The Progressive Puppy

Major US Christian Leader Won't Condemn Uganda's "Kill Gays" Law

Mega-pastor Rick Warren, Barack Obama's bosom pal who delivered the invocation at the Presidential Inauguration, has refused to "take sides" on a soon-to-be-enacted law in Uganda calling for the life imprisonment and execution of gays.  Newsweek's Lisa Miller writes:  Warren won't go so far as to condemn the legislation...  A request for a broader reaction to the proposed Ugandan anti-homosexual laws generated this response: "The fundamental dignity of every person, our right to be free, and the freedom to make moral choices are gifts endowed by God, our creator.  However, it is not my personal calling as a pastor in America to comment or interfere in the political process of other nations."  On Meet the Press he reiterated this neutral stance in a slightly different context:  "As a pastor, my job is to encourage, to support. I never take sides."  Warren did say he believed that abortion was "a holocaust."  He knows as well as anyone that in a case of great wrong, taking sides is an important thing to do. 

Michelangelo Signorile cuts to the heart of the matter:  Surely, he believes, as a self-proclaimed moral leader, that one must speak up against injustice. That is, if he sees state executions of gay men as a true injustice at all - or at least one that is worth upsetting the apple carts he so neatly set up in Uganda.   And is it a coincidence that the Obama administration - in which Warren has a fan at the very top - has not spoken out loudly enough against what's happening in Uganda and that the man who doles out the AIDS dollars (our taxpayer dollars, need I remind) on behalf of the president to Uganda, PEPFAR chief Eric Goosby, says pretty much what Warren says?  According to Newsweek.com, Goosby says his job is "not to tell a country how to put forward their legislation."  That has got to be one of the most outrageous things I've heard from an Obama official:  We're neutral on extermination.

Would Reverend Rick Warren and the Obama administration be this coy and noncommittal if a nation was on the verge of passing a law that targeted Christians for execution?  Christianty is certainly more of a lifestyle "choice" than being gay.  That the author/huckster of "The Purpose Driven Life" declines to speak out against what amounts to gay genocide won't surprise those of us in the LGBT community who have been following his past pronouncements. (This is the same preacher who once compared committed same-sex unions to pedophilia.  Do you suppose Melissa Etheridge is still defending him?) 

It's astonishing that the US government would pour millions of our tax dollars into a country whose solution to the HIV epidemic (and apparently every other societal ill) is to execute gays.  This is what America stands for?

UPDATE from The Advocate:  On the eve of World AIDS Day, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Monday made the strongest statement yet by an administration official that the United States will not tolerate efforts to criminalize homosexuality among countries that receive U.S. funding to combat HIV/ AIDS.  “Obviously, our efforts are hampered whenever discrimination or marginalization of certain populations results in less effective outreach and treatment. So we will work not only to ensure access for all who need it but also to combat discrimination more broadly,” she said during a press conference in which officials also announced that the XIX International AIDS Conference, set for 2012, will be held in United States — the first time the conference has been held here since 1990. “We have to stand against any efforts to marginalize and criminalize and penalize members of the LGBT community worldwide.” 

UPDATE II:  After weeks of silence, Pastor Rick Warren is finally  Shamed Into Decency.

Just Another Anti-Gay Hate Crime

At least no one died this time.

Three guys are leaving a St. Louis nightclub that caters to an LGBT clientele.  The trio are viciously attacked by a gang of strangers.  They're beaten and kicked.  Gay slurs are yelled at them.  Nothing was stolen, so robbery isn't a motive.  And yet, local law enforcement isn't ready to call it a hate crime.  (Sigh.)

From the Belleville News-Democrat:  St. Louis Police are investigating an attack early Saturday outside a nightclub on Chouteau Avenue.  And while police say it's too soon to tell whether this will be categorized as a hate crime, the victims believe they were targeted because they are gay.  Jacob Piwowarczyk says, "I have a soft tissue bruise on my elbow.  I have six stitches in my eye and I have a concussion."  These are the physical reminders, of a night Piwowarczyk won't soon forget. He and two friends were leaving the Complex Nightclub when it happened.  Piwowarczyk says, "They came up out of the car and they start calling us faggots."  He says there were four of them, men who had just left another bar that shares the parking lot.  He says, "We kept telling them please leave us alone, we're fine.  From there, the one kid didn't like what we told them and decided to punch me in the eye and I fell to the ground.  And at that time my friend was laying on the ground and they started kicking him in the face." ... According to the victims, the suspects drove off in a black SUV with Illinois plates.  Gay rights advocates say existing state and new federal laws on hate crimes could mean harsh penalties.  Darin Slyman, publisher of the alternative magazine Vital Voice says, "These people could be facing local, state and federal charges."  He calls this shocking, but says it's an opportunity for a community dialogue.  (Blah, blah, blah.  How many times have we heard that before.  The problem with  holding "community dialogues" is that the people who should take part in them never bother to show up - if, that is, one is even organized.)  ...The other victims suffered a broken nose and fractured cheekbone, respectively.

Here in Texas, hate crimes are burgeoning.  From the Dallas Voice:  (A)fter vigils were held around the country for two murdered gay teenagers, the FBI released statistics showing that the number of hate crimes based on sexual orientation increased 11 percent in 2008.  A closer look at the FBI report shows that Texas saw a 20 percent increase in the number of anti-gay hate crimes, going from 46 in 2007 to 55 in 2008.  In Dallas, the number of anti-gay hate crimes fell, from seven in 2007 to six in 2008.  Houston had the most reported anti-gay hate crimes of any city in Texas in 2008, 10, followed by Austin with seven and Dallas with six.  Fort Worth reported three, which was an increase from zero in both 2006 and 2007.   (Pictured: Jacob Piwowarczyk)

Arizona Law Professor Advises Stiffing Lenders

Brent T. White says that homeowners who are hopelessly behind on their mortgages shouldn't feel bad about stiffing lenders and simply taking a hike.  The noted University of Arizona law school professor says that if you owe more than the house is worth, don't suffer pangs of guilt about defaulting since that might save hundreds of thousands of dollars which will be impossible to recoup in the years ahead.  (And let's face it.  Mortgage companies certainly aren't looking out for our best interests.)  White insists that the penalties are nowhere near as hurtful or long-lasting as one might assume.

Kenneth R. Harney on the Los Angeles Times:  "Homeowners should be walking away in droves," White said.  "But they aren't.  And it's not because the financial costs of foreclosure outweigh the benefits."  Sure, your credit scores get whacked when you walk away, he acknowledges.  But as long as you stay current with other creditors, "one can have a good credit rating again - meaning above 660 - within two years after a foreclosure."  Better yet, homeowners can default "strategically":  Buy all the major items they'll need for the next couple of years - a new car, even a new house - just before they pull the plug on their current mortgage lender.  "Most individuals should be able to plan in advance for a few years of limited credit," White said, with minimal disruptions to their lifestyles.

What kind of law school professorial advice is this?  Aren't mortgages legal contracts?  In so-called anti-deficiency states such as California and Arizona, mortgage lenders have limited or no legal rights to pursue defaulting homeowners' assets beyond the house itself, White said.  In other states, lenders may decide that it is not worth the legal expense to pursue walkaways, or consumers may be able to find flaws in the mortgage documents, disclosures or underwriting to challenge the original contract.  The main point, he said, is that too often people's emotions get in the way of clear financial thinking about mortgages, turning them into what he calls 'woodheads' - "individuals who choose not to act in their own self-interest."  Most owners are too worried about feelings of shame and embarrassment after a foreclosure, and ignore the powerful financial reasons for doing so.

Starting with grade school we're taught that if we play by the rules, everything will turn out all right in the end.  We're led to believe that large corporations are good, and The Powers That Be have our backs.  The rank greed and unseemly business practices of America's top lending institutions have in recent years disabused us of that notion.

Brian Faith of Fannie Mae isn't buying White's advice.  He hurriedly declares, "Borrowers who walk away from their mortgage obligations face serious consequences" and then adds, rather slyly, "There's a moral dimension to this as homeowners who simply abandon their homes contribute to the destabilization of their neighborhood and community."

A spokesman for Fannie Mae lecturing us about "destabilization" and "moral dimensions?"  Please.  (Image by Chris Buzelli)  

When Hell is Full of Homophobes

"The mind is its own place, and in itself. Can make a heav’n of hell, a hell of heav’n."  - Paradise Lost

To: Saint Peter, Heaven's Gate
From:  The Office of Selfishness and Deceit
Location:  Earth's Core

It has come to the attention of the Prince of Darkness that He Who Rules Heaven has lately been entrusting to our eternal care an increasing number of persons whose greatest earthly offense appears to be their hatred of homosexuals.  Although our standard policy for admittance has always been "the more the merrier," we find this sudden influx of homophobic souls placing an undue burden on our already-strained resources.  Frankly, with the depletion of fossil fuels on the planet, we're having trouble acquiring enough combustible materials to keep the already-damned in perpetual agony...  per your own request, I might add. 

While we do appreciate the fact that the number of gay and lesbian, transgendered, etc, persons checking into our facilities has dwindled over the past few hundred years (which lightens the load, thankfully), it seems unfair that we're now expected to endure these intolerant Baptists, Catholics, Pentecostals, and breakaway Episcopalians who are, in any case, only following the injunctions laid down in YOUR Holy Bible.  (And Mormons!  We are positively swimming in Mormons!)

This situation cannot be expected to continue.  We are quite simply running out of space, and can no longer provide shelter (or sufficient torment) for all the sinners you send our way.  So be forewarned:  Hell will no longer be accepting homophobes.  We. Do. Not. Want. Them. Here.  From this point on, all gay-hating Christians will be transported to the interior of Uranus.  There, they can freeze their self-righteous asses off for all eternity.

Sincerely Yours, Beelzebub

Secretary to Lucifer, Whom God Abandoned        

GOPers Heading to the Elephants' Graveyard

The Non-Sexual Republican Purity Pledge

On the Washington Post, Kathleen Parker writes about the GOP's mass suicide pact:  Some people can't stand prosperity, my father used to say.  Today, he might be talking about Republicans, who, in the midst of declining support for President Obama's hope-and-change agenda, are considering a "purity" pledge to weed out undesirables from their ever-shrinking party.  Just when the independents and moderates were considering revisiting the GOP tent...  Just when the GOP was gaining traction after gubernatorial victories in Virginia and New Jersey, Republicans perform a rain dance at their own garden party...  (C)onservative members of the party have come up with a list of principles they want future candidates to agree to or forfeit backing by the Republican National Committee.  The so-called purity test is a 10-point checklist -- a suicide pact, really -- of alleged Republican positions.  Anyone hoping to play on Team GOP would have to sign off on eight of the 10 -- through their voting records, public statements or a questionnaire.  (Party purity.  Didn't the Soviets require that?)

Below is the Republican Party's Purity List. You'll notice that every statement begins with "We Support," when in actuality, these are mostly things they stand against.  It's a disingenuous attempt to diffuse that "Party of No" label.

(1) We support smaller government, smaller national debt, lower deficits and lower taxes by opposing bills like Obama’s “stimulus” bill;  (We oppose progress, with more tax cuts for the rich!)
(2) We support market-based health care reform and oppose Obama-style government run healthcare;  (Our masters in the Health Industry want to maintain the status quo, and we always obey our masters.)
(3) We support market-based energy reforms by opposing cap and trade legislation;  (Fuck the environment.  Drill, baby, drill.  We'll be gone in a hundred years.  Too bad for our grandkids' kids.)
(4) We support workers’ right to secret ballot by opposing card check;  (Unions are evil.  They tend to vote Democratic.  Protect big business bosses at all costs.)
(5) We support legal immigration and assimilation into American society by opposing amnesty for illegal immigrants;  (Mexicans also tend to vote for Democrats. So NO amnesty.  We believe in border militias, heavily armed.  Tea Party!)
(6) We support victory in Iraq and Afghanistan by supporting military-recommended troop surges;  (War, baby, war.  Kill people.  Make things go boom boom.  Screw the cost.)
(7) We support containment of Iran and North Korea, particularly effective action to eliminate their nuclear weapons threat;  (There must ALWAYS be war.  We should have our enemies queued up, in anticipation of future conflicts.)
(8) We support retention of the Defense of Marriage Act;  (We hate Teh Gays.  We've always hated Teh Gays.  We will always hate Teh Gays.  Cause the Bible tells us so.)
(9) We support protecting the lives of vulnerable persons by opposing health care rationing, denial of health care and government funding of abortion; (The medical industy will remain a profit-driven machine.  We vow to further erode women's reproductive rights.)  and ...
(10) We support the right to keep and bear arms by opposing government restrictions on gun ownership.  (There should be NO PLACE in America where guns are not welcome:  Churches, schools, hospitals, bars, shopping centers, theatres, subways, courtrooms, Democratic political rallies. The NRA is second only to God!) 

Back to Parker:  The list apparently evolved in response to the Republican loss in the recent congressional race in Upstate New York, when liberal Republican Dede Scozzafava withdrew from the race under pressure from conservatives and endorsed Democrat Bill Owens, who won.  Republicans had held that seat for more than a century. 

Republican pols have been heading in this direction for a long time.  Only difference is, their slow march toward the elephants' graveyard has now picked up speed.  Rest In Peace, GOP.

U.S. Based Christian Group Seeking Death for Gays in Africa

On NPR's Fresh Air, there's a fascinating interview with Jeff Sharlet about "The Family," a quasi-secret ultraconservative organization in Washington D.C. that strives to advance an extreme right-wing agenda in the U.S. and around the world.   Terry Gross lays groundwork:  The fundamentalist group The Family has operated secretively with the help of influential congressmen and senators who are members of the group to promote their anti-gay, anti-abortion, pro-free-market ideas in America and other parts of the world, but two sex scandals involving people connected with The Family - Nevada Senator John Ensign and South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford - have brought public attention to the group.  There's other Family news.  Bart Stupak and Joe Pitts are connected to The Family.  They introduced the amendment to the House health care reform bill that would prevent funds appropriated from the act to cover abortion and go to any insurance company that covers abortion.  Pitts is a member of The Family; Stupak lives at their residence on C Street.  The Family is also connected to proposed anti-gay legislation in Uganda that could sentence, quote, repeat offenders to the death penalty.

The article should be read in its entirety, but here's a few quotes from Sharlet concerning the Family's efforts to amplify anti-gay policies inside Uganda:  "Well, the new legislation adds to this something called aggravated homosexuality...  The use of any drugs or any intoxicants in seeking gay sex - in other words, you go to a bar and you buy a guy a drink, you're subject to the death penalty if you go home and sleep together after that.  What it also does is it extends this outward, so that if you know a gay person and you don't report it, that could mean - you don't report your son or daughter, you can go to prison.  And it goes further, to say that any kind of promotion of these ideas of homosexuality, including by foreigners, can result in long prison terms. Talking about same sex-marriage positively can lead you to imprisonment for life.  And it's really kind of a perfect case study in the export of a lot of American, largely evangelical ideas about homosexuality exported to Uganda, which then takes them to their logical end...  The legislator that introduced the bill, a guy named David Bahati, is a member of The Family.  He appears to be a core member of The Family. He works, he organizes their Ugandan National Prayer Breakfast and oversees a African sort of student leadership program designed to create future leaders for Africa, into which The Family has poured millions of dollars working through a very convoluted chain of linkages..."

That this anti-gay legislation in Uganda is deeply tied to U.S. lawmakers operating out of C Street, in the shadow of our nation's capital, is cause for alarm.  Are these "Christian" elected officials using the African country as a testing ground, with an eye toward America's eventual slouch toward theocratic rule?  Is this an example of what lies in store for LGBT folks if fundies ever take over our government?  (And believe me, Dubya and Co. was nothing compared to the new Palin-ized Republican Party.)  As I and many others have said countless times before, the anti-gay agenda of religious conservatives involves more than just "protecting the institution of marriage."  They're out for blood.

Related Post:  Rick Warren's Pastor Pal in Uganda: Arrest All Homos