Jesus may have been a rabble-rouser, but no doubt he'd wag a holy finger at the hoodlums who tagged Jesus Metropolitan Community Church's pro-gay billboard. According to bilerico, the pious progressive teamed up with Faith in Action to place a number of billboards and yard signs proclaimed Jesus' equally progressive politics. Not surprisingly, some people objected to the so-called son of God's posthumous politics.

JMCC's senior pastor, Reverend Jeff Mineer, refuses to give up the good Good Book fight:

There appears to be some kind of organized effort to suppress our message of hope. But that will only reinforce our determination to go forward. For too long, religious extremists have distorted what the Bible really says about homosexuality. We're taking the Bible back, and religious extremists aren't happy about it.

Via Joe. My. God.

(PS: Can any of you cultural warriors cite the headline's reference? Here's an inspirational hint: think Big.)

The Christian right has made no secret of its homo-hating. NOt only are the gays absolutely damned sinners, they're an assault on masculinity everywhere. In his examination of the rights' revolting mission against the gays, journo Chris Hedges points out a somewhat overlooked aspect of their ideology: good Christian men are meant to submit to Jesus, a savior Jerry Falwell once described as "a man with muscles". Hedges writes:

The unspoken truth is that Christian men are required to have a personal, loving relationship with a male deity and surrender their will to a male-dominated authoritarian church. The submission to church authority is a potent form of emasculation. It entails a surrendering of conscience and personal control and deadens emotions and feelings.

CONTINUED »

In our last post, we said that a bit of cheese and a moderately priced prostitute would quell our holiday-fueled desires. Luckily for us, we get both in Madeline Crabb's latest column. Okay, okay, so the cheese has gone a bit rank and the prositute's a cheap-looking Bible thumper, but beggars can't be choosers.

Mad Crabb's been shying away from targeting the gays, lest you and yours send her another barrage of emails. But that doesn't mean we haven't been reading her nonsensical notes, waiting for the perfect time to strike. And what better time than during these holy days, as Americans collectively reassess their lives, dreams and directions?

Not surprisingly, our little Crabb cake's none-too-pleased with the way Americans are living. In fact, she's livid, insisting once again that we're turning down a road to hell: a road paved with teenage tarts and sinful slappers (not to mention godless heathens such as ourselves).

CONTINUED »

We met Eric Rhein in an expansive, echoing room at New York's Gay and Lesbian Center - where he just took down a retrospective of sorts called "Uncle Lige's Sword". The itself show commemorates the tenth anniversary of protease inhibitors - a pharmaceutical wonder to which HIV-positive Rhein admittedly owes his life. The name of the show, meanwhile, hints at Rhein's activist roots: his uncle Lige Clark sprearheaded the early gay rights movement, founding New York's Mattachine Society branch and publishing the nation's first gay weekly, appropriately dubbed, Gay.

Meanwhile, downtown, Rhein's work can be seen at the Leslie/Lohman Gallery's "Four Artists/Four Shows" group show, featuring his "Journey Among Warriors". His so-called wire drawings not only blur the boundaries between sculpture and illustration, but attempt to communicate innumerable links between man and nature.

Perhaps Rhein's most cited work is The Leaf Project: his (sadly) ever-growing remembrance of friends who've died of AIDS complications. While HIV certainly plays a role his artistic perspective, he insists that there are universal themes around which all humans can - and should - rally for social progress.

See what Rhein has to say about the composition of "the art world", the downfalls of "the gay world" and the lessons (not to mention spirits) that can be found in-between.

"Journey Among Warriors" is on view at Leslie-Lohman Gallery (26 Wooster Street between Canal/Grand Streets New York, NY) through December 21, 2006.

CONTINUED »

The internet's an incredible creation. You can find anything. This picture's a "gay camel". We had to run it because we couldn't find any pictures of Reverend Paul Barnes.

You know: the other Evangelical pastor from Colorado to admit to homosexual attraction and subsequently step down from the pulpit.

Our comrade in blogging Frank Griggs sent us an email telling us that since that Denver Post article started making the blog-o-rounds, all traces of Barnes' existence have been disappeared. That's right. You can find a picture and, perhaps, a text on gay camels, but nothing on Barnes. Well, almost nothing.

We found a website for the Christian musical outift "The Grace Project". Last updated on November 20, 2006, the site cites Barnes as an influence:

Thanks to Pastor Paul Barnes for his leadership at Grace Chapel Englewood and his vision and support for our church in Castle Rock.

We also took a look at the Grace Chapel Englewood website - though we couldn't find any reference to Barnes, we're intrigued by a missing page on The Grace Chapel Ministry Team page: The Formation Team.

Mission: Fostering intimacy with Jesus.

It doesn't get any better than that, folks.

• Perhaps you'd like to end the day by reading what Megan Mullally has to say to AfterElton about celebrity culture, outing people and the future of her career.

• We also think you'll be interested in this article from Oklahoma State University's The Daily O'Collegian in which Ruthanna Rhoades-Hunsucker attempts to clear up some misconceptions about Christianity. We're not sure she succeeds. (In fact, she may actually perpetuate some misconceptions. Also, we don't think she really exists.)

• If you're looking for a laugh, why not take a look at some pictures of David Hasslehoff in drag from Best Week Ever?

• BBC totally knows how many civil partnerships have taken place in Britain. You may want to know the number, too.

• If you're into politics, you really shouldn't go to sleep without reading Anthony Man's piece in The Sun-Sentinal on the electoral power of South Floridian fags.

• If you're more of a space and technology reader, check out The Washington Post's coverage of NASA's latest announcement: a space station on the moon.

• Don't listen to all the shit about Tori Spelling's book. We're sure it's gonna be great. But, then again, we have very low standards. Not like our sibs over at Jossip. They require complete sen -

To see his campaign photo, you would never know that Florida State Senate Candidate Randall Terry had two grown, black adopted children, one of whom is gay and the other, a woman, who had a child out of a wedlock.

The photo includes only Terry, his wife, and his five tow-headed rugrats: very all-American, full of old-fashioned family values, just like Terry himself.

However, the photo is telling in that Terry has been estranged from his two adopted children, Jamiel (pictured above) and Tila, for three years. Jamiel is gay and Tila had a baby without a husband, both causes for the rift with Christian conservative Dad.

Randall Terry accuses his son of trying to make trouble for his campaign because the two don't get along. We have no doubt that is true, but we have trouble feeling sorry for someone who protested at the 1999 NYC Pride Parade (pictured at right).

Gay Son's Picture Missing From Traditional Values Candidate's Mailers [365 Gay]

Apparently there is space (even if it is a very small space) for tolerance of gays and even abortion within the evangelical Christian World. Randall Balmer, a professor at Barnard college and self-described evangelical Episcopalian, claims that though he takes the Bible very seriously, there are instances when social context should be applied to Biblical passages. Sounds reasonable to us, plus we think he is cute, and we doubt he would even mind us saying that.

Balmer's book Thy Kingdom Come: An Evangelical's Lament has caused a bit of a stir within the largely conservative evangelical Christian community for its progressive proclamations, but he has not been cast out yet, as he remains on the masthead of Christianity Today, which is the flagship magazine for the evangelical movement. We hope Mr. Balmer keeps on preaching his own gospel.

Evangelicals Divided On Gays, Other Issues [AP]

What's more perverse and ungodly than homosexual intercourse? Gay books! And where do you find gay books? Gay bookstores! Protest the gay bookstores!

And they have protested the gay bookstore, for three weekends straight. The Outwrite Bookstore in downtown Atlanta has been the target of a religious dummy named Billy Ball and his followers. We realize that sounds more like a porn star name than a pastor name, but we cannot control what people call themselves.

Ball and members of his church in Primrose, GA have been standing outside the Outwrite, trying to drive business away, all because they "love these people enough to warn them and rebuke them."

We wish they would just stop loving us so much. It's starting to bug us. If you feel telling Pastor Ball as much, you can give him a call at this number: 770-251-7710.

Christian Groups Targeting Gay Culture [AfterElton]
Outwrite Bookstore [Official Site]

Lisa Whelchel, who played the glamorous Blair on The Facts of Life, has not faded into obscurity as you might have guessed. Sure, she had her fat period, but now she is skinny and Christian, and has started her own blog called Coffee Talk, complete with descriptively-captioned photos (see above). Our pal Matt at Nervous Breakdown has been publishing a running commentary on her blog entries for some time now called "The Coffee Talk Companion," and has now started a blog expressly for that purpose called "The Blair Necessities."

We know, this is so blogger-meta, but the idea tickled us, and Matt has unearthed some fascinating tidbits:

Whelchel: Priscilla and I climbed into the back of their SUV and started talking nonstop, pausing only long enough for a Subway sandwich.

Matt: Yay! Paragraph two and already an SUV and fast food chain mention! This is going to be good, kids.

If you are a Facts of Life fan or just enjoy minutiae, make sure to check out The Blair Necessities.

The Blair Necessities [Official Site]
Coffee Talk [Lisa Whelchel Online]

We're not sure what organizers were expecting when they decided to hold World Pride in the middle of the Holy Land, but there has been a rare moment of unity between the Christian, Muslim, and Jewish faiths in Israel as they cry "foul" together over the event. Despite the fact that only one quarter of the city of Jerusalem wants World Pride held in their city and that all these conservative religious leaders are having aneurysms over it, plans are going forward for the celebration, which should draw hundreds of thousands of queers from all over the world to the embattled region for a few days of gay revelry.

In general we think that spreading gayness to the Middle East will have a positive effect on the general global understanding. For example, if 500,000 gays come and party in Jerusalem for a few days and the city doesn't get swallowed into the sea or smote by the Hand of God, maybe the hysteria will lessen ever so slightly. Or are we being foolish optimists? Our main concern is that things don't turn violent, and we hope the Jerusalem police are prepared for the possibility will protect the safety of their visitors.

Christian leaders slam gay parade [Jerusalem Post]

The gay marriage debate sometimes makes us want to lose faith in humanity. We wonder how so many people could be such stupid, unfeeling monsters. And then we hear about a group like the Jesus Metropolitan Community Church, which is based in Indiana and has just launched a high profile campaign of religious inclusiveness. Indiana was recently voted one of the Top 10 most unfriendly states for gays, and this group is reaching out to people in the heart of the beast by speaking their language.

They obviously believe that people can change and grow to become better and more loving, and we are happy to be reminded that there are still optimists in the world. We know first-hand that even the most bigoted person can have a change of heart, but sometimes we forget, or can't put in the effort to bring it about.

The campaign has gotten a fair amount of media attention, and we're certain they could now use what all new non-profits can use: money. So check out their site and donate if you're so inclined.

DAVID AND GOLIATH IN INDIANA [PAYOR]
Faith In America [Official Site]