Yesterday's New York Times had a full page ad from a group I hadn't heard of, The Campaign to Defend the Constitution. In case you didn't see it, the ad featured pictures of Ralph Reed, Louis Sheldon, and James Dobson, and says that they are "knee deep in the muck of the Jack Abramoff scandal." The ad is headlined, "These Religious Leaders Have A Serious Gambling Problem."
Now, I'm delighted that this organization has the tens of thousands of dollars needed to pay for a NY Times ad to oppose the religious right. But I'm concerned that the ad, in discussing these leaders work "to intrude in our personal lives", mention only the Terry Schiavo case and stem cell research. How is it that they decided not to include these leaders' concerted campaigns against comprehensive sexuality education, abortion rights, civil and religious rights for sexual minorities, emergency contraception, vaccine development, and so on?
Could it be that they were advised that sexual justice issues might be too controversial for NY Times readers whereas stem cell and right-to-die are not? The omission is even more curious because the email that they are asking you to send mentions both abortion and gay rights.
Breaking the silence about sexuality and advocating for sexual justice in the public square is a core part of the mission of the Religious Institute. Defcon, if you are brave enough to launch this campaign, surely you can be courageous enough to stand in your ads against the Religious Right's attacks on sexual rights.
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1 comment:
Thanks for your article and the blog. I, for one, need to hear (read) sex positive thoughts. People in North America remain confused about sexuality. Far too many people feel sex is something to be controled rather than celebrated. I too wish the NY article had lifted up sexuality as a core part of our humanity rather than keep the focus limited.
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