It was fascinating to watch Congresswoman Michele Bachmann on “Meet the Press” Sunday morning, as host David Gregory asked some really tough questions of her. One of the parts that really struck me was when he asked her about her views concerning same sex marriage and homosexuality. From the New York Daily News:
She stammered a bit on "Meet the Press" after David Gregory asked her if her view of gay marriage was the same thing she expressed in 2004 when she said being gay was "part of Satan."
"I'm not running to be anyone's judge. I do stand very--”
Gregory cut her off to say "you have judged them."
Then a bit flustered, she replied, "I, I, I don't judge them. I don't judge them. I am running for presidency of the United States."
Bachmann then went on to say that she believed marriage is between a man and a woman. When pressed further by Gregory, she continued the same slogan to say, "I am not anyone's judge … and I'm not standing in as anyone's judge."
Here, watch the video.
This gave me flashbacks to my previous marriage. Long story short, he became a born again Christian a couple of years after we got married; that would have been okay with me if he hadn’t decided that his mission was to convert everyone around him--including me--into believing exactly as his newfound Baptist brethren did. He would sometimes make pronouncements about how this or that person was going to hell. Jews, Catholics, homosexuals, people who listen to rock music (it’s satanic, doncha know)...you name it, if they didn’t toe the Baptist line, they were going to hell. Simple as that. I would try to reason with him and say, “That’s awfully judgmental.” Ohhh, that would piss him off!
Him: I’m not being judgmental! Only God can judge!
Me: But you just said that those people are going to hell. YOU said said that. That sounds like you’re judging them to me.
Him: I am not judging them! That’s God’s job!
Me: Then why are YOU condemning them to hell?
And ‘round and ‘round we’d go. There would be talk of whether the Bible is the literal, inerrant word of God, I’d say that it was written by men, blahbitty blah blay blue. (I’m not ridiculing the debate...I’ve just had it enough times to find it tiresome.) Needless to say, I couldn’t bear the thought of being around such pretzel logic the rest of my life, and I moved on. (There was more to it, but that was really the root of the problem.)
So believe me, when I hear Bachmann protest that she is not judging homosexuals, despite having called them satanic and stating that a gay couple with children does not constitute a family, she is doing exactly that. If telling someone that they’re going to hell isn’t judging someone, I sure as hell (haha) don’t know what is. I’ve been around such teachings all my life, and I was raised amongst them. I know that all Christians don’t think that way, and there are many tolerant denominations out there. However, Bachmann’s particular brand of fundamentalist theology is not one of them. When she says that the homosexual lifestyle is “part of Satan,” she isn’t dicking around. She really thinks that homosexuality is satanic and cause for banishment to the Fiery Pits of Hell™. She coyly states that her sole qualifications for appointing someone to her Cabinet or to the Supreme Court would be whether they support the Constitution, whether they are competent, and whether or not they share her views. If you think that means that an atheist or a homosexual (as David Gregory asked) or anyone other than a fundamentalist Christian stand a snowball’s chance in hell of ever making it onto her Cabinet or onto the Court, then I’m going to judge you and say you’re silly! But I won’t say you’re going to hell. Such a pronouncement is well above my pay grade.
Bachmann doesn’t seem to have any such qualms, and I would hope that most thinking Americans will not cotton to any politician who talks about this or that group being satanic. You may be in the top three at the moment, lady, but as more of this stuff comes out, I think people are going to start getting a little scared of you. Rightly so.
Thank you for venting for me! I feel so much better and I'm sure glad I found your blog (via a recent comment you made on "I Should Be Laughing").
ReplyDeleteI also love how theists like to say "hate the sin, not the sinner". Wut? These people thrive on hate.
ReplyDeleteI don't judge, but Michele Bachmann is of Satan.
ReplyDeleteAnd I'm NOT running for the presidency of the United Sates.
Sidenote: Does she considered a woman married to an ambiguously heterosexual man, and having children, a family?
I have had that exact same debate, almost word-for-word, with my own family. I love it when they tell me they love me and then in the very next sentence condemn me and my children to an eternity of unspeakable torture. I feel so much love from them at that moment....
ReplyDeleteThere were only two things that I refused to accept in my life-- both of them looped into each other.
ReplyDeleteFirst was the Bible/God. I think I have spoken about my doubts about the inerrant word in my own journal before... no need to rehash here. Second, if I suspected intolerance because of someone's sexuality, you were 'hit the bricks, you're outta here!' I took that personally because of the questions I face(d) and because it meant they would never be able to accept my darling brother.
The irony with Michele is that I have no doubt that her husband has some 'of the gay' in him... in fact, the whole rehabilitation industry is prolly one of the convenient covers for pederasty and homosexual activity...
My worries is that the deep-rooted 'fear of a black planet' has caused such a psychological reaction in enough white folks that they are pushed beyond reason. That is why you see so many people who can't even comprehend that they benefit from Gov't programs but would vote for the very people who would slash them.
I hope that the President can get people back to work (although he really can only do so much... jus' sayin'...) and the economy starts climbing back in recovery... this might be the biggest ideological showdown in my lifetime (being born in 1967, I don't have claim to the Kennedy-Nixon thing-a-majig).
The whole issue of elections and how it works in your country has me wondering when they have time to do their work. It seems all one hears is related to that party politics day after day. Maybe there's a need to update the way that system was created??
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