I really appreciate your words, especially since it has been so hard to be able to deeply experience the quotidian family details while under this period of direct siege. So. Damn. Hard. I can’t begin to count the essays that I’ve half-written in my head, only to have had them be drowned out by yet another pressing attack. That the attacks have successfully pressed their way in on me (and ironed flat the other stories) says as much about me, of course, as it says about the nature or degree of viciousness of the attacks. But there you go.

Thank you for the encouragement to keep trying to bear the witness.

For me, it’s not just the gay issue…it’s that I am so tired of having my faith defined by the evangelical right. I understand inclusion, but the evangelical right is already included plenty–disproportionately so–I thought that inclusion was about including those not at the table. Maybe we can take a bit of symbolic relief in the fact that Warren goes on first and Rev. Lowery goes on last–out with the old, in with the new!

At any rate, my Christmas has been saved by LookyDaddy’s engagement and I look forward to hearing where he and his cat are resgistered.

I heard Barney Frank say a wonderful comment on NPR the other day when Palin gave the same kind of “but I’m not homophobic because I have gay friends,” justification for this crap. He said he had to hand it to her, because she was apparently more tolerant of him than he was of her.

Like Coretta Scott King, at whose funeral he received a standing ovation when he said this (h/t Oxdown Gazette, linked below):

On April 1, 1998 at The Palmer House Hilton in Chicago, King called on the civil rights community to join in the struggle against homophobia and anti-gay bias. “Homophobia is like racism and anti-Semitism and other forms of bigotry in that it seeks to dehumanize a large group of people, to deny their humanity, their dignity and personhood”, King stated. “This sets the stage for further repression and violence that spread all too easily to victimize the next minority group.”

As the Oxdown Gazette notes, Warren will be clearly out-classed by Rev. Lowery. And Rev. Lowery, bless us, will have the last word.

Date: December 18, 2008
Subject: No Rick Warren, please

Dear Parag,

I am opposed to inviting Rick Warren to participate in the
inauguration. Not because he supported an initiative I opposed, but
because he has repeatedly equated homosexuality with pedophilia and
incest. If someone equated interracial marriage with bestiality they
would not be welcome to speak at the inauguration and he should not be either.

I am a straight white man who gave multiple times to Obama in the
primary and general. I worked for Obama in three states, my wife worked in two and my nine year old son called all over the country for him. We believe that Obama will help us all see our better selves. We believe in reaching out and finding middle ground. We do not believe in giving bigots a national platform. Please help our President-elect reconsider this poor choice.

Thank you,

[actual name of LD's brother currently in law]
Berkeley, California

Included here (a) for moral support, (b) as example, and (c) because poor Parag Mehta’s email crashed under the siege today. Or, it was actively de-activated. This way at least somebody, if not an Obama transition/inaugural team member, can set eyes on it.