Something else to get the Southern Christian Conservatives’ knickers in a twist. I mean the “Jesus H. Gentle Cycle Christ” remark.

When they aren’t doing their own philandering, of course.

Never understood the utility of keeping kids of any age ignorant about life. I mean, you don’t have to go around showing ‘em gay porn or anything, but how are they supposed to deal with gays or drugs or swearing or anything else we encounter day-to-day in the real world if you try to keep all that stuff away from them? There lies teen pregnancy, drug addiction, and all manner of problems. I certainly never kept any of this from my children, and they’re probably the most well-adjusted people I know. Certainly more so than I am…

Well, that was a righteous rant by Athenae, one of several great ones in the last few days, but I think you have to grasp that there are still a lot of people in this country who, are tied in to a network of sex hysterics known as “churches” and they get most of their information through rants from the pulpit. That network promotes notions of gayness that focus entirely on the sexy part–its as though all you knew of heterosexual activity was spring break drink/drug/flashing boobs and it didn’t include the boring bits like marriage, taking out the trash, etc… The biggest thing that the far right fears is not that young children will be exposed to gay sex antics and two guys rutting in the street–though they say that’s what they fear–it is that children will be exposed to two totally ordinary men with a child, or women with a child, showing up at the PTA and for “lets be friends” circle time at preschool and behaving totally normally. Because that would totally bust up the end of the world/soddom and gomorrah talk and make the sunday screachers look like the nuts they are.

Think of “think of the children” as the last gasp argument of people who know perfectly well, in their hearts, that once gays can get married, and hold hands in public, the entire logic of “homos are all about the weird sex” will be rendered null and void. Homos, like heteros, will turn out to be just people–people not wholly defined by their choice of partner, or their private sex lives. That’s going to be very hard for the far right sex obsessed christians because, to them, everything is about acting out sexuality and gender.

aimai

Abstinence is THE founding principle of all aspects of right wing ideology, not just sex by the godless unmarried. Close your eyes and pretend it’s not there and maybe it will go away. Fortunately for those of us that are reasonably sane, that doesn’t work very well, and demographics and time are on our side.

I love this phrase:

you’re such a stupendous pussy

Think of “think of the children” as the last gasp argument of people who know perfectly well, in their hearts, that once gays can get married, and hold hands in public, the entire logic of “homos are all about the weird sex” will be rendered null and void.

For way too many of them, it is all about the weird sex. The weird, furtive, anonymous airport bathroon encounter followed by desperate prayers to God for forgiveness sex.

And by “them”, I mean the pearl-clutching “think of the children” crowd.

Hmm, I grew up in the fifties, I have young children and for them anyimages of kissing evoke gagging sounds. Like the time Shaggy kissed the hippy girl who turned out to be a space alien in disguise or the big kissing scene on “I Carly” a couple of weeks ago. We have to keep reminding them that mommy and daddy kiss and it’s ok. So if the Post’s emailer has a kid under 8, he shouldn’t assume it’s just man-to-man kissing that bothers him.

Also, my biggest problem is explaining the various little factoids of religion they pick up here and there. This leads to some hilarious moments: 6 year old: “I know where Jesus was born.” Dad: “Oh, where?” 6 year old: “Buffalo.” Or, 6 year old: “Who’s stronger, Jesus or Superman.” 8 year old: “Batman, of course.”

But, damn, Athenae wields the righteous sword of indignation with style…

Sadly, the Viagra-popping old & serious men who call the shots at the WaPo are no doubt clutching their pearls at this, wondering if they went too far by allowing things to be written about this counter-culture phenomenon… just like the last time, when they started covering negroes as if their lives mattered, too. And those atrophied relics may well decide that it’s just not worth the trouble; and thus, the next time there’s a relevant story that needs writing (teen gay suicides because of the pressure from the cults churches, for instance), the WaPo may well shy away. “Drop that, and run another story about well-educated women who chose to stay at home to be with their kids, will you?”

If so, we’ll continue to be a deeply reactionary society where kids can grow up wondering if its okay to hate gay people the way mom & dad do, because no one else out there seems to care much about them…

*NEWS FLASH*
Homo nups now legal in District of Columbia
Biscuitbarrel “opposite marriage” remains unchanged
Sons raised among hordes of Teh Gay still find “chicks hot”
Mr. Biscuitbarrel still leaves wet towels on bed, passes dominant trait on to sons…

You should see these people freak out when young Madison plays with a toy truck, or young Elijah picks up that pink crayon…

Indeed, yes. And I’ve been saying for a while that the worst thing about gay marriage for these people is that they won’t be able to say that all gays are sinning by having sex, because some of them will behaving sex within wedlock. One more bit of moral superiority would go right out the window, and you just can’t have that.

Or, 6 year old: “Who’s stronger, Jesus or Superman.” 8 year old: “Batman, of course.”

I have to say, that’s a bright 8 year old you have there. :)

Put a 2 or 3 or even a 4 in front of those ages, and you have a distressing percentage of the total number of flamewars on the Internet at any given time.