Ignorance At It's Best

[Soron]

This is an e-mail I recieved from a guy I used to work with. He sends me jokes from time to time. I wrote him back after seeing this and told him not to send me any e-mails, period, and why. It takes me back to when BDSM was even less accepted than it is now. What bugs me the most, is that people have their own little agendas and can't see past their own ignorance.

One thing here that got me, was the alledged response from ABC. Does this sound like a major TV network responding to a viewers e-mail? God, I hope not.

But, isn't this the same crap that those of us that lived the lifestyle for a time have to put up with when we talk openly about it to vanilla lifestylers? Any discussion?


Subject: Disturbing words from ABC TV

ABC TV - A MUST READ

If more of us took a stand maybe we could have some decent TV
programs.

J.N. is a coach in Childress, Texas.

J. writes:

My name is J. N. I wrote to ABC (on-line) concerning a
program called "THE PRACTICE." In last nights episode, one of
the lawyer's mothers decided she is gay and wanted her son to go
to court and help her get a marriage license so she could marry her
'partner.' ! I sent the following letter to ABC yesterday and really
did not expect a reply, but I did get one.

My original message was:

ABC is obsessed (or should I say abscessed) with the subject of
homosexuality. I will no longer watch any of your attempts to
convince the world that homosexuality is OK. THE PRACTICE
can be a fairly good show, but last night's program was so typical
of your agenda.. You picked the 'dufus' of the office to be the one
who was against the idea of his mother being gay and made him
look like a whiner because he had convictions. This type of mentality
calls people like me a "gay basher." Read the first chapter of
Romans (that's in the Bible) and see what the apostle Paul had to
say about it.... He, God and Jesus were all 'gay bashers'. What if
she'd fallen in love with her cocker spaniel? Is that an alternative
lifestyle? (By the way, the Bible speaks against that, too.)
--J. N.

Here is ABC's reply from the ABC on-line webmaster:

How about getting your nose out of the Bible (which is ONLY a book of
stories compiled by MANY different writers hundreds of years ago) and read
the declaration of independence (what our nation is built on), where it says
"All Men are Created equal," and try treatin g them that way for a change!
Or better yet, try thinking for yourself and stop using an archaic book of
stories as your lame crutch for your existence. You are in minority in this
country and your boycott will not affect us or our freedom of statement.

J. N.'s second response to ABC:

Thanks for your reply. From your harsh reply, evidently I hit a nerve.
I will share it with all with whom I come in contact. Hopefully, the
Arkansas Democrat Newspaper will include it in one of their columns and I
will be praying for you.

- -J. N.

Note: Wouldn't Satan just love it if people stopped using the Bible
for a crutch? Please resend this to everyone in your mailbox.

-- Thanks, J. N.

 

[Ebonyfire]

This is an e-mail I recieved from a guy I used to work with. He sends me jokes from time to time. I wrote him back after seeing this and told him not to send me any e-mails, period, and why. It takes me back to when BDSM was even less accepted than it is now. What bugs me the most, is that people have their own little agendas and can't see past their own ignorance.

One thing here that got me, was the alledged response from ABC. Does this sound like a major TV network responding to a viewers e-mail? God, I hope not.

But, isn't this the same crap that those of us that lived the lifestyle for a time have to put up with when we talk openly about it to vanilla lifestylers? Any discussion?


Subject: Disturbing words from ABC TV

ABC TV - A MUST READ

If more of us took a stand maybe we could have some decent TV
programs.

J.N. is a coach in Childress, Texas.

J. writes:

My name is J. N. I wrote to ABC (on-line) concerning a
program called "THE PRACTICE." In last nights episode, one of
the lawyer's mothers decided she is gay and wanted her son to go
to court and help her get a marriage license so she could marry her
'partner.' ! I sent the following letter to ABC yesterday and really
did not expect a reply, but I did get one.

My original message was:

ABC is obsessed (or should I say abscessed) with the subject of
homosexuality. I will no longer watch any of your attempts to
convince the world that homosexuality is OK. THE PRACTICE
can be a fairly good show, but last night's program was so typical
of your agenda.. You picked the 'dufus' of the office to be the one
who was against the idea of his mother being gay and made him
look like a whiner because he had convictions. This type of mentality
calls people like me a "gay basher." Read the first chapter of
Romans (that's in the Bible) and see what the apostle Paul had to
say about it.... He, God and Jesus were all 'gay bashers'. What if
she'd fallen in love with her cocker spaniel? Is that an alternative
lifestyle? (By the way, the Bible speaks against that, too.)
--J. N.

Here is ABC's reply from the ABC on-line webmaster:

How about getting your nose out of the Bible (which is ONLY a book of
stories compiled by MANY different writers hundreds of years ago) and read
the declaration of independence (what our nation is built on), where it says
"All Men are Created equal," and try treatin g them that way for a change!
Or better yet, try thinking for yourself and stop using an archaic book of
stories as your lame crutch for your existence. You are in minority in this
country and your boycott will not affect us or our freedom of statement.

J. N.'s second response to ABC:

Thanks for your reply. From your harsh reply, evidently I hit a nerve.
I will share it with all with whom I come in contact. Hopefully, the
Arkansas Democrat Newspaper will include it in one of their columns and I
will be praying for you.

- -J. N.

Note: Wouldn't Satan just love it if people stopped using the Bible
for a crutch? Please resend this to everyone in your mailbox.

-- Thanks, J. N.

Did you say Arkansas?

Well that explains a lot.

 

[CavaliereScuro]

This sounds very much like one of the infamous internet hoaxes that float around in cyberspace. I can't believe that ABC, would ever allow an employee to send an email like that. Another urban legends is born.

 

[Pure]

I agree Cav, sounds like a hoax.

J.

{{Added: it's mostly NOT a hoax, see below, but I still think the coach is dangerous, and the ABC Webmaster merely impolite}}


I do like the thread title, btw: Ignorance at It's Best

 

[Soron]

I would tend to agree. The person writing to the webmaster seems somewhat real, the webmaster does not. Still, it's a good topic for conversation.

 

[rosco rathbone]

"Ignorance At 'It's' Best "

perfect

 

[AngelicAssassin]

Doesn't matter if the response holds credence or not. The fact that someone would attempt to impose their belief system on the rest of us by organizing a boycott bothers the hell out of me. i'm surprised CSI hasn't been nailed for their controversial subject matter, including an episode on a subject near and dear to our hearts. Now granted, we may all have mixed views on whether that subject got a fair shake or not, but can you imagine what went through some of the brains of the "holier than thou" when the episode aired? We still have at least one state in this union that deems their authority should extend to whether or not you can have toys within their borders.

http://www.1st-vets.org/forum/images/smiles/wallbash.gif

Free your mind and the rest will follow ... yeah, i copped a lyric.

 

[Etoile]

CSI featured BDSM? I may have to start watching that show!

 

[Pure]

CSI: Yes, with a very hot mistress indeed, who sees Gil's kinks.

 

[Pure]

http://www.truthminers.com/truth/abc.htm

This site describes the events as 'partly true.' [partly hoax].

The writer on the site is sympathetic to Neugent.

Added: Another urban legend site also says the story is mostly true, but notes that Neugent has been 'getting a lot of mileage' out of the incident, since, through the 'net.



======



Jim Neugent's letter to ABC

[The writer at 'truth miners' site says,]
Yes, Mr. Jim Neugent DID indeed write a letter to ABC protesting the positive depiction of gays in the TV show, "The Practice". Yes, he did receive a nasty reply. However, there IS more to this story. The reply Mr. Neugent received was NOT from executives at ABC. Mr. Neugent's emailed letter went to the webmaster's email address. An employee in the webmaster's office created the nasty reply.

After this message spread like wildfire throughout the net, ABC found out about it through the tons of irate mail they received, and found out who had sent the reply. To give ABC some small credit, they did fire the person who sent the message and did, eventually, send an apologetic letter to Mr. Neugent.

Mr. Neugent, believing (with good reason) that the inflammatory reply had been received from ABC, sent the message on to 10 or 12 of his friends. The message then took on a life of its own. According to Mr. Neugent, later versions added even more inflammatory language to the reply.

The original reply is shown below. The later additions are shown with brackets. I'm not sure why someone felt the need to embellish the message. It was certainly bad enough on its own.After Mr. Neugent's letter began circulating on the web, ABC was besieged with email regarding the awful message he had received. ABC began sending out a generic apology to all who wrote.

According to Mr. Neugent, he also sent a copy to the ABC affiliate station in Little Rock, Arkansas. He believes that the station must have contacted ABC directly, because a few days later, he received a letter of apology from Daren Benzi of ABC. While the letter did contain an apology, Mr. Benzi continued to defend ABC's programming. This letter is also shown below. This comment stands out: "We believe that programs thoughtfully reflecting social issues existing in our present society constitute proper television faire."

[...]

Whatever happened, we need to understand that there are those who have no tolerance for the opinions and beliefs of others. They may pitch tolerance, but they themselves have none. We can expect an increasingly hostile environment to a belief that says that homosexuality is not God's plan for people, nor are homosexuals born that way. This is not homophobic, hateful or bigoted. I wish someone would look up the word 'homophobic' before making such accusations. Certainly there are those who are afraid of homosexuals or homosexuality. There are also those who hate homosexuals.

The majority of Christians I know fit neither of these categories, and continue to love individuals caught up into what they believe is a destructive lifestyle. In the process of loving them, we do not need to have the national homosexual agenda rammed down our throats. Intolerance and disrespect have become the trademarks pinned loudly on the lapels of those who ascribe to this agenda and we must expose it for being just that. Message as it now being circulated on the web. Brackets show additions by unknown source to original letter.

I wrote to ABC (on-line) concerning a program called "THE PRACTICE." One of the lawyer's mother's decided she was gay and wanted her son to go to court to help her get a marriage license to marry her "partner." I sent the following letter to ABC yesterday and really did not expect a reply. . . but I did get one. My original message was:

ABC is obsessed (or should I say abscessed) the subject of homosexuality. I will no longer watch any of your attempts to convince the world that homosexuality is OK. THE PRACTICE can be a fairly good show but last night's program was so typical of your agenda. You picked the "dufus" of the office to be the one who was against the idea of his mother being gay and made him look like a whiner because he had convictions. This type of mentality calls people like me a "gay basher." Read the first chapter of Romans (that's in the Bible) to see what the apostle Paul had to say about it. He and God and Jesus were all "gay bashers." What if she'd fallen in love with her cocker spaniel. . . is that an alternative lifestyle? (By the way, the Bible speaks against that, too.)

Jim Neugent Here is ABC's reply from the ABC on-line Webmaster:

How about getting your nose out of the Bible (which is ONLY a book of stories compiled by MANY different writers hundreds of years ago) and read the Declaration of Independence (what our nation is built on) where it says "All Men are Created Equal" and try treating them that way for a change? Or better yet, try thinking for yourself and stop using an archaic book of stories as your [lame]* crutch for your existence. [You are in the minority in this country and your boycott will not affect us or our freedom of expression.]

** [ ] later additions to the Webmaster employee's original message to Mr. Neugent.

My second response to ABC:Thanks for your reply. Evidently, I hit a nerve from your harsh reply. I will share it with all with whom I come in contact. Hopefully, the Arkansas Democrat Newspaper will include it in one of their columns, and. . . I will be praying for you.

ABC's generic reply to complainants:I would like to send out this apology on behalf of one of our ex-freelancers that worked with us in the Webmaster Department. An email was sent out in response to Jim Neugent's mail regarding his feeling offense towards an episode of "The Practice."

This person's response was by no means the views shared by this organization, but of a personal opinion, and should not have been sent out.The sole purpose of the Webmaster is to fix any problems that occur on the website and to help our users with any technical difficulties that they may run into while using the site. It is, by no means, to be used as a medium to express one's own personal opinions.Again, our Webmaster Division wished to apologize for any misgivings that this ex-freelancer may have caused and thanks you for bringing this concern to our attention.ABC Webmaster Division