Trapped In A Van With James Dobson And Miss California

[Rubyfruit Pixie]

To give some sort of context, because I live with a devoutly Christian mom and she takes the words of James Dobson to be those of God, this rant was posted yesterday, on my blog, regarding the whole Miss California fallout...thing. Because this was written shortly after the program finished, and after my mom tried to grill me on the subject (which, I confess, I was not paying attention to). Because this was formerly a blog entry, there is some swearing. Reader discretion is advised because of this.

 

 

Augh.

 

Seriously.

 

Also why I hate Focus on the Family and why James Dobson is really, really really no damn better than Perez Hilton.

 

In light of the whole Miss California thing (that I admiditedly was not paying attention to because I neither run in those circles nor do I care about beauty pageants. But anyway, first of all, I am somewhat proud of her for showing some sort of honesty in a contest that is mostly about being as plastic as possible, and perhaps Perez Hilton did intentionally bait her, and perhaps the reactions of some were completely out of line.

 

But it had dick all to do with Satan or the nonexistent Gay Agenda and everything to do with an individual man's overinflated ego and it was basically anything and everything the man could do to keep his name on the headlines. As for the death threats--are you fucking kidding me? It may have happened but still, such actions are completely goddamn unnecessary, all for an answer to a completely loaded question.

 

That said, I do not believe that James Dobson, her parents, or the Christian media outlets still carrying this story are any better. By dragging this girl out and presenting her as some kind of fucking martyr for expressing an opinion that, like it or not, a majority of people do agree with, is wrong. Say what you will of beauty pageants being exploitative (I really do not think they are), but marching the girl up and down every Christian media outlet that can be found is exploitation pure and simple. It is the exploitation of a young woman whose dreams were shattered by the actions of one loudmouthed egotist inciting a few easily-angered hotheads. And in treating her as though she is some sort of martyr for the cause, there is way, way more harm than good done.

 

 

On a brighter note, my mother might be accepting (or at least tolerant) of my Agnosticism. I goddamn hate the word "tolerance" when used by right-wing "Family Values" assholes. As for being "intolerant", I am intolerant of bigotry. I am intolerant of stupid asshats who want to deny rights to human beings by using the Bible all while ignoring the parts of the Bible that are just as goddamn horrible. For example, if someone imposed Biblical law and said that one can marry a twelve-year-old girl, I have to wonder if my mother would be on board with it. Or if, at the age of eleven, I were forced to marry my rapist for about a hundred bucks. Would she be okay with that? It's in the Bible. And my mom likes shrimp--but according to the Bible, she wouldn't be able to have shrimp. Also working on Sundays can get you killed. All of that shit is in the Bible, yet the Family Values asshats will ignore the stuff that they do not like and then accuse other people of "cherry-picking" the Bible when they do it just as much, if not moreso.

 

Thus, I am intolerant of hypocritical bullshit and the frank exploitation of a fellow young woman whose opinion I may not agree with, but who does not deserve the media flogging she is getting from the mainstream media, nor does she need to be dragged in front of each and every Christian media outlet as some sort of fucking martyr. I don't know which part of the whole story makes me want to throw up more, the exploitation by one loudmouth whose opinions go largely ignored, or the exploitation by a loudmouth who sells millions of books and who has many people who see him as God's prophet in Colorado Springs.

 

 

And those are my real feelings on the subject. Done.

 

(BGM: "Abyss" by Kotoko)

[BeckyJ]

To give some sort of context, because I live with a devoutly Christian mom and she takes the words of James Dobson to be those of God, this rant was posted yesterday, on my blog, regarding the whole Miss California fallout...thing. Because this was written shortly after the program finished, and after my mom tried to grill me on the subject (which, I confess, I was not paying attention to). Because this was formerly a blog entry, there is some swearing. Reader discretion is advised because of this.

 

 

Augh.

 

Seriously.

 

Also why I hate Focus on the Family and why James Dobson is really, really really no damn better than Perez Hilton.

 

In light of the whole Miss California thing (that I admiditedly was not paying attention to because I neither run in those circles nor do I care about beauty pageants. But anyway, first of all, I am somewhat proud of her for showing some sort of honesty in a contest that is mostly about being as plastic as possible, and perhaps Perez Hilton did intentionally bait her, and perhaps the reactions of some were completely out of line.

 

But it had dick all to do with Satan or the nonexistent Gay Agenda and everything to do with an individual man's overinflated ego and it was basically anything and everything the man could do to keep his name on the headlines. As for the death threats--are you fucking kidding me? It may have happened but still, such actions are completely goddamn unnecessary, all for an answer to a completely loaded question.

 

That said, I do not believe that James Dobson, her parents, or the Christian media outlets still carrying this story are any better. By dragging this girl out and presenting her as some kind of fucking martyr for expressing an opinion that, like it or not, a majority of people do agree with, is wrong. Say what you will of beauty pageants being exploitative (I really do not think they are), but marching the girl up and down every Christian media outlet that can be found is exploitation pure and simple. It is the exploitation of a young woman whose dreams were shattered by the actions of one loudmouthed egotist inciting a few easily-angered hotheads. And in treating her as though she is some sort of martyr for the cause, there is way, way more harm than good done.

 

 

On a brighter note, my mother might be accepting (or at least tolerant) of my Agnosticism. I goddamn hate the word "tolerance" when used by right-wing "Family Values" assholes. As for being "intolerant", I am intolerant of bigotry. I am intolerant of stupid asshats who want to deny rights to human beings by using the Bible all while ignoring the parts of the Bible that are just as goddamn horrible. For example, if someone imposed Biblical law and said that one can marry a twelve-year-old girl, I have to wonder if my mother would be on board with it. Or if, at the age of eleven, I were forced to marry my rapist for about a hundred bucks. Would she be okay with that? It's in the Bible. And my mom likes shrimp--but according to the Bible, she wouldn't be able to have shrimp. Also working on Sundays can get you killed. All of that shit is in the Bible, yet the Family Values asshats will ignore the stuff that they do not like and then accuse other people of "cherry-picking" the Bible when they do it just as much, if not moreso.

 

Thus, I am intolerant of hypocritical bullshit and the frank exploitation of a fellow young woman whose opinion I may not agree with, but who does not deserve the media flogging she is getting from the mainstream media, nor does she need to be dragged in front of each and every Christian media outlet as some sort of fucking martyr. I don't know which part of the whole story makes me want to throw up more, the exploitation by one loudmouth whose opinions go largely ignored, or the exploitation by a loudmouth who sells millions of books and who has many people who see him as God's prophet in Colorado Springs.

 

 

And those are my real feelings on the subject. Done.

 

(BGM: "Abyss" by Kotoko)

 

 

I agree with pretty much everything you said! I heard a tiny bit of it today....I used to listen to Focus on the Family sometimes and I still can't break the habit...I listen to it once in a while and find myself rolling myeyes within 10 seconds....it actually makes me laugh but then I realize they BELIEVE that stuff!

 

And Dr. Dobson didn't ask her about her almost naked photos or how "Christian" those are.

 

Becky

[Rubyfruit Pixie]

They covered the photos yesterday! But of course he pushed it off by saying "Oh, we do things we regret when we're young..." Which is true, but still.

 

Yesterday, I didn't know which part of the whole story made me more physically ill. Today I know which part of it makes me sick. The fact that people like Dobson and those in the Christian media outlets will not let this go, and not only do they trot her out like she's a martyr, but she's buying into it. That second part, that she's just buying into it and seems to be able to do nothing but rattle off Bible stories (comparing herself to Esther? Really? No one's going to kill Christians wholesale based on an ignorant answer to a question that was baited by the biggest press slut since Ingrid Newkirk) and Focus on the Family talking points just makes the situation much sadder than it ought to be.

 

I hope that she can just get on with her life.

 

And no one seems to think that if she had said that yes, gay marriage should be legalized, these same people would be calling curses upon her head, praying to God that she be killed or worse. No one seems to think of that end of it at all. That part alone is a contender for "Which Part Of This Makes Rubyfruit Sick".