From the Agapepress:
However, the former homosexual says he was not surprised at the news of the Episcopal bishop’s problems with alcoholism, as homosexual men often turn to alcohol and drugs to fight off a life of pain.
“Alcohol and drug abuse is part of a lot of individuals who are involved in the homosexual lifestyle,” Bennett asserts, “and it’s also part of individuals who are involved in heterosexual promiscuity and other things. Alcohol is a way to alleviate the pain that a person is going through. It’s a way to cover up things.”[*]
The AFA’s article did not go on to say:
After asking Bennett to kick a man while he was down the AFA then presented Bennett with an infant holding candy for Bennett to snatch and a puppy to kick.
Actually, alcohol is large part of ministry (for those congregations that don’t shun it, that is — no they have their own addictions.)Nobody’s ever been on a bender until they’ve played pool with a herd of smokin-drinkin nuns… oh my lordy. Priests, IME, drink like fish. Comes with the boredom, and listening to other people’s woes all day long I guess.More seriously: contrary to Bennett’s wild speculation… read what the diocese has to say, and some of the press. Note to self — “increasing dependence on alcohol”; apparently not some sordid tale of someone who’s gone off the rails. No mention of any pain or anguish about some mythical homosexual lifestyle… in fact, partner and family are fully supportive.I guess a rumour without a leg to stand on will always find another way to get around. In this case, courtesy of the ever-demanding-of-others but never-clarifying-about-himself Bennett.
Sometimes I read these things and just feel like I need a shower. Is there nothing this man won’t say in his effort to become a mini-Dobson? And here we are with the “national host of Straight Talk Radio” garbage again. It’s one station!
grantdale said:
Nobody’s ever been on a bender until they’ve played pool with a herd of smokin-drinkin nuns… oh my lordy. Priests, IME, drink like fish. Comes with the boredom, and listening to other people’s woes all day long I guess.
Let’s not slip into the same anecdotal, overgeneralized gutter SB just waded through 😉
David
It sucks that the poor guy can’t just be flawed and human, and that the AFA and Bennett and them can’t try modeling some of that Christian love and mercy they talk about. Then again, they never had it to give.
“”Alcohol and drug abuse is part of a lot of individuals who are involved in the homosexual lifestyle,” Bennett asserts, “and it’s also part of individuals who are involved in heterosexual promiscuity ”
Heterosexual PROMISCUITY is compared to “the homosexual lifestyle”.
Bennett, et al, rail against the “homosexual lifestyle. And they have finally provided an example of it. And yet from everything we read, there was not the slightest suggestion than Robinson was at all promiscuous. Or, indeed, had any (make that ANY) of the characteristics that Bennett regularly claims are indicative of the homosexual lifestyle.
And here is what Bennett offers:
“The pro-family ministry leader says his prayer for Gene Robinson is “that God will just pierce this man’s heart.””
Ewww!! Can you say smarmy, nasty, and self-rightous?
Please don’t ever pray for me, Stephen Bennett.
SB is sure full of himself isn’t he?
How quickly he forgot that Gene Robinson had been married to a woman and father children with her.
One’s identity has to be given full flower in an accepting environment before SB can qualify it for everyone.
I still won’t ever forget my young eighteen year old Jewish immigrant friend, who was raised in Soviet Russia before The Wall came down.
Even after living in America for a few years, it broke my heart to hear him say he hated being Jewish.
He and SB are examples of an identity being hated, then assaulted and being part of a hated and assaulted collective that cannot help you and suffers in the main as you do.
When you’re raised to hate your identity, you will in fact learn to hate it and every one else who shares it as well.
I’ve mentioned it before here…and I want badly to tell it to SB.
Gay people, like Jews…are a compelling minority.
Misunderstood and diasporic.
They are a minority wherever they are in the world and require our respect as to get to know them better.
So we need MORE, not less of them.
More to live to tell, more to live to BE and more to give the world their best.
My young friend eventually got over his animosity. He’d simply not been exposed to the positive and wonderful aspects of being Jewish and fortunately, I was able to help him with that and to embrace that identity.
I do it for gay kids all the time.
If ex gay supporters don’t like it, they can go pound sand.
Their time is long up and they must leave the ownership of gay identity to gay folks.
While I continue to feel we should acknowledge Stephen’s misinformation about us, and shots against us. I am starting to think it is better to start ignoring him (so to speak). I too, blogged about this press release, but in the future I plan on ackowledging his lastest actions, and just saying “yup, I hear ya stephen”. Don’t bother to make fun of him or refute him. Just say “yup”
Martin Luther King spoke much of non-violence. Part of his outline and guides asked us to constantly re-evaluate our own contribution to the conflict. I think this is one of those times. I think if we keep ackowledging his “antics” we feed his audience and draw more attention to him. I think we feed him to do it more. You will notice there is more in the press release about Stepehn than there is about Gene Robinson. Hum? Why is that? Are we just feeding his ego?
I politely and respectful ask you not to respond anymore. Just acknowledge his misinformation, but stop there.
I know it is hard, but otherwise we are sending publicity his way. I feel we are helping him, and who wants to do that?
Don’t stop writing about him, but just point out he has done something, what it is and that is it, but don’t comment too much or give it too much thought. Just let him know we saw it, and we don’t care.
It shows him that “yup, we see it” and we don’t care and neither should anyone else.
I do still incourage you to sign the petition to ask him to stop this spiritual violence, be nice, be kind and loving. Stephen is not the enemy, his misinformation is the enemy….we will never change this conflict until we build trust and love with him…..sign on….at
https://new.petitiononline.com/StopSTR/petition.html
I also ask that you email him a message. Let him kknow that his information about gays and lesbians is hurtful. He should know that since he lived as a gay man, but he seems to have forgotten. Please remind him, but do it with compassion, and love.
His email is
office@sbministries.org
Just gotta say, I feel out of it. Don’t drink, have no vices. It sucks.
An honest question. I am not trying to make fun of him–Does anyone buy Stephen’s music? Doe she make any money on it? I heard a sound file once of his music, and it was something I turned off immediately. I always thought that famous Oh Holy Night MP3 that goes around the Internet every Christmas was Stephen for some reason.
If I’d had to face the kind of garbage these guyes have been directing at Robinson ever since he was elected, I’d probably be drinking a lot too.
Boo, I think you are right. There is a move to have some gay “leaders” be saints, and that is unrealistic. There are societal pressures, etc.
I think what is more condemnable is the hypocrite–the person who sets his or her self up so high and criticizes others but then is revealed to have a serious fault. As far as I know, Robinson has never been in that position criticizing things like drinking. He may have, but I am not aware of it.
I hardly think that giving him free advertising of his exploits is going to show that we “don’t care” about him. Saying what he’s doing without denouncing it or showing in detail why he’s wrong will just go further to convince him that he’s right, because we “can’t refute what he says”.
I wonder how they AFA and Stephen Bennett would feel if a gay group said that the pain of Christianity leads Christians to drinking when a Christian had some sort of dependance problem. It’s too bad Stephen and the AFA don’t appear to have the moral character these guys are always demanding.
Boo –
sorry for the ‘me too’ism, but that’s exactly what I was thinking. Robinson was under the kind of unforgiving scrutiny that a career in the ministry just doesn’t prepare you for. I know that I would have curled up like a blowfly in a blast furnace if I’d have had to go through it myself.
Of course, people like Bennett thrive on attention of any kind, so it might be hard for him to empathize. Wait – – did I mention Stephen Bennett and empathize in the same sentence?!
Boo –
sorry for the ‘me too’ism, but that’s exactly what I was thinking. Robinson was under the kind of unforgiving scrutiny that a career in the ministry just doesn’t prepare you for. I know that I would have curled up like a blowfly in a blast furnace if I’d have had to go through it myself.
Of course, people like Bennett thrive on attention of any kind, so it might be hard for him to empathize. Wait – – did I mention Stephen Bennett and empathize in the same sentence?!
A bit off topic, but speaking of Stephen Bennett…
Straight Talk Radio did not put up a new show for yesterday (or at least it hadn’t when I checked in mid-day), but announced that Alan Chambers would be the special guest today (Friday, Feb. 17. I went to the site today all excited to hear what Alan would say (would he explain his bizarre statements at the Conservative Political Action Conference that he has thus far refrained from commenting on here?!) BUT… instead I discovered that all mention of Alan’s appearance has been removed from the site and today’s show is Irene hosting a program that features SB’s music. Not sure what happened… but look forward to an explanation (defense, apology, whatever) of Alan’s recent statement re: lifelong, committed, loving homosexual relationships on SOME venue.
“I wonder how they AFA and Stephen Bennett would feel if a gay group said that the pain of Christianity leads Christians to drinking when a Christian had some sort of dependance problem.”
Interesting. Actually Robinson is a Christian leader.
Bennett claims it’s the “homosexual lifestyle” that caused Robinson to drink too much to “hide the pain” inherent in such a lifestyle.
An anti-Christian could just as legitimately argue that it was the “Christian lifestlye” that caused Robinson to drink too much to deal with the inconsistencies in the religion or whatever.
Obviously, a rational person recognizes that Robinson was under tremendous stress, denounced regularly and accused of destroying the worldwide Anglican church while also being held up by others as almost a saint.
I have to say, the anti-Christians have behaved better in this situation than have the anti-gays.
I read this on the Agape Press website and couldn’t help wonder: How does President Bush fit into all this. He has/had a drinking problem (and drug problem from what’s been told). Does he fit into the heterosexual promiscuity box?
Does he fit into the heterosexual promiscuity box?
Face it, we all do. The box is humanity. Only the flavors are different.
David
“…homosexual men often turn to alcohol and drugs to fight off a life of pain”
Why is that, Stephen?
Could it be that gays and lesbians suffer greatly because of the bigotry of self-hating homos like you?
Could it be that we generally have no one to talk to about our awakening sexuality during our formative years?
Could it be that many of us had to lie and deceive others about who we really are because we feared losing our family and friends over their homophobia?
I get so sick and tired of hearing how awful we are because we have alcohol and substance addiction problems, self-esteem issues, etc. If there were sincere concern about the well-being of gays and lesbians then there would be less bigotry and more acceptance. All we want is our “place at the table” and our Consititutional right to equal protection under the law.
Want to reduce gay promiscuity? Then stop opposing gay marriage. Help us create an alternative so that future gays have a model to follow. Most of us come from married parents, so why shouldn’t we want the same for ourselves?
Bottom line, stop the hate and help us heal. We are not going away. We are not going back in the closet. And we certainly aren’t going to stop fighting for our human and civil rights.