I’m warning you now, you can’t unsee this.

(h/t Allison Kilkenny)

I like when the shouty beardaddy pastor starts yelling for the crowd to do the Hokey Pokey “by faith.” I wasn’t aware there was any other way to do it.

From the Austrian Times:

More Austrians than ever in history are expected to leave the Catholic Church this year.

Official figures from today (Thurs) show that 30,004 people left the Church in the first three months of this year, up by 42 per cent compared to the same time span of 2009 when more people than ever cancelled their membership.

These developments mean that between 70,000 and 80,000 Austrians are expected to leave the Church throughout this year after last year’ record of 53,216 people leaving the Church.

A recent Karmasin poll showed that 57 per cent of Austrians are of the opinion Pope Benedict XVI should resign amid the sex abuse incidents across Europe were there a rule that enabled him to do so.

My friend Joe Openshaw has just published an exciting new book, “Those Others: Navigating the Riddle of Homosexuality in 1965.”

Learn more or purchase a copy about it on his website:

http://thoseothersthebook.blogspot.com/

Thank you for letting us know, Bill!

According to Bill Donohue, gay sex is not abusive if it happens between a priest and an altar boy who’s almost a man anyway:

If a 17-year old guy has sex with an older guy for twenty years, and continues to have sex with him at the age of 38—while he is married with children—is there anyone who would believe his claim that he was sexually abused?

Bill says no. BUT! To clarify: Bill Donohue is completely not gay!

Let me be very clear about this: if some guy tried to kiss me when I was 17, I would have flattened him. I most certainly would not go on a retreat with the so-called abuser

Gotcha.

unless, of course, I liked it.

In which case, Bill Donohue woulda said “BRING IT, Father Bonerpants.” I can’t outdo the self-parody here, so I’m out.

From what I can tell, we’re dealing with a story of a Chilean priest who had a twenty year long affair with a guy, which started when the guy was 17 and under the priest’s authority. Donohue also (accidentally, of course) omits the fact that there are three other accusers for this priest.

So, to sum up, Bill Donohue is basically saying that the teenage boy probably liked it, because if Bill Donohue were gay, which he is super not, it would have been super hot, so quit yer cryin’.

(h/t Instaputz)

UPDATE: Also? Tbogg:

Angry butt-rape apologist Bill Donohue wants you to know that a former abuse victim totally loved it and kept coming back for more so this means that the whole priesty-popey-rapey thing is totally overblown.
Q.E.D. Case closed. In your face. Suck it.

Heh. “Priesty-Popey-Rapey.” Filing that one way for later use.

The Traditional Values Coalition’s linking of ENDA to “religious liberty” and children — illogical, disingenuous and disgusting as it is — still resonates with voters and politicians. TVC launched a new campaign in March called “ENDA Hurts Kids”

Here is some background information on the Traditional Values Coalition from ace reporter Karen Ocamb.

Over the past week or so, we’ve had more than our normal collection of fundamentalist, anti-gay commenters, who seem to think that they have something to add to the discussion. They quote their same six Bible verses, say the same words every Fundamentalist before them has said, and then, if they choose to stick around and argue, they become chew toys for our normal commenters. I’m fine with all of this. It’s part of having an open commenting system and stating your opinion on the internet. If you hold positions with holes big enough to drive several Mack trucks through, you open yourself up for that.

But I always notice that one of the primary reasons our Fundamentalist visitors become broken records so quickly is that their belief system, i.e., that homosexuality is a sin (in whatever meaningless words they use to say so), is one of the quickest dead-end arguments around, as the commenters revert to the aforementioned clobber passages again and again, while different pro-equality commenters use one of several different strategies to take them to that quick dead-end. Those of us who are believers tend to try to explain that, when you look at said passages from a more educated point of view, taking into context culture, original languages, science and reality, that it’s hard to actually make the case that the Bible condemns loving same-sex relationships. Those of us who are atheists don’t tend to get into all of that, simply leading the commenters quickly to the dead-end of their arguments from authority, saying “prove that the authority in your book exists, and furthermore that your interpretation of that authority exists, and we’ll talk.”

Those who fight against the existence of LGBT people tend to have very little exposure to actual gay people. If they do, it’s often through their church, which might be affiliated with an “ex-gay” business, and as such, their exposure is to people who are broken (not that we all aren’t), and who have been swindled by “ex-gay” leaders into blaming their own poor choices or circumstances on their sexuality, rather than actually taking responsibility for their own lives. Rarely, if ever, do you hear a fundamentalist Christian testifying on gay people as we are. Rarely do you hear them railing against the lesbian couple who lives next door, who has been together for 30 years, or the gay guys down the street, together, for 15 years, raising children, driving Suburbans. These Fundamentalists do not understand or are unwilling to acknowledge that these LGBT people exist, and not only that, but that we’re common.

I understand why it’s important for their handlers (clergy, anti-gay Religious Right leaders, etc.) to shield them from the reality of the fabric of LGBT existence. I often quote the statistic that when someone knows a gay person, they tend to vote 3 to 1 in our favor when the opportunity comes up. If what Religious Right leaders said about gay people held even a shred of truth, you wouldn’t expect this to be the case. One of the favorite clobber passages of Christian Fundamentalists is, of course, 1 Corinthians 6:9-11, which says:

9 Know you not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, 10 Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortionists, shall inherit the kingdom of God. 11 And such were some of you: but you are washed, but you are sanctified, but you are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God.

Because these verses are often poorly translated to include the word “homosexual,” our Fundamentalist chew toys feel that this verse is “proof” that gays can change our sexual orientation. (Again: Poor translation. Argument from authority, prove it, prove it, prove it.) What often goes overlooked, though, is that one of the gaping holes in the Fundamentalist argument is contained in this very passage, staring them in the face. Let’s pretend for a second that “homosexual” was a decent translation for the Greek words arsenokoitai and malakoi. (As with all games of “make-believe,” it’s important that only those with a firm grasp on reality play. Sorry, Fundamentalists.) Remember what I was saying about how knowing a gay person makes a person much more likely to support us? Tell me which other sins in that vice list above work the same way. Do you support thieves more by understanding thieves? Are you more likely to support an alcoholic’s drunkenness by getting to know them better? Do you tend to feel better about extortionists once you bond with the couple down the street that, you know, happens to be a little bit Mafia?

But yet, people tend to like LGBT people a lot more when they know us personally. When the nice couple with three kids, or the couple with no kids but who throw fantastic dinner parties for the neighbors (because come on, some stereotypes are true) moves in, people become more likely to love and support us.

That implies that there is something seriously off with the Fundamentalist interpretation of that passage, now doesn’t it?

No, the reason it’s important for Religious Right leaders and ex-gay entrepreneurs to shield their minions followers from the reality of LGBT people is because to be honest with them, to encourage them to actually know us, brings them into a head-on collision with another passage in their Bible, and it’s a fairly popular, well-known passage. Matthew 7:17-20:

17Likewise every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. 18A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. 19Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them.

This passage, of course, bears the heavier weight of having been spoken by Jesus, after whom Christianity was named. It’s a very, very simple parable. Good people, good relationships, and good practices bear good fruit. Bad people, bad relationships, and bad practices, bear bad fruit. Indeed, Jesus here is engaging in one of his famous smackdowns of fundamentalist religious leaders, using the concept of the law of nature, that every tree bears fruit of its own kind, to illustrate the idea that religious leaders who leave a wake of pain and misery are, you know, probably not good. The stories and interactions shared by Fundamentalist Christians and ex-gay entrepreneurs, about gay people, tend to follow a similar outline:

1. I hated myself.

2. I “entered the homosexual lifestyle,” and became addicted to drugs/tried to kill myself/acquired HIV, etc.

3. I was rescued from “the homosexual lifestyle” by Jesus.

4. All of this was the fault of “the homosexual lifestyle.” Now if you’ll just sign here, and recruit five more people to be ex-gays, you’re done, and you’ll make residual income on everybody they recruit too!*

Standing as the negation to this narrative are millions of happy, well-adjusted gay people, who make things better for society, many of whom are in beautiful, quite normal marriages, some raising children, etc. They are bearing good fruit, just like good heterosexual relationships bear good fruit. Likewise, there are straight people and relationships which bear extremely bad fruit. Those which are abusive (whether physically or emotionally), those in which the husband treats his wife like property, those which are full of deceit and malice, etc. But we would never think to condemn heterosexuals as a whole for the worst examples of heterosexual relationships, because that would be insane. But yet our Fundamentalist chew toys don’t see the intellectual incoherence of doing that very thing as regards LGBT people.

The simple point is this: If you believe in the Bible, then you have to be willing to embrace the spirit of the text, and the words and stories of Jesus are kind of a trump card. If you analyze them in light of reality, in light of what we understand about people, then you have to deal with Matthew 7 as regards gay people. Because just as in the straight world, the best of gay relationships indeed bear much good fruit, bringing happiness, emotional fulfillment, stable family structures, and community support (and a million other things) to those in the relationships and the people around them.

And bad trees cannot bear good fruit.

Thus concludes your latest installment of “Bible Lessons with an Atheist.”

*Oh, you know one ex-gay business or another will discover network marketing before too long.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Wayne Besen
Phone: 917-691-5118
E-Mail: wbesen@truthwinsout.org

Religious Extremism And Censorship Are Dangers To LGBT Equality

NEW YORK – Truth Wins Out expressed strong support for Trey Parker and Matt Stone, the creators of Comedy Central’ South Park, after they faced calls for violent reprisals following an episode that showed the Prophet Muhammad in a bear suit. Such religious extremism and intolerance threatens all Americans, particularly the gay, lesbian bisexual and transgender community, says TWO.

“We stand in solidarity with the creators of South Park and strongly defend their freedom of speech,” said Wayne Besen, Executive Director of Truth Wins Out. “Our liberty demands that we fight back against intolerant fanatics — no matter what the religion – who believe they can bully and intimidate to get their way. If zealots have a problem with South Park, they can turn the channel. If we cave into their demands, the LGBT community will be one of the first to feel the chilling effects and suffer the consequences.”

Following the controversial episode, a fringe Islamic website, RevolutionMuslim.com, warned Parker and Stone that they could face retribution. The website included a graphic photo of Theo van Gogh, a Dutch filmmaker who was murdered in 2004 after making a documentary on violence against Muslim women.

“We have to warn Matt and Trey that what they are doing is stupid and they will probably wind up like Theo Van Gogh for airing this show,” the website reads. “This is not a threat, but a warning of the reality of what will likely happen to them…They’re going to be basically on a list in the back of the minds of a large number of Muslims. It’s just the reality.”

“The goal of these extremists is to foment fear and create an atmosphere of self-censorship,” said TWO’ Besen. “This would essentially lead to an unwritten blasphemy law that would curtail creative freedom. We must not allow this to happen or other fringe religious organizations will view threats of violence as a legitimate strategy to meet their demands.”

Truth Wins Out is a non-profit organization that monitors religious extremism, fights anti-gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender misinformation campaigns, and educates about the lives of LGBT people.

Weekly Column

Last week, I spent two days in Lynchburg, Va., to observe a major Religious Right conference, “The Awakening”, which featured many of their biggest stars. The symposium revealed the decline of anti-gay focus and showed that it was no longer the far right’ number one priority. The obsession with all things gay was nudged aside by an intense hatred of Barack Obama, which was closely followed by a passionate dislike of immigrants, who many in the crowd wanted to see promptly returned to their homeland.

While the sheer number of anti-gay attacks had decreased from past conferences, the remaining rhetoric was vicious and vile, as desperate homophobes realize they are losing the battle of public opinion.

The sullen mood over ceding ground was best summarized by Lou Engle of “The Call”. During a breakout session on the “LGBT Agenda”, he acknowledged that when he preaches against LGBT issues, Christian youth often “rage against” him. Engle said that the far right has lost on this issue barring a miracle. One idea floated by Engle to turn the tide was creating an intercession by holding a 500,000 strong youth rally.

If Engle is wondering how his movement lost the current generation of youth, it is because the hatred and hyperbole spewed by anti-gay activists is incongruous with reality. Many teenagers, including evangelicals, have friends who come out of the closet at early ages. They listen to the slurs and the slander at such conferences and know, based on real life experience, that they are hearing lies. Such cognitive dissonance is costing evangelical leaders enormous credibility.

I was not “undercover” at the event, having signed up under my own name in case they checked ID. But I was trying to keep a low profile so I wouldn’t get thrown out of the conference. To look inconspicuous, I grew some facial stubble, wore a lumberjack shirt and left out the hair gel. The plan worked until The Traditional Values Coalition’ Andrea Lafferty spotted me at the LGBT Agenda breakout session, which made me as comfortable as a fly crash-landing on a porcupine.

She asked me if I had any questions. I looked around the room and saw no movable middle in this bunch, so I declined. I preferred to plead the 5^th to ensure I could attend the big revival that was planned that evening.

During the seminar, Lafferty said if we pass The Employment Non-Discrimination Act, a bill in Congress to protect LGBT Americans from job discrimination, we are on a slippery slope to protect those who have sex with amputees, children and animals.

Lafferty seemed to have an unusually acerbic, if not allergic, reaction to transgender people saying, “they are actually she-males…. we need to talk about how truly troubled they are…. Do we want them in the classroom?”

The Liberty Counsel’ Matt Barber chimed in, saying that transgender Americans are the “ultimate act of rebellion against God.” He justified persecuting LGBT people claiming, “The ultimate act of hatred is to help someone foster a self-delusion.”

Just to let everyone know his heart and soften his vitriolic presentation, Barber kindly added, “We are not homophobic.”

After the seminar, I photographed Barber and Lafferty. As I left the room, Lafferty pulled me aside to introduce herself. With a friendly smile she shook my hand and told me that the demeaning lies against LGBT people “weren’t personal attacks.”

Likewise, Barber approached me, shook my hand and told me that he was very glad to have me at the seminar. In a statement on an anti-gay activist’ website, Barber claims that I was, “clearly confused and taken-aback by the kindness.”

He also wrote, “Meeting Wayne in person, it was clear to me that he is searching. It is my hope and prayer that he and all who struggle with same-sex attraction, live a life of heterosexual or homosexual promiscuity or adultery, or anyone else for that matter, can come to know the life-changing, life-saving, life-making grace and redemption that can only come through surrender, belief and acceptance of Christ Jesus.”

It was true that I was searching for something — the nearest exit. I had reached my limit on anti-gay activists and their cult-like mentality for the day. However, Barber was wrong to say that I was “taken aback” by he and Lafferty’ friendly demeanor. I have met several anti-gay activists over the years and many of them seem like nice people. If it weren’t for their poisonous politics, we might even be friends.

However, it is always disheartening that activists, who give presentations that reduce LGBT people to human garbage, somehow don’t think they are leveling personal attacks. Their ability to disassociate their words and actions from the harm they cause real people is astonishing.

While I appreciate being welcomed at hate-spewing anti-gay conferences, genuine kindness would be not having such conferences at all.

This is just funny:

Social conservatives — abortion foes, gay marriage opponents, transgender rights critics — may sit out the 2010 election, a Massachusetts hard-line conservative activist said Tuesday, arguing that no statewide candidates for office have championed their views.

Brian Camenker, executive director of MassResistance, which pointedly opposes gay and transgender rights, said he hopes social conservatives punish the Republican Party by staying home in November, and he singled out Republican gubernatorial nominee Charles Baker as “tone deaf” on social issues.

“He thinks he can just be Bill Weld again and that’ going to work,” said Camenker, referring to the Republican governor elected in 1990 on a platform that largely eschewed divisive social issues. “It’ not going to be as effective as it used to be. I don’t think he gets it. I don’t think he understands the passion of people on this issue.”

Social conservatives, who typically identify more closely with Republican candidates in Massachusetts, are conflicted this year, with a gubernatorial race that features three major candidates — a Democrat, a Republican and an Independent — who agree on the validity of gay marriage and the right of pregnant women to choose whether to have an abortion.

You can laugh, because it’s funny. Do you remember how five minutes ago, they were all gleefully teabagging themselves over Scott Brown? And then, once he took office, he started voting with Democrats? And now, the poor dears at SPLC-certified hate group MassResistance have to contend with the fact that, literally, no one running for the highest office in Massachusetts cares what they think.

Again, you can laugh. I certainly am. It’s a beautiful day in the ever more culturally liberal United States when bigots go to the voting booth and find that no one’s on their side.

(h/t Right Wing Watch)

(From Kim van der Linde)

This evening, I attended a panel discussion titled: All God’s Children: LGBTQ Members of Faith & the Ex-Gay Movement. It was jointly organized by the Pride (the on campus student version) and Seminole Christian Life, a very conservative christian student body. I have taped the whole conversation, and I am currently making a backup to my webserver so that the file cannot get lost.

I will upload the video in sections to YouTube in the coming days. Before the panel started, two of the ex-gay members asked me to refrain from making the video, because they were afraid that the message would be distorted by selectively cherry picking pieces of the video.

So, I told them that if I would upload the video to YouTube, I would upload it integrally. I personally think the complete video is much more powerful, so that is not an issue. Internally, I was actually quite appalled by it, knowing that the ex-gay movement has a reputation of distorting the information of others.

What follows is my personal impression.

READ REPORT