I got caught up in the moment. Guilty as charged. Yesterday, someone posted a link to the facebook blog page that caused a whole lot of controversy. It was titled Top Ten Reasons Why Gay Marriage is Wrong. Ok, I took the bait. I read a little of it and became irate at what I was reading. But, I shied away from writing about it because it didn't pertain to either teen suicide or bullying. Then, I read the line that broke to camel's back. THEN, I wrote about it. And, then I found out that the whole thing was a satire. A spoof. And, upon closer examination, and with a much calmer mind, I was able to see the satirical angle to it. (I'm just happy that only 10 people read the blog post before I pulled it down!!)
The question that begs to be answered, though, is what exactly was it about that piece of satire that triggered such ire and from so many people, including myself? Well, the answer is easy. The piece echoed the diabolical diatribe that we've been hearing for far too long from the very people the satire was directed against: the "fundamentalist Christians". And, it goes deeper than that. It showed just how fed up we are, as a collective whole, of hearing their unbridled ignorance. For me, personally, when I read the line "A normal child should be harassing and teasing gay kids and calling them "faggots", not trying to be friends with them or enable their lifestyle", my anger shifted into overdrive. And, for good reason. That mentality really IS pervasive amongst those who give true believers of God a bad name.
We must not lose sight of the fact that there really ARE so-called Christians who really do espouse that very same mentality. There are politicians trying to pass laws that would sanction the bullying of LGBT teens. And, as we saw in Anoka-Hennepin, the combination of religious and political "leaders" who share the same narrow-minded, hate-filled intolerance towards the LGBT community has a devastating effect on LGBT teens.
In hindsight, that piece of satire was actually brilliantly done. It was almost TOO well done, actually. Obviously, it struck a nerve. It mirrored the reality that we face today in a society that still, in 2012, has people filled with hatred and intolerance. Not only are they filled with hatred and intolerance, they are more than willing to spread their ignorance as "truth" in accordance to God. When satire mirrors reality that closely, sparks fly.
My honest opinion is that anybody who has a problem with gay people, or gay people getting married, are actually having a conflict within themselves regarding their own sexuality. There was a study performed by the center for abnormal psychology in 1996 that showed that a whopping 80% of men who expressed gay hate, actually got extremely turned on while watching gay porn, while a mere 38% of men who had no problem with gay people in general, had very little arousal during the gay scenes. It's basic human psychology that people generally hate in others what actually mirror something that they hate within themselves. Usually these people are christian, have been brainwashed into thinking they will go to this fictional place called "hell," and are most likely more jealous than anything that openly gay men and women have the courage to stand up, be themselves, and be happy with who they are! If you're gay, just be gay! It's not hard to understand that our sexuality is named after a word that means happy, right?! lol. People who are secure in their sexuality have absolutely no problem with same sex relationships and/or gay marriage. Check out this awesome video!
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=1CQg9f7z9eg
Read the comments. There are actually "fundamentalist Christians" who believe that he is serious and support the views 100%.
ReplyDeleteThank YOU, Ron. Being a professional, successful musician myself; I TOTALLY agree with your viewpoint. I have believed for YEARS that we artists - musically, visually, creatively - possess a special gift inside that many others do not: insight! Thank you, My Brother! ;-D
ReplyDeletereading the comments on that section, made me loose some braincells... their main argument: because god says so, and the bible is the unrefutable truth of that...
ReplyDeletewe have a choice between straight and gay hating, or you know gay, gay supporter (like me) and burn in hell
but come on, let's be honest, it will be nice and warm over there, and like I've read somewhere: the gays will make hell Fabulous:p
Well, we have lots to be angry about. The hate that is thrown out there makes me physically sick sometimes. When I am triggered by this stuff, I usually find that there are old wounds I haven't healed yet. At the same time, it is difficult to heal the old wounds completely because the scabs keep being ripped off by the hate we see, read, and hear daily, making the wounds fresh again. I find it hard sometimes to figure out if what I'm feeling is a new hurt or an old hurt.
ReplyDeleteEither way, it hurts. Everyday, I find myself saying...I'm so sick of the hate. It is difficult to understand hate, because it doesn't make any sense, and it never will. Trying to make sense of it is an exercise in futility, to me.
The problem with this particular satire is that it hits too close to our core. So we have a visceral reaction because of our experiences with hate and oppression, and if several people had strong reactions to it, the satire did not accomplish what it intended, instead it offended. Was it brilliant? I'm not sure, especially if it took some time to process it...Satire, at least to me, is blatantly obvious--or it sucks you in, in the beginning, and then by the end the satire is obvious. If this didn't happen for most, I'm not sure how effective, in its delivery, it was.
I think we should be more gentle with ourselves. This stuff we experience everyday is hard, even overwhelming often times. It's hard to be proactive 24/7 and never reactive. And, yet, if we are reactive we are told "you're overacting," or "you are too sensitive," and that, in itself, is maddening. Sure, so shouldn't we fight oppression and hate with education, and proactive, positive loving language--of course...but, are we human, absolutely.
Yep, this is tough stuff we deal with on a daily basis, and we should be allowed to struggle with it, without apologies, but with profound and deep understanding and respect because the world has not always been kind to us.
And, thank you for the work you do here, you offer hope to us all. You truly are making the world a better place!
Karen, without a doubt, this is the best, deepest, most well thought out comment(not to mention superbly written) I've read yet. Needless to say, I agree with you on all counts. Thanks for posting this!!!
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