We really do need an “Entitled idiot douchebag college newspaper columnist” category.
The latest, sent on by Doug, is written by Virginia student Alex Cortes. Cortes finds it extremely important to emphasize how he is not gay, and therefore wants the right to scream out his not-gayness at Virgina football games. The background is this: At the games, fans sing theGood Ole Song” after every touchdown. The song contains the line “We come from old Virginia/Where all is bright and gay.” Sometime in the last 10 or 20 years, people began adding the line ” . . . but not TOO gay” at the end. An LGBT group started a campaign to get people to stop chanting the extra line. No big deal, right? Well, to Alex Cortes, this is a major affront to his religious liberty (yes, this young man somehow got himself into college; no, I don’t understand how). He writes:
The “not gay” chant has been completely written off on Grounds. Some call it a drunken joke while others refer to its adherents as homophobes. Unfortunately, in doing so, this University has completely disregarded the religiously and politically-minded like myself who say the chant out of disgust for the gay lifestyle and support for our natural heterosexuality given to us by God.
Not surprisingly, the chant’s opponents found it much easier to write us off as drunks and homophobes then address our intellectual concerns.
See, using the term “intellectual concerns” implies that you actually have, you know, intellectual concerns. Which, as the rest of the article makes clear, you don’t.
In doing so, the majority suggests that we are only to take the viewpoints of the sober and so called “tolerant.” However, if we were to only take the viewpoints of this selective leftist group, there wouldn’t be many viewpoints, for few of us are completely sober and tolerant to the point of failing to address flaws, especially among politicians. And of course we don’t want a limited scope of purely liberal viewpoints.
This is why the right-wing victim mentality kills me. No one is telling this kid that he can’t blabber on about how being gay is a sin and he is totally straight and likes boobs and pussy a lot (he swears). No one is limiting his free speech rights. An LGBT group is simply expressing their free speech rights by instituting a campaign that promotes returning the song to its original lyrics. This kid has entire football stadiums chanting about pride in not being gay, and he feels victimized because a handful of people are raising an alternate view. It’s pretty incredible.
If everyone’s thinking the same thing, then no one’s thinking, which is exactly what is occurring on the topic of the “not gay” chant. Is anyone else in this University ready to defend the use of the “not gay” chant with academic language?
I would love to hear the academic defense of why UVA students should continue to change the traditional song in order to emphasize their not-gayness; unfortunately, totally-not-gay Alex Cortes does not offer them. Instead, we get this:
As a Catholic I believe in natural law — morality derived from the nature of human beings. With this belief in mind, man was made to become one with his female counterpart in the act of intercourse for the purpose of procreation. That is how we were intelligently designed by God and thus are to live. Any deviation from natural law, like homosexuality, is in effect saying that God created us wrong and is sinful.
Human beings also naturally get sick and die. We naturally smell. We naturally have all kinds of body hair, and some of us have facial hair. We’re born naturally butt-naked. So I’m sure that Alex refuses to avail himself of modern medicine, doesn’t wear deodorant or perfumes, doesn’t shave, and walks around in the nude, yeah? I mean, anything else would be deviating from the way that God intelligently designed us, and would in effect be saying that God created us wrong and is sinful.*
Not only does natural law condemn homosexuality, but many Biblical verses do as well. In First Corinthians 6:9, Paul lists the sins that will bar one from entering heaven. Among them is acting homosexual. The Old Testament, in Leviticus 20:13, goes as far to say if a man has sex with another man, kill them both. Fortunately, Christians condemn this last verse, citing the more peaceful New Testament’s transcendence over the Old Testament.
Well, how kind of the Christians to do that; I wonder how they pick and choose which Biblical laws to follow and which they’re going to fudge? I suspect it has more to do with their own preferences and bigotries than anything else. Otherwise, Alex is gonna be in big trouble for that cotton-poly blend he wore to class last week.
Jesus, the divine inspiration of the New Testament, taught us to love the sinner but hate the sin (leading a gay lifestyle). One of the main reasons he embodied himself was to rid of verses like the one quoted above. Jesus disproved of Judaism’s treatment towards homosexuals and would surely disprove of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s current campaign to wipe out homosexuality in Iran.
Right, the passage where Jesus says, “Love the gays, hate the anal sex. And the oral. Except when straight people do it, then it’s ok. But only on Fridays, and only if you think it’ll make a baby.”
When proudly shouting, “I’m not gay” during the “Good Ol’ Song,” I am simply publicizing my religiously-informed belief that it is wrong to act homosexual. I am not taking away anyone’s life as Ahmadinejad is attempting to do, nor am I suppressing their beliefs as happens so often on these “academical” grounds.
So as long as you aren’t killing gay people, there’s no way you can oppress them, right?
I understand that the word “gay” in the “Good Ol’ Song” is meant to translate as happy, but why is it wrong to assert our religious and political views at the juncture, as we should be able to at any juncture? Clearly there is nothing wrong with exerting our freedom of speech — especially responsible speech supported in Christianity.
Where do you even start with this? It would kind of be like if I decided to shout out, “I’m not Jewish!” at the end of the NYU Fight Song.** Yeah, it’s the truth, and it’s my religious and political view, but it’s not the most appropriate juncture to share it. It doesn’t even make sense. And if I got a whole stadium to do it, over and over again, I can see how people may be a little upset, and I couldn’t really blame them for trying to get us to stop. There is certainly a time and a place to say, “Actually, no, I’m not Jewish.” In fact, I’ve said it before — usually in response to the question, “Are you Jewish?” Similarly, there are appropriate times to say, “I’m not gay.” Collectively screaming it out at a football game, though? It’s just… dumb. And getting all riled up when someone asks you to stop is astronomically dumber.
Is there anything wrong with exercising our free speech rights? No. Is it beyond stupid to shout out “I’m not gay!” at a football game and think that you’re making a profound religious and political statement? Yes.
And if Alex wants his free speech rights, more power to him. But the LGBT community gets to express theirs, too, even if it’s in the interest of influencing people to not shout out their un-gay pride.
I find it pathetic that our Christian American majority, in this case shown at the University, is willing to set aside their religious beliefs for political correctness. The movement against the “not gay” chant is just another example of liberals, for which universities tend to be a hotbed, trying to suppress religious views in the public square.
Again with the victim mentality. No one is setting aside their religious beliefs by not shouting “I’m not gay!,” any more than I’m setting aside my religious beliefs by not standing up in class right now and shouting, “I’m not Muslim!” at the end of my comment about EU Law. If I did stand up and shout out my non-Muslimness or my non-Jewishness or my non-membership in any other group that with some regularity in a totally unrelated venue, my peers would probably first encourage me to seek help, and second tell me that I’m being an ass. It’s not so much a suppression of religious views in the public square as it is basic manners. It’s also a reflection of the utter arrogance of guys like Alex, who think their membership in a Christian Majority invests them and no one else with free speech and religious exercise rights.
During the second half of the football season I have felt uncomfortable saying the “not gay” chant, not because of the content, but because of the stares and criticisms I receive after doing so. Despite this discomfort, I will continue to press on as one of the last beacons of strength and morality. That may sound too pompous for the rather insignificant matter at hand, but courage on any level is hard to find these days. Political correctness, a weakening morality and lack of courage are suffocating our once-great nation. You have an opportunity to stop the suffocation. Promote the “not gay” chant.
Do you hear that, gays? You’ve made Alex uncomfortable. And it is his right as a Christian American to be comfortable shouting out whatever he wants at a football game. But fear not: He will continue to press on as one of the last beacons of strength and morality — by shouting “I’m not gay!” at a football game.
Wow. If only all of our leaders showed that kind of strength and moral courage. I wonder what’s next for this guy? Screaming “I’m not black!” on the golf course of his country club? Declaring, “I’m not a woman!” in the mall? Yelling “I am not Jewish!” in church? There’s just no limit to his bravery. I read an article about a guy who saved an orphaned kitten from being trampled by hordes of grown men and professional athletes, but compared to Alex Cortes, he might as well kick puppies for fun.
*Yeah, that phrasing makes me sic too.
**I don’t think we even have a fight song, but go with it.