Religious Based Ignorance Once Again Thwarts Russia's Future

Before the Russian Revolutions of 1917 - first the February Revolution and then the Bolshevik Revolution in October/November - one of the mainstays to the retardation of Russia's modernization and movement towards a constitutional monarchy was the Russian Orthodox Church.  Now, while modern developed countries around the world are rejecting anti-gay bigotry and discrimination in favor of modern scientific knowledge on sexual orientation, Vladimir Putin - much like his Tsarist predecessors - is listening to the idiocy and ignorance of the revived Russian Orthodox Church hierarchy and pushing an anti-gay and anti-modernity agenda.  Putin is stupidly focused on the short term goal of hanging on to power at any cost with no thought or concern for the long term damage done or the lives ruined by the state sponsored bigotry that he has endorsed.  

In their quest to save the Russian monarchy, Nicholas II and Alexandra unwittingly set the stage for the revolutions of 1917 and the ultimate fall of Russia to the Bolsheviks and the ensuing civil war between the Whites and the Reds which damaged Russia so severely that economic output did not return to 1913 levels until the eve of World War II.  In the intervening years, millions of Russians perished.   By embracing the far right and the Russian Orthodox Church, Putin is repeating the same mistakes and making Russia a laughing stock in the process.  Now, as the Moscow Times reports, efforts are in motion to establish state sponsored "ex-gay" programs to turn Russian gays straight.  Here are highlights on this lastest idiocy from Russia:

Degtyaryov said that the Duma is also considering a program to provide anonymous and voluntary counseling for gay and bisexual people who want to be heterosexual.

"Many want to return to a normal life, to become heterosexual like 95 to 99 percent of our citizens," Degtyaryov said.

He also said that failure to forbid homosexuals from donating blood is a type of "sabotage."

LGBT activist Nikolai Alexeyev said that  . . . . There will be a lot of noise, and zero implementation of the law. Our politicians are so detached from reality that they no longer have any connection to the people. They just imagine gay people everywhere," Alexeyev told reporters.

Health Ministry spokesman Oleg Salagai said that the ministry will carefully consider the initiative.

Putin has apparently learned nothing from history.  It is ironic that he is embracing the same forces of reactionaries that helped destroy the Romanov dynasty.  One can only hope that his bigotry and willingness to make allegiances with forces seeking to oppose modernity will bring him a similar fate - all the more so because, unlike his imperial predecessors, he should no better because of all the available modern knowledge. 

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America's Growing Ignorance: Welcome to the Age of Denial

Once upon a time the Republican Party valued science, intellect and knowledge.  Indeed, Democrats were at times looked down upon as being ignorant and the unwashed rabble.  Now, the picture has been totally reversed and the GOP actively campaigns against scientific knowledge whether it be on climate change or sexual orientation and a host of issues in between and party leaders wear ignorance and idiocy on their sleeves as a badge of honor.  What caused this reversal?  In my mind, the rise of the Christofascists in the GOP for whom modernity and knowledge are a growing threat because they destroy the infantile house of cards faith system that these individuals need to find a distorted sense of self-identification and security.   A column in the New York Times by a professor of physics and astronomy at the University of Rochester looks at America's increasing ignorance which is fueled by snake oil merchants in the pulpit and the Republican Party base.  Here are excerpts:

ROCHESTER — IN 1982, polls showed that 44 percent of Americans believed God had created human beings in their present form. Thirty years later, the fraction of the population who are creationists is 46 percent. 

In 1989, when “climate change” had just entered the public lexicon, 63 percent of Americans understood it was a problem. Almost 25 years later, that proportion is actually a bit lower, at 58 percent. 

This is not a world the scientists I trained with would recognize. Many of them served on the Manhattan Project. Afterward, they helped create the technologies that drove America’s postwar prosperity. In that era of the mid-20th century, politicians were expected to support science financially but otherwise leave it alone.

Today, however, it is politically effective, and socially acceptable, to deny scientific fact. Narrowly defined, “creationism” was a minor current in American thinking for much of the 20th century. But in the years since I was a student, a well-funded effort has skillfully rebranded that ideology as “creation science” and pushed it into classrooms across the country. Though transparently unscientific, denying evolution has become a litmus test for some conservative politicians, even at the highest levels. 

Meanwhile, climate deniers, taking pages from the creationists’ PR playbook, have manufactured doubt about fundamental issues in climate science that were decided scientifically decades ago. And anti-vaccine campaigners brandish a few long-discredited studies to make unproven claims about links between autism and vaccination. 

What do I tell my students? From one end of their educational trajectory to the other, our society told these kids science was important. How confusing is it for them now, when scientists receive death threats for simply doing honest research on our planet’s climate history? 

Americans always expected their children to face a brighter economic future, and we scientists expected our students to inherit a world where science was embraced by an ever-larger fraction of the population.

My professors’ generation could respond to silliness like creationism with head-scratching bemusement. My students cannot afford that luxury. Instead they must become fierce champions of science in the marketplace of ideas.  

[A]s we know from history’s darkest moments, even the most enlightened traditions can be broken and lost. Perhaps that is the most important lesson all lifelong students of science must learn now. 

The irony is that the Christofascists are obsessed with America's declining influence in the world, yet they are the ones that will lead to further decline.  As noted before on this blog, many historians blame the rise of Christianity for the fall of Ancient Rome.  Now, the "godly Christians" are working to destroy America and bring back ignorance and a new Dark Ages.

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Tennessee Church Kicks Out Family For Supporting Lesbian Daughter

The Christofascists go on and on about the importance of heterosexual marriage and raising children, but in truth, they care little or nothing for married couples who don't tow the official line of denomination dogma and they would have parents throw their gay children on the trash heap.  As Bob Felton at Civil Commotion likes to point out, obedience to the cult and the ignorant, unscientific writings from 2500 years ago trumps all else, including family ties.  The recent behavior of a church in Tennessee underscores this reality.  A family that had been church members for three generations has been expelled from church membership because they family has supported their lesbian daughter.   The Tennessee Free Press has details.  Here are highlights:

Collegedale's decision to grant benefits to same-sex couples was a victory for Kat Cooper, a gay detective who championed the months-long effort that made the Chattanooga suburb the first city in Tennessee to offer benefits to same-sex spouses of its government employees.

Cooper's mother, Linda, stood by her side throughout the process. She held tight to her daughter's hand at a July meeting over the issue. And the two embraced after the City Council's 4-1 vote on Aug. 5.

But those small acts of support translated into collateral damage that left Linda Cooper and other relatives separated from their church family of more than 60 years. 

Leaders at Ridgedale Church of Christ  met in private with Kat Cooper's mother, aunt and uncle on Sunday after the regular worship service. They were given an ultimatum: They could repent for their sins and ask forgiveness in front of the congregation. Or leave the church.

Their sins?  "My mother was up here and she sat beside me. That's it," said Kat Cooper. "Literally, they're exiling members for unconditionally loving their children -- and even extended family members."

But the family's support of Kat Cooper was as good as an endorsement of homosexuality, said Ken Willis, minister at Ridgedale Church of Christ.

Linda Cooper's parents were practically founding members of the Dodds Avenue congregation, Hunt Cooper said. Her father was a church elder and his picture still hangs on the wall there. Kat Cooper grew up helping her grandfather clean the pews and helped her grandmother hang bulletin boards for Sunday school.  "This is not just some casual church they dropped in on," he said.

Hunt Cooper said his family rejects the notion that being gay is a lifestyle choice. And his wife, along with her brother and sister, believed repentance would be hypocritical. So the decision to leave, devastating as it was, was a simple one.

"There's no sin to repent for," he said. "And she's not going to turn her back on her daughter."

Good for the Coopers!!   Conservative Christianity has become a pervasive evil.  It's fruits are hate, bigotry and hypocrisy.  The world will be a better place when it ceases to exist.

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California Supreme Court Again Rejects Prop. 8 Proponents' Arguments

The supporters of Proposition 8 continue to try to derail the striking down of their hate and animus based agenda.  Their latest attempt sought to claim that a U.S. District Court could not strike down a state wide constitutional amendment.  Like all of these hate merchants' other arguments, the California Supreme Court threw out their claims.  Should they continue to file frivolous petitions and lawsuits, one can only hope that the courts will start imposing sanctions on both the Prop 8 proponents and more importantly, their legal counsel.  The Los Angeles Times looks at this latest defeat.  Here are highlights:

The California Supreme Court refused Wednesday to revive Proposition 8, ending the last remaining legal challenge to same-sex marriage in the state.

Meeting in closed session, the state high court rejected arguments  by ProtectMarriage, Proposition 8’s sponsors, that only an appellate court could overturn a statewide law.

A federal judge in San Francisco declared Proposition 8 unconstitutional in 2010, and state officials refused to appeal. ProtectMarriage did appeal, but the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in June that initiative sponsors have no right to defend their measures in federal court. The decision left in place the ruling by retired Chief U.S. District Judge Vaughn R. Walker.

In its challenge before the state’s highest court,  ProtectMarriage argued that a single judge lacked the authority to overturn a state constitutional amendment.  The group also contended that Walker’s injunction applied to two counties at most and that state officials had overstepped their authority by ordering county clerks throughout California to issue same-sex marriage licenses.

State officials countered that the challenge was a veiled attempt to persuade a state court to interfere with a federal judge’s order in violation of the U.S. Constitution.

Same-sex couples began marrying in California in late June after a federal appeals court lifted a hold on Walker’s injunction. ProtectMarriage went back to the U.S. Supreme Court the following day, arguing the appeals court acted prematurely because the high court’s decision was not even final. The Supreme Court refused to intervene.

Then the group went to the state Supreme Court, asking the justices to halt the marriages immediately while considering the legal arguments. The seven-member court unanimously rejected the request for a “stay” or hold.

Let's be clear.  The Christofascists do not give a damn about the U.S. Constitution and the religious freedom rights of others.  Instead,  they seek to subvert the Constitution and impose a theocracy on America based on their sick, hate and fear based version of Christianity.  They remain a clear and present danger and need to be treated as a threat accordingly.

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New Study: Religious People Are Less Intelligent than Atheists

As the title to this post suggests, this topic was just too good to pass up and the referenced study confirms my own personal belief: fundamentalist Christians are less intelligent than both atheists and more intelligent individuals.  I would go further and posit that for the deeply religious who are more intelligent, they obviously have deed psychological issues that make them predisposed to cling to ignorance and closed mindedness (Ken Cuccinelli is a case in point as he battles his closeted self-loathing).  Here are highlights from Yahoo News: 

Religious people are less intelligent than non-believers, according to a new review of 63 scientific studies stretching back over decades.

A team led by Miron Zuckerman of the University of Rochester found “a reliable negative relation between intelligence and religiosity” in 53 out of 63 studies. Even in extreme old age, intelligent people are less likely to believe, the researchers found - and the reasons why people with high IQs shun religion may not be as simple as previously thought.

Previous studies have tended to assume that intelligent people simply “know better”, the researchers  write - but the reasons may be more complex.

For instance, intelligent people are more likely to be married, and more likely to be successful in life - and this may mean they “need” religion less.
The studies used in Zuckerman's paper included a life-long analysis of the beliefs of a group of 1,500 gifted children - those with IQs over 135 - in a study which began in 1921 and continues today.

Even at 75 to 91 years of age, the children from Lewis Terman’s study scored lower for religiosity than the general population - contrary to the widely held belief that people turn to God as they age. The researchers noted that data was lacking about religious attitudes in old age and say, “Additional research is needed to resolve this issue.”

As early as 1958, Michael Argyle concluded, “Although intelligent children grasp religious concepts earlier, they are also the first to doubt the truth of religion, and intelligent students are much less likely to accept orthodox beliefs, and rather less likely to have pro-religious attitudes.”

The paper, published in the academic journal Personality and Social Psychology Review, said “Most extant explanations (of a negative relation) share one central theme—the premise that religious beliefs are irrational, not anchored in science, not testable and, therefore, unappealing to intelligent people who “know better.”  

“People possessing the functions that religion provides are likely to adopt atheism, people lacking these very functions (e.g., the poor, the helpless) are likely to adopt theism,” the researchers wrote. 

I am not anti-religion per se, but I do believe that it is important to understand that for millennium, religion has been used as a means to control and exert power over the less intelligent.  Russia is a classic example.  For centuries the Russian Orthodox Church used religion and religious dogma that depicted the Tsar as second only to God as a means to keep the serfs and peasantry under control.  The high Church clergy and the aristocracy lived in luxury while the peasantry lived largely in abject poverty.  Now, under Putin, we see the Church once again being used to control the masses and focus attacks on those the leadership has deemed to be unworthy.  In the process, of course, the Church hierarchy will bolster its own power and wealth.   Christ and the Gospel message are (and will remain)  nowhere in the picture.

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Gays in Russia Find No Haven, Despite Support From the West

A piece in the New York Times provides a good overview of the war on gays in Russia - and also the reality that concern and outrage in the western world has to date done little to end the plight of gays in Russia where anti-gay violence seems to be escalating in a chilling pattern reminiscent of Nazi Germany's onslaught against the Jews.  While the plight of gays in Russia has the attention of western powers, more needs to be done to end the anti-gay pogroms.  What's happening is also chilling because the Russian offensive against gays is precisely what American Christofascists would bring to this county if they were allowed to do so.  Here are article highlights:

The law, signed by President Vladimir V. Putin in June, has ignited international condemnation and blindsided the Kremlin with the sort of toxic political controversy that officials had desperately hoped to avoid ahead of the 2014 Winter Olympic Games in Sochi. The last Olympics on Russian soil, in 1980, was marred by the boycott over the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. 

The furor includes a boycott of Russian vodka in gay bars throughout the West and some calls for a boycott of the Sochi Games altogether. Beyond putting organizers on the defensive, it has cast worldwide attention on the cruel circumstances in which most gay people live in modern Russia.

Despite the breathtaking wealth and vibrant culture in the metropolises of Moscow and St. Petersburg, Russia remains a country where discrimination and even violence against gay people are widely tolerated. 

“What is going on now in Russia contradicts its place in the world,” said Anton Krasovsky, a television anchor who was immediately fired from his job at the government-controlled KontrTV network in January after he announced during a live broadcast that he is gay, saying he was fed up with lying about his life and offended by the legislation. 

Few gay people in Russia openly acknowledge their sexual orientation, and those who do are often harassed. When some gay people protested the propaganda law by kissing outside the State Duma, the lower house of Parliament, police officers stood by and watched as the demonstrators were doused with water and beaten by antigay and religious supporters of the bill.

Last month, Patriarch Kirill I, the leader of the Russian Orthodox Church, called same-sex marriage “a very dangerous sign of the apocalypse.” 

Mixed signals from senior Russian officials over how the propaganda law might be enforced during the Games have undercut assertions by the International Olympic Committee that gay athletes and spectators have nothing to worry about, and have left organizing officials facing harsh criticism and demanding clarifications from the Kremlin. 

There have been comparisons to Nazi Germany as host of the 1936 Olympics inside and outside Russia, including one by Jay Leno during an interview with President Obama last week on “The Tonight Show.” 

“Something that shocked me about Russia,” Mr. Leno told the president. “Suddenly, homosexuality is against the law. I mean, this seems like Germany: Let’s round up the Jews. Let’s round up the gays. Let’s round up the blacks. I mean, it starts with that.” 

Russian officials say the criticism is unfair and inaccurate. In 1993, Russia repealed the Soviet-era law that made gay sex a crime.  

Gay rights advocates disagree, saying the law is vague and can be used to arrest anyone who appears to support gay rights.

Russian gay rights advocates said the outrage in the West was providing new energy and financial support to their still relatively young movement. It is also raising pressure, including fears of increased violence. 

“It’s not only a question of the period of the Olympic Games; here, there should be no law like this,” said Kirill Kalugin, 21, who was beaten by counter demonstrators at a gay pride event in St. Petersburg last month and then detained by the police. “I feel very offended that I am being presented as an enemy of my own people.”

Rights advocates said that Russia was growing more dangerous for gay people. This year, there have been at least two killings motivated by antigay bias in the country, including the savage beating death in May of a young man in Volgograd who was also sodomized with beer bottles. 

Mr. Smirnov said that even in Moscow and in St. Petersburg, where there are large gay populations, as well as a thriving and visible gay night life that includes several gay bars and clubs, bias was inescapable.

It's a frightening phenomenon and behind it all over and above Putin's quest to retain power is one of the great evils of the world: religion.   As for the 2014 Winter Games, I want to see them moved from Russia.

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Focus on the Family Again Seeks to Censor Gay Inclusive School Books

Offering yet more proof that the Christofascists at Focus on the Family - which seems to be working hard to earn a hate group designation - want gays to literally disappear, a new push has been mounted to stir up "godly" wingnut parents to challenge any curriculum content that might acknowledge the existence of LGBT people.   How this approach prepares children in a diverse culture is, of course, never addressed.  Nor does it face the reality that many of these same parents unknowingly are raising gay children of their own.  All it really shows is the mental healt issues of people like FOTF spokeswoman Candi Cushman (pictured above).   Think Progress looks at this latest batshitery.  Here are highlights:

With the school year set to resume, Focus on the Family is once again encouraging parents to censor any curriculum content that might acknowledge the existence of LGBT people. Focus’s “Empowering Parents” guide teaches families how to navigate all the hurdles they might have to jump in order to remove LGBT-inclusive materials from the classroom. In a conversation with Stuart Shepard set up by the question, “What do you when what your public school is teaching about relationships is out of sync with God’s design for relationships?”, Candi Cushman explained that it’s “Orwellian” to talk to young people about LGBT families:

CUSHMAN: In math class for instance, there is a lesson plan material out there called, “Ready, Set, Respect.” This is created by one of the largest homosexual advocacy groups, called GLSEN, the Gay Lesbian, and Straight Education Network. Let me just give you an example of what they recommend for educators: “Write math problems with contexts that include a variety of family structures and gender expressions.” And so the example they then give is, “Give a math problem about Rosa and her dads going to the grocery store.”

Cushman believes such curriculum is “Orwellian” because her definition of family does not include same-sex couples and their children. The reality is that for many children — an estimated 2 million — their families do include either same-sex parents or at least one gay parent and possibly a same-sex step parent. Cushman would prefer they not see their families represented in class.

What’s truly Orwellian is erasing those families and attempting to use public schools as a form of propaganda to hide the existence of LGBT people. There may well be LGBT students in the classroom, who deserve to see diverse representations that include their own identities. Focus on the Family calls these efforts “true tolerance,” but the first step to tolerance is acknowledging that a group of people exist and beginning to appreciate their life experiences.

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Victim of Anti-Gay Torture in Russia Reportedly Has Died

Things are becoming increasingly dangerous for LGBT individuals in Russia as uncontrolled violence against gays continues to increase.   Worse yet, police and government authorities are doing nothing to stop the violence or to punish those behind the violence, including Neo-Nazi groups.  Now, yet another life has seeming been lost to homophobic violence.   The victim is pictured in the image above surrounded by his torturers.    It is all part of a move towards fascism that is being aided and abetted by the Russian Orthodox Church.  Blogger friend  and fellow Bilerico Project contributor Patricia Nell Warren describes it well, including the role of the Russian Orthodox Church which promoted anti-Jewish pogroms under the Tzars:

The ultraconservative Russian Orthodox Church is reoccupying Russia, and Putin supports their "moral" policies. So gays are not the only ones being persecuted. Women's rights are ending, as are the freedom-of-thought rights of anyone who isn't a Russian Orthodox believer. In a word, Russia is moving towards fascism on all fronts.

Here are highlights from a post derived from a gay rights activist in Russia who is undergoing threats himself:

According to the human right activist, Dr. Valentin Degtyarev, MD, who closely monitors infamous Neo Nazi group "Occupy Pedofilyaj", the Uzbek victim shown on this photo tragically died as a result of numerous tortures.  No arrests have been made and no charges were pressed. Putin's law enforcement seems to fully condone these actions.  Moreover, Dr. Degtyarev's numerous written complains to the authorities only resulted in his own persecution and threats directed at him and his 72 years old mother.  In the official correspondence from the local District Attorney office and Governor's office it was explained that Russian authorities do not see any wrongdoings in the video clips or photographs posted by Neo Nazi group "Occupy Pedofilyaj." Actually, the authorities referred to this group as one of the  "civil movements fighting the sins of the society."  

Dr. Degtyarev is routinely approached and offended on the street, receives numerous threats via mail, phone, SMS and email. He is not alone in his fight though.

Another brave activist dared to stand-up to this gang. His name is Artem Gorodilov. This LGBT rights activist was kidnapped in the middle of the night and brought to the local cemetery in Kamensk-Uralsky city (Sverdlovsk district). He was tortured and bullied there for being gay, spreading "gay propaganda" on the Internet and complaining about this hate group to the authorities. Eventually this Nazi group dismantled a huge wooden cross from one of the graves nearby and made Mr. Gorodilov to run with it for his life while being chased by their car. This incident caught attention of the local branch of the Russian Orthodox church who thought that the Nazi group displayed a disrespect to the Holy Cross and offended feelings of their believers thus the church representatives complained to the police. As a result, these Nazi group was brought by the police for questioning and immediately released.

Here is a full video of the horrific night at the cemetery. Mr. Gorodilov was brought to the grave of another victim of this Neo Nazi group that was driven to the suicide by them. One of the perpetrators was glad to point out this fact on the video:

 This is what the International Olympic Committee is condoning if it doesn't move the 2014 Games from Russia.  Its disgusting and frightening.

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Russia, Vladimir Putin and The Road To Fascism

As noted in a post on July 10, 2013, over my Florida vacation last month I read the book "In the Garden of Evil" by Erik Larson which recounted the experiences of William E. Dodd, America’s Ambassador to Germany and his family in Third Reich Germany over the four years from 1933 to 1937.  As I said previously, it was both an interesting and disturbing read.  And, given what is happening to gays in Russia currently, the way in which unpopular minorities can be scapegoated and used as a distraction from much more serious issues, the parallels with Putin's Russia are chilling.    That's not to say, however, that some - i.e., American Christofascists - are not exulting the persecution of gays in Russia.  First, a video I came across on Andrew Sullivan's blog concerning the abuse of gays in Russia is all too reminiscent of what was done to Jews under the Nazi regime in the 1930's.  Here is excerpt from Andrew's post and a translation of events in the video above:

Marina Galperina flags the above video, shot today in Russia. It’s a scene reminiscent of fascist states in the early 1930s:

If anyone has any confusion about what Russia’s recently-adopted anti-gay laws do to its public, let me translate some of the audible dialogue in the video above[:] A young man [Gay rights activist Kirill Kalugin] decides to picket in Palace Square. He stands there alone with a rainbow flag, knowingly breaking this summer’s new anti-”gay propaganda” bill. Then, a large group of Airborne service members (striped-tank tops) circle around him and their leader starts the guerilla interrogation.
“What are you doing here on Airborne Army Day?”

“I am picketing,” he says, trying to keep on his feet while being manhandled by the group.

“Well, we do not agree with this and ask you to stop this sort of action and your one-man picket.” They begin to push him around. He falls.

“Oh, look he slipped and fell. Don’t do that,” the soldier says, performatively at the journalists trying to get closer. The man is visibly frightened as the soldiers form a chain around him and began to chant, smacking their fists into their palms.

“CALL THE POLICE ON HIM,” someone jeer. “STAND RIGHT THERE,” a few yell. The police arrive (blue shirts, police hats) and attempt to drag the man out of the circle, so the soldiers move closer, block their access and pushing the cops.

“What the fuck were you thinking, showing up at the Palace Square, faggot?” the leader yells.

“You guys are animals,” the protestor rasps, while another soldier chokes him and shakes him by his neck. As the cops try to remove the illegally protesting young man, the soldiers start shoving them and throwing punches. In the next shot, they encircle the police vehicle — “We’re not going to let them fucking move anywhere.” — after their leader tries to get into the cruiser and drag the protestor out, yelling, “Why are you defending him?!”

Any decent person ought to find the video and what is occurring in Russia deeply disturbing.  But as On Top Magazine notes, many American Christofascists - including elements in the Catholic Church -  are thrilled by the abuse and bigotry being piled on to Russian LGBT individuals with the assistance of the full power of the state:

Scott Lively is among the social conservatives applauding passage of a Russian law which prohibits “gay propaganda” to minors.

Lively held up the legislation as a model for the West: “Victory is still theoretically possible for the pro-family movement in the West if we are willing to pay the price.”

Austin Ruse, president of the Catholic Family and Human Rights Institute, told the AP that he “admired” the law. “We want to let them know they do in fact have support among American NGOs (non-governmental organizations) on social issues,” he said.  

And as Back2Stonewall reports,Peter "Porno Pete" LaBarbera also has jumped onto the bandwagon of   Christofascists praising Russia anti-gay law and the abuse of gays:

“Among others commending Russia’s anti-gay efforts was Peter LaBarbera of Americans for Truth About Homosexuality. “Russians do not want to follow America’s reckless and decadent promotion of gender confusion, sexual perversion, and anti-biblical ideologies to youth,” LaBarbera said on his website.  

 As noted before, I find it more difficult every day to define myself as a Christian.  If Lively, La Barbera and Ruse are examples of what being Christian means, I want NOTHING to do with Christianity.  NOTHING at all.

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The Catholic Church: RUN! Do Not Walk, to the Nearest Exit!

Father Geoff Farrow - who ran afoul of the Catholic Church hierarchy because of his support for gay rights and marriage equality - has a timely post on his blog that looks at the recent remarks by Pope Francis which some are foolishly trying to claim mark a new era for the Church's treatment of gays.  Citing the Catechism of the Catholic Church and other Church documents, Farrow concludes that NOTHING HAS CHANGED.  Thus, if one is a gay Catholic, the best thing to do is head for the door.  As I tell those who contact me about coming out and finding self-acceptance, only a masochist would remain in a Church that teaches that one is inherently disordered.  Here are highlights from Farrow's post:

Yesterday my phone rang, it was a reporter from a news station in Fresno asking for an interview on the pope Francis’ statement on gay priests. Later, Telemundo called asking to arrange for a camera crew to interview me at home. I sighed as I poured myself a cup of coffee and then read through the statement.

Bottom line: It is a way of appearing to change everything without changing anything.

Substitute the word “straight” for “gay” and you begin to see the problem; in fact, whenever an issue arises regarding gender orientation, simply do that: Substitute the word “straight” for “gay.” Does the statement still make sense?

It only makes sense if you believe that being gay is somehow disordered or defective. The official teaching of the Catholic church is precisely just that. The Official Catechism of the Catholic Church # 2357 states:

Homosexuality refers to relations between men or between women who experience an exclusive or predominant sexual attraction toward persons of the same sex. It has taken a great variety of forms through the centuries and in different cultures. Its psychological genesis remains largely unexplained. Basing itself on Sacred Scripture, which presents homosexual acts as acts of grave depravity,141 tradition has always declared that "homosexual acts are intrinsically disordered."142 They are contrary to the natural law. They close the sexual act to the gift of life. They do not proceed from a genuine affective and sexual complementarity. Under no circumstances can they be approved.

Here is the translation of what the pope is saying in plain English, taken directly from the Catholic Catechism:

2359   Homosexual persons are called to chastity. By the virtues of self-mastery that teach them inner freedom, at times by the support of disinterested friendship, by prayer and sacramental grace, they can and should gradually and resolutely approach Christian perfection.

Bottom line:  "homosexual acts are intrinsically disordered." Under no circumstances can they be approved. Homosexual persons are called to chastity.

Forget whatever your sexual orientation is, could you live this way? Could you spend your entire life without intimately loving someone else? Could YOU?

Catholic moral theology isolates sex as “an act” and in doing this, it thereby effectively de-humanizes sex by removing it from its natural context, i.e. a relationship. 

At best, Francis is signaling a gentle course correction for Catholic bishops on this issue. When you’re an infallible institution, you can’t admit you made a mistake, you can’t admit that you have been wrong. Individual lives that are ruined or destroyed are unfortunate “collateral damage” that are sacrificed for the reputation of the institution.

But make no mistake, this pope’s congenial words offer ZERO relief for LGBT Catholics. They make no attempt to repair past evils inflicted on innocent people and so my advice is: leave! If you are LGBT leave the Catholic church, you can do better. If you are the parent or a family member of an LGBT person: leave! Your loved ones deserve better. If you are the parent of a child, leave! Your children absolutely deserve a healthier development. To raise an LGBT child in the Catholic church today constitutes de facto child abuse. 

I totally agree with his view that raising a gay child in the Catholic Church is de facto child abuse.  The same, of course, holds for the Southern Baptist Convention and other anti-gay denominations.  

 

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Mom Blames Bullying And School Officials Who ‘Did Nothing’ For Son's Suicide

It's a story that we see time and time again: rampant bullying of those perceived to be gay and school officials who do nothing to stop.  Ultimately, the victim can take it no longer and opts to end his/her life as the only escape.  The scenario was what drove Christian Taylor to end his life after local York County, Virginia school officials did nothing to stop constant bullying.  Worse yet, in Virginia, since suicide is an unlawful act, Taylor's tormentors got away with murder.  Now, the same story is coming out of Iowa where a 16 year old ended his life in a disturbingly similar pattern.  Fueling all of this tragedy is religious based hatred and poison preached from pulpits that makes bullies feel down right justified in the abuse they heap on others.  All so that human refuse like Maggie Gallagher, Bryan Fischer and Tony Perkins can make a buck and feel morally superior.  The New Civil Rights Movement looks at this sad story.  Here are excerpts:

A grieving mother today is blaming school officials who “did nothing” to stem the rampant bullying she says caused her 16-year old gay son’s suicide. Sheryl Moore says 30-40 friends and classmates of her son, Alexander “AJ” Betts Jr., came to her after his death and all told her of the culture of bullying school administrators reportedly allow at Southeast Polk High School in Pleasant Hill, Iowa. Betts’ death is the fifth suicide in five years at Southeast Polk High School.

“AJ told the administration,” of the culture of bullying at Southeast Polk High School, Moore says,” and they did nothing about it.” Sadly, this is an all too common comment parents of LGBT teens who attempt or complete suicide often state.

Moore says her son was outed about a year and a half ago, and was bullied form both being gay and bi-racial.

The Des Moines Register notes that Betts attempted suicide on Friday, but “was on life support to repair damaged organs for donation. His mother Sheryl Moore said candidates have been selected to receive his liver and kidneys and doctors plan to take Betts off life support today.”

Note how racism and homophobia go hand in hand in this story.  What is most disheartening is that the school officials will likely get off with a slap on the risk at best.

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Head Of Russian Orthodox Church Says Same-Sex Unions Are Portents Of Doom

UPDATED:  BuzzFeed has a compilation of photos here of what is being done to gays in Russia that is must viewing.

Proving again that (i) American Christofascists do not have a monopoly on insanity and (ii) the fruits of religion are most often hate and bigotry, the Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia, Kirill, said on Sunday that the recognition of same-sex unions by Western countries is a portent of doom.  Little has changed in the Russian Orthodox Church which has for centuries sought to support the rights and luxuries of the few over the rights and welfare of the many - i.e., previously the Tsars and the aristocracy and now Putin and his circle - and often whipped up pogroms against Jews in Russia.   Huffington Post looks at Kirill's evil and dangerous hate mongering.  Here are excerpts:

Russia has been cracking down on gays and lesbians lately, with harsh legislature making it potentially dangerous to be LGTB-identified in the country. President Putin has signed three anti-gay bills into law, with more to come.

He is supported in his anti-gay mission by the head of the Russian Orthodox Church, who thinks that the recognition of same-sex unions by Western countries is a portent of doom. The Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia Kirill said on Sunday after the service in Red Square's Kazan Cathedral, "This is a very dangerous apocalyptic symptom, and we must do everything in our powers to ensure that sin is never sanctioned in Russia by state law, because that would mean that the nation has embarked on a path of self-destruction."
The religious leader called on Russians to block the passage of marriage equality laws, stating, "We face enormous temptations when countries start approving sin and codifying it into law in order to justify it." Putin seems to share his views, as the President has embarked on a shocking campaign against gays and lesbians living in Russia, as Harvey Fierstein explained in a New York Times op-ed on Sunday.  Fierstein comments:

Mr. Putin’s campaign against lesbian, gay and bisexual people is one of distraction, a strategy of demonizing a minority for political gain taken straight from the Nazi playbook. Can we allow this war against human rights to go unanswered? Although Mr. Putin may think he can control his creation, history proves he cannot: his condemnations are permission to commit violence against gays and lesbians.

On July 3, a law banned the adoption of Russian-born children to gay couples as well as all couples or single parents living in countries where marriage equality exists. Despite the upcoming 2014 Winter Olympics, Putin signed another law allowing police officers to arrest foreign nationals and tourists they suspect of being gay, lesbian, or "pro-gay," and detain them for up to two weeks. The worryingly vague language suggests that anyone simply accused of being gay, including Olympic athletes, can be thrown in jail.

The 2014 Winter Olympics are scheduled to be held in Sochi, but these new laws are worrying to many who plan to visit Russia in order to see the Games. Human Rights Watch published a letter to the Director General of the International Olympic Committee expressing its reservations about the harsh legislation, stating, "This draft law is clearly incompatible with the Olympic Charter’s promotion of “human dignity,” as well as a blatant violation of Russia’s international legal obligations to guarantee non-discrimination and respect for freedom of expression."

I for one support moving the 2014 games from Russia.  It would be a much needed public rebuke of Putin and his regime.  Russians have a history of wanting to be accepted as a western country and losing the Olympic Games would make the average citizen view Putin's anti-gay agenda as a national embarrassment. 

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A Growing Threat: Christianists' Refusal to Taking Climate Change Seriously:

Inasmuch as the Republican Party is now a defacto arm of the most extreme far right Christian elements in America, the Christofascists refusal to take climate change as a real and growing problem is translating itself into a growing threat to the nation's future.   If people want to embrace ignorance and harbor racist and bigoted views within their houses of worship, it's one thing.  When it cripples governmental policy and threatens the rights and property of others, it is something far different.  A column in The Humanist looks at the far right's increasing insanity on climate change and how it is harming the rest of us.  Here are some highlights: 

According to a Newsweek poll, 40 percent of people in the United States believe the world will end with a battle between Jesus Christ and the Antichrist. And overwhelmingly, those people also believe that natural disasters and violence are signs of the approach of the glorious battle—so much so that 22 percent of Americans believe the world will end in their lifetime. This would logically mean that concern for the world of their great-great-grandchildren makes no sense at all and should be dismissed from their minds. In fact, a recent study found that belief in the “second coming” reduces support for strong governmental action on climate change by 20 percent.

Apart from the corruption of money, whenever you have 40 percent of Americans believing something stupid—combined with the forces of gerrymandering in the House, disproportionate representation of small states in the Senate, the Senate filibuster, the winner-take-all two-party system that shuts many voices out of the media, out of debates, and off of ballots, and a communications system that mainstreams Republican beliefs—it’s almost guaranteed that the 40-percent view will control the government.

Congressman John Shimkus (R-IL) says the planet is in fine shape and guaranteed to stay that way because God promised Noah as much. 22 percent of Americans believe the world will end in their lifetime.

This would logically mean that concern for the world of their great-great-grandchildren makes no sense at all and should be dismissed from their minds. In fact, a recent study found that belief in the “second coming” reduces support for strong governmental action on climate change by 20 percent.

And where does that belief show up to damaging effect? In our politics it shows up primarily as an attitude toward presidents. While President Obama has spent five years actively promoting fossil fuels over renewable energy and doing very little to preserve our natural environment for future generations, the largest block of those concerned about global warming have spent their time telling each other to trust in God, that he works in mysterious ways, that he is up against the “evil one” and must be allowed time to succeed in his battle. You see, the problem with theism is not that some of its spin-off beliefs succeed in an undemocratic system. The problem is that theism is anti-democratic at its core. 

I’m proposing the unpopular position of taking the facts as they come, acting accordingly, and acting cautiously when it comes to the fate of generations as yet unborn—even if that caution requires huge sacrifices.

There are other powerful forces weighing against action. There’s our love of technology, . . . . There’s also greed, including our fear that living sustainably would involve living with less of the materialistic non-essentials that currently clutter our lives and fuel our obesity. And there’s the myth that we’re powerless to effect change. Impotence is a self-fulfilling loop.

Those longing for the end of the world are far from alone in imagining that we don’t have the power to make the world over ourselves. Nonetheless, among the things we should be doing right now is explaining to our neighbors that Jesus isn’t coming back. 

It would be nice - and divine justice, if you will, if we could put all the climate change deniers in thee lowest lying Louisiana parishes and leave them to experience first hand what their ignorance and close mindedness is causing to happen.

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The Disaffiliation of Gays and Religion

Few factors account more for the abuse, discrimination and often outright persecution faced by LGBT individuals than religion.  Indeed, if one is gay, it is easy to come to see religion - certainly the fundamentalist forms - as nothing less than a toxic evil.  Hate, bigotry and the mistreatment of others seem to often be religion's principal hallmarks.  Thus, it is not surprising that gays are much less likely to claim a religious affiliation than the general public even though the trend for the under 30 demographic is to be far more rejecting of religion than older demographic groups.  Here are some findings from the Pew Research Center:

Lesbians, gay men, bisexuals and transgender adults are, on the whole, less religious than the general public. About half (48%) say they have no religious affiliation, compared with 20% in the general public; this pattern holds among all age groups. LGBT adults who do have a religious affiliation generally attend worship services less frequently and attach less importance to religion in their lives than do religiously affiliated adults in the general public.

Also, a third (33%) of religiously affiliated LGBT adults say there is a conflict between their religious beliefs and their sexual orientation or gender identity.

That sentiment is even more prevalent among the general public. About three-quarters of white evangelical Protestants (74%) and a majority of all U.S. adults with a religious affiliation (55%) say homosexuality conflicts with their religious beliefs.
The new Pew Research survey asked LGBT respondents to rate six religions or religious institutions as friendly, neutral or unfriendly toward the LGBT population. By overwhelming margins, most rate all six as more unfriendly than friendly. About eight-in-ten LGBT respondents say the Muslim religion, the Mormon Church and the Catholic Church are unfriendly toward them, while one-in-ten or fewer say each of these religious institutions is friendly toward them. Similarly, about three-quarters of LGBT adults (73%) say that evangelical churches are unfriendly toward them, . . .

I would argue that following the "godly Christian" crowd and seeing just how poisonous they are makes it increasingly difficult for me to desire any religious affiliation.  Indeed, one would need to be a masochist to remain affiliated with a religion that does nothing but denigrate you and bar you from equal legal rights.  Thankfully, the under 30 generation seems to be recognizing that religion - at least as practiced by a majority of denominations - is a net negative force in society.

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Quote of the Day - An "Ex-Gay" Survivor

I am extremely critical of conservative Christians because, in my view, most of them do not give damn about others.  Rather, it is all about these pious folks feeling good about themselves and destroying anyone and anything that challenges their simplistic beliefs and, God forbid, makes them have to think for themselves.  These "godly" folk destroy lives on a daily basis through the hate and poison they market.  They make the Biblical Pharisees look like nice folks.  Andrew Sullivan has a quote from a survivor of "ex-gay" therapy, one of the many heinous things the Christofascists would force on all gays:

Allow me a small victory dance. Thirty years ago this month I attempted suicide. I was 23 and had just finished a year of horrendous reparative therapy (including aversion therapy). Five years before that my first love killed himself because he couldn’t bear to have people know who he was. I went to my church leader, who subscribed to Exodus views, and he sent me to the hell that was reparative therapy. After a year of that, I was sure my church hated me my and family hated me, but most importantly, God hated me. The only solution was to end a life that was even despised by a loving God. I will not go into details of that attempt, but obviously I made it through. Many more have not.

In fact, I spent the ensuing three decades battling the demons forced on my by reparative therapy – and I won.

It was a decades-long battle, both personally and as a community, one that saw many lives destroyed. I am giving a victory cheer today for all my compatriots who didn’t make it to see this day. Their suffering has been repented of by the perpetrators. I am giving a small victory cheer for all the future young men and women who might not have to go through that hell because this organization will not exist any longer.

 The proponents of the e-gay myth and reparative therapy literally have blood on their hands.  Huffington Post has a series of articles that looks at the deaths caused by anti-gay propaganda and bullying here. Lives ruined and/or lost.  For what?  So some intellectually lazy individuals and bigots could engage in smug, self-congratulatory feigned piety?  Good riddance to Exodus International.

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Farewell to Exodus International - A Stept Towards Ending the "Ex-Gay" Myth

I noted yesterday how the president of Exodus International issued an apology for the great harm done to gays through the now closing organization's work to perpetuate the myth that gays could "change" and become straight.  It's a myth that has negatively impacted many of us and certainly many readers of this blog.   It certainly caused me great torment for literally decades as I secretly tried desperately to "pray away the gay."  Thus, I for one say good riddance to Exodus International and the evil that it worked on so many ultimately in a quest for money and to facilitate the anti-gay political agenda of the Christian Right.  An op-ed in The Advocate struck a chord with me and illustrates the torment that Exodus International worked on so many.  Here are excerpts:

In an instant, I found myself back in my grandmother’s house —12 years old, kneeling with her on the floor of her living room, praying the rosary. In between the Hail Marys and the sorrowful mysteries, I inserted my own private prayer for God to take away my homosexuality. We would do this together almost every night, and each night I would ask God to make me straight.

Everything I had learned at church — a cornerstone of my Hispanic Catholic family — said that being gay is a sin, that it is somehow worse than other sins, but that if you are really committed to God you could overcome this great sin. Since 1976, Exodus International has spread that message to thousands upon thousands of young people and adults, telling them that in order to be faithful they have to denounce their sexuality. That homosexuality is a spiritual disease. That if you pray enough, starve yourself enough, endure enough physical and emotional pain, you can be saved.

As a young person, I often imagined what it would be like to try a “change therapy” program. I would hear horror stories of torture and lies, and I would be scared. But when I stared into the mesh screen in the confessional, as the pastor asked, “Is there anything else?” I would have to fight to keep the words “I’m gay” inside. I wanted to be accepted by God, by my family, by my grandmother who knelt beside me each night to pray.

In just a few days we could receive a decision from the U.S. Supreme Court on same-sex marriage. Although the decision is unknown, there is an undeniable growing shift in support for LGBT equal rights. Citizens across this great country are stepping forward and affirming publicly that being gay is not a social disease.

I feel ever more confident that we are winning and that there will be a day in my lifetime when my doctor, my pastor, and my elected officials all agree that I am healthy.  I’m not evil, and I am worthy of the same rights as my grandmother. My grandmother last year came to a similar realization, telling me that even though I was a “different fellow,” she just wanted me to be happy and at peace.

Nothing brings me closer to my faith than taking a stand against the social injustices of our generation — a calling mentioned numerously in the Bible. It makes me proud to work for an organization that continues to lead the fight for LGBT equality through grassroots action focused on civil rights, parental rights, and relationship recognition.

You can rest assured that right now there is a young boy praying silently to God to take away his homosexuality. There is a girl at Bible camp who feels dirty and sinful when she changes in front of her bunkmates. There is a young person being sent away to an organization much like Exodus International. It’s happening because the leaders in our faith communities have given in to fear and hate above love and compassion. The antigay ideas taught at the pulpit then propagate through our communities and are ingrained in fabric of families. But today, there is one less hatefully misguided organization leading the charge against perfectly normal people who just so happen to be gay.

If any so-called spiritual disease exists, it is conservative Christianity, not homosexuality.   The Christofascists and their puppets in the Republican Party make a mockery of the Gospel message virtually every day.  They are defined by hate, bigotry, and hypocrisy.  Hopefully, the larger public is increasing waking up to this reality.  They are not nice people and they deserve no respect or deference.

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Alécio and Luiz Felipe - A Gay Wedding Ceremony in Brazil

As noted before on this blog, it is amazing that Brazil and Argentina and Uruguay all have full gay marriage nationwide while America, which claims to be the land of liberty and home of religious freedom does not.  Why, because far right religious beliefs are still afforded undeserved - one might even say unconstitutional - deference under America's civil laws.  

A reader in the Netherlands - Amsterdam to be exact - sent me a link to a video clip of a gay marriage ceremony in Brazil.  Watching the video, I can only ask, what is so frightening about recognizing the relationship between a loving couple who seek to share their lives together?  Is the faith of far right Christians - and Muslims for that matter so weak and shallow that it cannot be confronted with anything that goes against the ignorance and mindlessness of such individuals?  Or do couples like the ones in the video terrify them because they - and all of us other out and normal gays - are all too normal.  We don't fit the bogeyman image the far right Christofascists seek to bestow on us?  Ignorance which is often self-selected and fear are at the root of homophobia and bigotry of all kinds.  Here's the video.  What do you think?

Love, commitment and the pledging one's self to another through good times and bad ought to be applauded and supported by our society and by our civil laws. It isn't gay marriage that's scary. Rather it is those who oppose it due to their own psychosis, paranoia and/or fear of thinking who are the scary ones. While the following isn't an actual wedding, it's a video that like the other one sends the message that love is love and commitment is commitment be it between gay couples or straight couples. Hopefully, one day every state in America will grasp this reality.

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Science Versus Religion: Which Has Contributed More to Mankind?

Click image to enlarge

In follow up to the last post which looked at the evils done by "godly Christian" folk, a piece at Why Evolution is True does a comparative analysis of the benefits to mankind provided by science versus religion.  Here are some highlights:

As a direct result of the inbuilt progress limitations inherent in religion, what religious progress we have seen over the last 50 years broadly falls into 2 camps.

Firstly there is the recognition that mainstream religion needs to catch up with modern views on items such as the equality of women and homosexuals. Despite lagging behind the rest of society, many progressive people within mainstream religious organizations recognize the need for equality beyond that originally foreseen by their religions’ founders and the need to upgrade their religion accordingly.

Alas, the second type of religious progress highlighted by the diagram [above shows an ugly form of religious progress that is becoming more and more familiar. When modern society is seen at odds with religious teachings many look to progress their faith towards a more literal interpretation of their scripture. Many faiths have regrettably progressed over recent years by branching out at the fringes to a more fundamentalist stance. Hence the chart below is littered with progress in the form of new creation museums, opposition to life saving medical procedures and numerous landmark cases of bigotry and discrimination. Not the sort of progress to be proud of.

What will it be, ladies and gentlemen: the eradication of smallpox or The Creation Museum?

 Readers really need to click and enlarge the image above to compare and contrast the contributions of science versus religion.  It's safe to say that the may "contributions" of religion are hate, the embrace of ignorance, violence against non-believers, and bigotry. 

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Parental Rejection - The Bible As a Message of Hate - America's Got Talent

As regular readers know, I hold "godly Christians" who disown their own children for being gay in utter contempt.  Such individuals are utterly despicable and underscore the reality that those who profess piety and cling to a few selective Bible passages (passages that originated with ignorant, uneducated authors) are NOT nice people and clearly people worthy of one shred of deference or respect.  They are horrible people.  The video clip below is of a 20 year who was disowned by his parents who "did not like his lifestyle" who wowed the folks at America's Got Talent.  Kudos to Jonathan Allen and shame on his parents who I hope will find themselves met with well deserved ridicule and contempt.  When I hear being gay referred to as a lifestyle choice I know that either the party making the statement is (i) an ignorant ass, or (ii) an raging bigot.  Being gay is about as much of a lifestyle choice as breathing.  Personally, if I was Jonathan, I'd write his folks off, go on to do great things and treat his parents as they treated him.  Here's the video:

David Mixner states the matter well on his blog:

In the most moving moment for the LGBT community in the history of America's Got Talent, a young gay youth who appeared last night absolutely had America fall in love with him. The young sweet man was kicked out of his home in Tennessee for being gay. His parents kicked him out of his house on his 18th birthday. Be prepared to be inspired, proud and moved with this Susan Boyle moment! 

The boyfriend and I were both verklempt watching the clip  As a parent of three children myself, I cannot comprehend how one can consciously decide to embrace ignorance and bigotry and disown one's own child.  Perhaps Allen and his parents will reconcile.  In my view, they deserve to burn in Hell.  By the way, has anyone told them that Adam and Eve never existed?   They have disowned their own son why?  In sum, religion is a foul, toxic force that produce more ill fruits than positive benefits.

P.S. "Time to Say Goodbye" is one of my favorites and was one of the musical selections at my late mother's memorial service.

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