Mark Harris has an important reflection online this morning -- Never Again the burning stake and condemnation -- critiquing the violent glorification of martyrdom "now showing" over at Stand Firm. Mark's eloquent words stand for themselves but I also want to note the introduction penned by Stand Firmite Greg Griffith:Peter Ould puts together a powerful montage ... seeing as how so many TEC bishops seem to have been chosen from the winners of sissy contests, I'm not sure how well they'll respond to it, but it can't hurt to try.
"Chosen from the winners of sissy contests?" I guess such blatant, sophomoric homophobia shouldn't surprise given the source but having just last night watched "For the Bible Tells Me So" which included the stories of young people driven to suicide by the messages of unworth and shame they heard from "the church" we are long past the point where perpetuating such destructive bigotry can be tolerated without challenge. Good for Mark for taking it on ... may others go and do likewise.
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Speaking of "For the Bible Tells Me So" I just have this to say about that:
DON'T MISS IT!
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It opens in early October -- we got to see it as there was a limited Oscar qualification run here in Pasadena this week ... if you're "local" and can get there in the next couple of days it's at the Academy on Colorado Blvd. Anyway, it was great -- a wonderful combination of scholarship, witness and great story. Daniel Karlsake is to be congratulated -- as are the powerful voices represented in speaking their truth about God's presence and power and love in their lives.
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That's it for now ... more to come later, perhaps!
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8 comments:
The issue for the church and for society must start to revolve around the question of tolerance versus support. No one should be burned at the stake in any sense, but on the other hand no one should be supported in acting in a manner that is extremely hazardous to the health of themselves and those around them of similar inclinations. (Even burning at the stake is better than multiple infections, since it's over quickly.)Marriage, for instance, has always been a form of support, which is understood very well by those demanding marital benefits.
Does the camera tilt down on Ould's video to show the gay men piled up at the bottom of the burning stake as fuel...hence the term "Faggots"?
I didn't think so.
"Does the camera tilt down on Ould's video to show the gay men piled up at the bottom of the burning stake as fuel...hence the term "Faggots"?"
Oh Please. That old myth again.
The Brits never burned gays at the stake; let alone used them for firewood. A faggot in England has never meant homosexual, and it didn't mean homosexual in the U.S. until 1910 or so.
There may be places you can claim victimhood, but "The Burning Times" is not one of them.
Ummmm.. It was well know that throughout the UK and continental Europe gays were killed by all kinds of means, including burning by the stake, Pilgrim. Gays were also subjected to the gas chambers in Nazi Germany and experimentation in psychiatric institutions in most western countries through the mid 1960s
Perhaps you should do a little research before embarrassing yourself.
I would agree that the phrase "Chosen from the winners of sissy contests" is blatant, and leans toward sophmoric.
But I fail to see how it could be interpreted as homophobic.
I believe Greg's point was that the majority of bishops seem to be choosing compromise over principles. The last-day, hastily-pushed resolution at General Convention 2006 could arguably be cited as an example.
Stay focussed here. I disputed your "hence the term faggots." Faggot does not mean homosexual in Great Britain. It is not and cannot be the correct etymology. And "everyone knows" is not a legitimate historical citation. I mean, "everyone knows" the world is flat, and "everyone knows" that gays are effiminate; n'est pas?
Faggots are cigarets and also meatballs. And just to be clear: when used for wood it's an actual unit of measurement.
The wiki links the homophobic use of the word to wood in a different way: "The word has also been used since the late sixteenth century to mean "old or unpleasant woman", and this would appear to be a likely derivation.[3] Female terms, it should be noted, are often used with reference to homosexual or effeminate men (cf. nancy, sissy, queen). The application of the term to old women may possibly be a shortening of the term "faggot-gatherer", applied in the nineteenth century to people, especially older widows, who made a meagre living by gathering and selling firewood."
Still, the urban legend version of burning at the stake will hold up. Reminds me of Judy Grahn's Another Mother Tongue (from whence this particular legend, IIRC) which is filled with many examples of bad history and bad etymology. Likewise Barbara Walker's, The Woman's Encyclopedia of Myths and Secrets. Both books are prone to show up in conversations as legit references despite their lack of research or lack of bias.
I give thanks for people like Mark and you who have the stomach to read the blogs that tear us down and watch the videos that immolate (if not this one, others figuratively) us. I just don't have the fortitude. So thanks for doing this on other's (and my) behalf.
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