Church And State Caught Fucking Behind Taco Bell

While websurfing I came across many ignorant articles by Religious haters protesting any attempt to repeal DOMA in the United States. (DOMA for those who don't know is the Defense Of Marriage Act, a law rife with bigotry that basically makes it perpetually okay to refuse same-sex marriage rights).

On THIS article one of the comments insisting that anti-gay marriage movements are NOT bigoted thinking but in fact "based in reality" annoyed me enough to rant. So I did.

I don't know yet if that site will publish my comment, since it (IMHO) so decisively dissects their garbage thinking, so just in case, I'm posting it here on the Hedon Blog as an official statement from the Shaman of Hedon on why religious belief has no goddamn business dictating what the law is. NONE. Not even mine. I don't support Same-Sex Marriage because Hedon teaches that true equality includes GLBT folks, I support it because every human being has the RIGHT to have the exact same human rights as everyone else. So here's the comment I posted.

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Actually, no, there is nothing "realistic" about religious opposition to GLBT equality. It very much IS bigotry, no matter what Catholics and Christians keep telling themselves to believe their ignorance and hate is "spreading God's will" and therefore a just loving act. But when it comes right down to it, those who support DOMA and actively devote time and energy to fighting to prevent GLBT equality, (Often using deplorable scare tactics and never any actual facts), cannot EVER provide ONE SINGLE REASON that is not based in their own personal religious beliefs for denying GLBT equality. NOT ONE. EVER. Every reason for denying it is solely based in religious belief, which by the principle of the intended separation of Church and State should have absolutely no influence on the law. But since Politicians often not only give in TO religious bullying, but often allow their own religious views to dictate their policy, it's clear the separation of Church and State is just a wistful myth; it just doesn't exist, and that's why America has gone to shit.

Churches are spending HUNDREDS of THOUSANDS of dollars to fight Gay Marriage. Money that could be buying blankets for homeless shelters, or funding after school programs for inner city youth, or helping their own goddamn fellow parishes NOT have to close down for lack of funds.

Tell me how those priorities aren't seriously misguided?

The Bible says you can sell your daughter into slavery and stone your neighbor to death if he works on the Sabbath. I don't see Christians fanatically preaching THOSE quotes left right and center, do you? No, because they know no one would condone that garbage. But most people fear what they don't understand, so Christian blowhards will happily misquote the Bible horribly to fear-monger about gay folks to scare people into supporting them.

ANY Religious objection to legalizing Gay Marriage is bigotry and bullying. That is a inarguable FACT.

The California businessman who spent the most money helping fight Prop 8 is divorcing his wife after HE cheated on her and is desperately throwing money at a legal defense aimed at making sure she's left all but destitute. Is that the "sanctity of marriage" you nutcases are fighting so hard to protect?

Same Sex Marriage has been legal in Canada for four years. Guess what? Our society has yet to collapse! In fact, the economy up here has been saved from reaching the underground shithole levels that America's has because of the income the government generates from Gay Marriage; tourism, license fees, new business opportunities for gay friendly businesses that pay taxes. Cases of sexual assault on children have NOT gone up because we allowed gays to marry. (Not at all surprising since more pedophiles are heterosexual practicing Catholics than are ever gay men). Gay marriage has done Canada nothing but good. Sulfur and ash has not fallen from the sky. People are not turning into salt. My wife has helped me grow as a human being and helped my health and self-esteem improve greatly.

There is no logic, sanity, or compassion in the Religious Right's attacks on equality. And yes, equality, not special rights. To be able to marry the one you love is a HUMAN right, not a special right.

I dare any Christian/Catholic/Muslim/Jew/Other to give one ONE SINGLE VALID REASON BASED SOLELY IN FACT THAT HAS ABSOLUTELY NO BASIS IN ANY RELIGIOUS BELIEF WHATSOEVER why GLBT folks should be denied their human rights.

In TWELVE years of my asking bible thumpers that question, not a single one has every succeeded in answering it without deferring to their faith. NOT ONE. And I've asked thousands.

If you condemn another human being for not sharing your beliefs,or for being different than you, you're a bigot, period. You can't argue your way out of it with fancy language. No matter what nice little platitudes you tell yourself to convince yourself it's okay to hate, it's still hate.

God loves. Man kills.

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As a personal aside, I've said what I'm about to say next in comments sections all over the web for years, but I feel given the rest of this blog I ought to restate it here.

THREE INDISPUTABLE FACTS ABOUT BIBLE PROOF THAT HOMOSEXUALITY IS WRONG.

1) Leviticus 18:22 is translated: "Thou shalt not lie with mankind, as with womankind: it is abomination."

This is the quote singularly most often used as a weapon of hate against Homosexuality. The problem is that NO ONE on this earth knows the full context or dialogue of the original Aramaic, a very big issue given that the Bible has been translated and re-translated so many times that there is absolutely NO possible way that it speaks exactly the same message as the original, due to the fallibility of human beings doing the translating and the inescapable risk of broken-telephone syndrome. The other problem is that it takes very little effort to research how the english language has evolved and changed since the last major translation that produced this quote. in THAT day and age? the word "lie" had no connection to the word "lay". Lay was the ONLY word in the King's English that meant laying down or laying in bed. To Lie meant ONLY to be dishonest. In light of this inarguable fact of grammar and language of the time, the quote therefore has absolutely nothing to do with sexuality at all. Especially given that the Bible teaches that women are property, not people. So this quote is not telling you "If you're a man, don't fuck other men", it's the Bible equivalent of "Bros before Ho's dude."

2) Sodom and Gommorah were not destroyed because of homosexual behavior. Certainly not in a book that condones Incest, Bigamy, and slaughtering a race of people who don't follow God to steal their land because God says it's a Holy Land just for his children, ignoring the idea that ALL men were God's children. No, S & G were destroyed because they were bad hosts, in the desert, a crime of unforgivable apathy when being an inattentive host can cause a traveler's death in the desert.

3) There is absolutely NOTHING written in ANY version of the Bible ANYWHERE that mentions, directly or indirectly, pro or con, Lesbian love or transsexuality. The closest it ever comes to either is forbidding MEN to wear a woman's clothing, but even that would only apply to Crossdressers. Since a Transsexual woman is a woman in mind and soul, she is NOT a man wearing women's garments, she's a woman, period. And this doesn't cover Female-To-Male transsexuals at ALL.

So let's review.
- The Quote most often used to condemn Homosexuality has nothing to do with sex or sexuality, it's about dishonesty.
- The chapters on Sodom and Gomorrah are about the sin of leaving travelers helpless to the elements in the desert, not punishment for sex.
- The Bible CONDONES Incest, (Cain and his wife, Noah and his immediate family repopulating earth all on their own, King Solomon and his daughters), Bigamy, (Joseph of the Coat Of Many Colors is just ONE example), and Racial Genocide, (God sending the Jews to wipe out Palestine's people and steal it as their own because the Palestinians did not worship him), but says NOTHING about Homosexuality being wrong that isn't read falsely into it through misquoting and misinterpreting the translation's grammar context.
- And the Bible says absolutely NOT ONE WORD AT ALL about Lesbianism, Bisexuality, or Transsexuality, and can at BEST vaguely be claimed to be disdainful of Crossdressing.

The entire Bible Basis for Anti-Gay rhetoric is based on either misread translations or outright non-existent messages, while blithely ignoring blatant examples of the Bible condoning deplorable behavior.

And the only argument any Bible Thumping loudmouth windbag has EVER offered in defense of these facts is "You have no right to question the Word of God!". Except the Bible was written by MEN, not God. Men who claimed they spoke on God's behalf, men who were fallible, men who were influenced by superstition, fear, and a very limited understanding of how the world worked.