“It’s Time To Stop Pretending” – A Response To Some Of The Reactions To The Orlando Pulse Massacre

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There are many different and gradiated responses to the recent tragedy in Orlando. Some are coherent and desirable (for instance, demands for greater controls on the sale and purchase of firearms). Most are blame-oriented (whether of people or public legislation). And a depressingly decent-sized number are outright objectionable.

Never mind that banning further Muslim migration to America wouldn’t have had any impact upon a man born in New York. Disregard the fact that easy access to firearms quite clearly had an obvious role to play here. Who cares if it turns out that the shooter’s about as nominally Islamic as the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea is either democratic or something other than a hereditary monarchy. During a full-on election season frenzy, right-wing (Islamophobic) conservative commentators clearly know what’s up!

And so they’ve come forth streaming from the woodwork, en-masse. People who, perhaps less than a year ago were jumping up and down in opposition to the passage of equality of marriage in the US – in some cases outright demanding the continued marginalization of gay people and other sexual minorities in their local polity’s national discourse – are now queuing up to condemn overtly homophobic violence.

Is this a win?

Well, arguably yes – but in actual, practical terms almost certainly not.

For you see, nothing’s actually changed other than the target of the derision and conservative opprobium. This isn’t seriously a “nobody picks on our gays but ME” moment (as deplorable as even that sentiment would be). Instead, it’s a point at which the narrative shifts (or they seek to have it do so), and the flailing, hate-mongering minorities (who, lets be clear, while they’re often from arid, religiously conservative and well-armed backgrounds almost invariably seem to be Texans rather than Taliban) attempt to get large swathes of us all of the rest of us to go along with their bigoted agenda.

Or, in other words … they haven’t changed what they believe – only the way in which they package it up and try to get portions of ‘middle society’ to go with them on it. Occasionally with some marked degree of success – you now semi-regularly get theoretically liberally-minded people who ought know better making the sort of demands you might expect from a well-ensconsed and superfluously educated religious academic about the need for ‘religious reform’ and movements away from ‘strict exegetical literalism’.

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In short, a lot of people professing an ardent desire to (at lest rhetorically) “Defend The Gays”, are no friends of the gay community at all. And are instead merely doing so in a bid to find a liberal-amenable justification for Islamophobia.

It’s an insidious trend, a depressing trend, and all too often it’s the contemporary trend.

But what started me thinking about this curious profusion of conservative bigotry dressed up in liberal clothing (and assuredly attempting to co-opt liberal struggles for its own nefarious ends and purposes) wasn’t the events of the weekend. Instead, it’s been something that I’ve been observing for some time.

One of the best examples of which took place at a meeting late last week.

There, a small knot of Islamophobes (at least one of whom turned out also to be a Hinduphobe, much to my rising choler) made a great show of demanding that “certain groups” be “encouraged” to “leave New Zealand”, on grounds that their religious heritage and practices have “no place in New Zealand” due to, inter alia, how women are allegedly de facto and in all instances disempowered by same.

This is, on the face of it, a Liberal argument (albeit of the sort of character of un-intersectionalized ‘liberalism’ which started falling out of fashion and favour some decades if not almost a century ago).

But watch what happened next:

The only woman present at the meeting fairly immediately piped up, and drew upon her own experiences living elsewhere and engaging with the “certain groups” in question to argue against what had been said and point out that the older white males with the Islamophobic agenda had, in fact, gotten things fairly far askew wrong.

Their response was to talk over her, and tell her rather vigorously to shut up.

Almost immediately, my mind processed the irony I had just witnessed. Here were a group of self-declared conservatively minded people who’d just talked in fairly glowing terms about the progressive need to protect women’s empowerment from the sadly benighted scourges of religious difference … presently demonstrating the utter lie to their nominal convictions by attempting to silence and disempower a woman who dared to speak ‘out of turn’ in opposition to their agenda. Truly, “the revolution needs protecting from itself”.

So what this exchange fairly conclusively proved to me, was simple. That many a modern ‘conservative’, when they speak out against misogyny (or, in this Orlando case, homophobia) and urge stringent, rigorous action against a religious demographic rhetorically identified as being fundamentally incompatible by its mere existence and presence with same … they aren’t doing so because they actually have any deep nor abiding belief in the desirability of a more tolerant and progressive society.

In fact, quite the opposite.

What they’re instead seeking to do is find a more modernly-acceptable surface justification with which to garb their hidebound and objectionable personal-curmudgeonly agendas. A way to earn ‘PC-brownie points’ and semi-enthusiastic head-nodding from modernists who do (usually) know better by spouting largely the same prejudicial statements they’ve always believed but haven’t, for some time, found as ardent an audience for.

In short, they aren’t abjuring bigotry with this sort of pontificating and posturing – instead, they’re ardently pursuing it.

And it isn’t ‘our’ agenda that winds up triumphing out as a result.

In fact, come to think of it, we’ve been down this road before.

A little more than a decade ago, Christopher Hitchens decided to cap off a fairly impressive writing and polemical career as something of a darling of modern liberalism … by enthusiastically endorsing George W. Bush’s mangled and botched-up invasion of Iraq as a stirling defence of ‘liberal’ values.

History has recorded with disdain what you might term the ‘consequentialist’ interpretation of the outcomes thus delivered (it is certainly hard to argue that much of modern Iraq is more secular-amenable or liberally-“enlightened” now as compared to 15 years ago); but Hitchens’ example remains relevant as an apt demonstration that even the seeming gleaming, glittering intellects amongst our number who apparently make it their business to be culturally and politically discerning … can find themselves co-opted and lead astray.

And in the process do serious damage by affording a liberal veneer and credibility to fundamental(ist)ly (neo-)con values.

So when considering the reaction to the Orlando shooting, bear in mind that not all is what it seems. Regardless of whether it’s seriously possible to take the mentally-ill rantings of a homo-cidal mass-murderer seriously when he rants down a phone line to Emergency Services to profess nominal loyalty to ISIS, people (and particularly those in or adjacent to the political sphere) are going to attempt to use this abhorrent incident as the basis for frenetically objectionable rhetoric and attempted-policy.

Defence of minority communities – whether sexual or religious in origin – is a worthy and noble cause.

But bear in mind that not all those seeking to capitalize nor cash in upon this most recent devastation truly or even incidentally bear that as their enduring objective.

Death to false pretenses.

52 COMMENTS

  1. “So when considering the reaction to the Orlando shooting, bear in mind that not all is what it seems. Regardless of whether it’s seriously possible to take the mentally-ill rantings of a homo-cidal mass-murderer seriously when he rants down a phone line to Emergency Services to profess nominal loyalty to ISIS, people (and particularly those in or adjacent to the political sphere) are going to attempt to use this abhorrent incident as the basis for frenetically objectionable rhetoric and attempted-policy.”

    Funny, ain’t it, how those same people who label ALL muslims as terrorists because of a tiny minority don’t seem to label ALL christians as terrorists when fundamentalists bombs an abortion centre or shoot doctors who perform abortions.

    And then there’s the whole Nthrn Ireland thing when Catholics and Protestant were at each other’s throats for decades. That was never a “Christian problem”, I gather?

    • The difference is that those who attack abortion clinics do so without the endorsement of their faith. Whenever we have one of these all too frequent acts of Islamic terror, the act is endorsed by a whole raft of Islamic leaders.

      • Maninthe kiddle, well that’s a load of crap to start with. Have you see this?

        Pastor Roger Jimenez of Sacramento’s Verity Baptist Church delivered a sermon praising the Orlando shooter and lamenting that The tragedy is more of them didn’t die…. I’m kind of upset he didn’t finish the job!”

        The pastor also said that the killings had made Orlando safer and added that his preference would be to line lgbtq people up against a wall for a firing squad to “blow their brains out.”

        Ref: http://boingboing.net/2016/06/15/baptist-pastor-praises-orlando.html

        And,

        Jimenez preached to his congregation that they should not be grieving the homosexual victims of the shootings, comparing those killed to pedophiles.

        “Are you sad that 50 pedophiles were killed today?” asked Jimenez. “Um no. I think that’s great. I think that helps society. I think Orlando, Florida, is a little safer tonight. The tragedy is that more of them didn’t die. The tragedy is I’m kind of upset he didn’t finish the job – because these people are predators. They are abusers.”

        Ref: http://www.abc10.com/news/local/sacramento/sacramento-baptist-pastor-praises-orlando-massacre/243211965

        (pinched from one of Frank’s posts)

        So there you have it. The first one of the block to congratulate the shooterr was a fucking so-called CHRISTIAN!!

        As usual, you masquerade bigotry as fact.

        • What has that to do with my comment about people who attack abortion clinics? That’s right…nothing. And yet more labels. When will you put forward a coherent argument without them?

          • You do relies Trump is anti abortion and pro killing dr’s who terminates pregnancies.

            You know very little about Americas Bible Belt or the topic in which you speak about the

          • Actually, Mr Maninthemiddle, I think ALH84401 has raised a valid point. It seems to me you’re the one dodging the issue and unable to answer what he’s raised.

            Come on, man up and respond. Or admit he’s right. Frank found the evidence to show you’re woefully wrong in your prejudice against ordinary muslim people.

            Admit it. You. were. Wrong.

            • No, the reply had nothing to do with my post. Which was about bombings at abortion clinics. Cheerlead all you like, it doesn’t make it any more relevant.

            • Explain to me how a pastor endorsing the Orlando shootings has anything to do with bombings at abortion clinics.

              • Maninthemiddle, didn’t you say “The difference is that those who attack abortion clinics do so without the endorsement of their faith. Whenever we have one of these all too frequent acts of Islamic terror, the act is endorsed by a whole raft of Islamic leaders.”

                Frank pointed out that the only one endorsing the Orlando shootings was a BAPTIST pastor.

                So he’s answered your question.

                You just don’t like the answer because (a) you weren’t interested in an answer and (b) the answer shows you up as the racist that you are.

                Have a nice day.

      • Maninthemiddle, you said, “Whenever we have one of these all too frequent acts of Islamic terror, the act is endorsed by a whole raft of Islamic leaders.”

        Has any mainstream Islamic leader endorsed the Orlando shooter?

  2. Tell me Curwen, which of the following do have a place in NZ culture?:

    Relegation of women to status of male property
    Death penalty (including stoning to death) for adulterers (only if female)
    Death penalty (including stoning to death) for apostates of the Islamic religion.
    Death penalty (including stoning to death) for homosexuals
    Death penalty (including stoning to death) for blasphemy
    Female genital mutilation
    Establishment of religious policing
    Mandatory dress codes enforced by religious police forces
    Outlawing of musical performance.
    Establishment of religious codes as law for all citizens.

    Personally, I’m phobic toward all of the above and toward any religion, doctrine or ideology that promotes any of it.

    But your mileage may differ, so let’s hear your point of view.

    • Actually, no, I’m not phobic of the above practices, just fearful and willing to stand against them.

      That’s not irrational at all, nor extreme.

      phobia

      noun
      an extreme or irrational fear of or aversion to something

    • None of these issues are happening legally in NZ & as far as I know there is not any credible attempt to introduce them. While you think writing about these evil actions will support your views you are not brave enough to travel to countries where these problems exist & speak against them.

    • NZ culture, what is that? What is actually New Zealand “culture” these days in a multicultural, multi-ethnic, very diverse, to some still rather liberal society, where we have basically only the law and the rules of business “bind us” together, but little else.

      Every person has her or his version of what “culture” may mean or should mean in an excessively individualised, commercially driven consumer society.

      Religion may mean a lot to some, and nothing much to others, marriage may mean something for some, nothing to others, collective effort and solidarity may mean something to some, and nothing much to others.

      I read a lot of different views and interpretations on what happened in Orlando, Florida, but re the killer, he simply appears to have been a very confused, angry, mentally unstable, probably mentally ill person, who decided to send a signal, and wanted to get back at a part of the community he despised most.

      Yet there are bizarre witness accounts now, stating he himself had repeatedly or regularly visited the club where it happened, ordered drinks and so forth, and spent a fair bit of time there. He was even commented on having appeared on gay dating sites.

      Then yesterday it was said, he claimed allegiance to the IS leader in Mosul, but also to the bombers of Boston, and then to a US suicide attacker in Syria, who actually was linked to Nusra Front.

      There seem to be many lone and lost souls out there, some ready to go this far, and that tells me our society is screwed up massively, such things do not happen here, because the chance is lower given the comparatively small population, but for no other reason. We had incidents of most violent rapists and killers, we know about it, some having cut up bodies and stuck them into suit cases.

      We had other nutters, this stuff can happen here too, I am sure, and it need not have much to do with ISIS or other extremists, these may just offer a convenient “excuse” to go nuts and kill, pretending to have a “mission”.

      Here in Auckland we are becoming just another urban jungle like big cities all over the world, so the time will come where we have similar things happen, I fear.

      • “No” Zealand. “We” are sleepwalking into the lunatic libertarian dream of not having society, only an economy, leading to the nightmare of civil war.

    • You sound like an Anders Brevik supporter or at least sympathiser. Although, presumably, you are also phobic towards Christianity? Consistency is certainly an admirable quality.

      • You sound like an Anders Brevik supporter or at least sympathiser.

        Don’t be dense. Because I oppose these practices and identify a religion that openly promotes them? All of the above practices find general support in a disturbingly high percentage of followers of Islam: http://www.pewforum.org/2013/04/30/the-worlds-muslims-religion-politics-society-overview/

        Curwen has chosen to throw the term ‘Islamophobic’ about. That’s what I’m commenting about, perhaps I should make that more clear. It’s a term used to shut down criticism of a highly toxic ideology, an ideology that is incompatible
        with many core values of the enlightenment.

        If you think people are wrong to stand against these practices and that the term Islamophobic is justifiably used to describe those that do stand against these practices and those that promote these attitudes, please say so. Perhaps you would then care to answer the same question I ask of Curwen, who has no problem with the term Islamophobic.

        • You don’t oppose these practices at all, all you do is sit with your computer & write comments saying how wrong they are. Get off your backside & travel to the countries where freedom is restricted & bring peace & freedom to the people there then you will have achieved something. There are well over a billion Muslims around the world & while the countries where sharia law is enforced are difficult to work in you will find a sizeable part of the population would prefer a less confrontational government. Find out how the Catholic’s are using the worship of Mary to develop relationships within the Muslim world then you will see where the real threat is going to be.

        • “identify a religion that openly promotes them?”

          It’s right there in the Bible so any of the Middle East based, male-dominated religions have this heretic rubbish embedded.

          And they linger, even when the current population hasn’t seen the inside of a church/chapel since the last wedding or funeral.

          Particularly: “Relegation of women to status of male property”; and “Death penalty (including stoning to death) for homosexuals” (only for this one gays are done to death by beatings and coward punches ‘because he came on to me and I was protecting myself’. Or some other coy concern.)

          “Female genital mutilation” is under active work by Muslim women to have the practice eradicated – with help from non-Muslim governments and agencies. It’s working, too. http://qz.com/586480/gambia-bans-female-circumcision-and-then-orders-women-to-cover-their-hair-at-work/

          I’m not sure which religion or ‘culture’ is responsible for male genital mutilation that leads, year on year, to similar deaths and chronic misery. But it is happening. Your indignation and abhorence is needed there, too.
          http://www.theguardian.com/global-development-professionals-network/2015/sep/25/south-africa-initiation-schools-botched-circumcisions-kidnap-death-threats

  3. It would be funny if it wasn’t so grim watching regressive lefties like you tying themselves in knots trying to not blame radical Islam for this one. No mention of the homophobia of much of the Islamic world…just Christians/conservatives who may not be so keen on Gay marriage.
    Pathetic

    • Ironically, “Armchairwarrior”, us “lefties” as you put it usually have a better track record of supporting LGBT issues than the Right Wing. Go to any right-wing blogsite and count the number of commentators in support of LGBT equality.

      You’ll need less than the fingers of one hand.

      • No Frank,

        These commentators you refer to support equality for all persons irrespective of sexual orientation and refuse to make special arrangements for “identity” groups privilege.

        I have yet to see a cogent and complete defining of what LGBT equality means without it seeming as being special pleadings by one group.

        • It is LGBTQI now (after adding Queer and Intersex). It is getting to the point where the acronym will need its own acronym. And yes, its special pleading.

            • “Special Pleading: a form of fallacious argument that involves an attempt to cite something as an exception to a generally accepted rule, principle, etc. without justifying the exception. The lack of criticism may be a simple oversight (e.g., a reference to common sense) or an application of a double standard.”

              LGBTQI groups claim exceptions to the rule of equality for all. They seek ‘special privilege’, e.g. safe spaces, curbs on language and free speech, access to opposite sex bathrooms etc etc. These things are anathema to those of us who believe in liberty and equality for all.

              • “They seek ‘special privilege’, e.g. safe spaces, , access to opposite sex bathrooms etc etc. These things are anathema to those of us who believe in liberty and equality for all.”

                What a load of homophobic rubbish.

                And it’s a bit rich for you to be decrying “curbs on language and free speech” when, at the bottom of this page you’re slamming others for using “labels”!!

                Hypocrite and homophobe much?

  4. The pro-gun lobby’s solution to this is MORE guns will keep you safer.
    It is as ludicrous as saying that the solution to climate change is to put more CO2 into the atmosphere.

  5. What I find remarkable is the difference in attitude between the left and the troll right on this issue.
    What angers the right most is not the fact that someone went crazy with hate and gunned down more than 50 innocent people, they are more angered by the reaction of decent people.
    “How dare they want peace” the trolls splutter indignantly.
    I wonder why that is?
    I suspect it is a guilty conscience, knowing that their vitriolic hate mongering, which they imagine they made up themselves, has manifested itself yet again in a society which they like to hold up as the paragon of everything good, except that it clearly isn’t
    Well ain’t life a bitch, Andrew, I’m (never) Right and the rest of the troll brigade. You lot can keep up the hate, we on the left will keep demanding tolerance and peace.

    • HELENA, of all the lefties that post on here blaming Key for all their ills (or anyone they know) and conspiracy theories behind every policy (even when good, like raising the refugee number, 1st time in 30 years to raising benefits, again first time in about 30 years also) you have to be the most eligible for medication or a section to local psych ward! the sad thing is I really believe you actually believe the stuff you post, which is the saddest part…I have to assume you have no time for work and just spend your days surfing the internet looking for any stories that have the keywords ‘Zionist’, ‘Rothschild’, ‘they are comming to get me’….and I assume if this is posted all will come to your defence even although they do not believe 1 iota of what you post…se la vie!

      • Of all the trolls that regularly slither into this blog, you are the least original and most confused.
        You obviously haven’t been attending your lectures on how to be a good little troll.
        Cam will not be pleased.

      • I agree with IM RIGHT, Helena must be on some type of drug going by her comments on The Daily Blog. Either that or she is left wing anti-Jewish nutter.

        [Watch your personal comments, Thetruth. If you persist, your posting privileges will be rescinded. – ScarletMod]

        • Don’t do drugs and not anti-anything. Interested in analysis of the topic and not into sliding off into personal insults. Bottom line – Orlando shooting now appears to be yet another false flag and all evidence coming to light now pointing to this being the truth. Only one benefiting is Clinton with media attention taken off allegations of election fraud by her minions.

        • And reading your comments, “The Truth”, you have your own anti-semitic/Arabic agenda at play here. Pot/kettle.

        • “Thetruth”, you agree with “Imright”?

          What’s new about that? I suspect you’re both the same character.

  6. “Defence of minority communities – whether sexual or religious in origin – is a worthy and noble cause.”

    The noble and worthy cause is defending the equal liberty of ALL citizens. For many the ‘defence of minority communities’ is Orwellian speech for special privileges for the few. No thanks.

  7. I applaud your courage and integrity in deciding to write and post this article, Curwen – it needed to be said.

    I’m incredulous at the bigoted intolerance displayed by people on various progressive pages by ignorant redneck Kiwis queuing up so spew their vitriolic hate speech, completely unfairly targeting and denigrating Muslims by classing them all as monsters.

    Where were these banjo playing Trump cheerleaders when so many white Christians /atheists were gunning down children in US schools ?

    Were they screaming about stopping the white Christian plague from over running us, taking our women, destroying our ‘NZ Culture”?

    “NZ Culture” – that’s a fucking laugh ! Does that mean honouring the Treaty ? I bet if you ask Richard that, he’d spew in his cornflakes ! Does it mean our sickening rape culture, our binge drinking booze culture, our getting pissed at the rugby and going home and bashing the missus culture ? Does it mean our appalling child abuse culture, or our record suicide rates? How much of the above is caused by Islam and Muslims in NZ, Richard ?

    We have bugger all problems with Muslims in this country – they are, for the most part, peaceful, loving, caring and generous people – I know many, and can attest to this myself.

    This is clearly just all an excuse for ignorant fascists to unfairly target a vulnerable minority. It’s disgraceful. The Nazis chose the Jews for such treatment. The Irish and Poles and Chinese immigrants in the US were picked out for discrimination by equally ignorant and bigoted people, just looking for someone to blame for their problems !

    In the US, it is the Mexicans’ turn now, why ? Because there ALWAYS has to be someone to pick on !

    Do we hear Richard complaining about priests raping and molesting children ? Nope ! Cos they’re not Muslims.

    Do we hear Richard complaining about the Zionists in Israel killing thousands of Palestinians, operating an apartheid state, and persecuting an murdering Palestinians each and every day? Nope ! Cos they ain’t Muslims either.

    Do we hear Richard complaining about illegal wars started by white Christians in suits that have killed MILLIONS of innocent men, women and children in the Middle East? Nope – cos they don’t fit his hate profile.

    Do we hear Richard calling out the US administration for using drone missiles to shred children in their homes, as part of the ‘collateral damage’ associated with these unsanctioned and illegal attacks ? Nope. They ain’t a bunch of ‘Taliban terrorists’, so why would he ?

    Seeing the ignorant Islamophobes and racists come out of their rat holes over the last week has helped me to understand why Trump is attracting so much support from the underbelly of their society.

    We clearly have our fair share of ‘good ole boys’ here too, but thankfully they are in a very small minority, and are only “courageous enough” to spew their hatred on the internet from the safety of their keyboards.

    I’m just so sick and bored of these NZ brown shirts spewing their hateful propaganda, being completely selective with their ‘evidence’, and then using every cliche in the troll FB dictionary -such as the ever favourites, ‘do your research’ and ‘you need to wake up’, plus ‘you’re just an apologist for Islam’.

    These bigots need to know that we’re not going to put up with their cowardly and selective attacks, vitriolic rhetoric, ‘distorted truth’ and hate speech – this isn’t ‘Murica.

    Yet.

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