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Thursday, January 28, 2010

STRAIGHT DUDE. GAY NEWS. Episode 1: Spectra

Of all the callow excuses for rhetoric I've heard in the marriage equality debate, the argument that allowing gay marriage is comparable to allowing people to marry dogs pisses me off the most. Here is my response. Please pass this along to anyone shameful enough to mention dogs in the same sentence as human beings.



Background links:

Connections between David Bahati and the family

David Bahati and “The Family” in Uganda Do not miss the incoherent rantings of Leroy Swailes in the comments!

Another article about Bahati at Box Turtle Bulletin

Wikipedia article about The Family


Rebuttals containing more nuanced views of the Ugandan connection

Followup NPR interviw: A Different Perspective On 'The Family' And Uganda

Jeff Sharlet speaks very positively about Bob Hunter.

Call Me Ishmael: Bob Hunter, Uganda, and Rachel Maddow

Pam's House Blend "Homobigots" page, which includes a bit about Leroy Swailes.


Mark Twain quote:
Anger is an acid that can do more harm to the vessel in which it is stored than to anything on which it is poured.


Matthew 25:31-46, King James Bible
31 When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory: 32 And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats: 33 And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left.

34 Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: 35 For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in: 36 Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me. 37 Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink? 38 When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee? 39 Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee? 40 And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.

41 Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels: 42 For I was an hungred, and ye gave me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink: 43 I was a stranger, and ye took me not in: naked, and ye clothed me not: sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not. 44 Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee? 45 Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me. 46 And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal.

4 comments:

  1. extremely gutsy and well-considered, hugh!

    some feedback: audio distortion on first 'hello'.

    i know the cause is urgent, but my personal preference in tone for internet videos is a bit 'cooler', in the macluhan way, as in 'less visibly ruffled, less angry'...macluhan classified media as either 'hot' or 'cool'. radio, he said, was 'hot'---it carried passionate voices, music and a lot of information. tv he considered 'cool'---less information [as in a video screen that scans and is always incomplete, in transition] and hence more perceptual involvement [closure] on behalf of the audience. why do i mention this? he also theorized that a 'hot' temperament on a cool medium wouldn't be as successful at delivering a message; that the audience would be distracted from the substance by the blast of the emotion [since their perceptual apparatus is 'turned up']. i think internet video is similar to tv in this regard.

    maybe think of lighting and/or setting [backdrop] to add visual quality to your presentation.

    great job! again, you're more man than i am ;-)

    love,
    dan

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  2. Dan: Thank you for watching my fulminations, and for the useful feedback! You'll be pleased to hear that this is three times angrier than I intend to be again.. This was something I had to express once, as a way of drawing a line in the sand: if I don't *ever* get angry, even at the most obscene conceits, then I'm just a wishy-washy liberal, yes?

    In general I intend to make SDGN hew as closely as possible to the goal of real news. i have to say though, it's gratifying to have gotten some strongly positive responses from gay friends. Ultimately I want to be engaging with those who disagree with me, but for now I also like the idea that I could articulate a refutation that would help someone own the knowledge that they don't deserve to be mentioned in the same sentence as dogs.

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  3. You don't know me, but in reading and watching your blog / vblog I've seen into you a bit. I'm very proud to have someone like you in our corner!

    We fight not just for marraige equality, but work equality in all 50 states. (and the territories as well)

    Luc
    -trans man AND gay

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  4. Luc: Thank you so much! It does my heart good to hear this. Let me know if you'd like to be featured on the blog.

    ReplyDelete