Holy question

[Burt]

Originally Posted by Gatac

I seem to recall that a similar debate sunk the Abortion thread...so guys, please, settle down. You're not action heroes locked in a mortal struggle.

And I'd really like to debate this further. So here goes my part:

Regarding Christian acceptance of Homosexuality, this is a rather sad case of the people who make the most noise being heard. Yes, Christianity has its extremists, and they're shouting really loud. If there's something to lament here it's that the many decent Christians never seem to get on TV and say that all the "religious" guys on there are blatantly pandering to the extreme right wing. I don't know if the majority of Christians would come out to say that they outright support homosexuality, but I'm sure most of them do not actively care either way. Live and let live.

While I agree that homosexuality is how you're born (or become at a young age), the subculture does seem to gather what I've often seen in minorities, real or imagined: persecution complex. I'm not saying it happens to everyone, I'm not saying that gay people are perfectly safe everywhere, but alas, thou doth protest too much, occasionally. It's what made Feminism and Black Power nearly unbearable to me. At a certain point, drawing attention to your (legitimate) concerns becomes simply drawing attention to yourself. [If I was mean and cranky, I'd point out how insufferably stupid many ads these days portray caucasian males, as if empowering women requires that their husbands/boyfriends become idiots. I don't call this enlightened.]

Tolerance cuts both ways. You do what you want as long as you let me do what I want. Trying to cast criticism of your position as persecution of your perceived minority status is wrong.

Gatac

It's funny, because I never really cared either way what people thought. Never bothered me. Some friends and family pointed out how there were...people who were less than tolerent of being Gay around, but I never really noticed it or if I did - care. Then I started to learn more about The whole Gay rights thing and a lot of points and areas with some religons clashed rather hard. And the more I think about it, the more it annoys me. The Christian Church and Islamic Council of Britain were very insistant on their views against Civil Partnerships.
I know Gatac, you don't mean any harm by what you're saying, and to be honest all the Feminism and Black Power stuff does start to grate on ( I mean, I'm not even sure what terms are ok to say anymore!) and god forbid I ever turn in to a person that becomes 'minority-centred', sidebar:
I read a letter that a guy wrote in to a magazine where he wanted all shops to chage the name of 'Faggots' (A type of Welsh food) because it's rude to Gay people. Thats just too, too far.
But the point is, I've never been a fan of Religon. I seen certain Religons really mess up two friends. Starting off on that base, I find myself, everyday, reading in Books, Newspapers, Internet, etc of different Religon's 'Problems' against not just myself but anyone who is different. How they oppose getting married, or speak out against how Gay people with corrupt others. And you know what I find that it annoys me. What I find amazing, is how Religon is still so...'protected', when it comes to a person with views and critisim, yet it's ok for a mainstream church it come out with the statments like they do against a whole group of people. And yes some people will say the statments shouldn't be misunderstood etc. But even the basic words they use, 'Sin', 'morally disordered'. I really don't need to be hearing these things about me. It's just not Cricket.