The Tale of Two Cities -- 2006

By Nedd Kareiva

If you are a high school graduate, particularly in the 80s or earlier when education wasn't as politicized as it is today, chances are you read the famous Charles Dickens classic of the above title (excluding the year). If you were a student of great literature, you'll recall that the two cities that were the subject of the book were London and Paris and the setting was the French Revolution.

If you read the book and recalled nothing else, you probably at least knew that Dickens' work was fiction. However, if Dickens was alive today, it's possible he might have written a sequel to it, instead this time it would be real life. And instead of London and Paris, the cities would be Moscow and Chicago.

Dickens no doubt could have more than adequately addressed Russia's Bolshevik Revolution, Soviet propaganda and Communism. He probably could have covered Chicago's history from the Chicago fire of 1871 to Al Capone, bootlegging and the St. Valentine's Day massacre. Fast forward to the 1950s, 60s and 70s and Dickens could have had a field day covering Chicago's machine gun style politics and its associated propaganda.

However, if you knew next to nothing about the histories of Moscow and Chicago and had to choose which city has greater moral character, most of you, particularly if you live in the U.S. or anywhere in North America, would likely select the Windy City. You might consider Soviet Communism and its related propaganda to be eviler than anything Chicago could provide.

But you might be wrong.

A group of homosexuals had planned at the start of the year for Moscow's first "Gay Pride" parade, scheduled for this past May 27th. It was met, however, with surprisingly stiff resistance. The people spoke up as did the church and incredibly so, Mayor Yuri Luzhkov. The mayor was quoted as saying that homosexuality was unnatural and such parades "may be acceptable....for some..... progressive..... countries in the West..... but unacceptable for Moscow." He also stated that as long as he was the mayor, "we will not permit these parades to be conducted."

One can only imagine the actions the ACLU would have taken to force Mayor Luzhkov to permit these parades had he been the mayor of a major city here in the U.S. And no doubt the these two groups would have provided legal representation for those arrested at the gathering.

Thankfully, Russia doesn't have an ACLU or a Lambda Legal to shove immorality down people's throats like they do here in America.

What we really breathtaking about this was the show of unity of the religious community to say no to this event. Leaders and worshippers from Jewish and Russian Orthodox congregations as well as the residents of Moscow boldly stood up and condemned the event.

Despite orders from the mayor not to conduct the event, homosexual activists showed up anyway. It's unfortunate that some activists were attacked by skinheads and others in the non-religious community and that Moscow police reportedly didn't intervene to stop the brawls. The Workers World Party, a Communist organization, titled the acts in an online article about the event as a "pogrom," a gross exaggeration of the facts since no one died in the protest.

But what really spoke volumes was the political and religious communities coming together and saying no to this event. Patriarch Alexis II of the Russian Orthodox Church sent a letter to the Mayor Luzhkov in March, thanking him for blocking "attempts to organize a public parade of propaganda for sin" and that "the church does not accept any propaganda for immorality." A leading rabbi said the event was "not a demonstration but propagation of sin" and that the Jewish community was in "solidarity with the Russian Orthodox Church ..... for the future of the country". .

If this occurred here in America, you can bet your bottom dollar that Barry Lynn, director of the left wing group Americans (Dis)United for Separation of Church and State, would have already fired off letters to the IRS, asking for the revocation of these groups' tax exempt status.

It's most disheartening that Russia's population is declining. The perpetuation of abortion on demand, the high numbers of women having abortion and the numbers of women who, for whatever reason, refuse to bear children are taking its toll. It's reported that the nation will drop its population by as much as a third in approximately the next 40 years if it doesn't stem the tide. It's gotten bad enough that President Putin is offering couples money to perpetuate the Russian population. Sadly, his offer is being spurned by its citizens. And as such, the birthrate is rapidly declining.

However, Russians largely "get it" on the homosexual agenda. Now to stimulate the bearing and not slaughter of Russian children and keep the human race going.

So what would Dickens say? Could this be the new Bolshevik Revolution?

Now cross the miles back to the U.S. and in this writer's home town of Chicago. The Windy City is the host city of the Gay Games, titled by some the Gay Olympics, to take place from July 15-22. Unlike Mayor Luzhkov of Moscow, Mayor Richard M. Daley is only too happy to invite homosexuals from over 30 countries around the world to be part of this event and have its taxpayers pick up the tab for the various aspects of this event.

The web sites www.gaygames.com and www.gaygameschicago.org report 60 entertainers and "legends" will be at the event, including Cyndi Lauper, Margaret Cho, Elton John, Melissa Etheridge, tennis star Billie Jean King and swimmer Greg Louganis. Internet travel service Orbitz, newspapers New York Times and Chicago Sun-Times (surprise, surprise) and pharmacy chain Walgreens are among the numerous sponsors.

By the way, does it make sense for Walgreens, a company that provides meds for healing, to sponsor an event where its participants carry diseases like HIV and AIDS?

This promotion of the homosexual agenda doesn't even include Chicago's annual "Gay Pride" scheduled for June 25th.

Personally, I find parades and so-called athletic games that are identified on the basis of sexual activity of two people of the same gender to be repulsive. I think I am in good company with the religious community of Moscow, not to mention the mayor.

But I'm not in good standing with Mayor Daley of Chicago, nor the ACLU of Illinois which will be participating in the "Gay Pride" parade.

Please do not misinterpret these comments as hateful. These events are disgusting because they are based on one's sexual preferences. The sad part is that the people participating in these events can leave this disease laden and unnatural lifestyle and find true peace and happiness. As such, I don't hate the people but I do dislike the actions of those putting these events together.

What seems to be so much different here than in Moscow is the relative silence of the churches here in Chicago. Few people are motivated to picket and protest the Gay Games. Cardinal Francis George of the Catholic Archdiocese of Chicago, unlike his Russian counterpart, appears to be silent on the Gay Games as well as the "Gay Pride" parade. And on top of that, the Gay Games web site reports that there are churches welcoming this event into their communities and churches, though they are notably churches that have always done so, the Unitarian Universalist Church and the United Church of Christ being the chief participants.

What was also appalling was the urging of Chicago's mayor to persuade the U.S. government to lift the federal ban on HIV and AIDS positive travelers for the Gay Games. As a result, there is a potential great health risk to Chicagoans and other Americans who choose to attend this event. A claim by a reader of a suburban Chicago newspaper spoke of "unethical and illegal behavior" at the 2002 Gay Games in Sydney, Australia. The statement has, however, yet been unverified or detailed.

But the risk still exists.

A rowing event to be held by the Gay Games in a far northwestern suburb of Chicago was the subject of intense public debate at a town hall meeting back in March. A vote originally resulting in the event being rejected by the town's commissioners was subsequently approved, partially due to claiming the state's sexual orientation laws as a means for threats of legal action.

When applicants were lining up earlier in the year to participate in this event, the Gay Games web site stated that the event was open to anyone. You would think that the games would be confined to homosexual men and women as well as transsexuals and transvestites. But that was not the case.

As far as what the actual sexual qualifications should be for participation in an event such as this, I'll leave that to your imagination. But if we allow this to go on, what's the difference between this and an adulterers parade? Or what about a parade for polygamists?

I believe most Americans would find an event such as the Gay Games absurd and unwelcome in their communities. But Chicago's long time Catholic mayor (in name only) apparently cannot determine unnatural sex acts from natural ones, nor does he recognize the fact that sexual activities among the homosexual community result in diseases often exclusive to it, resulting in the drastic shortening of the lifespans of these individuals.

Like most big city mayors, money talks with Mayor Daley. And the price to be for it will be the devalation of the morals of this city. The mayor of Moscow and the residents of Russia's largest city identified the "Gay Pride" parade as Sodom. The mayor of Chicago likely doesn't know what Sodom means. As such, the city's residents will find out by tolerating a week of sin.

In 1997, a large group of individual from a black church on the south side of Chicago joined a representation from my church to head to City Hall to make a stink about a domestic benefits ordinance for homosexual partners of city employees. The 2nd floor was virtually packed with citizens objecting to their taxes being used to subsidize homosexuality. Although the city refused to cave in and though a legal challenge to the city's ordinance was ultimately unsuccessful, it was a sign of a vibrant religious community standing against sin, let alone the abuse of their tax dollars.

Some Americans who remember Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans may attribute that disaster in part to the annual homosexual celebration known as Southern Decadence which was about to occur last year when Katrina hit. Now hurricanes do not hit the Great Lakes so do not expect one to come in July. But could there be a judgment of sorts to come to Chicago this July for this event?

And don't forget that like Moscow as well as most big cities in the U.S., there is a culture of abortion in Chicago that occurs with the subtle permission of this mayor.

But to answer the previous question, a week in Moscow while the Gay Games go on here now doesn't sound so bad. Even Charles Dickens might agree.

© Nedd Kareiva