AIDS: “God’s Punishment To Homosexuals”

(Also published on The Bilerico Project)

I’m angry. I’m going to try and make it productive, though.

First, Iowa candidate for Congress, Jeremy Walters made remarks on his Facebook page about AIDS: “The Holy Bible say(sic) if your(sic) “GAY” homosexual they shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be upon them” & etc., then he apologized, and now Iowa talk radio host Jan Mickelson is jumping in with his two (non)cents, defending Walters’ position. From the Iowa Independent:

When a caller brought up that it’s promiscuity that increases the risk for AIDS, and therefore Mickelson should support legalized same-sex marriage because it would lower promiscuity in the gay community, the host scoffed, saying promiscuity “defines the lifestyle.”

“Homosexuality is intrinsically promiscuous, because it violates the design of our bodies,” he said. “There is no safe way to do that.”

I love that this guy seems to know all about the “designs of our bodies” and yet doesn’t seem to care about reality, science, experience or dialog….

When is this meme going to end?

This argument is offensive to all God-believing people for one reason: it makes God look stupid. Because the “punishment” simply is not working.

HIV infected human beings are not only homosexual, they are straight, and bi and trans and intersexed and questioning and men and women and children and Catholics and Protestants and Mormons and Muslims and Buddhists and Atheist and white, black, brown, rich, poor, etc.

Don’t you think that if God were trying to punish the homosexuals She would do a better job? Maybe wouldn’t miss so often and strike a straight? Or a child? Or a Republican?

Beh.

HIV/AIDS: The Best Of Times, The Worst Of Times

Aug19 by D Gregory Smith

Dickensian bleakness intended, I’m sure.

From my friend David Mixner, an article about HIV, Medicare, and a potential looming mess. A taste:

When you get to accountability, we face an enormous problem with Medicare with the passage of the new health care law. Thrilled as I was with this major step forward, there is one part that is extremely disturbing to me. Especially since my journey over the years has taught me the urgent need to hold our public officials accountable for their actions in this battle for a cure.

Quite simply, with the creation of an entity called the Independent Payment Advisory Board (IPAB), we could lose our ability to put pressure for change. This new board is simply not accountable to anyone….

The mere existence of an unchecked, powerful agency making life-determining decisions should be worrisome to all Medicare beneficiaries. Draconian decisions by IPAB to limit access to medicines to treat HIV will be free from judicial review, the need for advance public notice, or even appeals from patients.

Thanks, David, for helping us all to pay attention where it’s needed.

Don’t Forget To Vote

Aug18 by D Gregory Smith

…on my posts!

By clicking on the title of each post, you leave the main page and go to the post alone, where you can rate it by clicking on stars below the headline. The posts with the highest rating are listed in the sidebar on the main page under “Top Rated”. In addition, you can also push the “Like” button at the bottom of each post (Facebook has infiltrated the world….).

In this way, you actually help direct the content of FETH (like the acronym?). So go ahead, look back, and rate your favorites!

Why Everyone Should Be Talking About HIV

Aug17 by D Gregory Smith

Todd Heywood has an excellent post about our reluctance to talk about HIV. A must-read.

Money quote:

…the reality is, as an HIV-positive man, I need HIV-negatives talking about the illness. As a gay men’s community which is overwhelmingly affected by the virus, we need negatives talking about the infection. Why? Because it effects and affects all of us in various ways and to various degrees. And when the problem is so large in scope, it takes everyone to be involved.

And Elizabeth Lombino wonders “Is it 1990 again? HIV/AIDS Myths are Alive and … Scary”

These are examples of statements and myths that were made back during the early years of the AIDS epidemic. The statements are also reflective of the derogatory language used during that time. No one would say these statements or use this language now, right? Wrong. Myths like these continue to spread quicker than HIV itself. This is a very scary scenario.

Talk about HIV with someone today- even if it’s only to pass this along….

New Banner Pic

Aug16 by D Gregory Smith

Ken and I were visiting my parents last week in Twin Bridges, and we were lucky enough to see this complete rainbow over the Madison County Fairgrounds- even luckier that I had my new camera with panoramic view! I had to cut it a bit for the banner, full pic is below, along with a closer view…

Enjoy!

“Among The Flutterers”-Explains A Lot

Aug14 by D Gregory Smith

In the London Review Of Books, Colm Tóibín reviews The Pope Is Not Gay by Angelo Quattrocchi, and comes up with a mind-numbingly simple analysis of clerical culture, social norms, gay priests and ecclesiastical/institutional fear.

A sample:

This is almost an aspect of the Catholic religion itself, this business of knowing and not knowing something all at the same time, keeping an illusion separate from the truth. We knew that the bread and wine, for example, were literally and actually changed into the body and blood of Our Lord Jesus Christ by the priest at Mass, and, at the same time, we must have known that this was not the case, that, really, they remained just bread and wine.

The shame an adolescent felt about being gay in those years should not be underestimated; the feeling that you were less than worthy, that if people found out the truth about you they would despise you, went deep into your soul. This was another reason to become a priest. You could change your own powerlessness into power. As a priest, you would be admired and looked up to, you would spend your life – as so many Catholic priests have indeed spent their lives – doing good and being good. And being seen to be good, being needed by the sick and the dying, being wanted to officiate at weddings and baptisms and funerals, saying the sacred words which would mean so much to the congregation, all this would offer you a fulfilled and fulfilling life. Becoming a priest solved not only the outward problem of forbidden and unmentionable sexual urges, but, perhaps more important, offered a solution to the problem of having a shameful identity that lurked in the deepest recesses of the self.

This idea of knowing two things at the same time has been essential to gay people in other ways. Gay people have known that our sexuality was actually, despite what we read or were told, quite normal, quite natural; it was only the world that thought otherwise. While the world’s view often ate into the self, there was another part of the self which remained intact, confident, sure. Introspection, the study of the self, for gay people became necessary, fruitful. The struggle between our knowledge and their prejudice often meant that a spiritual element in our being – something private, wounded, solitary and self-aware – had reason to come to the fore and seek nourishment in a close relationship to God. This is another reason so many gay men have become priests.

This was so true for me- and judging by our conversations, for many of my seminarian/priest friends- then and now.

But it doesn’t stop there. Tóibín looks at Ireland, Europe, secularization, the sex abuse crisis, celibacy, Maureen Dowd, clerical wardrobe changes and the Pope’s handsome secretary, explaining all with such common sense you want to invite him to lunch. Or for the weekend….

If you want to understand more deeply my struggle with the church, or maybe your own read the full text here.

It explains a lot.

UPDATE: Sully’s response from the Daily Dish here.

Lots Going On

Aug14 by D Gregory Smith

Hey there! Miss me?

I’ve been working hard to get things out of the house to the Butte Archives– lots of history here, especially as it relates to the history of the Irish in Butte. Ken and I waded through boxes and drawers, braved attics (yes, more than one!), spiders and dust to sort through all the ephemera. None of it was organized, but most of it was very interesting. The Archives took away 17 banker’s boxes on Tuesday, and there’s still more to do- they brought ten more empty boxes….

I also hosted Eamonn and Vivien De Burca from Dublin to appraise some of Sars’ general Irish books and we had a great visit. It’s also the An Ri’ Ra’ Irish Festival here, so lots going on.

Breathe, Greg. Breathe.

Sully vs Douthat

Aug10 by D Gregory Smith

Andrew Sullivan responds reasonably, beautifully to Ross Douthat’s sanctimonious “gay marriage” op-ed in the Sunday NYT:

And – this is my main point – Ross’ argument simply ignores the existence and dignity and lives and testimony of gay people. This is strange because the only reason this question has arisen at all is because the visibility of gay family members has become now so unmissable that it cannot be ignored.

If you want to understand and hear some excellent and rational points on marriage equality, it’s a great read. Full text here.