Wednesday news briefs
Attacks on faith are an opportunity, says Cameron - This is the actor Kirk Cameron, not my favorite phony researcher Paul Cameron. But this Cameron seems to have taken a tip from that Cameron. He claims that assaults on Christian faith is increasing in the public square, but he offer no proof of this.
If anything, it's that self-righteous claim of victimhood that's slowly but surely giving Christianity a bad name in this country. Pretty soon, when people hear the word "Christian," they aren't going to think of individuals who let their faith and love of God show in their daily lives . They aren't going to think of the Good Samaritan. And they are not going to think of Jesus.
They are going to think of a bunch of hypocrites whose talk of religious liberties only mean them and them only. They are going to think of a man like James Dobson in pictures where he holds the Bible like the hammer of Thor.
And they are going to think of intolerant boobs who use the government to hold back the rights of lgbts and ignore the needs of the homeless, hungry, and truly spiritually destitute while they themselves give aid and comfort to the forces of corruption (i.e. Jack Abramoff, Tom Delay, and Charles Keating) in pursuit of some bullshit idea of conquest in the name of God.
Okay, enough of my soap box.
Iceland to appoint gay woman minister to PM post - And here we are supposed to be the first in things like this.
Big trouble for Obama nod - Not necessarily a gay issue, but to me, it's taking anti-Obamaism to the extreme.
Anti-Gay Arguments We Don’t Bother With (And Should): Part 1 - The beginning of an excellent series by Box Turtle Bulletin and should be required reading for all lgbts.
Dumbass anti-gay comment of the week:
"Certainly there would be a mass exodus of normal men from a homosexualized military," said Lively, "probably leading to the reinstatement of compulsory service. . . . And yes there would be severe morale problems for normal men forced to live as the objects of sexual interest of other men with whom they share close quarters. However, the much bigger, longer-term problem is the threat of a homosexual takeover of the military branches." - Scott Lively, 'Gays' in the Military: A Revival of The Pink Swastika?
Analyzing and refuting the inaccuracies lodged against the lgbt community by religious conservative organizations. Lies in the name of God are still lies.
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
Anti-Gay Harrassment leads to poor adult health (and in other news, the religious right really doesn't give a %@!)
From Box Turtle Bulletin comes this news:
The Urban Men’s Health Survey (UMHS) has revealed a lot of useful information in the decade since it was conducted. Much of it “dismaying,” in the words of Ron Stall, who worked on the survey at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and is now at the University of Pittsburgh. Stall was one of four researchers from the University of Pittsburgh (joined by a fifth researcher from Indiana University - Purdue University Indianapolis) who analyzed a subset of that data and concluded that “experience of homophobic attacks against young gay/bisexual male youth helps to explain heightened rates of serious health problems among adult gay men.”
The UMHS was a telephone interview of a probability sample of men who have sex with men (MSMs) living in four cities: San Francisco, New York, Los Angeles, and Chicago. The survey was conducted between November 1996 and February 1998, with 2,881 UMHS participants being asked a wide-ranging battery of questions resulting in 855 variables. The results of that survey were fed into a database, which scores of researchers have been mining ever since for dozens of studies covering many different topics. Dr, Mark Friedman, who has previously investigated the link between anti-gay hostility and suicide among young gay males, led a team which poured over responses to key questions in that database to see if a link could be established between anti-gay hostility against young gay men and adverse health outcomes as adults.
This study confirms a common sense idea that a child who has his/her self esteem destroyed (via name-calling or any other type of harrassment) will most likely grow up to participate in negative behavior.
It's an idea that isn't necessarily bound to sexual orientation. In his classic novel, Native Son, African-American writer Richard Wright demonstrated, through the turbulent life and death of his protagonist Bigger Thomas, that when society works against building the self esteem of youth, it usually creates criminals and those who engage in negative behavior.
Not that members of the religious right care about Bigger Thomas, Richard Wright, or this study.
To them, any attempt to stop such harrassment is a part of the BIG GAY CONSPIRACY.
Yesterday, Matt Barber of the Liberty Counsel railed against an educator for daring to stop homophobic language in her class.
Today, Brad Dacus, president of the Pacific Justice Institute (PJI), is bitching about "No Name Calling Week," a week where students are encouraged to treat each other with respect regardless of their differences:
Brad Dacus, president of the Pacific Justice Institute (PJI), says while the event's name sounds innocent, it is a way of indoctrinating children so that they will support the homosexual agenda after they become adults. A PJI press release reveals the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network, or GLSEN, is a key sponsor of the program.
"They're promoting, all the way down to the first-grade level, children to read and be exposed to books and material that is pro-homosexual -- and it's all under the guise of opposing name-calling," he contends.
. . . "The alleged homosexual kids are not the only ones being bullied," the attorney points out. "There's [sic] kids of faith being called 'homophobic' and 'homophobe,' and yet those words and that name-calling is not under attack and is not being addressed by this alleged week of tolerance that's being pushed."
Dacus urges parents to be aware of what happens in their children's schools and to opt out their children out if necessary.
That's right parents - opt your kids out of this event so that they can name-call other students with impunity. And why stop there.
Why don't you sit down with your child and draw up a list of slurs that he/she can use.
After all, family togetherness is so Christian.
Really though, if there are any incidents of Christian children being called names, they should be addressed. Of course like so many other things when it comes to the religious right, I am sure that this is an anecdotal story with little evidence or one intentionally taken out of context.
In my day, those who pushed conspiracies where there were none were looked at with caution.
Nowadays, it seems that they are given platforms as "pro-family" activists.
Seriously though, a week that encourages children to show respect for differences (religious, sexual orientation, race, or otherwise) should be encouraged, period.
If you ask me, I think it should be a mandatory week for adults also.
From Box Turtle Bulletin comes this news:
The Urban Men’s Health Survey (UMHS) has revealed a lot of useful information in the decade since it was conducted. Much of it “dismaying,” in the words of Ron Stall, who worked on the survey at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and is now at the University of Pittsburgh. Stall was one of four researchers from the University of Pittsburgh (joined by a fifth researcher from Indiana University - Purdue University Indianapolis) who analyzed a subset of that data and concluded that “experience of homophobic attacks against young gay/bisexual male youth helps to explain heightened rates of serious health problems among adult gay men.”
The UMHS was a telephone interview of a probability sample of men who have sex with men (MSMs) living in four cities: San Francisco, New York, Los Angeles, and Chicago. The survey was conducted between November 1996 and February 1998, with 2,881 UMHS participants being asked a wide-ranging battery of questions resulting in 855 variables. The results of that survey were fed into a database, which scores of researchers have been mining ever since for dozens of studies covering many different topics. Dr, Mark Friedman, who has previously investigated the link between anti-gay hostility and suicide among young gay males, led a team which poured over responses to key questions in that database to see if a link could be established between anti-gay hostility against young gay men and adverse health outcomes as adults.
This study confirms a common sense idea that a child who has his/her self esteem destroyed (via name-calling or any other type of harrassment) will most likely grow up to participate in negative behavior.
It's an idea that isn't necessarily bound to sexual orientation. In his classic novel, Native Son, African-American writer Richard Wright demonstrated, through the turbulent life and death of his protagonist Bigger Thomas, that when society works against building the self esteem of youth, it usually creates criminals and those who engage in negative behavior.
Not that members of the religious right care about Bigger Thomas, Richard Wright, or this study.
To them, any attempt to stop such harrassment is a part of the BIG GAY CONSPIRACY.
Yesterday, Matt Barber of the Liberty Counsel railed against an educator for daring to stop homophobic language in her class.
Today, Brad Dacus, president of the Pacific Justice Institute (PJI), is bitching about "No Name Calling Week," a week where students are encouraged to treat each other with respect regardless of their differences:
Brad Dacus, president of the Pacific Justice Institute (PJI), says while the event's name sounds innocent, it is a way of indoctrinating children so that they will support the homosexual agenda after they become adults. A PJI press release reveals the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network, or GLSEN, is a key sponsor of the program.
"They're promoting, all the way down to the first-grade level, children to read and be exposed to books and material that is pro-homosexual -- and it's all under the guise of opposing name-calling," he contends.
. . . "The alleged homosexual kids are not the only ones being bullied," the attorney points out. "There's [sic] kids of faith being called 'homophobic' and 'homophobe,' and yet those words and that name-calling is not under attack and is not being addressed by this alleged week of tolerance that's being pushed."
Dacus urges parents to be aware of what happens in their children's schools and to opt out their children out if necessary.
That's right parents - opt your kids out of this event so that they can name-call other students with impunity. And why stop there.
Why don't you sit down with your child and draw up a list of slurs that he/she can use.
After all, family togetherness is so Christian.
Really though, if there are any incidents of Christian children being called names, they should be addressed. Of course like so many other things when it comes to the religious right, I am sure that this is an anecdotal story with little evidence or one intentionally taken out of context.
In my day, those who pushed conspiracies where there were none were looked at with caution.
Nowadays, it seems that they are given platforms as "pro-family" activists.
Seriously though, a week that encourages children to show respect for differences (religious, sexual orientation, race, or otherwise) should be encouraged, period.
If you ask me, I think it should be a mandatory week for adults also.
Reminder - I am continuing my experiment of posting three times a day. So please be sure to check back here to see the new posts.
Blackmail and homosexuality in the Palmetto State
From Blogactive via Pam's House Blend:
Quite an interesting story out of South Carolina. It involves alleged police brutality, extortion, secret gay sex and at least one anti-gay Republican elected official.Fitsnews.com has the story. I have decided to link to this story for two reasons. First, the writer has been clear to report only on what he has confirmed with law enforcement sources, not political folks. Second, it does not mention the politician's name.
Of course, coercion and extortion are illegal. From Fitsnews.com:
Law enforcement officials are trying desperately to apprehend - and save the life of - an alleged blackmailer who supposedly met with a bloody rebuke at the hands of state law enforcement officers after attempting to extort $200,000 from a prominent S.C. Republican official, multiple sources have confirmed to FITS.
In addition to these sources, a senior agent at the S.C. State Law Enforcement Division (SLED) has confirmed details of the alleged extortion drama to FITS, and sources even closer to the top at SLED tell us that the agency has been in contact with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) requesting that they look into the matter.
Rumors of the alleged drama have been making their way through South Carolina political circles in hushed tones for several months now, first reaching our ears last November.We initially dismissed the accusations as too far-fetched to be true, however we began to dig deeper after sources at SLED confirmed details of the alleged incident to us.
If this story picks up and continues, things should get very interesting around here. And deservedly so. Between me and you, there have been rumors down here about certain in-the-closet officials for years.
The sky is going to fall - I actually agree with the religious right on something
RIVERSIDE, Calif. – A California appeals court has ruled that a Christian high school can expel students because of an alleged lesbian relationship.
The 4th District Court of Appeal in Riverside on Monday upheld California Lutheran High School's right as a private, religious organization to exclude students based on sexual orientation.
Two girls sued claiming they were discriminated against after they were expelled from the Wildomar school in 2005. A lower court said the school isn't bound by the same anti-discrimination laws as a business establishment.
John McKay, attorney for California Lutheran, says the school's goal is to educate based on Christian principles.
The attorney for the girls could not be immediately reached Tuesday.
If it's a private Christian school, then it should be allowed to pick and choose who attends. That is private and not paid for by taxpayers.
Of course the question is how long will it be before Matt Staver and company try to link this case to a "gay conspiracy to hurt Christians" despite the fact that some lgbts (me included) actually agree with them here.
Link to article here.
Blackmail and homosexuality in the Palmetto State
From Blogactive via Pam's House Blend:
Quite an interesting story out of South Carolina. It involves alleged police brutality, extortion, secret gay sex and at least one anti-gay Republican elected official.Fitsnews.com has the story. I have decided to link to this story for two reasons. First, the writer has been clear to report only on what he has confirmed with law enforcement sources, not political folks. Second, it does not mention the politician's name.
Of course, coercion and extortion are illegal. From Fitsnews.com:
Law enforcement officials are trying desperately to apprehend - and save the life of - an alleged blackmailer who supposedly met with a bloody rebuke at the hands of state law enforcement officers after attempting to extort $200,000 from a prominent S.C. Republican official, multiple sources have confirmed to FITS.
In addition to these sources, a senior agent at the S.C. State Law Enforcement Division (SLED) has confirmed details of the alleged extortion drama to FITS, and sources even closer to the top at SLED tell us that the agency has been in contact with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) requesting that they look into the matter.
Rumors of the alleged drama have been making their way through South Carolina political circles in hushed tones for several months now, first reaching our ears last November.We initially dismissed the accusations as too far-fetched to be true, however we began to dig deeper after sources at SLED confirmed details of the alleged incident to us.
If this story picks up and continues, things should get very interesting around here. And deservedly so. Between me and you, there have been rumors down here about certain in-the-closet officials for years.
The sky is going to fall - I actually agree with the religious right on something
RIVERSIDE, Calif. – A California appeals court has ruled that a Christian high school can expel students because of an alleged lesbian relationship.
The 4th District Court of Appeal in Riverside on Monday upheld California Lutheran High School's right as a private, religious organization to exclude students based on sexual orientation.
Two girls sued claiming they were discriminated against after they were expelled from the Wildomar school in 2005. A lower court said the school isn't bound by the same anti-discrimination laws as a business establishment.
John McKay, attorney for California Lutheran, says the school's goal is to educate based on Christian principles.
The attorney for the girls could not be immediately reached Tuesday.
If it's a private Christian school, then it should be allowed to pick and choose who attends. That is private and not paid for by taxpayers.
Of course the question is how long will it be before Matt Staver and company try to link this case to a "gay conspiracy to hurt Christians" despite the fact that some lgbts (me included) actually agree with them here.
Link to article here.