Joe the Whapsnatcher (part 2)
The headline reads: Joe The Plumber Slurs Gay People: I Would Never Let “Queers” Near My Children.
Never. Obviously. He’s not an idiot. He knows how that stuff can spread.
It’s an interview with ‘Christianity Today’ (an oxymoron?), in which he says: “You know, God is pretty explicit in what we’re supposed to do–what man and woman are for.” Such a delightfully old school belief (barely registered as a belief) in the bible as a transparent & perfect conduit of the word of God. On which matter: “People don’t understand the dictionary–it’s called queer. Queer means strange and unusual.” His use of the word “dictionary” in that sentence is remarkable. It is functions in exactly the same UNTHINKING way as the words “the bible” do when used to mean the infallible and perfect transcription of God’s revelation … “the dictionary” is a thing which exists for Joe, like the Leaning Tower of Pisa, a particular thing, an AUTHORITY in a perfect unchanging (really) form, a taken-for-granted touchstone. A bible of words. You know… the dictionary. The dictionary says.
“Queer means strange and unusual.” Yes, and for a time it meant “drunk”. Likewise, the word “plumber” means someone who “plumbs the depths”. A bit like a whapsnatcher, but with smoother balls.
