"Miss Beverly Hills" down and out
After the anti-gay comments of beauty-queen wannabe Lauren Ashley (AKA "Miss Beverly Hills") started to draw some fire online, Faux News removed the "abomination" remarks from the original article. Google cache to the rescue:
"The Bible says that marriage is between a man and a woman. In Leviticus it says, 'If man lies with mankind as he would lie with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination. They shall surely be put to death and their blood shall be upon them.' The Bible is pretty black and white," Ashley told Pop Tarts."I feel like God himself created mankind and he loves everyone, and he has the best for everyone. If he says that having sex with someone of your same gender is going to bring death upon you, that's a pretty stern warning, and he knows more than we do about life."
That's nothing more than standard fundamentalist Bible-banging bullshit, but it's the inconsistency that mystifies me. Shellfish, blended fabrics, and inaccurate balance scales are also called abominations in the Bible, but for some reason I don't see any fundies getting worked up over people eating lobster or wearing cotton/poly slacks. I assume that none of Ms Ashley's future interviews will be held in churches, because (as a good Biblical literalist) she would have to cover her head and stay silent.
There was enough online outrage earlier this week that the city of Beverly Hills repudiated her remarks (h/t: Bruce Garrett at Truth Wins Out):
In a statement Wednesday, the city said it was "shocked" by Ashley's description of herself as "Miss Beverly Hills." The city "does not sponsor a beauty pageant and has no association with Miss California USA," the statement said. "As such, there should be no individual claiming the title of Miss Beverly Hills."The city's statement said Ashley lives in Pasadena and "does not represent Beverly Hills in any capacity."
Aside from the "false witness" problem, I found one of Ashley's later remarks interesting:
"I have a lot of friends that are gay, and ... I have a lot of friends who have different views, and we share our views together," she said. "There's no hate between me and anyone."
I doubt that she really has any gay friends, although she may believe so. Would you think someone didn't hate you if they believed you should be killed for your sexual orientation? Would you still consider someone a friend who believes that you are an abomination?