{"id":15926,"date":"2013-06-21T16:03:55","date_gmt":"2013-06-21T20:03:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/slacktivist\/?p=15926"},"modified":"2013-06-21T16:03:55","modified_gmt":"2013-06-21T20:03:55","slug":"religious-right-will-hold-breath-turn-blue-if-doma-overturned","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/slacktivist\/2013\/06\/21\/religious-right-will-hold-breath-turn-blue-if-doma-overturned\/","title":{"rendered":"Religious right will hold breath, turn blue, if DOMA overturned"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

As New Zealand MP Maurice Williamson pointed out<\/a>, marriage equality \u201cis fantastic for the people it affects, but for the rest of us, life will go on.\u201d<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re not a same-sex couple seeking to be legally married, this doesn\u2019t affect you. At all. It isn\u2019t something that is happening to you, or even something that is happening near you. And as such, if you\u2019re churlish enough to begrudge the people it does affect of something \u201cfantastic,\u201d then there\u2019s nothing you can do apart from grumpily cross your arms and stand there, disapproving<\/em>.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>So the \u201cMarriage Solidarity Statement\u201d released this week by dozens of the usual suspects from the anti-gay religious right<\/a> just doesn\u2019t make any sense.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe will not stand by,\u201d the statement harrumphs. But, actually, yes, yes they will. Standing by is exactly what they will do because that is all they can<\/em> do. This doesn\u2019t affect them. It does not harm them \u2014 it neither picks their pockets nor breaks their legs. It doesn\u2019t compel them to do anything. It doesn\u2019t compel them not<\/em> to do anything. They are by-standers to something happening elsewhere, to other people. And as by-standers, all they can possibly mean by \u201cWe will not stand by\u201d is that \u201cWe will assume a posture of extreme indignation and offendedness while standing by.\u201d<\/p>\n

Well, that and send out fundraising letters, fleecing their flocks out of ever-more money by pretending that the sky is falling and the world is ending. But they were going to do that anyway. That\u2019s their business model, after all.<\/p>\n

If you read the entire statement (.pdf here<\/a>), you\u2019ll note that the tone throughout is that of a threat, of an ultimatum. And yet the indignant signatories never actually say that they will actually do<\/em> anything. They say they will feel<\/em> upset. They say they will feel<\/em> disappointed in the Supreme Court. Feelings, whoa-whoa-oh, feeeeeelings.<\/em><\/p>\n

But they never say what they will do because there is nothing they can<\/em> do.<\/p>\n

This isn\u2019t about them. And this isn\u2019t about their feelings. It\u2019s fantastic for the people it affects, but the indignatories of the religious right are not among the people it affects. They are by-standers to something that does not affect them. And, like it or not, all they can do is stand by \u2014 like Jonah outside of Ninevah, or like the older brother outside the party for the Prodigal Son.<\/p>\n

(Like Jonah and the older brother in the parable, they also have the option of uncrossing their arms, ending their sulk and joining the celebration<\/em> \u2014 but this possibility doesn\u2019t seem to occur to them either.)<\/p>\n

There is one other, darker possibility, as\u00a0David Badash notes<\/a>. They could decide to follow the example of the disgraced thug-priests of the Orthodox Church in Georgia and take to the streets in mob violence:<\/p>\n

\u201cWe cannot and will not allow this to occur on our watch,\u201d they state \u2014 although don\u2019t specify what they will do if they don\u2019t like the Court\u2019s rulings.<\/p>\n

And while they aren\u2019t specifically threatening to riot in the streets and aren\u2019t suggesting any acts of violence, their words could be fuel \u2014 or seen as a call to action \u2014 for others to do just that.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

He\u2019s not wrong to worry. This is the last gasp of the dead-enders, and faced with the choice between reality and violence, such people have been known to choose the latter. They\u2019re not actually threatened. Their religious liberty and their way of life and their values are not being threatened. But they\u2019re working very hard to convince themselves that somehow all of that is in jeopardy. They\u2019re addicted to the adrenaline-rush that fantasy of persecution provides. So be careful \u2014 because a cornered animal can always be dangerous, even if it\u2019s only pretending<\/em> to be cornered.<\/p>\n

See earlier:<\/p>\n

\u2022 Religious right still doesn\u2019t know what \u2018civil disobedience\u2019 means<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2022 When talk of \u2018civil disobedience\u2019 is just masturbation<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2022 Pat Buchanan joins Manhattan Declarers in \u2018civil disobedience\u2019 fappery<\/a><\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

“We will not stand by,” the statement harrumphs. But, actually, yes, yes they will. Standing by is exactly what they will do because that is all they can do. This doesn’t affect them. It doesn’t harm them. It doesn’t compel them to do anything. It doesn’t compel them not to do anything. All they can possibly mean by “We will not stand by” is that “We will assume a posture of extreme indignation and offendedness while standing by.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":141,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[101,17,53,52,22,28],"class_list":["post-15926","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-evangelicals","tag-civil-disobedience","tag-equality","tag-gay-rights","tag-homosexuality","tag-indignation","tag-religious-right"],"yoast_head":"\nReligious right will hold breath, turn blue, if DOMA overturned<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\""We will not stand by," the statement harrumphs. But, actually, yes, yes they will. Standing by is exactly what they will do because that is all they can do. This doesn't affect them. It doesn't harm them. It doesn't compel them to do anything. 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A former managing editor of Prism magazine, Fred worked in the parachurch nonprofit world for a decade and then for a decade in the newspaper biz. He began blogging in 2002. In 2003 he began writing a review of the best-selling Left Behind series. Eight years later he still hasn\u2019t finished reviewing the second book of that series and the experience has left him a broken shell of a man. Fred knows the difference between the possessive \u201cits\u201d and the contraction \u201cit\u2019s,\u201d and he is acutely bothered when others mistakenly confuse the two, yet he himself just kind of instinctively types the apostrophe whether or not it belongs there. Some feel this is his greatest hypocrisy, but those who know him better know better. He\u2019s guilty of much greater hypocrisies. Jesus loves Fred far more than Fred loves Jesus, but he at least has the decency to recognize the unfairness of that lopsided relationship and he has long wished that he were better at maybe kind of sort of doing something more to correct that some day. A Baptist, an amateur, a Gen-Xer, a Gemini and a Mets fan, Fred lives in Southeastern Pennsylvania with his wife and two teenage daughters. You can reach him via email at slacktivist at hotmail dot com.\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/slacktivist\/author\/fredclark1\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Religious right will hold breath, turn blue, if DOMA overturned","description":"\"We will not stand by,\" the statement harrumphs. But, actually, yes, yes they will. Standing by is exactly what they will do because that is all they can do. This doesn't affect them. It doesn't harm them. It doesn't compel them to do anything. It doesn't compel them not to do anything. 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A former managing editor of Prism magazine, Fred worked in the parachurch nonprofit world for a decade and then for a decade in the newspaper biz. He began blogging in 2002. In 2003 he began writing a review of the best-selling Left Behind series. Eight years later he still hasn\u2019t finished reviewing the second book of that series and the experience has left him a broken shell of a man. Fred knows the difference between the possessive \u201cits\u201d and the contraction \u201cit\u2019s,\u201d and he is acutely bothered when others mistakenly confuse the two, yet he himself just kind of instinctively types the apostrophe whether or not it belongs there. Some feel this is his greatest hypocrisy, but those who know him better know better. He\u2019s guilty of much greater hypocrisies. Jesus loves Fred far more than Fred loves Jesus, but he at least has the decency to recognize the unfairness of that lopsided relationship and he has long wished that he were better at maybe kind of sort of doing something more to correct that some day. A Baptist, an amateur, a Gen-Xer, a Gemini and a Mets fan, Fred lives in Southeastern Pennsylvania with his wife and two teenage daughters. 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