Allow me to correct myself. In a recent post I spoke of “agitators public and private who live for homophobia.” On reflection, I believe I should have written “who live BY homophobia.” You see, many who are made frantic by Fr. Martin are afraid of gays (“homophobia,” strictly speaking) and, consequently, they hate gays. They have been manipulated into this by the centuries-old tradition of anti-gay rhetoric. Now this rhetoric is the work of people who live by homophobia. Politicians seek the votes of the simple and frightened (“Lions tigers and gay marriage, O my! Lions and tigers and gay marriage, O my!”). Moreover, backroom webmasters, TV reverends, and reactionaries of all kinds unite in exploiting this homophobia to conjure up political and financial support for their latest whims, crusades, and scams. Pity those who live in homophobia; shame on those who live by homophobia.