Miscellanea Agnostica

This is one of those times I’m actually not surprised at all. The childish antics of fundamentalist preachers have long since become far too predictable ever to surprise me any more. I knew something like this would happen, as soon as I found out about the song “I Kissed A Girl” by Katy Perry:

For 24 hours, the message board outside Havens Corners Church, 6696 Havens Corner Rd., read, “I kissed a girl and I liked it, then I went to Hell.”The message refers to the chart-topping song by pop artist Katy Perry “I Kissed A Girl.”Pastor David Allison said he didn’t put up the sign to draw attention to the church.“We didn’t intend to get into all this, but it’s become a bigger thing,” Allison said.  

First and most obviously, the pastor’s assertion that he’s not trying to call attention to his church — by putting something on a billboard! — is as laughable as anything I’ve heard in the last few months. Of course he’s using it to call attention to his church … the purpose of any billboard, after all, is to call attention to things, is it not? I mean … what other purpose can a billboard possibly serve? The article continues with yet another false claim by the pastor:

He was just very concerned about the implications of the song for teenagers and what he called a music video so suggestive it borders on pornography.“If anyone’s seen the video and understands how lewd and suggestive the video is for this song, that is not something young people should go toward,” Allison said.  

Please, if he’s going to post lyrics on his billboard for every song that’s ever had a suggestive video, he’d have to do it for most songs released, because almost all music videos are suggestive! Oh, and the article adds this wonderful remark by the pastor:

He thought the message would be a loving way to remind teenagers that the Bible denounces homosexuality.  

Ah yes, what more loving a message can one offer to one’s fellow human being, than to threaten him or her with eternal perdition? How special. And this article ends with this final expression of love from Pastor Allison:

Allison said they do welcome the GLBT community but believe they are engaged in sin.   

I’d say that this sentiment is far from “welcoming.” Although I’m by no means a fan of pop music these days, here is a link to the video from YouTube as a kind of protest against wild-eyed fundie preachers like Pastor David Allison. Enjoy!