Unkosher Jesus- Red Meat Commentary With a Side of Cheese: Homophobic Hall of Hypocrisy

It's a big world, and I'm the first to acknowledge that everyone is entitled to his or her own personal opinion on any topic. The one thing I ask is that a person back up his or her opinions with the appropriate corresponding behavior. For example, if you are a high ranking Vatican Monsignor who is in full support of the Catholic Church's teaching that homosexuality is inherently disordered, please don't let yourself get caught on camera hitting on a young gay man. Or, if you are a member of Congress with a long history of publicly opposing any bill offering any legal protections for members of the BGLT community, please do not tap dance your way into a police sex sting in the men's room of the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport.

If you are detecting a theme here, then you've got more on the ball than certain hypocrites serving as public figures. I'm specifically referring to the growing number of prominent conservatives, religious leaders and public servants, who rant and rail against homosexuality in order to agitate voters and members of their congregation. Recreationally speaking, though, it seems as though they have more than a passing interest in this "sin" that they constantly flog in public. As the line from one of my favorite songs goes, "My father was a deacon who would often wake up reekin' of the sins he had condemned the day before."

Unkosher Jesus Homophobic Hall of Hypocrisy: Fall Edition, 2007

SENATOR LARRY CRAIG (R-IDAHO):

What can you say about a public official who has a
100% Homophobic Voting Record while leading a double-life as an airport bathroom hustler. In the past ten years, Sen. Craig has voted on bills affecting the lives of gay Americans as follows:

1996: Voted YES on the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) prohibiting same-sex marriage.

2000: Voted NO on expanding hate crimes to include sexual orientation.

2002: Voted NO on adding sexual orientation to definition of hate crimes.

2006: Voted YES on constitutional ban of same-sex marriage.

2006: Voted YES on constitutional ban of same-sex marriage.

His wide stance notwithstanding, he has taken a very narrow stance when it comes to the question of gay rights. Then, after stating that he would resign his Senate seat in the wake of the scandal, Craig switched positions again, vowing remain in the Senate and fight to clear his name. Oh, really? Maybe I'll let Amy Poehler and Seth Myers have the last word on that one...

MONSIGNOR TOMMASO STENICO (RC-VATICAN)

SITUATION: Responded to an Internet solicitation for a gay sex encounter that turned out to be a sting operation to out gay clergy.
BEST LINE: Stenico's claim that he engaged gay men in sexual banter "to better understand this mysterious and faraway world which, by the fault of a few people-- among them some priests -- is doing so much harm to the Church."

This stuff is funny only in the sense that it is somehow satisfying to see a hypocrite suffer public humiliation for his own actions. It is not funny, though, because, in the case of the careers of these two men, the real victims of their hypocrisy are the gay men and women whose lives have been so negatively impacted by the actions of these men and their like-minded colleagues. Vilifying gay people for any reason, political, religious or otherwise, is sinful. Vilifying gay people from a position of power while you yourself are gay- that is just sad and loathsome.

The root of the word humiliation is humiliare, or "to humble". Sometimes the good that can come from painfully humiliating public scandals such as these is that the humiliated party comes away from his experience a little wiser, a little more humble. Looks like the value of these "teachable moments" have been wasted on Senator Craig and Monsignor Stenico. As Jesus Himself said, "Do not give what is holy to the dogs; nor cast your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet." I guess some piggies never learn.

- Doug L.

FOR FURTHER REFERENCE (UPDATED, November 10, 2007):

The Windy, Windy Night, by Sycamore Smith