One of the most off-putting traits of certain sects of evangelicalism is emotive exhibitionism. This is evidenced by endless streams of tears, self-flagellation, a peculiarly extroverted form of introspection, and an insufferable need to out-suffer thy neighbor.
Case in point is Azariah Southworth’s endless and tiresome trip on the guilt train after his July 23 outing of evangelical blowhard Jonathan Merritt on his blog. This is what he wrote in an op-ed in Salon:
“Ever since I outed an up-and-coming evangelical leader, one sentence has been running through my mind: I might have destroyed his life….what bothers me, what overwhelms me with guilt, is the concern for what I’ve done to a person I care about.”
Azariah, enough with the pathos and accept the path you have chosen. Yes, you did destroy Merritt’s life – because maybe it deserved to be demolished. This hypocrite was masquerading as the voice of reason on gay issues — playing the particularly sinister role of sensitive Christian gay basher — while hooking up with dudes. Jason Farago, in The Guardian, correctly summed up Merritt’s weaselly message: “Just because gay people face eternal damnation doesn’t mean we all can’t get along!”
We can’t get along because the side Merritt represents spends millions of dollars to persecute LGBT people and ensure we don’t have equal rights. Merritt profits from this dirty money machine and seeks fame on the backs of LGBT youth who are struggling to stay alive during often traumatic high school years.
Outing is a necessary function and should not even be looked at as a gay issue. When it comes to hypocritical public figures — gay or straight — exposing their wrongdoing is a matter of uncovering and unmasking fraud and bringing the swindlers to justice. Merritt was a huckster who was hoodwinking his evangelical supporters, while cynically harming his LGBT brothers and sisters by posing as something he was not.
We have a moral duty to expose such artifice and tear down such facades. The amoral perpetrators of hoaxes and fraud are simply reaping what they have sown. Azariah must realize that every time a bright light is shined on a scoundrel’s scam, the perpetrators life is destroyed. For example, prison is full of hucksters whose lives were shattered — and society is better off for it. The alternative is these hucksters living wonderful lives by deceiving and manipulating others.
All Azariah did was point out that Merritt was a cheat. We are better off today as a society that people understand that Merritt is not a straight evangelical man discussing gay issues, but a deeply conflicted, even neurotic, individual who has yet to deal with his homosexuality. People have a right know where an author and dispenser of advice is coming from. What Azariah did was a public service and we should all be grateful.
Look, had Merritt become an accountant or a real estate agent no one would have outed him. However, he embarked upon a career where he built himself up by tearing down LGBT families. Azariah should dump the silly little evangelical guilt dance, wipe away the Tammy tears and move on with his life free of guilt.
As I watch Azariah pour his heart out and second-guess himself, one thought comes to mind: Where is the self-reflection and heartache from Merritt, who should feel guilty and ashamed of attacking his own people while conveniently using them to pleasure himself while his fundie friends are asleep?
What Azariah did was not easy — but it was heroic. So, Azariah, take your hero cape and use it to wipe away your Tammy tears and begin to feel good about yourself again. You exposed a liar and a fraud, just like they do on the TV shows 60 Minutes and To Catch a Predator. We shouldn’t feel any worse for Merritt than we do for the hucksters who have their lives destroyed after the TV cameras catch them swindling old ladies with shady real estate deals or setting up financial pyramid schemes. As a society we are under no obligation to shelter frauds and phonies who exploit people for personal gain.
As for Merritt, we should be forgiving and welcome him into the LGBT community with open arms when he finally comes to terms with is sexuality. I get where he is coming from and feel for him, but that does not mean I should allow him to harm my family until he is strong enough to deal with his personal issues. His pseudo-rational anti-gay routine is one sorry act that couldn’t be ended soon enough.
Well said, Wayne!
Thanks, Paul.
Excellent post – I agree Azariah needs to tone back the “woe is me, what have I wrought” act. In the end, he did a good thing. Now he needs to stop with the self-flagellation. Merritt showed his true colors once he was outed – he claimed he had strayed and needed God’s forgiveness to get back on the track to heaven or whatnot. It must be great to be a evangelical leader – you can do whatever you want, blame Satan or sin or whatever when you are caught, and then wash, rinse and repeat.
There are times when it’s difficult to do the right thing. However, the right thing has to be done. I hope Azariah knows that what he did had to be done.
I am sure at least some of this is gut wrenching – it takes guts to stand up to the Xn media marketing machine. But I also wonder if some of these article placements are to appease the progressive Christian base who posted Jonathan’s pro-Chick-Fil-A piece (God’s Politics blog) was critical of the outing (See http://www.patheos.com/blogs/tonyjones/2012/07/30/is-jonathan-merritt-gay/) After all he does have a book coming out (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Azariah_Southworth)and will need Xn outlets to plug his work.
This is similar to pro-gay Christian leaders/authors who are also listed on Tony Campolo’s Red Letter Christians site as speakers (http://www.redletterchristians.org/speakers/) or appear on his show that airs on TBN (http://www.redletterchristians.org/tv-show/). Can you be pro-gay if use Campolo’s clout to promote your product?
As I’ve said repeatedly, outing is a consequence of being out, not a moral issue at all.
When heteros stop the outing, we can maybe consider it. Until then, pot and kettle are out as black.
NB: Azariah is not a Christian anymore, and hasn’t been in quite a while.
Tammy Tears!!! How I miss her.
Yeah — I miss her too. She was quite a character and ended up being a good woman.
Why is it so hard to understand that for some people gay behaviour is a sin
Hannah, why is it so hard to understand that religious freedom applies to everyone and you have no right to dictate other people’s lives?
Hannah, why is it so hard for some christians to understand that anything which does not harm others is not a wrongdoing?
neither have you
Neither have we what hannah?
Hannah, us having our rights will not effect your right to be a religious bigot.
You don’t have a right to dictate people how to live their lives . But you’re doing it. This entire blog is about telling people you don’t know how to live their lives and you claim to know better then us what’s good for us.
That is a lie hannah. We’re telling people to mind their own damn business and stop hurting people.
Hannah, is this what you meant in #14?
“You don’t have a right to dictate [to] people how to live their lives . But you’re doing it. This entire blog is about telling people you don’t know
how to[that they must] live their lives [in a world containing gay people] and you claim to know better then us what’s good for us.”Obviously, everything is all about you. Have you been diagnosed with Narcissistic Personality Disorder?
Oops, that should be “Hannah, is this what you meant in #16?”
Hannah said “This entire blog is about telling people you don’t know how to live their lives and you claim to know better then us what’s good for us.”.
Your lack of self awareness is absolutely stunning – that’s what bigots such as yourself do! No one here is telling heterosexuals they deserve fewer rights than gays because they should reject their sexuality and become gay. Its bigots like YOU who are telling gays they deserve less rights than heterosexuals because they should stop being gay.
Hannah–where has anyone told you how to live? It seems to me that you and your other Christian bigots are trying to force GLBT people to live as you see fit. You’re either very un-self aware or a true hypocrite.