"Joy and pleasure are as real as pain and sorrow and one must learn what they have to teach. . . ." -- Sean Russell, from Gatherer of Clouds

"If you're not having fun, you're not doing it right." -- Helyn D. Goldenberg

"I love you and I'm not afraid." -- Evanescence, "My Last Breath"

“If I hear ‘not allowed’ much oftener,” said Sam, “I’m going to get angry.” -- J.R.R. Tolkien, from Lord of the Rings

Thursday, May 26, 2016

Today in Disgusting People

The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, to be exact. They've come out with a really syrupy video about how allowing gay men and lesbians to marry is a violation of their religious beliefs. As you might imagine, it's just chock full of lies. Here's just a few:

"As an attorney, I represent a number of clients who are being punished and coerced by the government to change their views on marriage," Fiedorek notes. "We're seeing this happen to florists, to bakers, to photographers, we're seeing this happen to judges and to clerks who are authorized to solemnize weddings and have a religious objection to doing so."

"Fiedorek" is Kellie Fiedorek of the Alliance Defending Freedom (which, strangely enough, the SPLC doesn't seem to have listed as a hate group), so you can guess what anything she says is worth. As for her statement, no one is being coerced by the government to change their views on marriage. They're being "coerced" to obey the law, just like the rest of us have to do.

"The implications of the redefinition of marriage for religious freedom are vast," says Fiedorek. "I think that the short term effects we will see will first come in the attempt to silence people of faith, or people that hold a conviction that marriage is something sacred, something special, they will be silenced."

Silenced? No one can get them to shut up for a minute. What are we going to do -- cut their vocal cords and take away their keyboards?

"I've been really surprised that just saying that it takes a man and a woman to create a child, that a child deserves a mom and a dad, is viewed by some as hate speech. As if acknowledging where a child comes from is discrimination," says one man. . . .

OK, that's off the rails. Who, exactly, is arguing with the fact that it takes a man and a woman to produce a child? As for a child deserving a mom and dad (and do note the folksy tone), I hate to intrude with reality, but that's not always possible. What children do deserve is a safe, stable home with parents who love and support them. All the research to date indicates that two men or two women are fully capable of providing that.

"If in any way shape or form, you disagree with the prevailing narrative about what is appropriate in terms of sexuality, same-sex marriage, even a hint of it, it sort of takes the air out of the room," says Gloria Purvis. "People begin to think you're closed minded, you're a bigot, and you're hateful."

If you're trying to impose your views on everyone else, then you are a bigot.

And do note the equation of marriage with procreation, a basic tenet of Catholic teaching. Marriage doesn't require children, and it's obvious from the statistics that marriage isn't necessary to produce a baby. It's just another facet of the Church's basic view of humanity as domestic animals -- in this case, breeding stock.

There's also a sequence in the video about how Catholics are feeding the hungry all over the world. Maybe if the USCCB spent more time focusing on that, and less on fighting gay rights and shielding child molesters, I might have a different reaction.

Here's the video, if you can stand it:


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