The New Republic has easily demonstrated just how ridiculous The Washington Post's book review of the new Dan Savage is to claim that “reconciliation is at the heart of everything Savage writes and says.”
In "The Waning Power of Dan Savage," Daniel D'Addario dismisses the new book as "a very public act of self-love." Later, he explained "The nadir of American Savage comes when Savage prints a one-act play called 'Jesus and the Huge A--hole,' about religious objectors to Obamacare." Jesus swears like a Savage:
It was occasioned by a Philadelphia sandwich-shop owner who suggested he would need to raise prices due to the health-care law, an event even the most ardent Obamacare partisan will probably think of as a footnote to history. In the play, Jesus lists various Christian teachings, then asks: “[D]oes any of this shit ring a bell? Any of it, you stupid asshole?”
One has cause to wonder if one person who didn’t already support Savage’s own causes could possibly be convinced by his scorn.
This sounds like a rerun of last October's column attacking conservative Christian blogger and activist Peter LaBarbera, who had tweeted about the founder of Jimmy John's sandwich shops saying Obamacare would cost him 50 cents a sandwich:
JESUS: "You are an asshole."
PETER: "Excuse me, Jesus?"
JESUS: "Are you deaf? I said, 'YOU ARE AN ASSHOLE.' You're seriously standing there bitching about having to pay a little bit more for a sandwich?"
PETER: "You don't understand, Jesus, why should I have to pay for—"
JESUS: "Shut the fuck up. I was crucified for your sins and all I asked in return was for you people to be nice to each other—"
PETER: "But—"
JESUS: "Shut the fuck up, Peter. All I asked was for your people to be nice to each other. And you're telling me that you're not willing to pay fifty cents more for a fucking sandwich so that the guy who made it for you—and his kids—can go see a doctor? You're not a Christian."
PETER: "But I go to church, Jesus, and I hate gay people so hard!"
JESUS: "Not good enough, Peter, not nearly good enough. Stop bothering me and go worship Thor or Mars or Zeus instead, okay? I don't want you calling yourself a Christian. You're a dick."
PETER: "I can't believe Jesus just called me a dick."
JESUS: "Yeah, well, you are a dick. I sacrificed my life for you and you can't sacrifice a bag of chips for the sandwich guy? Or scrounge up the extra fifty fucking cents? Dick."
PETER: "But Jesus!"
JESUS: "Love one another as I have loved you, do unto others as you would have them do unto you, take care of the poor, take care of the sick, give away all that you have and follow me—does any of this shit ring a bell, you stupid asshole?"
PETER: "Okay! Okay! I'm sorry! I'll go worship Thor!"
The Post and its reviewer Chandler Burr ought to apologize to Post readers and print a correction. How wrong can they be about Savage the reconciler? D'Addario was also disappointed that Savage repeated his 2011 demand that Herman Cain perform oral sex on him:
If Cain is so truly irrelevant, why does Savage devote himself to the man? Is it really worth laying out a “Modest Proposal”-style premise whereby Cain could choose to be gay and service Savage? “Show us how it’s done,” Savage writes. “Suck my dick.” In place of argument, Savage offers insult. Is this any better than the low blows his opponents offer?
