Exodus International‘s executive director, Alan Chambers, writes a personal blog titled Just Think! Encourage it in others. Demand it of yourself. In an entry yesterday, he blames an undefined “Gay Elite” for:
- Hijacking “a legitimate civil rights triumph with their battle for same-sex marriage in Massachusetts[, thus] trump[ing] Black Americans for coverage.”
- “Commandeering” the word gay.
- Stealing the rainbow symbol from Christian and secular folks.
- Co-opting the term “family”
Chambers generalizes about the relative media coverage of the Brown v. Board of Education anniversary and gay marriages in Massachusetts:
You’d think there would have been more media fanfare of this important milestone. Black Americans, both those who led the courageous fight to see racial oppression and inequality end and those that today benefit from that liberation, deserved better.
He conveniently omits the live feed of the president’s speech from Topeka, in-depth television coverage of Brown on several networks, as well as the simple fact that gays and lesbians had no control over the timeframe set by the Supreme Judicial Court in Massachusetts.
One wonders if Chambers is feeling emasculated, even bullied, by same-sex marriage supporters based on his language:
- “no holiday is safe” from gay hijacking
- “an incredibly successful and well fought campaign” for same-sex marriage
- “The incredibly organized, politically powerful and well-funded Gay Elite have won this battle”
He castigates all but “a faithful few” who have actively fought gay marriage:
- “The majority of conservative Americans, politicians and even Christians have seemingly sat idly by and done nothing.”
- “A great number of Americans are apathetic, inwardly focused, embroiled in their own perversions or so passive that it would take a catastrophe to move them.”
Had Chambers listened to or read the extensive media coverage, he would have heard that Brown was as controversial and unpopular in its day as gay marriage is to many folks today. He would also have heard that the many of the high hopes for desegregation did not materialize, and disturbing gaps in opportunity and performance persist a half century later. While it was a critical stepping stone in American history, Brown did not transform 1950s America to the perfect sort of world which Chambers has described glowingly in the past.
To his credit, though, Chambers closes by quoting Martin Luther King Jr. Of course, one of MLKJr’s closest advisors, and the chief organizer of the 1963 March on Washington, was Bayard Rustin, to whom King remained loyal despite Strom Thurmond’s campaign against him because of his homosexuality. Coretta Scott King and several of MLKJr’s colleagues stand firmly in support of civil rights for gay and lesbian Americans.
Just Think, Mr. Chambers!
Encourage it in others.
Demand it of yourself.
— Steve B.
You mean, the way they’ve stolen the words “family”, “family values,” “Christian,” etc.?
can we take over Christmas next year? Perhaps rename it something more gay like Cockmas?
In this case, no thanks, Dan; Alan Chambers and Focus on the Family are the ones who increasingly behave like political charlatans; offhand, I see no need for us to join them in a group grovel.
Allen Brill at The Right Christians/Village Gate comments:
on the Southern Baptists’ reckless demolition of the Bible in order to justify a war against gay couples;
about the need for a 21st Century Reformation to reverse the corruption, exclusivism, hatred, wealth, greed, warfare, and contempt for science and history that fundamentalists have used to overtake, redefine, and destroy traditional Christianity.
There also is an open discussion of what the “Christian Right” has done to damage Christianity.
Chambers and others of his ilk are sounding nuttier and nuttier. I wonder if it is because of increasing desperation on their part. Perhaps increasing desperation because they believe they are losing the culture war. Or because they need money.
Ok, Chambers clearly was being serious. My comment was clearly satire. Was it not outrageous enough?
Steve, you beat me to the most obvious rebuttal!!!
Right-wingers, white ones in particular, who try to pit gays against blacks make me vomit.
Dan, I agree your comment was clearly satire to gays — but not to many in the general public. Some folks really do read everything literally.