Below is an audio of Speaker Mike Johnson, who is not an historian, blaming the fall of the Roman Empire on homosexuals. This was recorded before he became Speaker of the House.
Anyone who's read Edward Gibbons' History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, or ANY history, would know this is not true. But Johnson wouldn't miss a chance to besmirch our gay brothers and sisters and erroneously blame a major historical event on them. Why would someone who claims God talks to him slander gay people in such a hateful way?
I'm always very suspicious of people who blame the LGBTQ community for the world's problems.
Johnson claims the immorality of homosexuals largely contributed to the end of the Roman Empire; but at the same time, he supports and admires a serial adulterer, an adjudicated rapist, a tax fraudster, a man facing 91 felony counts, a liar, a cheat, and a breathtakingly immoral human being.
Speaker Mike Johnson: “The fall of Rome” happened because they “condoned” gay people, not due to invasions, poor central governance, non-stop civil wars, or the growing importance of Byzantium.
— The Intellectualist (@highbrow_nobrow) February 29, 2024
No, none of that. To Johnson, it’s because of gay people.
pic.twitter.com/YaWpO7gzIw
"Johnson has been vocal about his objections to homosexuality and has argued for criminalizing gay sex.
He also once worked with a group, Exodus International, that promoted gay conversion therapy, CNN reported.
Johnson has previously written editorials in which he called homosexuality a 'inherently unnatural' and a 'dangerous lifestyle.' He has also expressed his views that being gay is a choice.
31 comments:
The Roman Empire thrived for half a millennium of being predominantly pagan, with homosexuality broadly accepted. Eventually one emperor (Constantine) imposed Christianity as the official religion, after which homosexuality was punishable by mutilation or death. Within a few decades, the western half of the Empire had collapsed and the eastern half had sunk into stagnation.
The decadence of the Roman Empire was Christianity. Sheep make terrible predators.
Infidel753
Below are more reasons, and homosexuality is not included in any of them.
Speaker Johnson's ignorance on this historic subject is surpassed only by his hateful homophobia.
What events contributed to the fall of Rome?
Barbarian Invasion. Germanic barbarians attacked many Roman territories
Environmental And Public Health Problems
Excessive Military Spending To Defend The Empire
Inferior Technology
Inflation
Political Corruption
Rise In Christianity
As wiser comedians have noted, an army comprised of ex-lovers is impossible to beat.
Thanks for the history. I remember the Exodus group; not nice people. Glad they are gone although their demise wasn't the death of conversion therapy. The anti-gay hydra is not an easy beast to end.
"People often try to draw parallels between the fall of the Roman Empire and the US (or the British empire or the French empire, everyone does it) but really the historical periods and circumstances are incredibly different. Whoever tries this exercise ends up “discovering” reasons to support whatever their own ideology is. Its one thing to talk about the fall of the Roman Empire but attempting to find modern day lessons from such incredibly different systems as the modern US and Ancient Rome just isn’t really an intellectually honest exercise in the first place. The most you could really find is some generalizations so abstract that they don’t really mean much."
But that didn't stop Speaker Johnson from slandering an entire group of human beings.
Johnson, who considers himself a good Christian, is doing the work of Evil by demonizing millions of human beings. He is ignorant about history and it shows in his remarks, but unfortunately, some fundamentalist religions encourage this hateful attitude in their followers.
Grey One talks sass
"The anti-gay hydra is not an easy beast to end."
For an technologically advanced country, America is far behind Europe and Scandinavia in its attitude toward gays (although a majority of Americans approve of marriage equality), and that's because a minority of fundamentalist religionists seem to have a choke-hold on our government: especially the judiciary branch. The majority of the SCOTUS are Catholics and the RCC considers homosexuality a mortal sin.
Regardless, you need to credit Christianity with the transition from a Society of Sovereignty, to Disciple/ Punishment/ to Control/ Achievement.
It never would have happened without it. It removed the "violence" from the system. And homosexuality was always a great contributor to that violence (allowed armies to remain in the field). The Theban "Sacred Band" comes to mind (to be contrasted with Cincinnatus).
The beast, Grey One talks sass, is the very besst that Johnson's Jesus was attempting to eradicate from the Jewish religion.
But, we won't expect 1/2 witted politicians of little knowledge to understand the truth. They're to busy telling everone what they hear in their whittle whiny heads.
Greek tragedies like andromache diminished the western practive of taking war brides after the Trojan War, It's still an Islamib thing (multiple wives)
One must wonder how long the Union army would have remained in the field with its' following trains of "Hookers".
There's a red light district adjacent to every Army/Navy base in the world.
:)
Whomever the speakers blames for stuff probably depends on who he's speaking to. His ilk come up with a new antiChrist every month. I remember when it was Putin whom they now all praise.
I never was a fan of Dutch people. If Johnson was talking to me he'd blame the Dutch for the fall of the Roman Empire.
Some people are blaming climate change on the U.S. accepting homosexual marriages. You know, because God punishes the whole world on something that American preachers think is worse than all of the Old Testament rules that they ignore.
The greatest long term evil the planet has ever experienced (with the exception of war) is the evil perpetuated and supported by the Christian Church.
And it still insuring suffering yet today.
Howard
Some of pastors blamed 9/11 on God's wrath on homosexuality, the did the same on Hurricane Katrine, but when tornadoes hit Southern cities and destroy whole swaths of homes and people, they NEVER blame it on God's wrath for them.
What an odd, seemingly unconnected series of comments I made. It's almost as if parts were missing. Ho-hum...
Which brings me to my point:
The rejection of the big Other brings us to the reason Žižek appreciates the perverse core of Christianity. Following Chesterton’s reading of Job as the trial of God, Job is seen as a proto Christ figure that unmasks the impotency of God. If Law must sublate to Love, the concrete universal figure of Christ is the Event of the infinite God experiencing finitude. The Hegelian universal whole must become split into its 1) Part and 2) Remainder. The Remainder is the obscene supplement that transgresses the whole. (Žižek 2003: 131) “Since the function of the obscene superego supplement of the (divine) Law is to mask this impotence of the big Other, and since Christianity reveals this impotence, it is a system that radically abandons a split between the official/public text and its obscene initiatory supplement; there is no hidden, untold story in it. In this precise sense, Christianity is the religion of Revelation: everything is revealed in it, no obscene superego supplement accompanies its public message.” (Žižek 2003: 127) (But subjective excess is still read as constitutive of a Hegelian objective excess of abstract universality- this is either a contradiction in Žižek or a relocation of supplemental excess to the ego). (Žižek 2008: 14) The Holy Spirit is then read as the entry of the signifier that constitutes a “first symbolization,” but this new symbolization is explicitly anti-Master-Signifier, suspending normal social distinctions and symbolic, subjective distortions of the superego. (Žižek 2003: 112)
It kind of freaks me out that my Maga Jewish friend may actually think he can make sense of any of the garble he just posted. You sure you're okay FJ?
-FJ
Very few people can digest that post. I don't know why you post these snippets of your favorite philosophers, since I'm guessing very few know anything about them and very few, if any, embrace their writings. Link to your blog and let people decide whether to visit and read these writings. I allowed this for now so that you would throw a tantrum if I didn't.
Link to your blog, please. I won't be posting these again.
PS. This is the guy I read when I want to know things about the Bible.
CORRECTION: "...so that you WOULDN'T throw a tantrum if I didn't..."
Thanks Shaw. -fj's affinity for Zizek runs stale very quickly. Zizek does make some interesting points. But the level of effort and concentration is hardly worth the minicule benefits, if any, obtained.
You have no interest into discovering the actual ideological origins of fascism. Good to know.
Already know. But thanks.
Sure you do. Not confirming it with the world's leading expert on ideologies.... priceless.
Our many named troll cites Žižek, best known to me for his debate with Jordan Peterson (infamous homophobe and man who eats a lot of meat) and per the interwebz, books which lack a conclusion because they just end.
I've no idea what point the many named troll was trying to make because the example cross references so many other papers and books that unless the reader has read them all or is familiar with their work they are lost. I know the troll was trying to show how smart they are but instead... well, in the Foundation Series by Isaac Asimov he created a character from the dying Empire who spoke for over three hours and said absolutely nothing at all. Oh there was speeches and words but as for content? Yeah, zip, zilch, zero. Yeah, our troll brought that character to my mind.
So, the "origins" of fascism. Fascism (the term) may have originated with Mussolini, but the practice has been around for as long as there have been humans with control issues who want to rule everything. Oh, and kill anyone considered to be 'other'. Anyone who crossed the fascist in training, made them mad, had more land, money... really, it was an excuse for a privileged male (almost always male in history) to ignore the small voice in their heart to do the correct thing. They convince themselves that they and only they know the answers. Well they and their loyal henchmen. And then they do horrible things and justify it with purity or religion or both. Wash, rinse, repeat.
It's too bad our troll only wants to be contrary. If they are as smart as they claim they'd have fun with us. Well, maybe not because they'd have to stop being a braggart and a bully... OK - we'd eat them for lunch and ask for desert so there is that.
Yup -fj, you are priceless. As well as boring, snobbish, and wrong 99.99999999% of the tine.
Grey One talks sass, Les, Joe "Truth 101" Kelly
I've asked -FJ/JoeCon NOT to post comments with long copied texts by his favorite philosophers. But he ignores me. So I delete them. Then he whines about my deleting his long, copied texts by his favorite philosophers.
I did give him the option of LINKING to his OWN blog with those posts.
His default position, like Trump's, is to claim he's always the victim.
Grey One talks sass
-FJ does this on other blogs. I'll no longer tolerate it. I told him to put in a link to his texts so he doesn't clutter up my blog with his desire to be the center of attention.
Shaw, I defer to your wisdom although having our many faced troll for lunch with the rest of the pack did sound like fun. For us that is.
I have to note the hypocrisy of someone who comes here, no one forces them, and then complaining heavily about obeying the rules of the place. It's so typically MAGA and when we call them out for their MAGA ways they get fussy.
If I was writing our troll as a character, exactly as they portray themselves I'd be called on the carpet by my editors for my over the top characterization.
I appreciate this space. Thank you for all you do Shaw. Hope your week is as you need it, and if not, then as close as possible because sometimes despite all preparations events go pear shaped. It is the nature of events, shapes, and pears.
"Form is emptiness. Emptiness is form. Form is nothing other than emptiness and emptiness is nothing other than form".
Emptiness is what makes anything and everything possible.
With the exception of space and time everthing is the result of dependent origination, or, dependant arising.
Perhaps the above will keep our friendly troll's troll busy thinking and contemplating on the above.
One can hope.
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