Joel Orr caught my attention with an old but very apt joke about context last week (well, it was actually his link to my blog that initially caught my attention -- thanks, Joel!). But in exploring his website, I came across several seductively pro-Israel essays by Gary Bauer, and this disturbed me. It's one of those really uncomfortable aspects of being a social liberal (more or less) who supports Israel (more) that I often find myself agreeing with statements by people who I normally cannot stomach. And Gary Bauer is probably the epitome of that dilemma.
So I checked around to see if perhaps my opinion of the man had been unfairly colored by my exposure to his ideas through the prism of the left-biased media. No, I don't think so. Here's a sampling, for instance, of the views on sexuality promulgated by his Family Research Council:
Talking Points: Homosexuality and Child Sexual Abuse -- Despite efforts by homosexual activists to distance the gay lifestyle from pedophilia, there remains a disturbing connection between the two. This is because, by definition, male homosexuals are sexually attracted to other males. Powell's Reckless Comments Put Young Lives at Risk -- Secretary of State Colin Powell misled millions of young people worldwide when he advocated condoms to protect against the spread of sexually transmitted diseases. Secretary Powell literally put young lives at risk in comments on a recent, globally broadcast MTV special.Talking Points: How Homosexual 'Civil Unions' Harm Marriage -- A man and a woman joined together in holy matrimony is the universal "yardstick" for marriage: You cannot alter the definition of marriage without causing social chaos any more than you can change the definition of a yardstick.
Huh? Huh? And Huh? There's a "universal yardstick for marriage," and anyone who wants to apply a different measure such as, oh, I don't know, love, respect, deep and abiding affection or (can I even say it?) physical attraction, had better get off that train quick 'cause it's going nowhere. Pedophiles? Well, Bauer the FRC paid for a study that would distort and manipulate the data to get to the right result and, by golly, they got that result. But the logic of the above statement completely escapes me. And how dare Colin Powell suggest that kids use condoms to block the spread of STDs? If they have sex, they deserve to die. Or to get pregnant. And so here is Bauer's position on abortion:Q: If someone in your family was raped and became pregnant and wanted an abortion, would you support that decision? A: I would comfort her. I would pray with her. I would explain to her that she couldn’t make right the terrible thing that had happened to her by taking the life of her innocent unborn child. But most important. [is] what I would do as president. And as president I would throw rapists in jail for a long time so America’s women wouldn’t have to worry about it. (Source: Republican Debate in West Columbia, SC Jan 7, 2000)..
And at this point, I've had enough. There's plenty more where that came from, but I'll pass on giving this kind of twisted trash any more air time than it's already got. Gary Bauer, in my book, is out there on the far lunatic fringe. These here are not what I consider to be mainstream American values. They're sorry, hateful, entrenched doctrinal horse hockey, no better than the invective of the imams on Saudi TV.
No, Gary Bauer is one fellow I don't want anywhere near my bed. Israel can certainly use all the support it can get these days, but I think I'll continue to guard my right flank just as closely as my left.
