It’s turning out to be one of those weeks . . .
It’s been a fun week already at the Trib’s discussion boards thanks to Zach Maxfield of Logan who wrote that Mormons aren’t homophobes, they just love gay people so much they want them to become straight people. Okay, I’m paraphrasing. Zach’s exact words were:
[God] counsels us to never condone or accept evil behavior. Homosexual acts degrade the individual, the family and society . . . Salt Lake City should not support those who act on homosexual feelings by facilitating benefits for partners living together. Not having such benefits does not erode someone’s freedom to choose homosexuality.
Mormons do not hate homosexuals. We invite them to our Sunday meetings and pray that by showing them our love they will feel of God’s love for them and understand that living God’s laws of marriage will bring them lasting peace and happiness in this life and the next. Many Mormons oppose any government action that directly or indirectly supports homosexuality. We are not being bigoted and hateful - we are helping keep society’s morals on the track of prosperity and virtue.
The letter has well over 200 comments, including the usual litany of gay bashing nonsense and lots of fun whining on behalf of Mormons who claim they are the real victims of hate and bigotry - and that it’s the gay people who are oppressing the Mormons. The sludge aside, the Trib’s discussion boards are at time bracing. There was however some relatively vigorous debate about the nature of sexual orientation, the questions of civil rights and religious freedom. I tend to dismiss arguments about religious freedom and gay marriage as flawed - allowing same gender couples the right to legally marry in no way abridges anyone’s religious freedom any more than allowing non-religious marriage ceremonies abridges the right of couples to have religious ceremonies, or than does allowing inter-faith marriages abridges the right of persons of faith to believe you should not have interfaith marriages.
Arguments about “condoning” homosexuality (or as Zach puts it, “supporting those who act on homosexual feelings”) strike me misguided. The argument runs that it’s wrong to be gay, and government should not pass any laws that send the message that being gay is okay since that would encourage people who aren’t gay to run out and become gay since they would think it is okay. It’s of course utter nonsense since sexual orientation is not chosen - the aspect of choice with regard to sexuality is not a matter of will you or won’t you be straight, gay, bi and so on - it is a question of will you or won’t accept who you are and seek self-actualization as the person you are. In the psychiatric language I’ve seen - the goal should be to fully integrate one’s identity and seek a mature sense of self as a gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender person. IOW, the same goal as with a straight person.
Okay, so aside from Zach’s rather sad missive, we have a selection of letters that aren’t so much defending Chris Buttars as they are they are saying “Why can’t we all just get along? Chris is a good man and we should forgive him. The black folk as Calvary baptist forgave him!” (This letter is a good example of the genre, as is this letter in the D-News.)
FWIW, in a weird coincidence, I happened to be worshpping at Calvary Sunday morning when Chris “no really I’m not a bigot I just everybody who does not agree with me” Buttars made his apology. Buttars gave his usual mealy-mouthed non-apology - and talked about how at Boys Town (or wherever it was he worked) he helped boys of all races so he’s not a bigot. Pastor France Davis is a man of rather impressive grace and let the congregation well, but some of members of his congregation clearly disagreed. When he invited the congregation to stand and applaud, a large minority of the congregation chose not to do so. (If I had to guess, I’d say about 1/3 of those present remained seated.) The point of course is that Chris Buttars public statements and actions have led a great many people to the reasonable conclusion that he is a bigot. His past comments about the Supreme’s Decision in Brown, his utter lack of awareness about the racist roots of lynch mobs and his consistent anti-gay words and actions a fairly good indicator that this is not a man who believes we all are in fact equal.
The desire to “forgive” Buttars and move on . . . well to be honest, I don’t have nice words for it. It’s all about the good ole boys club - and the idea that somehow Buttars has been treated unfairly. It’s about the idea that somehow it’s just not right to punish him for saying what the good ole boys club has always been able to say and do and think. It strikes me as terribly childish - he said he’s sorry so now everything is just a-ok.
The people who want everyone to just forgive and forget seem to not understand that as an elected official, Chris Buttars (any legislator really) represents not just their district, but all of Utah. He or she holds a position of trust. They are writing, passing and sometimes removing laws that affect all of us, not just the residents of their districts. So when Chris Buttars and his fellow travelers on the Hill pass laws that harm gay people or when they say things that hurt African Americans or Latinos, they aren’t just affecting the people in their district, they are affecting all of us. To defend Chris Buttars saying he represents the people of his district misses the point - which is that his actions affect all Utahns - gay and straight, black and white, young and old, Mormon and not. And Chris Buttars attitudes a (I believe he’s in his mid to late sixties) are the attitudes and beliefs people his age who grew up in Utah were raised with; many Utahns have rejected those attitudes and beliefs; many have rejected them only at the surface - a sort of “I can’t say what I really believe so I have to be careful and not say it.” When someone like Chris Buttars lets loose in public, they hear what they were raised to believe. For many Utahns of Buttars’ generation, all they know is its wrong to say bad things about black people or gay people or women but they’re not really sure in their hearts why. Before you ask, my father, uncle and aunt are products of the same era in Utah as Chris Buttars - I’ve seen them struggle with values they imbibed growing up and the way in which those values are no longer appropriate for the world in which we live. Black people aren’t bad and dangerous as they were taught and you sure as hell don’t call someone a “nigger”, Latinos aren’t “wetbacks” and “spics”, gays aren’t “queer as three dollar bills”, and Asian Americans are all “Japs” and “chinks” and “gooks”, and . . . well, the litany of hate words could go on but the point is obvious. Back in the day (even into the 1970s in Utah), a lot of people thought it was okay to say those words in public, to dismiss their fellow humans beings with such easy words.
When people across the hear Chris Buttars say “black babies are ugly” (and before you start, those were not his exact words but that’s what a lot of people heard), it makes all of Utah look bad. When our legislators close ranks and defend him, we all look like bigots. Chris Buttars may be elected by the people of his District, but because of his position in the legislature he represents all of Utah and his track record is a poor one. That he seems unable to figure out that the values of back in the day were filled to the brim with bigotry, racism, sexism, heterosexism, ableism, faithism, ageism, classism, and ableism, is a black mark on him and unfortunately one that makes the rest of us look bad.
