h/t to Pam's House Blend

This is absolutely hysterical.  A video from the upcoming album of Donnie Davis and Evening Service from Love God's Way ministries.  Pam has all the details as intrepid bloggers ferret out the genius behind this parody.  Its been banned from MySpace, Google and YouTube.  I was rolling in my pajamas laughing so hard I frightened my dog who was trying to enjoy the soft-Christian-pop strains. 

I can't do all the fancy downloading and embedding of videos yet, so click on the image and it will take you to where you can view it all for yourselves.  Here's a taste of the lyrics:

God hates a fag
God hates fags
God hates fags
So if you're a fag, He hates you, too

Read the Bible and you'll be sure
To enter heaven, there's no back door
Righteous man, get on your knees
There lies no virtue in sodomy

Lord you are my shield
Sustain me through the fight
A shelter from the urges
And help me see the light

You filthy sinners should just let me be
'Cause Jesus my savior's the only man for me

From today's Post-Gazette:

Is it religion that fosters this willful ignorance and compulsion to deny basic civil rights to other oppressed minorities?

Why is the black church so complicit in taking up the cudgel of discrimination when so many organists, choir leaders and assistant pastors are obviously gay? What accounts for this shameful lack of honesty and tolerance?

Certainly, the non-religious corners of African-American life are proudly and defiantly homophobic. It's another pathology this community has to come to grips with sooner or later.

Artful as always, Tony Norman attempts to elevate the furor around Isaiah Washington to a level of discourse that's actually relevant to homosexuals, particularly African-American gay men and lesbians (and bisexuals and transgender individuals).  Rather than validate the absurd call for Washington's "Grey's Anatomy" character to turn gay, Norman dismisses Washington's acting impact, characterizing his role in the larger dynamic as simply another reinforcement of a stereotype that straight black men are homophobes.

Let's face it, though he's a competent enough actor, he's no Andre Braugher, Hugh Laurie or Forest Whitaker. You don't think "brilliant thespian" when Washington's name comes up. You think grumpy guy with a stethoscope.

Not only did Washington offend homosexuals by slurring T.R. Knight, he embarrassed straight, black folks like myself who aren't eager to deal with the stereotype that all black men are homophobes.

Turning Washington's character gay simply perpetuates the notion that being gay is a punishment, a curse to be born, an anathema to all straight men who aren't in touch with their femine side.  Its a stupid suggestion made by small minded people who don't understand that playing a gay man on television has nothing in common with being gay. All the artificial swish in the world won't penetrate his thick skull unless he genuinely opens his mind.  And, frankly, I don't care if he does.  I'm much  more concerned about the thick-skulled Peter Akinola, Archbishop of Nigeria's Anglican Church in terms of impact on the lives of gay people.

Tony's finger pointing at the faith communities within the African-American community is well-done and much-needed.  But, to be fair, here in Pittsburgh there is also much needed work to be done on the part of the mainstream (aka white) gay community reaching out to include gay minorities. 

Shout out to all the Pittsburgh Episcopalians who have supported the Grand PooBah of Intolerance, Bishop Duncan and his desire to break away to form his own sect.  We've covered his longstanding attachment to Nigerian Archbishop Peter Akinola. 

Well you should be congratuled b/c your bigotry and anti-gay sentiment have built a direct bridge to the impending misery of gay individuals and families throughout Nigeria.  Not only will they be prohibited from attending church to taint your sanctimonious little Christian family values, they will be prohibited from ... well, pretty much existing (365gay.com).

Legislation that would strip gays and lesbians of all civil rights has passed its final hurdle and is set for a vote in Nigeria's Parliament.  

The bill started out as a ban on same-sex marriage and has been revised to make it a crime for more than two gay people to be in the same venue at the same time.

It prohibits LGBT social or civil rights groups from forming.  It would be illegal to sell or rent property to same-sex couples, watch a gay film or video, visit an LGBT web site, or express same-sex love in a letter to one's partner.

The legislation goes so far as to make it a criminal offense to impart information of HIV/AIDS to gays or for non-gays to meet with any group of gays for any purpose.

The penalty would be five years in prison with hard labor.

Gay sex already is illegal in Nigeria with sentences up to 14 years behind bars. In the mostly Islamic north homosexuality can be punishable by death.

This is the slippery slope we tread around here in America.  Those of you who believe second-class citizenship is good enough for homosexuals open the door to the kind of oppression listed above.  I know some of you harbor in your hearts the notion that "gay sex" probably deserves punishment, but can you really say two gay people being in the same place at the same time should result in imprisonment? 

This is a human rights travesty of immense proportions.  And here in Pittsburgh, just find your nearest Episcopalian Duncan-loyalist and say "Thanks!"

James M. Edwards of Squirrel Hill is not happy with Carol Mullen of Edgewood.  So very not happy that he took the time out of his busy schedule of sanctimonious self-congratulations to pen a little missive to the Post-Gazette.  Edwards took umbrage with a letter Mullen had published on December 26 offering her insight into the tragic suicide of local Presbyterian pastor, Brent Dugan. 

Mullen had the audacity to suggest that perhaps KDKA was not solely responsible for this tragedy and that perhaps Reverend Dugan's inner turmoil over his homosexuality could be traced to the Presbyterian Church's anti-gay stance. 

The Presbytery's long history of supporting the Presbyterian Church (USA) ban on the ordination of sexually active gay people certainly could not have helped the Rev. Dugan as he struggled along on his faith journey. By forcing him to feel "less than" his heterosexual peers, it seems that the Pittsburgh Presbytery was very clear in the message of condemnation and exclusion.

Point well taken, I thought as I sipped my coffee and read her letter.  KDKA made a colossally stupid decision to spin this tragic little story of Reverend Dugan's sexual turmoil as a ratings grabbing expose.  But its shortsighted to ignore the reasons Reverend Dugan may have sought solace in an adult bookstore or an illicit relationship rather than feeling free to live an open, authentic life as a homosexual man and a pastor. 

Edwards, apparently, is just the man for the task.  He thinks Dugan had made his own bed by hooking up with an anti-gay church.

The church tenet is and always has been not to permit this -- the Rev. Dugan has to have known that, and was working within the sanction. What precipitated his suicide was KDKA -- that was the new pressure in his life and correlates directly with his suicide. The Presbytery was continuing what always has been.

Does he seriously think Dugan was just happily rolling along as a closeted homosexual?  That the anti-gay hostility emanating from church leadership (and the pews) was not a "pressure" for Reverend Dugan?  Can Edwards really be that simple-minded?  Or just that hateful?  Ah ....

To try to shift blame to the Presbytery is an act of malformed logic equal to that which tries to rationalize homosexual ordainment and homosexual marriage -- they are pure acts of politics to advance an agenda -- not welcome or helpful in a religious denomination.

Legislation has not brought Ms. Mullen the change she wants; court proceedings now haven't either. She descends to using a man and his family's personal tragedy to hurl an indictment in the wrong direction. Ms. Mullen: Please desist on Presbytery bashing.

Well, I guess the gloves are off, you sanctimonious prick.  What's not welcome or helpful in a religious denomination is intolerance, ignorance and hate.  Unfortunately, you seem to have the upper hand in some denominations, but there are puh-lenty of Christian communities where my people are welcomed and affirmed, even ordained. 

If you don't want us in your church, fine.  But you don't get to hang your sanctimonious wreath on Brent Dugan's grave and point fingers at KDKA. 

But the really sad thing is that while Ms. Mullen tried to elevate one man's suffering and personal tragedy to call us all to accountability, Edwards continues to diminish Reverend Dugan's full personhood by denying the pressures of living a closeted life in the Presbyterian Church.