Now that Washington state has enacted a Gay Rights bill, can BOYCOTTARAMA not be around the corner?
THE PETULANTS
Washington state can provide a cornucopia of products and services from which anti-gay believers may choose.
DON’T FLY ON AIRPLANES FOR WHICH NAMES BEGIN WITH NUMERAL SEVEN!!
PACIFIC SALMON IS SATAN’S GARAGE DOOR OPENER
MICROSOFT IS..er… (They may have a point.)
EVE ATE A WASHINGTON STATE APPLE
Generally speaking, my long experience with the Roman Catholic Church has provided enough fodder to stoke my anti-clericism. It had been my practice to shy from discussions of the other beliefs and sects. But, any claim to intellectual indifference has become null and void because of the daily assaults by many of the so-called Christian Right, Conservative Christians, Born-Agains or Pharisees–whatever the ‘nom de cable.’ It is painfully obvious that remaining silent fails to stem the roar from the Petulants.
Yes, that is the name I have assigned to those who believe religion is only worthy if it may be used to bludgeon all within and without earshot. Petulants live in a state of constant outrage as innocuous human activities set them to wailing about the sinfulness of society. After having been reared to believe in the “live-and-let-live” philosophy, this in-your- face religious fervor had previously seemed almost quaint. In retrospect, their anger was a humorous interlude from life’s real problems. But, those zany calls against something or someone named Tinky Winky were serious. The more ridiculous the charge; the louder the attack. News organizations treated these Ripley-like outrages with the same cutesy delivery given to stories of a hyena’s adopting a stray piglet. There was a major difference. The hyena knows better than to proselytize.
What has silence brought us? Creationism (aka Intelligent Design) is certainly the most obvious affront to our future as a society which must use scientific knowledge to aid humankind’s relation with the planet. Nevertheless, Ten Commandment displays, prayer in the classroom, bible studies in public schools, the so-called war on Christmas and other faith-based causes take their toll.
The establishment clause in the Constitution was not a spur of the moment insertion. Almost two hundred years of social behavior provided the foundation as the Pilgrims were the first Americans to push for a separation of church and state. After all, it had more than a little to do with their booking passage on the Mayflower. As for the Christmas traditions, a cursory look at U.S. history provides all one needs to know about the celebration as something practiced by Irish and German immigrants–not the established Protestant denominations. The Petulants simply seem incapable of minding their own business–a problem exacerbated by devoting too little time reading anything not starting with “Holy” or “King James.”
No one likes a nudge. Even flagellants only beat the snot out of themselves. Unless one happens to be downtown during one of their Mummer-style parades, their existence bothers no one. Penitents usually are too involved in purchasing the right grade of sackcloth to have spare time to berate others. One of my favorite sects is the snake-handling group one sees in the tri-state area of West Virginia, Kentucky and Tennessee. Liturgy as practiced by these folks takes Sunday service to a higher level. Substituting an adult Cottonmouth or Coral snake for frankincense or holy water has certainly earned my respect.
Maybe I suffer from an optimism unproven by fact, but I still believe the news coverage given the Petulants far exceeds the strength of their actual following. Animal-story stakes have become higher. Cats in trees cannot compete with items about 30 whales putting ashore at a jazz club in Hermosa Beach or a solitary blue whale steaming down the Seine. Did not CNN see fit to hire a “Faith ‘n Bagora” correspondent in order to get first dibs on values and morals? When producers find that America has moved on to other problems like War, Famine, Pestilence ‘n Death, the march of the Petulants will land in the 180–200 range channel numbers. If they don’t, the Four Horsemen will have to add a member–and it won’t be Curly Joe Durita.