This is a shocking film to watch. Yes, I understand the concern that kids should beware of strangers. But check out the characterization of "homosexuals." According to this film, they are all sick pedophiles and murderers. This video serves as a time capsule, or at least it should, except that many people still harbor these attitudes.
Check out this description:
The pamphlet, declined for publication with the official Scott expedition reports, commented on the frequency of sexual activity, auto-erotic behaviour, and seemingly aberrant behaviour of young unpaired males and females, including necrophilia, sexual coercion, sexual and physical abuse of chicks and homosexual behavior . . . ."Now get this. This paragraph refers to documented behaviors of penguins in Antarctica. And now we have some evidence that necrophilia is "natural," for those who are seeking such a justification.
Does the bible prohibit gay marriage, or are conservative Christians again up to their favorite trick, cherry-picking? The following excerpt from The Miami Herald suggests that cherries are being picked in earnest.
[Matthew] Vines is a Christian, a 22-year-old Harvard undergrad raised in a conservative evangelical church in Kansas. He is also gay and says he grew up being taught that the Bible condemns his sexual orientation. He took two years off from school to research and study whether or not that assertion is true. The result is The Gay Debate: The Bible and Homosexuality. It’s a video. . . Vines’ speech is a masterwork of scriptural exegesis and a marvel of patient logic, slicing and dicing with surgical precision the claim that homophobia is God ordained. So effective is the video that after viewing it, Sandra Delemares a Christian blogger from the United Kingdom who had, for years, spoken in staunch opposition to same sex marriage, wrote that it “revolutionised” her thinking. Vines points out, for instance, that the frequently quoted condemnation (homosexuality is an “abomination”) from the Old Testament lawbook of Leviticus has no application to Christians, who are bound by the teachings of the New Testament. He explains that St. Paul’s admonitions about the “effeminate” and “abusers of themselves with mankind” stem from modern mis-translations of ancient Greek terminology.With that as an introduction, here is the video featuring Matthew Vines: This is an impressive presentation. At the 16 minute mark, Matthew begins to examine the six bible passages that supposedly condemn homosexuality. None of them survive his scrutiny.
Dan Savage is no stranger so controversy. At a recent conference, he attacked the cherry-picking of those who relying on the Bible to attack gays. After all, he argues, they don't cite the Bible to justify slavery any more, and they aren't trying to pass laws to stone women who are not virgins on their wedding nights. A group of students walked out while Savage criticized this bible cherry-picking.
In the speech, Savage, citing Sam Harris' "Letter to a Christian Nation," said the Bible gave instructions about how to treat slaves. If the Bible erred "on the easiest moral question that humanity has ever faced ... What are the odds that the Bible got something as complicated as human sexuality wrong? 100 percent," said Savage. Students are heard cheering and clapping. After the walkout, which came after Savage made comments about the Bible, he suggested the protesting students return. "It's funny, as someone who is the receiving end of beatings that are justified by the Bible, how pansy-assed some people react when you push back," Savage said.
Melinda Gates, who identified herself as a practicing Catholic, believes that people should be able to decide if and when to have babies, and that they should be able to use any available birth control device to avoid becoming pregnant. She stresses that birth control should not be controversial, but it often is. She stresses that the focus of her talk is birth control, not abortion, but that the two terms have become confused these days. Gates was speaking on behalf of the Gates Foundation, announcing its new project: to help the 200 million women of the world who want access to birth control but who don't have access. The topic of Gates' talk makes perfect sense to me, but she is up against some deep-seated suspicion that is inter-twined with religion, tradition and path dependence. In America, where 98% of women use birth control, a vocal and powerful minority of people nonetheless believe that all use of birth control is immoral. Many people have become intimidated by the accusations made by religious conservatives and have become reluctant to speak up for the universal right to birth control. Gates points out that the nuns who taught her in high school encouraged her to "question received teachings," and that she is doing exactly that. She urges that sex is sacred, even for most of the people using birth control, and it is a way to take better care for the children one already has by proactively planning one's family. Gates argues that making birth control widely available where it currently isn't (Sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia and Afghanistan) would be transformative. The numbers back her up. She has spoken to women in many parts of the world, and they tell her that they want to actively plan their families. In the biggest province of India, only 29% of women use birth control of any type. In Nigeria, the number is only 10%. In Senagal, 12% and in Chad it is merely 2%. Gates talk is a personal, non-confrontational one. But it is also a talk that presents a big challenge: We need to have this conversation, and that we need to make birth control an essential part of every public health agenda.