Thursday, August 17, 2006

Stem Cells Cure Homos

A pushmi-pullyu controversy seems to be roiling on the fundamentalist right among those that live their lives as if the more religious a person is, the more righteous he (or she) is, and has the power to make decision regarding someone else. A rumor is circulating that stem cell research could lead to a cure for homosexuality.

While these people had no qualms about overlooking the hopes and dreams of those suffering from Parkinson's disease, spinal cord injuries, and Alzheimer's, they found themselves in a dilemma about a possible cure for gays. Two great causes diametrically opposed: what are they going to do?

Another memo has leaked from the inner sanctum for strategic planning that says members should not get worked up over the possibility, and that it is just a rumor anyway.

Many of the most faithful members believe a cure for homosexuality should be viewed as divine intervention and the opportunity to turn gays to a proper lifestyle should not be missed. The memo agrees that having to choose between killing unborn babies to save gays or preserving the unborn and allowing gays to foppishly flourish is one to test the judgment of Solomon, but the faithful should keep their eyes on the prize, their minds on the sign, and their souls on the goal. They even invoke their struggle to keep Terri Shiavo hooked to machines.

It's their ultimate goal for all those frozen embryos that is so scary – scarier than the idea of curing someone who is not sick. Do you think stem cells could cure religious intolerance?

I doubt it. Religious intolerance is the cross we all must bear.

Sunday, August 13, 2006

Et tu Mel Gibson

Joel Stein addresses Mel Gibson’s defining moments both in the recent comments he made and in the type of movies he made.

If Jews did not exist, we would have to create them. Or, we would find somebody to take their place if some have their way and they are exterminated. A significant number of us need to hate some group. The tendency to hate will latch on to something that displeases us and empower this displeasure to the point that we get pleasure in our hate.

Some of us have to have something or somebody to hate. We’re just not whole unless we have someone to hate.

This seems to be prevalent in conservatives. Liberals don’t hate as much as they ostracize those who violate political correctness. In fact, liberals would rather be hated than snubbed. Hatered invokes validation for their position while being snubbed indicates a social failing -- a much more unbearable cross to many liberals.


The propensity to hate is also a major tendency is those that believe in Islam. I have posted previously and before that their hate is a double edged sword and will turn inward on them if they don’t watch it. Their hate for the Israelis is a proxy for their hate of each other. Many in Islam already know this, but just like a liberal in a lynch mob, they are being pulled along in something they know is wrong but cannot prevent or quit.

Those of Islam send their children to die for their hate of someone else. Here, conservatives send their children to die for their love of personal freedom and duty, and liberals send theirs to die for the love of the idea of freedom and in spite of hate or duty.

Oh, and one more thing, Joel, Jesus was crucified neither by the Jews nor the Romans. He was sent to the cross by religious intolerance. ‘Twas the faithful who gathered in the courtyard, not the dregs of society, not the criminals, the rejects or lost, not the back benchers, backsliders, and certainly no atheists who gathered and voted as their religious leaders bade. Christianity is founded on their destruction of its founder.

The hate for one another trumps the love for one another. More people have been killed in the name God than for any reason excluding perhaps ignorance. We are steeped in this tradition. The capitol of the country dedicated to freedom was built by slaves. It would have been so much better for our proud traditions if good union hands had built it, but that is not the case.

As Joel pointed out, Mel bemoans war and those that would make it during his time of uninhibited stress (drunken arrest), but glorifies and exploits it during more sober moments (his movies). What Mel meant to say: “Jews are responsible for all the war movies in the world!”

This is true – or turthy for the sake of this post.