Bugger All

--Eddie Long, heady with power

I've run a twisted mile
I'm a stranger in the eyes of the Maker
--The Maker, Daniel Lanois

Women are for children, boys are for pleasure
--Afghan saying

Christianity might be a good thing
if anyone ever tried it
--George Bernard Shaw

The only way I can lose this election is
if I'm caught in bed with either a dead girl or a live boy
--Edwin Edwards

... After a few seconds' pause to give muscles, intestines,
anus, rectum, due time to assume their orthodox positions
once again, there invaded him that intimate rejoicing
at a duty fulfilled and a goal attained,
that same feeling of spiritual cleanliness
that had once upon a time possessed him as a schoolboy
at La Recoleta, after he had confessed his sins
and done the penance assigned him by the father confessor
--In Praise of the Stepmother,
Mario Vargas Llosa

And Jesus, when he had found a young ass,
sat thereon
--KJV, John 12:14
__________________

Sunday Meditation: Buggery.

What is it with all the buggery in the media? Though this topic seems sexual in nature, it is actually about power, violence and violation, personal behaviors which parallel war in the macro sense.

We have long read of the offenses in the Catholic church (buggery-cum-pedophilia), and recently a civil suit was brought against the minister of Atlanta mega-church Baptist New Birth, Eddie Long, for sexual offenses against several young men in his LongFellows (stop the chortling) Youth Academy, a story which will probably disappear into a hefty out-of-court settlement.

Aside from his breach of trust, it galls that those who would condemn homosexuality are often among its more avid participants: "In 2004, Long led a march to Martin Luther King Jr.'s grave site in support of a Georgia constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage" (Eddie Long Isn't Practicing What he Preaches).

Cultural critic Susie Bright says, "One thing that's interesting to me is that even when that hypocrisy is exposed, it doesn't seem to do much to change the minds of their followers." Long likens himself to the Biblical David fighting Goliath. Please! Why when people are outed do they take recourse to cries of persecution? Just because the jig is up doesn't mean you've been persecuted.

When one lives in contradiction, the two paths are feign to join at some point. But for the New Birthers, there will always be a new birth. The lord loves a sinner. It is a win-win. Is there ever a comeuppance?

Long will artfully and remorsefully spin the young men as envious and power-hungry, and himself as an unwitting participant, lured in by youthful artifice. He will wail and throw himself upon the mercy of the congregation, and they, practicing their Christian mercy, will welcome him back, fallen and even stronger. He will wear a black veil for a time, wringing all the drama the situation can bear.

And what of the young men? Their faith and identities shaken by a very powerful, older spiritual adviser? What reward for them? Some paltry monetary recompense, out of court, never to speak of the shameful incident again. And that is how it goes in this great land, with such a magnanimous God and such overflowing plates.

But for men (and women) who have been used in such ways, there is no easy forgiveness, no return to unsullied time. Their abridged faith will always be worn as a rent in their soul -- for how do you undo betrayal?

And then there are the young dancing boys kept by many Afghani men for their hinder pleasures:

"For centuries, Afghan men have taken boys, roughly 9 to 15 years old, as lovers. Some research suggests that half the Pashtun tribal members in Kandahar and other southern towns are bacha baz, the term for an older man with a boy lover. Literally it means boy player. The men like to boast about it" (Afghanistan's Dirty Little Secret).

So American and NATO soldiers are fighting and dying to protect tens of thousands of pedophilic sodomists engaging in what a State Department report called a "widespread, culturally sanctioned form of male rape." And thousands of boys will grow up damaged in the process, with no redress at all.

But like so many Western males on the down low, these Afghan men don't consider themselves homosexual as they claim they do not love the boys. But it is hard to presume they do love their wives.

Why do men bugger other boys and men in secrecy, and yet have women as their societal mates? Surely there is a disconnect here, unless we are willing to say that a man cannot be satisfied with a female mate, in which case the whole argument for biological perpetuation of the species falls flat and man becomes some sort of genetic mutation maladapted for survival.

And William Saletan joyfully reports in Slate that a recent sex study shows more women than ever are engaging in anal sex. He calls it a triumph for variety's sake, and quotes the stat that 40% of women between ages 30 and 40 have tried it. He seems to want to convince us that, um, women really love it. It's not just for paid porno stars, anymore.

But the stat is misleading as it does not equate to continuing experimentation, and only 3-4% of women participate in the practice in any given month. (Saletan later backtracks in his enthusiasm and reports the dangers involved.)

Why the gleeful reportage? This is a factoid, like any other; statistics gleaned from a self-survey, and neither good nor bad. Could it be a back-door way of saying there is nothing too aberrant about buggery, ergo, nothing's wrong about homosexuality? A "look, everyone's doing it" sort of thing? Given Saletan's celebratory presentation, it would be easy to see it that way. Or it's a thumb's up for pornographers everywhere (*wink*wink.)

I don't know how or if this would play into the satisfaction of the men who are coveting their fellow's bottoms. It is just interesting to juxtapose it with the other reality. Do some women consent because it would make them more enticing to certain men, and is that good or bad?

What if some of us really are licentious, libidinous, lascivious pansexual apes? Religion, or laws or whatever hold back the floodgates, but what if we could speak the truth? Maybe those pansexual types could couple up accordingly, rather being "un-gayed" in the Christian camps, ultimately leaving trails of human flotsam in their wake. What if we could admit the truth: That this behavior is not as aberrant as we would like to think.

Homosexuality is a biological dead-end (unless you're into parthenogenesis), so why does it persist? If it were due to only occasional genetic mutations, it would not continue in such numbers. It is because men like Bishop Long here has four kids, in addition to his tangential matings.

For the conservatives, a great way to find out if homosexuality is by choice versus nature would be to sanction same-sex marriage. If no one coupled heterosexually out of family or church obligation, and no offspring ensue, one would presume eventually a reduction in homosexuality's incidence in the population. It is as good a theory as any: If homosexuality is biologically determined, then some gay genes are being propagated through enforced heterosexuality.

A conundrum for the Family Values crowd.