An openly gay bishop is "The Last Straw," causing true believers to leave the liberal, secularized Episcopal church in disgust, declares Rev. Peter Mullen, the Anglican chaplain to the London Stock Exchange, writing in the Aug. 26th Wall Street Journal (online to WSJ subscribers only). He sermonizes:
Homosexual bishops? How long before we see pedophile bishops, necrophile Deans of Cathedrals and cannibalistic Archdeacons?
Nice, huh. The sooner these bigots splinter off, the better.
Not the Marrying Kind.
Gay historian James T. Sears has a column in the Washington Blade asking why gays would want to get married. His viewpoint is sexual liberationist, which is somewhat different from the feminist, anti-patriarchy/anti-marriage camp (and a bit more fun to read). He writes:
In our post-Stonewall struggle, we (particularly many gay leaders) have entered a Faustian bargain trading equal rights with heterosexuals in lieu of sexual liberation for all".[D]id those of us in the Stonewall generation riot to appear in the New York Times "Weddings/Celebrations"?
And he approvingly quotes from an early gay activist:
Harold Call, a prominent leader in the Mattachine Society, observed near the end of his life, "We are still operating under the anti-sexual taboo," he said. "The Puritan idea is Thou Shalt Not Feel Good. Unless you are miserable, overworked and under-f***ed you"re not really a productive member of the society."
But the vision of the endless orgasm will forever remain elusive (cf. Dr. Freud's "Civilization and Its Discontents"). Overwhelming, gays and lesbians want the right to marry and lead bourgeois lives, even if they don't choose to exercise that right -- at least while they're young and randy. And society benefits from the stability that spousal relationships tend to provide (which is the seed of truth that gives force to the pro-family camp's otherwise noxious propaganda about sexual anarchy). Sorry, but it's time to grow up, Peter Pan.
I'm not criticizing those who reject coupling up for themselves;
it's certainly not best for everyone. But I'm critical of those who
think it's not best for anyone.