From activist/author Wayne Besen’s column for this week:
Perhaps the left is guilty, as Neo-Puritans claim, of denying religion a more
prominent space in the public square. But the right is at greater fault for its
cavalier dismissal of legitimate concerns over religion’s unique combustibility
in the civic realm. Simply put, thousands of years of history show us that dogma
can be deadly.Religion and secular society can happily coexist and prosper, as they
traditionally have in America. But this delicate balance can only succeed if
faiths are constructive, rather than destructive. A constructive faith makes
rules for which it expects its followers to abide. While it desires society to
share its views and moral standards, it has no interest in abusing civil law to
persecute nonbelievers.A destructive belief system, on the other hand, aims for a hostile takeover
of civil law to coerce nonbelievers into living according to its harsh dictates.
It turns Godly humility into gleeful humiliation for those who hold different
views.
Like piranhas, Besen argues, extremists are never satisfied until they vanquish the opposition.
bravo, well articulated Wayne!
Wayne’s comment
>A destructive belief system, on the other hand, aims for a hostile takeover of civil law to coerce nonbelievers into living according to its harsh dictates. It turns Godly humility into gleeful humiliation for those who hold different views.
reminds me of something I read yesterday at a blog Hullabaloo
Moderator’s note: I’ve made Raj’s hyperlink live. I hope he doesn’t mind.
Warren Throckmorton was taking shots at Wayne in his column today.
https://www.michnews.com/artman/publish/article_5731.shtml
From the article linked by Scott:
“The truth is that some people who were ex-gay ministry leaders or participants have reverted to a gay or lesbian identity. Ex-ex-gays exist. However, the majority of people who began with Exodus have not returned to a gay identity. Speaking of Exodus, Mr. Besen and those detractors who say all ex-gay leaders are “extraordinary failures” are simply ignoring the whole truth.
Just so this is clear, let’s re-cap. Gary Cooper was not one the co-founders of Exodus. Michael Bussee was on the original board. The men were involved in an ex-gay ministry in Anaheim, were married, left their wives and children and returned to a public gay identity. Of the five formerly gay men on the original board of Exodus International, four have not reverted to homosexuality. Frank Worthen and Ron Dennis continue to lead ex-gay organizations. The other two original board members were rumored to have returned to a gay identity but according to both men, this is not true. Thus, 80% of the original Exodus board members are still ex-gay after 30 years.”
I think it is worthwhile to clear up the discrepancy about the “founders” of Exodus. However, I find it amusing that Throckmorton limits his paper to ex-gay leaders and the founders of Exodus. He says that 80% of the founders of Exodus are still ex-gay after 30 years (I do wonder why he doesn’t say straight), but he doesn’t talk at all about the members themselves or give statistics about their success. He also defends Besen’s claims that the leaders are failures, but he never extrapolates that to say that the organizations as a whole are glowing successes. I would think that if they were wildly successful- it would really strengthen his argument to say as much.
>>Moderator’s note: I’ve made Raj’s hyperlink live. I hope he doesn’t mind
Not in the least.
How is that done here? With the conventional hypertext link format?
Raj, hyperlinks are made with standard HTML — <a href="URL">hyperlink name</a>.
Regan, I don’t think Prof. Throckmorton is “full of it,” whatever that means (I prefer factual criticism over vague putdowns). Nor do I think his students are especially stupid.
Thanks to Scott for pointing out Throckmorton’s article. Folks, please continue discussing that article here.
This page is reserved for comments about Wayne Besen’s column, “Piranhas in the Fish Tank.”