“I fear it… I fear it” These were the words spoken by Rebecca Nurse in 1692, Salem Massachusetts as religious leaders aligned together with their malignant idea that witchcraft was on the rise in their small town. An idea that arose from Abigail Williams hate towards those elders she disliked- callously crying witchery on innocent women. Many innocent lives were lost before it was too late. As if deja Vu was happening, From 1950 to 1953, Senator McCarthy, a powerful figure at the time, began to press his accusations that the American government was failing to “deal with communism”, and the following years, just like Abigail had in the salem witch trials- directed people to not associate with others who were seen being possibly guilty of practicing communism.
History was repeating itself and nobody noticed. Many innocent victims were accused, put in jail, fired from their jobs and discommunicated in the 1950s, some actors, doctors, lawyers, all due to morality panic. The same happened in the witch trails in the sixteenth century. You would think we would learn? But we don't.
July 09th 2006: Mainstream Religious leaders all over the United States were continuing a spearhead campaign against one of the most controversial topics involving the church and state right now. Gay Marriage and Civil Unions. More specifically, the "break down of the family unit through lesser forms of marriage".
Church leaders have since chosen and are trying to use their religious morality to criminalize what should be a law, civil unions- just like Thomas Putman did. Thomas Putman was the man who got the witchcraft allegations spiraling, and used his religion to justify the presence of the supernatural- just like Abigail, the girl who pretended to be posessed, singled out a group of people she didn’t like.
Each three of these examples share the same motive. Fear. Whenever Abigail felt like she was in danger she would accuse another person of witchcraft. Senator McCarthy was afraid that communism would overthrow the democracy America had “worked so hard to build.” And now, today, the church heirachy is using the fear of the disintegration of the family unit in order to justify criminalizing homosexaulity.
Bishops, Cardinals from all over the globe, and the Pope have made it very clear that, not only are they opposed to homosexuality within their church- they are actively trying to bar it in our open society. In many parts of the United States, obsessed religious people have come up with a law they hope- will make civil unions (even between a man and a women) illegal. To this day, the Catholic Church have tried and failed to lobby against the Homosexual Law reform act 1986, the Civil union act 2005, and many civil union laws passed in Italy, France and Germany.
What Religious leaders and fanatics don’t realize is that what they are doing is a complete contradiction to everything they are supposedly about, everything we represent. Through powerful manipulation of biblical texts, they are throwing bible grenades at full velocity towards a minority group- effectively attempting to destroy their lives and create hell on earth.
Notice marriage hasn’t been mentioned yet. That is because the church is perfectly within its rights to create rules for marriage- for them a ceremony only for a man and a woman, there are no exceptions. The current debate is about something completely different and something that the Church should really have no say in- civil unions. Life long partnerships with another person, irrespective of gender- working for the same goals, just trying to get by and share in some of the benefits just like everybody else does and should be entitled too.
Sadly, many lawmakers and citizens fail to see the difference as they are being fed misinformation from the opposition. The main arguments against civil unions focus on the old-age “Homosexuality is a sin” argument, which archaic in itself- has absolutely nothing to do with being in a civil union with somebody. The second largest argument comes from the viewpoint that men have to be compatible with women in order to raise a family and therefore, no alternate to Marriage should be allowed. This argument hardly works either, considering the divorce rate is north of 50% now, that many people don’t want to get married and have children- and that a growing amount of evidence is cumulating which backs up claims that homosexuals do not choose it as a “lifestyle”.
Many everyday Christians and Catholics though- are begged to wonder why such a frivolous topic is being sought with so much hype and emotional resonation. Why are religions focusing on removing rights from a group of people, when there are larger things in the world going on right now to worry about? Religious leaders, governments, scientists and citizens irrespective of sexual orientation- should all be working together to bring an end to poverty, to bring an end to war, to create life long solutions for issues such as global warming, which will eventually effect our population as a whole. Not just those few who want to protect the traditional view of marriage only.
God created us to work with one another, to love one another- to respect one another and to work as a team. But at the moment, God’s own followers are doing the exact opposite to what Jesus’ message was.
Being an ex-Catholic myself, I share in Rebecca Nurse’s mindset. Rebecca Nurse spoke the famous words "The aftermath of the hangings... I fear it, I feat it"...I fear that once this mess is finally all over, and there is nothing left to debate on either side- that the church will forever be torn apart. It’s happening already. The Anglican Church is in the process of disowning denominations, like the Episocal church who allowed a gay man become a bishop. The Church has dis-assiocaited itself with it's african counter-parts, something that has never been done before. African leaders of that church think they are morally compelled to create law that bans more than two gay people from being in the same room together. It's no wonder the american side of the church has torn away. I fear that the battle and aftermath of the current war on Gay rights will not only create a travesty for homosexuals- but also for people who are part of the catholic religion, or any religion. The more the pope spews bullshit about second-class homosexuals, the more our younger generation will spit on the very church he is trying to uphold. I imagine it will be everybody else vs. Religious people. The Church won’t be a happy place to reside. Did you know that 90 percent of teenagers aged 16 to 24 feel as though the church's moral stance on sexuality is it's most major drawback? What I once thought of was a place of resonating peace will no longer be the angel it once appeared. The same thing happened in the town of Salem, before the hanging and burning began.
By the end of the Salem Witch Trials, over thirty innocent victims were hung, burnt or stoned to death. Abigail, the shrill but determined little girl who felt morally obliged to kill so many women, had since run away and was never seen or heard of again. When the town realized that it was all just a farce, people were filled with remorse. The large middle class who were manipulated into callous action suddenly realized what a tragedy they had helped create. The town went silent. Many cows and other animals were roaming around dying with no masters to feed them- and nobody dared touch that land for at least another century.
You would think that the world would learn from its history. But alas it isn’t. Obviously the church's crusade on homosexuals isn't as hardcore as the witch hunts. But when you think about it, it is still, in essense, a witch hunt. Like the witches burnt at the stake, religious leaders are doing anything to burn what pleasure of life all homosexuals currently have and in the meantime, other issues are left to slowly simmer. Who cares about poverty issues or increasing war and heat in the world? I’m afraid that as an ex-catholic I have to say that I think the church has finally lost the plot. How far religious zealots are willing to go and its expense on the ever widening gap between people in the church, only time will tell. But know this. “I fear it… I fear it.”
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f1lmjunkie wrote