http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3MRWqlf_8M8
This video comes from a supposed organization/church. Along with this video there are many other videos from the same guy preaching hate against gays. A lot of controversy has risen from the videos, because it is questionable if this is a joke or real. It is hard to say for sure, because the videos contain "humor" like referring to things such as back door or get on your knees, but then there is a full website dedicated to his "organization".
Do you think this is real, or not? I encourage people to look at his website that they show at the beginning of the video. If you think it is real, what are the implications? such as religion and how he is trying to "change" gays to straight. If you think it is fake, how is it that this type of thing is funny? what are the implications of this side?
This video was made as a hoax by an actor. Donnie Davies is a fictional character according to internet sources wikepedia and google search.
I would say, however, that it speaks volumes as to where we are at in the gender rights conversation, with regard to the controversy that surrounds such a video. 'God hates fags' as the refrain to this song is just absolutely ridiculous and is just a hoax right? Well people weren't sure, and thus the controversy. There are still too many people that actually believe that homosexuals are sinners and will be punished by God if they don't reform their ways. Many Christians will tell you that God loves homosexuals as people but he just doesn't like their sins. Well, of course that is a mouthful so it is therefore boiled down to 'God hates fags'.
The use of religious doctrine to derogate a group has been a common practice for as long as there have been religions. If you want to think of it in social psychological terms, religions are the quintessential in-groups because they have such rigid norms which people are to follow if they wish to be a part of them. Group lines are further solidified by a phrase such as 'God's chosen people'. What could be greater for group esteem and enhancement then being the chosen people? And two groups cannot both be the chosen people, so those who don't follow the precepts of the religion are the 'God's not chosen people'. God's not chosen people are then left out of the group and do not enjoy the privileges of whatever the religion is promises to its followers. There is also the assumption that people generally know what other people in the religion stand for since they are mutually engaged in the religion's practices. On the other hand, people that are not in the religion are often understood, not by what they stand for, but by what they do not stand for (i.e. the religion). So no matter how much a person outside the religion subscribes to the same essential values and principals of a religion, they will not be fully accepted as 'chosen ones' until they fully subscribe to the doctrine of the religion which should not be compulsory to believe in certain values.
So how does this tangent relate to 'God hates fags'? Well, with the understanding that religion creates a rigid in-group identity that subsequently includes salient group norms prescribed by theological doctrine (the bible to many), we can find the root causes of saying that 'God hates fags'. 6 of the thousands of verses in the bible provide the doctrinal evidence for homosexuality as a sin. Sinners are a definite (though sometimes temporary if one is repentant about their sin) out-group, so therefore homosexuals are an out-group. The law that they are breaking defines who they are, rather than the many other characteristics and values they might hold. Most importantly, though, many are not comfortable with homosexuality, for whatever reason, before religion is factored in. Support from one's religion for something they feel already is crucial to the confidence with which they hold their opinion. If one has the support of God in being anti-homosexual, that's like the ultimate ultimate trump card for believing something. The problem that arises though is that elements of hostility and anger stemming from the originally held feelings slip in to the doctrine that is serving as a rationalization and then you get things like 'God hates fags'...if that were not a hoax.
In sum, subscribing to a religion and the doctrines that follow is not a negative practice in the majority of cases, but when it comes to rationalizing personally held biases by claiming that it is also the biases of God, that is a dangerous precedent. To my knowledge, I've never heard a God-fearing person say, 'I disagree with God, I'm going to believe something different'. But then again, to my knowledge I've never heard God say, 'I hate fags'.
I was glad to find out that after a good deal of searching, it turns out this video is indeed a joke. Although, it would be hard to believe that this is actually a joke when you look at Donnie Davies' website (www.lovegodsway.org). Which, by the way, if this is supposed to be for humor purposes, how the hell is there a ".org" following the website URL? It really gives the impression that this is supposed to be for real and that this group actually believes that homosexuality is only a choice and it is "not god's way".
Instead of getting into the hypocracy of the bible and religion in general, I want to talk about the fine line between humor and hate (which is particularly highlighted in this "music video"). We have alluded to this previously in the semester, but how do we decide whether something should be considered funny or considered hateful and/or offensive? This is especially difficult when we are dealing with the topics of race, religion, sexual orientation, gender, and other diversity issues. This is something we see all of the time in movies, television, and especially in stand-up comedy. I think that the traditional method for deciphering whether or not something is considered "funny" rather than hateful is focused on how the message is being sent. If the person trying to be funny is presenting it in a fairly objective way, I think most of us find it funny. However, if there is a message of subjective hate that at all leaks through (which I think is the case in this video which makes it so much more ambiguous), then we tend to appraise it as not funny and just harmful. Think about the Michael Richards stand up scenario, where he was blatantly calling black audience members out and using hurtful language. Also, think about the Wal-Mart "all black people must leave the store" incident that happened more recently. Although the person that said that claimed he was just joking around, nobody interpreted it as a joke because of the hateful way in which it was said and the sensitivity to a comment that was not all that uncommon decades ago.
I just think it is very difficult to decipher between joking about race or other diversity issues and being hurtful when "joking" about race. Obviously, a lot of this has something to do with the actual person that is doing the joking around. Sometimes the way in which a message is interpreted depends solely on the person delivering the message.
Well I think this was some sort of Hoax. I wasn’t fond if the way they went about displaying Gods unapproved of homosexuality. But This video kind of sparked a interesting topic about God hating fags. Homosexuality has become a seriously discussed issue in the Christian church. Now different denominations belief different when it comes to this subject. First I wanted to make a point that God doesn’t hate fags he hates their behavior of homosexuality. The bible speaks against this act numerous times in the bible. There was a story Sodom and Gomorrah in which he ended up setting the entire town on fire because he could find ten straight people in the whole town and there’s many other scriptures that speak against homosexuality. The point I wanted to make was that God is not pleased with this action which will be judged on judgment day.
I personally believe it’s a sin just as much as any other sin, but I see people place more weight on this topic more than others such as fornication stealing or many others. For people to judge them based on their sexuality is wrong because I feel that we as humans are in the position to judge because we have our own issues to deal with and we aren’t God. However it is important to state the facts and the truth about how God feels towards homosexuality. I think there is a right and wrong way to say things and by saying God hates fags is wrong let alone making some Christian song about it. God hates SIN would be a better way to say such.