Gay nativity scene not all it seems

[Sapphocrat]

Rightwing students at the University of Texas have created a novel Nativity scene, with a gay couple called Gary and Joseph standing in for the Holy Family.

The Young Conservatives group at the university’s Austin campus have created the alternative scene to protest at what they perceive to be anti-Christian bias.

<snip>

"The idea is to bring attention to the ACLU and also to bring attention to the issue of taking down nativity scenes during the Christmas season or trying to silence you know, the word Christ and the word Christmas," Tony McDonald of the Young Conservatives of Texas told KVUE TV.

The group chose Lenin, Marx and Stalin as the Three Wise Men. The festive scene is completed by two angels, one of whom is Democratic Speaker of the House-elect Nancy Pelosi, the other a terrorist.

<snip>

More:
http://www.pinknews.co.uk/news/articles/2005-3182.html

[acmavm]

1. How mature.

:sarcasm:

[jobycom]

2. They're kids, maybe they'll grow up

Or maybe they'll grow into older kids, who knows?

[ComerPerro]

5. they are adults, and they should be defending our freedoms in Iraq

[jobycom]

8. True enough. I stand by my post, though. nt

[xultar]

3. Hey. I hope it backfires cuz I like Gary and Joe.

[baby_mouse]

4. To be honest, the left has been doing something like this kind of satire for years.

We may think the sentiments they are expressing are silly, but we can't actually attack the format without being ridiculous.

[geniph]

11. That's not really accurate

Satire, historically, has been a weapon of the powerless against the powerful - and a very effective one at times, too. When it's done the other way around - used by the powerful against the powerless - it is, as Molly Ivins put it, profoundly vulgar. It's like kicking a child.

To believe that this is legitimate satire would be saying that you believe gays are actually societally more powerful than homophobes.

[Sapphocrat]

14. Hey, geni...

LTNS. :hi:

[baby_mouse]

16. Wellllll....alright.

Your definition of satire differs from mine, the power angle was not one I had attached to it.

[Sapphocrat]

13. If it made any sense, I might agree with you.

But it makes none. What do Lenin, Marx and Stalin have to do with "Gary and Joseph"? They just don't know who to attack, or how, so it comes off as brainless. Which pretty much sums up all Wrong Wing attempts at "satire."

[baby_mouse]

17. Oh, it isn't GOOD satire. It's... pseudo-satire...

In fact, this instance is so bizarre and meaningless it's more of a satire on the satirists, but that follows from the nature of the sentiment, not the format. *I* think. :) I have edited my post to say "something like" rather than "exactly"...

[Sapphocrat]

19. I agree there.

The format is perfectly fair game. Sacred cows, as Abbie Hoffman once said, make the tastiest hamburger -- although it's beyond me why these "Christians" would desecrate a symbol so near and dear to their shriveled little hearts.

[npincus]

6. Their artistic license is hereby revoked.

Makes "Christ in Urine" (or whatever it was called) look like a masterwork.

[Blue-Jay]

18. It was called "Piss Christ" - nt

[npincus]

21. oh, thankyou.

:)

[Fierce]

7. I think it's funny, but

why would they desecrate something they think is sacred to make a point?

[BOSSHOG]

9. Wouldn't Mary Cheney and her partner be more telling

in the scene? With dobson, robertson and falwell the three "wise" men? rick santorum as a beast, limbaugh as an ass bearing gifts of oxycontin and myrrh. And not a young republican guard anywhere to be found, they are all down at the tavern getting drunk and pretending to have integrity.

[Sapphocrat]

15. I like that idea better.

Never happen, of course, but it's a much better idea.

[Deja Q]

24. Agreed.

[bluerum]

10. Ya. Marx and Stalin would have been at each others throats.

And didn't Stalin have Lenin killed?

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

20. You're thinking Trotsky.

Lenin died of natural causes. (AFAWK)

[bluerum]

25. My bad - thanks commie dirtbag! nt

[DrRang]

12. Duh! I first thought the figure on the right was Cheney.

[Ian David]

22. Stephanie Miller read a statement from The ACLU defending the manger scene as protected speech

The ACLU said that satire doesn't need to be accurate in order to be protected.

[jmowreader]

23. The part they left out...

"And besides, if we made them take it down how would the community at large know just how stupid these people are?"

[Ian David]

26. NewsHounds refers back to DemocraticUnderground on this story

Parody of ACLU Falls Flat
Reported by Marie Therese - December 6, 2006 -

A few days ago, members of the Young Conservatives of Texas crafted their own anti-ACLU parody of the nativity scene. Called "The ACLU Solstice Barn" it features a gay couple ("Gary and Joseph") as the parents of Jesus, a terrorist as an angel and shows Lenin, Marx and Stalin as the Three Wise Men.

It is on display at the Univeristy of Texas campus in Austin.

However, unlike the right wing, who have no sense of humor about their anti-gay, anti-immigrant, anti-choice, pro-Christian message, representatives of the ACLU have responded with tolerance.

As Steve Doocy explained on this morning's FOX & Friends: "The ACLU, meanwhile, they commented on it and they said 'You know what? We think it's festive.' And one of the ACLU members in Texas said ' Keep in mind nothing in the First Amendment requires that it be accurate with the information. The First Amendment protects parody as well.' Clearly that is what they are going for and they make a very good point.'"

Democractic Underground has the pictures.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=364x2856973

As for the ACLU, they lived up to their core belief that all forms of speech are protected in these United States of America.

More:
http://www.newshounds.us/2006/12/06/parody_of_aclu_falls_flat.php

[jmowreader]

29. I bet the College Repukes are boiling over that one

"Don't those lieberals know they're supposed to be pissed off about us insulting them?"

Y'see, that's the difference between being a conservative and being a liberal. Before you can become a conservative, or a Fundamentalist Christian, you have to go to the doctor and have your sense of humor removed. Liberalism doesn't require that.

[seabeyond]

27. why do they hate jesus? n/t

[cynatnite]

28. But if we used Limpballs as the donkey, O'Lielly as a wiseman...

Coulter as Mary and so on...they'd be frothing at the mouth...wouldn't they? We'd be showing no respect for christianity and all that. They'd say we're the ones having the war on Xmas.

:eyes: What morans.