It was only up to a few hundred years ago that the Rapture was certain in the minds of most Christians. They took the end of days very seriously. This was no joking matter, unlike today.
And, unlike today, when I wrote the blog They are coming for us, again a few days ago, the latest proclamation of the Apocalypse: Redux, redux, redux had not begun to trend. Nor had the blame for Doomsday been laid squarely on our broad gay shoulders, again, by some shriveled salvationist simpleton from the south. 89-year-old Harold Camping, founder of the Family Stations Christian radio network, who is credited with making the dire warning that has sent social media into a tizzy, said:
"God has given us an enormous amount of proof, like the gay pride movement and the extraordinary amount of wickedness in the world."
Against this surreal backdrop, like some depraved lunacy leapt from the mind of Roman Polanski, the travesty of Nicaraguan-born queer artist Alvaro Orozco being arrested and facing imminent deportation by Canadian authorities in Toronto. In an interview with Xtra Toronto, Orozco describe the chilling ordeal he's been through over the last few days, including his arrest when the cops called immigration:
“They were saying, ‘We have this guy. Is this the guy you want?"
I will dispense any condemnation of the Canadian police state that has existed, particularly in Toronto, since last summer's G8/G20 summits because, by definition, police states and immigration tribunals do not abide by public opinion. But we can try. There is a Facebook page - Let Alvaro Stay.
So firstly, let’s not dispense with this Rapture nonsense. I repeat, don’t stop believing. This shit is writing itself online. Not only does it perfectly accessorize the first warm, sunny days of spring, it coincides with the long weekend. Can you party like a gay star? And… and, it’s the Victoria Day Long Weekend, so named to mark the old queen elephant’s birthday. You can’t make this stuff up. The first and last three-day blow-out ever, on a Queen’s birthday?!
But, what to pack? Not much, I expect. Toothbrush and floss will likely do. And, to wear? White, of course. The May-long is traditionally set as the days in which your spring and summer wardrobe comes out of the closet and you can start wearing your summer whites without fear of reprimand or fashion citation. And, given Pascal’s Wager, I’ll bet white would be the dress code for meeting Jesus Christ half-way to heaven.
Frankly, even if you do believe – and, come on… seriously – do you honestly believe that any self-respecting omni-present, omni-benevolent, omnipotent being is going to open the door to heaven for a species that hasn’t come to understand the rudimentary concept of haven? If we are to believe anything, let us believe in what Suhail Abualsameed, a community advocate and friend of Orozco, said:
“This is Canada’s moment to prove that we are who we say we are.”
At his initial refugee board hearing in 2006, one of the board members didn't believe that Alvaro was gay. It's like, he made this shit up. What proof did they need? We are gay, and it's times like these that we have something to prove by showing our true and proud colours.
We know people like Harold Camping only too well. He's a joke. A reason to party. Perhaps these right-wing neo-con evangelical geezers might embrace the idea of sanctuary here on earth before offering salvation for the end-is-nigh. If anyone be deported, it should be these zealots, from earth, not a young and talented man who enriches the Canadian and human experience. That is the moral, or immorality of Alvaro Orozco’s story. This shit, sadly, does write itself.
