I'm rapidly tiring of the fundies attempting to capitalize on the death of Jerry Falwell. You read that right...they're trying every lame ass trick in the book to use the Reverend's death to its absolute fullest extent. This time, after invoking the same quotes made by some of my fellow bloggers, Janet Folger brings up the murder of a woman, committed at the hands of a 19 yr. old homosexual...
"It reminds me about what happened after the murder of Mary Stachowicz.
Ever hear of her? Didn't think so. Mary Stachowicz, a 51-year-old wife and
mother of four, was described by friends as soft-spoken, "concerned about the
good of her parish, always seeking things for the poor as well as spiritual
welfare for people." Mary Stachowicz also believed what the Bible and the
Catholic Church taught about homosexuality. She verbalized her belief, and for
that crime, she was murdered. Mary was murdered by 19-year-old homosexual
Nicholas Gutierrez in Chicago for the crime of disagreeing with his lifestyle.
According to police reports, Stachowicz asked Gutierrez, who lived in an
apartment above her, "Why do you [have sex with] boys instead of girls?" That
was when he "punched, kicked, stabbed and strangled" her before stuffing her
body into a crawl space under the floor of his apartment, where it remained for
two days until he confessed to police."
I will be the first to raise my hand in saying I didn't recall this story, and I'll even go so far as to say that the absent condemnation from the homosexual community is appalling...bet ol' Janet didn't see that coming, lol. Here comes one great big "BUT," lol...
As horrific as the murder of Stachowicz was, it was isolated...unlike the same types of murders and other vicious attacks against homosexual and transgendered people. DO NOT misunderstand me...I am in no way diminishing the tragedy of this woman's death. Rather, I'm using it as the stepping stone to the point of my argument, something Ms. Folger was all to eager to do, herself.
So far, Ms. Folger has started with the free speech of those with whom she disagrees (specifically, the bloggers who expressed their less than warm, fuzzy feelings for Jerry Falwell), links that to the death of Ms. Stachowicz, and then attempts to draw a very crooked line linking those events to the suspended students I blogged about last week...
"Haven't you heard? Words of disagreement with the homosexual agenda are
now illegal. Just ask more than 100 kids who were suspended for wearing T-shirts
that expressed their biblical views on the topic. Shirts with Bible verses and
such sayings as "Don't touch God's rainbow" threw San Juan High School students
in California out of school."
Ask any adolescent, and you'll quickly find out...if you couldn't figure it out to begin with, that is...those shirts were intended to start a controversy, if not a confrontation. Free speech is something that is and should be granted to everyone, but to use this example of children trying to make a religious statement is absurd. It makes me wonder, honestly, if that's all she really had in the way of argument. Surely Ms. Folger, a seasoned columnist, would be able to put together a stronger argument than what she has presented here. Unfortunately, she...like many other fundies...chose to dance on the grave of Falwell, use flimsy examples of free speech infringements and invoke the almighty, yet elusive, homosexual agenda to do one thing...
" S. 1105, the so-called "hate crimes" bill, is the most dangerous
bill in America. It will revoke what used to be called the freedom of speech. I
don't agree with all the speech I hear. You may not agree with mine. But if we
don't stop this bill together, we will all lose the right to disagree, to quote
the Bible and to speak the truth. Speak up before you are locked up."
Ms. Folger, ask yourself a few questions...were the bloggers who made disparaging comments against Rev. Falwell in any way fined or jailed? No? So mentioning them was just to somehow give your article more credibility then, I see. Was Falwell, himself, ever fined or jailed for his comments regarding homosexuality? No, again? So free speech for you and other adults who do disagree isn't and hasn't been impugned or in any way infringed upon. Did the 19 year old who murdered Ms. Stachowicz get away with his crime? Still no? Then why are you so afraid of this bill, and why do you feel it necessary to use your own as some sort of scare tactic?
I have an answer, although I doubt you'll appreciate it, Janet. You're losing the battle by warning against the loss of free speech rights, so now it's time to stoop to an even lower level...capitalizing on the death of one of your own to renew that initial fear mongering tactic among your other fundie friends and hoping to god it works.
Once again, Janet...you've gotten caught.
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