On Tuesday’s edition of his radio show, Fox News host Sean Hannity used a discussion of the Adrian Peterson case as a vehicle for his fears about “liberals,” arguing that bringing child abuse charges against the NFL running back could result in the government infringing upon parents’ rights to instill values in their children. He also offered a strange new definition of political correctness…. “Here’s where my fear goes with all of this,” Hannity said. “You guys are gonna tell parents what they can and cannot do — for example, is it going to become illegal if a parent teaches the politically correct [incorrect?] view that being gay is not normal?” He added, “Because I think we’ve gotten to the point where, if we don’t politically correct our kids, we might as well just hand our kids over to the government the day they’re born and let them raise them.”
So let me see if have this straight: Hannity’s saying that if we can’t beat our children they’ll turn gay. Even worse, they’ll turn into LIBERALS??? Ohmigod…if I had children, I would SO be beating their little asses, and…hey, wait a minute. That’s about the most absurd justification for child abuse I’ve heard to date…and doesn’t it figure that it emanates from a Conservative bile generator? In order to raise good, God-fearing, patriotic, Fox News-watching children, we must have the freedom to beat them whenever they mess up or become ideologically unreliable. Stay classy, eh?
Being gay is “not normal?” What IS normal? Certainly, gays are a minority…but does that by definition make heterosexuality the norm? What is it that allows Conservative hate-mongers like Hannity to determine what is and isn’t normal? He may not be gay, but does that makes his sexuality “normal?” Is it just that in Hannity’s hate-warped mind, same-sex relationship are “icky,” and therefore can’t possibly considered normal? Or is it that he simply can’t fathom the idea that some might decide that being true to themselves means living, loving, and believing as they see fit?
Can you imagine what a miserable, joyless place this world would be if we all living by Sean Hannity’s rules?
What Hannity and those who think like him fail to realize is that sexuality isn’t a “one-size fits all” proposition. It’s not black or white, A or B, gay or straight. It’s a spectrum, and somewhere along that spectrum lies whatever an individual determines best reflects who he/she is. Hannity and his fellow haters may not like that. They may prefer to be stuffed into a one-size-fits-all box. They may even believe they have the right to place that expectation upon others…and we have to right to call “bullshit” on them.
When trying to instill values in their children, conscientious parents realize it’s not about politics or ideology. It’s not about calling their side “good” and the other “bad.” It’s about teaching values and giving children the tools they need to make sound decisions. It’s not about what’s right for them based on Sean Hannity’s sick, twisted definition of right and wrong or normal and abnormal. The breadth of uman sexual expression is something that can’t be contained by a narrow fear-based ideology spread by those who refuse to accuse those who are “different.”
Of course, it really doesn’t matter what Hannity and his ilk feel to be “right” or “moral.” They can choose what works for them; that’s what living in a free society means. What they can’t do is determine what works or should work for others. They don’t have to like it, and they certainly don’t have to partake in it, but they don’t have the right to proscribe it.
Live and let live is a pretty great philosophy, one the Hannity would do well to recognize and acknowledge. Of course, tolerance and acceptance would mean losing his audience and his multi-million dollar hate-mongering gig. The best the rest of us can do is to hope that karma will eventually catch up with him.
In the meantime, party on, Garth….
