I've been a little bit surprised by the reaction of some of the conservative religious bloggers. I've followed a number of links to religious websites over the past couple days and most of them seem to be genuinely upset with Coulter, although it's exceedingly difficult to find one that shows even the slightest concern that the f-word
is a
gay slur. Difficult, but not impossible:
This morning I checked the excellent
Talk To Action, a blog dedicated to church / state issues.
This entry references a conservative Southern Baptist blogger who asks a few remarkable questions:
So . . . why would Ann Coulter use that word? And, even more troubling to me, why would any in her audience laugh? There is nothing remotely funny about that word in any context. It is meant to hurt when boys use it in the locker room, and it was meant to hurt when Ann Coulter used it when speaking to a conservative audience. It demeans homosexuals and should be banned from any acceptable discourse.
How can homosexuals think anything but the worst of a movement that would laugh at the use of this slur? How can we think any better of ourselves if we stand by and let it happen? -
AlbertMohler.com
Although I'm sure there's precious little I'd agree with this guy about, his concern here seems genuine. Maybe some of these people are starting to change, at least a little. Not much more than a little, though. You can't help noticing that he makes a few thinly-veiled yet somewhat milder than expected insults towards gays himself, particularly the one in that last question.
Incidentally, I recommend following one of those links and reading more of this guy's post. He brings up a not-so-well-known aspect of the viciousness of this particular utterance from Ann, specifically John Edwards' strong and enduring marriage, a marraige at the heart of a family which has known great tragedy. The Edwards family is precisely the model that cultural conservatives are supposed to be promoting, so what the hell is Ann doing denigrating it?
Good point, I say. Read the post.
W.W.E.D.?