Volume 16, Issue 3: Sharpening Iron
From Us:
Some might consider it a disturbing image. But we didn't do it. We
didn't put the fence there. We didn't make the coyote jump and we certainly
didn't make the coyote, though our mother's meat loaf is excellent. Truthfully,
we had nothing to do with any of it. However, it does seem to have
been done on purpose. "Almost," as the agnostic once said, "as if there were
a god/higher power at work." The atheist never said anything like that.
He knows who's responsible for the dead coyote and he would like to speak to
the supervisor. Only there isn't one. That's the trouble. That, in fact, is the
primary reason why he is depressed and determines to right global
mismanagement himself. Of course, because he's as much a character in this story as
the coyote, all he does is start an organic farm for ideological reasons only to
sell out and become a capitalist as the money rolls in. Then one day,
while driving a Honda Element around his cabbage patch, he glances over at
the fence beside his road and sees this coyote. Life is suffering, he says,
and becomes a Buddhist.
From You:
HOW `BOUT THE OBVIOUS?
Dear Editor,
The "Sodom as Yawnsville" issue was packed full of good stuff, as
usual. However, I was surprised that you all didn't touch on the obvious. . .
the hysterical absurdity of homosexuality, and the power that it has over
American culture. Seriously, how many TV shows are extremely popular because of
funny homos. Watch one—it's hard not to laugh. Why? Because it's
stupendously hilarious when you really think about
it. "Dude, you're not a girl. Why are you acting like one?" For the Christian,
this is logical. It's hilarious when guys act like girls, and vice versa—just
ask Shakespeare.
But in unbelieving culture, this humor is actually not humor at
all—it's existential despair. It is the cult of absurdity, but it's faithless
absurdity. Like a hyper-active child, it doesn't know when to quit. Like a hedonist,
it says "We're all screwed, so we may as well go out with a good laugh!"
So, while Christians continue to be the tight-lipped dour ninnies of the American public square, most Americans have come to think that
homosexuals are really nothing but the class clowns of America.
I think this only lends credence to something I've hear y'all say
before, which is that most evangelical Christians could stand to lighten up
alot. To paraphrase Homer Simpson:"I resent you people calling yourselves queer. That's our word for making
fun of you! We need it!"
The gay culture is the culture of humor in our day and age, and as
long as that continues, they'll just poke fun at us until we submit.
So, I exhort you brethren: laugh on.
John Carswell
Mount Pleasant, SC
Editor's reply: Of course you're right. Humor is seductive and the comic
is included in any crowd as long as he stays funny. In the war for
inclusion television writers and producers know how to pitch sexual confusion. We
have a ways to go before a serious gay drama could be entirely mainstream.
Several articles along these lines were contemplated for that issue, but were tabled
for future use.
POINTING OUT THE NUDE
Dear Editor,
Finally some thought upon the issue of homosexuality. The response of the
church at large has become such a tiresome recital of tsk, tsk, that I
thought I was alone in thinking we are responsible for this curse.
The entire issue was refreshing. Thanks again for pointing out that the
Emperor has no clothes. Keep up the good work.
Don Jones
Sierra San Pedro
GAY GENE
Dear Editor,
I would like to take issue with a minor point in Mr. Wilson's
insightful article about homosexuality. I do not think that we ought to just give away
the "genetic" argument. This is an important part of the language in
the controversy: they want us to use their words to describe them, and they
want us to accept their explanation of themselves. As someone with a
science background (chemistry BA, now a medical student), I believe that
there are absolutely no grounds for the statement that homosexuality is
genetic. There have been very few studies published on the topic. The ones
that claimed to find a "gay" gene had
very flawed methodology. The results could not be reproduced by other scientists;
in fact, later studies which attempted to corroborate the earlier ones ended
up disproving their claim to have discov
ered a "gay gene." So there is no scientific evidence for their
claims, contrary to the excited reports of the media. Besides which, the idea of a
gene which naturally tends to extinguish itself is ridiculous. Since the realm of
science belongs to God, there is no need to agree to this false and purely
rhetorical point just because it's clothed in the
garb of science.
Phoebe Abraham
Springfield , OH
Editor's reply: You are most likely entirely correct on the "gay gene" front. However, we see the discussion as entirely unimportant. Every hetero is genetically prone to certain temptations, and yet we expect them to behave in accordance with biblical morality. We're willing to admit that genetics could effect temptation, but—not being
fatalists—we would never affirm that any behavior is made genetically inevitable.