In a “National Emergency Coalition” conference call between two Christian fundamentalist preachers, former Houston-area pastor Rick Scarborough told former Virginia GOP politician E.W. Jackson that he would rather burn than “sanction” a same-sex marriage…. “We are not going to bow. We are not going to bend, and if necessary we will burn,” Scarborough said — suggesting that he’d self-immolate in protest of a forthcoming marriage equality ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court…. “The preachers need to get out front, the leaders need to get out front, out front of these ordinary citizens and say, ‘Shoot me first,’” Scarborough also said.
This sort of ludicrous, self-righteous hyper-religiosity used to be the source of some consternation for me. Then I realized there’s no reason for me to concern myself with the impotent bleating of a blithering idiot pissing into the winds of history. In fact, this sort of thing can be quite entertaining if one chooses to view if that way…and I do. If you believe in God, I have to suspect you know your God believes Rick Scarborough to be a righteous moron- a hateful, intolerant American Taliban authoritarian who’s as much a Christian as Rick Santorum is heavily invested in supporting man-on-dog sex.
That Scarborough would promise to set himself on fire if same-sex marriage is legalized by the Supreme Court (and, evidently, expect someone will care enough to try to stop him) is nothing if not amusing. I realize that Scarborough puts the “fun” in “fundamentalism,” but to say that he’s on the wrong side of history (never mind the teachings of the Lord and Savior he claims to worship) would be a world-class understatement. He can cry to the four winds that “We are not going to bow. We are not going to bend, and if necessary we will burn,” but will anyone (save for those American Taliban zealots who think like him) care, much less notice? Or will people be lining up for the privilege of dousing him with a five-gallon can of gasoline and the honor of presenting him with a cigarette lighter? If someone told me there’d be one less American Taliban zealot if we set up a GoFundMe campaign to pay for lighters, gasoline, and enough dry wood to create a roaring bonfire, I’d be punching in my credit card number as we speak.
When Scarborough says, “if necessary we will burn,” those of us who value tolerance and diversity will have no problem with indulging him his right to his futile protest. He’s a truly objectionable excuse for a human being and a flaming asshole. While I bear him no ill will and certainly don’t wish to see him go up in flames, should he choose to go that route, I can’t imagine people will be lining up to stop him.
It’s not as if Scarborough’s potential self-immolation would be blazing a trail in Texas. Rev. Charles Moore did the same thing last June. Moore’s suicide was every bit as horrific as what Scarborough promises to do, even though it was done for very different reasons. Moore said he was “giving my body to be burned, with love in my heart,” hoping that his sacrifice would help defeat the lingering racism he saw in his hometown of Grand Saline. It was a gesture both tragic and futile which ultimately changed nothing. Moore may have felt his heart to be pure, but his public self-immolation didn’t have the impact he’d hoped it would. A life and the kind soul that informed it was sacrificed for no result. That was a horrible waste. I’m not convincing that Rick Scarborough shedding his mortal coil would be anything but cause for celebrations.
A convincing argument could be made that Scarborough doesn’t have a heart, much less one filled with love. While I’d certainly never advocate for committing suicide, especially the self-immolation Scarborough’s promising, this is a case where the end result would be to leave the world a better place. One less anger-fueled, hate-driven faux Christian homophobe whose twisted interpretation of and commitment to the teachings of Jesus Christ rivals my devotion to the Green Bay Packers? Where do I sign??
Sometimes addition by subtraction is a good thing.
