The Devil Inside

Trickle-down politics lead to torture and murder

At the bar you do get lucky. Someone you're attracted to comes over and starts up a conversation. A few drinks and laughs later, the inevitable -- an invite to their place to party. Paydirt. Off you go, so excited that the evening is going so well you don't realize you're driving into the country, away from the population and protection of the city. The love you expected ends abruptly with a punch in the face. Your pulled from the car and beaten with fists -- and a baseball bat -- until the fatal blow to your head ends the pain and suffering with a dull thud.

Now imagine your government and religious leaders are indirectly responsible for your death. Through their choice of words, actions, or inactions -- they have paved the way to the violence that leads to your death. In the story above, you're a homosexual, and you were killed for that reason alone. Recently, certain government, church and societal leaders have used words to sow the seeds that lead to violence, and other untimely deaths.

For example:

So how does a statement or political stance tie these leaders to violence? By trickling down to the people who ultimately commit the crimes. A politician or religious leader must have tolerance and love for each individual -- it goes with the job. But group a bunch of individuals together by calling them sick, or a problem that only God can fix, and you remove their individuality. Once done, these individuals are a collective group that becomes a target for every self-rightious citizen that believes in God, or more specifically, citizens that believe torture and murder are part of God's plan. The progression below tries to help explain how a leader's words can lead to murder.

1. A leader makes a statement like, "...homosexuality is a problem. These people are ill, like kleptomaniacs, or alcoholics."
2. The biased media gets hold of the story and runs with it. Maybe Rush Limbaugh says something like, "...according to a real Republican leader, Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott, Gays are sick. I know I wouldn't want to work with them. Nothing would be sicker than having to watch my back and hide the KY jelly at work every day. We ought to round 'em up and put 'em in a pen. What do you think, America?"
3. A man in a pickup truck says to his friend on their way to the construction site, "That Rush -- he sure is right. Gays are really a problem, right? But if you round 'em up, ya got to feed them. Just shoot them and save the taxpayers money!" His friend replies, "You are so right, Billy-Jo-Bob! You have your finger on the pulse that is America! Kill the fags!"
4. At the dinner table, the man from the truck berates his 21-year old son, "You gay boy? According to Rush and Mr. Lott, our great leaders, you're sick if you are. I don't have to watch my ass around you, do I boy? You better believe I'll kick it from here to Missouri if I do. I find any KY jelly around here and I'll do it. Now, get me another beer, fag boy."
5. The boy and his friends go out to a bar for a beer, and to get away from their fathers. Border-line alcoholics, they get drunk and meet a clean-cut young man...and the rest can be found in trial transcripts of the murder of a young homosexual.

The scariest part of this progression is the hypocrisy that allows the hatred to exist at all. Leaders preach outright intolerance but act surprised when followers take the law into their own hands. They try to exist in a void and act like their words have no effect on the people that look up to them -- and that is wrong. Their actions, intentional or not, lead to the torture and murder of innocent citizens.

In the past, it was unpopular to be African-American. In the '80s and early '90s, you could get a beating for being Asian-American. Now it's Bisexual- and Homosexual-Americans. Who will be next? In each of these eras, political, societal, or religious leaders preached against the people affected. African-Americans caught flak from every conceivable slant, and church/cross burnings still continue today. Asian-Americans were victims of a repressed economy, i.e. laid-off autoworkers, while conservative politicians and union leaders blamed the Japanese for all our problems. Now conservative Republican and religious leaders are after Bisexual- and Homosexual-Americans because they say their choice of lifestyle is a sin. But the reality is that Jesus never denounced homosexuality in the New Testament, and the Old Testament places it on par with adultery. The text is readily available, read it for yourself.

But religious leaders have donation coffers to fill and politicians to put in office. Nothing does that faster than a little well-placed hatred. Engender some passion from fear and you can rule the world, or at least generate enough cash-flow to buy a politician and get a new Mercedes. Maybe Bisexual- and Homosexual-Americans will find a reprieve from violence in the near future. Only time will tell. One thing is certain: the Devil inside our leaders seems content with the hatred, violence and murder for now. If it were not, these same leaders would be denouncing the acts of the few and making laws to protect those affected by violence. But they do not, because there's still too much money to be made off the backs of the beaten, tortured and murdered citizens they're supposed to protect.