A charm offensive?

http://www.theroot.com/print/50519

A rhetorical softening, but no theological change?

A precursor to the real deal?

BTW, I’m going to be going down to LA in three months. First time in 8 years, apart from a whirlwind job in 2006. I’d love to have lunch with you.

I’m in no position to do so, but I love it when those who ARE, such as yourself…tell it like it IS and SHOULD be.
And why, I LOVE you and respect you so much!

XOXO

Dear Mr. Mohler,

Thank you for what you had to say on the subject of same-sex marriage, or my preferred term, marriage equality. I rarely bother to respond to fundamentalist religious belief, but in this case, I want to.

You wrote…

“It’s time for Christians to start thinking about how we’re going to deal with that.”

First, You never really HAD to deal with it, any more than you “had” to deal with contraception or abortion, or “had” to deal with sodomy laws, non-discrimination laws, or any other issue about ending this stupid, 2000 year old prejudice. Lots of Christians are dealing with it just fine– they either leave gay people alone or welcome them into their churches, instead of waging war on people they do not know, know nothing about, and who have done them no harm. Lots of Christians deal with it by taking Jesus’s basic teaching to heart: get your own moral house in order before you presume to start telling other people about their sins.

YOU, the Christian Rightists, and the anti-and-ex-gay industry– big bucks and political power there– chose to force your way into people’s personal lives and decisions, to use the coercive power of the state to enforce your religious beliefs on people who do not share them, to legally disadvantage and disenfranchise those people in whatever way you could. And for what? To make a “moral” statement based upon dubious translations of the Bible, bad social research, unproven and unprovable assumptions about human nature and sexuality, and ignorance of history.

And to make a political statement that continues to wreak harm on the lives and families of people who have done nothing to you, and whose lives have had no effect on yours.

The proper way to “deal with it” is to mind your own god-damned and god-damning business, as Jesus commanded you to do– the same way that every anti-gay person has learned to do with bad translations of 2000 year old books, and the justification of ancient prejudices as “sincere religious belief” and “moral concerns”.

Homosexuality is as old as humanity, and as moral as heterosexuality. The proper way to deal with it is to educate yourself, the same way that every other prejudiced person has had to learn that more and more people disagree with the stupidity, ignorance, fear, and bigotry that comprises their prejudice.

Your belief that you have to deal with it? This is the whole problem. Allowing gay couples to marry does not change the definition of marriage — heteros can marry just as they always have, as often and as badly as legally possible, to the opposite gender person of their choice. It does not affect and has never affected, in any way demonstrable by logic, fact, or experience, and in any jurisdiction where it is legal, the rights, status, and responsibilities of any heterosexual marriage. It merely expands access to marriage, and provides us and our families the legal protection that every heterosexual person takes for granted– or abuses.

Likewise, allowing gay people to marry has no effect on your religious beliefs, your church, or your freedom of religion. Why is it that as a Jew, I can reject the totality of your religious belief, not just this tiny part that says “gay is bad”, and this bothers no one but the most rabid of fundamentalists. But let me say that I am gay, and wish to live my life as God made me and as our country’s Constitution has promised me, and suddenly, I am a threat to faith, freedom, family, children, marriage, morality– you name it.

The reality is that the increasing acceptance of gay people in the world has had no effect on any heterosexual who did not wish to be so affected. Marriage equality has had NO effect on those anti-gay heterosexuals, and their churches can continue to define, to their hearts delight, marriage as God given, sanctified, and hetero-only. They can continue to deny our marriages as being real, or our families, faiths, and loves as real and every bit as important as theirs. They can exclude and shun us all they wish, and tell everyone that according to their religious beliefs, our marriages and families are counterfeit.

Believe it or not, I have NO problem with that. I think it is stupid, wrongheaded, bigoted, small-minded, ignorant, and ultimately on the wrong side of history. But no problem.

BECAUSE IT ISN’T ABOUT YOU, YOUR RELIGION, OR WHAT YOU “THINK”.

It is about how our government treats us,and our freedom of religion, our equality before the law.

You think that somehow it’s about you, your life, your faith, and what YOU think. Your “dealing with it” has created untold grief, hardship, and strife for gay people and their families and children, realigned political movements to the complete detriment of our country and our place in the world, wasted untold millions on stupid and fruitless political campaigns, money that ultimately could have been used to help the very people you claim you want to protect. How many families that fell apart in the past three years could have been helped by the $40 million spent in the Prop. 8 campaign? How many children are dying in Darfur, while Maggie Gallagher makes a swell living “defending” and “protecting” her marriage against mine?

Here’s how you “deal with it.” Drop the subject, take care of your own marriage and family, and tell the Armies of the Self-Righteous to do likewise, to start being FOR something that helps people instead of AGAINST people who want to be left alone, and whose lives have no effect on yours.

Thank you for listening.

Ben Janken

I don’t know that the anti-gay hate movement as a whole can be expected to accept Mohler’s statements, of course. Not only are they making tons of money off the scapegoating of LGBT Americans, but once you’ve claimed equal rights for LGBT people will destroy society, how do you walk that back? They’ve painted themselves into a rhetorical corner that they will find extremely difficult from which to escape.

They are not capitulating, it’s called progressing, they are simply empracing the idea that the world is becoming increasingly better in terms of liberty, democracy, quality of life, and so on…

…and it’s nothing to be afraid of Mr Mohler, it is as it should be.

This is what I would say to mr. mohler, were there the slightest chance of him listening to me:

Mr. mohler, You wrote,

“It’s time for Christians to start thinking about how we’re going to deal with that.”

Two points. first, You never really HAD to deal with it, any more than you “had” to deal with contraception and abortion. Lots of Chrisitnas are dealing with it just fine– they either leave gay people alone or welcome them into their churches, instead of waging war on people they do not know, know nothing about, and who have done them no harm. YOU chose to force your way into people’s personal lives and decisions, to use the coercive power of the state to enforce your religious beliefs on people who do not share them. The proper way to deal with it is to mind your own goddammed and god-damning business, the same way the every other anti-gay person has had to learn that more and more people disagree with stupidity and bigotry.

Second, your belief that you have to deal with it? This is the whole problem. You think that somehow it’s about you, your life, your faith, and what YOU think.

Your “dealing with it” has created untold grief and strife for gay people and their families and children, realigned political movements to the complete detriment of our country and our place in the world, wasted untol millions on stupid and fruitless political campaigns, money that ultimately could have been used to help the very people you claim to protect.

This is how you deal with it. drop the subject, tell your fawning minions to do likewise, and start being FOR something that helps people instead of AGAINST people who want to be left alone, and whose lives have no effect on yours.

Kisses.