In Spain: Catholic Church Linked to Baby Trafficking

BBC News reported on a recently discovered scandal in Spain. Starting in the 1930’s and continuing on into the 1990’s, babies were often stolen at birth by nuns and priests working in hospitals and sold to wealthier, “more desirable” families.

Apparently, “The practice of removing children from parents deemed ‘undesirable’ and placing them with ‘approved’ families, began in the 1930s under the dictator General Francisco Franco. At that time, the motivation may have been ideological. But years later, it seemed to change – babies began to be taken from parents considered morally – or economically – deficient. It became a money-spinner, too…Nuns and priests compiled waiting lists of would-be adoptive parents, while doctors were said to have lied to mothers about the fate of their children.”

Soooooo, gay marriage is a threat to the family the Catholic Church has been spouting about, huh?

I haven’t heard about the Human Rights Campaign or the Metropolitan Community Church stealing babies from the families who created them! I guess the Catholic Church can’t say the same thing.

Not only were the priests and nuns in Spain stealing babies, but they also kept “a dead baby… in a freezer at the San Ramon clinic, supposedly to show mothers that their child had died.” I guess once a baby dies, some church leaders have little trouble desecrating the body of an innocent for their own selfish means. To make matters even worse, now that the scandal has been exposed, hundreds of exhumed graves reveal “empty coffins” or coffins filled with “adult remains.”

When you consider that the number of babies stolen surpasses 300,000, it makes you wonder exactly how fitting Catholic Church leaders are to decide who is moral or immoral.

Still, even with all this information, I know in my heart that the Catholic Church is not inherently bad. Misguided? Maybe. Bad? No. Those church leaders linked to these awful crimes are in no way a representation of the Catholic Church as a whole. We can’t declare the Catholic Church as a threat to the family based on the actions of a few individuals. To make such an argument would be ridiculous, illogical, and prejudiced.

No one group can be a threat to the family–not the Catholics and not even the homosexuals.

Catholic Group To Pray Against Abortion, Gay Marriage, and Promiscuity

The ultra uber conservative Catholic group, Tradition, Family, and Property, plans to hold a “public rosary rally” as reported on Joe.My.God.

The rosary is scheduled for Saturday, October 15th at noon. At that time, Catholics across the nation will pray for “the ills that afflict our nation,” as posted on the TFP website.

They pray against those “who seek to remove God and His holy law from our society. . . . Abortion murders innocent unborn babies; the institution of the family is weakened by impure customs and threatened by the legalization of homosexual ‘marriage;’ the sexual revolution pervades popular culture especially in television, media, movies and the Internet.”

I must preface my response with this fact: I’m a Roman Catholic, born and raised. I was baptized and confirmed into Roman Catholicism and even attended a Catholic university, where I received my undergraduate and graduate degrees.

Therefore, I’m responding as a Catholic, not just a gay man.

I find this rosary rally a ridiculous waste of time and further reason why the Catholic Church is falling out of touch with those they claim to represent.

First of all, abortion is an awful concept. One that I hope many never consider. But pro-life proponents incorrectly believe that those who are pro-choice are also pro-abortion. That is not the case. I, and many other pro-choice advocates, believe that a woman has the right to control what happens to her body. This right for women, to control their own destinies, was a long and hard-fought struggle. Women were considered property and thought of as little more than that. It even says so in the Bible!

Women are not property, and their decisions are not up for public opinion any more than a man’s.

Think about it: if all life is sacred, then that means semen (which is the fluid of life) is also sacred. Therefore, every time a man masturbates to completion, then he is killing his unborn children. There are no rosary rallies that I know of currently established against masturbation, and from what I know about men, masturbation happens more frequently than abortion! Seeing as how the Catholic Church is run by celibate men, I doubt they’ll be banning self-pleasure any time soon.

In regards to the FTP’s second reason for their rally, homosexuality doesn’t weaken or threaten marriage. I’m gay and married. My husband and I are more like our straight friends than our single gay friends. We ferry children to and fro, we fret over their well being and their grades, we argue, we do household chores, and all the other millions of things heterosexual couples do.

Homosexual marriage actually strengthens marriage, and if the Catholic Church could see that and change their hate mongering, then they would see their congregations grow in size. If the gay lifestyle is so offensive, Catholic Church leaders (and the FTP) should be clamoring for homosexuals to get married. Then the parades, clubs, and sexual perversion they abhor would quickly disappear.

Think about it: how many straight heterosexual couples have time for those things. They’re too busy and too tired to be having that kind of fun!

As for their last reason for rallying, the growing sexual revolution, the FTP fails to consider history. Sex has been a part of humanity, since, well, humanity started. The only reason it’s more prevalent now is because the methods of communication have increased and improved.

Think about it: nude or graphic pictures didn’t just originate with the Internet or television. People have been drawing or snapping naughty pictures since they’ve learned how to sketch or photograph. You think the first individual who learned to draw didn’t test out his talent by drawing a naked picture of someone he thought was hot? Of course he did! The current media isn’t to blame for an aspect of human nature. Humans are sexual creatures, and sex is, well, fun!

So instead of holding a “rosary rally” against abortion, gay marriage, or sexual promiscuity, I vote we pray for the end of hate and a return of true love for all humanity. If we can accomplish that miracle, world peace wouldn’t be far behind.

That seems like something more worthy of our time and prayer because it would be something we would all benefit from and would exclude no one.

Now that sounds like something Jesus would support!

According to New Book: God DID Create Adam & Steve

Thanks to The Advocate, I learned that on November 1, a new book hits the digital and traditional bookshelves–The Last Testament written by God, who acted through comedian David Javerbaum to pen the book.

In this book, God sets the record straight (ahem) about how exactly he created the Earth and His people. Apparently, Adam and Steve pre-dated Adam and Eve.

I expect this new book to send the heads of conservative Christian’s head a-spinning like Linda Blair! The reactions should be fun to watch, so I really can’t wait!

The book mimics the format of the Bible as you can see from the excerpt below:

CHAPTER 4

1 To resume:

2 It is often said — and even more often screamed at anti–gay marriage rallies outside the statehouse in Lansing — that I created Adam and Eve, not Adam and Steve.

3 Wrong.

4 Now will I tell the story of the first man, Adam; and of the companion I fashioned for him, Steve; and of the great closeting that befell their relationship.

5 For after I created the earth, and sea, and every plant and seed and beast of the field and fowl of the air, and had the place pretty much set up, I saw that it was good;

6 But I also saw, that by way of oversight it made good administrative sense to establish a new middle‑managerial position.

7 So as my final act of Day Six, I formed a man from the dust of the ground, and breathed life into his nostrils; and I called him Adam, to give him a leg up alphabetically.

8 And lo, I made him for my image; not in my image, but for my image; because with Creations thou never gettest a second chance to make a first impression;

9 And so in fashioning him I sought to make not only a responsible planetary caretaker, but also an attractive, likeable spokesman who in the event of environmental catastrophe could project a certain warmth.

10 To immediately assess his ability to function in my absence, I decided to change my plans; for I had intended to use Day Seven to infuse the universe with an innate sense of compassion and moral justice; but instead I left him in charge and snoozed.

11 And Adam passed my test; yea, he was by far my greatest achievement; he befriended all my creatures, and named them, and cared for them; and tended the Garden most skillfully; for he had a great eye for landscape design.

12 But I soon noticed he felt bereft in his solitude; for oft he sighed, and pined for a helpmeet; and furthermore he masturbated incessantly, until he had well‑nigh besplattered paradise.

13 So one night I caused him to fall into a deep sleep; fulsomely did I roofie his nectar; and as he slept, I removed a rib, though not a load‑bearing one.

14 And from this rib I fashioned a companion for him; a hunk, unburdened by excess wisdom; ripped, and cut, and hung like unto a fig tree before the harvest;

15 Yea, and a power bottom.

16 And Adam arose, and saw him, and wept for joy; and he called the man Steve; I had suggested Steven, but Adam liked to keep things informal.

17 And Adam and Steve were naked, and felt no shame; they knew each other, as often as possible; truly their loins were a wonderland.

18 And they were happy, having not yet eaten of the Tree of the Knowledge That Your Lifestyle Is Sinful.

CHAPTER 5

1 Now the snake was more closeted than any animal in the Garden; literally on the down flow; for though he oft hissed his desire to mate with comely serpentesses, yet he lisped, and fretted over his skin care, and could not have looked more phallic if he’d had balls for a rattle.

2 And that which he needlessly despised in himself, he set out to destroy in others; so one day he slithered unto Steve and said,

3 “Steve!

4 ’Tsup?

5 Hey, random question for thee: Hast thou ever eaten the fruit of the Tree of the Knowledge That Your Lifestyle Is Sinful?

6 ’Cause I hear it’s some quality produce!”

7 Long did the serpent cozen Steve in this way; at first he balked, but the serpent tricked him, by telling him that the fruit would intensify his orgasm; which was a reckless lie;

8 For the fruit did not intensify orgasms; it merely prolonged them forty‑five minutes.

9 And so Steve ate of the tree; and he bid Adam eat of it; and the knowledge that their lifestyle was sinful shamed them, and also filled them with white‑hot lust; and they entwined themselves unceasingly until dawn.

10 (For it was and remains true, that all aspects of sexual activity grow more pleasurable following their moral condemnation.)

11 But in the morning they grew embarrassed, and cloaked themselves in fig leaves; these constituting the entirety of their fall collection.

12 And they heard me walking in the garden in the cool of the day; and they hid themselves from my presence behind a grove; which, a lot of good that’s going to do;

13 And I called, “Adam and Steve, where art thou?”

14 And Adam said, “Father, there is something we need to tell thee: we are gay.”

15 And I said, “Whhhuuuhhhhh?!?”

16 And Steve said, “Yea, it is true, LORD; for the snake bid me eat the fruit of the forbidden Tree; and I gave it to Adam; and now we know that we are not only here, but queer; and lo, we would thou growest accustomed to it.”

17 And I turned to the serpent and screamed, “Thou hast ruined everything; for I had wrought Steve of the same gender as Adam, so that they could not breed, and would be free to focus on their gardening careers;

18 But thou hast made them ashamed for no reason, by convincing them to eat of the Tree of the Knowledge That Your Lifestyle Is Sinful.”

19 “But LORD,” said the serpent, “surely I could not have done this evil thing, if thou didst not inexplicably put this stigmatizing tree in the Garden to begin with.”

20 I considered this.

21 “Look,” I said, “hindsight is twenty‑twenty.

22 And surely this is not the time to play the ‘blame game’; at least not until my full‑scale internal investigation is complete;

23 Whose findings will be used to ensure, that an event as tragic as the Fall of Man, never happens again.

24 But in the meantime, serpent, thou art cursed above every beast of the field; and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life; and even the humans who study thee will be accursed; for they will be known as ‘herpetologists,’ which sounds like ‘herpes.’

25 And as for you, Adam and Steve: Damn it! I knew I should have made you lesbians!

26 Then you would have tended the Garden with more diligence; yea, and been a lot more outdoorsy in general.

27 But ye have been disobedient; and for that I must now inflict upon you the harshest punishment possible:

28 Transforming you from carefree young lovers living in the heart of everything, to a married couple with kids stuck in the suburbs.

29 Steve, so that thou mayest bear young, I will tomorrow transform thee into a woman; fear not, the operation is relatively standard; in the meantime, put this on.

30 Oh, and consider what female name thou wilt want; try to make it something that rhymes with ‘Steve’, so that 6,000 years from now, the righteous can use it to create the most inane slogan of all time.

31 As for posterity, do not worry about humanity learning the true nature of thy relationship.

32 I am the LORD thy God, King of the Universe; I know how to spin this.”

The Last Testament is currently available for pre-order on Amazon.com in both Kindle and paperback format. You can also download a free sample chapter by clicking here, here, or here.

Ex-Gay Minister Admits He’s Gay!

ThinkProgress reports that John Smid, founder and former director of Love in Action (LIA), one of the oldest ex-gay conversion ministries, has come out of the closet.

Since Smid’s resignation from LIA in 2008, he apparently has had a change of heart about his own sexuality (he’s gay and married to a woman) and his beliefs on homosexuality in general. (I would guess so, now that he “realizes” he’s one of us!) Click here to read his latest blog post.

Smid’s revelations have led him to understand how narrow minded his previous views on homosexuality were. He even admitted the following:

“I was completely unwilling to hear anything that didn’t fit my paradigm. I blocked out anyone’s life story or biblical teaching that didn’t match up with what I believed… Now that I am not submerged into one sided perspectives, I am open to studying and reading the scriptures for myself, I am finding so many rich truths that I wasn’t ever made aware of before.

To me, this admission proves that proponents of conversion therapy know logically that ex-gay conversion doesn’t work, but since the facts contradict prejudice-based ignorance, they choose to ignore it like presidential hopefuls Rick Santorum and Herman Cain. The science is there, but people like Santorum and Cain (and at one time Smid) refuse to look at the data because it doesn’t support the hate they spout.

Now that Smid is free from such hateful clutter, he sees the word of God in a new light. He understands that the Bible is about love and acceptance, not about fostering hate and fear.

He even now realizes that “One cannot repent of something that is unchangeable…. the transformation for the vast majority of homosexuals will not include a change of sexual orientation. Actually I’ve never met a man who experienced a change from homosexual to heterosexual.”

It’s nice to hear an ex-gay minister say those words. The mere idea is preposterous. If homosexuals could change to being heterosexual, then that means heterosexuals can do the same thing. How many of my heterosexual friends believe they could be persuaded by prayer to be gay? Yeah, that’s what I thought. You can’t wish (or pray) the gay away or into someone. That’s now how it works.

Luckily, Smid also realizes that too. “I used to define homosexuality or heterosexuality in terms describing one’s behavior,” he confessed. “I thought it made sense and through the years often wrote articles and talked from that perspective. Today, I understand why the gay community had such an issue with my writings. My perspective denied so many facets of the homosexual experience. I minimized a person’s life to just their sexuality but homosexuality is much more than sex.”

Precisely. Just as sex is only a small part of a heterosexual person’s identity, sex isn’t the entire portion of a homosexual’s identity either. We are all so much more than who we go to bed with at night. I’m glad Smid finally realizes that and has been enlightened. I applaud him for not only making the change but admitting it.

It takes a lot of strength to admit you have been behaving badly, and I applaud Smid for not only eating crow but for now being a voice for truth.

Perry Endorser Robert Jeffress: Mitt Romney Follows A Cult

ThinkProgress reports how Southern Baptist Pastor Robert Jeffress “well-known for his bigoted views about gays, Muslims, and Mormons” believes that allowing Republican presidential contender Mitt Romney in The White House would be the same as supporting a cult. According to Jeffress, only true Christians (which apparently excludes Romney) should be allowed to lead our nation. Evidently, religious convictions are a pre-requisite for the Executive Office in this deluded man’s point of view.

Jeffress’ comments were made today at the Values Voters Summit, where Rick Perry was introduced by the Dallas-based Baptist pastor. In his speech, he called Planned Parenthood “a slaughterhouse” and repeated his belief that “Mormonism is a cult.” He also falsely claimed that “seventy percent of the gay population has AIDS” and that the virus is a well-known “gay disease.”

If you want the highlights, here’s the video.

What amazes me is that the summit is touted as Values Voters. This man demonstrates no values I would want anyone to follow. His perception is prejudiced, narrow, and alarming. Basically, his argument comes down to this: if you’re not like him, you’re not fit to hold office. That is most definitely not the principles this country was founded upon nor does it represent the true spirit of democracy. Perhaps Jeffress forgets that this country is “for the people” and “by the people.” Those people include Mormons, non-Christians, and gays!

Why does this man, or anyone really, feel the need to exclude groups within a country seeking national representation? A true candidate, someone who really wanted to represent America, would be a voice for the rich and powerful, the poor and downtrodden, and the social elite and the social pariahs.

True leadership means leading everyone not just those who are the most like you!

Pastor Who Assaulted Son in TN Is Also A Thief

A few days ago, I posted about the Pastor, Jeremy Pittman, Sr., from Grace Fellowship Church in Tennessee, who assaulted his son and his boyfriend for trying to attend church. Click here to read the full post.

New information, first discovered on Queerty, has surfaced regarding additional charges being brought against the holier-than-thou pastor. According to WBBJ, the local ABC affiliate, the pastor’s criminal activity extends to “charges of stealing from a local business.” The business in question is owned by the elder Pittman’s estranged wife, where he is accused of stealing more than $1,000 in materials which were later sold by Pittman, Sr., for scrap.

It seems the pastor has a penchant for pilfering as well physical and psychological battery.

But wait…there’s more!

Closer inspection of Pastor Pilferer’s criminal record reveals that “This actually is not the first time Pittman has been arrested. Police said he was arrested back in 2006 for a simple assault charge” involving his daughter’s boyfriend.

Apparently, the pastor has a hate-on for anyone in or associated with his family. This is exactly the type of man who should be pastor of a church!

Honestly, I used to fear what the conservative Christians who preach hate and intolerance might do if they ever gained true power in this country. But as shown by Pittman, Sr. and many others in the news, they will ultimately self-destruct. Anyone who hates others so vehemently struggles with dangerous inner demons that will eventually see the light of day. All we need to do is wait and watch!

NY Town Clerks: We’re the Victims for Not Signing Gay Marriage Licenses

Some of you who may have heard about the town clerks in New York whose jobs are threatened or who have resigned because they refused to sign gay marriage licenses. Gay marriage is now legal in NY, and part of their jobs is to sign marriage licenses for citizens in their county. Since these clerks refused, they are facing/have faced losing their jobs.

Naturally, NOM (National Organization for Marriage) jumped all over this faster than a rat on a Cheetoh!

They produced the following videos to help spread the panic that religious freedom is being threatened.  Below you will find the video featuring Rose Marie Belforti. If you can keep from bringing up your latest meal, have a look.

What I find interesting about her commentary is that she claims she had no prior knowledge of gay marriage being made legal in her state. It took receiving a marriage certificate from two people of the same gender to clue her in. That is utterly preposterous. She works in a government office, where they receive updates on new laws, since, well, it’s their job to know these things. To claim ignorance is  ridiculous, especially when the topic was all over the media–newspapers, television, and the Internet. These laws weren’t made in secret as she seems to allude.

Additionally, she (and the other clerks who NOM gobbled up for their campaign of terror, Laura Fotusky and Ruth Sheldon, whose videos can also be found via Towleroad) now believes that doing her job threatens her religious freedom.

If she feels that strongly in her religious beliefs, then she can resign.

Shirking your assigned (or elected) duties based on religion isn’t a defense nor does it get you out of performing duties you promised to uphold when you took the job (or were elected).

What about if a doctor refused to treat a gay man who was ill because homosexuality went against his Christian beliefs? Would he be allowed to get away with it? What if a teacher didn’t want to educate African-Americans because she was a white supremacist? That teacher has a right to her beliefs, but does that mean she is not required by her job to educate all students?

If Belforti, Fotusky, or Sheldon are no longer capable of fulfilling their job duties as town clerks, then they need to find jobs where they can perform the expected tasks and remain true to their religious convictions.

Their religious freedoms don’t negate someone else’s civil rights, and no one gets to pick and choose what laws we follow.

These women aren’t victims. They placed their jobs in peril by refusing to sign the marriage certificates. Now, they have to suffer the consequences, as any other employee would.

Bullying at the Pulpit Equals Child Molestation?

According to Mitchell Gold, founder of the non-profit organization Faith in America, religious leaders, who stand before their congregation and condemn homosexuality, are guilty of mental child molestation.

Here is why Gold believes this (as reported by ThinkProgress): “clergy people who stand at their pulpit and . . . speak about gay people as sinners and an abomination, that is bullying a young kid. That is really — and I know this may sound exaggerated — but that is nothing less than child molestation of a child’s mind. . . . It is devastating to a 14-year-old-kid to hear their rabbi or their imam or their priest or clergy person say that they are a sinner or an abomination…and I’m here to tell them, they are full and whole and wonderful and they will learn as life goes on that there are many, many people who feel that way.”

Watch the full interview below.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s73Ut9_pI6M

At a time when homosexuals are attacked by many religious conservatives, it is nice to see a religious man not only publicly support homosexuality but, more importantly, tell the gay youth of America that there is nothing wrong with them.

For these young people, their religious leaders are often next to God. Their words matter, and when the head of their church tells them they are going to hell, it hurts. I know this from personal experience as do many, many, many others.

I wish more religious leaders would keep the children in mind as they are preaching hate and intolerance. Gay children attend church too, and just as you wouldn’t want someone off the street attacking your child and saying he is worthless or she is going to hell, a trusted religious leader should not be allowed to do the same thing in a place for families or in a place about love.

In Tennessee: Two Gay Men Assaulted For Trying to Attend Church Services

If you’re like me, you were raised to believe that God is good, and that His church, His places of worship, (no matter what religious denomination it might be) are where all are welcome—the believers and the sinners, the members of society and those castaway from it, the rich and the poor, and the healthy and the sick.

Churches are safe havens. It’s where we as members of a flock can find solace and unconditional love in times of great distress. After all, God loves every single one of us, and those of us who are Christians believe He sent His only son to us as a gift—to show us what true love really means. That love, that acceptance begins at God’s house—his church.

Apparently, that might no longer be true.

Pittman, Jr and Lee after assault

Pittman, Jr and Lee after assault

Last Wednesday, in an appalling scene at Grace Fellowship Church in Fruitland, Tennessee, two gay men were attacked for simply trying to enter a church to worship.

Jeremy Pittman, Jr. and his boyfriend, Dustin Lee, were barred entry from the church by church leaders. Pittman and Lee were then verbally and physically assaulted by the pastor and deacons. To make matters worse, two of the offenders were Pittman’s father, Jeremy Pittman, Sr. (pastor of Grace Fellowship Church) and Pittman’s uncle, who was one of the deacons. The attack took place in front of the church, where several church goers witnessed the attack and did nothing to help Pittman, Jr. or Lee.

According to WBBJ, the local CBS affiliate, Pittman, Jr. told reporters: “My uncle and two other deacons came over to the car per my dad’s request. My uncle smash me in the door as the other deacon knocked my boyfriend back so he couldn’t help me, punching him in his face and his chest. The other deacon came and hit me through my car window in my back,” said Pittman. He also stated the deacon yelled derogatory homosexual slurs, even after officers arrived, and the officers never attempted to stop the deacons’ verbal assaults.

Even though, the responding deputy reportedly did not allow Pittman, Jr. or Lee to press charges or file a complaint at the time of the assault, all parties are scheduled to appear in court tomorrow.

This story boggles my mind!

How could church leaders—a pastor and three deacons—think in any way that God would have wanted them to not only prevent individuals from worshipping but to assault them? And to do so in His name?  How could these men think God would have wanted them to physically assault a member of their own family?

What infuriates me the most is that these are the same Christian extremists who claim homosexuality destroys the family and causes irreparable damage to God’s children!

Are they really talking about homosexuals or themselves?

The pastor and the deacons at Grace Fellowship Church, and others like them in the nation and the world, are the ones behind these types of attacks, not the homosexuals!

I have yet to hear one story of a group of homosexuals converging on an unsuspecting Christian and beating him or preventing him from entering a Neiman Marcus. I have yet to hear a story of a straight teen committing suicide because a horde of homosexuals taunted him by calling him a breeder. I have yet to hear of a congregation at a Metropolitan Community Church (a church run by and for spiritual homosexuals) banning straight people from attending services or beating them on church grounds.

Homosexuals aren’t the ones creating the violence. We aren’t even responding to violence with violence. In fact, we keep turning the other cheek, we try to show love even when met with violence, and we follow the laws of the land to incite change. We don’t attack others, and we don’t turn our backs on family, even if they turn their backs on us.

This only makes me wonder: just who is following God’s laws again?

Story originally found via Towleroad