Punctum Saliens

at the reaction by Signs of the Times to the (self-named) Dyke March in Boston. Maddex basically says that this small group of homosexuals in Boston is a representative sample of homosexuals everywhere and every gay and lesbian acts the same way all the time.

Maddex says:

If gays are the same as the rest of us—if their lifestyles are normal and wrongly maligned—then how do you explain the unhealthy obsession with sex and indecency that is the hallmark of their parades?

Unhealthy obsession with sex and indecency? Have you looked at the heterosexual world lately? TV ads that use sex to sell everything from deodorant to automobiles. Frat parties. Strip clubs. Pornography. Rapes. Mardi Gras. I say there’s a lot of unhealthy obsession in the heterosexual world, too. Then there’s the obsession with sex from the other side of the fence. Anti-homosexual propaganda. Hate crimes. Sex for reproduction only. Missionary position only sex. This, also, is unhealthy obsession.

One would think that if homosexuals were truly psychologically healthy individuals, they would behave like upstanding individuals rather than work themselves up into a debauched lather whenever they congregate.

But just a lather is ok as in college and professional sports, political rantings and ravings, fire and brimstone preaching, anti-_______ (fill in the blank with whatever your favorite pet peeve is) soapbox sermons. We humans act like upstanding individuals about 10% of the time, if you ask me. And for many reasons other than homosexuality.

If you want someone to accept your lifestyle, isn’t the best strategy to show how unthreatening it is?

Didn’t work for Jesus. Doesn’t work for Red Sox fans. Doesn’t work for most evangelicals who insist that we all accept their lifestyle and beliefs and threaten us with hell.

Basically it comes down to this: every single race, group, belief, denomination, faith, age, gender, or whatever, has someone you can point at and say, “Look at how awful that person is.” The problem is when we then generalize based on that person. I could write a similar post as Maddex’s decrying Baptists by citing Fred Phelps and his outrageous, hateful, cruel actions and words. We do it all the time with Muslims, Blacks, men, women, atheists, punks, people with tattoos, etc.