Chicken of the See

I used to be a cantor for the Roman Catholic Cathedral of Saint Joseph, in Columbus, Ohio. It was by far the most well-funded church music program in the city at that time, and employed many of the most talented classical singers in the area. I sang with them for several years, and really did enjoy much of it. I met some lifelong friends in that group, and got to perform some beautiful music (including the baritone solo for the Brahms "Requiem", with orchestra).

The monsignor of the Cathedral at that time was a very lovely man... CLEARLY gay... who showed me nothing but hospitality and kindness during my entire time there. Of course, as a relatively immature young man in my twenties, I had the luxury of being able to focus on the music and the not-insubstantial amount of money that I was making in that position, rather than the obvious conflict between my personal moral convictions and those of my employer.

I rather think that I would not be able to perform for such an organization again... as evidenced by my subsequent conscientious refusal to sing with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir in Utah. But back then, I recall myself as a much less politicized person, and I recall our culture as being characterized by a much less polarized nature compared to the sociopolitical environment with which we are currently challenged. So when I think of the catholic church, St. Joseph's is the first thing that pops into my mind. It's a good memory. What follows that memory is not such a great image... the hypocrisy and homohatred that the church has shown throughout its history, most obviously exemplified by the many scandals associated with pedophilia and sexual predation among its priesthood.

The man pictured above is His Excellency Robert Finn, Bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Kansas City and Saint Joseph. He is the very first in what I hope will be a long string of high church officials to be indicted by a grand jury for his role in obstructing justice and covering up of evidence related to the sexual abuse of young people. He has been charged with withholding evidence, in this case lewd photographs of young girls taken by the Rev. Shawn Ratigan, a priest under his supervision. Bishop Finn delayed reporting the photographs to the police for six months, during which Ratigan allegedly abused yet another young girl.

Adding to the justifiable outrage is the knowledge that three years ago the very same Bishop Finn settled lawsuits with 47 local plaintiffs in sexual abuse cases for $10 million and agreed to a list of 19 preventive measures, among them to immediately report anyone suspected of being a pedophile to the law enforcement authorities. Finn has, not surprisingly, been described as a "staunch theological conservative" and a "polarizing figure in his diocese".

More information on the many-years-long history of priestly abuse can be found here.

This case illustrates the long history of absurdity among religious conservatives, which very much includes protestant and evangelical loudmouths as well. Those who are willing to demonize and dehumanize minority groups (like women, racial minorities, and GLBT people) using the literal "bully pulpit" afforded to them by organized religion are most likely hiding their own transgressions that are far more damaging to society than anything some gay guy could dream up. It's also important to remember that the catholic priests involved in this business cannot be considered part of the gay community... they aren't gay... they're pedophiles and sexual predators. These men are living illustrations of the very big difference between the two.

No, not all catholics are pedophiles, and not all christians are maniacal bible-thumping hatemongers. But it's the quiet parishoners and churchgoers who deserve the second-largest heaping helping of the blame. As long as we sit there quietly and do nothing, we are complicit in the injustice and crimes of the organization to which we belong. If one breathlessly protests "but but but... we're the GOOD Christians... ", one's protestations are moot if not followed by a full-throated public outcry against the unforgiveable and often-criminal actions of church leaders.

Quit sitting there and letting it happen. Complain. No matter how pretty the music is.

Housecleaning time.

David Frum, the conservative commentator who recently and rightly got served on the Rachael Maddow Show on MSNBC, wrote the following in an article on HuffPost:

"[T]he political culture of the Democratic Party has changed over the past decade. There's a fierce new anger among many liberal Democrats, a more militant style and an angry intolerance of dissent and criticism. This is the culture of the left-wing blogosphere and MSNBC's evening line-up -- and soon, it will be the culture of important political institutions in Washington.

Unchecked, this angry new wing of the Democratic Party will seek to stifle opposition by changing the rules of the political game. Some will want to silence conservative talk radio by tightening regulation of the airwaves via the misleadingly named "fairness doctrine"; others may seek to police the activities of right-leaning think tanks by a stricter interpretation of what is tax-deductible and what is not."

He's right. The left is angry. The middle is angry too. In fact, 75% of America is angry, fed up, and pissed off. After decades of right-wing fear-based conservatism strangling the Republican party into submission and seeing to it that any conservative-but-still-respectable politician who didn't adhere to the theocratic worldview of the religious right had no chance in their next election, is it any wonder that progressives have become angry? After years of Republican lies about anti-Americanism, socialism (as if that's always a bad thing), pandering to the racist/homophobic/xenophobic lowest common denominator of the American population, and after enduring years of hollow neo-con accusations every time a Republican politician or operative opened his/her mouth in the media, is it really that surprising that the left is ticked off?

Frankly, I'm surprised it took this long. With the way the Republicans have treated those who disagree with them since the 1980s, it's beyond hysterical that Frum is now warning Americans of the dangers of one-party government and extolling the value of debate and rational discourse. I'm seriously having difficulty believing this shiny new face of the neo-reasonable right, thinking instead it's just a hollow, sophomoric claim that Republicans have always wanted to work together but the left is just mean and smug.

I do believe in checks and balances. I think there's a real place for conservative voices in government, just like I think there's place for progressives. However, in a two-party political system, when the conservative party is hijacked by far-right religious theocrats, it's very difficult to advocate for the value of the conservative voice. There is no conservative voice in that instance. There has long been only ex cathedra statements from on high, with the Almighty speaking directly through politicians who act as though their powers were derived from God himself. The squalid racism and hatred among the Republican party's "base" has rightfully outraged the center as well as the left. I can't help but hope that even some of the most conservative voters in the Republican party have been embarrassed as well... after all, one can be fiscally conservative without frothing at the mouth every time they hear the words "gay", "family planning", and "immigrants".

It's time to heal, it's time for the center-left to try to repair some of the damage that 20 years of right-wing socioeconomic dogma has wrought, and it's way past time for the Republican party to reorganize its base from the bottom up. Hopefully they'll have the courage to do it.

Republican sex shenanigans. Again.

From Joe.My.God. comes this latest bit of news from the Republicans. Seems those "God Guns and Gays" boys just can't keep their own houses in order.

Anti-Gay Pol Busted For Kiddie Porn

Former New York state Assembyman Chris Ortloff, the one-time Assembly assistant minority leader and head of the Clinton County GOP, has been busted for soliciting a minor and possession of child pornography.

A former assemblyman and current parole-board member was busted last night on child-pornography and soliciting charges, officials said.

Chris Ortloff, 61, was arrested in a Plattsburgh-area motel room in a State Police sting at about 5 p.m.Ortloff, who allegedly had arranged a date on the Internet with an underage victim he thought would provide sex, had child porn and what was described as "sex paraphernalia" in his possession, according to the officials.

They said Ortloff, a Republican who represented Plattsburgh, would likely face felony sex charges under state law, and could also be charged with violating federal anti-child pornography statutes. Ortloff, married with two sons, could not be reached for comment. "He was always the tough-on-crime guy in the Assembly who wanted to increase the criminal penalties for all kinds of sex crimes," said a former associate.

According to a 1999 story on the Log Cabin Republicans site, Ortloff had a record of voting against LGBT rights while an Assemblyman.

You Spitzer, you brought her...

Elliot Spitzer, the relatively attractive governor of New York, announced he will resign early this evening after having been indicted in a sting involving a high-priced prostitution service. Spitzer was recorded on a telephone tap making arrangements for a call girl to travel from New York to meet him at the Mayflower Hotel in Washington, D.C., according to the New York Times.

Spitzer was elected on a platorm of bringing ethics reform to Albany, after having been a highly successful D.A. in New York City. He is a first-term Democrat.

Another supporter of marriage equality brought down by a hooker (or hook-up). It's depressing, but clearly the Republicans don't have a monopoly on hypocrisy or sexual shenanigans. Spitzer, as DA, sent many people to prison for participating in prostitution rings, and prosecuted many people for violating the Mann act (which, allegedly, he has violated in this case). As much as I liked Spitzer's positions on other issues, that kind of hypocrisy simply can't be tolerated.

Very disappointing.

Name That Douchebag: Robert Skolrood.

"The whole point of Christianity is that everyone in the world, from Charles Manson to Mother Teresa, deserves to go to hell." -- Sean Ningen.

I hesitated to post this under the heading "in memoriam" because the last thing our society needs is to remember this man.


Do you know him? You should. His name was Robert Skolrood, and he died Tuesday. He was a former attorney and former instructor at Oral Roberts University in Tulsa. He then became the head of the National Legal Foundation, a right-wing religious "legal foundation" dedicated to protecting fundamentalist Christians and to thwarting the efforts of fair-minded groups all over the country. He also was instrumental in writing Colorado's "Amendment 2" in 1992, which was struck down by the Supreme Court four years later due to poorly constructed and amateurish language that did nothing to disguise its blatant homophobia. From the New York Times:


The Colorado constitutional amendment sought to outlaw municipalities from offering anti-discrimination protections to gays and lesbians. Though the amendment was voted into the Colo. constitution by voters, the Supreme Court ruled, in Romer vs. Evans, that the amendment was unconstitutional because, far from simply preventing gays from receiving "special rights," as the state claimed, the amendment’s "sheer breadth is so discontinuous with the reasons offered for it that the amendment seems inexplicable by anything but animus toward the class that it affects; it lacks a rational relationship to legitimate state interests," as Justice Anthony Kennedy wrote for the majority.


Kennedy also observed of the amendment that it "imposes a special disability upon those persons [gays and lesbians] alone. Homosexuals are forbidden the safeguards that others enjoy or may seek without constraint." Skolrood also helped write a similar provision meant to be amended to the city charter of Cincinnati, which voters passed in 1993 and which, despite the Colorado. amendment being struck down, was affirmed by a federal appeals court, with the Supreme Court declining to hear an appeal to the case in 1998.


Like most baby-boomer homophobic bigots, Skolrood had plenty of his own homosexual skeletons to hide. In 2002, when Skolrood was 73 years old, he allegedly made sexual overtures to a male police officer who was working undercover. At his trial, Skolrood denied making any sexual overtures, but he did plead no contest to a lesser charge, that of disorderly conduct.


The New York Times cited the newspaper The Roanoke Times in quoting Magistrate Judge Glen Conrad as saying, "That area has been notorious for problems of an unsavory sort," and, "there’s no question that you shouldn’t have been there."


Yeah. There's no question. He shouldn't have been there. He shouldn't have been anyplace where decent people congregate. He should have been shunned from American society and forced to think long and hard about why he spent his entire reptilian life fighting for the right to make other people's lives miserable. He should have been shamed publicly for his nauseating hypocrisy, and I for one am grateful that he was shown how irrelevant and foolish his life had been before he died.


Robert Skolrood, homophobic bigot and shameful representative of the legal profession, dead at 79.