We've all heard the saying "there but for the grace of God go I". If you haven't heard it before, well fuck you. You just read it. That's a little church humor. It's a phrase we can all understand, and relate to.We've all looked at someone else's troubles and said to ourselves "at least I don't have that". It could all be worse.
I thought about that while reading, and aiding my comrades in a twitter fight with some people from the American Family Association. I find this organization fascinating. I've spent a good deal of time in places like Oklahoma and Kansas, and AFA, more specifically, AFR - American Family Radio, is very popular in that part of the country.
The marriage of politics and religion can't be more on display. Their particular brand of Christian Conservatism mostly focuses on reproductive rights and LGBT rights. They would like to end abortion, and convert all gay people to being straight, republican voting citizens of red states. They'd like all gays, lesbians, and those of us who support our LGBT brothers and sisters to go to a protestant church every Sunday, and decry the evils of liberalism, gay lib, and reproductive choice. They'd like all of us to renounce our sin, turn from our evil ways, and devote ourselves to heterosexual marriages, Bible study, suburban sprawl, child rearing, decent non-union jobs and voting for good God fearing conservatives in every election. Oh, and send them money. Don't forget that. The shit they say on AFR among other things got AFA slapped with the label "hate group" by the Southern Poverty Law Center.
They're an extreme bunch. You can't even really call them conservatives. True conservatives aren't the least bit concerned with what 2 grown consenting adults do in the privacy of their home. They don't give a damn if you're gay or straight, or bi, or poly amorous, or queer, or questioning, or even transgender. They just want to do away with the estate tax, since so many of us are going to pay it.
The 2 loudest voices from AFR are GM Buster Wilson, and host of Focal Point, Bryan Fischer.
I'd ordinarily include some video clips, but fuck them, I'm not doing that. You can visit their website if you care to see that, or you can go to www.rightwingwatch.org and sample them there.
The latest outrage from AFA is that Google began a campaign called "Legalise Love". AFA is already engaged in boycotts of other companies because of their support of marriage equality. But AFR's GM Buster Wilson seems to have stopped short of calling for a boycott of Google. Maybe because he has an Android? Who knows, but when he got pressed on it, Buster flipped out. He accused RWW of lying about what he said, which they didn't. A lengthy argument ensued on twitter, which I participated in. I made some snarky remarks to Buster, but didn't call him a name, no profanity, and no threats. I asked him: Since AFA is already boycotting so many other companies because of their support of gay rights, why not boycott Google?
He accused several of us on twitter of being hateful. Granted, some people did use some profanity, and one guy called him a cunt, but he wasn't really engaging in a conversation. He was just lashing out at being questioned. For his part he would say it was all lies. "Lies I tell ya, all lies!!".
Buster blocked me. Not a big loss. The guy doesn't like tough questions. I didn't call him anything during the twitter fight with RWW, but I am going to say Buster Wilson of American Family Radio is a damn coward.
The guy's gonna take on Google, for having the temerity to disagree with him and the other weird asses at AFR, but he can't answer a question from me?
I'm just a smart ass blogger for Chrissakes!! I'm nobody!!
And therein lies my fascination with American Family Association and American Family Radio. According to these guys, Jesus was rabidly anti-gay, pro-second amendment (seriously, Bryan Fischer actually said that), anti-abortion, and supports doing away with the capital gains tax. I'm not making this shit up. They say this stuff on the radio.
Their Jesus would kick down the infirm. He would demand a co-pay for life saving treatment instead of healing the sick out of compassion. He would be fine with stoning a gay man to death. He'd turn a blind eye to the murder of a doctor. Their Jesus quite frankly scares the fuck out of me.
Thank God their Jesus doesn't really exist.
I can't thank John Fugelsang enough for this quote. Thank you John!The Jesus I pray to wouldn't do any of the vile things Buster Wilson and Bryan Fischer say He would do. I am a Christian. I went to seminary as a matter of fact. And most of my classmates would likely agree with at least some if not most of what Buster and Bryan say. I find that shameful.
Their Jesus would look at gay teen who just got their ass kicked for not looking butch enough and tell them "son, it's your fault for being pillow biter. now go enroll in exodus international, and start having sex with one woman for the rest of your life, or I'm sending your butt loving ass straight to hell!" Like from the movie Red State, scary shit. Thank God their Jesus is made up. The Jesus I pray to would pick that teen-ager up, hug him, wipe away his tears, heal his wounds, and tell him he's loved. He'd tell the closeted bastards who beat the kid up to take a whack at Him so long as one of them is without sin.
They would look at someone dying with an incurable disease in an emergency room and say "my tax dollars shouldn't be keeping you alive. pay for this yourself, you louse!" Or, they might look at a homeless person and judge them for all the bad choices that guy made. He probably did make some poor choices, but does he deserve your judgment?
They'll see all the suffering, some of which they have contributed to, and say, "my oh my. There but for the grace of God go I." And there's the heart of the real difference between the AFA Jesus, and the real one.
The real Jesus looks at unthinkable human suffering and says "There go I." (Matthew 25:40)
That's really what I think. Follow me on twitter @davelondonblog
More to come.
