Tuesday, February 16, 2016

Some of the Catholic faith are disguising homophobia through fraudulent science

Austin Ruse demonstrates how some Catholic leaders disguise homophobic lies.

Austin Ruse is the leader of C-FAM (Catholic Family and Human Rights Institute), an anti-lgbt group which lobbies the United Nations. SPLC has it listed as a hate group. This is probably because of the myriad of times Ruse has denigrated the lgbt community or outright lied about us, such as when he called us "Satan's minions" or when he said "left-wing university professors taken out and shot."

That last controversy led Ruse to intensely dislike me because of the work I did to aggregate his words. He even sent me a message last year to let me know that he was still blocking me from twitter, which was a mystery because it came from out of nowhere and I really didn't give a #@!.

Still our paths unfortunately tend to cross, like today.

This morning, I read a column he published in late January in a religious (Catholic) magazine called Crisis. The column, Their Sexual Proclivities Are Killing Them, is something I haven't seen in a while - "good old fashioned" fear mongering about how homosexuality is supposedly a "dangerous lifestyle." And the more I read Ruse's article and where it comes from, the more I get disappointed at a certain religious belief:

It is clear from their relatively tiny numbers—only a few million in a total population of 318,000,000—that men who have sex with men (MSM)* are not “everywhere” as MSM insist they are. It is also clear from their sexual activities, particularly related to anal sex, that their sexual practices also set them apart from the normal population.

 . . .  Independent researcher Dale O’Leary published a hair-raising paper in The Linacre Quarterly two years ago called “The Syndemic of AIDS and sexually transmitted diseases (STD) among MSM” that tells a plethora of uncomfortable truths about MSM.vNote her use of the term “syndemic.” This is beyond both an epidemic and a pandemic. A syndemic is two or more diseases in a population “in which there is some level of positive biological interaction that exacerbates the negative health effects of any or all of the diseases.”

Ruse admits that he is talking about an article which was published in 2014. But here is what he doesn't tell you.  The Linacre Quarterly is not necessarily a credible magazine:

The Linacre Quarterly is the official journal of the Catholic Medical Association. Continuously published since 1934, The Linacre Quarterly is the oldest journal in existence dedicated to medical ethics. The Linacre Quarterly provides a forum in which faith and reason can be brought to bear on analyzing and resolving ethical issues in health care, with a particular focus on issues in clinical practice and research.

The Catholic Medical Association has a negative and very inaccurate stance on homosexuality as evidenced by a pamphlet it offers:

 CMA’s pamphlet Homosexuality & Hope: Questions and Answers About Same-Sex Attraction provides clear, sensitive, and updated advice to persons and families who are dealing with same-sex attraction.CMA’s pamphlet Homosexuality & Hope: Questions and Answers About Same-Sex Attraction provides clear, sensitive, and updated advice to persons and families who are dealing with same-sex attraction.  Homosexuality & Hope was first printed in 1999 in booklet form as a service to the medical profession, the Church, and society.  Later, in 2003, a shorter pamphlet, focused on responding to the most frequently asked questions about same-sex attraction, was published. Later editions of the Homosexuality & Hope pamphlet, in 2008 and 2010, brought a new design and layout, updated citations reflecting new research on same-sex attraction, and a new question on recent attempts to apply the title “marriage” to same-sex relationships.

In other words, The Linacre Quarterly comes from an organization with negative views of homosexuality which are not necessarily rooted in science but faith.  One has the question the credibility of any information about lgbts coming from this magazine. Indeed, the article Ruse is talking about does take a negative view of the lgbt community, generalizing about gay men,"bathhouses," "circuit parties," citing many statistics which are over several decades old, and even using the out-of-date term "gay bowel syndrome."

'How will Scalia's death impact the future of lgbt equality?' & other Tue. midday news briefs

 Scalia
How The Supreme Court Shake-Up Will Impact The Future Of LGBT Rights - Serious talk, folks. Take it to heart because hardly anyone has talked about this as of yet.  

Manny Pacquiao: Boxer sorry for 'gay people are worse than animals' remark - You mean he is sorry he got caught. Listen, I don't care what some boxer says about my people. I DO care that said boxer is running for public office in his respective country, which in this case is the Philippines. We have enough of crazy homophobes in the US Congress. I hate that they extend to other innocent countries.

Heads Of The Catholic And Russian Orthodox Churches Use Historic Meeting To Bash Gays - Well at least we brought them together (snark!)  

Trump Voters in South Carolina Want to Ban Both Muslims and Gays From Entering the Country - I can't begin to tell you how it felt having this be the first thing I read this morning. 

 South Dakota on Slippery Slope With Bill Targeting Transgender People - Here we go again.

 Independent Investigation Debunks The Anti-LGBT "Bathroom Predator" Myth - Some lgbt advocates have complained that we have yet to be able to counter the anti-transgender "bathroom bill" myth. How about a seriously aggressive push of the truth and BEFORE we are knee deep in the latest fight over a state bill. Just a suggestion.

Anti-gay group scared at idea of Obama picking new SCOTUS justice

The American Family Association is spooked to death at the prospect of President Obama naming a new Supreme Court Justice after the passing of Scalia. The anti-gay group sent out the following mass email:

This past weekend America lost a giant on the United States Supreme Court. The Honorable Justice Antonin Gregory Scalia died of natural causes this past Saturday. Justice Scalia served as the conscience of the Supreme Court, holding the line for an originalist interpretation of the Constitution and reflected on the bench the values that we hold dear on the home front.

Together with his family, our nation mourns the loss of this judicial hero.

Justice Scalia was a towering intellectual figure who believed, as you and I do, that the Constitution should be understood and applied as the Founders intended it.

We cannot allow President Obama to replace him with a judicial activist. Activist judges have mangled the Constitution almost beyond recognition, and we cannot allow Justice Scalia to be replaced by a justice who will continue to shred the Constitution rather than protect it and uphold it.

While the Constitution gives the president the right to nominate Supreme Court justices, it also gives the Senate the right to reject them. The Constitution does not even require an unacceptable nominee be given a vote on the floor.

President Obama might also resort to a recess appointment to fill the seat temporarily. This must not be allowed to happen. When the Senate goes into recess for 10 days or more, this door is opened to the president.

TAKE ACTION
Contact your senators today, and urge them to block the president's attempt to pack the Court with another justice who will legislate from the bench.

And not even asking for money? AFA must be slipping.