From Spread the Word to Enforce the Word

The ayatollah Falwell was at it again last night on Hardball (that’s a cable TV show for those of you too smart to actually watch cable TV shows), preaching about the immoral choice that gays make in, well, being gay. Chris Matthews asked him when he might have made the choice to be a heterosexual, which I guess he professes to be. Ayatollah Falwell said that he started dating when he was 13 or so.

Ayatollah Falwell must be getting a little less nimble with age. In better days, he would probably have launched into a statement about gay sexual behavior being immoral because the bible says it’s so, so he wouldn't be caught looking completely ridiculous in trying the say that people actually decide to be gay or straight. Instead, he would have gone off on the idea that people need to behave morally despite the nature within them to behave other than the way the bible tells them to behave. So, being gay would be a matter of immoral behavior, a fight between the good and evil within us. That would have been the good old ayatollah Falwell. Instead, he now thinks you sort of choose being a heterosexual somewhere around your Bar Mitzvah or Bat Mitzvah, as the case may be.

A. Falwell makes for a great guest because he isn’t afraid to spread the word. You don’t have to coax him or trick him with Hardball questions being fired by machine gun Matthews. The ayatollah can’t wait to tell you, and that makes for great Hardball TV, if that’s possible.

Now, I like a good preacher as much as anyone. Fire and brimstone is a hell of a lot more entertaining than, say, Desperate Housewives. It’s when they actually expect us to enforce their rantings and ravings with the the law that they cross the barrier at the intersection of church and state. That’s when you have to start to pay attention. Spread it all you want, but don’t try to enforce it with armed police. Rely on the almighty instead.

Just for the record, I might well have checked off the homosexual box had it come with a being a bit taller. I have always wanted to be taller, but I just can’t remember wanting to be straight, not that there is anything wrong with that.