Investigative Reporting
Posted on August 12th, 2005 by catalyst into the Uncategorized categorySo for those who don’t know, I live in Washington DC. And currently in this fair city, there is a scandal brewing over remarks made by a local pastor. Reverand Willie Wilson, pastor of an 8,000 member church, recently made disparaging remarks about homosexuals in a sermon. And in typical homo fashion, the gays got fired up.
(At this point, I don’t care. Sexuality is a moral issue. As such, the church is free to speak out against it, and the gay community is free to stand up for themselves. I really don’t care.)
But then I read what Wilson said that got everyone so fired up. Here’s his quote.
My son in high school last year, trying to go to the prom, he said, ‘Dad, I ain’t got nobody to take to the prom because all the girls in my class are gay. And ain’t but two of them straight and both of them ugly.” —the Rev. Willie F. Wilson, July 3
I’m not sure why the gay people are so angry, really it should be the girls in Wilson’s son’s highschol class that should be upset.
Neverthless, in the vein of Woodward and Bernstien, a local newspaper (DC’s version of the Willamette Week) went to Wilson’s son’s school and interviewed all his classmates, specifically the girls in his class to determine whether the quote was true. Here is a LINK to the article.
Producing this nice quote from the principal:
Asked whether her school has a particularly high number of gay students, SWW Principal Sheila Mills-Harris can’t say: “I have no idea about their sexual orientation, nor am I concerned about it.” It’s enough of a challenge, she says, “trying to keep a roof over my children’s head that doesn’t allow the rain to come in [and] trying to make connections with universities so I can offer students opportunities.”
However, for me, the best part was that some reporter went into a local highschool to check up on gossip. I want that job. That’s the greatest job in the world. I would be perfect at it. Interviewing all the students to see whose gay. Finding out whether the girls in the Junior class are cute or ugly. These are things I am excellent at. I will be submitting my resume to the City Paper tomorrow.
The other thing of course is that pastors often run fast and loose with the facts when sharing a sermon. And will often say anything to prove their point. Unfortunately, Mr. Wilson got caught.
I love it.
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August 12th, 2005 at 7:13 am
“The other thing of course is that pastors often run fast and loose with the facts when sharing a sermon. And will often say anything to prove their point.”
Catalyst, what are you talking about?
Do you mean when, after an alter call, they say that God is telling them there are two more people who need to come forward that God isn’t really talking to them?
Frankly I’m shocked.
The best line I’ve heard is “We love homosexuals”.
Right, as long as they aren’t gay.
August 12th, 2005 at 8:17 am
Before handing in that resume, you should have someone check your graymer an punktuashin
Also, you shouldn’t use a preposition, if that’s what you’re going to end with. Just a hint.
(Or, don’t try writing when you’re drunk.)
August 12th, 2005 at 8:27 am
Mr. List: Still a little bitter about the spelling thing, huh?
Actually, thanks for the correction. When I re-read it at work, I saw the mistake but didn’t think anyone would notice or care… apparently, I was wrong.
My grammar skills aren’t the best, I agree.
August 12th, 2005 at 8:45 am
In case you all couldn’t tell by Cattle List’s previous comments/post it should now be clear that Cattle List is none other than the dreaded MRS. COLEMANN. (Not that theres anything wrong with that)
August 12th, 2005 at 9:10 am
Cattle List:
Remove the run on sentence from your own eye so you can clearly see the comma in your brother’s eye….
August 12th, 2005 at 9:15 am
On the topic, the translation for ‘Dad, I ain’t got nobody to take to the prom because all the girls in my class are gay. And ain’t but two of them straight and both of them ugly’ is:
Dad, I can’t go to prom because none of the girls will go with me. It’s either because I parrot your loving Christian message to them or because I’m gay.
How’s that for a little irony?
August 12th, 2005 at 9:49 am
That’s how I interpreted the comment as well. But if you read the article, apparently his son does have a girlfriend, and she’s really cute.
Fellow students also go on to mention that his son is extremely polite and nice.
The idea being that the son never made this comment. The Pastor just made the comment up, to illustrate a point in his sermon. (Allegedly)
August 12th, 2005 at 9:55 am
Fezzik,
That is hilarious.
Both of them.(I love a good parody)
August 12th, 2005 at 10:09 am
Bah, that’s what I get for blindly giving the esteemed minister more credit than to openly make stuff up.
August 12th, 2005 at 11:28 am
Excuse me!!! That is really nasty to make a derogatory remark about Mrs. Coleman. Someone PLEASE delete that post by reformed pope. She does not even access a computer. I think Reformed Pope has pissed off God!!
August 12th, 2005 at 11:51 am
HEY HEY CALM YOURSELF MRS. COLEMAN NOT THAT GREAT, AND YES IT’S TRUE I WAS ACTUALLY IN HER CLASS.
August 12th, 2005 at 12:04 pm
I stand by what I said
August 12th, 2005 at 2:23 pm
“Hamani did not respond to efforts to contact him, and his father is currently out of town. But Hamani’s older sister, Lili Wilson, suggests that perhaps Wilson wasn’t speaking of Hamani at all. Though Hamani is the minister’s only direct descendant in high school,
“[the Rev. Wilson’s] got a lot of spiritual sons,” she says, making it possible for the “son” in question to be any number of young people.
“There are a lot of children without father figures who look up to him.””
This quote perfectly describes my problem with American Christianity.
a.) The pastor couldn’t be wrong.
B.) Let’s mutate what was said into other terms so that the original topic is diluted.
c.) Let’s justify what was said in spiritual terms so that it’s not wrong.
5.) Let’s not criticize, let’s talk about how wonderful the pastor is instead.
After years of verbal masturbation by countless pastors pushing their hyped up stories and testimonies, I can no longer stand to have anything to do with it. Anymore, the only time I have anything to do with a pastor is the occasional wedding, and even that I could do without.
I have never been happier.
August 12th, 2005 at 2:31 pm
Wow,
Rev. Willie Nelson has reached a heretoforth uncharted region in the annals of total ignorance and homophobia. And 8,000 humans trust him enough to put their souls in his care on an ongoing basis. I kinda wish I didn’t know about this. I didn’t really need to lose any more faith in the human race.
And, I’d like to point out that the premise of Nelson’s joke is that women exist to satisfy men (”Dad, I ain’t got nobody to take to the prom because all the girls in my class are gay. And ain’t but two of them straight and both of them ugly.”)….and isn’t it a travesty that some of them are attracted to one another rather than to men? And worse still, they have the colossal inconsideration to honor their own biological impulses rather than traditional societal norms. Outrageous.
So, catalyst, you’ve flushed me out (and sorry in advance, Cattle List, for ending a sentence with a preposition, although I should mention right away that “with” is a preposition and you actually ended you corrective sentence with that word…and I doubt you’ll care, since the content of what I’m about to say will probably give you more than enough fuel for your fire). I feel impelled to take this particular piece of bait.
The fundies teach that sexuality is a moral issue as you say. However, the entirety of the mainstream scientific community disagrees with them. Why? Because they have hard evidence to the contrary. Is it biblical? No. But, as I’ve mentioned on numerous other occasions, real-and-true fundamentalism is NOT being practiced by the fundies anyway….if it was, we’d all be petitioning the Supreme Court to reinstate slavery, selling all our possessions to give to the poor, advocating celibacy for all ministers, and “defrocking” elders whose children went through a rebellious phase.
The fundies just have their pet issues to which they apply fundamentalism, and those issues are (by and large) issues that concern patriarchy (mostly white, affluent patriarchy)….and patriarchy’s grip on everybody else. It’s not about morality. It’s not even really about safety or public health. It’s about control.
Blessed are the male, straight, and homophobic, for theirs is the narrow kingdom of the fundie Christian ghetto.
Thank God I’ve expatriated.
August 12th, 2005 at 2:47 pm
If you didn’t think Mrs. Coleman was “that great”, than you missed out completely. I’ve never met another person in any other educational institutional (if you can call TCHS that) who could inspire a whole classroom full of people to appreciate Homer, or actually enroll in Latin, let alone pay attention. Also, how many teachers do you know that teach for that long and still truly care about their students? On top of all that, she is paid a pittance for her dedication to her students and her excellence. Not “that great”…maybe you should keep your opinion to yourself until you can contribute to society in an equal fashion.
August 12th, 2005 at 5:23 pm
and sorry in advance, Cattle List, for ending a sentence with a preposition, although I should mention right away that “with” is a preposition and you actually ended you corrective sentence with that word…
Yes I know, Jim, that’s precisely the point I was getting at. Prepositions aren’t anything to be afraid of. Still, one should know where and when to use one if he is sending his resume in. (Did you notice what my point about punctuation didn’t end with?)
August 12th, 2005 at 7:00 pm
Is it Wilson or Nelson? I’m confused.
August 13th, 2005 at 4:33 am
Its Wilson. I’ve really got to read these posts more carefully before I post them… I’ll make the change.
August 14th, 2005 at 11:24 am
Rom 3 - What then are we better than they? No for we have proved both Jews and Gentiles are all under sin … there is none righteous …
James 3 - only a few of you should be teachers …the tongue is a wicked world in itself: it infects the whole body …
1 cor 6 - people who do wrong will not inherit the kingdom of God: the immoral, idolaters, adulterers,sodomites, thieves, drunkards, slanderers, swindlers …
August 14th, 2005 at 4:32 pm
Anonymous Scripture Quoter,
Your point?
Cattle List:
If you’re going to be sarcastic, it’s usually most effective if you also make it clear (i.e. the initial excessively fussy preposition bit directed at your quasi-homonym)….otherwise, people like me just think you’re careless.
Also, I’m awfully disappointed that you’re not ranting and raving about the actual content of my post. What’s a person have to do to get a rise out of you these days? I was intentionally peeing in your personal holy water….. Soon I’ll start to think that you don’t care like you used to…[sigh]….what’s happened to us? I’m going to be forced to listen to recordings of “The Way We Were” and “All By Myself” (and maybe even “My Heart Will Go On” if it gets really bad….) and blubber into my silken tofu and herbal tea. You wouldn’t want that, would you, Listy-poo?
August 15th, 2005 at 12:58 pm
Jiminy, I really think you should turn down the “drama” knob. Sheesh, it’s like you’re looking for a fight…
The fundies teach that sexuality is a moral issue as you say. However, the entirety of the mainstream scientific community disagrees with them. Why? Because they have hard evidence to the contrary. Is it biblical? No. But, as I’ve mentioned on numerous other occasions, real-and-true fundamentalism is NOT being practiced by the fundies anyway….if it was, we’d all be petitioning the Supreme Court to reinstate slavery, selling all our possessions to give to the poor, advocating celibacy for all ministers, and “defrocking” elders whose children went through a rebellious phase.
OK, I can’t let this one slide. First, I’ll disagree with the “evidence” of sexual preference. Second, you seem to justify this by saying that fundies are hypocritcal. So two wrongs make a right (or in this case, a liberal-left perspective)? And your ideas of hard-core fundamentalism seem somewhat out of whack. Slavery? For heaven’s sake, stop bringing that up! Nobody is going to go backwards on that issue and I wish you’d stop using it as an argument. Celibacy is not a fundamentalist ideal either, but quite the opposite, as catalyst will testify as to the running joke of “finding a wife”. Fundamentalists are not fond of “giving up all their possessions” either, since as the site so often points out that they take pride in finding blessing through tithe. You got the last one right, where legalism would cause families to fall from so-called grace because of the antics of a child.
However, I will agree that most fundamentalism is about control. Which is why so many churches teeter on the brink of cultism regarding things like tithing and legalism. Today’s story is another example of how that control influences the opinions of church members.
August 16th, 2005 at 1:01 pm
FICM,
I owe you a buck.
Yes, I admit it, I was picking a fight. Drama comes somewhat naturally to us Pisceans. Oops, there I go again!
The ideas I was equating to hard-core fundamentalism are definitely NOT espoused by fundies. However, they are advocated by the Apostle Paul….that was my point.
August 16th, 2005 at 1:53 pm
Do I have to tithe on that?
August 16th, 2005 at 9:05 pm
Jimmy-poo, if I saw a pile of dog crap on the sidewalk, I wouldn’t go up to it and sniff it and look at it. I wouldn’t touch it with a stick and I certainly wouldn’t step in it. It’s disgusting and I already know it.
In the same way, I’ll leave your comments alone, simmering in the sun there on the sidewalk. I don’t have to respond to them to know they stink. Your remarks will always look and smell the way they do… it would be dumb of me to make your problem my problem.
August 16th, 2005 at 9:36 pm
Listy-poo-poo,
I’m sorry for you that you’ve been reduced to poo-poo comparisons. You’re basically telling me that you’re too damn lazy to come up with a decent argument. Or else scared…I thought lazy might be a slightly kinder assessment.
>>
FICM,
Kee-hee-hee!
Oooo, unless they’ve begun demanding tithes on the barter system…you’ll have to bring a tupperware cup, if so….
Ok, I take it back. No buck for you…I’ll buy you a beer next time I’m in P-town, just to avoid the tithe conflict.
So, are we more in agreement than you initially thought? It seems so to me….
August 17th, 2005 at 8:42 am
Jiminy - Now you’re just gloating
.
Rumor has it I know you. Do you know me? Or, more accurately, I knew your brother back in the day.
Recovering homeschooler solidarity sister!
August 17th, 2005 at 8:47 am
So many homeschoolers in one place. Its just like a CAT test…
August 17th, 2005 at 9:02 am
“Its just like a CAT test…”
heh. That’s funny.
August 17th, 2005 at 3:58 pm
Brian9000,
Is it possible that we were in a certain Toastmasters’ Youth Training class together? With Betsy Maynard, et alia….? If so, you and I (being BS artists from way back) used to totally kick butt at table topics….and if not, I look really foolish right now. If my guess is wrong, how did you know my brother and which one did you know?
And do you mean that I’m your sister, or are you my sister and your handle is a bit of gender-bending….?
In conclusion….yes, I was gloating. Bovine-Caca Boy had it coming.
That’s what he gets for dissing a lunar Sagittarian….lots and lots of sass.
August 17th, 2005 at 3:59 pm
Fezzik,
CAT tests? Pass the Cheet-ohs, please!
August 18th, 2005 at 10:35 am
Yup you found me out. Although I’ve log since tried to cover up any evidence that I might have been involved with something such as toastmasters. However, my BS abilities still seem to be in full swing.
August 18th, 2005 at 1:14 pm
B-9000,
Dude, I’m totally an artist with BS as my primary medium. Loud and proud.
Although, I gotta admit that Toastmasters was almost unforgivably lame…I won’t tell if you won’t.
Give my best to the fam when you see them next…tell them I’m moving to Hungary on Aug. 31st to study at the Kodaly Institute for an academic year. I’m planning to earn an advanced certificate from the Institute and collect materials for a curriculum design project I’m undertaking. I’m doing my best to make Mr. Meadows proud (despite the fact that he forgot my name a year after I graduated….).
Are you playing at all these days, or have you fiddled your last?