Monday, January 6, 2014

Ducking the Debate



Secular priestesses and angry Christophobes have hijacked our culture. They preach diversity and tolerance, but their variety is a one way street leading to their PC altar where all must bow down or be excommunicated from the public square.

The Duck Dynasty flap ended with A&E surrendering to the profit and loss column, but unlike a duck's quack, the after effects will echo on.*

This GLAAD statement is a sterling example of illiberal illogic. It is a sputtering tourettes outburst of outraged apoplexy that ruins any chance for legitimate debate:
“Phil’s decision to push vile and extreme stereotypes is a stain on A&E and his sponsors who now need to reexamine their ties to someone with such public disdain for LGBT people and families.”

“Phil and his family claim to be Christian, but Phil’s lies about an entire community fly in the face of what true Christians believe. He clearly knows nothing about gay people or the majority of Louisianans – and Americans – who support legal recognition for loving and committed gay and lesbian couples.”
This statement is the antidote:
Our culture has accepted two huge lies. The first is that if you disagree with someone’s lifestyle, you must fear them or hate them. The second is that to love someone means you agree with everything they believe or do. Both are nonsense. You don’t have to compromise convictions to be compassionate. -- Pastor Rick Warren
We could junk the entire Celebrate Diversity indoctrination for the cultural garbage that it is and instead instill some simple values:

* The Golden Rule

* We are all equal in God’s eyes. We are human beings and we should comport ourselves the dignity that implies, while also treating all fellow human beings with equal dignity.

* You don’t have the right to not be offended

* No one owes you validation of your beliefs, avocations, lifestyle choices, faith, pronouncements or ideological shibboleths.

A Preachable Moment

Finally, the part of the GLAAD statement about Christianity is particularly stupid and insulting. As another author pointed out, it is an act of cultural appropriation. Who is the GLAAD spokesman to recast Christianity in his own ignorant and narrow image? Imagine if Pat Robertson tried to lecture the LGBT community of what “true” homosexuality was really all about.

Christianity and homosexuality are not compatible, despite efforts to reconcile them. Like trying to reconcile water and dirt, you end up with mud, obscuring the clear truth.

Larry Alex Taunton points out that GLAAD deliberately skirted the root of the issue, because the facts quickly become inconvenient:
if they actually acknowledged that there is a genuine conflict between orthodox Christianity and homosexual sex (along with several forms of heterosexual sex) they would have to confront head-on the fact that calling for a boycott or pressuring for Robertson's suspension tells orthodox Christians that their religion is no longer acceptable, and that’s not a very politically correct thing to do. Right now, they are trying to weasel out of it by characterizing Robertson as a backwoods bigot who takes his moral cues from Deliverance rather than from a straightforward reading of the Bible and the historic teachings of the Christian religion.
GLAAD’s unreasoned emotional outburst ruined an opportunity for dialog and understanding. We need to learn how to Tolerate a Diversity of thought. Descending into red-faced rants and theatrical paroxysms of outrage take us in the opposite direction.

Further Reading:
Phil Robertson Breaks his Silence
Hung out to Dry

* - I know, a duck's quack not echoing is a myth. 


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