Originally posted 06/06/2006
I spend a lot of time reading what evangelical christians are writing about their fight to put discrimination against gay and lesbian americans into the constitution. Subsequently, you end up reading a lot about the evangelists leading the way. After a while, you end up scratching your head, and wondering why anyone would listen to these people, about ANYTHING.
Take Jerry Falwell for example. While the ruins of the world trade center were still smoldering, his comments about who was to blame for the attacks were nothing short of vile. Don't remember?
"The abortionists have got to bear some burden for this because God will not be mocked. And when we destroy 40 million little innocent babies, we make God mad. 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 have tried to secularize America, I point the finger in their face and say: you helped this happen." Make sense to you? God is mad at us, so he helps radical muslim extremists murder thousands of people? I have a hard time swallowing that. So did Jerry Falwell, since not long after he made the statement, he apologized for it. I guess that makes it okay in his eyes. He's made so many ridiculous statements, it's hard to just pick out a few favorites: "AIDS is not just God's punishment for homosexuals; it is God's punishment for the society that tolerates homosexuals." "I listen to feminists and all these radical gals... These women just need a man in the house. That's all they need. Most of the feminists need a man to tell them what time of day it is and to lead them home. And they blew it and they're mad at all men. Feminists hate men. They're sexist. They hate men; that's their problem." You would almost have to laugh at how stupid this man really sounds. The problem is that people are listening, powerful people who are in a position to make laws that prevent us from having the rights that the rest of america enjoys. This perverted, hateful, voice has an audience that ignores his almost neurotic statements and allows him to influence policy makers in washington. It doesn't end with Falwell though. You've got Swaggert, who has a history of being caught with hookers, and has stated that the Prophet Muhammad was a "pervert" and a "sex deviant." Pat Robertson, the champion of the anti-abortionists. He has business dealings in communist China. So is it any surprise that he defends the right for women to abort female fetus' there? It seems that abortion is only "evil" to Pat, if it doesn't help him to turn a profit. The list goes on and is almost to nauseating to elaborate on. Robert Tilton, who's working on his third or fourth marriage (but lesbians and gays are a threat to heterosexual marriage to hear him tell it). Oral Roberts, who has visions of 600 foot Christs lifting hospitals and bragging about how easily they can lift it or tells his viewers that if he doesn't meet a quota of donations, God has told him he would die. Why is ANYONE listening to these people, about ANYTHING? The only answer that I can grasp is that people just don't care. They ignore what they hear and don't like or disagree with, and latch on to what they want to hear. It's the old "Don't do what I do, do what I SAY" game. Well, I'm sick of playing.
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