Box Turtle Bulletin
News and commentary about the anti-gay lobby“Now you must raise your children up in a world where that union of man and box turtle is on the same legal footing as man and wife…”
News and commentary about the anti-gay lobbyPosts Tagged As: Christmas
December 18th, 2008
This one’s for Wayne Besen
December 17th, 2008
Will he be a dream or a dud?
December 25th, 2007
A letter from 2027
December 25th, 2007
Dear Santa,
I have to admit that I’m not very good at writing these kinds of letters. It’s not that there aren’t things I want for Christmas, but the kinds of things I’m usually tempted to ask for aren’t the sort of things that elves are equipped to deliver. You know, things like world peace and brotherhood among all people, stuff like that.
I remember the last time I wrote a Santa letter was probably back in ’14, or ’15 or so, when I thought things were getting kinda boring and complacent in this country. It’s not that things were going swimmingly well, but that we were losing our energy. It seemed we were tired of arguing over the same things year after year. The culture war had taken its toll and people were looking for peace wherever they could find it.
Little did we know that by January of 2017, we’d be looking at the start of the Rick Scarborough administration and the newly formed Christocrasts muscling their way into Capital Hill. Good Lord, what a disaster! I’m just glad it was mercifully short. I don’t think we would have survived a whole term of that mess, let alone a second one.
And so here it is, 2027, and even though president Afleck’s second term is about to enter its last full year, we’re just now starting to see things getting back to normal. Normal, I’ve learned, may be relative, but it’s also not too bad.
It just goes to show, you should always be careful what you wish for. That’s a lesson we all should learn.
It’s like when the Castro neighborhood of San Francisco emptied itself of its gay and lesbian population due to assimilation. There were an awful lot of people lamenting the end of gay culture and were looking for a way to preserve some remnant of it. For posterity, I suppose. But I still can’t get over the sheer stupidity of having Universal Studios buy up all the property so they could turn it into “Castro USA!” If I could ask for anything, it would be for the whole thing to end up in bankruptcy court with its chorus line of Harvey Milk impersonators and all.
But like I said, these aren’t the kinds of things that traditionally emerge from elfin workshops. If I had to stick to those sorts of things, I guess I could ask for a real disco ball now that disco is making it’s fourth comeback. I’ve decided I’m not going to pretend that I’m too good for it like I did the first three times it came around. Or I might ask for a ’18 Ford Crown Victoria. Not that Crown Vics were ever my style, but who knew people would get so teary-eyed over the last production gasoline-powered car in North America?
But if I had all the material tchotskies in the world, I still wouldn’t feel satisfied. And I guess that brings me to my real point in all this. Christmas isn’t about personal satisfaction, is it? We can lament our lack of material goods, and we can decry the current state of culture or politics, But no matter how bad they may be they’re still only a symptom of a much larger issue.
So if there was just one thing I’d really want to ask for, it’s something to take care of that big picture problem: for everyone to treat each other the way they would want to be treated. It’s such a simple request. Not to get too preachy here, but “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” is a pretty good rule to live by. And that fits no matter who you are or what side of any issue you’re on.
Just think, if everyone were to take it to heart (and I include myself in this), imagine how much better off we all would be. And think of how much heartache, anger, and strife we all could have avoided in our lives — not just as individuals, but as a nation. We wouldn’t have avoided the culture wars, but we might have been able to find a third way through it if we had remembered that simple little rule.
So in the end, that’s really all I want for Christmas. The Golden Rule. Come to think of it, that’s what I ever wanted. Good luck with that one, Santa. I’m afraid that’s something we’re going to have to work on ourselves.
Maybe it’s time to start a list of New Year’s resolutions instead.
December 24th, 2007
Featured Reports
In this original BTB Investigation, we unveil the tragic story of Kirk Murphy, a four-year-old boy who was treated for “cross-gender disturbance” in 1970 by a young grad student by the name of George Rekers. This story is a stark reminder that there are severe and damaging consequences when therapists try to ensure that boys will be boys.
When we first reported on three American anti-gay activists traveling to Kampala for a three-day conference, we had no idea that it would be the first report of a long string of events leading to a proposal to institute the death penalty for LGBT people. But that is exactly what happened. In this report, we review our collection of more than 500 posts to tell the story of one nation’s embrace of hatred toward gay people. This report will be updated continuously as events continue to unfold. Check here for the latest updates.
In 2005, the Southern Poverty Law Center wrote that “[Paul] Cameron’s ‘science’ echoes Nazi Germany.” What the SPLC didn”t know was Cameron doesn’t just “echo” Nazi Germany. He quoted extensively from one of the Final Solution’s architects. This puts his fascination with quarantines, mandatory tattoos, and extermination being a “plausible idea” in a whole new and deeply disturbing light.
On February 10, I attended an all-day “Love Won Out” ex-gay conference in Phoenix, put on by Focus on the Family and Exodus International. In this series of reports, I talk about what I learned there: the people who go to these conferences, the things that they hear, and what this all means for them, their families and for the rest of us.
Prologue: Why I Went To “Love Won Out”
Part 1: What’s Love Got To Do With It?
Part 2: Parents Struggle With “No Exceptions”
Part 3: A Whole New Dialect
Part 4: It Depends On How The Meaning of the Word "Change" Changes
Part 5: A Candid Explanation For "Change"
At last, the truth can now be told.
Using the same research methods employed by most anti-gay political pressure groups, we examine the statistics and the case studies that dispel many of the myths about heterosexuality. Download your copy today!
And don‘t miss our companion report, How To Write An Anti-Gay Tract In Fifteen Easy Steps.
Anti-gay activists often charge that gay men and women pose a threat to children. In this report, we explore the supposed connection between homosexuality and child sexual abuse, the conclusions reached by the most knowledgeable professionals in the field, and how anti-gay activists continue to ignore their findings. This has tremendous consequences, not just for gay men and women, but more importantly for the safety of all our children.
Anti-gay activists often cite the “Dutch Study” to claim that gay unions last only about 1½ years and that the these men have an average of eight additional partners per year outside of their steady relationship. In this report, we will take you step by step into the study to see whether the claims are true.
Tony Perkins’ Family Research Council submitted an Amicus Brief to the Maryland Court of Appeals as that court prepared to consider the issue of gay marriage. We examine just one small section of that brief to reveal the junk science and fraudulent claims of the Family “Research” Council.
The FBI’s annual Hate Crime Statistics aren’t as complete as they ought to be, and their report for 2004 was no exception. In fact, their most recent report has quite a few glaring holes. Holes big enough for Daniel Fetty to fall through.
“Google” is a trademark of Google Inc.
© Box Turtle Bulletin. All Rights Reserved.
Posts 
Posts via daily email: