Orson Scott Card Wants YOU
(To Rise Up Against The Gay Menace)
To those to of you who haven't read Ender's Game by Orson Scott card, warning: two spoilers follow.
Spoiler 1: Your childhood was incomplete. Spoiler 2: You know that part where Ender fights that kid Bonzo in the showers and kicks him so hard in the nuts that he kills him?
Well, Card basically did the same thing to logic and decency last week when he tried to convince the American Citizens in his thrall (myself once among them) to invoke their right of revolution and overthrow the government to stop gay marriage from being legalized.
Thats right, people. The Mormon guy who wrote all those books about the innocence of a child winning out over war and hatred wants us to raise arms against any queers who feel like expressing their love legally. I mean, I understand a devout Mormon having some issues with gayness, but when your brain tells you that its an important enough issue to divide the country in a bloody coup, its time to get a new brain.
Im sure therell be a whole cavalcade of comments following this post pointing out the merits of homosexuality, its moral deficiency in the eyes of God, and stuff about boobies touching and wieners in butts. So I figured, rather than try to pre-emptively defuse the situation like I usually do, Ill just say to hell with it and let you know how I really feel. If you totally disagree, feel free to comment, we can agree to disagree, and you can come back in a few days and read something funny I wrote about a celebrity pooping themselves.
HOW I REALLY FEEL:
Orson Scott Card, you areand I say this with the reservation of someone who read Speaker for the Dead and wept on a city busthe worst. I will never buy or read your books again, and I am withdrawing my membership from the Card Superfriends Fan Team and Party Brigade (Sorry, Chet and Dale).
The Mormons Ive known (all lovely people) have always been particularly impervious to logic, but its all Ive got so here I go. Mr. Card, you are as evil, and will one day be as reviled by any sane individual, as an 18th-century slave owner.
Let me explain. Throughout the history of America, and indeed in the course of any developing culture, the universal historical trend (with some notable, but temporary deviances) has been towards expanding rights for an expanding number of people. Women couldnt vote, now they can. Blacks were treated like pack animals, now they get to live in the inner city and some of them own nice cars. The point is, PROGRESS.
There is no question, absolutely none at all, that you are fighting a battle you cant win. In a hundred years, flamboyant gay guys will be getting married in fabulous dresses on your grave, and theres absolutely nothing you can do about it.
But worse, when that day finally comes, you will be classed with all those others who stood in the way of expanding rights and humanity: the Ku Klux Klan, Apartheid, the anonymous boardroom of fat men arguing about which secretary has the best ass. And if theres any justice, even though Ive no doubt you could fire off a response to this post that would be perfectly eloquent and arresting (in fact, you totally shouldmy hits would go through the roof), your work will be read only as a curiosity, a way to peek into the mind of a caveman. Or else by lovers of great fiction, who will have to read them, set them down, shrug, and say well, that was super good, even if the guy was a Neanderthal Nazi.
And really, what the hell does it matter to you if two hot lesbians want to settle down and be respectable (which isnt the way I like my hot lesbians either, believe me)? Until such a time as they bring down your property values with raging lesbian drug orgies, youve got nothing legitimate to complain about, and even then, Ill trade houses with you.
Nothing to complain about, that is, besides the so called degradation of the Biblical standard of marriage. Upon what are you basing that? A passage or two saying that God hates gays? You know, theres also a lot of passages about stoning your children to death for disobedience, but I dont see you cleaning your guns on that account.
Clearly you have taken it upon yourself to prioritize certain portions of the Bible. I am forced to ask then, why in the world would you choose to prioritize the relatively tiny portion about hating and oppressing your fellow men and women, instead of giving precedence to the mountain of passages espousing the virtues of love and compassion for all of Gods children? Or at least the hilarious parts about people having sex with gold statues (Ezekiel 16:17 NIV)?
What would Jesus do? If you can answer that question with anything other than shower the world with endless love and understanding, then flip a wicked ollie on a flaming skateboard, then you and I have a very different understanding of the man.
So get with fucking program and stop masking your own personal homophobia as a religious issue. Its not. Its a nothing issue that shouldnt even be a question, and yet has been allowed to dominate the political landscape at a time when thousands of deaths around the world are crying out to be addressed.
Youve spent your life imagining diverse races and cultures, and doing a hell of a good job. Yet your inability to imagine true love manifesting between two members of the same sex almost classifies you as retarded in my mind. Its not even a moral issue. Youre just an idiot to me.
And not just an idiot. Ive seen you in person, Orson. Youre fat. And rich. How about working on some of those deadly sins before throwing the first stone?
I know its pointless to ask you to change your mind; bigots armed with the intransigence of religion are rarely swayed. But hopefully some of those reading this post will be forewarned that Orson Scott Card has become a poison-spouting lunatic.
And in the interest of providing yet another argument for gay marriage being a non-issue, as well as some modicum of comedy, heres a list of the gayest things about heterosexual marriage:
When not blogging for Cracked, Michael's being fired from his position as a Cracked blogger for being "too real" and devoting the rest of his time to Those Aren't Muskets!









Good to know that the Mormons, you know, the folks that got persicuted every where they went. Are now persicuting other minorities. Good christian spirit....
ReplyARG. But... books... good... But... bad opinions... Ehhh... I just... I just started reading... Ehhh...
ReplyBut Orson.. the enemy gate is DOWN! *sobs quietly*
ReplyThe weirdest thing is, Card has a gay love scene in Songmaster (it's a book he wrote, not a porn he acted in, in case that wasn't clear), and it isn't even homophobic. He wrote that earlier in his career, so maybe he didn't have such views when he was younger?...
ReplyI love Orson Scott Card's fiction, but almost all his views are insanely fucked up.
ReplySwaim, have I ever mentioned I love you?
ReplyOnce, when I was a wee lad of twenty or so, I came upon Orson Scott Card's books and began to greatly enjoy them. Then I found out about his site and quickly clicked to it in hopes of thanking him. I wanted to do so for the inspiration his writing and advice to future writers had given me.
ReplyThen I read his site.
He WAS one of the reason's I started writing over the years.
He ISN'T now. Or Ever.
Wow, glad I found this. I read his site a few years back and thought exactly the same stuff. I haven't a book of his since. And the saddest part? I liked him. I really enjoyed his books and as a writer, I hoped to someday meet him and tell him what an inspiration he was. WAS.
ReplyI don't know, no question that his views are fucked up, but I still bought and read his books even after I knew he was a homophobe. Good writing is still good writing, I guess.
I loved reading this, thanks Michael Swaim. You were issued a cool surname and the rest of you lives up to it.
Replythis is largely disappointing in a number of respects. i would most like to address how the author has no idea what Jesus would do if He were here. Example: who would have thought that Jesus would fashion a whip and drive the moneychangers out of the temple, kick over tables, scatter animals, et cetera? Wasn't He also the one who said He didn't come to bring peace, but a sword?
ReplyIs orson scott card wrong to want to overthrow the government by force? yes. and, importantly, according to his own religion he should support the government. however, he is within his rights to oppose an action as far as he does so legally. since his motive appears to be religious it would be more 'logical' to deal with his reaction in that context. at least it would be more clever to do so.
You misunderstand Jesus. :O
Michael Swaim, I f**king love you forever for this. When zombies take over the world I will drive to your house and protect you until I am out of bullets just so I know we have at least one survivor who is f**king MADE of AWESOME.
ReplyPEACE.
I grew up mormon, one of the things they constantly beat into us was the thought that men have free will...if God himself gave you free will what right do men have to take it away? If being gay really is an 'affront to God' then let god deal with it, He certainly has the power to do so. Or are you questioning Gods judgement? If anything the mormon doctrine is more open to the thought of h**osexuality then other christian sects, somehow they just forgot the point of there entire religion....go figure
ReplyIm reading Cards books right now, he was about to make 'favorite author' status.... Regardless of how good of an author he is I can never praise someone bigoted enough to ask for war.
anyone who says gay marriage isn't an important fight is silly. that's like asking why black people got so uppity about sitting in the back of the bus...no big deal, right? ending prejudice is a process, and you have to fight a lot of "little" battles.
ReplyI think most of the people saying it are saying the big argument over it is stupid, since everyone should have the right to get married.
im glad im not the only person who read Speaker and wept on a city bus. f**k you Orson Scott Card. way to destroy your loyal fan base.
ReplyWow, I did not know that Card was a loon. Thank you for this great post.
ReplyThat was probably the best opinion article I've read on gay marriage. Who knew someone could write both ridiculously funny articles and ridiculously real articles. Swaim is awesome.
ReplyI would agree with most of these comments about how "awesome" Orson Scott Cards books are, except for the fact that (with the exception of Enders Game and Enders Shadow) he spends a fair amount of time in much of his books pushing his beliefs and political agenda. And that is what upsets me, I can't get away from it.
ReplyJust because you don't agree with him as a person, doesn't mean you shouldn't read his books, because let's face it, they're pretty awesome.
ReplyThis made me really like you, Swaim.
ReplySlow Clap
Reply