Wow, how time flies.

I need to get better at this blogging thing! Any tips? I just haven't been good at budgeting the time for this lately... bad John!

Anyway, I wanted to reproduce this facebook exchange between myself and another in response to an angry note I wrote in response to an article I read about how the "Christian" right was spreading lies in an effort to get Californians to vote "yes" on Proposition 8. I would venture to guess that anyone who reads this has access to my facebook profile; however, no reason not to post it in another forum! I'd love to hear thoughts. The person's name has been changed for privacy. I'd like to point out also that this person was not even tagged in the initial note.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/27369927/
James Dobson -- lower than low. Since when does Christianity involve lying, fear-mongering, and spreading hatred and discord? You have a lot to answer for, you evil person. You RAPE Jesus Christ with your hateful lies and bigotry, and you hijack the teachings of the source of ALL love and the Supreme lover of ALL creation. (Yeah, that's right, the love same-sex couples have for each other comes from GOD, despite what your warped misreadings of Biblical texts might suggest.) I am so sick of the love that my husband and I have for each other (and the love between millions of same-sex couples like ourselves) being used as a political weapon to scare people. It's people like this that give Christians a bad name. It's people and organizations like this that drive thousands away from Christianity, and often from religion in general. It's people and organizations like this that make me so sick of and disillusioned with this country. Liberty and justice for all? My ass. We'll talk about liberty and about justice when gays and lesbians can excercise their fundamental human right to marry the person they love. Don't you DARE use our love as a scare tactic for your own political gain, you horrid wretch.
Speaking of the fundamental right of gays and lesbians to marry, I am SO ashamed of the various church organizations that are behind the fight to pass Proposition 8 in California and write discrimination and bigotry into that state's constitution. Shame on you, Focus on the Family. (That's right. James Dobson's group of self-righteous, holier-than-thou, phony "Christians" who believe that Jesus only loves you if you pray like them, vote like them, and believe like them has its fingers in THIS one too.) Shame on you, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (Mormon Church). Shame on you, Knights of Columbus (a Catholic fraternal organization). Shame on all of you hateful, bigoted, narrow-minded Neanderthals who would stand so squarely in the way of my life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness. I DARE you to tell me that you've got God on your side. I DARE you to tell me that you're doing "what Jesus would do." The joke's going to be on you in the end, when you are (mercifully) gone from this earth and go to be judged as you have judged others.
I didn't intend to write such a vitriolic diatribe, and I fully understand that it might very well cause some of you to de-friend me. I do not apologize for it, however. I hope that none of you ever have to know what it's like to be discriminated against by the very country, the very government, the very church/es, and the very people that you are supposed to care about and love, and that are supposed to ensure that your basic and fundamental human rights and dignity are upheld. I would encourage those of you who might want to de-friend me on the basis of this note to give that some thought and leave a comment or two. Let's discuss. After all, despite this venomous note, I really am a lover, but I guess I'm a bit of a fighter too. See what this has turned me into? Sheesh... Europe's looking real good....


And here is the partial thread of comments from the anonymous individual (Person A).

Person A: I am repulsed by how you lump everyone into a category according to your own personal views. How can you condemn someone for holding a different viewpoint? Just because someone opposes a political proposition doesn't mean they deserve to be damned and name-called. Not every [gay] person feels the way you do about same-sex marriage; that doesn't mean they are stripping you of your God-given rights.
Also, did you ever stop to think that maybe it's people like YOU who deter so many from Christianity or the gay community? To be Christian is not only to accept that Christ was our savior, but also to live/love as he did. Is this note the way Christ would speak of the people you've written about? I see more hatred and putrescence in your note than I've EVER heard come out of someone like James Dobson.

Me: Hey xxxxx. Okay, first of all, did you read the article that this post referred to? All of those claims made by James Dobson and Tony Perkins are verifiably false. Put another way, they are LIES. (I will be glad to either refute them point-by-point myself or direct you to a source that will.) I will assume that if Dobson and Perkins are not themselves educated on the proposition (which is highly unlikely), then their underlings are. So since they have read the language of the proposition and informed themselves on the issue but persist in spreading untruths, they are lying. This is in direct violation of the ninth commandment and, therefore, evil. So I do not regret calling Dobson evil. And in the case of homosexuality, Dobson has a history of demonizing and marginalizing gays and lesbians. Believe me, I know -- my parents used to subscribe to his newsletters, and I read them every month while I was growing up. I am very well acquainted with James Dobson, his rhetoric, and his political and religious views, and I completely stand behind my comments about him.
Additionally, I find it interesting that you criticize my Christianity. I definitely do not need to defend my faith to you, but I WOULD like to call your attention to the many places in the Bible where Jesus loses his temper. Jesus was physically violent in the temple in Jerusalem (found in the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and John) when he cast out the moneylenders. He overturned the moneylenders' tables, and John goes so far as to say that he "made a whip out of cords and drove them all out of the temple area." (John 2:15). Can you believe it? Our Lord and savior being violent! I certainly don't feel bad, then, for getting worked up and writing an angry facebook note. Matthew 23 is full of examples of Jesus getting angry at the Pharisees and calling them hypocrites (interesting -- so wouldn't I be following his example by challenging the idiocy of a religious leader???) He even cursed a fig tree in Matthew 21. Clearly, if Jesus' anger didn't deter "so many" from Christianity, mine will not either. Feel free also to do some research on the Christian teaching of righteous anger before you criticize me or anyone else for becoming angry at people's misunderstanding and perversion of religion and/or issues of social justice.
I never referred to marriage as a "God-given right." I DID say that the love in a committed homosexual relationship comes from God, the source of all love, but I did not refer to marriage as a right granted by God. Come to think of it, there are precious few rights that God "grants" in the Bible. Just ask women, slaves, "Gentiles," members of non-Jewish/Israeli tribes, prostitutes, tax collectors...and on and on and on. Society, morality, science, and common sense have evolved a great deal since Biblical times, so just because something isn't specifically listed in the Bible as a "God-given right" does not mean that it is in any way less basic or fundamental. Proposition 8 is not your everyday political proposition. It proposes to write discrimination into the California constitution and strip an entire group of people of their rights.
Finally, I find it most hypocritical when certain people benefit from the advances in LGBT rights and then turn around and bash those who are fighting for them. Whether or not you admit it, xxxx, your human rights are up for a vote in California, too. What a strange world we live in.

Person A: It is true. Jesus got angry and violent, and I understand why you are. We must remember, though, that Jesus was the Son of God and we are not. I never once criticized your Christianity, John. I stated that the words of your note are filled with nothing but hatred and self-righteousness.
I don't disagree with WHAT you stand for, John, so stop attempting to make my stance seem hypocritical and trivial. I disagree with HOW you stand for it; the way in which you conduct yourself - and rightfully so. When it comes down to it, you're fighting fire with fire. You are name-calling, condemning, damning, defaming, and even (how outrageous) DARING people.
Your words are hateful and antagonistic... NOTHING like Jesus'. It is not hypocritical of me to mention my disgust with your verbal diarrhea.

Me: If we're discussing what was said and what wasn't said, I never once expressed hatred for James Dobson. Disgust? Yes. Incredible anger? You bet. Outrage? Certainly. Hatred? Nope. That just simply was not said.
And xxxx, this note was an isolated incident, a burst of anger. Don't forget that I lead my life every day as a flawed but (I hope) pretty nice person, making lots of mistakes but in general just trying to be the best person I can be -- the best husband I can to xxxxx, the best singer and classmate and ensemble-member and co-worker and friend and family member that I can. I try every day to change people's misconception of homosexuality and homosexuals not overtly, through words or otherwise shoving it in their faces, but through my actions, i.e. kindness, openness, and sincerity. Because Jon (a friend who left a comment) is also right in that when push comes to shove, we can (and should) change laws, but it's changing hearts that is the most important. When someone who styles himself a religious leader and a Christian public figure uses lies, slander, and divisive, misinformed, bigoted, hateful rhetoric to demonize me, my husband, and hundreds of thousands of others like us just because of who we were created to be and who God ordained us to love, I will occasionally get angry. You should know that we in this community are used to being misunderstood and demonized. Sometimes, though, it's tough and/or impossible to swallow. And that was my whole point in citing both the Biblical examples of Jesus' anger and the teaching of righteous anger: that sometimes (in this case, for example, when grave injustices are perpetrated upon a minority group in the name of religion) anger can be righteous and godly and necessary. It is especially necessary when fighting against grave injustice. This anger is not hateful because it does not spring from hatred. You should know me well enough to know that I'm not a hateful person at heart, xxxx. Incidentally, I think it's too bad that you also had to attack my thoughts as "verbal diarrhea." Yes, my initial note was rather rancorous, but it was at the very least well-thought-out and well-defended, as the record of this conversation clearly shows.