Reply #214: I think your analysis is a little simplistic [View All]

[Merope215]

There are plenty of things I don't like at all that I "support" - if you pay taxes, you're paying for the war in Iraq. I strongly oppose that war, like everyone else here does (I think), but I still pay my taxes, even though I also go to anti-war protests.

As far as gay people go, I really wish there was something I could do to make the fundies cut it out, because I don't think it's acceptable to treat anyone that way for any reason, let alone whom someone loves. But sincere belief is not a choice, just as sexual orientation isn't a choice, and as long as I'm not hurting people I shouldn't feel like I need to apologize for who I am just as GLBT people shouldn't feel like they need to apologize for themselves.

And of course "their lives MATTER," as though I or anyone else has the authority to judge that. Everyone's lives matter. It's my personal belief that the Christian God is just another manifestation of the truth all people seek, regardless of the framework they use, and no more or less valid than the Goddess, Enlightenment, Allah, or the wisdom, kindness, and compassion to which most atheists aspire. My particular worship system is part of who I am, but I don't think that means anyone else is less than me or going to hell or whatever. And though my theological views are perhaps not the same as many DU Christians, the ones on this board aren't the "Christians" with the "God Hates Fags" signs. That kind of behavior is disgusting, and I don't need to be an atheist to think so. You're blaming the wrong people here.

It seems like your attitude stems from a sincere sense of outrage and concern for people who have been abused by people calling themselves Christians while adhering only to the narrowest and most mean-spirited parts of a book that was written in large part by a bunch of nomads millennia ago and translated by dead white men with an axe to grind. People who try to follow the spirit of Jesus's teachings are also outraged and concerned for those people who can be demeaned and belittled by fundies. But the money I give to my parish church goes directly into social-justice work, including the soup kitchen, and I often see people from there at the gay-rights rallies I go to. And that's a Catholic church. We work really hard on those issues because we think they matter a great deal. I think the best way to try to be "understanding and forgiving" of GLBT people, as you put it, is to "understand" that there isn't anything they need to be forgiven for.

So please...we're not the enemy. And all of us on DU have much bigger fish to fry than one another. Peace.