Fear and Hatred of Godless Sodomites

Christian Nationalists sometimes can't seem to decide whom to attack most and most viciously: gays or atheists. Perhaps that's why they invented the epithet "Godless Sodomites," because it allows them to attack both groups simultaneously. It even allows them to pretend that the two groups are effectively the same: that gays are all godless atheists and that atheists are all, or at least tend to be, gay themselves. I can't begin to tell you how often I've had conservative evangelical Christians writing to me and assuming that I must be gay.

As disturbing as this may be, it isn't nearly as disturbing as the language of disease which Christian Nationalists tend to use when discussing Godless Sodomites. Sometimes it's subtle and sometimes it's overt, but if you watch carefully you'll find these Christians associating Godless Sodomites with infection, disease, bacteria, and other things which typically need to be eradicated for the safety of the body or community.

The more overt references occur when Godless Sodomites are themselves described as a disease which is infecting society and which needs to be eliminated. More subtle references occur when Godless Sodomites are simply associated with disease -- when, for example, they are accused of spreading disease through the community. It might be easy to dismiss this as overly zealous concern about something like AIDS, but it must be remembered that Jews were accused in the Middle Ages of spreading disease and that this was often used as an excuse for discrimination, bigotry, or even pogroms.

It's not a coincidence that Jews were also accused of being a disease by the Nazis and therefore of needing to be eradicated. The language of disease is popular among those who would like to eliminate some group entirely because that is what we do with disease. A disease isn't something we compromise with or accommodate. Even in those rare cases where a disease provides some benefit (like sickle cell anemia providing some protection from malaria), we still fight it as hard as possible with the goal of eliminating it completely. People don't tolerate the presence of disease in their lives and they shouldn't tolerate the presence of disease-like groups, such as Godless Sodomites.

This image is based on a World War II poster telling people to cover their mouth when sneezing or coughing because not doing this spreads disease.