The Religious Right Meets Leo
Lions - Attack the Religious Right!
Raise your hackles, bare your teeth, roar and get ready to pounce: the lions are hungry...and at war. We need to feed on the self-righteous, not because they taste good, but because they attacked us first. In fact, they’ve been attacking us for many years, but good as we have been - like little lambs – we’ve let them hunt us with their guns & scriptures while we defend ourselves with… Murphy Brown and Will & Grace, a smattering of congressmen, some mayors, several outspoken ministers and a bishop. Oh, and let’s not forget “friends of friends of friends…”ad infinitum. Come on! Instead of trying to hold our ground, we need to attack.
That’s right. Attack.
When people who have been scourged by scripture started to come out of their respective closets in the 70’s (feminists as well as gays), I’m sure they thought “Well, after we’re out, they’ll eventually love and accept us for who we are because we’re basically good people.” And some people DID love and accept us. Except the Southern Baptists, Islam, the Hassidim, the Pentecostals, the Vatican, the Greek Orthodox, Mormons, Anglicans, Lutherans, Anabaptists, Jehovah’s Witnesses, Seventh-Day Adventists and the thousands of denominations that have “God” “Christ” “Jesus” or “Missionary” in their names. Oh, and don’t forget Bob Marley’s Rastafarians. We were comparatively fluffy kittens back then yet they aimed their guns at us and haven’t dropped us from their sites yet.
Here is a marvelous quote from a British journalist thinking along the same lines while refering to the latgest threat:
Raise your hackles, bare your teeth, roar and get ready to pounce: the lions are hungry...and at war. We need to feed on the self-righteous, not because they taste good, but because they attacked us first. In fact, they’ve been attacking us for many years, but good as we have been - like little lambs – we’ve let them hunt us with their guns & scriptures while we defend ourselves with… Murphy Brown and Will & Grace, a smattering of congressmen, some mayors, several outspoken ministers and a bishop. Oh, and let’s not forget “friends of friends of friends…”ad infinitum. Come on! Instead of trying to hold our ground, we need to attack.
That’s right. Attack.
When people who have been scourged by scripture started to come out of their respective closets in the 70’s (feminists as well as gays), I’m sure they thought “Well, after we’re out, they’ll eventually love and accept us for who we are because we’re basically good people.” And some people DID love and accept us. Except the Southern Baptists, Islam, the Hassidim, the Pentecostals, the Vatican, the Greek Orthodox, Mormons, Anglicans, Lutherans, Anabaptists, Jehovah’s Witnesses, Seventh-Day Adventists and the thousands of denominations that have “God” “Christ” “Jesus” or “Missionary” in their names. Oh, and don’t forget Bob Marley’s Rastafarians. We were comparatively fluffy kittens back then yet they aimed their guns at us and haven’t dropped us from their sites yet.
Here is a marvelous quote from a British journalist thinking along the same lines while refering to the latgest threat:
"Some might compare the religious right to a snake," a Wichita evangelist, Terry Fox, told the New York Times. "We may be in our hole right now, but we can come out and bite you at any time." It's time for progressives to get out of their hole and find some teeth.*
Lion’s teeth, to be sure. I’d love to found a special “Lion’s Club” to spearhead a movement to disarm the Religious Right.
One rabid fundamentalist stated: “Well, you just picture us all as either Elmer Gantry…or Elmer Fudd!” Very apt description, but we must all remember that in the cartoons, Fudd’s the one with the gun.
*Gary Younge – The Guardian
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