Know Thy Enemy

It looks like all the anger at the black community over prop 8 doesn’t match the facts. The National Gay and Lesbian Task Force press release reported that a recent study found that:

"the level of support for Proposition 8 among African Americans was nowhere close to the NEP exit poll 70 percent figure. The study looked at pre- and post-election polls and conducted a sophisticated analysis of precinct-level voting data from five California counties with the highest African-American populations (Alameda (Oakland), Los Angeles, Sacramento, San Diego and San Francisco).* Based on this, it concludes that the level of African-American support for Proposition 8 was in the range of 57-59 percent.

An in-depth analysis of the Proposition 8 vote released today shows that party affiliation, political ideology, frequency of attending worship services and age were the driving forces behind the measure’s passage on Nov. 4. The study finds that after taking into account the effect of religious service attendance."

As I suspected, “NO” votes in general are largely explained by the higher rates of religious service attendance (57 percent of African Americans attend religious services at least once a week, compared to 42 percent of whites and 40 percent of Asian Americans). If we’re going to throw stones, let's hit the right target.

The only true consistency in religion is that it bring people together….and then pits them against others. With this bloody truth in mind, I posit that we must recognize religion as the greatest enemy of mankind, and defeat it with the only weapon that can truly kill it: reason.

I know it troubles the tender hearts of many gays to compromise the concept of tolerance. The scriptural acrobatics and ecumenical spirit that religious moderates employ to save their faith from extinction is so widely accepted (among otherwise rational people) that even non-believers are willing to embrace a “live and let live” policy toward the faithful. Unfortunately, many of those we tolerate are acutely aware of what’s actually written in their “holy books”: believe this ridiculous shit or die. More than a third of our country, let's call it Jesusland, recognizes religious moderates for what they are (poseurs) and Jesusland isn't about to stop its assault on reason until totalitarian control is achieved. These zealots are too afraid of death and uncertainty to ever stop their advance, and tolerance only allows them to strengthen until their moment to strike presents itself.

You can only reason with people that operate from a place of reason. The enemy defies reason, which makes it exceptionally dangerous. Why tolerate a group of people that would kill you if left unchecked? I know, you think I’m being overdramatic. You think “most religious people would never harm me.” To that thought, consider this: from anitquity to the present, the brutal reality of belief-based action has been moderated only to the extent that people have wounded the church through reason. In other words, if it weren’t for reason, this would be your reality:

Even apparently innocuous beliefs, when unjustified, can lead to intolerable consequences. Many Muslims, for instance, are convinced that God takes an active interest in women’s clothing. While it may seem harmless enough, the amount of suffering that this incredible idea has caused is astonishing. The rioting in Nigeria over the 2002 Miss World Pageant claimed over 200 lives; innocent men and women were butchered with machetes or burned alive simply to keep that troubled place free of women in bikinis. Earlier in the year, the religious police in Mecca prevented paramedics and firefighters from rescuing scores of teenage girls trapped in a burning building. Why? Because the girls were not wearing the traditional head covering that Koranic law requires. Fourteen girls died in the fire; fifty were injured. Should Muslims really be free to believe that the creator of the universe is concerned about hemlines? –Sam Harris; The End of Faith

The sad fact is that even “smart” societies can get stupid real fucking quick. In America we have slowly gained more ground on the enemy than many, yet the rights we have achieved have come only by fighting religious dogma with the spirit of a pre-menstrual Xena, and the enemy still fights us for every inch of turf. Just ask the married couples in California or the gay people in Arkansas who now can’t adopt a child. The truth is that beliefs are principles of action. You act based on what you believe to be true, and as long as people are subject to unjustified belief demanded by the greatest power in the universe, they will do surprising, often bloody things.

Do you feel comfortable, safe, and secure in your tolerant America? Two words: Nazi Germany. Don’t think it can happen again? Turn on the television. When economies fall and educational standards plummet with them, over time collective knowledge is lost. The fearful moderate masses embrace conservatism and easy solutions, like religious zealotry. Inevitably a charismatic leader appears on the scene, compromises are made, and scapegoats are identified. Scapegoats. That neighbor with the moderate beliefs who would never hurt you? They might as well be a zombie.

Blaming heterosexual black people does not advance our fight. Engaging them with the sword of reason at every turn does. Of course, first the white gay community needs to get over its fear of black people and form strategic alliances, but that's another story entirely.

As usual, the zealots already have their swords drawn, so draw the sword of reason against them. No blood need ever be spilled, but you do need to take a political interest in what’s going on around you. Speak out against irrational beliefs used to condemn you, educate those “moderates” around you who will listen, and patiently challenge those who won't listen. Assemble allies in your own community. Inspire your religious friends to explore a true spirituality that seeks to expand subjective reality instead of suffocating it in favor of dogma created by sheep herders ravaged by their basic ignorance of the world, who would probably think YOU were God if you showed them a glowstick and snickers bar.

Give no ground. The future depends on it.