with 2 of his children.
Many of the 49 victims of the United States’s
worst mass shooting share much in common:
Young Latino men in their 20s and 30s,
most of them gay, who gathered at an Orlando club to dance.
But the victims’ stories — promising artists, a young couple in love,
a devoted father of three among them
— are richly varied. - Washington Post
It's deeply moving and very sad. As 'E' mentioned, the youngest victim was 18 years old. Among the victims was a husband and a father of three who was there with a group of friends who came to enjoy Latin night.
Sometimes a bar is a bar is a bar - is just a bar.
I just want to say that a gay bar or nightclub like this is not a sex club or bath house, it is a nightclub, a safe haven for gay people to go and dance and socialize without being afraid some gay-basher is going to beat them up because they dance with each other or wear make-up. Not everyone who goes to clubs like this are gay or looking for sex, any more than an alcoholic is looking for cheap-over-poured alcoholic cocktails. Not every one goes out on Saturday night to drink and get drunk and pick up someone for sex, or heads to the bathroom looking for a quick bj. A 'mega' club like this attracts all sorts of men and women who are simply out to have fun and enjoy themselves.
Yet religious people online - especially Catholics - have condemned these people, one referring to the victims as 'musloids, faggots, dykes and fag hags in that gay disco, and denizens of hell on earth'. Claiming their mere presence in the club was at the very least a 'proximate occasion of mortal sin' - that might be true for some - but I don't see how it applies to everyone there. I may be wrong. Walking down the street can be a proximate occasion of sin for some people, just like going to the gym or the beach - or watching television.
That said, the more fanatical of the bunch went so far as to judge that the '50 killed in that SODOMITE NIGHT CLUB, unless they fully repented of ALL of their sins and died contrite for for what they were ENTHUSIASTICALLY EMBRACING AND PRACTICING just seconds before, died in unrepentant mortal sin.' That's a pretty heavy condemnation, certainly presumptuous, as well as an example of rash judgement. The author speaks as if the club had been hosting an orgy.
Amanda Alvear
She was with her friend
Mercedez Marisol Flores
when they were killed.
Most gay bars do not have sex rooms, much less allow sexual contact on the premises - except maybe in San Francisco and a few other dives in bigger cities. If a person wants that - they maybe can find a bear bar for it. Bars and nightclubs like Pulse attract a more diverse clientele. Straight people attend for the music, dance, and entertainment. I'm thinking Latin Night is a bit like Carnival. Many young people go for the dance music and drinks, not unlike Amanda Alvear and her friends. Amanda's cousin said she recently lost a great deal of weight and she was out celebrating. She is among the dead.
Take into consideration that one could easily claim the attack was anti-Latino bigotry - which is just as ludicrous as the claim it was a homophobic hate crime. The nightclub was a soft target for ISIS terror. The attack is being used by all sorts of people now to further their agenda with hate-filled rhetoric. These people should be ashamed.
Please read the victims obituaries, the story of their life condensed into a paragraph or two. Please recognize their humanity, their dignity as human beings created in the image and likeness of God.
And repent and pray.
Thanks Terry. I'm feeling heavy of heart today. All I want to do is stay in bed but I got up, cleaned myself up, washed the dishes, went outside to look up at the sky and ask the Lord, "when are you coming back?" I had a good cry too and now, after reading your thoughtful post, I will pray for those who lost their lives that night and for their families and for that sad man who committed these crimes.
ReplyDeleteMe too. I've pretty much had it with Catholic social media today.
DeleteSeriously, what an utter cess pool. I can only thank God I have no idea what blogs you're reading...
ReplyDeleteOh, and in lighter news, a priest on Catholic Answers radio all but told a man whose conscience was distraught over this election that he has a moral obligation to vote for Trump. Good times.
DeleteWho was the priest?
DeleteI can only thank God I don't listen to radio.
I'd rather not say by name - it certainly wasn't Fr. Pacwa or anyone like that!
DeleteThat's the second time I've heard the argument from CA that since a man famous for lying, manipulation, and self-serving *says*hes pro-life, we can ignore literally all the anti-life, anti-human crap he says. "Well, no candidate is perfect" and all that jazz.
I'm not voting in November, unless a decent third party candidate gets on the ballot here in Louisiana.
I read every single little memorial and said a prayer for each person and their loved ones as I went along.
ReplyDeleteTerry, I can't read or listen to any of that stuff anymore that you mentioned, and has been mentioned by others. It doesn't mean that I'm any saint (far from it) but I keep remembering that in the Lord's Prayer it says...lead us not into temptation, and that's exactly where *I* am putting myself when I go there. There are enough people who can answer them with great knowledge and calmness.
Anyway, here's something really beautiful from Frank Weathers, whom I really miss since I left Facebook. I can read his blog that he just took up again, but there's no way to comment.
http://www.patheos.com/blogs/yimcatholic/2016/06/because-my-brother-imran-yousef-is-an-american-hero.html?utm_source=SilverpopMailing&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=yimcatholic_061516UTC080615_daily&utm_content=&spMailingID=51615648&spUserID=ODg2MDAzOTY4NzkS1&spJobID=942201729&spReportId=OTQyMjAxNzI5S0
Oh, one other thing. I know what those clubs are like...FUN! I used to go when I lived up in Phoenix from 1995 through 2000. You absolutely don't have to be gay to go and dance the night away. I did have a lot of gay friends there. I could tell a lot of stories, one about a priest.
ReplyDeleteI have to say that I'm really blessed to be an alcoholic, as AA is where I learned tolerance. This Sunday, June 19, Matt Talbot's commemoration day, will be 32 years sober for me. I had no idea until recently that June 19 is his commemoration day. I do believe that he had something to do with it. There's a whole long story that I won't go into because it's just too much for here, but I really do believe that there are no coincidences, but what we call Godincidences in AA. Although a lot of groups now won't let you say God. I didn't go to AA until July 4th, though, so that's what I celebrate as my sobriety date.
Maggie, many many congratulations on your many years of sobriety !! My Mom also loved AA, and she always said that the people there were just the best: she, too, was struck by the huge diversity of people who were blessed to overcome incidental differences & to see beyond surface stuff.
ReplyDeleteWith this sadness and loss in Orlando - I have had to tune out of much: now I am going far far back and re-reading Julian of Norwich....she lived in a time of such upheaval & yet she paid it no mind: she lifted heart & mind to God. and prayed...
Oh, your Mom and I would be great buddies. :) We're all in this life together. Help each other instead of putting each other down. I am so grateful that I have had so many people in my life that have helped me by telling me the truth, and mostly in a kind way, and didn't dump me if I didn't do what they thought I should be doing. Thanks for the congratulations.
ReplyDeleteIndependent observation: any husband and father of three who's out at a gay bar at 2 in the morning needs to pull his head in.
ReplyDeleteTerry you mention "religious people online" and then quote exclusively a single person: Ann Barnhardt. I read many and sundry Catholic bloggers and except for one other, the ONLY kind of commentary akin to what you quote is the work of Ann Barnhardt.
ReplyDeleteI point this out in an attempt to comfort you and because you're exaggerating about the prevalence of such opinions by online Catholics. What I've read is predominantly sensitive and sad-for the victims and their loved ones and full of fervent desire for redemption at the end.
Maggie: God bless you! Wait, I see He has. Good show.
Thanks - you are right that I was side tracked by such comments - I actually found a few more elsewhere on at least 3 different sites - I wanted to respond to it because these people have many readers and people who link to them.
DeleteI'm working through what has happened in Orlando - or at least trying to do so.
Hmm, unfortunately I have read other people the this Barnhardt person who have had various degrees of negative and ugly comments..even if they have not been as outright bold as AB. For example, the blogger that Terry quotes in another post who spends most of her commentary on bemoaning the fact that the gays have moved into her town and neighborhood with all of their sparkly glitter and rainbow colors, (lol, as if Orlando was anything but a swampy hole in the wall before Disney came) when she is discussing the possibility that they MAY have died with "MORTAL SIN" on their souls...(correct me if I am wrong but I don't remember people commenting on the state of the souls of the people who died when the towers came down..) People like that douche Fr. Z spent most of their post talking about the political ramifications of this...(i.e the gay left will co-op this to gain even more ground ) and the commentators then try to impress Fr. Douche and each other with their manly knowledge of guns and how they can' t be taken away from them..(though I am sure most of them, including the douche himself would be able to hit the broad side of a barn.)
ReplyDeleteI am amazed that these people don't see that it could have been their kids or grandkids...whatever their sexuality is. Of all the things you have to worry about when your kids go out, now its this bullshit??? Do they live in a cave in Buther's Hollow or something that they don't see this coming into their communities, their lives, their families?
But yes, we can focus on the negative instead of the positives...(like all those people coming out and donating blood, supporting the families etc.) and Maggie congrats on your sobriety...it seems that sometimes people in recovery have the most Zen like attitudes.
Another reason I pointed out Barnhardt's rants is because of the fact she is a writer for The Remnant and a favorite of some ultr-trads and Francis haters. Several have her in their links and feeds. The same goes for the Canadian Vox and a couple of others who seem to get a lot of support from the fringe.
Delete