Here are the results from our latest Blue Virginia poll, this time on the ever-important question of why Del. “Sideshow” Bob Marshall is so (unhealthfully) obsessed with All Things Homosexual. According to Blue Virginia readers, one thing is absolutely for sure: Marshall is not – repeat NOT! – motivated by “careful study of the subject” or “concern for the health and welfare of society.” No, this is bad, no matter how you look at it. The only question is, in what specific way(s) is it bad? On that question, there was no majority, but there was a strong plurality, with 44% selecting the “repressed homosexuality/’closet case’ syndrome option.
Trailing significantly behind “closet case” syndrome were three other possibilities: 1) “all of the above” (20%); 2) “deep moral/religious beliefs about homosexuality” (20%); and 3) “pandering to his right-wing base” (16%). I can’t decide if “pandering to his right-wing base” is better or worse than some of the other options here. On the one hand, if Marshall’s “only” pandering, then maybe he himself doesn’t believe the insane s*** he puts out on this subject? In that case, of course, he’s being a demagogue, stirring up bigotry for his own political gain, and that’s even more heinous than actually believing in it himself. Alternately, perhaps Marshall both believes what he says AND is pandering to his right-wing base? Either way, it’s not good.
Perhaps the option which puts “Sideshow Bob” in the best light is that he has “deep moral/religious beliefs about homosexuality.” The only problem with that one is, why would “deep moral/religious beliefs” about anything justify bigotry and hateful rhetoric? Also, I’d love to have Bob Marshall point to the passage in the New Testament where Jesus condemns homosexuality, homosexuals, transgender people, whatever. Oh wait, there isn’t anywhere in the Gospels where Jesus condemns homosexuality or GLBT people? But then, where would Marshall’s “deep moral/religious beliefs about homosexuality” come from, exactly? Perhaps the Old Testament Book of Leviticus, which also states that “every one that curseth his father or his mother shall be surely put to death;” that “A man also or woman that hath a familiar spirit, or that is a wizard, shall surely be put to death;” that “he that blasphemeth the name of the LORD, he shall surely be put to death;” that “the man that committeth adultery with another man’s wife, even he that committeth adultery with his neighbour’s wife, the adulterer and the adulteress shall surely be put to death.” Obviously, these are not laws we follow – or that most of us wish to follow – in modern civilization. Bob Marshall, on the other hand? Who knows…
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