There’s a scene in the Bible where Lot offers up his daughters to be raped by a mob in order to protect two angels he’d invited into his home. Turns out the rapists had actually wanted to rape the angels, but Lot decided that would be be gauche, since they were invited guests. So, yeah—he offered the raping rabble his daughters. And Lot explicitly sweetened the deal by revealing that his daughters were both virgins. Lot, by the way, is portrayed in no uncertain terms as the hero of his tale. As if that weren’t already totes obvious, right?
And that’s not even the most unnerving story in that book. Believe me. So keep that in mind as you lay your stupefied peepers on this hot heap of Christian right hypocrisy.
Kansas U.S. Sen. Roger Marshall waded into the culture wars on Wednesday and demanded changes to television ratings so parents could shield their children from LGBTQ representation in shows.
Marshall was the lead author on a letter to the TV Parental Guidelines Advisory Board asking them to add a new rating to inform parents whether a show contains content related to sexual orientation or gender identity.
So does this mean we’re going to start putting warning labels on the Bible to shield kiddos against its contents? Because it could really use some. Believe me.
Co-founder of Sister District, Gaby Goldstein, joins The Downballot to discuss what Democrats in the states are doing to protect abortion rights
Of course, the Bible also mentions homosexuality, but so far Marshall et al. aren’t excoriating its many publishers. Though, as far as I can tell, the only difference between the gay characters in the Bible and those in Disney’s shows is that Disney doesn’t explicitly endorse stoning their characters to death. But apparently gruesome Bronze Age executions are far less problematic than two girls holding hands in a copse of cartoon daisies. Well, at least according to these assholes they are:
The letter — also signed by fellow Republican Sens. Steve Daines of Montana, Mike Braun of Indiana, Mike Lee of Utah and Kevin Cramer of North Dakota — requested a response from the board by May 18 and asked for an in-person briefing about updating the guidelines. The board said it is currently reviewing the letter.
Now, unless you’ve been going out of your way to ignore your surroundings (and I wouldn’t blame you if you have), you know that conservatives are currently engaged in a holy war with Disney over the company’s positive LGBTQ portrayals. The company has harshly criticized Florida’s new “Don’t Say Gay” Law, which seeks to prevent children from knowing that Liberace—or anyone else, for that matter—was, or is, gay. Apparently, it’s too much for kids to hear that their nice neighbors Stephen and Joseph like each other the same way Mommy likes Daddy, so we need to keep them blinkered for as long as possible.
Republicans are also taking aim at trans kids because they’re not already vulnerable enough, apparently. From the senators’ smoldering pile of vicious piffle:
Recently, a video emerged showing a prominent executive at children’s entertainment giant Disney saying she supports having "many, many, many LGBTQIA+ characters in our stories." To the detriment of children, gender dysphoria has become sensationalized in the popular media and television with radical activists and entertainment companies. This radical and sexual sensation not only harms children, but also destabilizes and damages parental rights. This same company has concerningly denounced and vowed to work to repeal a recently passed Florida parental rights law that bans classroom instruction on sexual orientation or gender identity in kindergarten through third grade. Sexual orientation and gender identity instruction often entails a discussion concerning an individual’s pattern of emotional, romantic, and sexual attraction. Parents all over the country have rightfully expressed outrage over its inclusion in the classroom.
Translation: We’re gonna get eliminated if people focus on the latest Roe ruling, so let’s distract them with more disingenuous, poorly understood culture war nonsense.
Needless to say, LGBTQ advocates are less than impressed with Marshall’s fake-Christian crusade. “We’ve seen enough of Kansas politicians beating up on trans kids and the LGBT community,” said Equality Kansas Executive Director Tom Witt. “We certainly don’t need Washington, D.C., senators joining in to use these kids as political punching bags.”
Meanwhile, super-Christian Mike Huckabee is currently pushing this wholesome offering:
Hmm, The Kids Guide to President Trump, huh? Does it include all the rape accusations or just the family-friendly ones? Somehow I doubt Huckabee thought that through. Maybe someone needs to ask him ASAP.
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