Homophobia and Right Wing priorities, william Wilson, opinion

June 5, 2006

Right Wing Priorities-- Homophobia over... Everything? Flood Victims, Global Warming, Environment, War, Debt...

By William Wilson

You Know What They Say About Homophobes...

Today I'd like to perform a thought experiment.

Imagine two men holding hands. Get a good image in your head. Young men... maybe one has long hair, one has short hair, young men, good looking..... OK.

Now, think about another hurricane like Katrina. Remember that? It was before the new season of American Idol started, think real hard. Remember? Babies screaming for food in the rotten stink of the superdome? Old people drowning? Crackheads roaming the street looking for any fix they could get? Black folks labeled as looters when they tried to get diapers and food?

Which one of those images is more repellent to you? If you could prevent one of those things from happening, which would it be?

Let's get a little more extreme.

Imagine those two men kissing. Come on, imagine it. A good wet kiss, plenty of tongue...OK.

Now imagine thousands of people in Bangladesh drowning because the rivers are flooded and the monsoon rains won't stop. Imagine it: children and old people buried under mudslides, houses washed away.

Imagine the survivors, sitting for days and weeks watching the corpses and turds float by.

Which is worse? Which is more important to the richest, most advanced nation on earth?

Yet president Bush, who considers Jesus his favorite 'philosopher,' is more concerned with our sexual behavior and writing a gay marriage amendment into the constitution.

James Inhofe, chairman of the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works, once said that global warming is 'the greatest hoax ever perpetrated on the American people.'

He's also a member of a secretive group of dominionist believers called 'the family'. He declared the politics of American policy toward Israel to be 'not a political battle at all. It is a contest over whether or not the word of God is true.'

And he wants to write a gay marriage ban into the constitution. And, an even bigger surprise from
Wikipedia:

In the 2002 election cycle oil and gas companies contributed more money to Inhofe's campaign
than any other congressman except Texas senator John Cornyn. The contributions Inhofe has received from
the energy and natural resource sector since taking office have exceeded one million dollars.



Recently I came across a a letter from Dick Bott, the head of Bott Radio Network (a Christian radio network.) I quote:

First of all, we believe the perception of Global Warming (or as they say when it gets cold
“climate change”) is at best a secondary issue where some well-meaning Christians may disagree. It
certainly does not rise to the same level of urgency or Biblical clarity as does the killing of innocent
unborn children or the sanctity of marriage as being between a man and a woman. Yet, it is
interesting to note that many of these leaders who have signed on to this politically charged Global
Warming issue refuse to speak or lead on the issue of life or marriage because they say they don’t want to
get “political.”

Emphasis mine.

Right. So gay marriage is more important than global warming and the current mass extinction on this planet.

Come on! How can you be so terrified of two people loving each other? This fundamentalism is sick. It's irrational and pathological, and maybe it should be criminal.

The human destruction of the environment has the potential to be the worst human tragedy the world has ever seen - worse than the Holocaust, worse than Stalinist Russia or the great famines of history. The poor and the sick will suffer enormously and disproportionately. Rising sea levels will flood some farmlands, while drought will dry up others. Weather patterns will change as ocean currents change
temperature. Hurricanes will likely get stronger and more frequent.

As this disaster looms, our government has been hijacked by men who place a fundamentalist interpretation of the bible above scientific reality. Meanwhile, "Christian" radio stations beam alternative realities into the homes of millions of Americans.


Coincidentally enough, their interpretation of the bible aligns perfectly with big business, rich-get-richer politics. They are destroying America - and if they keep their heads in the sand about the environment, they will destroy the earth.

They say that the most virulent homophobes are often simply repressing their own desires. Keep that in mind this election cycle, as the right tries to distract the public from Iraq, the economy, and the environment by forcing their version of morality on us.

But we also need to keep a bigger truth in mind.

These people, who would place know nothing politics and prejudice above the health and safety of the poor, are not true Christians. They are slaves to the god of money and power.

I hope that true Christians everywhere will fight to get them out of office this November.

As Dick Bott said in his letter: 'I hope you'll think twice about your priorities as a Christian and keep "the main thing the main thing."'



Authors Website: http://futuregeek.net

Authors Bio: William Wilson is a writer and activist living in the American midwest. He blogs at http://futuregeek.net.