Probably a Reason I'm a Liberal

Not probably a reason I became one, just probably a reason that implies that I have no choice but to be one. I had read a couple of articles about how Rep. Gerald Allen of Alabama was trying to get all books by gay authors banned from schools and public libraries, but it absolutely never occurred to me until I read the caption on that post from Pandagon that I was currently reading a book by a gay author. I've been reading "The Picture of Dorian Gray" on and off for the last few weeks as my night table book - heck, I've even been reading it in the bathtub when Eryn will leave me alone long enough to soak and read. I'm very aware that Oscar Wilde was gay - it's obvious the story has a lot of gay characters - I mean, he went to prison and I believe the book was used as partial proof of his "crime" - but it just didn't ever occur to me to think, "Hey, some people have a problem with this book." It's a good book, with great writing. Period. But Allen says...

"It's not healthy for America, it doesn't fit what we stand for,"..."And they will do whatever it takes to reach their goal."

Please, take as much time to compose your own speeches/writing as the writers you're trying to ban. You should be saying, "It's not healthy for my twisted perception of America, it doesn't fit what particular, conservative, uptight, sexually repressed, hypocritical, Christians stand for which is banning and burning books and, if at all possible, certain people who write them, like some combination of The Handmaid's Tale and Farenheit 451, were I ever to read those books instead of just following blindly what my pastor tells me."

On a distinctly positive note, the defrocked Methodist minister, Irene (Beth) Stroud was refrocked today. As a lapsed Methodist who tends to stay away from organized Methodist religion because, 1.) they defrock gay minsters and 2.) they produce the likes of G.W. Bush, I'm very happy with their decison. Yes, they're trying to find technicalities to let her back while not upsetting their flock, but they're trying 8-1, which gives me hope that somewhere, deep in the U.M.C. there's not just a grain of sense, but an overwhelming tide of sense. While I'll never be satisified until everything anti-gay is off their tablets, this is at least a step in the right direction.