Thursday, May 22, 2008

Purpose of Site and Invitation to Contribute

While many visionary people in Oil City, Franklin and other communities in Venango County are making valiant efforts to attract new businesses, working artists, and tourists to the historic and stunningly beautiful Oil Region of Northwestern Pennsylvania as a way to stimulate the local economy and improve the quality of life for all in the area, others are using bigoted and mean-spirited attacks against gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender and other marginalized people to promote an extremist agenda disguised as religious values.

The major proponent of this shameful campaign is Diane Gramley, head of the so-called American Family Association of Pennsylvania.

Gramley is the local pawn of the Tupelo, Mississippi-based American Family Association, a national hate-group that uses its multi-million dollar annual budget to promote an agenda of bigotry and intolerance in communities around the country.

But Diane Gramley is hardly alone as the voice of the AFA in Venango County. Her voice and other voices of intolerance are heard daily on the AFA’s American Family Radio, broadcast locally on WAWN 89.5 FM. And many churches in the area echo the same messages from their pulpits and in their church bulletins.

Is this the Venango County we want and that we want the world to see?

The purpose of this blog site is to expose and challenge bigotry and discrimination in Venango County in order to make the beautiful communities of northwestern Pennsylvania a welcoming place for all.

And Your Help Is Needed.

If you want to shine a light on bigotry and discrimination in the area, send your comment(s) to be posted here.

Because Speaking Out Against the Grain in This Area is So Difficult and Could Literally Put One’s Job, Relationships with Family and Friends, and One’s Very Life At Risk, All Requests for Confidentiality and Anonymity Will Be Respected.

Thank You for Your Interest and Support.

1 comment:

Queer Planet said...

Jesus said a lot about hypocrisy and greed, but not a word about homosexuality.

He did call on us to love one another.

Many studies have been done by various universities that show that those who have the worst fear of homosexuals, are actually homosexuals themselves who hate themselves for their hidden feelings.

Most people in society already know this. Thus, by condemning homosexuals with such fear and vitriol, you are basically telling the world that YOU are homosexual, but too afraid to do anything it, which leads you to a life of frustration and then lashing out at innocent people.

Thankfully the world has changed and people like you are now a small, but oddly vocal minority.

You take great pride in your agenda. However, pride is a sin.
You use great wealth to spread your agenda, however greed is also a sin.


Information about sexuality can be found easily these days by anyone with any curiosity on the subject.


This is why you fear the internet and libraries, and freedom of expression. It exposes your lies.

This is why you spend so much effort and money trying to silence people who disagree with you.

You're lies, hatred and violence are exposed by art, science and freedom of expression.

Jesus said, love one another, not spend millions of dollars to demonize each other. He did not say to amass great power and money so that you could be the final authority on all social issues.

You are wrong about homosexuality.

Homosexuality is not only found in humans but in over 1500 other species, thus it is in God's plan to have us here. Please read...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homosexuality_in_animals

Take note: Ecclesiastes VII-13 Observe how God orders things; for who can straighten what he has made bent.


Those who ignore this information and then hide behind their religion to spread fear and lies do so in direct contradiction of the teachings of Jesus. You are saying that you know better than God, and that lies and fear are the teachings of Jesus.

A lot of people get hurt and killed because of people like you, and this expands on your sins.


You can run to the Old Testament and say this and that and the other, but we all a cafeteria Christians aren't we? Since when does anyone uphold all the laws of the old testament? Who doesn't think that most are allegories anyway except for the most feeble minded and fearful?

Further, Jesus said that everything before Him is over. He was the ultimate sacrifice. He called upon us to LOVE ONE ANOTHER. His first commandment.

He also NEVER MARRIED! He hung around TWELVE MEN. One of them he loved and held against his breast as be professed his love for HIM!

So at the very least you have to accept that two men can love one another and be affectionate with each other.



You're dealing with a generation who has had to listen to ignorant people like you for most of our lives. So we not only know that you're most likely closeted homosexuals, but also using fear to obtain money and power from other fearful people. In your fear of your true sexual feelings being exposed, you will uphold just about any lie, and amass great power to maintain control of people around you.



We know who you are. We know why you do it. You're not the first people to present this information.

There are now hundreds of books, cds, and thousands of internet sites to refute your lies and your fear.

Many people have had to deal with you and have spoken out against your lies. Laws are changing because of the courage of these people. Your wealth may be great, but your days are numbered.

Money runs out, but truth and love for each other is eternal.


You have a political agenda.

While you could be using that money to help the poor and the sick, instead you use it to increase your authority and violence. This is not the path of Jesus Christ, and in fact directly contradicts his message.

To think that you're willing to watch other people be hurt and killed so that you can maintain a personal lie about your life sickens society, and it's the main reason why religion gets such a bad name these days.

You're transparent. People are on to you.

So as an act of kindness and in the name of Jesus I beseech you to be healed. Walk out of your dark little closets and find the love of God.

No one is asking you to have homosexual relationships. We're asking you to stop spreading hatred and fear based on lies. Just like Jesus asks of you.



However, if you choose not to, well when will you realize where your path leads?

Just like many others like you, who preach these lies, eventually you get caught.

A minister gets caught having homosexual sex. Or a church leader gets caught buying prostitutes. A priest gets caught touching children.

One thing they had in common - all of them were vocally opposed to homosexuality before getting caught. You can lie, but eventually God sheds His light on our lives.


Time is on our side you see, because truth is on our side. All we have to do is wait and like so many before you, the truth eventually finds the light of day, and the light of God.

Homosexuality is just more example of God's creativity and diversity.

Here's is a book I recommend. It's one of many out there right now that refutes your lies.

http://www.visionsofdaniel.net/bookWBRS.htm

I also invite you to read your own Bible and the stories of David and Jonathan, Ruth and Naomi, and Daniel and Ashpenaz.

If you look for love and compassion between same sex relationships, you will find it. If you only see hatred and fear, then you will find that too. God and Jesus direct us to love.


Stop using the Bible as a weapon and walk in the light of God.

Jesus said he did not come to spread peace but to take up the sword. However, the sword is the sword of justice against the hypocrites, the greedy and those who use violence to oppress others.

Shame on you for destroying lives.

Shame on you for amassing such wealth in the name of divisiveness and bigotry while you could be working on the poverty and environmental crisis we face.

What would Jesus do with you? I see tables of money being overturned in your temples.

We reach out a hand of compassion to you. There is no money in that hand so you will probably ignore it, but we reach out anyway.

Find love among us. See the divine plan of creativity and diversity in God's world and find love and praise within it.

Your millions of dollars will mean nothing in a world filled with hatred, fear and violence. We will all die together of hunger, war and environmental degradation in a world filled with greedy authority and fear backed by money.

When you have to face your God, your millions of greedily held dollars, your fears of a diverse universe and your desire to only see evil in other people will be taken into account.

And to what end? So that you can hide your own homoesexuality, your own passions and the people you would truly love to love!

Finally, you make a fetish out of heterosexual marriage and having children. First of all the statistics show that heterosexual marriage doesn't last very long, with an astonishingly high divorce rate. There is a high incidence of violent abuse, and most child molestations occur within families, by a parent.

Yet you ignore this and create a fantasty that all we need is more families to make everything okay in this world.

Further, the population of the planet increases at THREE ADDITIONAL PEOPLE PER SECOND!

It's a finite planet. Resources are running out.

We are directed by God to care for his creation, not breed and consume and make war until every last thing is either poisoned or destroyed.

You ignore what you need to ignore to spread your fear and to incite hatred, which conveniently fills your bank accounts with the money of those who seek easy solutions.

They seek your authority to make everything okay in this difficult world, instead of having faith in charity and God. You're more than willing to oblige them, because it conveniently hides your lies and makes you rich in the meantime.

Well you are not God. You are just a small group of humans who use money as your faith and fear and your Bible.

May God have mercy on your souls.

And in the meantime, we will all watch the news, as another of your ilk gets caught in a restroom,or a gay bar, or a brothel getting the things in life that you truly desire.