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Editor’s Foreword:
Read this CAREFULLY… Mr Bridge is NOT endorsing the Born Again hate crusade against gays. Neither is he taking a permissive “anything goes” attitude. In short, what he actually outlines is at variance with both extremist camps, which means that he’s probably on to something, kids. Reed n’ heed…
BMD
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At a time when half of Hollywood, not to mention the US Army, is coming out of the closet… actress Jodie Foster, for example, just used her acceptance speech at the Golden Globe awards to announce her sexual orientation… and nine American states legalised same-sex marriages, the cultural police slam Russia for its “anti-gay” lifestyle. However, how much truth is there to the attacks? Can we really label Russia “anti-gay?” Are truncheon-wielding police kicking down the doors of same-sex partners, forcing them out of bed, and into padded cells? Is the thought police monitoring telephone and e-mail correspondence to pick out incriminating nuances? Is Russia’s proposed “anti-gay” legislation going to make the interior of Russia’s grey depressing prisons rainbow-coloured and stylish overnight? The answer to these questions is no, no, and absolutely not.
However, Russia is trying to cushion its youth from “Western influence” that it condemns as far too libertine in outlook. There seems to be some truth to the allegations. At present, children and adolescents are being forced to consider issues… in large part, thanks to the omnipresent internet and entertainment industry… most of us never had to think about until later in life (these days, even 8-year-olds are masters at surfing the internet, and are regular viewers of every form of entertainment; the older generation had to wait to find the latest discarded issue of Playboy for its kicks). Who could deny there’s an overexposure of just about everything today; an electronic magazine rack of every possible lifestyle? Its naïve to think this doesn’t present our information-saturated children with a whole lot of unnecessary confusion at a time when they need it least. Puberty is complex enough for adolescents without them also needing to prematurely declare allegiance to the bisexual, homosexual, transsexual, metrosexual, or even, heaven forbid, heterosexual, camps.
In light of this avalanche of sexually-charged messages, many of which are presented in a puerile and juvenile manner, one could argue that Russia’s “draconian” legislation actually works to support a young person’s freedom (One study put out by the Parents Television Council showed that, in 171 hours of programming of MTV’s Spring Break coverage, there were 1,548 sexual scenes containing 3,056 depictions of sex and various forms of nudity and 2,881 verbal sexual references. I’m not sure if there’s a connection, but they pulled the plug on MTV in Russia for 2013). After all, children and adolescents under the age of 18 are not legally adults; therefore, they should be “free” from exposure to “disturbing” messages that most of them are neither emotionally prepared nor expected to understand. Indeed, Russian legislators behind the bill say that we need to protect minors from “homosexual propaganda” because they’re unable to evaluate the information critically. However, after the magic age of 18, people should be able to adopt whatever lifestyle they feel suits them, as is their right, and they should be able to do so without fear of retribution.
The Orthodox Church strongly supports Russia’s ”anti-gay propaganda” legislation, which would impose a nationwide ban on entertainment and information defined as “propaganda of sodomy, lesbianism, bisexuality, and transgenderism”. The proposed legislation would also ban any public events that promote gay lifestyles that could influence children in any way. Already, St Petersburg and a number of other Russian cities have similar laws on their books. At risk of sounding like a middle-aged prude, I’d take Russia’s proposed legislation a step further and ban all overtly sexual images and messages… heterosexual, homosexual, and everything in between… from all media channels (however, after 23.00, when the children are tucked in for the night, everything’s fair game). Let’s make artists and directors get their intended messages across in more subtle creative ways.
As far as legalising “gay parades” go, what would happen to our urban areas if we permitted every person of every sexual orientation their own special day to march down Main Street waving their own flag? Our cities would grind to a halt in a metallic sea of gridlock and general chaos. Moreover, is it necessary to inflame public passions on a severely divisive issue by putting our personal choices on the hit parade? Personally, I really don’t see what such a strategy serves, especially, since so many people are not open-minded on the subject in the first place.
As opposed to the West’s increasingly conspicuous propagation of sexually explicit material, Russia’s legislation seems to show awareness that we aren’t protecting children against the technological means for distributing the messages. As usual, democracy lags far behind the lightning strides of technology. In an age when the youngest children can carry the entire world of information around in their hip pockets, we need to make sure that they don’t get exposure to subjects above their pay-grade. How to do that without privacy advocates screaming censorship or repression is another question. In any case, at least, it’s refreshing to see that Russia is trying to catch up with the blustery winds of technological change to keep children’s minds focused on more pressing issues, like finishing their education and pursuing a career. Choosing a sexual lifestyle shouldn’t be a young child’s main priority.
22 January 2013
Robert Bridge
RT
http://rt.com/op-edge/russia-gay-rights-moscow-sex-politics/
Editor’s Afterword:
The bozo comments in the commboxes to this article prove that most of the posters didn’t really read what Mr Bridge had to say. All of the yahoos thought that he was endorsing their hate campaign. Nothing is farther from the truth! He simply stated that we need to protect our kids from situations that they’re not mature enough to handle. Full stop. As far as consenting adults go, do as you please, as long as you’re not hurting anyone or causing a public row about it. That’s what he said, boiled down to its essentials. Remember this… be careful in public utterances. The haters will pounce on it and twist it to suit their ends. One can see this in some of the schmidiots on so-called “Ancient Faith Radio”… they’re jumped-up convert frauds who’ve never abandoned their heterodox nonsense. I know REAL converts who’ve grown through that, but it takes YEARS.
One has to be around long enough to have become “one of us”. It’s like the scene in Tod Browning‘s Freaks… “Google goggle, google goggle, one of us, one of us”. That’s NOT meant in a bad way. One has to realise that you’ve come home… and you’ve found that our bed suits you just fine as it is. However, it takes donkey’s years to “grow into” the faith, and if you’re “jumped up”, you’re distorted until you go back to where you should’ve been. That’s why people such as Josiah Trenham, Freddie M-G, Rod Dreher, Terrence Mattingly, Paffso, Patrick Reardon, and the HOOMies are so “off” and twisted… they didn’t spend enough time in silence and growth… and their present utterances prove it in spades. I don’t understand people who convert and then become fixated on changing our religion. As a wise old priest said, “Our religion was just fine before they got here, and it’ll be just fine long after they leave!”
YOU are NOT God’s appointed legate… you’re just a sinful-ginful in need of the onion, just like me. Remember, the only people that Christ chased out of the temple were the “biznessmen” (that’s Russian, and it’s pejorative as all get-out). Hmm… the shake n’ bakes just love the affluent, don’t they? What would Our Lord Christ think of that? Just sayin’…
BMD
Voices from Russia 
Georgian Orthodox Church Weighs in Local Self-Governance Reform Debate
Tags: Christian, Christian-Democratic Movement, Christianity, Eastern Orthodox Church, Georgia, Georgian Dream, Georgian Orthodox Church, Mtskheta, Orthodox, Orthodoxy, political commentary, politics, Religion, Religion and Spirituality, Svetitskhoveli Cathedral, Tbilisi, Zviad Dzidziguri
Nino Burdzhanadze (1964- ), one of the “white hats” in Georgian politics.
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On Wednesday, Patriarch Ilia Ghudushauri-Shiolashvili, First Hierarch of the Georgian Apostolic Autocephalous Orthodox Church, said that a government-proposed draft law on local self-governance reform is a “threat” because it would cause Georgia’s “disintegration” and he vowed to prevent the bill’s passage. The bill, based on a concept first unveiled by the government more than nine months ago, envisages promoting more engagement of citizens in decision-making on the local level. It also introduced direct election of mayors of at least seventeen towns (now, only Tbilisi’s mayor is elected directly), as well as heads of all municipalities; the reform is expected to lead into division of existing municipalities and increasing their number from the current 69 to about 120.
Patriarch Ilia II said during a sermon in the Svetitskhoveli Cathedral in Mtskheta outside Tbilisi, “The Parliament and the government are discussing local self-governance law. This is rather difficult issue. If implemented, it’d lead to Georgia’s disintegration. We’d never tolerate it and we’ll do everything possible in order not to have it implemented. Georgia was and will be a united nation, a single state, and we should remember that when the government was strong, the regions [united] around it, the country was strong too. We believe that every district [raioni or municipality] should have direct links to the [central] government. The government should know the problems existing in each and every district; we need no intermediate link for that purpose; the [central] government should consider the hardships facing each district, it should study what each district needs, and the government itself should be trying to address problems existing in districts. For some reasons, some are trying to pass this law on the local self-governance hastily. I think, the Church thinks, that we should discuss it with the people; the people should consider whether it’s acceptable and whether it’s good for Georgia. Therefore, we shouldn’t hurry… I’d like to respectfully ask our parliament and government to take into consideration this threat and not to hurry with adoption of this [bill on local self-governance]”.
The Patriarch’s remarks both in respect of “threat of disintegration” and “attempts to hastily” adopt the bill echoed allegations voiced recently by some non-parliamentary opposition parties. On Wednesday, Giorgi Akhvlediani of the Christian-Democratic Movement said, “This artificial division [of municipalities], which the government calls decentralisation, may create serious problems in terms of separatism”. On Wednesday, before the Patriarch’s sermon, responding to this criticism of the draft by the opposition, parliament speaker Davit Usupashvili said, “The notion that the self-governance somehow poses a threat to the integrity of the country is complete nonsense. Did the absence of decentralisation and self-governance prevent separatism in Abkhazia and Tskhinvali? It’s a mistaken notion that self-governance can incite separatism. Lack of rights incites separatism”. Commenting on the Patriarch’s remarks, Zviad Dzidziguri of the Conservative Party, a lawmaker from the Georgian Dream parliamentary majority group, said, “There’s no threat whatsoever of country’s disintegration in this draft [law on local self-governance]. I think that the Patriarchate simply lacks information [about the draft law]. The Patriarchate needs to be more informed and we’ll do that”.
4 December 2013
Civil Georgia
http://www.civil.ge/eng/article.php?id=26760
NB:
Civil Georgia receives USAID funding, that means that it takes Langley‘s shilling, so, take anything on it with caution. It’s probably “white propaganda“.
BMD