There once was a man who was a faithful follower of God. This man had a brother who left the faith and who had made some bad decisions that the man was disappointed with. Nevertheless, the man loved his brother and wished for him the best.One day, the man was talking with a friend. The friend mentioned the mans brother and started speaking terrible things about his brother. The man became distraught with his friend and was upset about the things being said about his brother - even though there was some truth in the things being said. But, the man felt that by dishonoring his brother - he too was being dishonored.
This parable describes how I feel when I feel when I hear/read people trash talking the GLBT community - a community that I too am affiliated with. To be honest, there are aspects of gay culture that I am not comfortable with. There are things which some of my gay brothers and sisters do that I flat out think are wrong. But, that does not change the fact that I feel a certain kinship with my gay brothers and sisters - especially those who are trying to live their lives as honestly and best they can. It saddens me greatly when I see people pointing to some of the base debauchery that exists in certain corners of the gay culture - and then applying that to the overall GLBT community
Yes, there are some nefarious aspects of gay culture - the promiscuity, flamboyancy, drugs, and a generally hedonistic lifestyle is often glamorized by Hollywood. But the reality is that gay culture does not have an exclusive on depravity - all of that self indulgence that people use to discredit the the GLBT community is just as prevalent in the straight community.We often hear of the Gay Agenda. I, evidently, missed the memo; but, apparently, there was this big meeting of gay folk where a plan was devised and is being carefully orchestrated and carried out as we speak to
Destroy all healthy heterosexual marriages by redefining marriage- Recruit all straight youngsters to a debauched lifestyle
- Bulldoze all houses of worship
- Secure total control of the internet and all mass media for the exclusive use of pornographers.
AshleyMadison.com CEO Noel Biderman said he started the service in 2001, after reading that 30 percent of the people signing up for singles dating services were actually married.The Toronto-based company is focusing on Texas because Houston, Dallas and San Antonio represent its fastest-growing markets. According to an article in the Houston Chronicle - The ad was deemed inappropriate by NFL and NBC officials; however, a few local NBC affiliates felt it made financial sense to run the ad during the Superbowl - a bonanza for Ashley Madison since, by Monday afternoon, the Web site had received 147,000 hits from the Houston market alone.
“I thought, wouldn’t it be better to be honest about your status?” he said. “About 3.3 million members and tens of millions of dollars later, I think I was right.”
[sniff] it makes me proud to be a Texan
Where is the outrage? Isn't a dating service for married people - a service that glamorizes and encourages adultery - a very real and true threat to the traditional family? Shouldn't we be outraged that our local NBC affiliates put profit and greed above family programming? Shouldn't we be organizing letter writing campaigns letting the NBC brass know how angry we are that our children were submitted to such moral turpitude?[sigh] apparently not. There has been little, if any, mention of this in the local press. I've not heard of any churches in the area gathering their forces. It's not even on the Focus On Family's radar, that I'm aware of.
Apparently, we'd rather focus our energy on imaginary threats - those evil and vile homosexuals who want to shove their degenerate lifestyle into our collective faces by [GASP!] getting married - and by so doing, threaten the very sanctity of marriage.
I don't even know what that means - to threaten the sanctity of marriage. It's a clever sound bite - but what does it mean?
7 comments:
Amen to all you said.
Thanks Abe, great post.
"30 percent of the people signing up for singles dating services were actually married."
Wow; I hope that's not true. How will I ever protect our children from the heterosexual lifestyle? ;-)
While not possessing any provable facts, I have read elsewhere that the estimated number of gays in the USA is slightly smaller than the admitted number of swingers.
Swingers, BTW, actually do actively recruit other people to their lifestyle.
Even if the total number of swingers was only 1/10 the number of gays, that's still a huge number of what christians would define as adulterers targeting people to join their lifestyles. They even have conventions, for crying out loud!
You didn't get the memo? I'll make sure you get another copy of that memo...
(A la "Office Space")
Great post, as always, Abe.
Great post, and nicely said.
The conservative attack on everything Gay took a hit in Utah this week.
To quote my local TV station:
"The republican governor of Utah, Jon Huntsman Jr., is dropping a big, fat political bombshell right in the middle of the state capitol.
He is endorsing same sex civil unions, and that has made Huntsman a hero to some Utahans and a traitor to others."
Go figure! In this conservative of all conservative states! I am proud of my governor for finally bringing common sense to the forum in the "Pretty Great State of Utah". It's about time.
Then the ultra conservative response:
"...this answer from the Utah Eagle Forum’s Gayle Ruzicka.
ABC 4 asked Ruzicka, "Your reaction?”
Ruzicka replied, “Shame on him."
That's right Gayle, it's all about shame, shame, shame..let's shame ourselves out of existence and sanity. How dare that nasty governor express his heartfelt opinion and stand in defense of good, even God fearing gay folk who just want to live in peace and happiness like the rest of the community.
Abe, I visited the conservative community of Tyler, TX a few years ago and found that like in Utah the liquor laws made no sense and that although I don't drink my fellow conventioneers had to go to great lengths just to get a beer.
Conservative state Texas..kinda like Utah...I find it interesting how porn and swinging dating services thrive in conservative states. Maybe we conservatives need to loosen our shorts just a bit and lighten up.
All that pent up curiosity gets away from people sometimes. A little tolerance, openness, diversity and common sense just might calm those God fearin' Bible bashin' types down a bit and spare their kids and victims a little shame.
Shame and being the target of hysteria tends to make people bitter, defensive and resentful; and resent can bring on a whole lot of acting out, rebellion and addiction. Extremism breeds discontent.
I too resent terribly being lumped in the same bag with everything promiscuous, slimy and flamboyant about the Gay community and the so called "Agenda". I'm tired of being warned by unknowing and uninformed relatives and friends about the dangers of associating with "those people". Their agenda also troubles and offends me.
Great, well written post Abe!
Thanks for your courage and wisdom.
Silver
... although I don't drink my fellow conventioneers had to go to great lengths just to get a beer.
A few years ago, I was working with a man from the UK who was in Texas for a couple of weeks. One day, after work, we all went out to dinner in a small town nearby which he hadn't been to before. When the waitress came to take our drink order, he ordered a beer. She then informed him that the town we were in was dry and they were not allowed to sell alcohol. To which he exclaimed "What?!? You mean it's legal for me to carry a gun - but I can't even get a beer?"
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