Oklahoma Sally Does It Again

So today is my day off. An actual day with absolutely nothing on the agenda, schedule, calendar or Outlook task list. I can drink my morning coffee as long as I want to. Get some errands done when I feel like it. Read some more of the waste-of-time novel I picked up at the airport if I choose. Keep an eye on New York "just in case" lawmakers decide to get on the right side of history. And of course, check out the blogs. Which is where I found this one:

Sally Kern: Same Sex Marriage Will Lead to Man-Animal Marriage

It's on Towleroad (via Right Wing Watch via The Tulsa Beacon ... love that multi-platform convergence!) and quotes Oklahoma lawmaker Sally Kern who is [a] the source of the statement that homosexuals are a greater threat to America than terrorists and [b] is coming out with a new book entitled ... (wait for it) ... "The Stoning of Sally Kern." And she doesn't mean it in the "I went to college in Santa Barbara in the 70's" kind of way ... she means it in the "I'm the vitctim here" kind of way.

Check it out:

“I took a lot of heat when this all started because I said this is a lifestyle they choose,” said Kern. "They choose it in the sense that they succumb to the temptation to give into it. They are not born that way. God would not call something an abomination and make someone where they had no choice. They have the opportunity, they have the power to say no to that lifestyle.”

And ...

“I am always being accused of hating homosexuals. I don’t hate anyone. This isn’t a matter of hating someone or trying to deny them their equal rights. All American citizens have equal rights under our Constitution. This is trying to get acceptance for a behavior that is specifically mentioned in God’s Word that is wrong.”

It's kind of hard to know where to start. Or IF to start, frankly ... I mean really. Why even waste your time responding this kind of ignorant homophobic blather?

Because it IS ignorant homophobic blather -- and if we're going to erase it we've got to engage it. Whether we like it or not. So let's start with Sal -- who is absolutely entitled to her own opinion but not entitled to her own facts. And if she's the victim of anything it's her own entitlement.

And before I get any pushback on "just because she disagrees with you doesn't make her homophobic" front ... here's another quote from the Tulsa Beacon:

“The average American doesn’t understand the threat that homosexuality and the total acceptance of it into our society is to our nation,” Kern said. “We need to wake up to this threat."

Be afraid. Be very afraid.

And what's the definition of "phobia?" Oh yeah ... "irrational fear."

And here's why it matters that we speak up ... no matter how tired we are of having THE SAME OLD CONVERSATION. Because -- Sally Kern notwithstanding -- we ARE changing the conversation. We are changing hearts and minds ... and votes. We are moving this country to the right side of history on LGBT equality the same way those who went before us moved this country forward on equality for women. Remember this one from Pat Robertson in 1992?

"The feministy threat is a socialist, anti-family political movement that encourages women to leave their husbands, kill their children, practice witchcraft, destroy capitalism and become lesbians."

Another verse of the same refrain: Be afraid. Be very afraid.

We're certainly not done with sexism yet. Or racism. Or all the other "isms" that keep us from seeking and serving Christ in ALL persons and loving our neighbors as ourselves. But there's no doubt that we're further ahead on the journey to liberty and justice for all in 2011 than we were in 1992 ... and we're going to keep moving forward, an inch at a time.

One last note for Oklahoma Sally. All American citizens DO have equal rights under our Constitution. Including equal protection in the 14th Amendment from people like you who don't get that the 1st Amendment guarantees not only freedom of religion but freedom FROM religion.

Because here's the deal. I'll defend to my last breath your right in this great nation of ours to believe any ridiculous, cockeyed, freaky-fringe thing you think you know about God's Word. And I will challenge without ceasing with my last breath, blog, tweet, email. letter-to-the-editor, sermon, speech and sound-bite your right to presume to write your theology into our Constitution.

And now I'm going to get back to that lifestyle I chose. The one where I get some laundry done ... walk my dogs ... text my kids to see what they're up to this weekend ... maybe get the car washed before I settle down on the porch to read some more of the waste-of-time novel I picked up at the airport last week. With one eye on New York.

More later, alligators!