In defense of Christians; the May issue; and more.
SUPERSIZE YOUR LOVE
I loved the piece Nancy Ford wrote regarding McDonald’s versus the American Family Association [What a World, “McDonald’s and the Gay Agenda,” May 2008]! Although, I must admit to you I was somewhat troubled by her over-reliance of biblical characterizations as a vehicle to deliver her charming wit.
My partner and I have been together 22 years. We both attend regular mainstream Christian worship services. Not all Christians are as whacked-out as those nutballs over at AFA. They have no clue of God’s command to us mortals: Love one another.
Harris D. Berger
Oxnard, California
MAY SHOWERS OF APPRECIATION
The May 2008 issue of OutSmart is great, but two issues/articles got to me, especially the article by Annise Parker [InsideOut] on how hard the simplest problems running a city can be.
I wish everyone could learn how to work with government agencies to solve problems. In the case cited, it seems the problem may not even have been a “gay” one but an attempt by a citizen to use technical rules to try to force a bar out of business so the person complaining—an immigrant of all things—could get the land, which adjoins his land.
But the article makes plain how important it is to have friendly and professional people running our bureaucracies, and even better if they are on our side. On a side note, I would like [to comment about the letter that said] that some elected official in New York City is a higher homosexual person in local government than [Houston’s controller, Annise Parker].
I wonder if he gets information from GAYUSA (gayusatv.org) and has heard the other person, Speaker Christine Quinn of New York, talking with hosts Andy Humm and Ann Northrop. Both of these officials are not competing with each other but are working for the betterment of their cities. And if you hear the news and views of GAYUSA, you know that things are not that great in New York, city or state, even after all these years of the efforts of these and other pioneers.
The article by Bradley Williams on Eureka Springs, Arkansas, is exciting—and gay, in fact, in more ways than one. I would think people traveling in or near that part of America would want to visit that delightful city. There aren’t that many cities that have atmosphere; most seem like all the McDonald’s (not that I don’t like McDonald’s, but I don’t have to travel elsewhere to find that food). And if there is anything special about our community, it is that we seek things and places “out of the box.”
Billy Glover
Houston, Texas
HAGEE HATE
On April 20 on ABC, Sen. John McCain said it was a “mistake” to solicit Rev. John Hagee’s endorsement, but he was “glad” to have it. I guess this means he was against Hagee’s endorsement before he was for it.
At the time he sought the endorsement, was Sen. McCain aware that Pastor Hagee had called the Catholic Church “a false cult” and “the great whore”? Did John McCain know that Pastor Hagee also felt Hurricane Katrina was a way for God to damn America, or at least New Orleans and the Louisiana and Mississippi coasts, because of a planned gay parade? In September 2006, over one year before endorsing Sen. McCain, Hagee stated on radio: “I believe that the hurricane Katrina was in fact the judgment of God against the city of New Orleans.” Hagee has also implied that Katrina was God’s damnation on America because Washington supported the evacuation of Jewish settlements in the Gaza Strip, and that God will unleash terrorists on America for supporting a two-state solution in Israel-Palestine.
During a radio interview on April 22, Pastor Hagee said Hurricane Katrina “may in time be called a blessing,” and reiterated his position that gay people were responsible for a storm that left over 1,000 people dead, hundreds of thousands homeless, and destroyed a major American city.
In New Orleans on April 24, Sen. McCain again declined to renounce Pastor Hagee’s endorsement. If instead Pastor Hagee had said Jewish people had caused the death and destruction to the Gulf region, would McCain have sought Hagee’s endorsement? I don’t think so.
It is unacceptable for John McCain to remain “very honored” and “glad” for the endorsement of a man who claims the gay community brought on the worst natural disaster in our nation’s history, and who continues to justify his hate speech in the name of religion.
Marc Paige
Ft. Lauderdale, Florida
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