History Repeats
TRKeske
HISTORY REPEATS
In July 1936, a Czechoslovakian Jew committed suicide in front
of the League of Nations. Letters in his briefcase explained that
he was trying to draw attention to the plight of Jews.
No one paid much attention then, very few remember at all,
now. Did you?
But I remember, because it reminds me so much of the gay
man who set himself ablaze in St. Peter's square, and attempted
to rush toward the basilica.
I scoured my newspaper to see what they would say about it.
Nothing- no so much as a "news brief". Similarly, they
said nothing about the string of anti-gay killings in Rome,
much less in our own country. Similarly they said
nothing whatever when a Utah high school student was
tormented into committing suicide last year.
However, when it serves their own agenda, it is a different
story. The anti-Castro fasting religious protesters merited
nearly full-page coverage. The media fawned as usual,
how the Pope brought a "message of hope and truth" to Cuba.
Little hope did the Pope bring to gays, anywhere in this world.
The Vatican claimed that the letter found on the gay man
"in no way affirms that his gesture was prompted by his
presumed homosexuality or as a protest against the Church."
Years ago, I had seriously considered a similar self-immolation
protest. I am now so glad that I didn't, as I can see how such
self-sacrificial styles of appealing to moral conscience would be
utterly wasted on the kinds of indifferent swine with which we
are dealing, in our government, in the media, in many religious institutions.
History repeats, right under our noses, yet few see, even as they
say "Never Again". The books of the GALZ group burned in
Zimbabwe, as mobs chanted for our death, just as books
burned in Nazis Germany.
In Austria, a Catholic newspaper recently compared homosexuals
to "rats"- precisely the comparison that Nazis used against Jews
in their propaganda film, "The Eternal Jew."
The Austrian Catholic paper said that gays should be punished
with "whips and bull pizzles". Not even did the anti-Semitic
Father Coughlin's hate radio program engage in rhetoric more
ugly, before WWII. Father Coughlin, at least, was eventually
silenced by the Church, which showed more conscience toward
Jews in those times than the Vatican is showing toward gays,
today.
In Zimbabwe, Robert Mugabe called us less than "pigs and dogs".
In 1938, a Polish Jewish teenager shot a German diplomat, and
said "I am not a dog. Wherever I have gone, I have been chased
like an animal."
U.S. Secretary of State Albright, a Jewish woman, took no
clue from the burning books, the "dog" references. She
touched hand with a smiling Mugabe, promising financial
aid to his country, no mention of the word "gay".
My newspaper has glowed about Albright, how she has
"shined" in her role.
A circus of the utterly, utterly damned. As I have long said,
eventually history will repeat itself with a major war, more
destructive than WWII, in progression, as WWII was
more destructive than WWI. Homosexuals will be to that war
what Jews were to WWII. Just as the Vatican and the American
press managed to remain blind to the Holocaust, they will be
blind once against to a covered-up genocide, right under their
noses.
The world being what it is, I increasingly wonder how much I
really even care.
Human beings cannot resolve their differences because they are
all so much the same. The only common ground that they will
find is the ground that they are buried in. The only peace that
they will find is the Peace that they Rest In.
If this is the best that we can do, then so be it.
Tom Keske
Boston, Mass.
Ezekiel Krahlin
On 22 Jan 1998 01:45:11 GMT, trk...@aol.com (TRKeske) said:
>But I remember, because it reminds me so much of the gay
>man who set himself ablaze in St. Peter's square, and attempted
>to rush toward the basilica.
>
>I scoured my newspaper to see what they would say about it.
>Nothing- no so much as a "news brief". Similarly, they
>said nothing about the string of anti-gay killings in Rome,
>much less in our own country. Similarly they said
>nothing whatever when a Utah high school student was
>tormented into committing suicide last year.
I hope that your lucid insight and accurate research contributed to
these newsgroups, will awaken at least *some gays who are capable of
being awakened. It is my hope, that this man who burned himself as an
extraordinary action of dissent against homophobia (ALFREDO
ORMANDO)...will become a turning point--bellwether, too--of a new era
of gay liberation...a more aggressive movement on behalf of same-sex
love, with a policy of ZERO TOLERANCE of homophobia and
religio-heterocentrist terrorist dogma in general. I have much to
respond to in your excellent article, Tom...but that must wait another
day or two.
Meanwhile, PlanetOut, an online gay news service:
http://www.planetout.com/pno/newsplanet/
has responsibly covered this event of a gay man's self-immolation
..even if the Vatican--and our mainstream heterosexist society at
large--attempts to ignore and bury this matter. Here is a copy of
that news article, that word may spread...hopefully, like a match
igniting the fuse of *real gay liberation worldwide. Perhaps, just
perhaps, this is the beginning of the end of homosexual subjugation by
not just the Catholic/Christian empire, but by the Muslim, communist,
and all other terrorist regimes...including of course the
U.S.ofAssholes.
---begin news article
Man Who Set Himself Afire Dies
NewsPlanet Staff
Friday, January 23, 1998 / 04:45 PM
SUMMARY: Alfredo Ormando's despair over his situation as
a gay Italian turned him into a living torch, and with his death
that torch will be taken up by those who continue to fight for
change.
Alfredo Ormando, the Sicilian man who set himself on fire
outside St. Peter's Basilica in Rome to protest the Roman
Catholic Church's treatment of gays, has died of his burns at
the age of 39. Ormando's death was announced today in a
statement by the Italian national organization
ArciGay/ArciLesbica, which proposed that the January 13 date
of Ormando's self-immolation be observed as an "international
anniversary of the fight against discrimination against gays
and lesbians for religious motives." Earlier on that same date,
ArciGay had been holding a candlelight march in Rome to
protest violence against gays and lesbians, particularly the
highly-publicized murder this month of former Papal assistant
Enrico Sini Luzi (two somewhat similar murders have since
been committed in Milan).
ArciGay's statement said, "Ormando, protagonist of the
sensational act beneath the colonnades of St. Peter's Square
in Rome...has passed away as a result of the serious burns
suffered all over his body. ArciGay pays homage to the new
hero of the struggle for liberation and for the civil rights of
homosexuals." The statement also said that, "The Roman
Catholic Church should beg forgiveness for the sufferings
inflicted on homosexuals." ArciGay has charged that the
powerful influence of the Church in Italy has served to feed
homophobia and to support official indifference to rampant
violence against gays.
In fact, the Vatican has denied any connection with Ormando's
action, even though he was actually trying to enter St. Peter's
while he was on fire. He collapsed before reaching the entry,
suffering burns over more than 90% of his body before the
flames could be extinguished. The Vatican was unimpressed
with a letter in the pocket of a jacket Ormando doffed before
splashing himself with gasoline and setting himself alight,
denying that it showed his demonstration was directed at the
Church. The letter spoke of how his family and the rest of
society failed to understand his sexual orientation.
However, the Italian news service ANSA turns out to have also
received a letter from Ormando the day before his protest
which explained his actions.
---end news article
---
My web site kicks (but never licks) butt!
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mailto: ezek...@mailcity.com
Ezekiel Krahlin
On 22 Jan 1998 01:45:11 GMT, trk...@aol.com (TRKeske) said:
>But I remember, because it reminds me so much of the gay
>man who set himself ablaze in St. Peter's square, and attempted
>to rush toward the basilica.
This is just a follow-up, for the benefit of those unaware of the gay
man who set himself on fire in protest. Here is an earlier article,
again, published by NewsPlanet...
---begin article
Vatican Denies Fiery Protest
NewsPlanet Staff
Wednesday, January 14, 1998 / 02:42 PM
SUMMARY: Arguing about whether Alfredo Ormando was protesting
the Church's stand on homosexuality is like arguing about how
many faggots can burn on the head of a pin.
The Vatican and the Italian national gay and lesbian rights
group ArciGay/ArciLesbica are debating in the media the meaning
of a Sicilian man's self-immolation outside St. Peter's Basilica
the morning of January 13. Police found papers in a jacket
Alfredo Ormando doffed before dousing himself with gasoline and
setting himself afire, in which Ormando reportedly said that his
family and society did not understand the problems he faced as a
gay man. Although Ormando attempted to enter the Basilica while
he was burning -- collapsing before he reached the doorway --
Vatican deputy spokesperson Father Ciro Benedettini told Reuters
that, "The letter found on this person in no way affirms that
his gesture was prompted by his presumed homosexuality or as a
protest against the Church."
ArciGay/ArciLesbica, which had been holding its own
anti-violence candlelight protest the previous evening, has no
doubt that Ormando chose St. Peter's to send a message to the
Vatican. In a statement to the press, the group said that,
"Alfredo Ormando set himself alight under the colonnade of St.
Peter's Square to protest against traditional family values
which discriminate against homosexuals, and against Catholic
homophobia." In its continuing efforts to obtain greater
government attention to continuing murderous violence against
Italian gays and lesbians, ArciGay/ArciLesbica included a remark
that, "The Roman Catholic Church is in large part responsible
for feeding the prejudices against gays and lesbians."
Another gay spokesperson, Mario Mieli, said in a statement that,
"We are stunned by this tragedy...caused in large measure, as
can be seen by the place chosen for the attempted suicide, by
the cultural oppression of the Catholic Church."
At last report, Ormando remained hospitalized in serious
condition from his burns, which cover 90% of his body.
ArciGay/ArciLesbica has planned a further demonstration for the
afternoon of January 15, at the same time as -- and just a few
blocks from -- Pope John Paul's scheduled visit to the
Campidoglio city hall.
---end article
---
Let's secede from those who breed,
Make it sin to *not waste seed!
GodHates...@HetBeGone.com
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mailto: ezek...@mailcity.com
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