Paula Dardaganian, we don't need Christian approval. You are defending Christianity, not the LGBTQ in your Letter to the Editor. Update 1,2.
A pernicious letter that merely says it is God's duty to punish us and distracts and misdirects from the social disorder of Christian homophobia.
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Update 2: Ninety-six letters mailed to the officers, advisors, directors, etc. of Thanks Giving Square.
In each letter is a printout of this specific webpage, 14 pages, and the following notice and graphics.
— Edward H. Sebesta 8/7/2023
To the religious at Thanks Giving Square
When it comes to considering who might write a letter such as Paula Dardaganian’s, which was recently published in the Dallas Morning News or knows of individuals who might write a letter such as Paula Dardaganian’s recently published letter, the religious at Thanks Giving Square comes to mind.
To educate people as to why Paula Dardaganian’s letter is obnoxious a post in the newsletter Dallas Gay Liberation was published. It is online at this link:
https://dallasgayliberation.substack.com/p/paula-dardaganian-we-dont-need-christian
You will find enclosed a copy with this mailing to you.
Thanks Giving Square religious who aren’t Christian are included in this mailing as a matter of inclusion, but also to make sure they don’t consider an analogous type letter as a member of their religion.
Globally Lesbians and Gays are under attack by homophobic Christians and counter efforts to date, if they can even be considered counter-efforts, have been mostly begging for acceptance and have been ineffectual efforts based on sentimental feelings with the idea that homophobic Christians are misguide. Homophobic Christians are bad people.
A letter such as Paula Dardaganian’s, or similar to it, is to be considered an aggression against the Lesbian and Gay communities.
Don’t write a letter like Paula Dardaganian’s and discourage others from writing letters like Paula Dardaganian’s.
On the backside of the closure was the following two graphics.
These are the persons who got a mailing.
Update 1: Letters mailed to the editors of the Dallas Morning News.
I mailed copies of this letter to all the members of the Dallas Morning News editorial board and the publisher: Rudolph Bush, Editorial Page Editor and Vice President; Julieta Chiquillo, Deputy Editorial Page Editor; Ryan Sanders, Commentary Editor; Jim Mitchell, Senior Editorial Writer; Juan F. Jaramillo, Assistant Commentary Editor; Anne Belli Perez, Editorial Writer; Bonnie Bishop, Administrator; Deborah Fleck, Letters Editor; Emanuel Rame, Editorial Fellow; and Publisher Grant S. Moise.
I don’t expect them to respond. I do think they need to know that there are some Lesbians and Gays in Dallas who don’t find the usual side-stepping of the issues with disordered Christianity and attempts to make our right to exist an internal discussion within Christianity acceptable anymore.
I will be writing all the religious at Thanksgiving Square also, since they are either the type to write a letter like Paula Dardaganian or know the type of people that would. The liberal/left/progressive Christians need to know we aren’t fooled by this type of letter and that we perceive it as pernicious.
Introduction
In an all too often evasion of responsibility of Christians for Christian homophobia Paula Dardaganian’s Letter to the Editor, in the Dallas Morning News, misdirects and distracts from the the problem of Christian homophobia.
There are multiple serious problems with the letter which by posing the issue as one thing evades Christian responsibility for homophobia. Further it is another so-called liberal Christian position that implies that our right to exist is dependent on the Christian view points.
The follow is a reponse to Paula Dardaganian’s letter in the Dallas Morning News.
We will not only mail a copy of this Dallas Gay Liberation post to all the Dallas Morning News editors, but mail copies to the various religious at Thanks-Giving Square. This is because they represent those most likely to support these self-serving letters or even write one.
Response to Paula Dardaganian letter about Stedfast
We take exception to Paula Dardaganian’s pernicious letter which undermines LGBTQ rights in multiple ways and further we take exception to the Dallas Morning News editors not giving it proper context.
The following page has the letter, it is the third letter. “God is the judge, not us.”
Dardaganian’s letter is a defense of Christianity and not a defense of the LGBTQ. A better heading would have been “Defending Christianity from the charge of being homophobic,” or “Stedfast gives us Christians a bad image,” or “Stedfast is Christians behaving badly.” The title that was given, leaves this letter open to an interpretation of it being a defense of the LGBTQ, instead of what it really is, a defense of Christianity or a proposal how to avoid damaging the public image of Christianity.
The letter has multiple failings.
First, Dardaganian doesn’t actually come to the defense of the LGBTQ in her letter. When she states, “My understanding is that God is the supreme judge, not we who follow him,” leaves very much open the option that God might judge the LGBTQ as bad, and further burn, torture, or “shoot in the back of the head” LGBTQ in this life or in the afterlife. The letter is merely asserting that the Stedfast ministers are encroaching God’s domain for punishing.
Second, this letter drags the rights of LGBTQ to exist and breath into the Bible and made contingent on the outcome of the contested theological contortions of Christians. We have the right to exist and breath because we live in a democracy and not a theocracy. We have the right to exist and breath regardless of what ever stray religious book might say and however the malicious might interpret it.
Third, this letter makes the presumption that for everyone Christianity is the only reality and all things will be judged by it. We have the following position.
It is up to Christianity to figure out how Christianity can exist in a universe where Gays exist, NOT for Gays to figure out how they can fit into Christianity.
For public policy regarding LGBTQ, we need not consider what Jesus says anymore than what Zardoz might say.
Fourth, this letter frames the issue of homophobic Christians as being misguided, and not the reality, which is that homophobic Christians are bad people.
There are two parts to this.
First Part: there have been arguments that the theological arguments are motivated by bigotry, such as the selective readings of Leviticus. Prohibitions against shrimp and red dresses are ignored, but not prohibitions against homosexuality.
A much more insightful comparison would be to compare contemporary Christian interpretations of the Bible regarding slavery versus homosexuality. With slavery the Old Testament is ignored as well as the words of the Apostles, who somehow got the views of Jesus regarding slavery completely wrong, but are credible on Jesus for everything else. Though Jesus uses slavery frequently in his stories and never spoke out against slavery, since he didn’t specifically speak a lawyer’s type statement on slavery, he isn’t considered pro-slavery either. The secret of anti-slavery Christianity however remained undiscovered until the 19th century.
For homosexuality in contrast, the words of the Old Testament are used as well as the New Testament, and the Gospels, along with what might be found outside the Bible in the fields of psychology. The theology of homophobia is very broadminded.
The difference between slavery and homosexuality with Christians is that slavery has nearly universally been rejected with repugnance, whereas bigotry against homosexuals is still widely accepted.
Would Apostle Paul tell John in the advertisement below to go back to his master? From the Dallas newspaper in 1856. If you thought the mechanisms of Swiss watches were complex, listen to Christians explain away the issues of slavery and the Bible. But their attacks on homosexuals is direct and simple.
Second Part: However, this discussion of bigotry hides other disturbing issues regarding Christianity.
What motivates people to join and be members of anti-Gay Christian groups? What is obvious is that in addition to homophobia, there are self-indulgent, self-serving, self-promoting, self-aggrandizing motivations. They want to be some type of crusader for the true faith. They want to be the true believers. They want to be something special rather than face the issues with their meaningless lives. Homophobic Christianity is a mental parasite feeding on psychological wants and deficiencies.
In some cases, Christianity is a duct tape holding their lives together and separates them from their previous living as a drug addict or alcoholic or other disordered living. A ridged faith is rigidly holding them together. If they decided to attack the LGBT, that duct tape can be yanked.
Fifth, the letter implies, with Dardaganian’s reference to her familial connections to Methodists, Southern Baptists, and Presbyterians, that Stedfast’s Christianity is atypical, and far outside the norm.
There are three things to consider:
First Part: Globally, Christianity such as that of Stedfast is common. South Korean Christians violently attack Pride events and this year prevented Pride in Seoul; Uganda passes a death penalty law for LGBT in 2023; Taiwan Christians started a referendum campaign against same-sex marriage; Indian Christians campaigned against the legalization of homosexuality; Poland has “LGBT Free Zones”; Russians defend the invasion of the Ukraine as a war against the LGBT; Zambian Catholic Bishops denounce homosexuality as well as those in Ghana; and the list could go on and on.
Second Part: The Stedfast homophobia is just the pot of boiling Christian homophobia boiling over. There isn’t that much theological distance between Stedfast and other major denominations. Stedfast just says the quiet part out loud.
A review of the Southern Baptist Convention’s (SBC) positions shows how little the difference is. Whereas Stedfast is direct, the SBC tactic is more roundabout eliminating by degrees space in which LGBT can exist.
In 2007 the SBC denounced hate crimes legislation that included the protection of LGBT from hate crimes. The SBC might want to push their “love the sinner, hate the sin,” theme and not get their hands dirty, but they don’t want the federal government to stop or act against individuals who might choose immediate violent methods to attack LGBT. The SBC doesn’t ask that LGBT get shot in the head like Stedfast, but they don’t want the federal government to be active in preventing anyone from shooting the LGBT in the head.
https://www.sbc.net/resource-library/resolutions/on-hate-crimes-legislation/
The SBC was upset that the Supreme Court invalidated laws which made homosexual acts illegal. Of the two examples which they select to criticize the federal judiciary, Roe v. Wade, (abortion), and Lawrence v. Texas (homosexual acts), are chosen.
https://www.sbc.net/resource-library/resolutions/on-the-federal-judiciary/
R. Albert Mohler, president of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary thought it was catastrophic.
Instead of “shooting homosexuals in the back of the head,” lock the up and thrown them in prison.
The SBC theological views on Gays get close to Stedfast also.
In this 1988 resolution are the statements: “homosexuality is a manifestation of a depraved nature,” “deviant behavior has wrought havoc in the lives of millions,” “perversions of diving standards.” Acceptance of homosexuals is held to be due to the “Erosion of moral sanity … a major problem of modern society,” resulting in society’s “moral decline.” Homosexuality in the resolution is “an abomination in the eyes of God.”
There is reference to Leviticus 18:22; Romans 1:24-28; and 1 Timothy 1:8-10.
https://www.sbc.net/resource-library/resolutions/resolution-on-homosexuality-5/
These are the Biblical sections referenced.
https://biblia.com/bible/esv/leviticus/18/22
From Leviticus 20
“If a man also lie with mankind, as he lieth with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination: they shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be upon them.”
In Romans 1:24-28 God makes people homosexual as a punishment and then in Romans 1:27 they die, “due penalty for their error.”
27 In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed shameful acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their error.
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Romans%201%3A24-28&version=NIV
What this “due penalty for their error” might be is clarified in Romans 1:32 where we read:
Although they know God’s righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them.
Timothy 1:8-10 is as follows:
We know that the law is good if one uses it properly. We also know that the law is made not for the righteous but for lawbreakers and rebels, the ungodly and sinful, the unholy and irreligious, for those who kill their fathers or mothers, for murderers, for the sexually immoral, for those practicing homosexuality, for slave traders and liars and perjurers—and for whatever else is contrary to the sound doctrine.
Homosexuals are compared to “liars,” “unholy,” “sinful,” people who murder their parents, “perjurers,” and “slave traders.”
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1%20Timothy%201&version=NIV
The beliefs of the Stedfast Baptist Church and the Southern Baptist Convention regarding homosexuality are very similar.
The difference is that the SBC realizes that the popularity of calling directly for the death of homosexuals is approaching the popularity of slavery. Evangelicals might want to go about gurgling about Jesus, but they don’t want to see their child, sibling, uncle, aunt, cousin, nephew, niece, co-worker, colleague, neighbor taken out and killed.
The above 1988 resolution has not been retracted.
The SBC has issued a “Baptist Faith & Message 2000,” and in the Section XV, “The Christian and the Social Order,” there is the following:
In the spirit of Christ, Christians should oppose racism, every form of greed, selfishness, and vice, and all forms of sexual immorality, including adultery, homosexuality, and pornography.
Homosexuality is compared to “racism,” “greed,” “selfishness,” and “vice.”
The SBC sees the extinction of homosexuality, not with bullets, but with religious conversion for the homosexual, but also by reducing the social space in which homosexuals might live.
This goes beyond lamenting hate crime laws and laws which would send homosexuals to prison. By degrees homosexuals will be left with little or no place to exist, maybe only at the margins and bottom of society.
There is a resolution against the Center for Disease Control for providing a grant to the National Lesbian and Gay Health Conference to promote safe sex, which in the age of HIV is about not dying. Instead of a bullet, you can just have people get diseases and maybe die.
In regards to marriage which is vital for inheritance, visiting a spouse in the hospital, and funeral arrangements, the SBC has campaigned strenuously against same-sex marriage.
https://www.sbc.net/resource-library/resolutions/on-same-sex-marriage-and-civil-rights-rhetoric/
https://www.sbc.net/resource-library/resolutions/resolution-on-homosexual-marriage/
https://www.sbc.net/resource-library/resolutions/on-same-sex-marriage/
https://www.sbc.net/resource-library/resolutions/on-supporting-a-federal-marriage-amendment/
https://www.sbc.net/resource-library/resolutions/on-protecting-the-defense-of-marriage-act-doma/
https://www.sbc.net/resource-library/resolutions/on-the-marriage-protection-amendment/
They have been against the ability of homosexuals to hold jobs necessary for food and shelter.
In 2009 they had opposition to the Employment Non-Discrimination Act” (ENDA) which would have provided some protection against employment discrimination. We still don’t have a non-discrimination law for employment.
https://www.sbc.net/resource-library/resolutions/on-biblical-sexuality-and-public-policy/
The same murderous passages in the Bible are referenced to support discrimination as mentioned before in this resolution in opposition to ENDA.
The following is a resolution against non-discrimination in Federal employment.
The Southern Baptists are against homosexuals in the military.
https://www.sbc.net/resource-library/resolutions/on-homosexuality-and-the-united-states-military/
Southern Baptists are against corporations offering domestic Partner benefits. A person might have a partner which needs the medical benefits of the other partner to live. You can die in otherways besides a bullet in the head.
https://www.sbc.net/resource-library/resolutions/resolution-on-domestic-partner-benefits/
The SBC is just more round about than Stedfast, but in the end the LGBT end up with less and less social space to exist and if the SBC had its way, in prison.
There isn’t a lot of difference between the SBC and Stedfast. Again, Stedfast is just the pot of boiling Christian homophobia boiling over. Stedfast just says the quiet part out loud. Stedfast just doesn’t care about how popular murderous homophobia might be with the general public. In fact, they thrive on the condemnation making them the pure defenders of the faith, a fantasy which is a mental parasite eating their minds.
Sixth, Paula Dardaganian positions this issue of Stedfast as an isolated issue and not as part of a chronic ongoing issue going on for two millennia of Christianity’s disordered behavior. When they are not burning each other for heresy or witches for supposed witchcraft or scholars such as Giordano Bruno, they are on pogroms, upset with Galileo for the heliocentric theory, burning Mayan codices, etc., etc., etc. This list of historical crimes is very long. They are involved with justifying slavery and being agents of European imperialism. Of course, Christians with their very inventive and flexible “logic” assert all this to human failings, even though Christianity is supposed to have some type of connection to the divine and possibly make their believes somewhat better than they would be otherwise.
Paula Dardaganian and other Christians might stop pushing the “Real Christianity” moral dodge when yet another Christian excess or crime is in the news, and instead reflect on whether there is some systematic issue with Christianity itself.
Seventh, it diverts the discussion from what the LGBTQ can do to defend them themselves form Christian aggressions and homophobia to convoluted discussions over Biblical texts. This is perhaps the worst aspect of these types of defenses of Christianity.
Conclusion
As for the LGBTQ they might start more critically assessing and evaluating Christian behavior and stop thinking that these defenses of Christianity benefit us. We need to instead call out these rationalizations as self-serving and pernicious to the LGBTQ.
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