claims, and they often lie about those whose civil and sacramental rights they seek to deny. In addition, they neglect far more weightier aspects and verses of Scripture that provide the very foundations of Christianity, the Christian life, and the Gospel of grace!

For example, when was the last time you heard a homophobic clergy person quote from "The Sermon on the Mount," Matthew 5-7? These verses come closest to revealing the heart of Jesus and His will for our lives than anything else in the Bible!

I also doubt anyone has ever heard a homophobic pastor quote from Matthew 19:12 where Jesus, when asked about heterosexual marriage, says: "For there are some eunuchs, which were so born from their mother's womb...." These eunuchs are undoubtedly God's LGBT children! (See here.)

We often hear from homophobic clergy that same-sex marriage presents a threat to the institution of marriage, a claim that is foolish on its face. It's divorce of heterosexuals that provides that threat and same-sex couples who seek to marry (or who are married in the handful of states where same-sex marriage is legal) can in no rational way be seen as being any kind of threat to the institution of marriage.

However, rationality plays no part in separating one from his/her prejudices, particularly when those prejudices are spoon fed by clergy as being "in the will of God."

And when clergy and other professing Christians remain silent amidst the oppression of LGBT people (or any other minority group), they are just as culpable in that oppression as are those who spew hateful rhetoric against God's LGBT children!

Moreover, financial, psychological, social, and political capital can be gained by creating "outsiders" to denigrate and even demonize! (I strongly suspect and suggest that if there were more money to be made by supporting LGBT rights many, if not most, reactionary clergy and politicians would be proudly marching in Gay Pride Parades!)

In this connection, I want to conclude this post by quoting a few excerpts from an article I wrote some time ago entitled It's Not About Issues, that I hope you will read in its entirety:

The same hatred shown toward African Americans in the justification of White Supremacy is the exact same hatred shown toward LGBT people and the justification of heterosexism! Some of the manifestations of that hatred are, of course, different, but the hatred and the justifications for that hatred are exactly the same!....

By portraying Christianity as being under attack, they are using the same rationale and tactics as was used by White Supremacists in creating an "enemy" so that they could portray themselves as victims of a grave threat that only by electing someone who had a mind-set like theirs, regardless of religious or spiritual commitment, could help remedy. Such a portrayal not only garners increased revenue for religious reactionaries, the handmaidens of the Power Elite, but helps enable them to ensure the status quo that they perceive will keep them in control and help keep the minority group(s) they despise under their thumb, so as to maintain their influence and control of most of the institutional Church, maintain what they tout as the moral high ground, and maintain their definition of "Christianity" in the public's mind....

What is important to them is to maintain their mind-set of exclusion of "the other," their constructed enemy, be that "other" African Americans, women, LGBT people, or whatever enemy they seek to construct so as to maintain both their hegemony in society, and to help assure that the existing social structure continues to favor them and their ideology, an ideology that has relatively little to do with their "Christian" profession, and certainly nothing to do with Christianity itself!

LOVE AND BOLDNESS IN THE FIGHT FOR LGBT CIVIL RIGHTS

2009-10-19T06:05:00.000-07:00

Sigmund Freud once remarked: How bold one gets when one is sure of being loved.

For close to 50 years, I've been blessed with unconditional love by the Light of my life, and it's been her love that has enabled me to live my life and to achieve any success I might have achieved.

As an invaluable co-worker with God, she has made possible every good thing that has ever happened in my life!

Only a profoundly good and intuitive person like my wife, Eileen, a saint if there ever was one, could have put up with a madman like me for close to half a century, and the following song by Jr. Walker and the All Stars states that feeling far better than I can.

I very much want same-sex couples to have the same dignity, legitimacy, rights, and joy that my wife and I have had, and for them to know that they are unconditionally loved by God and, hopefully, by other people in their lives.

I am absolutely convinced that LGBT people hold a special place in God's heart, and are among God's most wonderful gifts to society and to Christ's Church.

And that knowledge by LGBT people of God's (and, hopefully, others') unconditional love will yield the boldness necessary for us to fight like hell for full and equal civil rights for LGBT people and for same-sex couples, and empower us to never give up that fight until they shove six feet of dirt in our faces.

This song is dedicated to the Light of my life, Eileen:

INTERVIEW WITH REV. PETER J. GOMES

2009-10-17T06:05:00.000-07:00

Whether you are a Christian or not, this video of the interview with Rev. Peter J. Gomes, minister at Harvard University, is a wonderful explication of both the Bible as well as its relationship to God, Christianity, the spiritual life, and the stuff of life amidst which we all live.

Rev. Gomes is the author of several books, two of which I think are absolutely superb: "The Good Book: Reading the Bible With Mind and Heart"; "The Scandalous Gospel of Jesus: What's So Good About the Good News?" I strongly urge you to read both of these books!

Rev. Gomes is a gay Christian who is about the most thoughtful and erudite contemporary exponent of the Christian faith and the Gospel who will give you a perspective about the subjects with which he deals that you may well not have been exposed to before!

This interview occurred before Obama was elected President, and Gomes deals with the role of race and class in U.S. society, and predicted that "race" would be a significant issue that would have to be dealt with in every aspect of U.S. society should there be a Black President. One doesn't have to listen to too many reactionary radio talk shows to hear some of the hosts and callers talk about, "taking our country back" which, in my opinion, is often code for them wanting a white person back in the office of President.

I must say that I disagree with Rev. Gomes when he attributes equal authority to the Old and the New Testaments; advocates the relevance of the Law within the Old Testament.

I firmly believe that Jesus fulfilled the whole Law within Himself; His life, death, resurrection, and ascension into heaven replaced the Law with the Gospel of grace (God's unmerited favor to those who trust God over and above seen circumstances.) that the Apostle Paul beautifully explicated, particularly in the Books of Romans and Galatians.

This is the video of the interview with Rev. Gomes that I urge you to see in its entirety:

THERE IS NO ROOM FOR COMPROMISE WHEN IT COMES TO CIVIL RIGHTS!

2009-10-15T10:24:00.000-07:00

In an article entitled, Solmonese Responds to Calls He Resign that appears in The Advocate, one commentator, Lonnie Lopez stated the case for aggressive grassroots activism very clearly:

As Howard Zinn put it: We are citizens. We must not put ourselves in the position of looking at the world from their eyes [meaning the politicians] and say, "Well, we have to compromise, we have to do this for political reasons." We have to speak our minds. This is the position that the abolitionists were in before the Civil War, and people said, "Well, you have to look at it from Lincoln's point of view." Lincoln didn't believe that his first priority was abolishing slavery. But the anti-slavery movement did, and the abolitionists said, "We're not going to put ourselves in Lincoln's position. We are going to express our own position, and we are going to express it so powerfully that Lincoln will have to listen to us." And the anti-slavery movement grew large enough and powerful enough that Lincoln had to listen. That's how we got the Emancipation Proclamation and the 13th and 14th and 15th Amendments.

Some people want to believe that there is inherent justice in the world; some people believe that politicians have their constituents' best interests at heart; some people believe that administrators of Gay rights organizations are being as aggressive as they can in this civil rights struggle; some people believe that "the milk of human kindness" will eventually win out without aggressive grassroots and organizational activism to achieve equal rights; some people leave the fight to achieve equal rights for LGBT people to others; some people believe that Obama has too much on his plate to issue an Executive Order removing DADT and aggressively deal with Congress to remove DOMA.

There is to be no room for the allowance of second-class citizenship in any society, let alone the U.S. that boasts itself to be "the land of the free," and where "separate is not equal."

There is no "freedom" in any civil society when a minority group is deprived of civil rights that accrue to the dominant group!

If heterosexuals are allowed to marry, same-sex couples must be allowed to marry!

Heterosexual love is in no way superior to same-sex love, and that reality must be codified into law and, eventually, it will thereby be codified in the hearts of most people in society!

And without aggressive grassroots and organizational activism, there will never be federal recognition of same-sex marriage (and all of the other civil rights that are likely to ride on its coattails).

Had it not been for the organizational and activist skills of Bayard Rustin, Martin Luther King, Malcolm X, A Philip Randolph, Fannie Lou Hamer, Thurgood Marshall, and others, we would still have segregation and Jim Crow laws!

And the fight for LGBT civil rights is no different, and no less important, than the struggle for African-American civil rights that occurred not all that long ago in the U.S.!

WHEN IT COMES TO EQUALITY FOR LGBT PEOPLE, THE LDS CHURCH KNOWS NO SHAME

2009-10-14T12:29:00.000-07:00

Just in case you aren’t familiar, the Mormon Church used to preach segregation. It was their firm belief that being a person of color was a punishment from God and people of color were lesser than white people…and that was up until 1978! It was in that year former President Jimmy Carter threatened the LDS church with taxation if they did not stop preaching segregation, and amazingly enough, God spoke to the elders, and within weeks of the taxation threat, told them being a person of color was no longer a punishment from God, therefore they should be accepted into the church.

Secondly, how is anyone, who enjoys full benefits of marriage, employment, housing, etc….you know, all the rights, liberties and freedoms offered to everyone in America except for those of us in the LBGT community, going to claim they are being oppressed…and compare their oppression to that of what people of color experienced during and prior to the Civil Rights Movement?

This statement [By Elder Dallin Oaks that he did not consider it provocative to compare the treatment of Mormons after the passage of Prop. 8 to that of blacks in the civil rights era.] is not only stupid and delusional, but it’s extremely disrespectful towards anyone of color, and it demonstrates the lengths people will go to in their attempt to prevent American citizens who are a member of the LGBT community from ever enjoying full equality and maintain our second class citizenship.

[For the full article, see here.]

At least one Mormon leader has the ignorance and/or temerity to equate anti-LDS backlash regarding their hateful animus against same-sex marriage and their strident advocacy for Prop. 8 with the way Southern blacks were intimidated during the civil rights movement.

If this isn't an outright disgrace, and if this isn't symptomatic of toxic religion and the attempt to brainwash gullible people into believing that the LDS Church is the "victim" in this backlash by decent people who demand equal rights for LGBT people and same-sex couples, I don't know what is!

The LDS Church and the Roman Catholic Church, along with most churches within the institutional Church, by their rhetoric and/or actions and/or silence amidst the oppression of our LGBT sisters and brothers, are a disgrace to God, to Christianity, and to biblical scholarship!

They must be called to account and confronted for the lies they perpetrate, and the untold suffering and damage they do to LGBT people and their families, and they must also be taxed!

They are spewing their hatred that often results in spiritual, emotional, and physical violence, and they do so with the benefit of tax-exemption.

MORE EVIDENCE OF THE CYNICAL BETRAYAL OF OBAMA AND THE WHITE HOUSE

2009-10-12T08:29:00.000-07:00

What is surprising to me is that LGBT people and progressives are surprised that Obama and the White House hold us in disdain. After they drank the Kool Aid of Obama's empty rhetoric, they may now be seeing the truth of his cynical betrayal of many of the values we hold dear, such as equal rights for LGBT people.

So which Barack Obama is it -- the one who said to challenge him, or a fragile flower that panders to LGBTs then has a coward source backstab? To me the WH has just declared war on us after a wine and dine with the right kind of LGBTs that don't make trouble for them. Someone has to answer to this....

So the gay community, and its concerns about President Obama's inaction, and backtracking, on DADT and DOMA, are now, according to President Obama's White House, part of a larger "fringe" that acts like small children who play in their pajamas and need to grow up. (And a note to our readers: The White House just included all of you in that loony "left fringe.")

[For the full article, see here.]

Here's the video alleging the White House's position :

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

ANDREW SULLIVAN CALLS FOR THE RESIGNATION OF JOE SOLOMNESE OF THE HRC

2009-10-12T06:05:00.000-07:00

In this brief video, Andrew Sullivan tells it like it is, and highlights the pathetic and seemingly self-satisfied acquiescence of the head of the Human Rights Campaign (which, as Sullivan accurately states, should be called the LGBT Rights Campaign) to the status quo by giving Obama a pass until 2017.

Sullivan calls for Joe Solomnese's resignation! As you probably know, Joe Solomnese is the head of the Human Rights Campaign, the nation's largest asserted LGBT Rights organization.

Solomnese, of course, is quite unlikely to resign, particularly given the fact that he "received a total compensation package of $338,400 in 2008." [See here.]

With that kind of compensation package, why wouldn't Solmonese be quite satisfied?

Plus, he and a number of other professional "activists" seem to enjoy the empty rhetoric of Obama, particularly if they can be in his presence, rub elbows with him and other politicians, and even be invited to share finger food and even dine with him!

It cannot be said of Solomnese, and some other seeming political "activists" who court and hope to be rewarded by the status quo and/or with Obama's favor, of what Shakespeare said in his play Henry lV, "Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown."

This is the video with Andrew Sullivan that is well worth watching:

REV. TROY PERRY'S SPEECH AT THE NATIONAL EQUALITY MARCH

2009-10-11T18:00:00.000-07:00

Please listen to this heart-felt talk by Rev. Troy Perry at the National Equality March. [Thanks to Kittredge Cherry on Facebook for highlighting this speech.]

Rev. Perry is one of God's greatest LGBT civil rights activists that the world has ever known!

WE WANT ACTION

2009-10-11T08:58:00.000-07:00

When thousands of gay rights activists march to the Capitol at noon today for the National Equality March, they will be looking for more than speeches from the White House.

"Last night, President Obama made that speech [at the Human Rights Campaign’s annual dinner in Washington]. He had no intention of addressing our community and he took the bully pulpit, and he got up there, and he expressed very beautiful intentions," march organizer Sherry Wolf said. "It was a very beautiful speech. [But] what is he going to do? And when is he going to do it? That’s the question."

[For the full article, see here.]

The Equality March, if nothing else, will present a concerted voice from the grassroots that rhetoric (especially empty rhetoric) is no substitute for action!

Hopefully, this march will not only put pressure on Obama and other "liberal" politicians to back up their rhetoric with actions that give LGBT people full and equal civil rights, but will motivate the grassroots within local jurisdictions to lobby their legislators and agitate for equal rights under the law as currently accrue to all heterosexual citizens.

As you know, at the local levels, I feel that one of the best tactics is to choose one homophobic church and continuously peacefully picket that church each and every Sunday when they have services, carrying signs and forthrightly stating how their rhetoric of hate and discrimination is antithetical to the Gospel of Christ!

We cannot underestimate the impact that homophobic religion has had in denying full and equal civil rights to LGBT people, including, of course, the right to same-sex marriage.

MORE OF OBAMA'S EMPTY RHETORIC TO THE HUMAN RIGHTS CAMPAIGN

2009-10-10T21:05:00.001-07:00

"I will end 'don't ask-don't tell,'" Obama said at the annual dinner of the Human Rights Campaign, a gay civil rights advocacy group. Obama reaffirmed his commitment to end the ban, but did not give a timetable or the specifics that some activists have called for.

The law was passed by Congress in 1993 and signed by President Bill Clinton, who also promised to repeal the ban on homosexuals in the military but was blunted by opposition in the military and Congress.

"We should not be punishing patriotic Americans who have stepped forward to serve the country," Obama said. "We should be celebrating their willingness to step forward and show such courage ... especially when we are fighting two wars.

"I appreciate that many of you don't believe progress has come fast enough," Obama said. "Do not doubt the direction we are heading and the destination we will reach."

[For the full article, see here.]

This is the same old tired cynical rhetoric we've heard from Obama for the last several months, and I have no doubt that many in the HRC, and many others, continue to buy into it!

Only a very naive, often self-loathing, gullible masochist can take his empty rhetoric seriously!

It must be remembered that Obama can merely issue an Executive Order eliminating DADT! That decision rests solely with him and, to this date, he has yet to eliminate it.

His mere rhetoric shows his disdain for LGBT people, and his likely belief that many, if not most, will buy into his empty rhetoric and "charm" that has gotten him so far on so little in his political career.

His empty rhetoric is pathetic, and anyone who takes that empty rhetoric seriously is even more pathetic!