I’ve gotten a lot of comments about my posts about Fred “GodHatesFags” Phelps. Some people on my side (a.k.a. the enlightened, live-and-let-live, tolerant, educated left) have asked “why give publicity to this guy, you know that’s what he wants?” Others on the other side (a.k.a. the hateful homo-bigot babbling biblical literalists) have said, “Phelps’ message is not the true Gospel, he doesn’t represent true Christianity.”
One commenter hit the nail on the head when she said that “Phelps is the best propaganda tool for gay tolerance there is. When people see the bile spew from him and his minions, they realize how hateful the anti-gay position is.”
Here’s my theory as to why more religious righties don’t vocally denounce Phelps. They might not agree that God Hates Fags. Surely they don’t believe God is in the hating business. But aside from that, they do agree with Phelps’ main contentions. To wit:
They believe homosexuality is sinful.
“Love the sinner, hate the sin” means you hate the acts homosexuals commit.
“The wages of sin is death” means homosexuals are going to hell if they don’t accept Jesus and “go forth and sin no more”.
Therefore, when Phelps’ clan holds up a sign that says “Matthew Shepard is rotting in Hell”, they’re unable to disagree with the statement. They don’t like the way it is being displayed, they don’t like the bad press he gives their side, they disagree with the tone and the confrontation, but they can’t deny the truth of it in their worldview.
As their president says, you’re either with us or against us. They can dress it all up in pretty phrases like “love the sinner, hate the sin” and “one man one woman”. They can try furiously to shove it back in the closet with their “ex-gay” ministries and anti-gay civil rights initiatives. They can scare the faithful with tales of wicked sodomites eagerly recruiting tender young minds through the witchcraft of “tolerance” and plays like “The Laramie Project”.
But it all shakes down to “with us or against us”. Either you believe that people of alternative sexuality are just as deserving of equal protection of the law as the mainstream, or you believe that God Hates Fags… no matter how nicely you try to phrase it.
(P.S. Somewhat on-topic, I just saw the John Waters film A Dirty Shame with Tracy Ullman and Johnny Knoxville. I have to say it was the least pornographic, least dirty-word laden “NC-17” film I’v ever seen. On the other hand, it’s hard to fit a misophile, a coprophile, and an infantilist into an “R” rating.
“Let’s go sexin’!”)
