Homophobia and Religious Fundamentalism

Marriage equality has been in the news lately, what with the overturning of California’s unconstitutional Prop 8. I wrote the following a while back, thought it worthwhile to re-post it… I think it’s quite simple: if you don’t believe in gay marriage, don’t marry one. Period. Your religion? You’re free to practice your religion, but you’re not free to impose it on others. There are countries where you can do that and if you don’t like it here, you can move.

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The issue of gay marriage is always a hot button topic (which is really a civil rights issue!). Opposition, especially in the Bible Belt and among religious conservatives, has been fierce, religion being used as the weapon of choice against homosexuality. Of equal importance, in terms of the national polity, has been the issue of religious extremism, or religious fundamentalism. Unfortunately, we have our own homegrown extremism right here in the states, though you wouldn't be able to tell.

Nothing has been more effective in uncovering the dark side of homophobia than the work of researchers. One researcher, who interviewed over 400 men incarcerated for gay-bashing noted that the gay bashers generally saw nothing wrong in what they did, and more often than not, stated that their religious leaders and traditions condoned their behavior. One particular adolescent stated that the pastor of his church had said, “Homosexuals represent the devil, Satan,” and that the Rev. Jerry Falwell had echoed that charge.

More eye-opening was the research by psychologists suggesting that 80 percent of men who are homophobic have secret homosexual feelings. In studies conducted by Henry E. Adams of the University of Georgia, the results of which were published in the Journal of Abnormal Psychology, homophobic men who scored high on a questionnaire measure of aversion to gay males experienced arousal when exposed to gay porn. Here, homophobia was operationally defined as the degree of “dread” experienced when placed in close quarters with a homosexual -- basically, how comfortable or uncomfortable the person was in interacting with gay people. This group were shown gay sex videos. Four out of five became sexually aroused by the homoerotic imagery, as recorded by a penile circumference measuring device -- a plethysmograph.

Prof. Adams says his research shows that most homophobes “demonstrate significant sexual arousal to homosexual erotic stimuli,” suggesting that homophobia is a form of “latent homosexuality where persons are either unaware of or deny their homosexual urges.”

Fundamentalist Christians and others opposed to equality for the LGBT community almost always appeal to the moral imperatives of the Bible, claiming that Scripture is very clear on the matter, often citing verses that support their opinion. If others disagree, they accuse them of perverting and distorting texts contrary to their “clear” meaning. However, if one were to investigate further they are not so clear when it comes to economic conduct (the so-called “free market”), the responsibilities of wealth, and greed.

If We Were Made in His Image Then Call Us By Our Names

A week or so ago, my wife's grandmother had triple bypass heart surgery. As she was about six hours into her surgery, we all waited in the waiting room as did everyone else with a loved one going under the surgeon's knife. The mood was quite somber throughout the entire room, and it was to be expected. When you have a relative or someone you love under anesthesia it can be a quite scary time.

The one thing I noticed, was that most of the people in waiting were overweight. To be honest, some of them were morbidly obese, which I thought was rather ironic considering that we were all sitting in the cardiac wing of the hospital. I don't know about the rest of the people there, but I noticed, and I have it thought. Just that visit alone reinforced my commitment to getting healthier.

When we left the waiting room and headed back to the parking lot, we encountered and elderly White couple. When I say elderly, I mean, I can promise you, I thought I saw the angel of death lurking just directly behind them looking at his watch. The sidewalk wasn't wide enough, so my wife stopped behind me to let them by as I wheeled our 18mth old towards the car. The lady smiled at me, and then spoke to my wife. From a short distance I thought I heard the usual, "My, my, my, what a beautiful baby you have." Yeah, this is something I've gotten used to especially when encountering elderly women with a baby in tow; yeah, old women love babies.

A few seconds later after that brief encounter, my wife caught up to me and had this certain look on her face. It's a look that I know all too well; it's the look that often has me ushering the "what did I do wrong this time," line. This time, before I could ask, she said, "That was the most racist thing I've heard in a very long time." I was lost because I thought the lady was just being nice as all old ladies do when they see babies. So I ask, "What’s so racist about saying what a beautiful baby you have?" To which she replied, "Nothing." So now I'm confused and apparently from the look on her face she was confused as well. She then looked at me and said, "Did you not hear what she said?" To which I told her what I heard the lady say. It was then that my wife corrected me; obviously what I thought I heard was wrong. Actually, what the old lady said was...

"Why do y'all always have the prettiest babies?"

Ok, so that was when it hit me that yes, this was indeed a racist statement. No seriously, when my wife repeated it, I translated it to mean, "you niggers sure do make some pretty babies...it's a damn shame y'all get ugly when you grow up!" Yeah, that's what that pretty much translated to in my opinion. I don't know what you think, but am I wrong? If this is true, are all White babies ugly? My wife was a little bit upset as I was still trying to process it as we walked towards the car. I didn't want to dwell too much on it more than I had to. So I just chalked it up to her being old and from another period in time here in the south. It was then that my mind was taken a back to the line I used to say or hear as a child in Catholic school and church...

FORGIVE THEM FATHER, FOR THEY KNOW NOT WHAT THEY DO.

Instead of getting upset, I just chalked it up to that. I mean after all, God did make that woman and pretty much all the other racists in this country in his image and his likeness, no? Well RiPPa, God made everybody in his image and likeness! Sorry buddy, but my grandma and pretty much everybody else's had a picture of White Jesus on their walls; I hate to tell you this but that's neither my image nor my likeness.

It is with this understanding that I come to the conclusion that racism, will never die. It may grow old and wrinkled like the lady I'm speaking of, but it will forever live on. To quote the eccentric music artist Erykah Badu in closing: if we were made in his image then call us by his name. A very deep and profound statement. It kinda makes me wonder if I or any other Black person referred to as a Nigger as a pejorative, should feel honored to be of God-like status. After all, aren't we all made in his image?

Recommended reading: "Niggerology"