Here’s a good post from Big Hollywood from an individual who became a conservative after 9/11 when before he was just reflexively being a liberal (mainly because he’s gay). It’s really a good picture on the poisoning effect of liberal intolerance.
Excerpt:
I have since met real people who identify as Republicans and even Christians – the religion we are constantly warned (despite plenty of evidence to the contrary) is the worst, most dangerous in the world. I have been in the dreary Catholic church of my partner’s parents. And guess what. I’ve never felt more welcome, even as an openly gay man there with my partner. I have no interest in Catholicism or going to church. And I’m sure underneath, the church folk do not fully approve of how we live. Maybe some do. But newsflash: I don’t have to approve of how they live either. And none of us is killing the other. They are not the enemy.
It’s really aimed more towards liberals, but everyone should give it a read.
The ugly secret is out. Most openly Christian folk actually believe and practice the adage love thy neighbor. If one truly loves God and believes in and on Jesus Christ they will not abuse, harm, mock, or in any other way harm their fellow man. They may not like the way someone lives or what they believe but they will try not to infringe on their lives as long as what others are doing does not infringe on a Christians ability to practice his religion freely.
Hence the Prop 8 debacle. There is no real reason for “marriage” to be redefined. California has one of the most liberal “partner” amendments in the country. The only real difference between it and marriage concerns income tax and that is a Federal issue not a state or “marriage” issue. The only real reason to change the law and allow gay couples to “marry” is to force churches (the prime example being the LDS church) to allow gay couple to marry in LDS temples. This is where the problem lies. In an effort to validate their lifestyle some members of the gay community seek to dismantle anything and anyone who dares disagree with them.
Most Christians do not seek after contention, it is of the devil. They will not however stand by while someone tries to force them to change their beliefs. Most people feel the same way.
We are not the enemy, truer words were never spoken.
That said politicians are open season. They seek abuse, they beg for contention and liberal ones are after our freedoms, all of them.
“We shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender.” -William Churchill.
“the dreary Catholic church of my partner’s parents.” He spat out a mouthful there.
This is what happens when you drop Latin. Bring back the Palestrina mass, and RC masses will become a regular Castro Street Fair.
Mr. Winecoff has pulled off something amazing here. Poignant, truthful and alive, this piece will alter some lives. The backlash he’s going to experience at the hands of liberals and gays both professionally and personally will breathtaking in it’s severity. And I don’t mean being forced to listen to Manilow. This guy is one brave SOB.
WOW! A moment of clarity from an obviously very confused individual! I suspect that the Lord has a few more interesting observations awaiting him in life…as he does all of us. Good for him!
Just goes to show that not all those infected by homosexuality are inheritly bad. There is treatment.
I swear that made me cry. WOW. Very brave, indeed. He WILL experience backlash – but that’s a small price to pay when you expose the truth. Bless him for that.
I don’t know if anyone is familiar with James Hartline? He fought against Christians for years as a gay man here in San Diego. Then Christ changed his life forever. Now he has taken on the local politicians and gay community as an activist – closing down bath houses, running for office, even defending the Cross at Mt. Soledad (and more!) His persecution has been fierce. Please pray for him.
As a sidenote – my sis googled my name and found out I’m on many gay web site hit lists! For donating to Prop 8! This is a first for me (a mom of 3, soon 4). My full name, city, one site even has my address. UGH.
This guys story echos mine in many ways. It took 9-11 for me to start waking up from my deluded, insane world view as well. Life is harder now, I fit in even LESS than I did before, and yet I’m happier since I’m living in the world-as-it-is instead of Happy Gumdrop Land!
God bless him.
Perhaps at some point we can finally have the real discussion regarding the fact that we Christians don’t “hate” homosexuals, we just don’t approve of their lifestyles. Kind of like your best friend who cheats on his wife. You don’t necessarily suddenly hate the guy, but you certainly don’t embrace or support what he’s just done.
It’s the difference between tolerance and acceptance. I don’t believe homosexuality is genetic, I don’t believe it’s a valid “lifestyle”, but I *DO* believe that people who become homosexual need to be allowed to make mistakes just like everybody else. The only way to “stop” homosexuality is by means and methods Stalin would have loved.
Thank goodness, another liberal who’s seen the light and come over from the dark side, further dispelling the rumor that conservatives and Christians hate gays. We even welcome ex-liberals. If only more would come to their senses and not be afraid to throw some sh!t in the fan when their liberal friends exhibit such hypocritical intolerance for the freedom to disagree with their limited views. I say more sh!t needs to be thrown. I’m wearing a raincoat and goggles. Damn the torpedoes and full steam ahead!
Probably the best referral you have ever made. An excellent article. That makes two closets the guy has come out of.
“In the world it is called Tolerance, but in hell it is called Despair.
It is the sin that believes in nothing, cares for nothing, seeks to know nothing, interferes with nothing, enjoys nothing, hates nothing, finds purpose in nothing, lives for nothing, and remains alive because there is nothing for which it will die.”
– Dorothy Sayers
“Do not imagine that thou then lovest thy servant when thou doest not beat him, or that thou then lovest thy son when thou givest him not discipline, or that thou then lovest thy neighbor when thou doest not rebuke him. This is not charity, but mere feebleness.”
– Augustine
“One man with courage makes a majority.”
– Andrew Jackson
Good article! Thanks for linking to it!
Honest debate is better (but harder) than timid silence.
Unwelcome truth is better (but harder) than comforting fog.
Uncompromising Love is better (but harder) than disinterested tolerance.
After this and Basil’s excellent post, I will face tomorrow with more hope than I had before.
Sa-Lute!
Quite the journey / journal, and certainly a far more interesting and compelling writer than is faux hero/icon David Sedaris. And then, toward the end, he reached out and slapped me:
It had surely seemed that way from the jokes, the comedians, the stand-up comics, the sit-coms – the implication of therapist reliance in Hollywood has been a comic meme for a long time. And I always have regarded it, and dismissed it, along those lines. He just throws this line out there so matter-of-factly, much along the line of “Almost everyone I know carries a handkerchief.”
Putting that line on an almost throw-away basis into a letter like this has shown me, more than anything else ever has, that the liberal line is not going to be defeated by superior argument, superior policy, reasonable debate, or informed discussion. Nor is it going to be defeated by ridicule, mockery, shout-downs, or exposure of its hypocrisy. No, there really IS a mental disconnect in that social cliqué.
And, suddenly, IMAO is not as damn funny as I thought it was. Frank’s advocacy is suddenly serious – indeed, the only solution.
RE: #13
Hey SS,
That sentence jumped out at me as well. What a sad state of affairs.
No doubt a fatwa has been issued against the author by the Human Rights Committee of the local GLBT coalition.