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brayton_headshot_wre_1443.jpg Ed Brayton is a journalist, commentator and speaker. He is the co-founder and president of Michigan Citizens for Science and co-founder of The Panda's Thumb. He has written for such publications as The Bard, Skeptic and Reports of the National Center for Science Education, spoken in front of many organizations and conferences, and appeared on nationally syndicated radio shows and on C-SPAN. Ed is also a Fellow with the Center for Independent Media and the host of Declaring Independence, a one hour weekly political talk show on WPRR in Grand Rapids, Michigan.(static)

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« Jerusalem Gay Pride Event Cancelled | Main | New Banner »

The Omnipotence of Homosexuality

Category: Gay Rights
Posted on: July 25, 2006 2:38 PM, by Ed Brayton

It always amuses me just how powerful the anti-gay loonies think homosexuality is. It's so powerful that it causes the very tectonic plates to crash together, causing earthquakes in San Francisco. It causes the weather patterns to change, causing hurricanes in Florida and New Orleans. And all of this, of course, accompanied by lots and lots of death and suffering for innocent (i.e. straight) people. One half expects to see a gay superhero who takes his heroic form by yelling "By the power of Garland!" at the top of his lungs.

Bartholomew, as usual, is on top of the latest developments in the bizarro world occupied by the truly whacked fundamentalists in all three major monotheistic religions, particularly in Israel. And to no one's surprise, they're blaming the war with Hezbollah and Hamas on the upcoming gay pride event in Jerusalem. Speaking for the Christian nutballs, it's Christine Darg of Exploit Ministries:

Military events in Israel are now likely to force the cancellation of the World Pride homosexual desecration of Jerusalem next month.

Believers in Israel and all over the world have been bombarding Heaven for God to intervene. . ..But sometimes God answers in ways that nobody wants. War is never pleasant, but its security demands take precedence over something as frivolous as a gay parade.

Coming to the plate for the Jewish nutballs, it's Pinchas Winston, quoted in the Worldnutdaily:

Are Israel's troubles in the Gaza Strip and Lebanon and the Hezbollah rockets slamming daily into major Israeli population centers here a result of the Jewish state's tacit support for a homosexual parade slated for next month in Jerusalem?

Some rabbis seem to think so, and they are attempting to block the event from taking place in Judaism's holiest city.

"Why does this war break out this week, all of sudden with little warning? Because this is the exact week the Jewish people are trying to decide whether the gay pride parade should take place in Jerusalem or Tel Aviv," Pinchas Winston, a noted author, rabbi and lecturer based in Jerusalem told WND...

"This [parade] is an attack against God himself," Winston said. "God has told the Jewish people, 'If you are not going to fight for my honor, you will be forced to fight for your own honor.'"

Batting third for the Jewish nutballs is Lazer Brody, whose name sounds like a pro wrestler:

Lazer Brody, an author and dean of the Breslov Rabbinical College in Ashdod, Israel, concurred with Winston.

"When God's presence is in the camp, nothing can happen to the Jewish people," Brody stated. "But If the Jewish people bring impurity into the camp of Israel, this chases away God's presence."...

Before becoming a rabbi, Brody served for many years in the Israeli army, where he fought in combat missions in Beirut during Israel's incursion into Lebanon in the early 1980's. He said the public display of homosexuality in Jerusalem "soils the camp of Israel with impurity, and pushes away the divine presence and protection."

Wow! Gays are so powerful that the mere anticipation of their arrival even chases out the Almighty himself! Obviously, someone needs to bottle this and develop some God Repellant spray. If only it would chase away some of his followers...

"The Torah is the ultimate book of human rights, giving each individual the right to free choice," said Brody. "What a person does behind closed doors is at one's own risk; but to partake of that behavior in public spreads the impurity to the entire camp."

Oh, of course. The ultimate book of human rights - I mean, unless you count that whole "kill the non-virgin females" thing and the "stone gays to death" thing. Other than that, it's practically an Amnesty International handbook. And then there's this little counterfactual that doesn't seem to have registered with the halfwits:

The World Pride event previously was held in 2000 in Rome, where it attracted about a quarter of a million participants. Images of the Rome festivities, featured on various homosexual websites, show throngs of shirtless men in shorts and bikini briefs congregated on the streets, some of them holding hands.

Well gosh, why didn't something horrible happen in Rome in 2000? Why didn't Switzerland suddenly invade Italy or earthquakes hit? I mean, you had men holding hands right there in the streets! God must have fled the scene and gone somewhere far away, lifting his protection from the Holy City of Catholicism. Why didn't the Vatican get hit with an earthquake, or swarms of locusts attack the Sistine Chapel?

And batting cleanup, representing the huge contingent of American nutballs, it's Yehuda Levin:

Meanwhile, Yehuda Levin, a member of the Rabbinical Alliance of America, has come to Israel specifically to prevent the homosexual celebration from taking place. He said a homosexual parade is akin to a parade of "prostitutes promoting prostitution, or adulterers encouraging others to try adultery at least once in their life."

"Israel is the Holy Land, not the homo-land," Levin told WND...

Like some other rabbis here, Levin believes that there is a direct correlation between the homosexual parade scheduled to take place in Jerusalem and the recent onslaught of rockets raining from Lebanon and Gaza.

Citing Leviticus [18:22-28], Levin said the Torah relates to Israel' current conflict.

Leviticus states, "You shall not lie down with a male, as with a woman: this is an abomination. For the nations, whom I am sending away from before you, have defiled themselves with all these things. And the land became defiled, and I visited its sin upon it, and the land vomited out its inhabitants. ... For the people of the land who preceded you, did all of these abominations, and the land became defiled. And let the land not vomit you out for having defiled it, as it vomited out the nation that preceded you.'"

Said Levin, "The terrorists, the leaders of Israel's enemies are working for the destruction of Israel, to wipe the Jewish people off the map."

Levin believes their efforts are succeeding due to what he calls sexual promiscuity in the land of Israel.

And here's another one of those little counterfactuals that destroys the logic of their argument, but appears to have escaped their notice:

Levin notes that holding a gay pride parade in Israel is not a new idea. "For years, local gay parades were held in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem," he said.

Then God's veil of protection should have been lifted for years now, eh? I mean, surely God isn't less offended by indigenous gayness than by imported gayness, right? Oh hell, let's not mince words: these people are insane. They are so blinded by their bigotry and their brain-freezing religious fervor that they are utterly incapable of holding a rational position on this or any other subject.

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Comments

1

"Exploit Ministries?" Wow, that title strikes me as surprisingly...honest...

Posted by: Raging Bee | July 25, 2006 3:25 PM

2

It is unfortunate that so many horrible things are said and done when people take religion too seriously.

Posted by: Will | July 25, 2006 3:29 PM

3
"God has told the Jewish people, 'If you are not going to fight for my honor, you will be forced to fight for your own honor.'"
Why is it that the God(s) these fundamentalists worship is always such a dick? Seriously, by their logic the guy thinks: "Hey, go repress some queers, or I'll send terrorists to kill your children". Sure sounds like a merciful, loving God to me.

Posted by: Ginger Yellow | July 25, 2006 3:41 PM

4

"Why is it that the God(s) these fundamentalists worship is always such a dick?"

Because you are what you worship. You worship the ultimate being; clearly, that means, the ultimate version of yourself. If you are a mean-spirited bigot who has to bully somebody to feel precious, than your God has to do that, but with rockets.

Posted by: Justin | July 25, 2006 4:30 PM

5

After reading about the awesome powers these folks possess, I'm almost tempted to go over to the other side. My wife will likely be disappointed, but I promise to use my super powers only for good.

Posted by: Doug | July 25, 2006 7:07 PM

6

"Why is it that the God(s) these fundamentalists worship is always such a dick?"

I think putz is more appropriate.

Posted by: natural cynic | July 25, 2006 9:23 PM

7

Rationality is a faux pas now. If you don't ignore half your brain to make an argument clearly your argument is not worth listening to (by modern standards).

It's hard on society when myth becomes fact in people's minds.

Posted by: Stephan | July 26, 2006 1:29 AM

8

In a world were religions are spreading increased violence, people turning to violent religions is like horses running back into the burning barn.

Posted by: Red Mann | July 26, 2006 8:49 AM

9

"After reading about the awesome powers these folks possess, I'm almost tempted to go over to the other side."

Some elements of the religious right say that besides having super powers, gays also have much, much hotter sex.

Interested?

Posted by: Jason Kuznicki | July 26, 2006 9:34 AM

10

Jason-

Your comment reminds me of a brilliant line from a gay comedian, whose name escapes me completely right now. He describes his father asking him, "What is it you and your boyfriend do? I mean, what do you actually do?" His reply is, "Well dad, you know all those things you wish mom would do but she won't? We do that." First time I heard that joke, I nearly spit iced tea all over the coffee table.

Posted by: Ed Brayton | July 26, 2006 9:51 AM

11

these bible thumping jesus lovers sicken me. we live in the real world not the fairy tale land of jesus and pals. too me the idea of god is a bad childrens show where all the kids have become obsessed with it to the point if the show said shoot your mom and dad they would. sorta like barny if it where run by an evil cult out to destroy the world.

Posted by: joel | July 27, 2006 2:50 AM

12

Brilliant observations.....this is going in my top ten blogposts of all time, I think. Seems to me that we need to start up some global chapters of Religioholics Anonymous pronto to get the addiction out.

It's a pretty pathetic G-d in the Middle East that is reduced to real-estate doubledealing and obsession with everyone's sexual lives. Can't people just grow up and learn to be responsible members of humanity, without leaning on that crutch of self-justification for their petty bigotries?

Posted by: Aurey Zethmayr | September 21, 2006 3:36 AM

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