I was sitting by my mom int he foyer of the church today because I didn't want to go to Sunday School and she was preparing a lesson. As I read wikipedia articles on my phone (I think I was looking at JK Rowling), she thought out loud, "How do we attribute the charitable nature of people to the atonement?" For her lesson, she needed to tie that together.
I suggested that maybe it does not have anything to do with the atonement. Perhaps not everything that is good is a result of the atonement. While the atonement, in Mormon thought, is a wonderful thing, not everything great has to be attributed to it. She didn't buy that and found some sort of connection. (Disclaimer: my mother is a brilliant women and definitely does not fall into any sort of closed-minded Mormon group)
That situation reminded me that Mormons try to tie everything back into the church. Everything can be explained through it because it is God's church, and God created everything. I don't agree with that, of course, but it seems to be the thought process of most LDS members.
I was just looking through a facebook group entitled "The Straights: You're Not In? What... are you Gay?" at the discussion board and encountered the phenomeon again. There are both closed-minded and open-minded comments that are anti-homosexual. Those I considered "open-minded" tried to consider secular evidence that homosexuality is not a learned thing or it is not a choice. However, in the end they had to return to the Church and concluded it must be a choice because God intended that men and women be together.
Situations like that greatly sadden me. Here, we have a chance for greater understanding to happen with some individuals. Yet, they cannot reach it because the Church is holding them back. It is a defeat for progress, understanding, and intellectualism.
I was feeling a loss reading those, but later I happened upon an opinion column in the Salt Lake Tribune entitled "LDS and Gay." That returned me to my usual hopeful mindset. One day, I hope, the Church will escape its homophobia. As I said before, it can only happen when it is no longer afraid of homosexuality.
How does homosexuality threaten the Church? That's a topic for another day.
Sunday, May 25, 2008
Friday, May 23, 2008
McCain and Ellen
Recently, Presidential candidate John McCain went on Ellen. Of course, the news of the California Supreme Court overturning the gay marriage ban came up. This is the short conversation that they had over it:
Ellen makes fantastic points about this. Senator McCain seems to either not be able to or just not rebut her comment, and I think that is very interesting.
However, although I am gay and support equal marriage rights, I support Senator McCain for the presidency. Rather ironic, I know, but, in my opinion, he is more suited for the presidency than Obama or Clinton.
Watching this clip made me think of a routine I watched by Margaret Cho at one point. She was essentially saying that many of these politicians who are against gay marriage are not against it because they feel it is wrong; rather, they are against it because the audience they must appeal to are against it. Quite a frustrating situation, but politics is politics.
From what I gathered in this clip, McCain staved off the debate because it would not be tactful for him to discuss it with Ellen on her show at all. It looked as though he understood exactly what she was saying to him, and there's not really a way that he could disagree. Either his opposition to gay marriage comes from religion or his political base supporters.
Part of me thinks he's against it because he needs to appeal to the far right as much as he can without flipflopping (he is very well-known for crossing party lines despite what the GOP says, and that makes some people on the far right angry). The religious right does not want to see gay marriage legalized in the country. While it has not been a very tangible issue until recently, it hits close to home because it can quarrel with religion. He needs all the votes he can get if he wants to win the White House after President Bush.
I'm not saying that he's going to change his mind if he is elected. I'm just speculating on different reasons why he may be against gay marriage.
Ellen makes fantastic points about this. Senator McCain seems to either not be able to or just not rebut her comment, and I think that is very interesting.
However, although I am gay and support equal marriage rights, I support Senator McCain for the presidency. Rather ironic, I know, but, in my opinion, he is more suited for the presidency than Obama or Clinton.
Watching this clip made me think of a routine I watched by Margaret Cho at one point. She was essentially saying that many of these politicians who are against gay marriage are not against it because they feel it is wrong; rather, they are against it because the audience they must appeal to are against it. Quite a frustrating situation, but politics is politics.
From what I gathered in this clip, McCain staved off the debate because it would not be tactful for him to discuss it with Ellen on her show at all. It looked as though he understood exactly what she was saying to him, and there's not really a way that he could disagree. Either his opposition to gay marriage comes from religion or his political base supporters.
Part of me thinks he's against it because he needs to appeal to the far right as much as he can without flipflopping (he is very well-known for crossing party lines despite what the GOP says, and that makes some people on the far right angry). The religious right does not want to see gay marriage legalized in the country. While it has not been a very tangible issue until recently, it hits close to home because it can quarrel with religion. He needs all the votes he can get if he wants to win the White House after President Bush.
I'm not saying that he's going to change his mind if he is elected. I'm just speculating on different reasons why he may be against gay marriage.
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
Homophobia
I saw this on a friend's facebook and thought it was a good illustration of viewing homophobia from another angle.
He's right, though. It seems a bit ridiculous to imagine the world when homosexuals are the majority since it would throw off population dynamics, growth, etc. But, if you do, then the prejudice against gays hits closer to home. I feel that, while we do not live in a world where homophobia is necessarily encouraged, it's rather ingrained in people's minds and needs to be overcome. I think it stems from two reasons: religion, of course, and its general unfamiliarity with the hoi polloi. In the beginning, though, since religion is always influenced by man (whether it is true or not), I think its unfamiliarity triggered homophobia in many faiths.
Most homosexuals were raised in a heterosexual home since that's the basic way to procreate. So, both orientations are not foreign to us once we reconcile our feelings with reality. I do see where it is a foreign idea to individuals growing up in a "straight" home with no exposure to homosexuality and how it can be such a strange concept. However, much of the fault lies with the parents for not raising that awareness.
It is natural for a person to fear what he does not understand. Were it not, there would be many more entrants to the Darwin Awards. I think a very effective way to cure homophobia is to start young in the home or school and lessen the expectations of a child to feel attractions only for the opposite sex. I'm not saying get rid of prom king and queen, but just predent the idea that there is not only one way to live.
The death of Matthew Shepherd, mentioned in the above video, is absolutely awful. I wonder what drove the assailant to do that, though. Where did he learn to hate so much? Is it really hate, or is it actually fear? Honestly, I think that his hate for gays grew out of his inability to understand it, and that frustrated him to no end. I'm sure his home was closed-minded to other ideas outside of the white picket fence and happy heterosexual family. That makes me so sad.
In my opinion, the true source of homophobia or any hate for gays is the initial fear because it was never understood. Even though I am homosexual, I was afraid of it myself and then hated myself for it. I overcame that hate because I came to an understanding of what it is and that it is not necessarily wrong. When one person is no longer homophobic, he is no longer ignorant of what is happening with others. That is a great thing.
It is a terrible thing that some organizations can push people back into the homophobic mindset. Religion can certainly be one of those things if it, also, is misunderstood. I can think of quite a few individuals that were once welcoming to homosexuals, joined a church, began to fear because of the church's teachings of the consequences, and later went on to hate it again. It's interesting, how that was reversed.
He's right, though. It seems a bit ridiculous to imagine the world when homosexuals are the majority since it would throw off population dynamics, growth, etc. But, if you do, then the prejudice against gays hits closer to home. I feel that, while we do not live in a world where homophobia is necessarily encouraged, it's rather ingrained in people's minds and needs to be overcome. I think it stems from two reasons: religion, of course, and its general unfamiliarity with the hoi polloi. In the beginning, though, since religion is always influenced by man (whether it is true or not), I think its unfamiliarity triggered homophobia in many faiths.
Most homosexuals were raised in a heterosexual home since that's the basic way to procreate. So, both orientations are not foreign to us once we reconcile our feelings with reality. I do see where it is a foreign idea to individuals growing up in a "straight" home with no exposure to homosexuality and how it can be such a strange concept. However, much of the fault lies with the parents for not raising that awareness.
It is natural for a person to fear what he does not understand. Were it not, there would be many more entrants to the Darwin Awards. I think a very effective way to cure homophobia is to start young in the home or school and lessen the expectations of a child to feel attractions only for the opposite sex. I'm not saying get rid of prom king and queen, but just predent the idea that there is not only one way to live.
The death of Matthew Shepherd, mentioned in the above video, is absolutely awful. I wonder what drove the assailant to do that, though. Where did he learn to hate so much? Is it really hate, or is it actually fear? Honestly, I think that his hate for gays grew out of his inability to understand it, and that frustrated him to no end. I'm sure his home was closed-minded to other ideas outside of the white picket fence and happy heterosexual family. That makes me so sad.
In my opinion, the true source of homophobia or any hate for gays is the initial fear because it was never understood. Even though I am homosexual, I was afraid of it myself and then hated myself for it. I overcame that hate because I came to an understanding of what it is and that it is not necessarily wrong. When one person is no longer homophobic, he is no longer ignorant of what is happening with others. That is a great thing.
It is a terrible thing that some organizations can push people back into the homophobic mindset. Religion can certainly be one of those things if it, also, is misunderstood. I can think of quite a few individuals that were once welcoming to homosexuals, joined a church, began to fear because of the church's teachings of the consequences, and later went on to hate it again. It's interesting, how that was reversed.
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