NOM NOM NOM. It’s getting 8 up.

The National Organization for Marriage, a collection of religious zealots and homophobes unparalleled in wingnuttery, is now complaining about yet something else concerning the Proposition 8 trial currently in session in California:

Judge Vaughn Walker

The judge is gay.

Predictably, the NOM folks are bleating “unfair!”

I’m particularly struck by NOM’s claim that, by the time the proposed video feed for the trial was cancelled (due to Supreme Court dictate),

“the supporters of Prop 8 had already lost two-thirds of their expert witnesses who feared retaliation from the publicity.”

Retaliation for what? from whom? Could it be that these “expert witnesses” feared that their testimony would be picked apart in cross-examination? Is it possible that they didn’t want to look like the fools they would most certainly appear to be if the trial were broadcast and their “expert testimony” shown to be nothing more than reflections of religious bigotry? What happened to the courage of your convictions? I saw no fear from those who were testifying for the other side, despite centuries of retaliation for coming out of the closet or supporting those that have chosen to do so.

So…

By extension, if a gay judge cannot render an unbiased decision in this matter, the same would be true for a straight judge. Or a Mormon, or a Catholic, or a Muslim, or a Christian fundamentalist judge.

Published in: on 9 February 2010 at 12:52  Leave a Comment  
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It’s a quiverfull of Christian patriarchy

I had a discussion with my sweetie a while back about the Duggar family, who has become (in)famous for being the poster family for the Quiverfull movement. I was sneering at the notion of having such a large number of children (the Duggars are at 19 and counting), and my Trophy Beloved stated that there was nothing wrong with that, in and of itself.

Reflection showed me that she was correct, though such a family is hardly a good example of family planning in these days of decreasing natural resources. However, something about the Quiverfull movement (aside from its Christian roots) still felt very wrong.

A little research uncovered several somethings:

  • The Quiverfull movement frowns upon academic education for daughters. A lot. Some daughters are only taught rudimentary reading skills, and most are discouraged from learning anything that doesn’t help her have children and run a household.
  • Would-be suitors for a Quiverfull daughter woo the daughter’s father long before she knows anything about the suitor.
  • Wives are expected to be submissive appendages to their husbands’ wills. Husbands make all the major decisions and are the movers and shakers within the religion.
  • Daughters are not allowed to live on their own prior to marriage. They get passed from father to husband directly.
  • Sons are expected to marry a fertile woman within the movement and start making children as soon as possible after starting a career.
  • Quiverfull couples are expected “to eschew birth control, natural family planning and sterilization“.
  • The spearhead behind the Quiverfull movement was Mary Pride’s book The Way Home: Beyond Feminism, Back to Reality. (The title says it all.) Pride is also considered a pioneer in the homeschooling movement. (Homeschooling, albeit from a completely non-religious aspect, is something the Trophy Fiance does with her children, and is something I support wholeheartedly).
  • A wife getting a divorce from a Quiverfull marriage causes the QF community to completely alienate her. The husband–not so much.

The Quiverfull movement represents yet another faith-based system of patriarchal rule where women have no say in their own fates whatsoever.

Not acceptable.

Published in: on 9 February 2010 at 9:36  Comments (2)  
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