Let me hurry and discuss this whole Kathy Griffin fiasco before my freedom of speech is completely gone. During her Emmy acceptance speech, Miss Griffin boldly denied Christ's involvement in her winning the award. Her comment went like this:
“A lot of people come up here and thank Jesus for this award. I want you to know that no one had less to do with this award than Jesus … Can you believe this shit? Hell has frozen over. Suck it, Jesus; this award is my god now!”
This colorful comment was enough to enrage Christians not only at her, but also at anyone in the audience who laughed and, eventually, Hollywood in general. Religious nuts have gone so far as to claim it as hate speech against Judeo-Christians. They liken it unto Don Imus’ ethnic slur toward black women. Can you believe it? You better, ‘cuz it’s true. Check out this CNN REPORT for a slice of the so called “debate”.
Excellent point #1: Nothing about what Miss Griffin said was geared toward Christians. She did not ask Christians or Catholics to “suck it”, nor did she make any attempt to slander their own adherence to the sun god. She made a cultural observation about how people feel the need to thank Jesus or God whenever they receive an award, win a game, or accomplish virtually anything in their lives. She was giving HERSELF full credit for her accomplishment, and rightly so.
Excellent point #2: In this country, a person’s freedom to follow their religious inclinations is guaranteed. This DOES NOT require the rest of us to pay similar homage to such ideas. It does not make those ideas free from scrutiny. Claims of hate speech and bigotry are petty ways for religious people to keep the questioning of their beliefs in check, that’s all.
Excellent point #3: Asking people in a free society to respect every imaginary idea you hold sacred is an insult. By your reaction, you are asking everyone to respect Jesus Christ whether they believe in him or (in Kathy’s case) not. Now, if you asked us to respect the ideas of cooperation or democracy or justice or compassion or any number of other concepts which benefit the Whole, that would be reasonable. You are not asking that. You want everyone to hold the figurehead of your religion, a character who you yourselves do not fully understand, with the utmost respect and admiration. Not doing so enrages you. Get over it.
Excellent point #4: Equating this situation with the Muslim outrage toward a cartoon of their prophet DOES NOT support your argument. Actually, it weakens it. Muslims have every right to expect their flocks to respect Allah; they have no right to expect that from the rest of the world. In fact, their violent actions negate any respect from being earned, especially when they justify their violence using the religion such a prophet stands for. By claiming this rationale as their own, Christians have revealed their fascist desire to force everyone to raise Jesus Christ above all else. I will fight this particularly giddy logic to my bitter end.
I applaud Kathy Griffin.
“A lot of people come up here and thank Jesus for this award. I want you to know that no one had less to do with this award than Jesus … Can you believe this shit? Hell has frozen over. Suck it, Jesus; this award is my god now!”
This colorful comment was enough to enrage Christians not only at her, but also at anyone in the audience who laughed and, eventually, Hollywood in general. Religious nuts have gone so far as to claim it as hate speech against Judeo-Christians. They liken it unto Don Imus’ ethnic slur toward black women. Can you believe it? You better, ‘cuz it’s true. Check out this CNN REPORT for a slice of the so called “debate”.
Excellent point #1: Nothing about what Miss Griffin said was geared toward Christians. She did not ask Christians or Catholics to “suck it”, nor did she make any attempt to slander their own adherence to the sun god. She made a cultural observation about how people feel the need to thank Jesus or God whenever they receive an award, win a game, or accomplish virtually anything in their lives. She was giving HERSELF full credit for her accomplishment, and rightly so.
Excellent point #2: In this country, a person’s freedom to follow their religious inclinations is guaranteed. This DOES NOT require the rest of us to pay similar homage to such ideas. It does not make those ideas free from scrutiny. Claims of hate speech and bigotry are petty ways for religious people to keep the questioning of their beliefs in check, that’s all.
Excellent point #3: Asking people in a free society to respect every imaginary idea you hold sacred is an insult. By your reaction, you are asking everyone to respect Jesus Christ whether they believe in him or (in Kathy’s case) not. Now, if you asked us to respect the ideas of cooperation or democracy or justice or compassion or any number of other concepts which benefit the Whole, that would be reasonable. You are not asking that. You want everyone to hold the figurehead of your religion, a character who you yourselves do not fully understand, with the utmost respect and admiration. Not doing so enrages you. Get over it.
Excellent point #4: Equating this situation with the Muslim outrage toward a cartoon of their prophet DOES NOT support your argument. Actually, it weakens it. Muslims have every right to expect their flocks to respect Allah; they have no right to expect that from the rest of the world. In fact, their violent actions negate any respect from being earned, especially when they justify their violence using the religion such a prophet stands for. By claiming this rationale as their own, Christians have revealed their fascist desire to force everyone to raise Jesus Christ above all else. I will fight this particularly giddy logic to my bitter end.
I applaud Kathy Griffin.
2 comments:
OK....so WOW....
I think I am in love with Kathy Griffin now. I merely liked her before, but now...WOW!!!
I aggree with you on all points...christians need to get over themselves and enjoy their freedom to worship anything or anyone they choose. They also need to realize that with that freedom come the right for those of us who choose to look at things from a different point of view to express it in just the way that Kathy did. I too applaud her as well as you.
the Rodent
Yes, I am one of Kathy Griffin's "gays". But even if I weren't, I would still support her on this issue. What really, truly bothers me is the comparison Christians are making with Muslim outrage. "Well, you wouldn't support Ms. Griffon if she had mentioned Muhammad during her speech, would you?"
No, and you know why? Because I would be shot in the back. There is no respect involved in that decision, there is fear. Right now in America, Christians use a verbal form of fear and coersion ... I just wonder how long before they start blowing themselves up for such ridiculous reasons.
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