So much for Dan Savage!

Dan Savage has made a name for himself through a very effective campaign to shine the light on bullying.  Specifically, bullying directed towards homosexuals, but it certainly went well beyond that.  As a child who was bullied, I support the goal of this campaign, to end bullying.  However, since trying to get kids NOT to bully, especially young kids, is like trying to get the sun not to rise, I think these efforts should be focused on teens and adults.  That, in essence, is what his campaign has done.  By using social media, YouTube, etc., he has focused his efforts on those groups.  Again, I felt that was the best way to go.

However, his recent speech to a bunch of high school kids at a journalism conference showed his true feelings, not just on bullying (he's against it when directed against him but for it when he is doing it) but on the Bible and Christians.  I must say, I was shocked at the duplicitousness of Savage.  Even worse, was the reaction of a majority of the crowd, behaving like a bunch of kids on the playground cheering on the bully who's beating up a kid.  I don't care who you are or what you've been through, you don't solve the problem of bullying by being a bully.  In fact, the Christians in this video did the very Christian thing.  They turned the other cheek and walked away.  Here's the video of Savage's speech, at least a portion of it.  I've read the entire speech includes such things as being unable to keep his hands off his husband if he were there on stage with him.  The inappropriateness of that comment (for gay or straight couples) given in front of a teen audience notwithstanding, this video speaks for itself.

Clearly, Savage has an uninformed view of the Bible.  He also seems to be feeding off the fact that some of the kids chose to walk out on him.  However, he is completely oblivious to the fact that he is bullying those Christian teens just as much as he was bullied as a kid and it is shameful.  The cheers from the crowd are even more shameful.  I'd be happy to address Savage's uninformed view if comments here ask for it, but that isn't the point of this post.  It is likely that he was mistreated and bullied by Christians as a kid and that they used the Bible to bang him over the head.  While this may explain his obvious disdain for Christians in general, it doesn't excuse his comments.  It is shameful on the part of the individual Christians who he believes wronged him so severely and I am sorry for him.  However, you don't blame the Bible, Jesus, God, Christianity or any large group of people for the actions of individual members.  Especially members who are behaving in a way that is incompatible with the teachings of Christ.  The existence of people within Christian ranks who condone bullying of someone for any reason is tragic, but it is by no means proves anything about the group as a whole, nor does it allow him to condemn an entire group because of it.

This man was winning hearts and minds with his very effective campaign to combat a very real problem.  Many people will see this and make excuses for him...those are the people who would stand by while a kid gets beaten up on a playground.  I choose to be the person who breaks up the fight and say this is unacceptable.  His choice to be part of the problem removes him from the moral high ground and places him squarely in the camp of bully.  This heart and mind has been effectively driven away, not from the cause of ending bullying, but from this man playing a serious role in achieving that goal.