Listen to Ross and Burbank weekdays on KIRO Radio 97.3 FM
 Ross+Burbank


Dan Savage in new controversy for calling parts of Bible BS

BY Josh Kerns  on April 30, 2012 @ 10:47 am (Updated: 2:11 pm - 4/30/12 )

Seattle sex columnist and gay rights advocate Dan Savage is embroiled in a new controversy after calling parts of the Bible bull---t during a profanity-laced speech at a high school journalism conference in Seattle.

"We can learn to ignore the bull---t in the Bible about gay people the same way we have learned to ignore the bull---t in the Bible about shellfish, about slavery, about dinner, about farming, about menstruation, about virginity, about masturbation. We ignore bull---t in the Bible about all sorts of things," Savage said.

Dozens of students walked out of the speech in opposition, prompting Savage to respond "It's funny, as someone who's on the receiving end of beatings that are justified by the Bible, how pansy-assed some people react when you push back."

His speech and subsequent criticism has drawn sharp criticism. The father of two students in attendance calls Savage a coward and a hypocrite for attacking them for standing up for their own beliefs, especially since the speech was supposed to focus on anti-bullying and tolerance.

"He waited until after they left the room because not only is he a bully he's a coward. He's the one who uses any position of power to beat down and the fact that he's on a presidential panel on anti-bullying he should be removed," Philip Naman, the father of two high school students from Arrowhead Christian Academy in Redlands, CA. told Dori Monson.

"Imagine a keynote speaker at a high school conference telling gay kids that everything they believe is evil and wrong that would never be tolerated so why would a conference invite Dan Savage to stand up there and tell Christian kids that everything they believe is evil and wrong," replied Dori.

Savage has apologized on his blog for describing the walkout as "pansy-assed." But he's not apologizing for what he said.

"I didn't call anyone's religion bull---t. I did say that there is bulls--t "untrue words or ideas" in the Bible. That is being spun as an attack on Christianity. Which is bullshhh, which is untrue. I was not attacking the faith in which I was raised. I was attacking the argument that gay people must be discriminated against-and anti-bullying programs that address anti-gay bullying should be blocked (or exceptions should be made for bullying "motivated by faith") because it says right there in the Bible that being gay is wrong. Yet the same people who make that claim choose to ignore what the Bible has to say about a great deal else. I did not attack Christianity. I attacked hypocrisy. My remarks can only be read as an attack on all Christians if you believe that all Christians are hypocrites. Which I don't believe.

"I cannot believe that he was actually invited to speak to a high school anything," said Naman about the National Scholastic Press Association, which sponsored the convention.

In a statement, the organization called Savage "inappropriate and offensive". And it said the content was unexpected.

"This is not what our organizations expected. In his attempt to denounce bullying, Mr. Savage belittled the faith of others - an action that we do not support. Ridicule of others' faith has no place in our programs, any more than ridicule of the LGBT community would."

Ross and Burbank co-host Luke Burbank says if you listen to the content of the speech, it was actually very thoughtful and well reasoned. But he says Savage made a tactical error.

"In his attempt to be really clear and not dance around the issue and not in any way seem like he's being overly delicate, he uses the word BS. The problem is if you're talking with someone who believes the Bible, the second that you start referring to it as BS, you've lost the ability to really have them hear what you are saying."

Luke, who was raised a devout Christian as well, agrees and says Savage raises a good point.

"There are so many things in the Bible that we as a modern 2012 group of people have realized, particularly stuff in the Old Testament that we aren't going to get particularly hung up on anymore and he's just trying to say 'why is the gay question...why is that the one thing we hold on to?'"

Dave Ross says the offended students who walked out of the speech have a much bigger problem.

"If this kind of speech shocks them, they're going to have trouble making it in journalism...You have to put the most exciting, click producing stuff on the web that you can. If they're going to walk out on a story like this they're not going to go very far in their journalism career."

But Naman says Savage began the speech with overtly sexual comments about birth control and gay sex that were completely inappropriate for a student audience regardless of the controversial nature of his speech, and given his history and reputation should never have been allowed to speak to students in the first place.

"My daughter was there and this guy talks like this? What is wrong with him!?"

By Josh Kerns, My Northwest.com Editor

Josh Kerns, MyNorthwest.com Reporter
Josh Kerns is co-host of KIRO Radio's Seattle Sounds (Saturday nights 7-8) and a digital content producer for MyNorthwest.com.
More Ross and Burbank

MyNorthwest.com - Purpose of Comments statement
Bonneville Media encourages site users to express their opinions by posting comments. Our goal is to maintain a civil dialogue in which readers feel comfortable. At times, the comments can descend to personal attacks. Please do not engage in such behavior. We encourage your thoughtful comments which: have a positive and constructive tone, are on topic, are respectful toward others and their opinions. Bonneville reserves the right to remove comments which do not conform to these criteria.

Comments (107)


  • Add A Comment

  • irony wrote...
    yes he should appologize and then some...
    April 30, 2012 3:46 pm
    he has to eat crow because when he's giving a speech about anti-bullying, he's actually bullying people groups while demanding tolerance. ironic isn't, but that's a liberal for ya.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • Daddy Dennis wrote...
    Any apology will be fake
    April 30, 2012 3:50 pm
    He believes the stuff he said. Guys like Mr. Savage can't sleep at night unless they have a "boogie man" to point at and feel good about themselves. Christianity is Mr. Savage's boogie man.

    He may apologize for the language around kids. I doubt it. He believes this stuff and until he repents we will never get anything but the predictable posing as unpredictable from this guy.

    I encourage all Christians aware of this man to pray for him and show him love when you encounter him. Do not hate this man. If not for the grace of God, that could be you making a fool out of yourself in front of the next generation. Be thankful.

    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • irony wrote...
    maybe he should go over to kazakstan and
    April 30, 2012 3:48 pm
    give a tirade like that about muslims and the quran...they don't just call him sinful but actually behead people.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • cardcarryingdem wrote...
    Savage is a Hack
    April 30, 2012 3:51 pm
    If Dan is going to rally against the Bible he must first do his homework and understand what he is talking about. I do agree that people who use the Bible to rally against Homosexuality are full of it, but his message was very anti-Bible and Anti-Christian. What an arrogant punk! I used to like to read Savage Love in the early days but now Dan is joke and hardly the correct person to be representing the Gay voice. I hope the journalistic lesson for the students is that if you want to make it in journalism, there are better ways to make your point without being a fowl mouth idiot speaking about a book he never read.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • Denco25 wrote...
    Sick Mind
    April 30, 2012 3:54 pm
    What a sick mind. The "anti-bullier" not only bullies Christians, but is vile and vulgar in front of high school students. The only thing worse are the idiot "educators" who invited him to speak. This is but yet another example of how far down our education system has degenerated. Still, these eductor morons have the guts to ask for ever more funding to meet their social agenda.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • Denco25 wrote...
    Fire Him
    April 30, 2012 3:58 pm
    Another example of the people that Obama caters to. Savage is on the President's Commission Against Bullying. Why doesn't Obama have the guts to fire his a..?
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • Chuck Gould wrote...
    Inappropriate remarks made by an inappropriate speaker for a high school audience...
    April 30, 2012 3:59 pm
    Savage's remarks would have been considered controversial on a college campus. (As well as woefully inaccurate about Christianity and the Bible). They aren't controversial for a high school audience, they're entirely inappropriate.

    The craziest group of folks out there have to be those who criticize others for taking the Bible absolutely literally, and then spin around and begin criticizing the Bible itself using the exact same literal interpretation that the have belittled others for adopting. Based on the content of his speech, Savage belongs in exactly that group.

    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • nwskiergirl wrote...
    Ernie and Cardcarryingdem
    April 30, 2012 4:17 pm
    Agreed, good points. Everyone is allowed to have their opinions and express them, regardless of how messed up they might have their facts. However, there is a time and place for different presentation styles. And personally I believe his speech was better suited for a Friday night bar scene and not a high school sanctioned event. Respect your audience and the status you hold in society. Whether as a parent, speaker, president, boss, teacher, religious leader, sports hero, etc. You choose to be in that role, so be mature about it.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • No More wrote...
    Hypocrisy
    April 30, 2012 4:21 pm
    Today’s commentary on the Dave Ross show of a segment presented a opportunity for Mr. Ross and his coworker Luke Burbank to uphold a higher standard of speech but instead of speaking out against a speech given by Dan Savage at a youth convention for young journalist they give into the hate speech that he Dan Savage is speaking out about. They go on to justify his rhetoric without a once of stating the fact that this outrageous speech in itself was an act of hate. It is amazing that Mr. Savage rant against the Bible is not even brought into the context of the many uplifting and clarifying areas in the scriptures that speak out against the very issues of hatred and how much of today’s society speech against hatred is taken from the scriptures themselves but He would justify throwing the whole book away and leave it up to maybe his interpretation of what society should be. Did not Adolf Hitler do the same thing. Even many of those who quote scripture without actually reading it and taking from it that which was opportunistic for their own functions, use it to their advantage to bring on hatred as well. Mr. Ross and Mr. Burbank go on to add that this was well thought out and reasoned. People in Germany said the speeches of Adolph Hitler’s speeches were well and thought out as well and that got us where? Every ounce of the speech that Dave Savage gave was a hate speech. To come back later and to say that he was not speaking out against anyone’s religion in itself show that this man has no morals. His speech was an all-out attack on the Bible and not on individuals who promote hatred. He himself is a hypocrite by speaking out for hatred against others in which the Bible commends as well. The Jews speak about Speech as being compared to an arrow: once the words are released, like an arrow, they cannot be recalled, the harm they do cannot be stopped, and the harm they do cannot always be predicted, for words like arrows often go astray. They also state The person who listens to gossip is even worse than the person who tells it, because no harm could be done by gossip if no one listened to it. It has been said that lashon ha-ra (disparaging speech) kills three: the person who speaks it, the person who hears it, and the person about whom it is told. (Talmud Arachin 15b). It is a sad statement on today’s society when journalism as Mr. Ross and Mr Burbank seem to think that this is news and that they have to justify hatred speech to get a point across. You would think that with the education that these three gentlemen poses’ that they would be able to come up with a better and more effective way to get there point across but instead they chose the lesser means of doing it. It is also sad to say that I had to hear such rubbish. It would be nice to actually turn on the radio today and listen to actual journalist who are seeking to provide truth and not just their own reasoning.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • soo purletiv wrote...
    @ No More
    April 30, 2012 6:58 pm
    The Ross and Burbank show is not about journalism.

    It is an opinion based show, and that is what they do: Give their opinions!

    It is their job to give their opinions, and it is our job to set them straight.... ;-)

    If you are looking for fair and balanced and fact based journalism, you will have to turn over to Rush Limbaugh on their sister station... ;-) ;-) ;-)

    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • kata wrote...
    no...
    April 30, 2012 7:02 pm
    it's "trollpinion". And fact based talk radio would never sell ad space.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • monkeyal wrote...
    Don't worry; it gets worse
    April 30, 2012 7:25 pm
    when trying to find a word or phrase to describe the acts of murder, rape, mayhem, assault, and other acts of physical and mental abuse when committed within the ranks of same-sex partners. Maybe it should be called "bullying" or maybe even "SavageLuv". Let's ask Dan for advice.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }