According to no less of an authority than Concerned Women For America’s Robert Knight, all but 5 teachers in the San Leandro Unified School District worship the ancient god Baal.
The startling discovery was made when 5 teachers in the school district decided that their religion (apparently not Baal worship) required that their classroom be an unsafe place for gay students. They objected to including a sign in their class which said that “this is a safe place to be who you are.”
According to Knight, the heated debate going on at San Leandro High is not about safety at all. “This is about bullying people and saying you will kneel down and bow to the Baal god of homosexuality — or we’ll make your life very miserable,” he says.
In arguing for an unsafe place for gay students, Bob Knight argues, “What [such policies] produce is intolerance toward anyone who won’t accept homosexuality.”
To put that into English, he’s upset that these policies produce intolerance to the intolerant. It seems to me that if you’re in the “won’t accepting” business, you can’t complain too much about people who won’t accept your “won’t accepting”. I would think you’d feel right at home with intolerance.
But, then again, what do I know? I didn’t even know that Baal was the god of homosexuality.
Tomorrow (Tuesday) Stephen Bennett’s guest will be Jeff Tooley of the United Methodist committee at the Institute of Religion and Democracy will explain how “gay activist groups are planning on ‘crashing’ the [White House Egg Roll]– and politicizing it – to bring attention to GLBT individuals and their families.”
Wednesday, in a first for Straight Talk Radio, Bennett’s guest will be Robyn Murphy, Soulforce’s media contact for the egg roll event. After SIXTY FIVE air dates for the first time Bennett’s show will have a guest who is friendly to gay and lesbian Americans. (And for that matter isn’t bat-shit crazy either.)
Update: XGW and commenter Rick could not locate any information on “Jeff Tooley,” but there is a Mark Tooley at the Institute of Religion and Democracy.
Chad Thompson, operator of Des Moines, Iowa-based Inqueery, has written a new review of Brokeback Mountain.
Read it here.
Thompson is also marketing his latest DVD release, Bringing Christian Love Out of the Closet.
The Rev. Steven Baines is an elder in the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ).
In a commentary published Jan. 26 at Advocate.com, Baines cites former exgay activist and author John Paulk as one of five high-profile scandals among antigay activists working for the religious right. The other scandals include the arrest of Lonnie Latham, the political corruption of Ralph Reed, the antigay bigotry and sexual affair of Monsignor Eugene Clark, and the gambling addiction of William Bennett.
Baines says:
The moral hypocrisy of many right-wing religious leaders comes from their fundamental misunderstanding of religion as the practice of a complicated and esoteric set of rules designed to restrict human freedom, rather than a way of living that frees individuals to lives of greater compassion and personal growth.
Baines suggests that repressive religion and the resulting self-loathing are a direct cause of scandalous behavior.
I agree with that assessment — but I think John Paulk’s high-profile outing is among the least scandalous of recent exgay controversies. The abuse of families by Love In Action, the reckless orgies of HIV-infected exgay activist Michael Johnston, and the professional disgrace of PFOX president Richard Cohen are more recent and more damaging to church and society. Furthermore, Paulk and Bennett apologized for their moral failings. LIA, Johnston, and Cohen have not repented of their scandalous conduct; some even maintain that their scandals are virtuous — God’s gift to the rest of us.
In mid-January, CNN’s Larry King Live aired a four-person discussion of Brokeback Mountain and marriage for gay persons. The guests were Janet Parshall and Albert Mohler speaking for the religious right, and Chad Allen and Casper, Wyo., councilman Guy Padget speaking in favor of allowing gay people to marry.
At a new web site called A Tenable Belief, Steve Boese analyzes the rhetoric: The logic (or lack thereof) of each speaker; how many words were spoken on a variety of issues, and the percentage of discussion devoted to religion, civil liberties, or unrelated issues. ATB discovers that “conservatives got 50% more words in than the progressives, and faith garnered twice as much attention as rights and liberties.” ATB observes what may have changed, and what hasn’t, in the public debate over the past 10 years.
Concluding with a detailed analysis of Parshall’s rhetoric, ATB observes that “The true root of resistance by folks from the religious right to granting recognition of or civil rights for blgt folks is that gays hold wrong beliefs. Arguments like those offered on the King show — that no recognition of gay folks is called for because gay people who adopt conservative Christian beliefs no longer need distinct civil liberties or rights — recalls the work of some Christian missionaries to remote tribal cultures, where long-standing beliefs and traditions mattered primarily as targets to be eradicated.”
On the Exodus e-mail support list for antigay parents, a number of participants have been promoting the exgay-activist video It’s Not Gay.
They say it features “excellent,” factual information from “medical and mental health experts.” They say it proves the “physical and emotional effects of the gay lifestyle” and claim it proves that gay relationships are short-lived. One parent commented:
Read more…
I’ve recently subscribed to Duncan Bouwer’s ExGayTalk podcast. Duncan is an ex-gay, music teacher, father and husband in Johannesburg, South Africa. His most recent podcast titled “Yes I am in Denial” is of particular merit. He has a sense of humor that really shines, nor does he make outrageous claims like “complete change is completely possible.” Rather he admits to a continuing struggle and approaches his change from a biblical instead of pseudo-psychological perspective. Duncan notes his humor may raise the ire of ex-ex-gay folk like me. If all exgays had a sense of humor like Duncan my job would be much more enjoyable. His podcasts are filled with personal experience and simply quoted scripture. Even though many of us disagree with him, Duncan is pleasant, straightforward and honest; overall a refreshing change from the bombastic rhetoric I’m used to dealing with.
You may have noticed a few changes in the look of XGW:
A new logo, a few color and font changes.
More changes are planned, but first I wish to solicit feedback and bug reports from you, our readers. For example, does the layout work in your browser? Are the text or the comment boxes misplaced or awkward to read? What does that red thingy in the logo represent? 
Please comment, either publicly or via e-mail. Don’t forget to include the name of the web browser or newsreader that you use to view the site.
I closed a Brokeback Mountain discussion tonight because an anonymous commenter with the pseudonym “Charles” was repeating the same comment, arguing for the sake of argument, and failing to honor basic Internet etiquette. Basically, to borrow his own words, he was being childish.
Charles then proceeded to post the same comment again on an unrelated discussion. So I have banned Charles. I happen to agree with some of Charles’ observations, but since the purpose of Charles’ visit was to disrupt discussions and air strawmen, I am inclined to delete his remarks and the resulting side discussions.
I invite others to criticize BBM or other movies from an informed perspective and in a conversational style. I am eager for this web site to engage a variety of individuals with strong and contrary opinions — people who have real names and e-mail addresses and who engage in civil conversation. However, when individuals conceal their identity, repeat the same comment over and over, and argue solely for the purpose of argument, they will be treated as trolls and promptly dealt with.
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