Season of Hating, Pt 1: Giving Thanks for an Abundance of Bigotry, Phobias and Racism

Different Fruits of Abundance, Same Flavor: HATE

The Country of NO

While America's Grand Ole Party (GOP) has come to be known as the Party of NO, the same can be said about the country itself.

With the latest flap about Syrian refugees (half of whom are children), the country shows its xenophobia in the worst way. The NYT columnists DAVID D. LAITIN and MARC JAHR proposed a solution (Let Syrians Settle Detroit):

Detroit, a once great city, has become an urban vacuum. Its population has fallen to around 700,000 from nearly 1.9 million in 1950. The city is estimated to have more than 70,000 abandoned buildings and 90,000 vacant lots. Meanwhile, desperate Syrians, victims of an unfathomable civil war, are fleeing to neighboring countries, with some 1.8 million in Turkey and 600,000 in Jordan.

Suppose these two social and humanitarian disasters were conjoined to produce something positive.

But conservatives like Ann Coulter will have none of it: 

"The New York Times Prefers Syrian Refugees Over Black Americans" 

This is the same Ann Coulter who once said "America is the world's most compassionate country."*

The Syrian crisis shows the world that "compassion" is no longer America's middle name.

The Numbers of Crisis and Compassion.

From Worldvision.org:

• 12 million Syrians have fled their homes because of conflict;half are children.
• 4 million Syrians are refugees; most are in Turkey, Lebanon, and Jordan.
• Children affected by the Syrian conflict are at risk of becoming ill, malnourished, abused, or exploited. Millions have been forced to quit school.
• More than 700,000 Syrian refugees and other migrants risked their lives this year to travel to Europe.

And we can't won't take in 70,000. 

If the hysteria over refugees has a recent ring to it, consider the plight of Central American Children:

(CNN July 16, 2014)

Earlier this month in Murrieta, busloads of babies in their mothers' laps, teens, 'tweens and toddlers were turned back from a detainee facility.
They were met by screaming protesters waving and wearing American flags and bearing signs that read such things as "Return to Sender."

What's In The Past Cannot Stay In The Past

Recent history (past 100 years**) may be the best view of America's "No!" problem: Chinese Americans, Japanese Americans, Latino and Mexican Americans, African Americans, Native Americans, gay Americans have all felt the sting of intolerance. Communities have killed and battered them while Congresses have rallied against them. Those communities that have given them acceptance, solace and sanctuary (like my city, San Francisco) have been pilloried by Right Wing interests. Pulpits (albeit manned by steadfast Fundamentalist pastors) have demonized them to the point that showing any acceptance labeled a church "heretical" in that it didn't conform to strictly conservative view (read: biblical literalism).

In other words, bigotry, racism, xenophobia (and other phobias as well) are still with us, and our socio-religious-political interests are still fueling them. And while "Return To Sender" attitudes have not been extremely violent, the day may come when violence, to some, may be the only option in exercising their right to hate. 

Abundance vs Abundance

Regardless of all the hatred, the intolerance and the sheer mean-spiritedness brought out of America by people on the Right, America still has an abundance of good to be thankful for. The problem, as some see it, is that the leaders making it a "Country of No"are very greedy, reserving that goodness, that compassion for its own and relatively select few: "we have an abundance of freedoms, powers, money, services and goods - but only for us." 

Only for us. 

* Yes, ironic coming from a woman who constantly refers to herself as a "mean-spirited bitch" and who, when it comes to compassion and charity, makes Scrooge look like a combination of Mother Theresa and Santa Claus.

A Horrific Story And A Minister's Uncondintional Love Highlight Matthew Shepard Anniversary

This could be titled: Parent Hell, Parent Heaven. WARNING: parts of this article are very disturbing.

“You know Kelly, I tell you what. If you die before me…you know what, when you get dead, we’re going to go through your house and we are going to strip it, and that girl won’t have a pot to piss in…you little hefer, you have put my life through hell. Gay shit. I hate gay shit. I am not going to live my life telling you that I believe in two women being married. It is not in the Bible, it is a damned SIN! And I am ashamed you live with a damn woman… You go straight to Hell! Go to Hell, Bitch!”

Kelly's mother has obviously had no feelings for her daughter ... ever. 

Years after being kicked out of her home, Kelly met a wonderful woman named Leslie and they worked through the emotional trauma Kelly had suffered from her mother who had previously tried to "convert" Kelly with reparative  therapy. In the meantime, Kelly resumed a sporadic communications with her mother although she was wary of anything deeper. Then tragedy struck: Kelly was felled by a severe case of lupus and her heart damaged (she is prone to heart attacks). Leslie has been her only support and the two have struggled through enormous medical bills. 

Through her aunt, Kelly learned that her mother had been raising funds through her church, presumably to help Kelly or to at least visit Kelly during a hysterectomy operation. When Kelly received no funds nor any call from her mother about a visit, she decided to call her and tape the conversation as proof to her aunt that no money was forthcoming. What ensued was the terrible tirade above. 

Bob Watson of LGBTQ Nation penned an open letter to Kelly's mother of which the most poignant of phrases is: 

Your family is plagued with a woman suffering from a terrible disease. The disease is ugly, painful, debilitating and it ruins the heart. That woman is not Kelly, it is you. The disease is not the horrible one of Lupus which Kelly has, it is the disease of Homophobia that you have. 

Bob also brought out the possibility that since Florida (where Kelly and Leslie now live) does not accept same-sex marriage, the mother's threat to leave Leslie without a "pot to piss in" is very real. 

On The Other Side Of Reality:

If I had gay children: 4 Promises from a Christian Parent"

Rev. John Pavlovitz has struck a nerve amongst the Christian Right establishment: a Christian minister who would unconditionally accept homosexuality in his children could not possibly be Christian, could he? No "pray away the gay", no disowning, not a shred of righteous arrogance in his parenting strategy. His theology is so far from that of Kelly's mother as to be a different religion altogether. Then again, he's a Methodist and not a Southern Baptist. 

Here are his 4 Promises:

1) If I have gay children, you’ll all know it.
My children won’t be our family’s best kept secret.

2) If I have gay children, I’ll pray for them.
I won’t pray for them to be made “normal”. I’ve lived long enough to know that if my children are gay, that IS their normal.

3) If I have gay children, I’ll love them.
I don’t mean some token, distant, tolerant love that stays at a safe arm’s length. It will be an extravagant, open-hearted, unapologetic, lavish, embarrassing-them-in-the-school cafeteria, kind of love.

4) If I have gay children, most likely; I have gay children.
If my kids are going to be gay, well they pretty much already are.

God has already created them and wired them, and placed the seed of who they are within them. Psalm 139 says that He, “stitched them together in their mother’s womb”. The incredibly intricate stuff that makes them uniquely them; once-in-History souls, has already been uploaded into their very cells.

His blog post is not only worth reading because of these points, but because of the extensive pro/con comments (some encouraging, some righteously hateful) it engendered.

October 7, is the 16th anniversary of the death of Matthew Shepard. One of the parents in this article is mired in a belief and an attitude that is still taking time to eradicate, while the other parent is forging ahead to a new, loving world. Matthew would be so proud of him. We should all be so very, very proud of him. 

Have No Other Gods Before Me: The Rise And Fall Of Evangelical "Rambo Jesus", Misogynist Bully Mark Driscoll

I cannot worship the hippie, diaper, halo Christ 

because I cannot worship a guy I can beat up."

The Cult of 'Rambo Jesus" Just Took A Hit

In the latest transformation of theology and within Right Wing Christian circles, the cult of "Rambo Jesus" has emerged as the theology du jour: Fmr. Gen. Jerry Boykin recently characterized the Second Coming as Jesus carrying an AR-15.





Blasphemous to many, the cult has nonetheless become a small epidemic, a virus spread by "emerging church" ministers who want to take on an aggressive, take-no-prisoners stance against progressive Christians, atheists and other religions. It has a "become Christian or suffer the consequences" strategy that relies on strict obedience.

Master of Misogyny


Mark Driscoll and his Mars Hill Church (Seattle) came on the scene in 1996. At first the start of "church planting" endeavor, it seemed to grow exponentially, from 11 churches in 1998 to 410 by 2011. Along with Acts 29 (the church planting network) and it's growth, however, other things began to grow: organization, workload ... and Driscoll's ego. Driscoll divested himself of some responsibility, but not the attendant fame and notoriety. He became known as the "cussing pastor", the "Holy Hipster" and the "Rush Limbaugh of Evangelism" as well as an ardent proponent of "Rambo Jesus":

The problem with our churches today is that the lead pastor is some sissy boy who wears cardigan sweaters, has The Carpenters dialed in on his iPod, gets his hair cut at a salon instead of a barber shop, hasn’t been to an Ultimate Fighting match, works out on an elliptical machine instead of going to isolated regions of Russia like in Rocky IV in order to harvest lumber with his teeth, and generally swishes around like Jack from Three’s Company whenever Mr. Roper was around.”

He also became known for out-and-out misogyny: when Driscoll and his wife, Grace, published a book entitled Real Marriage: The Truth About Sex, Friendship & Life Together, it raised eyebrows not only because it described sex in graphic terms (and OK'd formerly taboo subjects like anal sex), but because:

"Grace [Driscoll] is often cast as the damaged and sinful wife who withholds sex from her deserving husband, Mark the hero who is justified in leaving his wife but instead comes along to rescue her." (Rachel Held Evans)

Jezebel ("Worst Guy Ever")

Women will be saved by going back to that role that God has chosen for them. Ladies, if the hair on the back of your neck stands up it is because you are fighting your role in the scripture.

They're quarrelsome. They're a nag. And some women — you're a nag. You're disrespectful. You're quarrelsome. Being married to you is like a life sentence, and the guy's just scratching on his wall every day.

First, masturbation can be a form of homosexuality because it is a sexual act that does not involve a woman. If a man were to masturbate while engaged in other forms of sexual intimacy with his wife then he would not be doing so in a homosexual way. However, any man who does so without his wife in the room is bordering on homosexuality activity, particularly if he's watching himself in a mirror and being turned on by his own male body.

Driscoll's blog also had a turn at Ted Haggard's predicament:

"A wife who lets herself go and is not sexually available to her husband is not responsible for her husband's sin, but she may not be helping him, either,"

Father, Son and Spirit. But some chicks and some chickified dudes with limp wrists and minors in 'women's studies' are not happy because two persons of the trinity have a dude-ish ring."

In early January of this year, it was easy for this writer to give Mark Driscoll the Righteous Arrogance Award simply because of this tweet:





Of course, along with the misogyny, the homophobia naturally follows: Driscoll's touting of MMA (mixed martial arts fighting) for "real" men got people to thinking about Driscoll's own sexuality*:
Religion Dispatches (Elizabeth Drescher)

So it is, of course, ironic that the churches and pastors who are touting MMA are doing so in order to inject some masculinity into American Christianity. What they seem to be missing—or maybe just what they refuse to admit—is that they’ve chosen the one sport on the American scene that is highly sexually charged. And the sexuality in MMA is not hetero.

Anatomy Of A Fall


Driscoll's fall from grace could be traced in these steps:

• Janet Mefferd, super Right-Wing Christian radio talk show host accuses Driscoll of plagiarism.
• Real Marriage's bestseller status is discovered to be engineered by ResultSource, Inc., a company paid over $210,000 by Mars Hill (not Driscoll). 
• Acts 29 Network removed Driscoll and Mars Hill from its membership
• 21 former Mars Hill Pastors charge Driscoll with abusive behavior and creating a "Culture of Fear"
• 80 members of Mars Hill allege lack of financial transparency.
• Lifeway Christian Stores drops all of Driscoll's books
• After Driscoll dismisses facebook criticisms because they are "anonymous", former Mars Hill members stage a protest:

A Long, Long Hiatus


Last Sunday, Driscoll stepped down from his role in Mars Hill for "six weeks" while a range of charges are being "investigated." He has also insinuated that, at the request of Acts 29 and others, he is "seeking help". Earlier this year, he stated:

In the last year or two, I have been deeply convicted by God that my angry-young-prophet days are over, to be replaced by a helpful, Bible-teaching spiritual father.

The range and intensity of the allegations, however, belie the possibility of a mere six-week hiatus: Driscoll's anger-management issues alone will take months (if not years) to resolve. He may have to cut back on his core belief in "Rambo Jesus," the theology that made him famous in the first place. In terms of therapy, Driscoll has a long, long way to go.

And his forgiveness may be a long time in coming.

Hollis Phelps, Religion Dispatches

All of which is to say, any criticism of Driscoll should also be directed at the system that allowed him to emerge in the first place. Driscoll may certainly be an extreme case among evangelical leaders and evangelical culture more generally, but we should not understand him as an exception.

The "system" Phelps refers to is one in which obedience and control are keys to a theology that strives to gain a foothold among an already strident American Fundamentalism.



an pobvious fail

*My husband, btw, who is a master at judging male anatomy proportions (even fully clothed) has opined that Mark Driscoll is definitely compensating for something. That may sound like a cheap shot, but given Driscoll's cheap shots at women and gays, it might be fitting.

No "Duck Dynasty" In A Skirt: The Saga Of Linda Harvey, Amazon And "Maybe He's NOT Gay"

No Mystery, Just Bad Reviews and Inept Publishing

The saga of one of the shortest book lives on Amazon is: "Maybe He's NOT Gay" by Mission America's Linda Harvey was pulled from Amazon less than week after its debut. In what seemed to be a possible "Duck Dynasty" censorship hitting the book world, the MSM took to the laptops and declared that Amazon had pulled the book because of cries from the LGBT community.

One comment:

"That Amazon.com would sell such a potentially dangerous book full of anti-gay propaganda to an already at-risk group of LGBT youth and their parents by a well known radical hate group leader is beyond disgusting."

But in this corner:

Illinois Family Institute

        "Linda is one of my heroes in the pro-family Christian movement. She is a former journalist and media executive who now is a sought after speaker and hosts a national radio show based out of Ohio. Hidden within this attractive, professional woman, is a real stick of dynamite. She has more courage in one pinky finger than many people have in their whole body. She isn’t easily intimidated and doesn’t back away from a debate over truth with anyone. Linda chose to pull her book from Amazon. Homosexual activists have quickly twisted that into a lie that Amazon pulled the book because of its harmful or inaccurate content."

Unfortunately, Ms. Harvey seems to have backed away from a debate over truth" with this book. She didn't have the courage to stick things out long enough for good reviews from her fans.

Christian Post

       "Harvey, author of the book and head of the Ohio-based conservative organization Mission America, told The Christian Post on Friday that it was removed from the website at her request.

"I saw the rotten reviews, a smear campaign by those who had not read the book, and the publisher attempted to get Amazon to pull the ad hominem reviews, but they were not immediately responsive," said Harvey.

"So, since the book is brand new and I didn't want it to be harmed by this uninformed and vicious campaign stimulated by 'gay' bloggers, I decided to pull the page for now."

And on other sites:

     "And these hysteria-generators dredged up every fabrication about Mission America that’s ever been written, and then the pink mob descended on the book page on Amazon and without having read the book, wrote vicious, insulting reviews."

Mystery Solved: Harvey Is Totally Inept At Publishing

So was Amazon really at fault for the book being pulled, torpedoing the book by publishing (purposely) the worst reviews? Who were those ad hominem reviewers/bloggers? Was Micah Clark of the Christian Post (above) right in saying that homosexual activists "twisted ...into a lie that Amazon pulled the book"? This episode in anti-gay/anti-Christian animus raises a lot of questions.

But the biggest question for this former author and publisher is: does Harvey know anything about publishing a book? All the signs of ineptitude are there:

• Maybe He's NOT Gay is self-published. Googling Penrhyn Press turns up zilch. It has no website to promote its one title. The only promotion, in fact, for the book seems to be on Mission: America's webpage. This gives rise to the assumption that Harvey may have tried to get the book published by a (reputable) publisher, but didn't find one - not even a Christian book publisher. Couldn't she have enlisted someone like Pat Robertson to help her find a publisher? 
• There is no publication date for the book. (!?!) WTF? Are copies in print without this info? Standard procedure for a publication is that a copy be sent to the Library of Congress, but it must have a publication date. It must have a publication date for reviewers. It has an ISBN # (9781629030104), but no publication date? Weird.
• Few (if any) legitimate book reviewers received review copies of the book (or manuscript pages). The only statement of future publication came from Harvey herself. 
• Asking Amazon to pull the bad reviews is bad form. Pulling the book because of bad reviews on Amazon is worse. Citing a conspiracy from any group to trash the book is absurd. 

Another possibility: Harvey couldn't fire up enough "good" reviewers/friends for Amazon reviews. Just wait: her second Amazon page will have gobs.

Her friends are very slow readers.

Just Before The Vote: The Vatican Gets The Bathhouse Blues.

It's a situation worthy of The Onion.

How convenient. Or inconvenient. The Vatican conclave of 117 cardinals woke up yesterday morning to see headlines like this:




One of Italy's largest daily newspapers, La Repubblica, announced the little-known fact that the Vatican has a majority ownership of a chic Rome apartment block that houses Italy's largest gay bathhouse.

It also houses one of the Catholic Church's chief homophobes, Ivan Cardinal Dias, India's chief prelate. As well as numerous other priests.

From The Indpendent.UK:

       A day ahead of the papal conclave, faces at the scandal-struck Vatican were even redder than usual after it emerged that the Holy See had purchased a €23 million (£21 million) share of a Rome apartment block that houses Europe’s biggest gay sauna.
       The senior Vatican figure sweating the most due to the unlikely proximity of the gay Europa Multiclub is probably Cardinal Ivan Dias, the head of the Congregation for Evangelisation of Peoples, who is due to participate in tomorrow’s election at the Sistine Chapel.
       This 76-year-old “prince of the church” enjoys a 12-room apartment on the first-floor of the imposing palazzo, at 2 Via Carducci, just yards from the ground floor entrance to the steamy flesh pot. There are 18 other Vatican apartments in the block, many of which house priests.

Extravagantly Stupid

In an era where scandals plague the Vatican like locust, the last-minute revelation of a major gay sex club under their very noses (as well as other things) may not seem too shocking. What is really shocking, perhaps, is that the Vatican did not think to cover up or dispose of the property prior to the conclave: the very grand apartments of the block - especially those of Cardinal Dias - made the property a prime target for the media, especially after the recent banking scandals and cries of unnecessary extravagance.

And of course, the fact that Cardinal Dias has been the most outspoken prelate against homosexuality and states that gays can be "cured" has the media in stitches:

NY Daily News:

Dias is known for reviling homosexuality, calling it “unnatural” and arguing that gays can be “cured.”
That cure certainly does not require taking the waters at the Europa club, which boasts a Turkish bath, Finnish sauna, whirlpools, massages, “bear parties” and much more.

It is certain that there will be a I-didn't-know disclaimer put out by the cardinal's representative asap, but being silent at this time might be the most prudent approach to the affair: today's Catholic prelates cannot afford to look so clueless as to their own surroundings. They are, after all, men of the world and not cloistered monks. They are already so steeped in sexual scandal that any denial will be taken as completely disingenuous.

Back To The Future

The historical resignation of Benedict XVI set off alarms, the loudest of which was the now infamous 300-page dossier (part of the "Vatileaks" investigation, which, BTW, was also called "the 118th cardinal") which noted factions and infighting among prelates of the Vatican. Among the disclosures was the mention of a gay faction featuring meeting places. And while the Europa Multiclub was not mentioned by name, it certainly would fit the real estate investor's listing: "Large, well-appointed apartments situated in luxury complex that houses a gym, sauna and health spa." 

And hosts "bear parties."

This may be the last straw: the papacy will need to be transparent as hell or face suspicion and scorn for years to come. The conclave of 117 cardinals will need to decide if the man they are choosing should be a leader with honesty and integrity or, as was his predecessor, a cover-up king. After all, he will have a lot to cover up, bathhouses not included.

Well, It IS Texas: Horrible Story of Homophobic Child Abuse Hits The Net

This just in from Dallas-Fort Worth:

“My cousin at the time he was 18. My son he was 15 and I had walked in the room on [my cousin] giving oral sex to my son and I started whooping my son, and I’m the one who got in trouble as a result of me whooping him,” she said. “When I walked in I saw my son, it was just disgusting to me, the way he was looking and my cousin was looking, and my cousin immediately ran out the door. And I’m just like what the?!? You know, is you serious? So that was my reaction because it disgusted me.”

Listen to the audio: the woman sounds stereotypically illiterate, but you have to wonder just how many of her are still out there.

And wonder about the first policeman who said "I would have shot them both."