The first thing we do, let's kill all the gays...

I am so very excited that my beloved home state has now joined the recent fraternity of states with pastors making national headlines for calling for execution of gays. Go Kansas! I mean, we've had the Westboro Baptist Crazies for a while, but everyone mocks them and disavows their views because the method they use for getting out their message is so ugly. But let's not pretend that their message itself is so far removed from the messages other churches share. Like the Seneca, Kansas pastor who actually said that the government should put homosexuals to death. He clarified that HE won't lift a finger against gays; he wants nothing more than their salvation. But, darnit, the government really should kill them. The government won't, but it should.

Seriously. What the hell is the matter with people?? I look at my gay and lesbian friends, good, moral people filled with compassion and love, and have to wonder what on earth anyone sees about these people that warrants death? And how do the people who call for the death of these good people who do not, and would not, hurt anyone have the unmitigated gall to claim the moral high ground?

This pastor's explanation does not satisfy me. (Shocking, I know. But, really, what explanation for this view could possibly satisfy any decent, moral person?)

“You say, ‘Oh, I can’t believe you, you’re horrible. You’re a backwards neanderthal of a person.’ Is that what you’re calling scripture? Is God a neanderthal, backwards in his morality? Is it His word or not? If it’s His word, he commanded it. It’s His idea, not mine. And I’m not ashamed of it.”

Well, sir, you should be. You should be ashamed of it. It's horrifying. To call this view that of a backwards neanderthal is an insult to backwards neanderthals. There is nothing moral or just or righteous about your view. And how on earth can you feel good about worshiping and following a god who you believe supports this view?

I have had good, sensible people ask me how I can have any sense of morals since I don't believe in any god. (This is not the blog for me to go off on my "no one really gets their sense of morals from the bible, no matter how much they think they do" rant.) But after hearing so many of these pastors coming out with these horrible, gay-bashing sermons, my question is how can anyone who follows these pastors have any sense of morals? My sense of right and wrong and my commitment to kind and fair treatment of my fellow humans is thriving. It's the jerks like this guy who have the problem.