TruthOut is reporting that Maine has become the fifth state in the nation to legalize gay marriage. When you add this tally to states like Washington who have extended matrimonial benefits to all forms of domestic civil unions (gay marriage without using the word marriage), this country is moving toward the day in which gay marriage will no longer be a political hot button issue.
All I can say is: It's about time!!
Of course, the fundamentalist Christian forces are not going simply to lay down. They will continue to fight their losing battle. Over the next few years, I'm sure they will celebrate a few ephemeral victories, but, in the end, I don't see much hope for their myopic cause.
But here's one aspect about this whole debate that has troubled me for some time. Fundamentalists expend enormous amounts of time, energy and resources on trying to beat back the specter of gay marriage, but they tend to sweep under the rug an issue that genuinely impacts their lives -- pedophilia.
We all know now of the troubles the Catholic Church has undergone because of this problem. But it's not just Catholics! Scan the internet and you'll find a host of cases in which pedophiles are being exposed in Christian settings. Pedophiles seem to flock to organizations like the Boy Scouts and churches because they offer easy access to children.
Yet, often when allegations are first brought against these predators, their church family tends to spring to their aid! That's really mind-boggling when you consider that all of the children of a particular church are at a bona fide risk. The members of the church stand by their man until so much evidence is piled up that they f-i-n-a-l-l-y see the light. Once it becomes evident that they've been facilitating these sick individuals all along, they fall all over themselves trying to shed their own culpability for the situation.
Even more amazing are those cases when the predator 'fesses up and the parishioners let the guy off with little more than a slap on the wrist (though the civil authorities generally aren't as lenient). They blame his "sickness" on the devil and, after some penance time (jail might be included) and "Christian counseling", he's welcomed back with open arms, ready to abuse new victims.
So, while fundies tend to foam and froth at the mouth at the very idea of allowing two people of the same sex to live together as a married couple -- something that doesn't impact the faithful's lives at all -- they concurrently seem rather lackadaisical in regard to predators in their midst who can rob their children of a healthy childhood!
All I can say is: It's about time!!
Of course, the fundamentalist Christian forces are not going simply to lay down. They will continue to fight their losing battle. Over the next few years, I'm sure they will celebrate a few ephemeral victories, but, in the end, I don't see much hope for their myopic cause.
But here's one aspect about this whole debate that has troubled me for some time. Fundamentalists expend enormous amounts of time, energy and resources on trying to beat back the specter of gay marriage, but they tend to sweep under the rug an issue that genuinely impacts their lives -- pedophilia.
We all know now of the troubles the Catholic Church has undergone because of this problem. But it's not just Catholics! Scan the internet and you'll find a host of cases in which pedophiles are being exposed in Christian settings. Pedophiles seem to flock to organizations like the Boy Scouts and churches because they offer easy access to children.
Yet, often when allegations are first brought against these predators, their church family tends to spring to their aid! That's really mind-boggling when you consider that all of the children of a particular church are at a bona fide risk. The members of the church stand by their man until so much evidence is piled up that they f-i-n-a-l-l-y see the light. Once it becomes evident that they've been facilitating these sick individuals all along, they fall all over themselves trying to shed their own culpability for the situation.
Even more amazing are those cases when the predator 'fesses up and the parishioners let the guy off with little more than a slap on the wrist (though the civil authorities generally aren't as lenient). They blame his "sickness" on the devil and, after some penance time (jail might be included) and "Christian counseling", he's welcomed back with open arms, ready to abuse new victims.
So, while fundies tend to foam and froth at the mouth at the very idea of allowing two people of the same sex to live together as a married couple -- something that doesn't impact the faithful's lives at all -- they concurrently seem rather lackadaisical in regard to predators in their midst who can rob their children of a healthy childhood!
Don't forget that they often equate homosexuality with pedoplilia.
ReplyDeleteOften the victims of the pedophile are expected to forgive the pedophile completely and to forget all the hurt and harm that he did.
Please don't generalize Christian Counseling. True, there are some out there that claim to be Christian counselors when they are not, but a large majority are ethical, state-certified, highly trained professionals who want to help.
ReplyDelete