Posted by: shannynmoore | May 30, 2009

HATE; The Real Anti-Christ

It still shocks me we are talking about legislating love. I wonder why divorce hasn’t been banned to protect the sanctity of marriage…oh, that’s right.

I watched the California Proposition 8 decision this week. Even with the loss, they are further ahead than we are. Alaska takes longer to thaw out. We are fighting discrimination against the GLBT community having housing and jobs. It’s vulgar. I’m sick of the debate. I’m sick of Bible-waving fear mongers. I’m sick of people using Jesus as an excuse not to care. I think Jesus is too.

An Anchorage municipal ordinance is proposed to ban discrimination against gays and lesbians in hiring, housing and education. It would also ban discrimination against military veterans.

In the 1970’s, the Anchorage Assembly passed a similar ordinance. It was vetoed by then Republican Mayor George Sullivan. His son, Dan Sullivan, also a Republican, was just elected mayor of Anchorage. His term commences July 1.

Local super-sized Church leader, Dr. Jerry Prevo, of The Anchorage Baptist Temple, has become the “not-so-Christ-like” voice of hate. His 8 page press release included bullet points of why he is against the ordinance. The last few pages read like a porn pamphlet. His letter to the Anchorage Daily News warned:

It would allow any man to dress like a woman and use any public women’s restroom. Ladies, do you want that to happen? If not then you should contact the Anchorage Assembly and show up at the June 9 public hearing.  A man in a highly visible sales job could come to work dressed like a woman.  A person of either sex who indulges a taste for extreme sexual promiscuity and pornography during working hours could not be stopped or fired even though it damages the company’s image.  Maybe, worst of all, this ordinance would allow a man who teaches a second grade class or any grade to show up as a woman in the classroom and the School District could do nothing because of this ordinance.

Thou doth protest too much. How many times must we hear about closeted anti-gay preachers and politicians before we completely disregard their spiteful venom and recognize their pathology? They can’t come to terms with their secret desires so they lash out at innocent citizens with anti-gay sermons and legislation.

The list of infamy is long; There’s Ted Haggard, the mega church pastor and advisor to President Bush. He was head of the National Association of Evangelicals and was a well-known anti-gay moral crusader. Ted got caught doing meth and hiring a male prostitute. Jesus salesman, Paul Crouch, president of the Trinity Broadcasting Network, paid Enoch Lonnie Ford $425,000 in 1998 in exchange for his silence about an alleged homosexual affair they’d had in 1996.

Then there are the closeted anti-gay legislators. During his 2 decade + legislative tenure, former Republican Mayor of Spokane and Washington Legislator, Jim West was quite focused. He initiated legislation to prohibit sexual contact between consenting teenagers; advocated a bill that would have banned gays and lesbians from working for schools, day cares and state agencies; voted to define marriage as a union between one man and one woman; and, when he was Senate Majority Leader, let a bill banning discrimination against gays and lesbians die in committee. When he was mayor, West promised to veto a proposition that would extend benefits to same sex domestic partners of city employees. West admitted to using a gay website and soliciting men online after being outed; he was stripped of his duties of mayor ten days later.

Homophobic Republican Senator Larry Craig voted for the anti-gay 1996 Defense of Marriage Act. That same year, he also voted against a bill outlawing employment discrimination based on sexual orientation. That bill failed by ONE VOTE! In 2007, Senator Craig was famously arrested for allegedly soliciting gay sex in a Minneapolis airport bathroom stall. Congressman Ed Schrock, a Christian Virginia Republican who regularly voted against gay rights, quit his seat when recordings began to circulate of the congressman using a telephone service to arrange gay sex. Anti-gay Arizona Republican Jim Kolbe voted for the Defense of Marriage Act in 1996. That vote inspired gay rights activists to out him. Other outed anti-gay hypocrites include Republican Congressman David Dreier-CA, and former Republican Congressmen James McCrery-LA and Mark Foley-FL. There are many others.

Thou doth protest too much, indeed.

I guess the recession is now hitting churches; Prevo’s trying to drum up business. He worked hard to secure a tax free status for his church, his home and the homes of his employees, yet he wants to take rights away from citizens who actually pay taxes. How does that work? The pastor’s fascination of men wearing women’s clothing is pure fetish. Historically, Jesus wore a “dress” to work, not a suit. But Prevo doesn’t base his teachings on the tolerance of Christ. He prefers Bible 1.0, the old law, abolished by the crucifixion.

I prefer Bible 2.0, the one about feeding the poor, healing the sick, freeing those wrongfully imprisoned and loving your neighbor as yourself. None of the miracles reported in the Bible were to make a GAY MAN STRAIGHT. None of the hungry were asked their “sexual orientation” before they were fed. Feeding the masses with 5 loaves and 2 fishes was socialism. Jesus wasn’t run over by a runaway donkey cart. He was an innocent man TORTURED AND PUT TO DEATH by the STATE at the insistence of the CHURCH! How annoying for Jesus; He takes time out to come to Earth and save us, and in His name, we hate one another.

Jerry Prevo told the ADN, “If I were a veteran, I’d be upset that they are linking the two together.” What the hell did our veterans fight for if it wasn’t our rights of equality? Has anyone told the preacher about “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell?” What about the men and women of other “sexual orientation” who have (and will) fight and die to protect his right to worship any way he sees fit?

The Independent Baptist Church of Wasilla’s pastor, Ron Hamman, is fixated with the anti-Christ being a homosexual. His “warning” was published in The Frontiersman this week.

But will the Antichrist be a homosexual? Having seen what the Bible says of sodomy, we have no further to look than the book of Daniel, chapter 11 to find our answer. It says, “Neither shall he [Antichrist] regard… the desire of women….” As I said at the onset, I am not the first to draw attention to this, but the verbiage is clear.
From a lost perspective, the reason sex sells, pornography is profitable, and prostitution is “the world’s oldest profession” is mankind’s desire of women. But homosexuality does not regard this — in their unbridled lusts they burn for their own gender.  And at what other time have we seen such perversion come out of the closets onto our streets, threatening violence if we do not accept their ways?  And will it be just a coincidence that the Antichrist will be the very first occupant of the lake of fire, tasting eternal death 1,000 years before even the devil himself?
You be the judge.

NO, Ron Hamman, not “you be the judge.” That’s the point…you are supposed to trust your Maker to be the judge. Something about “judge not, lest ye be judged” comes to mind.

So the characteristics of the anti-Christ include a lack of desire for women? Well, according to them, the real Christ didn’t desire women either. He wore a “dress” and sandals, quite possibly open toed. He hung out with a bunch of men and a former prostitute. I’m not saying Jesus was gay.  I’m just saying it wouldn’t matter to me if he was; I read the red letters in the Bible. I’m quite sure, Prevo and Hamman would have denied the real Jesus rent, education, employment and basic rights. They are so focused on the Anti, they forgot the Christ.

As fascinated and focused as Hamman and Prevo are, the “unbridled lusts” they are willing to explain in such great detail, scream “I hate myself.” Their Ted Haggard like zeal is telling.

My intolerance for the intolerant makes me one of them. I’m trying to understand how tiny their God must be to live in such fear. An abolition of divorce has yet to be introduced to protect the sanctity of their marriages. It’s the fault of the “homosexuals.” Really?

Prevo was wrong on apartheid in the 1980’s. Was that Old Testament teaching? As much time as he spends on television, most people don’t know he starred in the reality show “Repo Man.” What would Jesus repo, Jerry?

The real Anti-Christ shows up every day. It shows up in the fear, racism, homophobia, and hate in the very people who claim they work for Christ.
Yes, Jerry. Yes, Ron. Your actions are those of the Anti-Christ. Thou doth protest WAY TOO MUCH!

Please take time to read the other progressive bloggers research, thoughts and perspectives. This is a difficult topic to write about and stay in your heart.


Responses

  1. Simply awesome!
    I appreciate that you’ve stepped back from the specific argument of employment and housing rights and looked at a larger picture and helped to provide context.

  2. Thank you Shannyn for your insight and ability to eloquently and honestly put my own feelings (and I suspect the feelings of many others) into your writings. I have been reading anonymously for many months now, not only your blog, but others (Mudflats, Immoral Minority, Progressive AK, CD,etc.) as well, and wish to thank you all for providing an informative and educational forum for the important issues that continue to affect our lives.

  3. Thank you. I believe that the levels of hate have been allowed to grow over the past few years not only because of the support by the right wing (can’t do much about that) but because each of us (as individuals) have not spoken out every time we hear hate talk. Like the old sixties saying, ‘not to decide is to decide’, not to speak up is to side with hate. Thank you for speaking up so eloquently.

    redwoodmuse

  4. I think you’ll be receiving many warm “thank you” posts and I’m lining up to include mine. Wonderfully said.

    With so many Limbaughs, Burkes and Prevos out there fanning the hate flames and getting paid outrageous amounts of money to do so, it sure seems to me that they are clearly the little helper elves of any anti-christ that might be coming down the pike. They’re happily paving the way and doing it exactly as the bible said it would happen and it’s got nothing to do with a gay guy. “anti” doesn’t just mean opposed to Christ but also, “the opposite” of Christ. And ya can’t get more opposite than the hateful, poisonous spew coming from these people.

    And redwoodmuse – I couldn’t agree more. We have all got to start speaking up against this wave of hate. I’ve been trying to wrap my head around how the air waves can be so filled with it and I guess it simply comes down to the fact that it generates money. It’s time to come together and start vocalizing our disgust. (of course I can already here the cries of “the liberals are trying to censor us!” )

  5. What a powerful and beautifully written piece. Thank you.

  6. Thank you so very much. Brilliant thinking!

  7. Here in Maine we allow a civil union. 300 years of living here together in what was once part of Massachusetts has taught us that our energies and efforts should be focused more on not worrying about who we love but finding solutions for issues that truly affect our lives…like finding a cure for cancer. Alaska is turning 50. Don’t spend the next 250 years ripping yourselves apart sowing fear amongst yourselves…and spare the T.I.A. [This Is Alaska] excuse, everyone has said that about their state, their community..we all feel we’re unique. I’ve heard it too much over the last year..some of it is true but most of it is an excuse for below average thinking…Alaskan Progressives need to pull Alaska up and hold Alaska to a higher standard than the current “conventional thinking”. Good luck

  8. I am a huge fan of your blog and agree with most of what you say here. However, I have a big problem with the underlying message here:
    He prefers Bible 1.0, the old law, abolished by the crucifixion.

    I prefer Bible 2.0, the one about feeding the poor, healing the sick, freeing those wrongfully imprisoned and loving your neighbor as yourself.

    This sounds like Bible 1.0, the Old Testament as Christians like to call it, calls for the hate mentioned in your column. As a Jew, I object strongly to that reading of the Bible. As with the New Testament, there is something for everyone. If you look for the hate, you will find it. But the wonderful saying of Rabbi Hillel (under Bible 1.0) always holds true. Do unto others as you would have done unto you. The rest is explanation.

    Further, not much was stopped by the crucifixion. The Spanish Inquisition and the Crusades leap immediately to mind. Again, if one looks for hate, they will find it in either version. The tolerance is also there should one care to examine it closely.

    ***********NOTE FROM SHANNYN**********
    Thank you for your note. My intention was not to offend, and I can see how you took offense. My post was twice as long at one point and may have addressed your concern. People like Prevo who claim to follow “Christ” ignore the red words (New Testament) and rely on the Old Testament law to preach hate and intolerance. You are correct the Old Testament has a great deal of benevolence in it, by that isn’t what gets cherry picked.
    I was critical of Mel Gibson’s film editing the crucifixion story; deleting the scene where the temple veil ripped from top to bottom. That was the point; red phone to God.
    What ever “good book” people read – hate in the name of any God is blasphemy; including the crusades, slavery, bigotry, sexism, etc.

    • I don’t think Shannyn was dissing Bible 1.0-The Old Testament or Jewish people; she was pointing out the hypocrisy of hell-fire brimstone Christian preachers. These modern sellers of hate, just like the Crusaders and the Spanish Inquisition before them, misinterpreted what Jesus came to the world to do and was all about; “feeding the poor, healing the sick, freeing those wrongfully imprisoned and loving your neighbor as yourself.”

      I get your point, but given Shannyn was writing about Christian hypocrisy, I think you’re missing the overall message.

  9. Have you ever actually seen The Prevo in person ?

    Whenever I do, I always marvel at his perfect tan, his coiffed hair and his manicured nails….

  10. I agree. We should not even try to legislate morality. It never works. In my opinion, the Moral Majority doesn’t even come close to the morals I hold in my heart. It always fascinates me when men become so excited and upset about homosexuality. It’s almost as if they think it’s a virus and they’ll be able to catch it if it’s allowed to spread! Jesus loved everyone, but especially the poor, the marginalized, and the ones on the fringes of society. He wanted us to treat everyone with love and respect and to do for the “least of us” what we would do for him. Jerry Prevo has been around for so long spreading his anti-gay propaganda that I have a bumper sticker from the 80’s saying, “Ignore Prevo. Think for yourself.”

  11. My intolerance of the intolerant makes me one of them.
    ~~~
    As the daughter of a lesbian I have said that thousands of times. Beautiful post and thank you. You don’t have to be LGBT to belong to the community or to support it. They however are my family and I love them.

  12. Very good read.

    For the past few years, I have had the feeling of “God, save me from a good Christian”. This, in itself, makes me feel bad as I know there are real good Christians out there that we never hear from. I have had fundamentalist Christianity pushed down my throat since I have been married. All it did was push me as far to the left as I can be.

  13. Thanks for calling out the hypocrites, who, as alleged leaders of other Christians, are leading people astray from the true message of the real Christ. It is our duty to continue to cry foul when we hear such hate coming from those proported to be speaking for God, who is Love.

  14. Bravo!, Shannyn, Bravo!

  15. Insightful Piece. Ole Jerry Prevo has never spouted his brand of hate since the Alaska Progressive Blogosphere could put his balls in a vice. He is in for a big surprise. What a hater.

    Love the Repo Video. Watched it twice. Unbelievable. I wonder if Jerry got to keep the plane? What would Jesus Repo, Indeed….

  16. Thank you! so much true here about the intolerance & hatred coming from the very people who were purportedly charged to pass on Jesus’ message of love, compassion, justice.

    I do, however, agree with Dina Willner about the opposition of Bible 1.0 & Bible 2.0, at least if it intended to equate Bible 1.0 with the Hebrew scriptures & 2.0 with the New Testament. I have been reading your blog long enough to know that you intend no aspersions on Judaism — it’s important to know that there is so much more to the Tanakh than those portions of law that intolerant hate-filled “Christians” like Prevo etc. call upon. That’s another misfortune of their hatemongering: they not only bring Christianity into disrepute, but they also give a lot of people a skewed understanding of what is contained in the so-called “Old” Testament.

    I’m neither Christian nor Jew myself, but I do have that B.A. in Religion (that’s what I was studying at Wellesley when I became active in the anti-apartheid movement there that I refer to in Prevo’s devil masks post) — & I there’s a lot in the Hebrew scriptures, what Christians call the Old Testament, that is about love, compassion, justice — it was, after all, the tradition that Jesus grew up in. I think of the prophets, like Amos, who could have been speaking just as much to the modern megachurches when he called the nation of Israel to account for its love of public religious displays while at the same time ignoring or even actively oppressing the poor, the orphans, the widow.

    Jesus was of that tradition, a prophet not in the sense of someone who predicted the future (which is a weird modern skewing of what “prophecy” is), but of someone who called upon God’s people not just to “buy” justice in the courts, or to command it through laws, but to live justice through their everyday acts with every person they encountered. In that sense, to act in love & to act with justice are the same thing. That’s what Amos & other O.T. prophets called for, & that’s what Jesus called for too. They are the same tradition.

    Whereas the belief system of supposed Christians like Prevo et al. is one that by its nature calls for opposition & enmity & destruction of anything & anyone who is “other” — including the real messages that Moses, the prophets, & Jesus alike really gave out.

  17. Perhaps if Mr. Prevo would remove the planks from both of his eyes, he could witness what love is truly about. And as the bumper sticker says: “Focus on your Own damn Family”.
    Here is a link to a video which speaks to the issue:

    http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2009/05/28/how-would-you-feel

  18. wow. That pretty much says it all.

    I’m dealing with hate right here in my own life. My brother’s wife has shown her true colors as a homophobic bigot and has told me I’m not allowed at her house again. She needs to protect her children. My brother is finally filing divorce papers on her next month, after years of her abuse.

    What is wrong with people? These men….. you are right, Shannyn, they protest far too much and I can’t wait to read about them in the papers, after they are arrested for solicitation. Of males.

    This stuff gets me going. I just have no understanding of it. I can’t imagine what provokes this kind of fear in people. Lack of understanding? So, learn. History of abuse? So, get some therapy. But stop hating me.

  19. Thank you, Shannyn, for a beautifully written, intelligent, message. It was a joy to read. Let there be peace on earth and let it begin with me.

  20. I just got your facebook message this morning and…

    You never cease to amaze me with your depth of understanding on this issue. As you know, this issue is VERY close to my heart. It has honestly brought me to tears on many occasions, especially when I was younger and was told I was going to hell, a pervert, the devil’s spawn etc. That’s kinda intense stuff for a 12 year old.

    Your post brought those annoying tears to my eyes, even after I have vowed to NEVER cry over this subject again. I’ve spent far too long doing that. I wish there was something more we could do to stop this.

    I have never met anyone who understands so deeply, who loves so much, and who can basically pull those stubborn, repressed, and ANGRY second-class citizen thoughts out of my heart and mold them into a graceful form… regardless of your sexual orientation.

    You honestly have no idea how good it feels to know there’s at least ONE person out there who understands. Thank you.

  21. If anyone could convince me of the goodness and morality of the “organic church”, Shannyn, it would be you. I may have to settle for Unitarian.

    your agnostic friend, the problem child

  22. Thank you for writing so eloquently about what I have been thinking for a long time. Enough of the Faux Christians pretending to be persecuted. They would happily throw anyone in their way into the lion’s den. Time to stand strong against them and surround them with the truth. Way to lead the way Shannyn. You are an inspiration.

  23. Thank you so much for the clarification. And I wholeheartedly agree that hate in the name of any God is blasphemy – of the worst kind.

  24. I’m just always stunned as I grew up with no religion except for my mother’s attempt to send us to Sunday school. (lasted about 2 or 3 episodes for me and maybe one for my brother).

    I do feel the need to perhaps learn a bit more about the bible and a few friends have given me bibles to read and I always meant to spend time with them but usually find something else to spend my reading hours on.

    I guess I’m saying, it’s really kind of refreshing to have no doctrine, no spiritual guidance other than my own mind to guide me along life’s path.

    I’d like to spend time learning about Christianity and other world religions but for now I just steer my own boat based on my parents’ teaching and it’s served me well so far.

    I consider myself very lucky for having parents that taught tolerance and love and respect for all humans and other creatures. I grew up in a very intolerant southern town but my parents instilled in us very solid values of respect and I will forever be grateful to them for that.

    To me, live and let live is just common sense; I can’t figure out why people are so intolerant of others.

    I think I grew up in a bubble….

  25. Seconding Dana’s thanks for clarification!

    And Alicia: what your parents taught you is the very essence. Would that more parents taught their children likewise.

  26. We here at Landover Baptist rest content in our conviction that the Prince of Peace will smite the with weevils and scrofula unto thy seventh generation.

    I don’t no what that means, but Pastor told me to right it.

    http://www.landoverbaptist.org/

  27. It looks like the Pope has been shopping at an Ethyl Kennedy estate sale.

  28. Very well stated Shannyn, you do have a gift with words and thought.

    Jerry Prevo needs to remember that J. Edgar Hoover also wore a skirt and was truly a pervert. He also protested too much!

    Prevo and his church and their holdings need to LOSE their Tax-exempt status and get out of politics, SEPARATE church and State and city!

  29. I am a little late to the table , I will be fwding this insightful piece to all.

  30. I must say that it amazes me that the “religious” in this country are minimized to some cases of individuals with serious problems. What about those of us with strong convictions who tolerate others opinions, and respect the constitutional freedoms afforded to everyone?
    Is it right to discuss only the bad apples, and not the millions of christians making a difference in this world?
    I also find it interesting how “judge not lest ye be judged” gets thrown out there, when the individual speaking about it is DOING THAT EXACT THING!”
    I also find it important to note the difference between discernment and judgement. If I discern that I do not want to participate in certain behaviors, why must I be forced to respect the rights of individuals who do not respect my rights in return?
    I am a Christian, and I don’t believe in violating any other individuals rights. Funny how that sentiment gets lost in the rants about “terrorist” .

  31. […] a side note, please check out Mudflats, Shannyn Moore, and other prolific articles by Alaskan bloggers regarding this issue! Also, I might recommend this […]


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