Hallowed
Be Thy Hate
November
1998
Never in my life have I heard of anyone wanting to protest a funeral. Never. Who on earth would want to interfere with anyone burying their dead? But it happened. This obscene, heartless action was carried out by a group that ranks right up there with the KKK in bigotry and cruelty—Christian Fundamentalists.
On October 16 in
Casper, Wyoming, Topeka minister Fred Phelps and 17 of his rabid followers
staged a vocal protest outside the funeral of Matthew Shepard, the gay Wyoming
college student who was savagely beaten to death the week before. Outside St.
Mark’s Episcopal Church, where Shepard’s funeral was held, more than a dozen
adults and children staged an
anti-gay demonstration across the street.
What
exactly were these good Christian folk protesting? The Good Reverend Phelps
claimed that Shepard’s funeral was a “platform for gay rights.” “Don’t
you see,” said The Good Reverend, “the homosexuals are using it to demand
new laws.” Using a funeral as a platform? I thought they were just trying to
bury their dead son. What would the ghoulish Phelps have had them do? Keep their
son’s remains down in the basement or something?
But I do see his
point about demanding new laws. Where would we be if all 50 states had laws
against beating homosexuals to death? Surely that would not do. At least not in
the world of Christian Fundamentalism.
Matthew’s
father, Dennis Shepard, grief-stricken and in obvious anguish, offered these
words: “We should try to remember that because Matt's last few minutes of
consciousness on Earth might have been hell, his family and friends want more
than ever to say their farewells to him in a peaceful, dignified and loving
manner.”
Where does he get
off making such inflammatory remarks? No wonder the good Christians felt
justified in displaying placards in front of the church. They carried handsome,
homemade, colorful signs that said things like “Fear God Not Fags” and
“God Hates Fags” and “Heaven Won’t Take Fags—Hell Has Him Now.”
Heartwarming, Middle American, Christian concepts.
Matthew was just
21 years old.
Police said
robbery was the primary motive but that Shepard also was singled out because he
was gay. Don’t you believe it. Robbery had nothing whatever to do with it. I
am certain some panicky lying took place after the two scumbags had done their
filthy deed. “Well, officer, we were really just going to rob him, but somehow
it got out of hand.”
Bull.
You
don’t beat someone to a pulp, tie him to a fence, try to set him on fire, then
leave him for dead in the freezing cold night, just because you want his cash
and his MasterCard. Lying to try to reduce a Murder One charge? Definitely.
Robbery as the primary motive? Bullshit.
But you know,
blame should go where blame is due. The Bible itself is the reason
fundamentalists are fanatically, maniacally homophobic, and they can quote you
chapter and verse to prove it. So can I.
Leviticus 20:13:
(KJV)
“If a man also
lie with mankind, as he lieth with a woman, both of them have committed an
abomination: they shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be upon
them.” Any doubts about what that means? “Surely be put to death.”
Couldn’t be more clear. The New Testament (Romans 1:26‑32) reinforces
that edict. This is just one example (homophobia) of the many ugly, cruel
references in the so-called “Holy” Bible that are extremely awkward for True
Believers. How can you read something so wantonly cruel and bigoted and then
smile sweetly and say, “God is Love?” I’ll tell you how. You can’t.
NBC’s
“Today” show on October 13 asked the provocative question: “Can an ad
campaign trying to convince gays that they can go straight also incite hate
crimes?” Janet Folger, head of the Center for Reclaiming America, and
Elizabeth Birch, head of the Human Rights Campaign, debated the signals those
ads have been sending. I see very little room for debate. Of course children are going to grow up hating homosexuals if
their Bibles and fundamentalist parents constantly refer to gays as
“abominations” and people who need “help.”
Jerry Falwell,
dripping sincerity from every pore, unctuously announced that he “loved”
homosexuals, and would do everything in his power to help them return to
“normalcy.” Normalcy? What the hell does that mean? Since everyone has
different bedroom preferences, what then is “normal?” Falwell preens proudly
when he announces that he is pastor to 22,000 people. That’s a lot of people,
Jerry. Ask Masters and Johnson what the probability is that none of your flock
ever engages in oral or anal sex. They’ll tell you the probability is nil.
Many “normal,” married, heterosexual couples engage in such activities. So,
Jerry, are these parishioners of yours “abominations” in need of being
returned to “normalcy?” Gays aren’t freaks or lepers requiring
“treatment.” All gays require is to be left the hell alone by sanctimonious
hate-mongers like Falwell and Folger.
Folger had the
audacity to say that there was no need for “hate crime” laws since all
crimes were hate crimes. She is either totally disingenuous or hopelessly
stupid. Or both. When someone burglarizes your apartment it is not because he
HATES you. When someone hits you over the head, grabs your wallet and runs,
it’s not because he HATES you. When someone shoots an automatic weapon from a
freeway overpass, randomly killing people, it is not because he HATES them. He
doesn’t even KNOW them. Even when someone murders a spouse for repeated
infidelity, for example, it isn’t a HATE crime. The murderer may have hate in
his heart, but he is killing because of what someone DID, not because of WHO
THEY ARE. And there’s the difference. Hate crimes are based on who someone is, not on what they do.
And Janet Folger is an idiot.
_________
And now let us bow
our heads in prayer:
Our Father which
art in Heaven,
Hallowed be thy hate.
Thy kingdom come.
Thy will be done in earth, as we murder in thy name.
Give us this day
our daily share of malevolence.
We need no
forgiveness since we do everything in thy name.
And lead us not
into the temptation of tolerance,
But deliver us from the evil of loving kindness;
For thine is the kingdom of bigotry, and the power of sheer hatred,
and the glory of violence, for ever. Amen.
_________
We can only hope,
though we will never know, that unconsciousness came quickly to Matthew Shepard.
Such viciousness is difficult for the average person to comprehend, and just
trying to imagine it is very painful. But we must address the origins of such
violent acts. And there can be no doubt that the Religious Right, which has
always been obsessed with sex, contributed to the death of Matthew Shepard.
Their ceaseless haranguing about the evils of homosexuality permeates the air
with an ugly tension that is bound to incite such violence eventually. If you
keep spewing hateful words incessantly, hateful actions will follow. Like night
follows day.
Which brings up:
Why is the Religious Right so preoccupied with homosexuality in the first place?
(Prurience? Envy?) The are truly obsessed with it. But why should they care one way or another
about what’s going on in the privacy of other people’s bedrooms? What
business is it of theirs, anyway? I say their fixation with homosexuality is far
more abnormal than any homosexual relationship that ever existed. This deep-seated
fascination/obsession with homosexuality by fundamentalists requires a lot of
explaining, but I haven’t heard anything yet that makes any sense. I do not
understand it.
However, I do have
a suggestion. Christians, why don’t you get your pruriently obsessed noses our
of other people’s sex lives, and get out there and do something positive.
Feed some starving children! Help inner city children get an education. Fight
drugs in our schools. But stop your totally negative, inexcusable anti-gay
campaign that only fuels the fires of, and helps validate, hate crimes. And Mr.
Falwell, consider this: Your own bigoted rhetoric undoubtedly played a part in
the horrific death of an innocent young man.
©
1998 Judith Hayes
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