He doth protest too much
November 26, 2002

In his recent rant, Rod Dreher writes more regarding the "conspiracy" against Mary Stachowicz murder:

"Some deaths � if they affect a politically protected class � are worth more than others. Other deaths, those that do not fit a politically correct profile, are left to oblivion." [Quoted Sullivan]

We are seeing the same dynamic at work in the media silence over Mary Stachowicz's sensational murder. One cannot help wondering if the upright citizens who report the news don't privately share the view of gay blogger James Wagner, who said of Stachowicz's strangling:

The woman who did such great evil is dead, but unfortunately the evil and the church and the society which creates it is not, and it will continue to destroy Nicholas Gutierrez and many others. I shake, safely sitting here at home, fully understanding, and fully familiar with, the horrible impact her words must have had for a man already so terribly damaged by his society, and his own mother.

I believe many, and probably most, journalists share the unspoken assumption that Christians bring such trouble on themselves. Paul Marshall, who tracks religious persecution for Freedom House, told me recently that the Western media routinely omit anti-Christian motivation in acts of sectarian violence overseas.

Meanwhile, back on Earth...

I find it interesting, for all Rod's talk and bluster about the vast conspiracy against Christians of what ever ilk and the damage, violence and death done unto them, and in light of his earlier assent that Mathew Shepard should have been made into a cause -- but so should the Chicago killing, how silent he, the Defender of the Undefended, was regarding the national media's (or is it just "the media of record?") silence regarding:

The 18 November story of Julio Rivera who was beaten to death with a baseball bat because he was gay. Or the 14 August story regarding Transgender teens killed in DC. No story in his rag there, nor national outcry either. The 18 June story regarding Portland Community demanding justice over the fag bashings in its midst? Didn't see that one in NRO. Or "national coverage." What about the 27 September story regarding Hate Crimes up in San Diego? Nope. Nada.

On the foreign scene, the arson that hit a gay clinic in Edinburgh, Scotland was passed over as was the story regarding 10 year old murders linked to anti-gay gangsin my second favorite city, Sydney, Australia.

What about noting, as this story did that murders of gay people are more violent, premeditated and particularly savage:

"In many cases it is aggressive, young men having a few drinks and then going out for the hunt, for sport to find a few poofters to beat up, and they get carried away," said Graycar.

The institute's report found that in about half the cases, groups of youths went to known gay meeting places to find a victim or lured gay men in an ambush to be brutally beaten to death.

Graycar said it was not unusual for people who murdered gay men to adopt a "gay panic" defense when brought to trial. Many claim their actions were provoked by an "uncontrollable response" to an unwanted sexual advance.

That's important stuff, but little of the above was picked up by the national media or made into a grand cause. Conspiracy? Neglect? A further sign of the end of the world? Par for the course. Fags beaten up and killed (unless it is a particularly savage and inhumane attack as Shepard's was) is just another day in gay paradise.

If Rod is just now waking up to the fact that people regard Christians killing Christians or Muslims or Muslims killing Muslims or Christians as having been "brought on to themselves" then yeah. Where ya been? Welcome to my gay world, where AIDS, fag bashing, and child molestation is all my gay fault. The scales have dropped from your eyes at last. The Maker Be Praised! Life isn't all that fair.

"There is no moral difference between these acts. Both were heinous, and both deserve publicity"

Rod, you got publicity. The sources cited show that I got publicity. It may not be what you want, what you think you deserve, but you got it. The Critical Mass given to the Shepard case isn't something you can demand, it just happens when something strikes a nerve.

Like say the behavior of the Catholic Church over the last few months....

To the extent that people think it's what religionists "deserve," well it is -- in the sense that dogmatic pleas to the Great Sky God, of whatever ilk, provokes others to call on their Great Sky God to prove that your Great Sky God isn't all that Great. The butchering going on in Nigeria, the Lebanon abductions, the killing of Palestinian children by Jewish soldiers, the killing of Jewish children by Palestinian soldiers, the IRA vs. Loyalists, and all those nice little fag bashings all stems from a philosophy that you ascribe to. Your mess. I just live in it.

As Dr. David Perry writes in Killing in the Name of God: The Problem of Holy War

Religion is clearly not the only catalyst of total war and other forms of indiscriminate violence....But religious violence can take on a particularly intense and ruthless character, if the objects of that violence are seen as blaspheming or insulting God, as the enemies of God or God's way narrowly conceived. The problem of indiscriminate holy war is particularly difficult for Judaism, Christianity, and Islam to eliminate from within because it's so deeply rooted in their scriptures and traditions. The same religious traditions that affirm God to be compassionate, merciful, and just, also include more disturbing claims that promote religious hatred and intolerance, and sadly have provided a rationale for aggressive holy war. We need to face these things head-on. Questioning the moral justification of holy war leads, moreover, to troubling questions about the legitimacy of some basic theological claims and the authority of foundational religious scripture.

At the end of the day, the fag bashing murders, the Holy Wars and even the recent Chicago killing, all run right through the land called "Horribly Divisive Monotheistic Belief Called I'm Right and You Aren't (Nah, Nah)." The softer, more noble aspects of any of the above faiths pale beside the horror they've inflicted and that they continue to cause, all in the name of their most Holy and Invisible. In the day and age of nuclear bombs and biological weapons, and the coming era of nanotech killers, they are conceits, they are luxuries we can no longer afford.

I'd like the "national media" to point that out. I think, though, the vast "conspiracy" is against me as well...

UPDATE: Regarding Mark's recent link. Yes, I actually am suggesting Mass contributed to the killing, but not MASS CAUSED THE KILLING. My guess is that they'd been talking about his homosexuality for a quite a while. Whatever feelings were churned up at Mass that morning -- from faith to shame -- played a part in the killings later that day. Excuse it? No. Part of it, yes, in the same way that lengthy bad job reviews and other personal problems contributes to a guy returning to the job after being fired and blowing everyone away. He's still responsible, but we can figure out the chain that led to the horror.

As for Mark's ability to read minds, ignore the beam in his eye while ranting about the mote in another's, and his grading system, as usual, I stand in awe.

Posted by Jody at November 26, 2002 12:08 PM

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