Tuesday, February 20, 2007

Hooray for Hardaway honesty

That’s the title of a letter written by a Mr. Lee A. Prins in the Arizona Republic today. And the letter is quite ugly. It’s quite depressing. And it’s certainly confirmation that there will always be ignorant bigots (is this redundant?) in the world. But this letter marked a real breakthrough for me. For the first time since I learned that one of my beloved children was gay, I did not go quietly into the bathroom, lock the door, and sob until I had no tears left. I guess I’ve finally come to terms with the fact that there will always be people who hate what does not conform to their definitions of normal.

Does this mean I will stop trying to change hearts and minds? Hell no. I will never give up on that. Never. My son has to live in this world with neighbors just like Mr. Prins.

But I do have to wonder, how many moms and dads did sneak quietly into the bathroom, lock the door, and sob today after reading Mr. Lee A. Prins very startling admission. I am sure there were many.

Here are the searing words of a man who probably never misses a Sunday church service:

Feb. 20, 2007 12:00 AM

Hooray for NBA player Tim Hardaway for saying what's on a lot of people's minds. He would not willingly play ball with a homosexual, and neither would I, nor would anyone I know.

I see that the media pushed him into almost apologizing for what he said, but that's the insidiousness of this gay issue. Maybe less than 1 percent of the population is gay, but they have twice the protection of most other people.

You can call me a stupid nimrod and get away with it. But if you tell a homosexual what you really think of him or her, you are called a homophobe.

Most people try to avoid the issue. But homosexuality is being pushed at us from every direction. The world isn't gay and most of it doesn't love gays and probably never will. They and their fellow travelers need to get used to that.

Lee A. Prins, Gold Canyon

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7 comments:

Anonymous said...

I was gonna write a long list of reasons why mr. prins was a dinosaur but I'm tired of this too. Screw Mr. Prins and his sort. I bet when he needs a heart surgeon, Mr. Prins won't ask or care if he's a fag or not.

Like his forefathers before him who upheld miscogeny and slavery as biblically correct, he too will join the ash heap of hsitory.

Jarred said...

From the letter:

But if you tell a homosexual what you really think of him or her, you are called a homophobe.

If the shoe fits.

But seriously, I have to wonder if the person would really be telling me what he thinks of me. I'm more than my sexual orientation, and while it's an important aspect of my identity, it is not the sum total of my identity. So commenting on my sexual orientation is not the same as telling me what you think of me. Because to do that, you'd also have to take into my love of honesty, my creativity, my love of writing, my adoration of my nieces and nephews, and dozens of other factors.

It's the fact that this person would be inclined to write me off as a person because of that one aspect of my identity that makes him a homophobe.

Seething Mom said...

Jarred, it would be that man's loss. Just the contributions you make to this blog have endeared you to me in a big way.

I just cannot believe that anyone would write you off if they were to spend but 5 minutes with you.

I rather feel sorry for the man. What has he missed out on because of his narrow views of things? A lot, I'll bet.

Anonymous said...

Honestly..I've seen so much worse..
I don't want to ever sound like I'm advocating turning a blind eye, but he's not even worth the energy of getting upset over. Definitely not worth a good cry. ::shrug:: call me jaded.

-Peace

Jarred said...

I agree that there are people out there that are far worse than this guy.

Unfortunately, I think that's actually more reason for concern. People like this tend to use the fact that there are far worse people out there to justify and rationalize their positions. "I'm not all that bad. I mean, it's not like I'm out there beating up queers. I'm not even picketing funerals like that Godhatesfags guy and his group of whackos." And because they can rationalize their position away based on that kinds of thinking, they don't stop and realize that in their heart, they're actually not all that different from those "worse" people. It's just they haven't acted to the same degree on what's in their hearts. But as Jesus might say, "Whosoever looks upon a gay person with loathing has already bashed them in his heart."

To be honest, in some ways, I'd rather challenge the "moderate homophobes" like the one Seething Mom quoted than people like Fred Phelps. After all, just about everyone (even the vast majority of those who believe homosexuality is a sin) agrees he's a radical and an asshat.

Anonymous said...

I think the only part where you and I disagree, Jarred, would be calling this guy a moderate. When someone writes in with something like that, I don't think there's anything I can say that's gonna change his mind. he doesn't seem like a "reasonable" fellow, so I don't waste my time. I'm usually all kinds of patient with people who I think are willing to be educated though.
-Peace

Jarred said...

Actually, I'd say we don't even disagree on that point. After all, I only called him "moderate" when compared to people like Phelps. I also intentionally used the quotes to indicate I was really stretching the meaning of the word.