I got caught up in the moment. Guilty as charged. Yesterday, someone posted a link to the facebook blog page that caused a whole lot of controversy. It was titled Top Ten Reasons Why Gay Marriage is Wrong. Ok, I took the bait. I read a little of it and became irate at what I was reading. But, I shied away from writing about it because it didn't pertain to either teen suicide or bullying. Then, I read the line that broke to camel's back. THEN, I wrote about it. And, then I found out that the whole thing was a satire. A spoof. And, upon closer examination, and with a much calmer mind, I was able to see the satirical angle to it. (I'm just happy that only 10 people read the blog post before I pulled it down!!)
The question that begs to be answered, though, is what exactly was it about that piece of satire that triggered such ire and from so many people, including myself? Well, the answer is easy. The piece echoed the diabolical diatribe that we've been hearing for far too long from the very people the satire was directed against: the "fundamentalist Christians". And, it goes deeper than that. It showed just how fed up we are, as a collective whole, of hearing their unbridled ignorance. For me, personally, when I read the line "A normal child should be harassing and teasing gay kids and calling them "faggots", not trying to be friends with them or enable their lifestyle", my anger shifted into overdrive. And, for good reason. That mentality really IS pervasive amongst those who give true believers of God a bad name.
We must not lose sight of the fact that there really ARE so-called Christians who really do espouse that very same mentality. There are politicians trying to pass laws that would sanction the bullying of LGBT teens. And, as we saw in Anoka-Hennepin, the combination of religious and political "leaders" who share the same narrow-minded, hate-filled intolerance towards the LGBT community has a devastating effect on LGBT teens.
In hindsight, that piece of satire was actually brilliantly done. It was almost TOO well done, actually. Obviously, it struck a nerve. It mirrored the reality that we face today in a society that still, in 2012, has people filled with hatred and intolerance. Not only are they filled with hatred and intolerance, they are more than willing to spread their ignorance as "truth" in accordance to God. When satire mirrors reality that closely, sparks fly.
