The history of the Bible is a long, strange road; It begins with the codification of oral Jewish traditions by rabbis and continues through the millenia to early Christian theologians who mimic the cycles of the Old Testament in their creation a new chapter–and then on to Paul in Rome, who wiped away the gnostic gospels and locked in one true canon never foreseeing that one day the sacred text would be translated into English, turned into a manga strip, or now, thanks to  an American film producer, turned totally screamingly queer.

The Princess Diana Bible is the oh-so-subtle pet project of Max Mitchell, who heads New Mexico-based Revision studios. Mitchell is something of a modern day Ed Wood and he's best known as the creator of Horror In The Wind, a comedy about what happens when a scientific formula makes the whole world turn gay. One of the things that happens in the movie is that the regular Bible gets replaced with a 'Princess Diana Bible." Mitchell liked the idea so much, he decided to do it himself.

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Think what you read in Queerty's comments is interesting? After long last installing filters in our threads to weed out hate speech, we've concluded that perhaps our email deserves a similar flagging system. Here's just a sampling of what it's like to be a Queerty editor's inbox:

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It's not just gays who read Queerty. We've been noticing that many many Prop. 8 supporters have been commenting on the site this week about how horrible and viscious it is that gay people are protesting and boycotting them. We're not alone, The Mercury News notes that you're calling this week's actions "mob justice" and "McCarthyism". First off, thanks for your comments– it shows you're willing to engage in a discussion, even if sometimes "discussion" seems more like "angry rant".

Anyway, this post is for you.

Here's why your "Gays are the intolerant ones!" rant is totally misguided and wrong. Rod Dreher, a conservative columnist over at Belief Net, does a pretty good job of condensing all the Yes on 8 talking points, so let's take a look at what he says:

What if traditional Christians, Jews and Muslims got the list of Californians who donated to the anti-Prop 8 campaign, and began to boycott businesses where they worked on the grounds that these people gave money to a cause that would take away a substantial part of their freedom of religion?

Would that be okay? If not, why not?

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Californian queers are still burning up over this week's passage of Proposition 8, which overturned gay marriage in the Golden State.

In addition to Wednesday's protests, die-hard activists are now turning their attention on the Church of Latter-day Saints, which played a pivotal role in rallying their troops behind the discriminatory ballot measure.

Crowds of gays gathered yesterday outside a Mormon temple in Westwood, California, where they brandished signs decrying the group's anti-gay lobbying. Then, as the sun went down, about 3,000 people flooded into the street and tangling traffic. Though the action was mostly peaceful, there were three arrests, according to the Associated Press.

In addition to these protests - and three lawsuits - gay marriage activists are also hoping to hit the Mormon church where it hurts: they've launched a petition to strip the group of their tax-exempt status. That status stipulates that religious groups not use their organization and power for political purposes.

To restore the right stolen from us, we must correct the amendment to California's constitution. To do this requires another statewide proposition. Yet how will we avoid another election season of deception, when the Mormon Church can pour limitless, tax-free money into advancing their platform?
…
In this country, you can be a church. You can be a political action committee. You cannot be both. The Mormon Church stands in direct defiance of the spirit of our laws by actively campaigning to change California law.

You can be sure California hasn't heard the last of these cries - in fact, there are scores of protests planned for this weekend. We gays are tenacious - as we should be!

Thanks to reader Marco for these pictures!

Barack Obama called on Gene Robinson three times this year to ask him advice on being "the first."

Robinson, you'll recall, is the Episcopal Church's first openly gay Bishop and received death threats before his ascension in 2004. Obama, you may have heard, had just been elected our nation's first black president, a position that's sure to be a bit stressful. Thus, in his quest for understanding and advice, Obama gave Robinson a ring:

[Robinson] said That Mr Obama’s campaign team had sought him last year and he had the “honor” of three private conversations with the future president of the United States last May and June.

“The first words out of his mouth were: ‘Well you’re certainly causing a lot of trouble’, My response to him was: ‘Well that makes two of us'.”

He said that Mr Obama had indicated his support for equal civil rights for gay and lesbian people and described the election as a “religious experience”.
…
The Anglican church’s first gay bishop and the United States’ first black President-elect discussed in depth the place of religion in the state.

Bishop Robinson said: “He and I would agree about the rightful place of religion vis-a-vis the secular state. That is to say, we don’t impose our religious values on the secular state because God said so. Our faith informs our own values and then we take those values into the civil market place, the civil discourse, and then you argue for them based on the Constitution. You don’t say to someone, you must believe this because this is what God believes."

Of Obama's personality, Robinson gushed, "He is impressive, he’s smart, he is an amazing listener. For someone who’s called on to speak all the time when he asks you a question, it is not for show, he is actually wanting to know what you think and listens." Sounds like the perfect date.

Ahhh!

Not content with trouncing gay rights in Arizona, California, Florida and 27 other states, right-wing organizations are looking to start up anti-gay initiatives elsewhere.

So says Christian Coalition for America president Roberta Combs:

The American people are proud of their fellow citizens in the states of California, Florida and Arizona for upholding traditional marriage between one man and one woman.

Christian Coalition of America will continue to fight to ensure that government serves to strengthen and preserve, rather than threaten, our families and our values.

Are we the only ones envisioning greedy, brain sucking zombies?

Hey, readers, the right's watching you!

The ever-tenacious Matt Barber - the man who calls us "homofascists" - sent a press release to the conservative set yesterday and took on queer commentators who threaten violence against religious institutions.

These comments, says Barber, should be seen as hate crimes:

Decisions by voters in Florida, Arizona and California to join residents of 27 other states with constitutional protections for traditional marriage have prompted threats of violence against Christians and their churches.
…
Matt Barber, director of cultural affairs for Liberty Counsel, called the statements "hate crimes" for their intent to create violence against someone based on their beliefs.

"This is not just a matter of some people blowing off steam because they're not happy with a political outcome. This is criminal activity," he said. "The homosexual lobby is always calling for 'tolerance' and 'diversity' and playing the role of victim. They claim to deplore violence and 'hate.' Here we have homosexuals inciting, and directly threatening, violence against Christians."

On the "Queerty" website, "Stenar" asked, "Can someone in CA please go burn down the Mormon temples there, PLEASE. I mean seriously. DO IT."

No, don't. First and foremost, violence solves nothing and obviously we don't condone such thinking. Second, if people actually started attacking churches, it would do the gay rights movement a great disservice. We're sure there are other ways to fight for our rights, like public protests, lawyers and other perfectly legal venues.

[via Joe.My.God]

Dr Muhammad Siddiq's getting what he deserves!

The British doctor, who heads the Islamic Medical Association, came under fire last year after telling Pulse magazine that "gays are worse than the ordinary careless citizen. They are causing the spread of disease with their irresponsible behavior." The implication was that there should be laws to prohibit our same-sex ways.

Siddiq originally defended his comments by saying he was stressed, but then later said that his son had written the letter as a joke, and that he had signed it without reading over it. Britain's General Medical Council wasn't buying it and their Fitness to Practice board decided yesterday to suspend Siddiq's medical license for 12-months.

Andrew Popat, chairing the GMC hearing, called the GP's actions inappropriate and not in the best interests of his patients.

He added that the letter to Pulse was "liable to undermine public confidence in the medical profession and liable to bring the profession into disrepute".

He said: "The panel continues to have concerns regarding Dr Siddiq's insight into his actions."

Obviously this man's an absolute loon, so we have more than simple concerns - we have disdain and, more pungently, fear.