Once again, I’ll have to bend my rule of staying away from general politics. Quite simply, I’m just going to have to make a confession: Governor Sarah Palin scares the living hell out of me. I don’t want this woman anywhere near the White House, let alone being a heartbeat away from the Oval Office.
What disturbs me lately is how often I have to preface each post with some sort of disclaimer, that my Christian faith is as important and as sincere in my life as it could ever be. I’m even more disturbed by the fact that so many of my fellow Christians are hell-bent to disprove the love of God (and common sense) with each passing statement. At the end of an already-laughable interview with Katie Couric, Palin embarrasses herself and her party further with stunning unfamiliarity of basic common knowledge about gay-related issues.
Palin has taken the gay-bias torch from President George W. Bush miles further than he ever did, asserting that same-sex attraction is a choice, and that she’s “not going to judge people.” If it wasn’t her complete lack of competence on foreign policy and being bereft of any wisdom beyond that of being the equivalent a bipedal, lipstick-wearing pit bull, that would be enough to scare me away from voting for her. But when she displays such utter ignorance, well, that’s just frightening.
With a special thanks to Truth Won Out and Box Turtle Bulletin, here’s what “Sarah Barracuda” said (courtesy CBS):
But what you’re talking about, I think, value here, what my position is on homosexuality and you can pray it away, because I think that was the title that was listed on that bulletin. And you know, I don’t know what prayers are worthy of being prayed. I don’t know what’s prayers are going to be asked and answered. But as for homosexuality, I am not going to judge Americans and the decisions that they make in their adult personal relationships. I have one of my absolute best friends for the last 30 years happens to be gay, and I love her dearly. And she is not my “gay friend,” she is one of my best friends, who happens to have made a choice that isn’t a choice that I have made. But I am not going to judge people.
She seriously believes this? She actually believes that sexual orientation can be “prayed away?” I don’t know where she gets this asinine belief, but let me say this clearly: If it could be prayed away, I would have been made straight two decades ago. Daniel Gonzales, writer for Box Turtle Bulletin sums up exactly why Palin’s view is not only dangerous, but wrong.
His statement is clear enough of a message that it deserves repeating. As quoted on TWO:
“Should I choose to pray to become straight?” — He already did that.
“Should I choose to see a gay conversion therapist?” — He spent thousands of dollars on that.
“If I promise to try really hard to be straight and went back to one of those ex-gay programs again, would you want me to marry one of your daughters?”
“Even though you ‘don’t want to judge me,’ it seems pretty likely you view my sexuality as sin, which appears to leave me with one choice: A lifetime of celibacy. I could embrace my sexuality and seek to form a meaningful, lifelong committed relationship with another man and build a family. But no, I think your inner views have convinced me to choose a lifetime of being alone and celibate! Thanks, Gov. Palin!”
Senator Barack Obama might not be a perfect candidate, but the more I look at Sarah Palin, the more I realize just how much better he is. What? You say that the election is between McCain and Obama? Okay, believe that. Just who do you think will take over when he goes to the great platform in the sky?
If I have anything to say about it, she’ll never have a chance. I’m voting for Obama. Heck, I don’t even have to hold my nose to do it!
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Hi David,
Before you get too excited with Obama, please do a little research into his voting history, his bill sponsorship and presentation and, as a matter of public record, his doublespeak when it comes to our rights. He strums a good song for the GLBT community, sitting pretty on LOGO and smiling for the cameras. His previous actions belie his words however.
He spins a tale of “compassion” and “civil union marriage” (wtf? Let’s combine terms now.) He, like so many politicians, anticipates that the GLBT community will rise up and give a standing ovation to this Champion of Rights. We, like the good Democrats that we are (forgive me for misspeaking, should you be a Republican) are lapping it up eagerly. “The lesser of two evils!”
Palin the Prude’s views appall me, however you and I know plenty of well-meaning Christians who can not seem to grasp the entire “I was born this way, get over it” concept. We both frequent a certain chat room where there are raging fundies that are nothing but a discredit to Christ. There are also those fundamental Christians who steadfastly believe that orientation is a choice. Those Christians do not hiss and regard us as plague carriers. They accept us with the love of Christ. They do not inflict their beliefs on us unless we ask them to discuss what they believe.
If we must discount Palin, let us do so because of her stumbling, confusing naiveté. She may not be the sharpest tack in the box but she can be taught. We do not know if she is a raging fundy bent on gay annihilation or if she is simply a woodland frump who really hasn’t bothered to delve into orientation. People ask her what she believes but they don’t ask her what she intends to do. Such a clever ploy. The republicans did it to Obama when Wright’s prejudices were revealed.
I do not support her or her views. I am at the point where I refuse to support either party. I have followed Obama for a while and I have not been pleased by his pathetic efforts. I’m not pleased with McCain either.
Thanks for allowed me the opportunity to speak my mind. Your readers may disagree with my opinion and that is fine. Opinions are like…………… belly buttons………. and everyone has one. haha
Please forgive any typos.
Some info here:
http://musing85.typepad.com/blog/2008/01/obama-on-gay-ri.html
I have one of my absolute best friends for the last 30 years happens to be gay, and I love her dearly. And she is not my “gay friend,” she is one of my best friends, who happens to have made a choice that isn’t a choice that I have made. But I am not going to judge people.
When I heard Mrs. “Joe Six Pack” talk about one of her best friends “who happens to have made a choice that isn’t a choice that I have made,” and whom she says she has known for 3 decades or so, I had to wonder how–after all that time knowing her friend–she still believes her friend actually chose to be a lesbian. I really don’t get how people like Sarah Palin think that such an innate part of our human-ness, our sexual orientation, is subject to change on an apparent whim, akin to choosing a salad with the #7 combo instead of fries.
And her line that she’s “not going to judge people”??? In my humble opinion, the mere fact that she asserts that we chose something that is not choose-able is a judgment. Palin appears to couch her judgmental words in love & friendship, but the judgment still comes shining through. As the old saying goes, you can put lipstick on a pig & it's still a pig!
I don't know about Sarah Palin, or her friend, but, in my own life, I never got the chance to choose to which gender I am attracted. There never came a time in my life where I thought, “Hmmmm…which will it be? Males or females??” I can almost guarantee you that almost everyone (regardless of their orientation) would say the same thing. If I ever did have a choice, I'd have to be either psychotic or a sadist (or both) to choose a sexual orientation that I had to work so hard at hiding & which would cause me to be treated like a second-class citizen & that would put me at odds with the vast majority of others & cause people who don't even know me to hate me & wish to do me harm & which would cause me to be subjected to such venom & such vilification by so much of society (especially by people I once considered my family in Christ).
How could I ever have had a choice & then intentionally choose the most difficult path, when being one of the "normal" people would have made my life so much easier & so much less painful??? Considering the foregoing, the idea that any kind of "choice" is involved where sexual orientation is concerned is ridiculous on its face. I don't know if Sarah Palin ever remembers having to make a choice to be attracted to male of the species at some time in her life or not, but I'd wager she would tell you she didn't. How typically hypocritical for people like her to say that they never chose to be heterosexual, but that I did choose to be homosexual. Can they not see how illogical that is, or do they just believe that logic is too science-y & too much of a threat to their obviously-adored dogma & preconceived notions??
I have to wonder if Sarah & friends ever even really pay attention to the words coming out of their own mouths, or if it's just an automated party-line response to which they don't even give a second thought. To be fair, a second thought implies that they were thinking in the first place. My bad. :-/
Ultimately, I know that people like Sarah Palin have to cling for dear life to this old, discredited line that we are choosing to be something we really aren’t, because if they ever admitted that we didn’t choose our sexual orientation, then they'd have to admit that–like the heteros–we are who God made us, and that it's all about how our hearts work and not how our genitals work. Then they'd have to deal with all the guilt I'd at least hope they'd have over the real harm & real pain they've caused so many of us.
Maybe that thought is just too much for them to bear. Maybe it's just easier for them to choose to continue to spread lies & misconceptions about non-heterosexuals.
It's apparently one of the things that Sarah Palin has chosen to do.