San Fran: tolerant and diverse--unless you're Christian

The city by the bay -- at least, it's political "leadership" -- is receiving well-earned hoots of derision after two spasmodic official utterances, one directed at the Catholic Church, the other at a group of menacing Evangelical teenagers.

First came the attack over adoptions into same-sex couples:

"It is an insult to all San Franciscans when a foreign country, like the Vatican, meddles with and attempts to negatively influence this great city's existing and established customs and traditions, such as the right of same-sex couples to adopt and care for children in need."

Hmm. That the Board of Supervisors would lecture the Church about "established customs and traditions" (um, since when?), is pretty rich. By the way--what was the name of that city again?

Then there's the screed against "Battlecry," a Evangelical group, mostly teenagers, gathered of course to witness their faith and zeal--so what? Poor wittle San Francisco, gets the vapors when anyone shows up believing in "customs and traditions" older than, say, 1969. The teenagers draw a resolution of condemnation from the city fathers--I mean, progenitors (sorry, my patriarchy was showing!).

The San Francisco Chronicle said it well:

THE IRONY was obviously lost on the clueless San Francisco supervisors when they passed a resolution warning that a Christian youth gathering could "negatively influence the politics of America's most tolerant and progressive city."

Spare us the doomsday hyperbole, supervisors.

We can safely report that the politics of San Francisco suffered no discernible shift in ideological alignment from the convergence of 25,000 Christian teenagers listening to rock 'n' roll music and words of inspiration. There was no evidence of any surge in support for the Iraq war, affection for President Bush or oil drilling off the California coast. The medical-marijuana clubs were still doing business as usual, public dancing was still legal, the petition gatherers were still working Market Street for the latest save-the-planet cause.

The supervisors' reaction to the evangelical Christians was so boorishly over the top that only one word could describe it:

Intolerant.

Perhaps the song that Judy Garland made famous needs revising?

San Francisco, pull up your golden gate
Don't let those Christers sneak inside your door
San Francisco, everyone's tolerant here!
Agree or we'll whack you one more!

(Biretta tip: Amy Welborn's Open Book.)