Remember Albert Mohler? The leader of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary who supported eugenics of queer people about a month ago? Yeah, well, apparently calling yourself Christian and calling for genocide isn't the way to get on Soulforce's good side. (The really sad aspect of Mohler's blog post is that it seems like he thinks he's being pro-gay.)
Seriously, let's call it what it is. The UN Convention on Genocide says that
In the present Convention, genocide means any of the following acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group, as such: [...] Imposing measures intended to prevent births within the groupYou can't get much closer to what Mohler was asking for than that.
Well, the Equality Riders showed up there at his office in Louisville, Kentucky, and had a sit-in. They read a statement and the twelve of them who sat-in were arrested. Part of their statement said:
We are gathered here as straight, lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people to demand that Albert Mohler openly recognize our right to life, love, and liberty. As it stands, his voice is terribly misguided in believing that God does not affirm the identities of gay and transgender people.It's seems to be getting harder and harder to be a Soulforce Equality Rider. As an email that the Executive Director of Soulforce, Jeff Lutes, sent out said:
As Equality Ride 2007 continues, the riders are being greeted with increasing amounts of anger and threats. One email addressed to me said, "You are not welcome in my town and if you come you better not get off the bus." Another said "Do us a favor Jeff. Why don't all you flaming fags and lezzies go jump off a very high cliff onto very sharp and jaggedHow real is that? What the Equality Riders are doing is really awesome for the community - these are some real activists standing up to some of the most virulently heterosexual supremacist people in the country. If you want to show the Equality Riders some financial support for what they're doing, click here.
rocks below. You people make me puke."Despite the threats, riders and many students have engaged in constructive dialogue about sexuality, gender, and faith. Over one hundred Mississippi College students eagerly awaited the East bus, and two off-campus forums held by the West bus at BYU were standing room only - students are hungry for this conversation. Many shared stories of fear and discrimination.
Earlier:
- Soulforce Equality Riders arrested at Notre Dame
- The Soulforce Equality Riders' bus was vandalized in Iowa
- Indiana welcomes the Soulforce Equality Riders
(h/t to reader Allen J. Lopp)
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4 Comments
RE Mohler's "call to genocide": is that really what it is when he explicitly says not to abort gay fetuses, but to "fix" them?
But perhaps I'm splitting hairs, when what I really mean to do is bring up Indiana HB 1484, which is up for a hearing (again) tomorrow in committee. HB 1484 would pull Hoosier tax dollars out of any company with ties to the Sudanese government, in hopes of helping to end the genocide in Darfur.
The bill is currently being threatened by an amendment to call legal abortion "genocide" as well, and prohibit Indiana from investing in any company that manufactures drugs or devices that may cause abortion.
Such an idea is a ridiculous attempt to push a zealous agenda while ignoring the suffering in Darfur. You can read more and send an email to the committee members at www.takeaction.ppin.org.
RE Soulforce: They rock. And apparently, they're scaring the beJesus out of the bigots. Ride on!
Jen Jorczak | March 27, 2007 2:00 PM
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The UN set up a definition of genocide to be inclusive of acts that don't necessarily kill the target group, but are intended to eliminate them or their cultures in some way. This way it's inclusive of things like forced Indian boarding schools that were meant to teach them to act more white. The distinction between actually killing a group or doing everything in your power short of killing them is often, in reality, splitting hairs. I remember reading one of the letters in support of the boarding schools basically saying that they were good because they were cheaper than actually killing all Native people but accomplished the same goal. Sort of like the "choice" that the Spanish Inquisition gave to Jews and Muslims to convert, live in exile, or be killed - the intention for all three options was the same.
So when Mohler is calling for the discovery of some sort of treatment that will turn queer babies straight, the distinction between that and aborting gay fetuses is moot when they have the same intention. And the UN definition of genocide recognizes that - it's destructive of human diversity and an assault on human dignity either way.
And he keeps on talking about gay fetuses - what about the ones that will become bisexual people? Does anyone care about them?
And what about fetuses that will eventually become I-was-really-drunk-that-one-night-in-college people?
Alex Blaze | March 27, 2007 3:16 PM
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If someone advocated that we conduct mandatory intrauterine treatments on all African-American embryos and fetuses so that their melanin genes are "fixed" (i.e., turned off) and they end up with "white" skin, wouldn't you consider that a form of genocide? I certainly would!
Alex's post above is right on --- Mohler is calling for a form of genocide in that an entire category of humans would cease to exist. Worded that way, I don't think there is hardly any argument about it.
Allen J. Lopp | March 27, 2007 7:16 PM
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Now if there was only a secular ride to join!
Marla R. Stevens | March 30, 2007 2:43 PM
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