Less than two weeks ago, an absolutely brutal beating was caught on video in New York when two men decided to give a gay man “a beat down”.
Daniel Rodriguez (21) and Daniel Aleman (26) pummeled Jack Price who ended up in a coma after the incident with a fractured jaw, ribs and a lacerated spleen. Why did they do it? Well, Jack “came on to them” obviously! Duh. I mean, clearly that deserves having the crap kicked out of you, right?
I mean, like Rodriguez’s friend’s tattoo says, “[Thou] shall not lie with a male as one does with a woman. It is an abomination. Leviticus 18:22″. Of course, as Jesse Galef points out:
Leviticus also forbids tattooing. In the very next chapter.
“Ye shall not make any cuttings in your flesh for the dead, nor print any marks upon you: I am the LORD. Leviticus 19:28″
Well, I’m a big fan of selectively following the bible too. By doing so, I can pretty much do anything I want and claim divine guidance for it. It’s awesome, you should look into it too.
Andrew Sullivan broke the news over on The Atlantic. And now here is the news clip that contains some of the beatdown on video. Damn. You know what kind of a coward you have to be to sit there and kick the crap out of a 49 year old gay man who is lying in the street?
So, I’ve really got nothing magical to add about this incident other than to share it so we can all be outraged together. I’d like to literally beat those punks who did this to death, if for no other reason than to simply protect the world from that kind of hatred and stupidity. But what can we do?
This starts with the parents. If you teach your kids to be intolerant, then this is what you get.
Republicans feel unfairly treated when we group them together and would probably be first in line for legislation if republicans were persecuted for just being republican. Yet they bring guns to rallies, protect corporations over rape victims, start and defend unwarranted wars and claim reverse racism as defense against their own racist actions.
We need hate crime legislation to protect us from republicans.
John,
I agree with what you said in closing. It does start at home, everything. When you are brought into this world, the idea is your “slate is clean”. Along the way, you pick up various things that help shape you. The three main things I think influence people are family (including relatives, not just mother/father/siblings), school life, and media (various forms).
For myself, I was taught general “right from wrong” such as be nice to people, show respect, help others who are in need, and so on. If you don’t have a solid foundation, you will crumble a lot easier than others. If your parents are there to instill this “foundation”, then you are pretty much out there fending for yourself, which can equate to 50/50 results.
Let’s just hope more of this hatred will fade in time.
Why can’t peace prevail in this world. Why have people to intervene in others stuff.
Very well put John. I couldn’t agree with you more. I believe anything that divides us is bad.
In the Immortal Words of John Lennon – “Imagine”
Imagine there’s no heaven
It’s easy if you try
No hell below us
Above us only sky
Imagine all the people
Living for today…
Imagine there’s no countries
It isn’t hard to do
Nothing to kill or die for
And no religion too
Imagine all the people
Living life in peace…
You may say I’m a dreamer
But I’m not the only one
I hope someday you’ll join us
And the world will be as one
Imagine no possessions
I wonder if you can
No need for greed or hunger
A brotherhood of man
Imagine all the people
Sharing all the world…
You may say I’m a dreamer
But I’m not the only one
I hope someday you’ll join us
And the world will live as one