An apology from the Fear & Loathing desk:

I apologize: I was just trying to be funny with the Bush-Jesus comparison. I thought it was a funny comparison because they are both anti-gay (but nothing alike). Or are they? This issue seems to be more controversial than I first thought. Maybe Jesus WASN'T anti-gay after all! It's funny because everyone who is anti-gay seems to think that Jesus was too...and everyone who believes in gay rights seems to think that Jesus agree's with them. Interesting. This got me thinking....maybe Jesus was playing both sides. Maybe Jesus was a Nihilist...a scum-bag politician no better than John Kerry: throwing his morals out the window for personal gain. If Jesus WAS a "flip-flopper" it would certainly account for the massively varied opinions on what he did or did not believe in. Maybe I was wrong about Jesus. Maybe he WASN'T principled after all (like I first suggested)!

I initially based my assertion that Jesus was an anti-gay bigot no better than George Bush on the simple fact that the vast majority of people around today who claim to be "doing his work" are feverishly anti-gay. For example CNN's Larry King had a show a few weeks back with the pro-gay mayor of San Fransisco, who was issuing illegal (or semi-legal) marriage licenses to gay couples, and this Minister from Alabama. The Minister was a nice guy and obviously knew his stuff. Here's a guy who's been studying religion, the bible, and Jesus for his entire working career and if he says that Jesus considered homosexuals no better than pedophiles, adulterers or common criminals than I'm inclined to believe him if for no other reason than most other religious leaders tend to agree. Take Mother Theresa for example, a much loved religious hero. She spent her entire life tirelessly campaigning in Ireland and around the world against sex education, abortion rights, public child care and most passionately against divorce. Mother Theresa rightly recognized that if women felt free to use condoms, or get an abortion or divorce an abusive husband it would undermine the euro-centric Christian nuclear family.

To be fair (and very clear) George Bush and the capitalist system that controls him are the REAL enemy here and not Jesus or religion. Unfortunately, religion and religious "family values" are the TOOL that capitalism uses to justify the oppression and exploitation of women. You see, capitalism could not survive without the countless hours of unpaid labor that women do in The Home everyday. Gay people are a threat because they don't fit into the nuclear family structure. In the very same way, even fundamental rights like divorce or child care are dangerous because women might start thinking about things other than housework & motherhood. This is what Mother Theresa feared most. The great IRONY is that gays are persecuted even though they themselves pose no threat. They are only marginalized because their very existence undermines the family structure...and the oppression of women is a fundamental pillar (and hallmark) of any capitalist system. That is why gays and women have everything to gain by uniting in solidarity against the capitalist system and the oppressive religious structures it offers us. A better world IS possible. A world with pay-equity and child care...a world where gay people are not second class citizens. Keep The Dream Alive.

ps - March 20^th in TO was amazing: there were 10,000 people at the corner of Queen & Yonge: "What do we want? Peace! When do we want it? NOW!"

Peace,
Max