King of Kings

I have been an outspoken critic of organized religion for quite some time now.  Having been in church leadership, I've seen most everything.  What I witnessed today, however, blew me away.

A church filled to the brim with sweaty, irrational, mindless sheep stood cheering as a man was declared a "king".  It should also be noted that the song Prepare Ye The Way (Of Our Lord) was being played as the very-married, barely-legal boy-lover was ushered around on his bootleg Office Max throne.  The good "Rabbi" Ralph Messer randomly shouted in Hebrew to lend authenticity to this exercise in narcissism.  Add spot lights and a choir in the background practically foaming at the mouth and there you have it... a coronation ceremony.

See the entire coronation here...

This moment...this awful car-accident...couldn't be a better example of everything wrong in organized religion.  It's not completely "King" Eddie Long's fault.  He wouldn't be a "king" without subjects following him.  I don't know what scares me more; the fact that he has the nerve to allow this in the first place, or that so many people would blindly follow this man to destruction.  It's truly a toss-up.

I hope for Eddie Long's sake, that God has a better sense of humor about all this than I do.  Eddie looked quite nervous throughout. Maybe he was worried about his henchmen accidentally dropping him all over the stage...maybe he was secretly waiting for a giant lightning bolt to strike him in his giant forehead.  I guess we may never know.  I do know this much, that whole "I want to be like god" thing...didn't work out so well for Lucifer.

The Bottom Line:
Scandal Schmandal - When life hands you lemons, make yourself King.  I believe sheep everywhere should be offended by the comparisons made here today.

In Jesus Name We Pray, Gaymen!

As the first truly Autumn-ish day sweeps over the Dallas area, I am unable to pull myself away from all the Bishop Eddie Long commentary.  Let me start by saying that I understand that the allegations have not been proven true.  Even still, the subject of Pastors, Deacons, and church members getting it on with the same sex is still one that should be discussed.

I read though a brief opinion article by Shayne Lee an African-American professor of sociology at Tulane University.  You can read the article for yourself here.  He seems to focus on race, which I'm sorry to say, is not only a bore, but a cop-out.  As a gay man and former minister of both music and youth, I can assure you I am well aware of the amount of energy that goes into bashing homosexuals from the pulpit to the pew in both "black" churches as well as "white" ones.  I can also tell you that there is more gay sex going on between church members than one might be led to believe and race really doesn't matter.  I've been to all manner of churches in my life.  The White folks are doing it; but as long as you show up for church on time with your wife and kids nobody really talks about it.  The Black folks are doing it on the DL(down-low) and then screaming at the top of their lungs about how gays have a first class non-refundable airline ticket to hell, followed by reservations at Chateau a la Sulfur.  Black...White... Martian...it makes no difference   The church is made up of people.  Some people are gay... therefore, gay people WILL be in your church.  A homo was probably sitting a few rows over checking you out this past Sunday.  LOL

I just wonder how many priests, pastors, deacons, bishops, mega-church maniacs, and closet-case music ministers it will take before people wake up and realize that the church is NOT above it all.  It's the words, thoughts, and actions of men like Ted Haggard and Eddie Long(guilty or not) that disillusion people of faith all over the world.  Alleged men and women of god are preaching hateful messages while secretly "gaying" it up in the sack.  It's really all about realizing that god, whoever that is to you, created us all.  God knows better than anyone what is going on.  You think it may be possible that god loves us all?  I mean really...thousands of years of oppression and hypocrites and scandals and wars...for all that, we are no closer to god than we ever were.   

 The Bottom Line:
Gay St. and Church St. are the same road known by two names.  Stop all the hate and hypocrisy.  It is time the church take a detour to Love Blvd. and for once, live up to god's message of unconditional love.  

A Pledge to American't

I just finished reading the twenty-one page "A Pledge to America".  I have to say, the Republicans have out done themselves this time.  They've found a way to use 7,853 words, 215 paragraphs, and 21 pages to say nothing of substance.  It's a long-winded way to say absolutely nothing.  I will give credit where credit is due. They are masters at being obtuse and blending fear with patriotism.  It is NOT a different approach.  It's not a new way forward.  It's SSDD (same shit different day).  Yes, I said it!  This document, like all it's predecessors, is flagrant and irresponsible in it's claims and scope.

I will give you some quotes that seemed to stand out to me...

"The American people are speaking out, demanding that we realign our country’s compass with its founding principles and apply those principles to solve our common problems for the common good."

They speak of founding principles.  What they aren't admitting is that times change.  These Christian principles that Republicans are so fond of don't all make sense for the society we live in today.  As with the Bible, there are vast differences between Old and New Testaments and even Christians will tell you that we don't live by Old Testament law these days.  So, using "founding principles" would require us to restrict women from voting and enslave all minorities(including the President).  Republicans invoke this term as a way to inspire their base, but you can't pick and chose which "founding principles" you want to use.  Society changes.  Times change.  Understanding evolves.  We know things now that our forefathers did not.  We shouldn't do things a certain way just because it's the way it's always been done.  That's not progress.

"Our plan offers a clear and clearly different approach, one in which the people have the most say and the best ideas trump the most entrenched interests." (No, in fact, the majority of this "pledge" is to simply revert to how things were before Obama.)  (i.e.)...

"...we will roll back government spending to pre-stimulus, pre-bailout levels..."


"We offer a plan to repeal and replace the government takeover of health care..."


"Congress should move immediately to cancel unspent “stimulus” funds, and block any attempts to extend the timeline for spending “stimulus” funds." (which, by the way, will throw state and local budgets into instant havoc and chaos, resulting it program cut-backs, and lay-offs...which is the exact opposite of job creation)

The other thing I can't stand about this document is that once again, Republicans are trying to capitalize on fear and confusion to win elections.  Just take a look at this ridiculous and illegible chart.

Even blown up to 139%, I am unable to read or make any sense of this chart.  It has no value except providing the Republicans with a way to confuse the readers of this document and add to the fear of the unknown.

The document made statements about protecting our country and our troops, saying...

"When asked to provide our troops with the resources they need, we will do so without delay."


Would these "resources" also include the nearly 13,000 troops discharged under the Don't Ask, Don't Tell policy?  Not according to most Republicans.  In 2000 and 2001, when our nation needed troops during and after September 11th, more than 2,500 gay and lesbian troops were discharged.  Fast forward to Republicans blocking key votes to repeal the policy.

Additionally, they drone on about reducing red tape while indicating that they want to add more voting processes to an already bloated system of voting on legislation.  (i.e.)...

"If a regulation is so “significant” and costly that it may harm job creation, Congress should vote on it first." - Red Tape


"Hold Weekly Votes on Spending Cuts" - More Red Tape




This "pledge" is PR BS.  There are no concrete solutions for anything and the vast majority of its text is telling us what's wrong with Democrats.  Please don't mistake this as a true way forward.  This is just a different way of saying the same thing the Republicans have said since losing the Presidency.  They continue to say... You should be afraid of change.  You should be afraid of terrorism.  You should be afraid of the economy.  You should be afraid to admit that any major advances in this country take time.  You should be afraid to understand that NOTHING happens over night.  Do you see any trends here?  Shame on the Republican Party for wasting the people's time with vague rhetoric that amounts to trickery, smoke, and mirrors.  There is nothing different here.  I can sum up this entire document it a few short words...

We are Republicans.  We want control back.  We are bitter about losing.  We want you to be afraid.  We don't like change.  We don't think the American people are smart enough to see through BS.  We want to create jobs for lawmakers.  We want you to vote against yourself...your families...your friends...and your interests.

The Bottom Line:  All the documents and press conferences and rallies and town hall meetings and Fox News appearances in the world will NEVER change the fact that it's time to put up or shut up!