Terrorism Sucks -- Fundamentally!

Arthur Silber links to a New York Times report that the Justice Department is not allowing gay employees to celebrate Gay Pride Day or whatever the hell it was.

Religious discrimination? Don't laugh yet, please.

What is religion? Isn't it a religious belief that God commanded that planes be flown into infidel buildings, because the occupants thereof lived in a country which was too tolerant of homosexuality? Osama Bin Laden and Jerry Falwell are in concordance on this point (see my post), as are other American fundamentalists.

Is such a belief religious terrorism?

I certainly hope that Attorney General Ashcroft doesn't subscribe to this belief, for that might tend to create the appearance that our top Justice Department official sympathizes with religious terrorism. We certainly can't allow even a hint of support for religious terrorism in the Justice Department, can we?

But, let us give Ashcroft the benefit of the doubt here, and assume that he does not personally subscribe to religious terrorism, but instead is merely trying to appease or placate those who do.

If that is the case, the belief that God punished homo-loving Americans on September 11 is still religious in nature, is it not? Does not the First Amendment protect belief systems disagreeing with it? If a group which prays to a homo-hating god so bigoted as to give us 9-11 is constitutionally protected under the First Amendment, then how about a group praying to a different god or gods?

Or how about a cult devoted to phallic worship? Just a thought, folks. This is the land of the free and the home of the brave, isn’t it? Are we still allowed to have thoughts about alternatives to bigot gods?

Sheesh!

But what if -- just suppose with me for a moment -- what if the god of Christianity is not a bigot? What then? I mean, I am not such a bigot as to claim without any evidence that Jesus was a bigot! I was not there, and I never spoke to him. But there are people who claim to have spoken to him, and I am not 100% certain that they are being heard or respected by the Jesus-believing people at the Justice Department.

Here; I'll even give you an example: at this site, a number of gay Christians claim to have been born again in Jesus Christ, saying that he accepted their homosexuality. Are we to disbelieve them, and on what basis? Who is Ashcroft to contradict a sincere witness to Jesus Christ? Sure, he claims to be a Christian and all that, but then here we have clear evidence that he might be ignoring the will of Jesus Christ. Is he doing that in the name of Christianity? What gives?

Hey give me a break! This is not even my job here at the libertarian/pagan Classical Values blog site! Yet here I am, trying to be fair to Jesus Christ and some of his worshippers (isn't that supposed to be Ashcroft's job?), and what thanks will I ever get for it?

Didn't Jesus say something about rendering to Caesar that which is Caesar's? I'm no Bible expert, but wasn't Caesar supposed to be some big pagan Roman emperor or something? If Jesus was willing to be fair to pagans with their alternative lifestyles, then why can't Ashcroft do the same -- especially for those who believe in Jesus but don't think he was behind the carnage on 9-11?

I know, I know, Bush has to win the election, and he might have to throw the homos to the lions. But what about that guy who helped bring down the third plane in Pennsylvania? He was gay, and so are the Justice Department employees who want to hold an event. Can they hold it in his honor?

Or does the bigot god of 9-11 say no?