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Tuesday, July 21, 2009

Homo That's Not the Problem

Posted by Dominic Holden on Tue, Jul 21, 2009 at 5:30 PM

The Seattle Times has a lengthy front-page story today on the Religious Right's crumbling crusade against gay marriage. The leaders, they explain, are infirm and feeble, and that the new generation isn't picking up the baton.

Many of the early leaders have stepped back due to health or age, because they feel burned at being called haters or because they're tired of political divisiveness, saying it gets in the way of saving souls.

At the same time, a new generation of megachurch leaders has emerged and, while some may be as biblically conservative as their predecessors, they are less inclined to get directly involved in politics.

What's more, an issue around which Christian conservatives might be expected to find consensus — repealing a measure that gave same-sex domestic partners the same state benefits as married couples — instead has provoked infighting.

But the Times has this backwards. It's not for lack of leadership that the Religious Right is withering in Washington; it's for the presence of incompetent leadership that it's losing supporters. And praise the Lord. Their leaders—such as Gary Randall and Larry Stickney—are so transparently bumbling that other wafer dealers won't work with them. Randall is taking advantage of naive evangelicals, begging them to contribute to a campaign that looks doomed to fail. Meanwhile, Randall's primarily motivated by lining his own pockets. He's been raising dough—supposedly for the R-71 effort—for his personal organization instead of the campaign, and then paying himself to improve that website he used to raise money. As if the greed wasn't obvious enough, Randall hasn't paid taxes the years he was working on past anti-gay campaigns. And he's not from Washington. Meanwhile other leaders of the pro-marriage movement are a divorced, alleged wife beater, another divorced, alleged wife beater, and a woman as charismatic as cardboard.

Comments (18) RSS

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...many at his church feel they've "been there and done that" on political issues, and "all we got was really, really bad press and a bad image."

Branding the disagreement over same-sex marriage as hatred and bigotry was a smart strategy by gay-rights supporters, Hettinga said. "No Christians I know want to be considered haters."

Or maybe some religious conservatives within the congregation are starting to wise up to the destructive pointlessness of an anti-gay agenda.
I am encouraged that many young people do not carry the same deep seeded anger for gay and lesbian people and families with children.
I am confident that years from now, even many of the old school bigots that are still alive, will look back and wonder how society could treat gays so much differently than everyone else.
I certainly feel that way looking back at the widespread racial segregation as late as the 60's. I cannot even imagine living in that kind of world or why it even existed.

Posted by Bill W.

on July 21, 2009 at 5:50 PM

Gah, that was a terrible article. The lovely soft-focus shot of Hutcherson posing with flowers? The quotes from Gary Randall, that presented him as a normal, functional human being? Maybe they should find some evangelical Christians who are embarrassed by these losers AND the old ones who were supposedly so fucking wonderful -- Falwell and Dobson, they said. A really flaccid article.

Posted by Fnarf

on July 21, 2009 at 6:00 PM

So what you're saying is that these fringe groups are so out there and crooked they don't represent mainstream Republicans.

Yeah...I agree.

Susan Hutchinson 2009!

Posted by Supreme Ruler Of The Universe

on July 21, 2009 at 6:05 PM

One of the worst cover stories ever in the Times, and that's saying a lot. The religious right is crumbling because their ridiculous views appeal to no one other than the ever-shrinking minority of rural, middle-class European Americans.

I read the article quickly, guessing correctly that Bob Moorehead and Ellen Craswell would not be mentioned. The first, a major local "Christian" leader caught soliciting a blow job in a Florida toilet, and the second (may she rest in peace), the religious right's ideal candidate for Governor--and who was crushed in the general election by a liberal Chinese American, Gary Locke.

hese morons simply no longer have broad appeal outside the slave states--even in Alaska, Montana and Utah.

Posted by kk in seattle on July 21, 2009 at 6:10 PM

to suggest that the failing of the right on gay issues is due to a lack of leadership is to ignore the basic arguments at play. in fact, i would suggest that to blame incompetent leadership does the same thing. both of these 'causes' for evangelical faltering are better characterized as symptoms of one positions inherent superiority over the other, i.e., that whole long arc of justice thing. in other words, anyone with a brain is jumping ship, leaving either incompetence or a vacuum where solid leaders used to be because anyone with a brain can see that the right wing nut jobs are wrong.

also, calling anti-gay activists bigots isn't a strategy, it's honesty. if you discriminate against people for who they are, there can really only be one place that's coming from. hatred and bigotry.

Posted by douglas on July 21, 2009 at 6:10 PM

some of these comments sound like California before they lost

of course, having learned from that debacle, we are not smugly over confident, are we?

my guess is the Ref. 71 campaign will be run by well paid consultants and political people from California

all the toads in the local right wing mean nothing, if and if is important, they connect with older voters in an off year election - that is the single task they face - and who is who in the rouges gallery is no importance - as good as it makes us all feel

the Times story is a bit strange, the Times is on the gay side, who would think they would spotlight any talent in the right wing?

what they did not say is that this election will be a comeback election for the very conservative anti gay state R. party, maybe covert, but all the Olympia shitheads will be in there helping somewhere/somehow

(little noted, Maine is already going to the ballot on gay marriage, next year, and the bigot side has all the Calif. help already working there)

Posted by Ace on July 21, 2009 at 6:13 PM

If you hate gays, you'd LET them marry. Why should only straight folk suffer?

Posted by Stupid White Man

on July 21, 2009 at 6:16 PM

@6: It was no surprise to most of us that Prop. 8 succeeded in California, which is, after all, the home of Reagan, Nixon, Deukmejian, Wilson and Schwarzenegger as well as dozens of nutbag Congressfolk.

Posted by kk in seattle on July 21, 2009 at 6:45 PM

The Radical Religious Extremists of the "Christian" sort have turned from being "fishers of men" into "hunters of witches". Now maybe they are getting back to basics, as Jesus would have suggested they do. Start "saving" people and stop meddling in affairs that are not your business. That couple over there getting married is not your business.

Posted by Sargon Bighorn on July 21, 2009 at 7:56 PM

Rally for a PUBLIC OPTION to the pending health care legislation in front of Senator Cantwell’s offices in Seattle on Thursday at noon. Be there.

Sign up first so you can get updates and help them be organized: http://pol.moveon.org/event/events/event…

915 2nd Avenue, Seattle
Thursday, July 23, 12noon

I'm sorry this has nothing to do with this post. Seriously, I'm sorry.

Posted by rubus on July 21, 2009 at 8:37 PM

Ya know, Dom, I kind of agree with what you are saying, but, like, the way you said it, and like, your lame haircut, really annoys me, so, like, I think I'm going to have to disagree with you.

Posted by seandr on July 21, 2009 at 9:10 PM

SLOG...I was trying to give you a rest tonight, but then while perusing some blogs via Google (an avocation of mine), I came across something that I had to share with y'all..since y'all are so gay and all.

Here it is...The Wicked Gay Blog:

http://wickedgayblog.blogspot.com/

I hope ya' like it.

I know ya' will....

Posted by Supreme Ruler Of The Universe

on July 22, 2009 at 12:12 AM

The crumbling of the anti-gay crusade has nothing to do with leadership. I think the current religious right leaders are arguing as competently and as coherently for their side as anyone could. The problem is that the message, which has always been rooted in untruths, is no longer working because everything about it is wrong. Even if you're the best marketer in the business, you won't be able to successfully sell a product if it's toxic, poorly conceived, fraudulent or just plain stupid. Enlightened younger generations (as well as open-minded middle-aged ones, I suppose), familiar and friendly with out-gay people, replace the older ones every year and already see through this bullshit.

Posted by Judith on July 22, 2009 at 12:33 AM

"Pro-marriage movement"? Who would call the "Christian" hate mongers who want to deny gay people the right to marry "pro-marriage"?

Posted by Vince on July 22, 2009 at 5:47 AM

@14: Um, remember when the forced-pregnancy movement branded itself "pro-life"?

Posted by Fistique on July 22, 2009 at 5:59 AM

Funny how the pro-gays love to call out the anti-gays as hateful ... and do it in such a hateful manner.

Hypocrites anyone?

Posted by Haystack Calhoun on July 22, 2009 at 8:41 AM

It's not lack of leadership, and it's not incompetent leadership, it's just a bad message that fewer and fewer people are agreeing with. A lot of people from my generation (current twenty-somethings) who were raised in the conservative Christian church have run screaming in the opposite direction as adults. We grew up with openly gay friends, classmates, friends' parents, etc. The notion that equal rights for gays and lesbians is anti-Christian never took hold in our minds the way it did for our parents and grandparents (although my parents became pro-equality over time). That whole way of thinking is dying off, thank goodness.

Posted by Hernandez

on July 22, 2009 at 9:09 AM

I for one would be happy to see the evangelical Christians go back to focusing on Christianity rather than sex. This hasn't gone well for you guys; take a hint.

Posted by Greg on July 22, 2009 at 9:16 AM