And now a quote from Chuck Hurley, president of the Iowa Family Policy Center.
“The Iowa Legislature outlawed smoking in an effort to improve health and reduce the medical costs that are often passed on to the state. The secondhand impacts of certain homosexual acts are arguably more destructive, and potentially more costly to society than smoking. …Because of their [the legislators'] unwillingness to correct the error of last April’s Iowa Supreme Court opinion [in which gay marriage was legalized], the Iowa Legislature is responsible for sanctioning activities that will lead to dramatically higher rates of HIV and syphilis in Iowa.” 1
Apparently Hurley was referring to a press release entitled “CDC Analysis Provides New Look at Disproportionate Impact of HIV and Syphilis Among U.S. Gay and Bisexual Men.” The analysis found that the rate of new HIV diagnoses among gay and bisexual men “is more than 44 times that of other men and more than 40 times that of [all?] women,” while the rate of syphilis among gay and bisexual men “is more than 46 times that of other men and more than 71 times that of women.” 2
So, you know, Iowa should ban gayness. Because it’s bad for the public health.
We shouldn’t focus on prevention strategies that still allow people to be who they are. No, we should just outlaw their abnormal tendencies. And let’s bring back the sodomy laws while we’re at it.
According to their website, the IFPC “is a nonprofit, 501(c)3 research and educational organization committed to strengthening the family.” They believe the following:
“that marriage is a permanent, lifelong commitment between a man and a woman.”
that we should affirm “sexual relations within the bond of marriage.”
that we should oppose “distortions of sexuality or special rights to those practicing distorted sexual behavior.” 3
Why does it sound like these people want to come into our bedrooms and bat at us with a newspaper whenever we do something outside of their obviously narrow view of normalcy? Can you imagine what would happen if the interest were reversed? We’d have to break down their doors, turn on their lights, tell the man to stop trying to desperately assert his dominance and masculinity by moving stupidly on top of his wife, tell the woman to stop faking it and tell him he’s doing it wrong, and move them into one of the many positions of the Kama Sutra.
But you know what? I don’t care that much! I don’t care if they’re having boring sex, or kinky sex, or furry sex, or playing out fantasies of bondage. Do you know what I would care about? Rape. And the fact that we have a hell of a lot of that within the heterosexual realm of this institution of marriage that they’re so quick to defend says a lot about the morality of the kind of “sexual relations” (we liberals call it “fucking”) that they promote.
Anyway. The IFPC also believes that
“truth exists and educational responsibility lies first with parents.”
Now, their claim that “truth exists” is annoying because you know that this isn’t a profound philosophical statement; rather, it’s a bland slogan that will allow them to parrot verses out of the Bible because, hey, the Bible is ultimate truth. It was inspired by God, and who cares if it was edited by man, and who cares if it was influenced by the church, and to hell with sociocultural context! It’s the Bible! And if it tells us that homosexuality is a sin, then hey, who are we to argue?
Well, we’re human beings. We have billions of neurons, trillions of synapses, and some of us have enough sense to know that “truth” must be deduced by observation. Anything beyond that is, at best, speculation.
The IFPC also believes that
we should challenge “the establishment and spread of gambling because it wreaks havoc on individuals, families and communities.”
This is something that I could almost get behind. Gambling is predatory; in many cases it feeds off addiction and desperation. But things are rarely black and white, and this is no exception. We may wish to say that gambling is evil, but is it worse than destroying someone’s livelihood? Especially after you massacred their ancestors and stole their land and broke your promises and took their children and moved them onto relatively tiny reservations?
Now, I might be able to get behind abolishing gambling as set up by non-Native American folk. But to say that all gambling should disappear would be another betrayal in the already horrific history of this country.
Finally, the IFPC believes that
we should protect life “from conception to natural death.”
Oh boy. So not only are they anti-abortion, they’re against the right-to-die movement.
As far as their views on abortion go, I can only suggest one thing: that they read the relevant passages of “Godless Morality” by Richard Holloway (a former bishop of Edinburgh). If his thoughtful approach does not affect them, there is no hope.
Overall, the IFPC seems to be anti-choice. They don’t want you to choose happiness–they’d rather you be in a loveless, miserable relationship than a sinful one. If you’re a woman, they don’t want you to be able to choose what happens to your body. And if you’re elderly and in poor health, they don’t want you to be able to choose to die. They want you to suffer. In fact, that seems to be their bottom line.
Let me tell you something: suffering is not godly. Anyone who tells you differently is selling bad religion. Suffering is human. Sometimes it’s necessary. Sometimes it brings wisdom. But to expect someone to suffer as a way of life is to be an indescribably vile individual.
And to compare homosexuality to smoking in an attempt to incite public fear is reprehensible. Shame on you, Chuck Hurley.
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1. Clayworth, Jason. “Gay marriage more destructive than smoking, Hurley says.” The Des Moines Register: Iowa Politics Insider. 12 Mar 2010. Online.
2. “CDC Analysis Provides New Look at Disproportionate Impact of HIV and Syphilis Among U.S. Gay and Bisexual Men.” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 9 Mar 2010. Web. 19 Mar 2010.
3. “About the Iowa Family Policy Center.” Iowa Family Policy Center. Web. 19 Mar 2010.
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