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talkpoliticsImagine if you will that you were born back in the times when the Old Testament was being written.
There was no David Bowie, no Elton John, and no Ellen DeGeneres. And there was no scientific evidence that people were born gay. Exactly how then could you consider the people of your time who were writing the bible to be hateful of gays? Homosexual sex was simply an act people chose to indulge in.
Now imagine you're living in the dark age of 1970. There are no openly gay celebrities or politicians. Just a few years earlier the New York Times wrote an editorial demanding that President Johnson fire a man in his administration simply because he was gay ("sexual deviant"). There is no scientific evidence that people are born gay, and in fact the American Psychological Association considers being gay to be a mental disorder. Do you consider the people of your time (1970) who are against homosexual acts to be hateful? (Note: you can't use the fact that some people are born gay because that is not a known scientific fact to you, a person living in the year 1970).
Now imagine you're not living but instead went back in time to September 1996. The phrase "lifestyle choice" was still being used. President Bill Clinton has just signed the Defense of Marriage act, 3 years after signing Don't Ask Don't Tell. Do you, having gone back to the year 1996, consider Bill Clinton to be a hate-filled bigoted leader?
They are creatures of their surroundings, as am I, as are you.
Not everyone goes to college. Some don't want to, some aren't smart enough, and a lot of people can't afford it. And a lot of people don't have liberal friends or post in political forums full of liberals. This is to say a lot of people don't have the same experiences as you. They haven't had the same discussions as you, haven't been exposed to the same ideas as you, as often as you have. Do you consider this when you pronounce them hate filled bigots?
There was no David Bowie, no Elton John, and no Ellen DeGeneres. And there was no scientific evidence that people were born gay. Exactly how then could you consider the people of your time who were writing the bible to be hateful of gays? Homosexual sex was simply an act people chose to indulge in.
Now imagine you're living in the dark age of 1970. There are no openly gay celebrities or politicians. Just a few years earlier the New York Times wrote an editorial demanding that President Johnson fire a man in his administration simply because he was gay ("sexual deviant"). There is no scientific evidence that people are born gay, and in fact the American Psychological Association considers being gay to be a mental disorder. Do you consider the people of your time (1970) who are against homosexual acts to be hateful? (Note: you can't use the fact that some people are born gay because that is not a known scientific fact to you, a person living in the year 1970).
Now imagine you're not living but instead went back in time to September 1996. The phrase "lifestyle choice" was still being used. President Bill Clinton has just signed the Defense of Marriage act, 3 years after signing Don't Ask Don't Tell. Do you, having gone back to the year 1996, consider Bill Clinton to be a hate-filled bigoted leader?
They are creatures of their surroundings, as am I, as are you.
Not everyone goes to college. Some don't want to, some aren't smart enough, and a lot of people can't afford it. And a lot of people don't have liberal friends or post in political forums full of liberals. This is to say a lot of people don't have the same experiences as you. They haven't had the same discussions as you, haven't been exposed to the same ideas as you, as often as you have. Do you consider this when you pronounce them hate filled bigots?
