If the Foo shits, Katie, wear it

Katherine Kersten doesn't like being called a bigot. Well then, silly, don't be one. Here's how Katie opens her apologia this morning:

First, we must reject the name-calling that has marred the debate to this point. Same-sex-marriage supporters' constant mantra has been that Minnesotans who support one man-one woman marriage are motivated by bigotry. Gay-marriage proponents make this claim even about people who merely support letting Minnesotans vote on the issue [never mind that we don't let people vote about, inter alia, slavery or other matters of equal protection].

The Star Tribune's recent editorial on the marriage amendment was typical. "Don't put bigotry on the ballot," its headline ran.

Ouch. That had to hurt. Even Scott Gillespie & Co. think she's a bigot. But I'm not, says Katie, we're just ordinary right thinking people:

But people who support one man-one woman marriage are not bigots. They argue, very reasonably, that marriage is rooted in nature -- in male/female sexual complementarity -- and that children need both a mother and a father. They say that's why it has been the bedrock institution of procreation and social order in virtually all times and places.

Same-sex-marriage supporters' attempt to tar this view as "bigotry" seems designed to shield them from tough questions as they campaign to redefine the world's fundamental social institution. Labeling your opponent a "bigot" is the ultimate rhetorical mudball--a classic slur intended to silence and intimidate rather than to facilitate an exchange of ideas.

Kersten reports as the great naturalist here, having studied fauna from around the world. In her studies, she undoubtedly found that all the other primates, and the animals on her farm growing up – one bull, one cow; one rooster, one hen – and even the humble wild turkey form a single male/female bond for life.

Wearing her religious historian hat, she concluded that the rumor of Solomon having all those wives and concubines was untrue. Besides, even if it was true, all of Solomon's children undoubtedly had the love and attention of a devoted father.

As an anthropologist, Kersten has apparently found evidence that one man – one woman marriage is the only way that children have ever been produced since the beginning of time. And that children need a mommy and a daddy so much that divorce should be forbidden, shelters for abused women should be closed and those women returned to their husbands, and that women proved not to be virgins on their wedding day should be stoned.

If it seems that we've been through all of this here before, and recently, too, we have: last week, responding to Jason Lewis' column on the same subject.

Katie cloaks herself as a "naturalist" today, but on Easter Day she said religion was the reason we should discriminate against gays. That's really where Katie's heart is.

Kersten wants to take the word "bigot" off the table in the upcoming debate. Just as, I'm sure, the people who owned slaves and believed in the religious justification for their doing so felt put upon by the label. Or the people who didn't think women should get the right to vote.

But the very best part of the column is this:

One last point: In the coming debate, we must have zero tolerance for intimidation tactics. Bullying has become standard operating procedure for many same-sex marriage activists. Their attack last year on Target Corp. is now held up as a national model by those attempting to silence same-sex marriage opponents.

Gay people have never been bullied or intimidated, only subjected to the mildest rebuke. People like Tom Pritchard and organizations like the Minnesota Family Council have worked hard on securing anti-bullying legislation in Minnesota. Well, not really.

Then, of course, in a category all his own is God's Goon, Bradlee Dean, a member of the Mudball Hall of Fame, who has advocated jailing and executing gays. Look it up; you'll get about a million Google hits. Bradlee has been in the news lately.

I tell you what, Katie: you reign in Tom Pritchard, Bradlee Dean, (I almost forgot) Archbishop John Nienstedt, and well, yourself and then we'll talk about labels. Deal? In the meantime: bigot.