much respect...
again i would like to thank everyone for their well thought out responses. i appreciate everyone giving their opinions on the topic.
but although i have remarks for everyone i'd just like to address doggystyle82 for a moment.
my brotha i see that you are strong in your religious conviction which i am very impressed by. but i think that you may have viewed my posts and the original question or comment that started this thread as trying to force my views on others.
that was not my intention.
before i begin i would ask that you be just as respectful to me and the others posting...those you agree with and those you don't...because i will be respectful to you. not because i feel that i have to...but when discussing intellectual topics such as these...i find it is much easer to be open to others thoughts and beliefs. and debate such issues without accusatory tones to our writing. when we write in anger...those are the quickest ways to get a thread closed. i am hoping that we can be civil.
in any case, i am not out to change how you think. i am in no way asking you or anyone else to love homosexuality, abortion, sexism, racism etc. that is not my intention. but in taking my Civil Rights Movement class, seeing that America Undercover, and seeing hate interacted on my campus and in my own life. i began to put two and two together. what i have noticed is that hate is ciclical (sp?). each ism and phobia is intertwined with one another.
when a white person for instance spits "nigger" at a black person...we immediately get up in arms. but if that black person spits "faggot" at a gay person...it is almost like that is acceptable.
my question has been all along...how does one oppressed group justify their oppressive actions against another oppressed group?
the use of the bible *and i do not say that i am a scholar by any means* has been used to justify all types of oppression. i am sure we can agree on that. it has been used to justify slavery, sexism, racism, elitism, classism, all holocausts, etc. so are those uses of the bible "bad" but when used to oppress homosexuals then that means its okay? i don't understand that kind of thinking.
but going back to the original thought process. i posted this topic because of the America Undercover that I had been watching.
my question again...bringing us again back to the topic...was basically... if our thoughts, words, and sometimes deeds about any group are similar to those who would cause us harm because of our skin color or ethnicity...then what does that say about us?
we have gotten onto the homosexuality topic a little more than i hoped because this topic is much bigger than our acceptance or hatred of homosexuals. this is also about how we view other people of color, women who have abortions, sexism, classism, racism etc.
how do we justify our anger with a group who would just as soon have us killed for our color...when we have similar beliefs about other groups of people.
i also did a search in a couple of forums about homosexuality. and i can say that some of the things that i read were disturbing, hurtful, and sad. but those were my feelings from someone elses opinion...of which i respect.
i understand that you my brotha are a strict conservative christian who has great love of his religion and i respect that. i did find it unsettling that such things as bestiality, pedophillia, and necrophillia were mentioned in the same context as homosexuality. but i recognize that these are on the same level in your opinion...which i respect but highly disagree with.
i have read many of your posts in the past and i can tell that you are on fire for your beliefs. but again i ask as i respect you...i would hope you would respect me and the others on this thread and use your vast knowledge and no-nonsense style to impart wisdom like honey and not like vinegar.
i would like to ask again...to everyone that we think about this in a broader sense. true homophobia is a topic of discussion in how one group oppresses another but there is a broader scope to this topic.
i have so much more to say but i will sit back and read your opinions again. thank you for the wonderful intellectual discussion...and this goes to those i agree with and those that i don't.
peace,
lastpoet
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