Reply #244: Talk about "Unconscious Message"

[sureiachan]

Straights always say ... eh?

Nice, qualify the entire set. While we're at it, "Gays always ruin it for everyone else," "Transgenders always get discriminated against the most," "Blacks are always responsible for the higher crime rates." Oh, "Asians drive the worst, especially the women." No matter how true or untrue, you can guarantee to insult someone with absolute rhetoric. Good job!

Oh, and nothing is less conducive to active discussion than evoking a victim attitude while display condescension to the people you're reaching out to. What annoys me most about the whole for/against Pastor Warren thing is that I haven't seen anyone unequivocably support Warren. I haven't seen anyone who even thinks it was the best choice ... Everyone - every single person - has reservations because of the filth he spreads. I don't think I've seen anyone who has spoken against protesting through email or other reasonable means. The most I've seen "against" GLBT members is that they say you should be using such overblown hyperbole and take it so personally, as if Obama was siting there, wringing his hands in some secret base, going over a list of GLBT supporters and cackling with glee as he scans each one.

What a lot of the people, if not everyone is saying is that Warren is insulting, Warren is a bad choice, Warren is not someone we want representing us ... but it can have positive consequences if we can swallow a little crow and look toward the future. This is what I've said, myself. It leaves a bad taste, and has a bad initial result, but down the line it might be positive if we can stay supportive (providing that when Obama actually gets into office he sticks to his campaign platforms) and swallow a little bad medicine. No one is asking any GLBT person to walk up to Warren and kiss his ring or speak in his support. No one is asking that you don't offer protest and anger, at least no one that I've seen. What every "positive" person is asking is that you don't tear down the fragile structure that has been built because you need to take the anger of recent events out on someone - anyone.

Diplomacy is what will save us, not crossing our arms and refusing to talk. Unless that is all you've learned during the Bush years, is to emulate your enemies rather than resist their lure.