A couple weeks ago, Dan Savage delivered a keynote address at the National High School Journalism Convention, during which he spoke some true (if expletive-ridden) words about what the Bible has gotten wrong throughout history. Then came this top headline on the Drudge Report: “Anti-Bullying Speaker Curses Christian Teens.”

Here’s video of what Dan said (which led numerous Christian students to flee the auditorium).

Whee!

https://youtube.com/watch?v=ao0k9qDsOvs

11 replies on “Savage’s Great New Shitstorm”

  2. Anyway, dude is not much of a biblical scholar. The kids got offended at Dan’s suggestion that the bible is “radically pro-slavery”, which is a pretty naïvely ahistorical claim to make. The bible’s authors lived in a time when the morality of the institution of slavery wasn’t up for debate. Later on in history some Christians interpreted the bible as supportive of slavery and others interpreted its themes of justice, equality and liberation as supportive of abolitionism. The abolitionist movement in the UK was centrally a religious movement. I’d be annoyed at Dan too, not because he hurt my feelings but because his scholarship is lazy and essentialist.

  3. The Bible contains things that are explicitly pro-slavery along with others that are only figuratively opposed to the institution of slavery.
    Jesus condemned a lot of things that in all likelihood weren’t “up for debate” at the time. Why didn’t he ever say a single word against slavery?
    Anyway, Dan has a much more positive view of the soundness of the Bible’s teachings if he thinks anti-homosexuality is the “last hurdle” in them to be overcome.

  4. UGH…. THAT WOULD’VE BEEN AN OKAY SPEECH FOR COLLEGE STUDENTS, BUT WAS A BULLSHIT SPEECH FOR HIGH SCHOOLERS. HOWEVER, DAN’S WHOLE SCHTICK IS TO ROCK THE BOAT AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE.

  6. He’s been saying this stuff forever. Why would they ask him to come speak in front of teenagers if they didn’t think his ideas were appropriate?

  7. When I was in high school I would seize any chance I had to get out of a class, pep rally, or any other sort of event. I suspect many of those kids saw an opportunity & were making a beeline to some cheese fries & red bull. That’s what the kids live on these days, right?

  8. What #6 said.

    Also, students aren’t being bullied for being christian, they are bullied for not being christian. In high school, I took part in a September 11th remembrance thing, which was closed with a (very christian) prayer, during which I quietly ducked out through the back. Some girls followed me after, called me a satan-worshipper and threw rocks at me. That’s a christian for you.

  9. Christians can’t really say much here, or anywhere, because if they actually read the bible they already know their position is indefensible. They support a reprehensible entity bereft of morality or any true sense of spirituality. They aren’t even slick enough to edit the myriad contradictions out of their own book, that’s how little they give a shit. How many have died in the name of this crap?

    Even a cursory study of Rome and the early rise of Christianity shows how political and arbitrary this religion is. Christianity has been the bully of our recent history, I thought we were saying NO to bullies in 2012!

  11. Dan Savage is a proven liar. The fact that he is even considered to be a credible source of advice is fucking hilarious. He leads a very dangerous lifestyle and arrogantly dispenses hate-filled rants toward people that don’t believe as he does. Anyone who listens to his garbage deserves what they get. A fucked up life. In fact, do yourself a favor. Write in to Savage and if he decides you are worthy of a response, do the exact opposite of what he tells you to do. For those of you with fucked up lives that look up to people like this cretin? You deserve much better. You know exactly what I’m talking about.

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