By The Cranky Housewife -
Now, of course it is 2012 and one should not say such things about members of America’s favorite, permanent victim class. That was mistake number one. And clearly Cardinal George did not get the most recent memo on political correctness and Klan comparisons which clearly states in bold type that all said Klan references shall be directed to and against members of the Tea Party movement and that the aforementioned Tea Party members shall bear such comparisons with dignity and grace by turning the other cheek, because it is right and proper to level politically charged accusations upon conservatives. They have it coming to them. Not to worry. This breech of name-calling protocol has been duly noted and a reprimand has been placed in the Cardinal’s etiquette file on behalf of the Tea Party which now feels slighted that they must share their misapplied label with LGBT groups. I’m just saying.
Beyond that, I’m struggling to understand why various LGBT advocacy groups are feigning such outrage over the Cardinal’s fairly benign statement by calling his words hurtful and brazen…brazen. That one’s still kind of ringing in my ears. Hold on just a second. I’m curious. Can we please take a moment to examine how the LGBT defines brazen these days? Quote Cardinal George:
“You don’t want the Gay Liberation movement to morph into something like the Ku Klux Klan, demonstrating in the streets against Catholicism.”
Oh, yes. Well, that certainly is brazen. I’m blushing with incredulity. Keep in mind, Cardinal George did not say that the Gay Liberation movement is like the Ku Klux Klan but that it runs the risk of becoming like the Klan if it pursues or encourages anti-Catholic sentiment. Still, I’m a little fuzzy on why the Cardinal would even suggest that the LGBT runs this risk in the first place. All this handwringing because the Gay Pride Parade was scheduled to pass in front of Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church in Chicago at the same time that the parish’s Mass was to let out? Kind of odd jump in logic. Don’t you think? The parade route is fairly long and one assumes that all sorts businesses and organizations will come into contact with its participants. Why would Cardinal George worry about Our Lady parishioners and not customers coming out of McDonald’s for instance?
Is there some concern that the parade participants are angry with the Catholic Church as well as Evangelical denominations and would take the opportunity to harass parishioners? How random is that? Of course, LGBT groups vehemently maintain that this is an unfair accusation. Quoting Randy Hanning, "The LGBT community has no desire to 'stifle the religious freedom of the Catholic Church,' as the Cardinal states." But then why would this even cross the minds of Our Lady parishioners? Again, that seems like an odd and fairly random concern when we all know that it's Christianity which is closed-minded about homosexuality and not the other way around. One only needs to watch a half an hour or so of TVs primetime line up for a quick 101 on that fine point. Could there be any historical context associated with Gay Liberation that might help shed light on the misunderstanding or is this just some random prejudice that Our Lady parishioners are expressing? Good question.
And this is a pull quote from Catholic Online, so keep that in mind as you read this…but it might help us to understand some confusion over the intentions of the Gay Liberation Movement which churchgoers might be experiencing:
“On Sunday, November 9 [2008], a band of about 30 gays [and lesbians] stormed a church in Lansing, Michigan. Some were well dressed and were stationed inside Mount Hope Church; others were outside dressed in pink and black. The group of self-described homosexual anarchists, Bash Back! claims the evangelical church is guilty of “transphobia and homophobia.”
The protesters outside the church were beating on buckets, shouting “Jesus was a homo” on a megaphone and carrying an upside-down pink cross. Fire alarms went off inside the church, protesters stormed the pulpit and a huge rainbow-colored flag was unfurled with the inscription, “IT’S OKAY TO BE GAY! BASH BACK!” The church was vandalized, obscenities were shouted and worshippers were confronted. There were no arrests.”
Setting aside the lingering question of, “What exactly is a homosexual anarchist?” for a moment because my mind is just a-buzzing with that concept…I certainly wouldn’t want to suggest that this report represents actions taken by the entire LGBT population. That would be unfair. And presumptuous. It was Michigan and it was three years ago and it wasn’t even a Catholic Church.
Of course, there is this cached page from The Gay Manifesto dated February 14, 2011 which states:
“All the persecution and violence directed against Gay and Lesbian Americans is rooted in the teachings of the Christian church. An effective way to combat this institutionalized homophobia is to stage protests in front of these houses of worship every Sunday morning.
Christians smugly justify their bigotry against us by claiming that they love the homosexual but hate the sin of homosexuality. This is a ridiculous claim but it eases their guilty conscience. If they are forced to walk through an angry wall of Gays and Lesbians every Sunday morning they will quickly realize that you cannot separate the homosexuality from the homosexual.”
Or this from February of 2011 off the LifeSite News website:
“The Gay Liberation Network staged the rally on the eve of Valentine’s Day, shouting and chanting loudly as churchgoers entered to celebrate Sunday Mass. The demonstration’s primary target was Cardinal Francis George of Chicago, who has spoken out in defense of traditional marriage between a man and a woman. Protesters had staged a similar disruption around the same time last year.”
But if the LGBT community maintains that it has no desire to “stifle the religious freedom of the Catholic Church” then we probably need to take them at their word in spite of these actions against religious expression. And since the central focus of the LGBT has shifted toward forcing the resignation of Cardinal George over his statement on Christmas about the Gay Pride parade, then we certainly ought not examine the why of it all when the Cardinal who is presumably well educated and politically aware says such words as:
“You don’t want the Gay Liberation movement to morph into something like the Ku Klux Klan, demonstrating in the streets against Catholicism.”
What do you think? Is he just speaking out of closed-minded bigotry and not some concern about the harassment of his parishioners which has happened in other churches throughout the Midwest? Well, then. By all means, let’s make Cardinal George’s statement the issue here. After all, “Who is the enemy? Who is the enemy? The Catholic Church. The Catholic Church.”
Or at least that’s what the Klan used to say.
