My Sunday Thought for September 20, 2015: LGBT Conservatism

"Culture is not like HDTV or iPhones where the newest model is the best."

-- Star Parker, Center for Urban Renewal and Education founder

Note:  Once again, due to political content, this will not be posted to the monastery blog.  My apologies to those ministers  following my work.  Please feel free to share this post at your own peril.

I am constantly amazed by people I respect having so little tolerance for those that just want to get along.  A rabble rousing minority or individual, in a well-meaning group, can stir a pot to the point of making a complete mess of the majority of their lives, the lives of those that simply wish to move along at a quietly steady pace and accept that any change will occur in God's own good time without pissing everyone off and, thereby, incurring condemnation of the whole.  The LGBT community deals with these extreme factions in their midst more than they need to but, then, look what they have to fend off from the outside.

I want you to consider what Star Parker, founder and president of the Center for Urban Renewal and Education (CURE), says in the statement above. She is all about arguing the benefits of a static, unchanging, "culture."  I agree with her to a point. Where we diverge is when she discusses this "culture." Confused?  Before you continue reading this, I ask you to read her short article from 2011, Gay Conservative Is an Oxymoron.

Now, if you read the article, you will note that Ms. Parker is a woman of color arguing that our "culture" is not open to change, "where the newest model is best." So, our culture of slavery would seem to have been perfectly acceptable? Star would seem to be an intelligent person, and her CURE group would bear out her concern for societal issues.  I got the impression, and it could be wrong, that she is a born again Christian, having straightened her life out and found a new path of helping others.  I found it interesting that her life would seem to have geared her to lean more toward Obama liberalism than conservatism, but there is a distinct lack of "gray area" which her entire slam to the LGBT community would be all about. You have to be one or the other, conservative or liberal; there is no room for compromise.  Really?  This argument comes right out of the far right, Conservative Christian, handbook.

As a lifelong conservative myself, I see plenty of room for compromise.  I think where her issue really rests is in her paragraph, "I became a conservative in church. I thought I was doing okay in my previous life - scamming the welfare system, going to the beach, soaking in my welfare subsidized hot tub, treating sex as a hobby, and abortion as birth control."  I say again... Holy crap!  A liberal!  But, wait... there seemed to have been room for change. Unfortunately, "change" in her new view entitles others to be damned for all eternity if they don't meet her expectations of righteous.

Fortunately, most of us understand culture is prone to change.  Culture is a robust, vibrant, living part of our lives in which, like everything else, change is the only constant.  Change enables us to remove the worst of culture and retain the best. It is a way to stop the tribal mutilation of female genitals, worldwide slavery, chauvinism, racism, and other cultural "norms."  It is a way for religion to understand the reason for eating fish on Friday, and not eating pork at all, was a cultural necessity back when pork wasn't safe to eat, and good fish were cheap.  God bless the Vatican for waking up to reality.  Even the pope recognizes culture can change.

Ms. Parker's heart is in the right place, but she seems to have fallen prey to the rubber band effect of change.  She has snapped back so far right from center, she has become as bad as the liberals she detests by seemingly "dismissing" gay conservatives as "losers,” “clowns,” and “not relevant," an attitude which reflects that of the GOProud founder and chairman's attitude toward groups Ms. Parker finds more worthy of respect.  Thus, I find her arguments a tad hypocritical, but maybe it's just me.

LGBT conservatism in the United States is a political and social movement rooted in the LGBT community that aligns largely with the American conservative movement. The LGBT community has generally fallen to the left of the right-wing conservative movement, and has predominantly favored itself on the side of liberalism and progressives. LGBT conservatism emphasizes fiscal conservatism, libertarian conservatism, neoconservatism, strong patriotism, capitalism, and free markets.

-- Wikipedia, "LGBT Conservatism in the United States"

She accuses liberals of using "language to create reality, rather than appreciate that words have meaning that reflect reality."  We agree on this.  However, our reality is a product of our definition, and our definition is all about the wording, the language we use to describe it. Liberal or conservative, our reality needs defining and, as we grow, learn, and progress, it requires redefining.  We will, in time, and with new discoveries in science, philosophy, and even religion, re-invent the word "gay" and "marriage," and even "liberal" and "conservative."  In doing so, we will inevitably re-invent our definition of what it means to be "free."  This makes real sense for us, as our country is all about freedom.  She has the freedom to believe in what she wants; as do those she disagrees with.  

If she feels as strongly as she proclaims, we can always find a final solution to the problems she sees.  We can round up everyone that doesn't meet the definition of culturally pure, build "showers" and heat up row upon row of furnaces to rid ourselves of the difference, the cultural diversity.  She is correct when she states "that words have meaning that reflect reality."  Hitler used words to great effect and at great loss of valuable human life.  The reality of his words, however, was lost on the millions of innocents he sent to their death.  His diatribe was "language used to create reality," but a reality existing only in the minds of his sociopathic following.

Ms. Parker ends her article with a truism: "A value-neutral government is impossible. The central battle in our country today is about values and how we understand freedom. It is a battle for our very soul. And, as we learned from CPAC, it’s not a struggle that is just between Democrats and Republicans."  Again, we agree, and I have to repeat my confusion as to how such an intelligent person can be so contradictory.  

After 62 years of life I have learned many truths which Ms. Parker hasn't shaken out of her rhetoric, though she speaks to them often.  We can't blame liberals and conservatives for our ills any more than we can blame Republicans and Democrats (yes, they are four separate, sometimes inclusive, groups).  A "battle" would be an inappropriate description as our goals are similar.  

I think, therefore I am?  I want to feed the poor, so I'm a liberal?  No.  If I just wanted to hand out fish and loaves like they miraculously fill baskets without an outlay of cash, maybe so, but when the fish belong to other people it might be more prudent to give those in need a pole and teach them, those that can, how to fish, so they can be proud, productive members of society.  Generally, I think we all have the same goals for our society.  If our goal is seriously extreme, it may not speak to what we, as a society, believe.  The route we take to arrive at any reasonable goal, however, speaks volumes.  It is all about how we arrive at our destination of common values and freedom.  It is a struggle for teaching, learning, understanding, compassion, tolerance, love and forgiveness.  You know, Ms. Parker, all the best parts of spirituality, religion, and morality. 

In researching material for this post I came across an interesting item by Evelyn Schlatter, of the Southern Poverty Law Center, entitled, "18 ANTI-GAY GROUPS AND THEIR PROPAGANDA."

I have included the link at the bottom of this excerpt, and check out the underlined links within the body:

"Even as some well-known anti-gay groups like Focus on the Family moderate their views, a hard core of smaller groups, most of them religiously motivated, have continued to pump out demonizing propaganda aimed at homosexuals and other sexual minorities. These groups’ influence reaches far beyond what their size would suggest, because the “facts” they disseminate about homosexuality are often amplified by certain politicians, other groups and even news organizations. Of the 18 groups profiled below, the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) will be listing 13 next year as hate groups, reflecting further research into their views; those are each marked with an asterisk. Generally, the SPLC’s listings of these groups is based on their propagation of known falsehoods — claims about LGBT people that have been thoroughly discredited by scientific authorities — and repeated, groundless name-calling. Viewing homosexuality as unbiblical does not qualify organizations for listing as hate groups."

-- https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/intelligence-report/2015/18-anti-gay-groups-and-their-propaganda

Is Star Parker's article to be simply relegated to religiously motivated "demonizing propaganda?"  Or, does what she state strike a chord within us?  I think this is a question for each of us to ponder as we travel along our path to enlightenment.

As for me, I like a bit of wiggle room; a bit of gray area.  I think it allows us to disagree, yet be tolerant of other opinions.  The gray area puts condemnation back in the hands of God which, according to scripture, is where it truly belongs; lest the accuser find themselves on the receiving end of the wrath they fear for others.

Note:  For those readers interested in more information about the gay conservative movement, I came across the following sites during research:

http://www.gaypatriot.net/category/gay-conservatives/
http://www.logcabin.org/

Editor's Note 

(re: disclaimer cum "get out of jail free" card) 

Before you go getting your panties in a bunch, it is essential to understand that this is just an opinion site and, as such, can be subjected to scrutiny by anyone with a differing opinion. It doesn't make either opinion any more right or wrong than the other. An opinion, presented in this context, is a way of inciting others to think and, hopefully, to form opinions of their own, if they haven't already done so.

It is my fervent hope that we keep open and active minds when reading opinions and then engaging in peaceful, constructive, discussion and debate in an arena of mutual respect concerning the opinions put forth. After over twenty years as a military intelligence analyst, planner, and briefer, I have come to believe engaging each other in this manner and in this arena is the way we will learn tolerance and respect for differing beliefs, cultures, and viewpoints.

We all fall from grace, some more often than others; it is part of being human. God's test for us is what we do afterward, and what we learn from the experience.

Frank Anthony Villari (aka, Pastor Tony)

Pastor Tony is founder of the Congregation for Religious Tolerance and author/editor of the Congregation's official blog site, "The Path."