Cynthia Tucker: United by hate

[Raster]

Black and white Christians rally behind shared contempt for gays

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"The Old Testament did sanction slavery. God said, 'Both thy bondmen and thy bondmaids, which thou shalt have, shall be of the heathen that are round about you. ... And ye shall take them as an inheritance for your children. ...'" -- "Domestic Slavery Considered as a Scriptural Institution," Rev. Richard Fuller, 1847
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Last Tuesday, there was at least one thing about which blue states and red states, black Americans and white Americans, Northerners and Southerners could agree: Gays and lesbians should be denied the right to full citizenship. Constitutional amendments to ban same-sex unions appeared on the ballot in 11 states and passed easily -- from Michigan, Ohio and Oregon, to Georgia, Mississippi and Arkansas.
It was a triumph for bigotry based on the Bible. From conservative pulpits around the country, pastors had implored their flocks to go to the polls and vote against the "abomination" of homosexuality. They claimed that preventing gays from getting married would shore up the institution among heterosexuals -- though it is not clear how.

It was also a triumph for the Machiavellian madness of Karl Rove. He understood only too well that many Americans were willing to ignore a sputtering economy, a profoundly flawed war and soaring health-care costs for the opportunity to enforce discrimination against a despised minority. Rove also knew that calling out the legions of ultraconservative Christians who abhor equal rights for gays would ensure that President Bush won not only the Electoral College but also the popular vote.

And they weren't just white voters. Homophobia oozes across lines of color, linking black America with white in a common contempt masquerading as morality. It is deeply disappointing to see black churchgoers enthusiastically wield the Bible as a bludgeon against another group, since Scripture was also used against us, as a justification for slavery, in the 19th century.

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http://www.workingforchange.com/article.cfm?itemid=18045

It never ceases to amaze me that corporate Christianity wraps itself in the bibical garb of "Love thy neighbor," but couldn't be further from the message. Commercial, fanatical Christianity is not about love, it's about hate. Hate is what draws in the rubes and fills the coffers. Hate is what sends people to the polls and annoints the wicked and ungodly with righteous indignation. Where is the love? Not here.

[aquart]

1. Pasture pastry.

We have NO idea how many people voted for anti-gay statutes. None. It's the Bush cover story. We do not know the true numbers.

[BQueen]

3. agreed

I think the anti-gay crap was a smokescreen to enable KKKarl to create those 4 million evangelicals out of thin air, and enable people to rationalize the (rigged) popular vote - I don't buy ANY of these numbers...until proven.

[Raster]

8. pasture pastry, huh? you don't think that many assholes have that much...

hate in them? puhleeze

[MSgt213]

2. Hate has been driving the world for a long time. We are supposed to

better then this. That's why people around the world are disgusted with us. We hold ourselves up as if we are better then everybody, but in the end we may be even worst. The rest of the world has peeked behind the curtain and seen our hypocrisy. Going around promoting democracy at the point of a gun while hiding in broad daylight with our dirty little secrets.

[fortyfeetunder]

4. Why worry about who's screwing who?

Many of the 59,000,000 idiots were too effing worried about what type of legal screwing the GLBT would be doing to each other if they got married, BUT they neglected to even consider the legal screwing they are going to get for real now that they voted the Chimp in!

[Catfight]

5. We need more Cynthia Tuckers in this world! This should be the

foundation of our new plight. We need to get the message out that hating through religion has never been the message of the bible. The bible condones many things, abuse to women, oppression, incest, we cannot continue to allow the message of hate to take over the message of love.

[Raster]

6. think about it, they don't fill those super churches talking about love...

...ultimately it's ALWAYS about hate. And it's always god's work to hate. Love doesn't fill those Cayman Islands bank accounts, hate does.

[Catfight]

7. Very true, there's lots of money and power do be had via hate. n/t

[Raster]

9. if you are love-centric, you minister to the sick, you feed the hungry...

...you shelter the homeless.

I used to live in Dallas, the so-called buckel of the bible belt. I was amazed at the EXPENSIVE real estate the evangelicals hoarded. Nowhere in any christian text can I find "thou shalt love thy banker, as I have loved you." Supposedly christ drove the moneylenders out of the temple, not signed them up for the christmas club.