I do not know a great deal about the professional boxer Manny Pacquiao. I know he is a very good boxer but I have never seen him in action because his fights are only ever shown on Rupert Murdoch’s pay per view shows and I feel bad enough about paying anything extra to the Dirty Digger. I am guessing he must have retired from the ‘sport’ because he is standing as a senator in this year’s elections in the Phillipines. I am interested neither in his election possibilities and still less in his pugilistic activities but some of his latest ramblings suggest that being hit on the head repeatedly makes you say some stupid things.
The great man made his views on gays very clear when interviewed on TV. He said:”It’s common sense. Will you see any animals where male is to male and female is to female? The animals are better. They know how to distinguish male from female. If we approve of male on male, female on female, then man is worse than animals.”
We all know that when people are picked up on their rank stupidity and bigotry, they soon rush to apologise. And sure enough, Pacquiao apologised, but not before he had added that he “just telling the truth of what the Bible says.” Then he sought to draw a line under the whole miserable episode. He wasn’t anti LGBT either, oh no. “God Bless you all and I’m praying for you,” he said, before adding that he was still against gay marriage because the bible said so.
Now Manny is entitled to believe in what he wants to believe, no matter how stupid it appears to the rest of us. He has the right to be a bigot, within the law, and he has the right to say things that offend others so, in the spirit of saying things that offend others, Manny Pacquiao is an idiot and a religious idiot to boot.
I am not sure I even approve of the term ‘gay marriage’ even thought that’s technically what it is. What is wrong with ‘equal marriage’?
But here’s a thing: you can prove someone is gay but you can’t prove that God exists. Think about that one for a moment. Pacquiao is not the only Godwhacker whose entire belief system is built on the often contradictory writings from a couple of thousand years ago when, as the late Christopher Hitchens put it, no one knew what was going on. Back in the day of the alleged Jesus of Nazareth, most people were not educated, could not communicate with anyone outside own their village and nothing made sense. What did they make of the sun and the stars, not to mention the weather? No wonder that they found themselves believing in magic. But what was then inexplicable has now been explained by science and we can live our lives by what we know to be true. Yes, billions worldwide still believe in ancient religious superstitions and others believe in other things that aren’t true, like the paranormal, but without evidence, I cannot understand for the life of me why they should. But they do and a disturbingly large number hold some highly dubious views.
Rather than say something grossly offensive, being found out and then rushing out a possibly insincere apology, why not refrain from saying something grossly offensive in the first place?
