I’ve been sitting on this for about a week…trying to figure out if I really want to go here.  Silly me.  Of course I want to.

     By the way, Ann Coulter, you never answered the question:

     What exactly DO you think of a man who has anal sex with his wife? (not the real words used in the question.)

     Moreover, what do you think about a man who does that while she’s unconscious and unable to give consent do to a NARCOLEPTIC SEIZURE?  How about if she’s repeatedly told him that she is unwilling to give consent?

     It does surprise me that Bush is this attached to this many men whose wives must flee from them to escape forced participation in their unusual sexual tastes.  (Story alleging that John Bolton’s ex-wife fled him because he forced her to participate in group sex at a popular swinger’s club.)

     And what about those gay bashers…ever wonder if their zeal is due less to their Godly inspiration and more of a case of contents under pressure?  This link leads to a story about a Republican politician who promoted a strong anti-gay agenda…only to have it found out that he admits to being bi-sexual…but beyond that, that he is accused of molesting little boys when he was a cop.

     I’m getting pretty sick and tired of hearing about the need for public piety from people whose private lives are so warped and twisted.  Here are people who want to “save” us from the specter of consensual, loving, respectful gay marriages...and yet are accused of the most reprehensible sexual activity I can imagine…having sex (of any kind) with someone who is unwilling or unable to give consent.

     The objection has been raised in all these cases that it is political assassination and “politics of personal destruction” that motivate these charges.

     Possibly.  I guess time will tell.  As Ivanova said on Babylon Five…”the truth will come out eventually…it always does”…something that we should all find comfort in regardless of our political ideology.

     Another objection is that their personal life should not be dragged through the mud, and they should be considered on their merits.  Ah…if only that were possible.  None of these guys would be where they are if that were the case. 

     We would not think of appointing someone as undiplomatic as Bolton to a diplomatic post and we would not appoint an OBGYN who prescribes prayer and Bible-reading as a cure for PMS to a position where he has the ability to affect the health of all the women.  A mayor should be chosen simply on the basis of how well his office does the work necessary.  If that stable of pretty boys gleaned from chat rooms can get the work done within the allotted budget and not distract the mayor from his sworn duty…and if the mayor isn’t incarcerated for raping little boys…hey…not my business.

     No, these prurient interest stories should not affect the office holders except in the event that they are found guilty and incarcerated for the crimes for which they are accused.

     The candidates for public positions of trust and responsibility should be accepted or rejected on their merits.

     But these stories serve another purpose…an illustrative purpose.  A new kind of parable (parables, we all know from Bible study, are stories that needn’t be true to convey truth) about the pit-falls of following a repressive, twisted, inhuman theology that makes natural human biological functions intrinsically evil, demands complete obedience to impossible directives, glorifies and promotes shame, humiliation, torture and death, promotes a worldview that only people who view themselves as debased and evil are going to go to heaven while those who try to elevate the higher angels of human nature are viewed as Godless and evil…shall I go on?

     Thank you, I will.

     Evangelical Christian fundamentalism is a false, muddled, bastardized theology.  Jesus spent his life elevating people above their circumstances and restoring their dignity.  The followers of this theology seek out groups of people and hunt them relentlessly to deny them their dignity.  Jesus treated even the most humble sinners with compassion and humanity.  These people cannot.  Jesus dined with the lowly and saved his defiance, wrath and yes, even the bite of his lash for the power brokers and money-changers…the followers of this theology glorify, elevate and court the power brokers and money changers and have nothing but contempt for the lowly.

     But how do they reconcile, these contradictions?  How do they reconcile, say for instance, hating gays and viewing gayness as a “sin” when they themselves are as gay as the day is long…AND they have the burden of pedophilia on their souls?

     The answer might well be found in a sermon I vaguely remember from one of my personal favorite nut-jobs…Rev. Robert Tisland.  Actually, I don’t remember the sermon so much as just one line from it.  It ran something along the lines of how the more you loved God and the more you passionately pursued his work, the harder the devil would try to ensnare you.

     So (and this is my own line of reasoning based on his proposed assumption), the harder you worked for God, the greater your temptation will be…so it follows logically that when you stumble, as we all do…your sins will be greater.   

     Perfect.  All wrapped up in a twisted little bow.  I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again:  It aint a religion.  It’s a pathology.