Why I Don't Like Bigots

Okay, you know how I said one of the reasons I created this blog was so I could safely rant when people pissed me off? Well, dog knows I have better things to do today (and a lot of them), but my day has been rudely interrupted by people being jackasses. It all started with an email. Another stupid email from the kids' school. It was letting people know that the Domincan Provincial was holding an emergency meeting today to talk to parents about Father Hank. Wait, who is Father Hank? I don't know any Father Hank. And being that the school is administrated by a woman with the common sense of an artichoke, that was all the email said.

Since I trust the Catholic church about as far as I can throw it, I called the S/O and asked him to find out who the hell Father Hank was and why I should care. After playing telephone with numerous people, the S/O sent me a link in an email. At first glance I could find no rational reason why Paula Deen's Family Sex Shocker! had a damn thing to do with anything. This entailed a follow-up phone call, where I learned that in 2003, Paula Deen's brother-in-law was nabbed for soliciting sex from an undercover policeman. Oh, and he happens to be a priest. Oh, and he's a local priest who sometimes fills in at the church affiliated with the kids' school.  So I was pissed off at the school for their cryptic email, and for being stupid in general.

The day wears on and there's another email. This one assuring me that Father Hank has been relieved of his duties in his parish and counseling will be available to children who are upset by this fooferaw.

First off, let me say that the Catholic church is totally fucked up when it comes to sex, heterosexual sex and especially homosexual sex. They are bigots. Sorry. If you hate people for the way they are intrinsically, you're a bigot. I don't care what fancy little dress you put on it, you're a bigot. I hate bigots. Now, some smartass might say I'm a bigot because I don't care for Republicans (which is ignoring the fact that the S/O is, gulp, a Republican) but it's well within my rights to despise people for what they think. That's different than despising people for what they are. You can change political parties if you're so inclined, but you can't stop being gay.

So in their haste to care so much about what people do with their naughty bits, the church sets up situations just like this, and then everybody has to deal with the fallout. Lives are ruined. I don't know Father Hank. Maybe he's a jerk. He certainly did something ill-advised. But being taught that sexuality is sinful and awful warps people, whether they're gay or straight. It takes one of the best things about life and turns it into something ugly, something to be ashamed of. I can't help but think of the likelihood that he's someone now paying the price for dedicating his life to an institution that despises him for the way he was born.