Sunday, December 21, 2008
Quote of the Day!
9 comments
Our new friend and idol, Rick Warren, offered this pearl of wisdom, as it was written on MSNBC:
There are so many things wrong with this statement that I have no idea where to begin.
"I have many gay friends. I've eaten dinner in gay homes. No church has probably done more for people with AIDS than Saddleback Church," he said in a recent interview with BeliefNet. But later in the interview, he compared the "redefinition of marriage" to include gay marriage to legitimizing incest, child abuse, and polygamy.
There are so many things wrong with this statement that I have no idea where to begin.
- I wish people would stop using the excuse "I have many gay friends" to justify their anti-gay views. It reminds me of this documentary by Spike Lee on the segregation laws in the South, in which he interviewed this mayor who was key proponent of segregation laws. The mayor specifically brought his token Black friend with him to the interview just so he could say repeatedly, "This is my best friend." Having a gay/Black friend is NOT your "get out of jail free" card. It's not an excuse.
- "Gay homes"? Homes that are gay? Homosexual houses? What?
- Why does he bring up the fact that his church helps fight AIDS? Clearly, Mr. Warren associates AIDS with gay people. Clearly, we're back in 1985.
- Rick Warren wins for Hypocrite of the Year. Let's tell the public how much we love homosexuals, and then associate them getting married with incest, child abuse, and polygamy! Funny way of showing love.
Posts
December 21, 2008 at 1:29 PM
This comment has been removed by the author.
December 21, 2008 at 7:37 PM
Well, in most countries gay men, drug injectors and sex workers ARE the ones most at risk. Otherwise he says a lot of crap.
December 21, 2008 at 7:51 PM
Anonymous - AIDS has the highest rate in young, African-American females at this time. Are you going to blame their AIDS on their black-ness? As was said, it's not 1985. Things are changed. AIDS isn't a "gay epidemic". It's a world wide, class-wide, race-wide, etc. epidemic.
December 21, 2008 at 8:37 PM
Of course others are affected but heterosexual sex IS the hardest way to pass on HIV. I guess what I'm trying to say is we can't ignore the groups I mentioned in my earlier post (along with people in prison) if we are trying to help others like black women and yet the other groups are often ignored when trying to do something about HIV. America's government has not funded any needle sharing programs anywhere. Drugs are used in prisons. There are bisexual men who don't always use condoms.
Here are a couple articles that try to explain why so many black women are infected.
http://www.slate.com/id/2108724/
http://www.allaboutblackhealth.com/black_women_in_us_23_times_as_li.htm
It sounds like a very understudied question unfortunately.
December 21, 2008 at 8:42 PM
Also note I said, "in most countries" in my post. The United States is certainly becoming one of the exceptions along with many countries in Africa.
December 22, 2008 at 12:13 AM
"Anonymous" - The highest rising spread of HIV in the world is on the continent of Africa- just thought you'd like to know.
And the only reason it's considered "easier" for gay men to spread HIV is because unsafe, careless anal sex make it's easier to spread HIV because the area is so sensitive and able to tear/bleed easily. Plenty of people engage in anal sex. It is possible for ANYONE having unprotected sex to contract HIV from an HIV positive partner. So it is essential for everyone to protect themselves.
Any yes, Amy- don't you know that houses have sexes and sexuality? Can you be sure that your home doesn't have flings with other homes while you're away? Gay people tend to buy gay houses, just as straight people buy straight houses. It gets more complicated dealing with other sexual types and apartment buildings, though... ;)
December 22, 2008 at 2:38 AM
Of course it's spreading fastest in Africa. It could be spreading that fast in Asia and South America, but countries like Thailand, Brazil and China concentrated more of their efforts on the most at-risk populations before it got to be a problem in the general population.
Anyway, yes, it is essential for everyone to protect themselves though if HIV prevention focused mostly on the most at-risk groups, then the protection would mainly be for other STIs.
December 22, 2008 at 1:17 PM
I love that "gay people" is interchangeable with "people with aids." Well done Rick Warren... fuck you for sharing my last name.
December 22, 2008 at 5:05 PM
Did you know that Rick Warren's church won't let "unrepentent homosexuals" be members of their church? They are more then welcome to attend and perhaps go to their program that tries to "cure" people of gayness, but they aren't welcome to be permanent members. Nice...