Neatly Packaged Hypocrisy

I came across the following photo on Twitter this morning (posted by @shortstack81 retweeting @scibuff who, in turn, had linked to this article from Technoccult). It provided an easy opportunity to show just how completely and totally hypocritical (and probably clueless) some people really are when it comes to using their religious beliefs as a basis for discrimination against homosexuals:

Apparently, this photo is a screenshot from a 2009 TV news segment about an attack on a gay man. The man pictured in the photo is identified as a friend of one of the attackers. For those who can’t quite read the tattoo, it says:

You shall not lie with a male as one does with a woman. It is an abomination. <Leviticus 18:22>

So what’s so funny or hypocritical about this photo? Well, let’s jump ahead to the next chapter of Leviticus (just 50 or so verses later):

You shall not make any cuts on your body for the dead or tattoo yourselves: I am the Lord.

Leviticus 19:28 (emphasis added).

Apparently, in the sick world in which this guy lives, it is important to follow G-d’s commandments … except for the commandments that you choose to ignore.

What are the chances that this Bible-thumper even knows that in demonstrating his commitment to G-d’s commandments, he’s violated another of those commandments?

I point out this kind of Biblical hypocrisy all the time when people quote some sections of the Bible to justify hatred of or discrimination against homosexuals but ignore sections of the Bible that tell them not to eat pork or cut their hair or whatever. But rarely does hypocrisy come quite so neatly packaged for display.

If you’re interested in the video of the original news report (it contains some very disturbing footage of the man being beaten), I’ve embedded it below. You’ll note that the guy with the tattoo says that the beating wasn’t a hate crime.

By the way: So long as we have legislators willing to enact legislation discriminating against homosexuals instead of protecting minorities and recognizing equal treatment for all, then behavior like this will likely continue. Racism, bigotry, and hatred will not be defeated so long as it is tolerated or even endorsed by laws and legislators.

Oh, and did I mention that the Indiana General Assembly voted against a bill that would have strengthened anti-bullying legislation for schools because some legislators were worried about the First Amendment rights of kids who wished to express their disapproval of gays.

Is that why people voted Republican?