Day: June 15, 2006

J’Ville Church ‘Outs’ Gay-Marriage Haters

Buck Banks

Naming names: Christ Church of Peace, a nondenominational church in Jacksonville, Fla., has published on the Internet the names of 400,000 Floridians in 60 counties who signed a petition supporting a state constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriages. While publishing the names violates no privacy law, wingnut supporters of the amendment are predictably crying foul, according to the Miami Herald.

”It’s a gross invasion of people’s privacy,” said John Stemberger, president and general counsel of the Florida Family Policy Council, an offshoot of James Dobson’s national Christian conservative group Focus on the Family.

‘It’s time for another voice that is Christian to be heard.’
– Gary Debusk, pastor of Christ Church of Peace

Stemberger argued that, if Christian conservatives published the names and addresses of gay-rights activists, they would likely be condemned as hatemongers. ”A lot of people would be outraged and say it’s a hateful, un-Christian gesture,” he said.

Yes, John, it would be a hateful, un-Christian thing to do, much like the hateful, un-Christian act of signing a petition in support of a repressive, discriminatory constitutional amendment.

Gary Debusk, pastor of Christ Church of Peace, said the church began the ”Know Thy Neighbor” effort Monday to encourage dialogue and prevent voter-signature fraud. As the head of a congregation that supports same-sex marriage, Debusk said he also wanted to add a new perspective to a debate that he said has been dominated largely by religious conservatives. ”It’s time for another voice that is Christian to be heard,” he said.

The website, knowthy neighbor.org/florida, is linked to the church’s home page and contains a searchable database of names. The names on such petitions are part of the public record, according to the Florida Department of State.

I went on the site and searched for my last name, and out of four pages of names found that neither my mother nor my siblings had signed up. Checking under my mother’s maiden name, however, revealed an aunt in the town where I was born who did sign the petition. A page of folks with the same last name as Editor Trish who might or might not be related to her also signed up.

Are you a Floridian? Have relatives who live in Florida? Want to find out if they are intolerant, would-be discriminators and hatemongers? Go to the site at http://www.knowthyneighbor.org/florida/ and look them up. And then let us know what you discover.

Quote du Jour

Buck Banks

Behind the ostensible government sits enthroned an invisible government owing no allegiance and acknowledging no responsibility to the people. To destroy this invisible government, to dissolve the unholy alliance between corrupt business and corrupt politics, is the first task of the statesmanship of today.

— Party declaration of the Progressive Party of America, 1924

We’re Banning Books in Miami

Buck Banks

Bonfire of the inanities: Vamos a Cuba and its English-language counterpart, Visit to Cuba, have been ripped from the shelves of 33 Miami-Dade County schools following a bitter and seemingly endless and really stupid debate. Oh, and the other 24 books in the same series, which deal with different countries, have also been slated for the bonfire.

Cuba is an island with many beachs and a despotic, tyrannical madman running a repressive military dictatorship.

As a reasonable person, you are probably asking why a seemingly inocuous book aimed at teaching kindergartners to read would engender the kind of rhetorical firestorm that has engulfed Miami lo, these past several months. Because it said things like, “Cuba is an island with many beaches. Cuba also has tall mountains.” Instead, opponents of the books maintain they should have said, “Cuba is an island with many beachs and a despotic, tyrannical madman running a repressive military dictatorship. Cuba also has tall mountains and a despotic, tyrannical madman running a repressive military dictatorship.”

Screw the First Amendment that guarantees that whether a book is accurate or not, it still should be allowed to be on library shelves. (Even James Frey’s fake autobio, A Million Little Pieces, should be available for fools to buy and read.) Screw the fact that these books are not intended to be as comprehensive as the CIA Worldbook, providing 5-year-olds with a comprehensive perspective on a nation’s socio-poltical-economic profile.

In the end, frustrated school board members who opposed removing the books voted for the ban just to get it off the docket and into the hands of the ACLU, which has promised a vigorous — and expensive — lawsuit over this clear violation of the Constitution.

Miami is a city with many beaches and a despotic, tyrannical citizenry running a repressive society where dissent and alternate opinions are not tolerated.