Thanks to Rubenfor this.
Grinch said:
Look, I think there is a gay and secular fascism in this country that wants to impose its will on the rest of us, is prepared to use violence, to use harassment. I think it is prepared to use the government if it can get control of it. I think that it is a very dangerous threat to anybody who believes in traditional religion. And I think if you believe in historic Christianity, you have to confront the fact. And, frank — for that matter, if you believe in the historic version of Islam or the historic version of Judaism, you have to confront the reality that these secular extremists are determined to impose on you acceptance of a series of values that are antithetical, they're the opposite, of what you're taught in Sunday school.
Pardon me while I ramble.
And the “traditional values” that you believe in, sir, are not an attempt to establish strict controls on the population? Actually, ignore that for a moment. In what way are two consenting adults, who want to share the same rights as everyone else, a threat to Christianity?
I didn’t go to Sunday school, I went to Catholic school. I learned their that 1) God loves everyone, even if you don’t believe in him. 2) That Jesus taught us to love, not to hate. 3) That as Catholics, we are supposed to work for those who need a hand. “And what you do unto the least of your brothers, you do unto me.” I’ve turned away from the church not just because of the scientific improbabilities of religion, but because these traditional Christian values have been replaced by the rhetoric of fear, hate and separation.
Gingrich, O’Reilly, Hannity and others are so concerned with the government “leaving them alone,” yet they are awfully concerned with interrupting the rights of individuals.
I don’t understand what traditional values are. The most vocal proponents of this term have a tendency to engage in the behaviors they decry. For instance, we have Gingrich’s divorce of his dying wife to marry his mistress, Giuliani’s multiple marriages, and the pastors of mega churches use meth and engage in extramarital (frequently homosexual) affairs. The same behaviors they denounce in their pulpits. Then we have so called Christians selectively quoting the Old Testament to cancel out Christ’s most important message. Let’s be honest, the term “Traditional values” is code for, “white, heterosexual male power structure.”
I’m not opposed to Marriage–I think anyone who wants to get married should get married. What’s the cost to me? Nothing. What’s the benefit? The removal of inequality. The idea that two people who love each other can’t get married because of gender is outrageous. We dismissed the idea of “Separate but equal” two generations ago. What’s traditional about supply side economics, or Mega Churches raising millions of dollars? Jesus fed the multitudes with loaves and fishes–and He chased the money lenders out of the temple. He did the last part with violence. He chased them out with whips, remember? That isn’t traditional–that’s revolutionary. These two behaviors are a rejection of Roman authority and the traditional religious power structure. Being crucified was not just the fulfillment of prophecy–it was punishment for revolutionary actions and thought. It was the Status Quo establishing itself in the face of a movement.
It happens with every revolutionary thought. There is revolution and counter-revolution. It happened with the Reformation, the American Revolution (Washington to Adams, specifically), the Civil Rights Movement and Women’s Liberation. What Gingrich and the rest of the Wingnutterosphere are doing is keeping up the rhetoric of fear in the face of a changing demographic. Again, that’s all they have. This is why the use the term “fascism.”
The last “good war” was the war against Fascism. By invoking Hilter and Mussolini, they’re trying to get the soldiers of the culture war to keep fighting, “the great evil.” What they, and their ilk, don’t seem to understand is that they are the aggressors in this case. When you limit the rights of citizens because they do not fit your national mode, you are perpetrating the social stratification that is essential to Fascism.
“Fascism a political philosophy, movement, or regime (as that of the Fascisti) that exalts nation and often race above the individual and that stands for a centralized autocratic government headed by a dictatorial leader, severe economic and social regimentation, and forcible suppression of opposition”
It is the refusal to acknowledge the basic rights of LGBT individuals that is “fascist.” The struggle to bring about basic civil rights to our fellow citizens is revolutionary. It is, also, inevitable. It may not happen in my lifetime, but as we’ve noticed, progress does have a liberal bias.