Judgement much? Gratuitous and broad hint that Rockford pastor was gay... No? Some of the campest men I have known have been raging heterosexuals. Women weren't safe particularly because they gave out signals that are generally assumed to indicate gayness.
As a totally gay man, I seem to give out the opposite signals too, and men and women take me as being a raging, rampant heterosexual. Oh yes. I love women - but not like that. As a result, my love life has been blighted by hordes of women and a scarcity of very desirable men.
There's truth in the humour of it.
But that aside, here, whether he cares or not, is it appropriate for a presumed (I'm asuming it is a pastor talking about another pastor)'man of god' to displaying overtly his personal homophobia? It doesn't seem very Jesus-like to me.
Note the use of language. Yes, this man can use language! Observe the considered use of 'dainty' with all the psychological impact it can have when used in a male reference. This is using language as a weapon.
Then there is the sudden switch to the brusque, butch sentence without the softening effect of the personal pronoun, swiftly followed by the archaism - now considered crude - 'ain't', followed by 'never'. Gruffness combines with the double negative. It seems to be saying: I thank the lord I am not like this other man - I hope.
Such could be interpreted as self-reassurance about one's sexuality. The language seems to be betraying an attempt to bolster maleness by contrasting it with a perceived effeminateness in another. Now why would anyone want to do that? Who to needs to be convinced, and why?
We then revert to that American Abomination: the use of the concept of 'The Loser'. In fact, nobody is 100% a winner. That means that at least some of the time we are all of us losers. It may be in a game of cards, football, American football, baseball, Hurling, skiing, or tiddlywinks. Learning how to accept loss - defeat, if you prefer - with grace and eqanimity is an important part of maturing. It is eqully important to be able to accept victory wiht the same qualities, with the added one of humility. Nobody wins totally on their own. There is always a crowded background that is endlessly mentioned at the Oscars. A mature, rounded personality takes victory and defeat in its stride. The really important thing is wholehearted participation in whatever may be at stake, even in life itself. Winning or losing are incidental.
Yet here we have a gung-ho attitude that seems to be saying that someone is probably gay; if you are gay you are a non-achiever. Well, Alan Turing to you! We wouldn't be on the internet if this gay man, hounded to death by a self-designated christian culture, hadn't laid the groundwork for computers.
We assume, of course, that this happened, and that the story (like another one of 1900 years ago) is not a monstrous apocalyptic tale - i.e. untrue...
I think I'm preaching. It must be Sunday morning. Heigh-Ho! Time for the Crystal Cathedral to shatter my peace of mind.
