There are none so blind as those who choose to see only their POV.
Tuesday, February 12th, 2008
Governor Rick Perry (R, TX) has written a new book decrying the “left wing war” on the beleaguered Boy Scouts of America. It seems Governor Perry has issues with the ACLU, atheists, LGBTs…and the truth.
Meanwhile, some excerpts from Perry’s book, which questions the American Civil Liberties Union’s efforts to open the Boy Scouts of America to gays and people who don’t declare a belief in God:
“Only they know, but isn’t it odd that the ACLU, which champions First Amendment rights, wants them applied selectively? It seems some of the most intolerant acts occur in the name of tolerance; a paradox that seems to describe much of the ACLU’s political agenda.”
The ACLU has no such desire. The ACLU champions the civil rights of all Americans, Christian, atheist, straight, gay, bisexual, transgender, black, Latino, Jewish, Asian, Buddhist, etc. Anybody who seeks their services with a civil rights case will be afforded assistance. That’s how people like the Phelps family got assistance. They asked for it. Perhaps if more Christians asked for the assistance of the ACLU instead of fighting against them they’d realize the ACLU is not their enemy.
“The point is that Scouting is not the place for sex education. When a gay or lesbian leader makes an issue of his or her sexual preference, it makes it impossible to remove sexual conduct from the Scouting realm.”
It’s not gay and lesbian leaders making an issue of their “sexual preference”, it’s people like Governor Perry and other RRRW bigots. It’s strange how they never consider a straight man or woman who wears a wedding band or shows photos of their new baby around to be “making an issue of their sexual preference”, yet a gay/lesbian who fails to stay deep in the closet is pushing their sexuality in everybody’s face.
“Though I am no expert on the ‘nature versus nature’ debate, I can sympathize with those who believe sexual preference is genetic. It may be so, but it remains unproved. Even if it were, this does not mean we are ultimately not responsible for the active choices we make. Even if an alcoholic is powerless over alcohol once it enters his body, he still makes a choice to drink. And, even if someone is attracted to a person of the same sex, he or she still makes a choice to engage in sexual activity with someone of the same gender.”
Yes, and millions of people choose to become adherents of one religion or another. They choose one denomination over another. They choose a particular church they want to belong to. They choose to commit criminal acts in the name of their religion. Yet is anybody suggesting we dispense with the laws that protect people from hate-crimes based on their religion?
“It is not as if the Boy Scouts teach intolerance toward the atheist or the homosexual; it is just not the purpose of the Scouts to engage in a debate about these issues… In a wider context, it is also not my personal belief that society should condemn either the homosexual or the atheist. We must draw a line in the sand: people have the right to decide for themselves what they will believe in the core of their being, and how they will live… For those who want to throw stones at homosexuals in the name of calling out sin, may they be just as loud about adultery among heterosexuals and pornography among their own churchgoing friends.”
The average church, however, does not preach as loudly against adultery because they know they’d lose a great number of their flock. Same with divorce, lying and the majority of “sins” the Bible condemns. Railing against gays is safe because they’re a small minority, gay sex has an “ick factor” to it and it helps inflame the base. Any sin their flock is largely guilty of is very unsafe territory because the key is to be able to cast stones at others, not look within and seek to change oneself.
“You can’t have a rational discussion with the left about nature versus nurture, global warming, or the validity of evolution because they claim science has already weighed in. Yet, science reveals new discoveries all the time and in so doing, for instance, makes the evolutionary explanation less plausible.”
On the contrary. “The Left” admits freely that new discoveries constantly occur in the scientific world. That’s the beauty of science and what makes it vastly superior to religion–its ability to grow and to evolve. Religion is static and immobile. Yes they’ll try to cram newly discovered truths into what is written in the Bible and make it “fit” but it just doesn’t work. Pretending Jesus rode a dinosaur to account for the existence of fossils doesn’t make it so.
“Scouting will survive as long as it sticks to the virtues and values of the great middle class.”
If Gov. Perry considers bigotry one of the virtues and values of the great middle class he’s clearly delusional. Scouting may survive, but I see it losing access, slowly but surely, to public funding and public venues. Embrace bigotry all you want but be prepared to suffer the consequences.
