Thomas Keown, just shut up.

Pg 13, "Faith Fully Loving Gay", Thomas Keown

Where do I even begin with this guy.

Thomas Keown is a freelance writer who contributes regular Op-Ed articles to the Metro. And they kind of stink. They are inspiring, for sure, but they only ever inspire confusion and disgust in me. It's not even that his opinions are stupid. To be honest, I think both of us have the same general sentiments about living in a city like Boston: being liberal is great, but only when it's done with sense, rationale and a degree of dignity. In fact, my last post about one of your Op-Ed articles was generally positive. But this week, your article is so tastelessly done that even if I agree with what you are trying to say, I can't bring myself to.

Basically, you are trying to say that we should stop hating on the religious people. I completely agree with this. Although I am not religious myself, a number of important people in my life value their faith highly.

You use the example of the Metro article from a few weeks back about a church that caused an uproar due to the sign it posted outside their door calling homosexuality a sin. Specifically, the sign read "Homosexuality, like all sin, is ungodly & unhealthy."

Anyway, back to you, Mr. Keown, and your unwise words.

"Did I miss some announcement that mainstream Christianity had embraced gay sex?"

I mean, maybe it's because I live in Cambridge, but I feel like the majority of Christians I know have accepted homosexuality as a part of society. Sure, they might not be staunch advocates or supporters, but not every single Christian, or religious person actually, that I know is dead set against the existence of homosexuality.

"The effect of this story is to further reinforce in the mind of the Metro reader the modern falsehood that ordinary people of faith are backwards, homophobic bigots."

Normally I would agree with you, but let's examine the evidence a little closer, shall we?

"The sign could just as easily have said 'Sex before marriage is a sin,' 'Not being charitable is a sin' or 'Being quick to anger is a sin.' None of that means that sane Christians are hateful or intolerant of the promiscuous, the miserly or the short-tempered."

Oh yes, this is completely true, except for one minor detail. This particular church seems to have a track record. In 2005, the same sign of the same church read: "Hurricane Katrina: Natural Disaster or God's Judgement?" If I'm not mistaken, this is a direct jab at an entire city, actually, and if some people have interpreted it correctly, it's directly aimed at the promiscuous and sinful tendencies of the New Orleans culture. In some ways it's better, because this church isn't specifically insulting homosexuals, but a whole variety of people!

"The church might speak against an act, but will love the actor dearly."

Um, what? How is lobbying against gay marriage "lov(ing) the actor dearly"? Well then, this totally scraps my theory about the church equally insulting all types of people, because I'm pretty sure they're not lobbying against government funding for rebuilding New Orleans.

That article from a few weeks ago was not saying anything about all Christians being ignorant bigots. It was simply reporting news. Boston happens to be a relatively boring city, but in case you haven't noticed, the rest of the Metro has been pretty bland recently too. So stop over-analyzing simple situations and making a big deal out of nothing. You're doing the exact same thing you are criticizing: being overly sensitive.

Kthxbai,

WhyWhy