Christopher Macintosh’s Interesting Tidbits

I was going through some memorable quotes from my favorite TV show, The West Wing, and ran across this conversation between President Bartlet and a Dr. Laura clone. It’s priceless!

President Josiah Bartlet: Good. I like your show. I like how you call homosexuality an abomination.

Dr. Jenna Jacobs: I don’t say homosexuality is an abomination, Mr. President. The Bible does.

President Josiah Bartlet: Yes it does. Leviticus.

Dr. Jenna Jacobs: 18:22.

President Josiah Bartlet: Chapter and verse. I wanted to ask you a couple of questions while I have you here. I’m interested in selling my youngest daughter into slavery as sanctioned in Exodus 21:7. She’s a Georgetown sophomore, speaks fluent Italian, always cleared the table when it was her turn. What would a good price for her be? While thinking about that, can I ask another? My Chief of Staff Leo McGarry insists on working on the Sabbath. Exodus 35:2 clearly says he should be put to death. Am I morally obligated to kill him myself or is it okay to call the police? Here’s one that’s really important because we’ve got a lot of sports fans in this town: touching the skin of a dead pig makes one unclean. Leviticus 11:7. If they promise to wear gloves, can the Washington Redskins still play football? Can Notre Dame? Can West Point? Does the whole town really have to be together to stone my brother John for planting different crops side by side? Can I burn my mother in a small family gathering for wearing garments made from two different threads? Think about those questions, would you? One last thing: while you may be mistaking this for your monthly meeting of the Ignorant Tight-Ass Club, in this building, when the President stands, nobody sits

When Jerry Flawell declared that 9/11 was God punishing Americans for liberalism, abortion, and homosexuality, and Pat Robertson expressed agreement, people were outraged. Even some non-Pharisee Christians spoke out against his abominable statement.

But, that kind of thinking has resurfaced. Read this to understand how that dangerous kind of thinking is more common than you might suspect and why we must be vigilant against Christian militants.

It is such a typical story in America that hysteria and over-reaction to a few truly heinous crimes results in the crime described in this story. In civilized countries, sex-offender lists are left to law enforcement, not paraded around the public, inviting the sort of vigilantism we see in this Los Angeles Times article.

Rarely, if ever, do I agree with Pat Buchanan on anything, but this is a column that appeared in the right-wing scream-site Worldnet Daily, a site I read only to see what the theocratic jingos are thinking. I was surprised, however, to find that Buchanan makes some points that are worth considering in this column about the crisis of illegal immigration.

The Washington Blade reports that the Rev. Jerry Falwell has come out in support of basic civil rights for gay Americans during an episode of The Situation with Tucker Carlson on MSNBC and finds nothing wrong with the news that Judge John Roberts once argued a pro-gay rights case as a private attorney. The article includes part of the program transcript.