Jerry Falwell may be dead and gone but his rhetoric of blaming gays and lesbians for terrorist violence has been reincarnated in an unlikely place—crooner Pat Boone.
The singer writes in a WorldNet Daily piece that pro-gay protestors upset over the passage of Proposition 8 in California are no different than the blood thirsty and heartless terrorists who gunned down hundreds of innocent people in Mumbai, India.
Have you not seen the awful similarity between what happened in Mumbai and what’s happening right now in our cities?
Oh, I know the homosexual “rights” demonstrations haven’t reached the same level of violence, but I’m referring to the anger, the vehemence, the total disregard for law and order and the supposed rights of their fellow citizens. I’m referring to the intolerance, the hate seething in the words, faces and actions of those who didn’t get their way in a democratic election, and who proclaim loudly that they will get their way, no matter what the electorate wants!
Hate is hate, no matter where it erupts. And hate, unbridled, will eventually and inevitably boil into violence. How crazily ironic that the homosexual activists and sympathizers cry for “tolerance” and “equal rights” and understanding—while they spew vitriol and threats and hate at those who disagree with them on moral and societal grounds.
Wow. I’m just not sure where to start. Mr. Boone, are you aware that last year more than 1,500 people were the victims of hate crimes simply because they were gay or lesbian? (Yes, more than 1,600 were victims of hate crimes because of religious beliefs, but more than 69 percent were anti-Jewish bias, with 4 percent targeted for anti-Protestantism bias.) Are you aware of the vitriol and threats that have been leveled at gay and lesbian people for decades? We’ve been called us “disordered”, “mentally ill”, “a danger to children”, “perverted”, and publicly shamed and run out of our families and faith communities. Do you know that gay teen suicide attempts are four times that of heterosexual youth?
It’s been said that if you kick a dog long enough you’ll get bitten. The gay and lesbian community has been kicked around long enough and now they are finally finding the strength to fight back against the hatred, discrimination, and unfairness that has permeated their lives.
What offends Mr. Boone, and those who believe as he does, is that polls are showing more and more people agree with gays and lesbians. More and more people are coming to the realization that it’s ridiculous to discriminate against people because of their sexual orientation—and it’s even more ridiculous to appeal to faith to back up that prejudice.
Mr. Boone’s beyond the pale rant—comparing completely legal, and constitutionally protected protests by Prop 8 opponents to bloody terrorist attacks—is merely another awful symptom of a dying prejudice. Mr. Boone proves that those who hold fading prejudices will do and say anything to protect them.
Yes, Mr. Boone, hate is hate, no matter where it erupts—and your column is fairly dripping with it. It’s no wonder more people are coming out in support of gay and lesbian rights when so many in the religious community continue the offensive practice of framing its opposition to gays and lesbians in words and images that do nothing but perpetuate the hate.
