The Grace Pages

Why gays get uppity about being compared to people who have sex with dogs

Josh Strodtbeck of the Boar's Head Tavern writes:

I've noticed that the word "gay" has become abstracted from sexual practice. Sure, the connotation is there if you dig for it (no pun intended), but I highly doubt that guy [an Episcopalian priest who said he was proud of his son for being gay]  would have said "My son really enjoys taking a _____ in the ______ from another man, and I'm proud of that." It's not like you find people running around saying "My daughter's really into group sex, and I celebrate that," or "I am so proud that my son has centered his life around BDSM," or "My teenager is addicted to porn and m*********s 6 times a day, and I'm proud of that," or "My kids moved to West Virginia so they could engage in incest without repercussions, and I'm proud of that," or "My daughter gets freaky with the family dog, and I just want to tell the world about how brave she is," or "My wife and I really like the position on page 3 of the Kama Sutra manual, so we're organizing a Page 3 Pride Rally!"It's like "gay" somehow means something quite other than having a sexual desire and indulging it, or that gay sex is somehow incidental to homosexuality rather than foundational. After all, it's not like I could go to an ECUSA church and get them to perform a little rite blessing the close friendship I have with my former roommate from college.

A few posts later Michael questions why Christians against homosexuality are portrayed as "haters". That kind of garbage is why, Michael. When people misrepresent my sexuality by equating it with "incest without repercussions", "group sex" and "getting freaky with the family dog", I call it hatred and bigotry, whether they realize it or not.

On a related note, check out this touching photo-essay contrasting conservative myths about homosexuality with the real life of a gay couple. Hat-tip to Peterson Toscano, who also reports this week that Zach is coming home from ex-gay camp.

UPDATE: Let me clarify what Michael Spencer said, since it may have looked (to Michael at least) like I was implicating him in Josh's comments. Here are his full comments, to give an idea what I meant when I said he was questioning why conservative Christians were portrayed as haters:

Compassion for homosexuals as fellow sinners won't do. You have to celebrate it all, and having some kind of conversion to support of the whole agenda is the new revivalism of the left. What evangelicals have to do is articulate the Biblical view on sexuality, but with a lot of humility. And then we simply have to accept that we can't get into those discussions, because they immediately turn the tables and ask "Are you still a gay-hating, bigot who wants to torture gays in eternal flames and deny them all rights in the here and now?" Frankly, I think we've lost a whole generation on this issue. We've been painted as saying gays are bad people, and the media has convinced young people that's a lie. Then the coopting of a lot of Christian vocabulary by the mainstream culture has made those embracing the homosexual agenda into the "loving" and "compassionate" people, and Christians into the haters. Plus, we're mad all the time, and just lose all restraint when talking about the issue.

Of course I take big issue with a lot of that, but I can see he wasn't supporting Josh's comments.

Pray for David

Our assistant priest, David, yesterday married his daughter in a beautiful service at the Parish. Her eight-year-old lad had the honour of giving her away. She's had one abusive marriage, and her partner now is wonderful for her.

Last night someone phoned with the devastating news that David had suffered a major heart-attack at his daughter's reception. In the vicar's words, he's currently "comfortable, but not out of the woods yet." Please throw out a few thoughts and prayers for David and his family.

La Peau Douce (1964) & Captain Kronos, Vampire Hunter (1974)

In the last few years Francois Truffaut has slowly edged his way up to the top of my list of favourite directors. Les 400 Coups (1959), Jules et Jim (1961) and the much-maligned Fahrenheit 451 (1966) had always been among my favourite films, and last year I discovered Les Mistons (1958), his short drama about a group of boys in rural France and their obsession with a young woman. I realized then that Truffaut was a gifted storyteller -- the pace, structure and manner of storytelling is perfect, which is no mean feat when you've got only 15 minutes to play with  -- and watching La Peau Douce (1964) last night confirmed it.

It was no surprise to learn that Truffaut made the film not long after he conducted his famous interviews with Alfred Hitchcock, for the style is nothing if not Hitchcockian. It's a drama about adultery, but it has all the tension of a thriller. Raoul Coutard's camerawork and lighting creates several lasting images. Casting is perfect: Wide-eyed Jean Desailly as Pierre Lachenay has a constant deer-in-the-headlights look just right for the role; and Francoise Dorleac as Nicole is both beautifully sexy and innocent. I'd not heard of either actor before, by the way, but I shall be looking out for them. All in all a brilliantly crafted film demonstrating all the things I love best about Truffaut.

My second film yesterday was Captain Kronos, Vampire Hunter, a 1974 feature from Hammer Studios, the famous British 'House of Horror'. Hammer began their horror cycle in 1957, and my fascination has always been with those produced from 1957 until about 1969, but I've been doing my best to catch up on some of the later horrors. By the 1970s, Hammer was in serious decline, the old formula looking increasingly banal, and quality overtaken by cheap production values and lashings of sex. Kronos is certainly one of the better films of that era. It's a tongue-in-cheek yarn containing plenty of interesting and original twists on the old vampire legend. The production also looks surprisingly smart; the style of some of the sets harked back to the days of Bernard Robinson, the designer behind most of the studio's output in the '50s and '60s. Kronos is no masterpiece, but it's fresh and engaging, something that can't be said of many films during a sad era for the House of Horror.

New job is great...

I guess I haven't stopped going on about this new job, but it's so much fun I can't shut up about it. It is damn hard work, and mentally exhausting, but I feel I could take on the world at Jeopardy after the hours of research I've done. I now know how many countries there are in Africa, what year the first rollercoaster was built and the full name of the guy with the bleached hair working in the upstairs bar of an Edinburgh establishment this evening. I also know a good Mexican-Polish restaurant in Mayfair and I have a vague clue where to go to see lapdancers in Krakow. No kidding. I even have a basic handle on how to gut a rabbit, including how to get the piss out first. I've also sorted out not a few romantic relationships.

There's a sense of fulfilment, too. In my mind I can see the smiling faces as they receive the answer to the questions that have been niggling them.

Now I'm absolutely knackered. I'm going to snuggle up in bed and do the Telegraph crossword. Ciao.

Incredible injustice: Following the story of Michael Shields

It was with incredulity I reacted to the news of Michael Shields's conviction yesterday. A Bulgarian court handed Michael a sentence of 15 years imprisonment for attempted murder. On May 23rd the 18-year-old football fan left Liverpool for Bulgaria to watch his home team play. On Sunday May 29th, Bulgarian waiter Martin Georgiev was attacked by Liverpool fans and almost lost his life after having a paving slab was thrown at his head as he lay on the ground. The following day Shields was arrested, and later that week he had been charged with attempted murder.

Witnesses, including a hotel porter, corroborate Michael's claim that he was in his hotel room on the occasion in question. The actual criminal, now safely back in England, later confessed to the crime, and released a full statement through a solicitor admitting his guilt. The judge refused to allow the confession to be used in court as evidence.

What can the British government do? I phoned the Foreign Office this morning to be told that while four consular assistants had been given to Michael throughout his trial, they could do nothing more than "monitor the situation". The Foreign Office is "unable to get involved in the legal processes of another country".

This is not simply about another country's "legal processes". It is about a gross injustice and a major breach of the human rights of a British citizen in another country. I expect the British government to do something.

UPDATE: Looks like others have been lobbying the government, too. Get off your ass and do something, Jack!

What the papers say

The Daily Express this morning once again shows itself capable of scaling great heights in self-parody. And Matt is on top form in today's Telegraph.

Why did Christ die?

Steve of Freethinking Faith has been reflecting on the "why" of Christ's death. In common with me, he rejects the traditional interpretation of "substitutionary atonement". He puts it well:

The common view is at odds with a principle that I hold dear: free forgiveness. According to the logical conclusion of substitutionary atonement, God never forgives anyone -- never. He only exacts payment. He does it one of two ways: Either we pay Him by going down to perdition or Jesus pays Him for us by dying on the cross.

I am forced to confront the death of Jesus week in, week out. As I kneel to receive the bread and wine, I face an icon of the bleeding, dying Jesus, the city of Jerusalem faintly seen in the background, recalling the image from Hebrews of Jesus dying "outside the camp". As I take the Eucharist and meditate on the image of Christ crucified, I cannot help but reflect on just what it all means. Why did he die? Did it actually accomplish anything? Does it mean anything for us today?

I know some regard the centrality of Christ's death to Christian faith as a morbid fascination. To me, it can be central to our theology, along with the Resurrection (whatever that means!), simply because the paradox of life and death are central to human life and existence itself, and life coming out of death is a pattern we see everywhere in creation. It's not a macabre obsession -- it's just reality.

So how does life come out of Jesus' death? What's the big deal with the crucifixion? Rather than the exacting of a penalty for sin, the death of Jesus is the ultimate expression of God's unlimited and unrelenting willingness to bear the sin and evil of the world. It is about love; love suffers, because it means openness to others in their entirety, both good and bad. In Jesus' death God declared himself open to a genuinely loving relationship with us. It was what Father Robert Farrar Capon calls "the gift of God's silence". In his silence, God tells us that without condition he has taken the burdens of the world in all its weakness and sinfulness into himself. And in the Resurrection he tells us that he plans to create something new out of death.

What a lark

This new job is a lark. It's like being paid to do a crossword. You know that Robin Williams character in AI, the one who answers all the questions? Well, that's me. Yesterday I was asked one second who first wrote and recorded Unchained Melody (it's not who you think). Next second I was asked to advise someone whether or not to shove his face in someone's butt to smell farts. I kid you not.

Liverpool teenager jailed for 15 years -- after someone ELSE confessed to the crime

The Liverpool Echo reports today that local 18-year-old Michael Shields has just been sentenced to 15 years imprisonment for attempted murder in Bulgaria. This is despite a fellow Liverpudlian confessing to beating a waiter over the head with a brick.

This is atrocious; I hope the British government steps in and does something. I cannot believe any court can simply refuse to consider such potentially damning evidence.

UPDATE: The Guardian reports.

Yay! I think I may actually earn some money

I got offered some work today. I have been doing a lot of writing over the last few months, but all my projects so far have been unpaid. That changes! I can't give too many details away, but basically I will be doing research online to supply answers (in one or two sentences) to questions asked by members of the public. They sure make you work hard for what is really a fairly modest sum, but it's work, and it is sooo much fun. I had to do a trial run last night and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Believe me, this has come just in the nick of time for me.