Thinking about how politics today is bridled unnecessarily with religion. Kennedy offered a brilliant response that is needed more today than when he spoke it.

This is what really gets on my nerves. I hear about this latest “lone-wolf” terrorist. If these Muslim creeps keep lauding a god that is “great”, then why are they so compelled to carry out his dirty work? Is this an oxy-moron like calling a great dane tiny? Is the reason that they have to keep bringing up Allah’s “greatness” because it is so underwhelming and unconvincing? Perhaps Islam is the religion of peace because their god is so impotent that under Allah you have no supernatural force to reckon with?

Muslims tend to shout “God is Great” after nearly everything that they do. Perhaps this is the first sign that Allah is a hoax. The more you talk about something, the less likely it is true.

It is like that guy you know that constantly talks about getting laid. You know that he is fat and ugly-so it is highly unlikely that his lack of personality is getting him some snatch. Secondly he is flat broke so he probably can’t afford even the roughest of rough trade. You smile, and give him a courtesy nod-but you know that his hand is about the only thing that is seeing some action.

Much like your friend’s hand, the only thing that is seeing some action with the belief in Allah’s existence is the person’s reward center in their brain. The reward center is is the guy who keeps telling you that they are getting laid, and every time that you say “yup, yes you are… mmmhmm,” that is just another shot of dopamine-perpetuating this peon’s paean.

In the end, constantly calling God “great” is simply an argumentum ad nauseam. Repetition doesn’t equal validity.

It is surely neat to cite scripture as though it has legitimate weight surpassing allegory.

And little red riding hood said unto the three little pigs that, yea verily until the man Jack though shalt go-and to him thou shalt giveth a package of legumes, for which a great stalk shalt grow to the heavens, and there shalt be a cow that jumpeth over the moon on the fourth day, and the three pigs saw that it was good.” (Grimm 4:17)

And because of this passage we can shoot people in wheel chairs because Santa Claus doesn’t like them, and they are cripple because they deserved it.

And these handicapped people are in wheel chairs by choice… i have seen faith healings in which people prayed and stood! That is proof. They trusted in faith and cast off their wheel chair.

It is also a deep character flaw to be in a wheel chair. One that started long ago by having an absent father that never taught you to walk like a man, and a domineering mother who made you pee sitting down.

God designed us to walk. He gave us two legs, and had a life planned for us to move about on them. Those who have turned away from HIS plan for us to walk, spit in HIS face. Being handicapped is choice, it is unhealthy, and it can be changed through prayer and temperance. You may still desire to refuse to stand. But if you pray, your desire to be crippled will still be there but you have a choice as to act on it or not.

Why is a jewish and meta-jewish fairy tale superior to any other. It isn’t. so why do i get so angry when i read delusional people with bad arguments? I have no fucking clue. I don’t want to get mad, but the  moment that i do, from hearing a bad argument-that i guess indicates that i respect a person, and feel betrayed by the logic-train leaving the station without them and me having to come and pick them up at 3 in the morning.

The OC Register had an op-ed about national coming out day, to which the author received a response suggesting reparative therapy. I left a comment on their page.

here is the article:

Venezia: Is it possible to pray away being gay?

I appreciate when readers take the time to share opinions.

Irvine plastic surgeon Ken Williams wrote to me regarding my Oct. 7 column on National Coming Out Day, “A more fair and balanced column would mention the opposing available organizations and treatments on this issue.”

More information on bullying

An anti-bullying documentary, “Bullied: A Student, a School and a Case that Made History,” will be shown at 7 p.m. Wednesday at St. George’s Episcopal Church in Laguna Hills.

The Huntington Beach Human Relations Task Force and the OC Equality Coalition are showing the anti-bullying film, Teach Your Children Well, narrated by Lily Tomlin, at the Huntington Beach Library at 7 p.m. Nov. 18

This intrigued me; are there treatments for being gay?

Apparently Williams believes so.

The American Psychological Association doesn’t consider being gay a psychiatric disorder.

Clinical psychologist Judy Flour Runels, who has a large gay practice, says being gay isn’t’ a choice. “To think there is ‘treatment’ is absurd and very dangerous… This has led to bullying, suicides and even murder.”

Williams says he’s not a licensed therapist or psychologist but has counseled youth on this subject in his medical practice, and when he was affiliated with a Christian school.

“There are other issues you didn’t consider…children are influenced by a variety of factors including environment, predisposed personality traits, beliefs and life experiences that could contribute to them thinking they were gay,” he stated.

He suggested I research Exodus International and call his friend Joe Dallas. Dallas didn’t call back, Williams later told me he changed his mind and told Dallas not to speak with me.

But the Internet had plenty of information on Dallas and Exodus. Both view homosexuality as something that can be cured if you pray hard enough.

Dallas, who had “same sex attraction” and now says he doesn’t, runs the Joe Dallas Ministry and Genesis Counseling in Tustin.

According to joedallas.com, he “specializes in sexual addiction and same sex attraction, offering biblically-based pastoral counseling in response to this need.”

Exodus International, described as a 35-year-old world-wide ministry, offers seminars and sells literature for those struggling with “unwanted homosexuality.”

But in 2007, several ex-leaders of Exodus posted this online: “we apologize to those individuals and families who believed our message that there is something inherently wrong with being gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgender.”

Williams sits on the Orange County Board of Education, http://board.ocde.us/williams.asp and has since 1996, a fact he asked me to leave out of this article. I told him that I felt I had to include this because he is an elected official, but would make it clear his views on the subject are his personally.

Is it unsettling that a person who shares the beliefs of Dallas and Exodus is sitting on the Orange County Board of Education and making policy affecting children?

“That’s just outrageous that someone on the Board of Education thinks gay youth should be re-educated — it goes against science and medical psychiatric beliefs”, said Huntington Beach Councilman Joe Shaw, who is helping to promote the showing of an anti-bullying documentary at 7 p.m. Nov. 18 at the Huntington Beach Library.

Williams categorizes himself as a Christian and a conservative Republican.

But not all conservative Republicans share his views of homosexuality. The Log Cabin Republicans are a “national organization of Republicans who support fairness, freedom, and equality for gay and lesbian Americans,” according to their website logcabin.org.

OC Republican Chairman Scott Baugh told me the party has no official opinion on being gay.

I asked Williams if he was homophobic. He said no.

I asked if he actually knew any gay people.

“I might have acquaintances, but no, I have no close friends who are gay.” Williams said.

I asked if he really thought a person could pray away the gay, he never answered me.

“I can see where this is going, and I don’t like it, he said.”

In researching this column, Williams and I shared many emails and one tense phone conversation. I thank him for encouraging me to look at this counterview point of homosexuality.

I will say I found it deeply disturbing that there’s still a culture promoting shame and guilt to young people in the LGBT community and not love, tolerance and acceptance. I personally don’t believe being gay means God loves you less or you need to be cured.

and here is my comment:

It isn’t God that matters, but people. People are important, and as we cannot hope to coming to terms to a consensus on theological truth, we might as well abide by something that is less difficult to to shackle us with capricious delusions as to who is well and ill by how the leaves settle in my tea cup. Peer reviewed medical science has come to the agreement that homosexuality is not a disorder, and that promoting the idea that change is necessary or possible is harmful. That is why the British Medical Association has condemned it. Medicine should be grounded in science rather than faith.

Secondly, the efficacy of prayer is about that of random chance. Trying to pray the gay away is about as effective as our plastic surgeon friend ask his clients to clap three times, blow on a dandelion and wish the crows feet away.

So getting a declaration on medicine or science from the perspective of a religion that says that there was morning and evening before a sun and moon were created 6,000 years ago, is as bad as getting sexual morality advise from its sister religion whose prophet consummated a marriage to his 9-year-old bride. (*not a personal attack-child brides are common in communities particularly drawn to the fan club of a certain infamous 6th century religious founder, which are not burdened by the oppression of our secular laws). Both are not so friendly with the gay community (Note mandatory capital punishment for two teenage boys dating each other in Iran, and the influence of U.S. evangelics [i.e., Scott Lively and Rick Warren in Uganda-which should have a similar “kill the gays law” any day now).

Outside of catastrophic restoration, plastic surgery disguises who people really are with an obvious facade. The desperate person trying to pray the gay away is as ugly on the inside as the woman who develops a monster mug by trying to pray away the age on the outside. When someone drapes themselves in the cloak of being a learned medical practitioner, it says that you know what you are talking about. It speaks to enveloping those entrusted to your care and treatment, with a zone of safety and healing.

It is highly disturbing that we even are burdened with this type of nonsense. Not every culture on this planet in our history has had issues where gays and lesbians were inferior, and some even were absent of any idea that sexuality mattered. So why are we so inclined to warrant this witch-doctory with more than pity, more than an example about how grownups still believe that Santa is making their toys, and that anyone who is not within their limited keyhole view of reality is necessarily defective. It is selfish, it is sociopathic, and it is hurtful.

God has nothing to do with preserving positive mental health, though thoughts of a god tend to express the opposite of being well grounded and psychologically healthy. With supernatural elements strictly interpretive, God(s) are subject to a different kind of peer review. I pluralized god-s, because I am not tethered to that particular restrictive brand of monotheist-absolutist solipsism.

Perhaps the real disease, is that of a blindness to the last 500 years of science and reason. I would say that we could try to pray the stupid away, but I wouldn’t hold my breath, we would be here all day.