If you don't mind being a bit shocked, take a look at these pictures from the Folsom Street Fair. (Warning: they are graphic.) This is an annual event in San Francisco, held again on Sunday, September 30, in which some of the city's outstanding citizens turned out to display their style and have a little fun. I wonder what the Islamic radicals would make of these picturesque displays. What a great recruiting tool this would be for them! Here is what they term the decadence of the West on full display.
I don't think this is typical of America, and even many Americans would find such scenes revolting. I am quite sure that even the liberal Democratic presidential candidates wouldn't be seen in a place like this. But I also recognize that when you have freedom there is going to be some excess. Even so, freedom does not excuse anyone from moral and social accountability. To criticize the abuses of freedom is not "censorship"; rather, is to exercise one's own freedom to dissent.
So take a look at this advertisement for the Folsom Street Fair. It shows gay activists in a mock reenactment of Jesus Christ and the 12 apostles at the Last Supper. To me this ad reflects anti-Christian bigotry pure and simple. Yet when the Catholic League protested the ad, Miller Brewing Company took its name off the poster but refused to withdraw its sponsorship of the fair. This, I suppose, reflects the growing financial clout of the gay community.
But imagine if a city fair mocked the sensitivities of blacks or Jews or, yes, gays in this way. There would be a national outcry! There would be front page articles. You would have heard about it on the evening news. Miller Brewing Company would run in the opposite direction and issue a strong condemnation. Is this the first you're hearing about the Folsom Street Fair's bigotry against Christians? That's because the slogans of "tolerance" and "sensitivity" don't seem to apply to religious believers.
Outraged? Go ahead and comment, and I'll forward all the reaction to the public relations office at Miller Brewing Company.
Reader Comments ( Page 3 of 12)
31. Awwwwwwww....the poor widdwe baby christians got their feewings huwt. Awwwwwwwwwwww. Poor babies.
Cry me a river, Dinesh. When you christians get your house cleaned up (like getting rid of Fred Phelps and the rest of the homophobes), then you can have some real righteous anger. Until then, it's quite hollow.
Knight_of_BAAWA at 9:14AM on Oct 1st 2007
32. Uh, you ever been to Mardi Gras in New Orleans? Or Carnival anywhere? Obviously not. While the aforementioned are usually much more colorful they have their share of bizzarely dressed individuals. Also, what you're showing us is a street fair. It may be held on public streets but they aren't as open as you think. Besides, it's San Francisco. You think the people there are shocked? No. They've been having fairs like this for years.
Scott at 9:25PM on Oct 1st 2007
33. Knight_of_BAAWA
Until you can get your facts straight of who is a Christian and who is not.. then your welcome to actually make factual comments. When you use an example like Fred Phelps even the most commom sense non christian will tell you he is not a Christian. Many people like you who lumps all Christians together thinking they are always the real deal. If you would read the Bible every now and then you will see that Jesus talks about false prophets and people that will abuse His name. They are called fakes, and decievers. So the comment you just had made went to waste.
How would you like it If I was to lump you with something that you are not? You wouldn't.
livinxsacrifice at 9:33AM on Oct 1st 2007
34. Ok, granted I think the poster was probably more tastefull than it could have been, the Christians have every right to object to an image that is pretty obviously a parody of the last supper. But we must remember that it is a parody, just like an SNL skit or a comic strip, and just because it is an alternative lifestyle parody should not make it any more terrible than if it was an SNL skit poking fun at a last supper type scenario ( in fact, I believe I have seen many sketch comedy last supper farces...)
It is unfortunate that people seem to think it is more OK to make fun of and mock certain parts of culture and society while they would never thing of doing it to others, certainly it's fine to portray the average white american father as a clueless windbag with a bad temper, fat people as being asexual clutzes, or ridiculously letcherous and unfulfilled because certainly no one would ever sleep with them, Christians as prudish and intolerant while trying to be prim and proper and uphold public appearances.
But really, for the groups making such a huge deal about this one advertisement...why not look at the whole picture instead of focusing on this one group and making some of those stereotypes about biggotry look even more accurate.
To be honest, not all the pictures from the street fair really were my thing, I don't really need to see old hairy men in jock straps and the like, but I don't really have a problem with other people digging that kind of thing either. Everybody's gotta have somebody to love, even hairy, old men in jock straps :)
Heather at 9:36AM on Oct 1st 2007
35. livinxsacrifice,
When you stop trying to say that the christians who don't believe as you do aren't christians (in a very blatant No True Scotsman attempt), then I'll listen to what you have to say.
Even the most common-sense christian and non-christian alike will say that Fred Phelps is a christian, and no amount of embarrassed hand-wringing will change that fact. So please: don't lie to me. And christians lump me in all the time with groups I'm not. I support the right of gays to not be beaten up, therefore I must be gay. I don't support christofascism, therefore I must be a communist.
Knight_of_BAAWA at 9:48AM on Oct 1st 2007
36. livinxsacrifice:
You can't deny god for someone else, unless they denied it for themself. Just because someone acts in an unchristian manner, in your opinion of course, does not make them no longer a christian. Because if people became denied of their faith when they acted unfaithful, then we'd have no more christians, muslims, jews, or any other people of faith for that matter. If god truly is the judge, then this man will be judged when he dies, you have no right to make that decision to paint a rosier picture for christianity, because we all know that christianity has never been a pretty picture.
clud at 9:54AM on Oct 1st 2007
37. Knight_of_BAAWA
All you did was revert the question back to me. Nice try.
livinxsacrifice at 10:03AM on Oct 1st 2007
38. clud
Actually In the book of John, Jesus teaches about Him being the Branch and His believers are the vines and that thoses vines will produce fruit if they are true followers of Jesus. In other words Jesus is saying you can tell who is a Christian by the thing he or she says , acts, and lives. A Christian will produce good fruit.(good works, being a good example, living a life that pleases God.) Someone like Fred Phelps does not produce any good fruits. He may come in Jesus name, but He misrepresents who Jesus is.
livinxsacrifice at 10:12AM on Oct 1st 2007
39. You raise some good points, Dinesh. But first, I feel compelled to address the comment made by one of your readers. This is not "typical gay expression." This is akin to stating that radical extremist Muslims and radical extremist Christians engage in "typical Muslim/Christian expression."
I am a gay man. Most of the gay people I know are well-adjusted, professional and family-oriented. We live in typical neighborhoods and put our pants on one leg at a time, just like the heterosexuals do. The problem is that we don't have parades to showcase those facts.
Please don't mistake this to mean that I am against the freedom of expression the city fair used to its full advantage. They did, however, cross the line with the mock Last Supper poster. I agree with Dinesh that this is anti-Christian bigotry. It reminds me of the incident a few years back where a publicly-funded art gallery featured a painting of the Virgin Mary with elephant dung on it. Imagine the outcry if elephant dung were thrown on a painting of the Star of David, or a portrait of Martin Luther King, Jr.!!
By continuing to cross these lines and promote images like these, we do continue to fuel the fire of anti-gay bigotry and prejudice. We will not help to break down barriers by mocking and attacking symbols and images that are so important to a vast segment of the population.
The Last Supper is one of the historical markers that gave rise to Christianity. Surely, there could have been another way to promote the fair that was equally provocative yet less insulting.
Frank at 10:19AM on Oct 1st 2007
40. I hope you're not trying to make it look like these people are representative of typical gay people? Of course you are... and you're supposed to be educated. How very sad for you.
Richard at 10:23AM on Oct 1st 2007
41. linvinxsacrifice:
By that logic, nobody is a true christian then. Sure, some may produce 'good fruit', but everyone produces bad fruit as well. I'm sure you're familiar with Romans 3:23 as well. Even those who produce some of the best fruit have some bad grapes on their vine. It's called human nature. You can't tell who is a christian by how that person talks, acts, and lives, unless you know every aspect of their lives. Everyone has their guilty pleasures.
clud at 10:22AM on Oct 1st 2007
42. Frank:
Anti-christian bigotry and christian mockery are two totally different things. The first would be something akin to what the nazis did to the jews. The latter would be painting a moustach on a fake Mona Lisa. In the first, there is actual harm done, with bigotry, people tend to get hurt. In the latter, there is no harm done. If they added a line on the bottom saying that all christians were closet homosexuals, then it would be crossing that line into bigotry, but they didn't. Now, if christians call all homosexuals sinners, then they are crossing that line into bigotry. If they say that we should be subjected to more terrorist attacks because of the freedoms of homosexuals, that is bigotry.
If elephant dung were thrown on the star of david, or a potrait of Martin Luther King, it is mockery. If a swastika, and the phrase 'all jews must die' were added to the star, it would be bigotry. If the portrait of King had a well known racial slur strewn across it, it would be bigotry.
clud at 10:36AM on Oct 1st 2007
43. When is the last time Christians were persecuted, I mean REALLY persecuted in this country? And when was the last time Christian beliefs or practices have been publicly condemned as sickness, sin, and CRIME?
...Oh yeah, NEVER.
Yeah, is it any wonder minorities, including gays, make fun of them? Christians preach tolerance and acceptance, but would rather see gays burn in hell than have some fun at the street fair!! The more Christians condemn this kind of behavior, the more fun it becomes for the people doing it to "act out" and piss off their intolerant neighbors!
In this free-est of free countries, why can't we just leave each other the f&% alone?
Jessica at 10:38AM on Oct 1st 2007
44. Well, well blasphemy at it's best. However, I'm not a bit surprised Mr. E'Souza. Revelations tells us that in the last days men will be lovers of themselves and this only goes on to prove my father in heaven's point. That is why on the cross he cried, "Father forgive them they know not what they do," and guess what some things never change. I wonder how they will handle the rapture when all of a sudden there are so many millions of people disappear all at the same time. Who will wonder at what they have done? How many will cry that the mountains will fall down on them. Do they have no understanding of what they are bringing down on themselves? Apparently either they do not know who they are dealing with or do they care. God has told us that these things must take place before the end of the age, I just wonder how much patience he has and how he is to stomach such a ugly and sick ad. I know that it doesn't do much for my intelligence but, I hope someone somewhere will get a gutful cause God always takes something back and will use it for GOOD. So you people who support this sort of thing just go one your merry way until your soul and heart cry out to God because if you don't do it willing, you will do it on the day of LAMB OF LIFE'S judgement. Look that one up, its called Revelations, last book in the Bible.
Rita
Rita at 10:53AM on Oct 1st 2007
45. Well I do not like the SF parades like this, but that is their town. However because of the offensive advertising mocking the last supper, I had already decided not to spend money in SF for a long, long time.
Now that I know Miller Beer was involved, I will not buy their beer either.
Certainly my little boycott will not do much. We only occasionaly visit SF, and I do not drink much beer. However it is the only leverage the average person has.
Finally I do not think the same folks would have the nerve to mock Islam like they routinely mock Catholicism.
Ken Berg at 10:59AM on Oct 1st 2007