Religious right groups often place themselves on the pedestal of virtue and respectability. However if one assesses how they conduct business, one would wonder if they actually deserve to be knocked off that pedestal.
Last weekend, it was Matt Barber of the Liberty Counsel
actually defending countries who torture and execute lgbts
Yesterday, the Family Research Council spoke out
against Obama Administration plans to create a national resource center for lgbt seniors:
HHS has no idea how many LGBT seniors exist. No one does! The movement is only a few decades old, and people who are 80- or 90-years-old didn't grow up in a culture where it was acceptable to identify with this lifestyle.
Of course, the real tragedy here--apart from the unnecessary spending--is that, given the risks of homosexual conduct, few of these people are likely to live long enough to become senior citizens! Yet once again, the Obama administration is rushing to reward a lifestyle that poses one of the greatest public health risks in America.
Only a few decades old? Who knew 20 or 30 years was such a short time?
What a crude and totally insensitive remark.
And totally untrue. Via that ugly statement, FRC tried to refute information
supplied by the Obama Adminstration as to the number of lgbt seniors:
Experts estimate that as many as 1.5 to 4 million LGBT individuals are age 60 and older. Agencies that provide services to older individuals may be unfamiliar or uncomfortable with the needs of this group of individuals. The new Resource Center for LGBT Elders will provide information, assistance and resources for both LGBT organizations and mainstream aging services providers at the state and community level to assist them in the development and provision of culturally sensitive supports and services. The LGBT Center will also be available to educate the LGBT community about the importance of planning ahead for futurelong term care needs.
Also, according to a September 18, 2008 issue of
Newsweek:
Over the next 25 years, persons in America who are 65 and older are expected to grow from about 12 to 20 percent of the total population, and various estimates indicate that lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered individuals will comprise 7 to 10 percent of that senior population. Meanwhile, like the Baby Boomers of all stripes, aging gays and lesbians are radically redefining what it means to be a senior—and how they fit into the larger community. They're coming out of the closet, vocalizing their experiences and needs, and, most importantly, demanding public recognition. "If you go back 40 years, there were virtually no openly gay seniors," says Gary Gates, a senior research fellow and demographer at the Williams Institute. "But now you have a large enough group that people are paying attention."
It doesn't matter whether or not the specific number of elderly lgbts are known.
The point is finding out who they are and taking care of their needs, i.e. a perfect reason for the creation of this national resource center.
But we shouldn't be surprised that FRC feels the need to attack the idea.
Just noting the existence of lgbt seniors refutes the
"gays have a short life span" and the
"homosexuality poses a great health risk" lies that FRC and other so-called pro-values groups push.
In fact, it is their
continued citings of discredited Paul Cameron data, reliance on
outdated studies, and
constant distortion of legtimate studies that have led these lies to take root in the minds of many people.
But the meanspirited way FRC went about attacking the idea of an lgbt senior resource center belies its claim to be a Christian organization.
Expressing a belief that homosexuality is a sin is one thing. Actively trying to throwing a monkey wrench into plans to help senior citizens simply because you do not agree with their sexual orientation is entirely something else.
And part of FRC's reasoning for its opposition actually goes against the nature of Christianity.
In the Bible (Matthew 25:45), Jesus said
" . . .whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me."
So now FRC, which claims to espouse the values that Jesus taught, is implying that since the number of lgbt senior citizens are allegedly small, they shouldn't warrant any help from the government.
The organization must be reading that new
Conservapedia version of the Bible everyone is talking about.
In its eagerness to espouse its version of "values," FRC seems to have abandoned basic Christian decency, as well as common human decency.
The organization forgets that some of these lgbt seniors could be someone's mother, someone's father, or a veteran.
And isn't it moral to take care of our elderly citizens, period?
In the real world, the answer to this question would be yes. But in the bizarro world of pseudo Christian values that FRC populates, we know the answer is
"only if they are not homosexuals."
Hat tip to www.Goodasyou.org
Related articles and posts:
Gay couples enter golden years with more risk
‘Invisible And Overlooked’
The Family Research Council continues to use 'outdated' work
How religious right groups distort legitimate research to demonize the gay community
Why we should care about Paul Cameron
U.N. official defends murder of lgbts and the religious right defends HIM
