Fuck Religion

Last night I was having a very interesting conversation about all of the things religion has to offer. Today I read this statement put out by the Catholic Archbishop of Guam.

Islamic fundamentalists clearly understand the damage that homosexual behavior inflicts on a culture. This is why they repress such behavior by death...It may be brutal at times, but any culture that is able to produce wave after wave of suicide bombers... is a culture that at least knows how to value self sacrifice.

Basically a Catholic bishop in the United States (for those of you who aren't so good at geography, Guam is a US territory) just held up Islamic fundamentalist suicide bombers as examples to which we should aspire because they have no qualms about using murder to repress gay people.

The statement was made in response bill in the Guam legislature which would legalize same sex domestic partnerships. The effort to pass the bill is led by B.J. Cruz, an openly gay legislator who was – wait for it – abused by a priest when he was a child.

Un. Fucking. Believable.

Via Andrew Sullivan, via Slog.

Should Mormon Polygamy Be Legalized?

I just watched this BBC report about the campaign in Utah to legalize Mormon polygamy. The video, which is an interview with what appears to be a very healthy polygamous Morman family.

I've always had some problems with the Mormon version of polygamy -- which should more accurately be called polygyny since in true polygamy a woman would be allowed to have multiple husbands but the Mormons don't allow it. But the children in this video certainly don't seem to be living under the threat of underage arranged marriage and everyone seems quite satisfied with their lifestyle.

I do support polyamory (which, let's face it, is a term we made up because the Mormons had given "polygamy" a funny aftertaste), so why am I so uncomfortable about Mormon polygamy? Mormon refusal to embrace polyandry (one woman, many men) is definitely party of it. The fact that it is religiously prescribed is also a part of it (though the daughters in the video certainly seem to have freedom of choice). And we've all heard to most egregious cases of arranged marriage and victimization of underaged girls. But wouldn't those excesses be easier to stop if polygamous marriage was legal?

So, while I have some reservations about the Mormon religion, I say group marriage should be legal -- for Mormons and for anybody else, polygynous, polyandrous or tribe, straight, gay, bisexual, trans or gender queer.

Although one cynical thought did enter my head -- wouldn't it be ironic if the entire campaign were sabotaged by gay people from California?

This week in Christianity

We lost one of the good ones...

Bishop Melvin Wheatley, an outspoken Methodist minister and human rights advocate, died earlier this month in Mission Viejo, Calif. He was 93.

Wheatley was known for his sometimes unpopular stances on issues like gay rights and interfaith tolerance. In 1980, Wheatley publicly refused to support a statement by fellow Methodist bishops calling homosexuality "incompatible with Christian teaching," according to the Los Angeles Times.

...and the band ones are still on the march!

The Pope courted further controversy on his first trip to Africa today by declaring that condoms were not a solution to the Aids epidemic – but were instead part of the problem.

The Pure Bed - Website Review

A few weeks ago while surfing the web for sites about sex -- 'cause it's what I do... -- I ran across what has to be the strangest sex site I've ever seen. It's called The Pure Bed, a "married couples intimacy store." Let me translate that: this is a website that sells sex toys for Christians!

This site has to be seen to be believed. Between condemnation of pornography ("") and links to Focus on the Family's website, The Pure Bed sells everything necessary to make your relatively vanilla fantasies come true -- scented candles, sensual massage oil, pink and lacy lingerie, sex games and, of course, "marital aids" (known to most non-Christians as "vibrators").

The site also contains a lot of information for Christians:

"Sexual practices among married couples, especially those of the Christian and some other faiths, are often complicated by a lack of context and guidelines for acceptable sexual practices. (...) Equally as unfortunate, many places of worship and many homes fail to adequately provide direction -- leaving a needless sense of taboo concerning what constitutes healthy sexual practice. Because our worship centers tend to teach the negatives of sex (adultery, fornication) without a balanced view for the gift of it in marriage, sex is treated as the forbidden fruit both in and out of the church."

I'm of two minds about this site. I think it's great to know that someone is out there encouraging Christians to have hot sex. That's got to be cause for celebration, right? God knows (pardon the pun) there are too many uptight Bible thumping prudes running around this country.

BUT... while the site doesn't explicitly condemn anything but porn, it doesn't even deign to mention extra-marital sex. In that one move, a stroke of cowardly brilliance, it ducks a whole world of questions. Since we're only discussing monogamous married couples the site doesn't have to say anything about contraception, STIs or gay sex of any kind. That leaves only porn to verbally smite (the creators of the site should look a little more closely at some of the pictures in their lingerie section!). The Pure Bed also sticks its head in the sand and refuses to mention certain sex acts that married couples could enjoy. There are no butt plugs, floggers or restraints anywhere to be found. There are no books containing information about sex.

This site deserves a mixed verdict, I'm afraid. It's nice to see, but a lot of the ludicrous Christian sexual taboos are still on display at The Pure Bed which is too bad -- more than any other cause, those taboos are what drive people away from Christian spirituality.

Gays vs. Mormons

The Mormon Church donated as much as 80 percent of the funds raised to pass Proposition 8 in California. You have to admit that's somewhat ironic coming from a group that has famously had its marriage rights attacked. Mormon groups from Utah helped to finance a misinformation campaign that scared some Californians into voting for the measure by falsely claiming that without it schools would be required to teach about same-sex marriage, that parents would have no control over what their children learned about sex in school, that churches would be forced to change their doctrine, and that people could be sued for anti-gay beliefs.

There have been numerous groups that have recently suggested punishing the Mormon Church in some way. A number of activists and blogs, such as America Blog, have begun doing research into the possibilities. Gays have already showed their displeasure at a protest at the headquarters of the Church of Latter Day Saints in Salt Lake City on Friday night.

A few other ideas retaliatory ideas have been floated. Mormons Stole Our Rights, a new website, is dedicated to revoking the Mormon Church's tax-exempt status as a religious institution. The law says that religious institutions must refrain from significant lobbying efforts and trying to affect legislation. However it isn't clear if the Mormon Church violated the letter of the law, since it did not give money to the Yes on Prop 8 campaign, just encouraged its members to do so.

Another idea is to take our displeasure out on Mormon-owned businesses, a surprisingly long list of large corporations, including American Express, the Marriott Hotel, Dell Computer, Novell and Priceline.com. Check the Mormon Stock Index for a complete list.

The most extreme notion that I've heard is a boycott of the entire state of Utah. Utah rakes in a lot of money each year through tourism and some gay activists think that boycotting Utah ski resorts, national parks and the Sundance Film Festival might send a powerful message to the Mormons.