I can’t speak for others…
Wednesday, June 29th, 2005![]()
(From PvP, by Scott Kurtz)
WARNING! QUASI-RELIGIOUS DEBATE AHEAD!
Ok… ok. Now this strip inspired a very interesting frame of mind for me. Because I agree but also disagree. Or maybe more appropriately, believe but also refute.
We here on the liberal side of the political spectrum generally all support the movement for gay rights. I know I do. Why, just last night I was elated to discover that Same Sex Marriage is now legal in Canada. I’ve been supporting each and every one of my gay friends in everything they do. I’m 100% on the Gay people’s side. You might even say I support “The Gay Agenda,” if you think of it that way.
Now, what Kurtz has been doing has been going on for a long time, but for some reason it didn’t click with me until illustrated it in this manner. Maybe there’s a reason all webcomic drama seems to begin and end with Kurtz, I don’t know.
For a long time, the Anti-gay movement has been using the Bible or any other religious text or figure as a means to support their argument. They scour the bible for any line that either descriptively denounces homosexuality or any other passage that can be misconstrued to support that notion. Particularly by saying that Jesus Condemns homosexuality, or to put it simply… “God Hates Fags.” Essentially, the radical opposition declares that Jesus supports their side, and they begin putting words in Jesus’s mouth and otherwise definitively declaring what Jesus and/or God stand for. They shout “Jesus says this…” and “Jesus hates that…”
And how dare they? That’s fucked up in any book. Because who gave them the authority to say what Jesus represents, much less the right to speak for anyone? How dare they sit there on their high horse and proclaim that…
What? Oh shit. We’re doing it too, aren’t we?
We are. I know I have in the past, and Kurtz has in this strip. We’re using Jesus for our mouthpiece as well. The fact that we stand up and say “Jesus loves Gays,” or “God is totally down with homosexuality…” that doesn’t make us any different from our opposition in the debate. Not even the fact that we do it more quietly, and with better web design. The fact that we may use the idea of Jesus as a means to justify our beliefs and our argument totally reduces us to their level. In any argument, not just the homosexuality debate. Even if we say “Jesus is cool with us using his name as a curse, it’s not that big a deal.”
Because we don’t know. We don’t know what he loves and hates, condones and condemns, etc. We don’t know at all what makes the guy tick. All we can do is speculate. And believe.
It’s fine to believe that Jesus agrees with us. Hell, it’s quite preferable that he’s on our side. We can say that he loves Gays, Lesbians, Bi-folk, Transgenders, and even Straights all the same. We can even say he prefers if that’s what we choose to believe. We can say that all Jesus ever wanted was for every man and woman on this earth to love each other with equality and kindness until the end of time. We can say that Jesus supports whatever we want. It’s our right to say it and our right to believe in it. He’s Jesus, and he loves everyone, even if they don’t believe in him (is the common belief).
But… We can’t use Jesus as a method. We can’t declare what he approves and disapproves of. Not if we want to hold any ground in the argument. Not if we want to succeed. Jesus is not a tool. We can’t do the same thing our opponents do, just because it sounds nicer when we do it.
So, not to get on all about how Kurtz is some sort of blasphemer or something, because he’s not. He’s saying what he believes, and made me think very hard. And for that, he deserves full marks.