Posted on 05/08/2009 1:47:57 PM PDT by DesertRenegade
One thing we're going to miss, in the 21st century, is the quality of mercy.
Life is not, cannot be, just. If it was, children would not die. All but a tiny few of us would roast for our sins. And to quote the lovely Jennifer Nettles, this would be the very last country song.
But if human beings cannot be just, we can be merciful. We have that choice. And not too long ago, folks took mercy seriously. We believed in values like the Golden Rule, and lessons like the Sermon on the Mount. These days, the exercise of mercy is seen as a sign of weakness, or self-delusion.
I've been thinking about mercy today, after reading a review in the daily paper about a new documentary that has been released, called Outrage, in which director Kirby Dick goes around, a la Michael Moore, outing gay conservatives.
I suppose, on an intellectual level, I recognize the rationalization for this intrusion of privacy. A gay public official who votes against gay rights, some of my liberal friends would argue, needs to be exposed. The public has a right to know.
"They have a right to privacy but not a right to hypocrisy," says Rep. Barney Frank, on camera.
Well, I don't buy it.
Isn't it just as hypocritical to show selective tolerance? To reserve compassion only for those gay Americans who have the strength to come out in a still-hostile society? And to deny it to other gay Americans who, for a gazillion reasons having to do with family, faith, shyness, or job security, want to keep their sexual orientation private?
And by putting gay Americans—liberal or conservative, closeted or not—under such leering scrutiny, aren't we treating them all as freaks?
It is not just. It's cruel.
Worst of all, it's adopting the mean tactics of gay-bashing foes. In this particular debate, cruelty is not what we need. We've seen plenty of cruelty.
Enough with the public burnings.
In the years before World War I, my old friend Clarence Darrow was defending union militants charged with bombing nonunion job sites. Then some corporate goons were caught with dynamite, blowing things up to fix the blame on, and discredit, the labor movement.
The press went to Darrow, presuming he would issue a blistering condemnation of the company men. No, he said, they were just victims, like his clients, of an industrial system that was out of control. We needed more understanding, he said. There is plenty of condemnation to go around.
Darrow was right. Condemnation is cheap. What we always need a little more of, is love. And mercy. We remember them. Or should.
Why do dems have to wear their sexuality like an armband in public?
“They are acting like fascists. “
That’s no ‘act’!
“Why do dems have to wear their sexuality like an armband in public?”
Because that is actually what the Demo party is about. Sex.
Urges can be controlled, or given in to. But nature is unambiguous: there is male, and there is female, and both are required to reproduce. And civilization has been unambiguous for thousands of years: marriage is between a male and a female. Even pre-Christian societies that were MORE tolerant of homosexual behavior--Greece and Rome--did not permit "gay marriage".
Thank you, Rep. Drier, for remaining loyal to our values, even though they go against your own urges. that is maturity and humility, something the rabid activists on the left could learn.
Why wouldn’t homosexuals act like that? After all homosexuals gave the world the nazi party. Now that is an “Outrage”.
I don't think it's an "act" - it's who they are. The radical left - aside from being closed minded bigots - have turned into bullies.
OK, John Aloysius Farrell needs to defend that bit of bullsh-t. When have Republicans ever "outed" anyone? I'm sure they have stories of some 1950's guy who lost his job - told my some friend's mother's first cousin. But a figgin fact please.
The porn peddler Flynt offered a million dollars for a woman to "out" a Republican. ( and the MSM thought of him as a hero )
But I can't seem to remember any porn peddler offering to out Democrats. So put up or shut up John Aloysius Farrell - give us the long list of gays "outed" by Republicans. And if you can't apologize for pushing unsubstantiated hate speech against conservative Americans. Cause I'm tired of the slander.
Remember when the liberals were telling us that what happens in the privacy of a bedroom between consenting adults is nobody else’e business? If they’ve abandoned that idea (as they apparently have), maybe we should bring back the sodomy laws.
“Thank you, Rep. Drier, for remaining loyal to our values, even though they go against your own urges.”
Why are people assuming that Rep. Dreier is a homosexual? It’s just more gossip like the militant Left used to destroy Larry Craig’s career. It’s amazing that there are media outlets that even print this swill. If they are willing to speculate about Dreier (with no proof whatsoever), what about dykish Billary and her well-known female aide? There’s a lot more proof for that, but I don’t see the media jumping on it.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.