What have we been saying? Some people think it’s extreme when I and others point out that what’s going on in Uganda is simply happening because Evangelical Fundamentalist Christians can get away with it there. Some people think, incorrectly, that American Fundamentalists are inherently civilized people and swallow down their weak condemnations of the Uganda legistlation. Some people want to apologize for these bigoted ghouls, want to tell us that all we need is to sit down and have a little chat so that we can “understand each other better.”
If you feel that way, you might just want to go ahead and check yourself right now.
The American Family Association radio host and head of the Idaho Family Alliance, Bryan Fischer, used these words in reply to an e-mail from a listener, reproduced in full by Joe Jervis:
Thanks for writing me about my comments on my program regarding homosexuality. It might be worth noting that what I actually suggested is that we impose the same sanctions on those who engage in homosexual behavior as we do on those who engage in intravenous drug abuse, since both pose the same kind of risk of contracting HIV/AIDS. I’d be curious to know what you think should be done with IV drug abusers, because whatever it is, I think the same response should be made to those who engage in homosexual behavior.
If you believe that what drug abusers need is to go into an effective detox program, then we should likewise put active homosexuals through an effective reparative therapy program. Secondly, I’m afraid you’re simply wrong about the Bible’s perspective on the law and homosexuality. Paul lists quite explicitly in 1 Timothy 1:8-11 the actions and behaviors that are the proper concern of the law:
“Now we know that the law is good, if one uses it lawfully, understanding this, that the law is not laid down for the just but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and sinners, for the unholy and profane, for those who strike their fathers and mothers, for murderers, the sexually immoral, men who practice homosexuality, enslavers, liars, perjurers, and whatever else is contrary to sound doctrine…”
The bottom line here is that, biblically, those “who practice homosexuality” should come under the purview of the law just as much as those who take people captive in order to sell them into slavery. You express a belief in the Scriptures, and I trust your confidence in Scripture is not selective. If you believe all Scripture is inspired, then you are compelled to accept that legal sanctions may appropriately be applied to those who engage in homosexual behavior.
Yeah. You see, these people do not believe in what the United States stands for. They are not patriots, because they seek to destroy our Constitution, which allows them to have their beliefs without harassment, but which seeks to provide equal treatment for all under the law. We’re not there yet, but we’ll get there. But “men” (I use the term loosely) like Bryan Fischer don’t value this country. They want nothing more than a land where they can take their backwards, knuckle-dragging, pigheaded, bigoted belief system and enshrine it as the law of the land, to be lorded over anyone who is not white, heterosexual, Evangelical Christian and male.
And let’s be clear here. We can have our arguments all day long (as liberals do, quite nicely) about whether there’s a god, which god it is if there is one, yadda yadda yadda, ad nauseam. But we can all agree that Bryan Fischer does not represent the message of the Jesus Christ that’s written about in Christian texts.*
Quick factcheck, Bry:
1. Homosexual behavior is not, in itself, conducive to the spread of HIV/AIDS. Why don’t you consult with a physician about that, and get back to me?
2. The words “men who practice homosexuality” are not in any grown-up translation of the Bible. Perhaps you should devote a little more time to studying the texts by which you claim to live.
3. There is no such thing as “an effective reparative therapy program.” You can find detailed information on the success rates of so-called “reparative therapy” and its effects at a website called, oh lookie here, Truth Wins Out.
4. Dingbat.
*But! I would argue that he is representative of the parts of those texts that confirm his stupidity and hatred. They tend to be found in literal interpretations of the Old Testament god. So I really don’t want to hear the cop-out about Bryan Fischer not representing Christianity as a whole. He does. He represents the parts of it that give him cover for his own fear of things that are different from him, or are perhaps too much like him.
