There's been a number of stories lately relating to prejudice against gays. A lot is "Christian" based, though obviously there are many accepting Christians and also gay Christians. Many of the prejudiced are also of course rooted in conservative or right wing movements such as the Tea Party movement.
Here's a few of the stories just from this week:
Alan Keyes says "granting homosexuals the right to marry is like granting plantation owners the right to own slaves."
Alan Keyes: Letting gays marry is like granting ‘right to own slaves’ | The Raw Story
A Christian publishing company is coming out with a book in which faith in Jesus is seen as curing a man of his homosexuality:
Protest planned over book which sees Jesus 'cure' gays - PinkPaper.com
A US based website blames earthquakes in Christchurch, NZ, on gays:
'Despicable': website blames Christchurch quake on gay community
When you add this on to stuff like how NOM was able to come into Iowa and convince voters to oust judges and other events across the nation, I become fearful at times that any progress currently being made will be undone. How does one fight prejudice that is so deeply engrained in people?
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You should be concerned...we all should. Organized religion is about control and in order to control people you have to use fear...gays have been a very effective tool. They think they are in a war. The problem is...the one's fighting the war are the enemy...of this planet and of humanity.
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Okay so the first article is so mind numbingly stupid I don’t even know what to say.
As for the other 2 I say blah, blah, blah, curing “the gay” with Jesus and fags cause earthquakes. I think the bigots need new material cause this shit is getting old.
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yep the US has some sick extreme groups but I think their mouths are bigger than their support.
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Simon, don't underestimate the support. All these organizations are popping up using names like "National Organization for Marriage" that make themselves sound appealing to Christian families that lean toward the conservative side. They are funded by very rich men. Religion is also getting involved. A lot of what happened with Prop 8 in California and gays losing the right to marry there (though still being fought in courts) is because of money from the Mormon church. Someone gave money to Catholic churches in MN to distribute DVDs to its parishioners that were anti-gay marriage.
Before I mentioned the Iowa judges, in case you aren't familiar with it, the basics: The Iowa Supreme Court determined that the Iowa Constitution, which is similar to the US Constitution, did not provide the basis to discriminate who can marry based on same-sex. The ruling was well-written and respected the rights of churches, but three of the judges came up for retention votes. Organizations like NOM came in and spent money on ads to get these judges voted out, with radio ads saying things like, "These judges will take away your rights!" (um they were giving rights, not taking anyone's away!). They instill people with fear though, and unfortunately it was successful. People voted them out, with no regards to any other issues they had ruled on, and this is NOT typical of judges to be ousted like that.
And don't just assume it's U.S. right-wing Christians. Other religions like Muslim extremists can also be dangerous. And be it an African country like Uganda or a place once considered safer like Amsterdam in the Netherlands where home invasion gay bashings recently rose, there is still a lot of scary things going on worldwide.
We can't just be complacent. We need to make sure we are still fighting for equality. I don't know the best ways, but I speak up as I can to make sure people know what's going on.
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They feel the need to stir up religious fervor against us as they are blinded by self righteous ignorance! East is right; Organised religions are just a control mechanism for the masses who refuse to wake themselves up and see the world (and everyone in it) for what it truly is. They are trapped in their own dogma, clinging to anachronistic belief systems and structures.
If they opened their eyes and let go of their prejudices they would see a world full of diversity that they need to embrace!
They all need to take the red pill and wake themselves up!
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Quote:A gay rights activist and Republican presidential hopeful from California says he's filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission alleging that he's being excluded from an upcoming GOP forum in Iowa because of his sexual orientation.
Fred Karger, founder of the gay rights group Californians Against Hate, criticized forum sponsor the Iowa Faith and Freedom Coalition during a news conference Friday [...] In his complaint mailed to the FEC on Thursday, Karger argues the coalition is in effect endorsing the 15 potential presidential candidates it did invite. The forum is scheduled for March 7 at Point of Grace Church in Waukee.
Steve Scheffler, president of the Iowa Faith and Freedom Coalition, called Karger's complaint "specious and utterly without merit." [...] "We are in full compliance with federal campaign regulations governing such events," Scheffler said. [...] Karger said there's a long history of ill will between Scheffler and his group, pointing to an e-mail he received last May as an example.
"You don't care about transparency - you and the radical homosexual community want to harass supporters of real marriage," Scheffler wrote in the e-mail. "Have you studied our past caucuses - you have no chance here in Iowa." [...]
Activist says forum excluding him because he's gay
I am not sure if Karger has any ground to stand on here, but that e-mail comment from Scheffler is sickening. I think the name of the Iowa organization is also another example of the organizations I was talking about earlier. All these organizations are being carefully named and playing into people's ideas of "faith" and "freedom" and telling them what those two words should mean and why they should be "afraid" of losing them.
It's ridiculous, but propaganda can be dangerous, as can someone that gets into a position of power with an agenda (i.e. McCarthy)
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jbrowder24 Wrote:Activist says forum excluding him because he's gay
I am not sure if Karger has any ground to stand on here, but that e-mail comment from Scheffler is sickening. I think the name of the Iowa organization is also another example of the organizations I was talking about earlier. All these organizations are being carefully named and playing into people's ideas of "faith" and "freedom" and telling them what those two words should mean and why they should be "afraid" of losing them.
It's ridiculous, but propaganda can be dangerous, as can someone that gets into a position of power with an agenda (i.e. McCarthy)
That started with Reagan and his buddy Jerry Falwell and his Moral Majority...as though the SOB had anything to do with decency in any sense of the word....but people played into it and the two of them pretty much reversed the sexual revolution of the 60s and 70s...they used AIDS as a tool to do it...they successfully instilled fear into people and after awhile it doesn't even matter how the fear got there..it becomes ingrained and it sets the stage to be easy prey for propaganda.
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votes for judges has a lot to answer for.
Who five years ago would have thought a black man and a woman would be fighting for the White House,I know it's a simplistic way to look at this but I do believe for every gain these extreme party make it only works against them,in the height of all these parties, such as the tea party(cheeky gets,could they not have thought of a different name)who would have thought the don't ask don't tell law would be repealed,TV in the US give these people too much attention,as it makes good news,the USA is a huge place but with only a few nuts, and I strongly believe the nuts are shouting loudly but get slapped down when it's needed.
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I hope you're right Simon.
I think the rise of social media has been a factor though. My grandpa got on facebook, my dad forwards on political stuff that could be disproven with a visit to snopes, I see people I know liking Glenn Beck on facebook... I think it's dangerous that people are getting their "news" be it a cable channel, facebook feed, satellite radio show, whatever from people who are actually commentators... but yet they believe it as fact (which in some cases it is, but often it's not or is twisted to their agenda). I guess it's not regulated the same as regular news in the U.S. since it's not over "public airwaves" and it's a tricky thing with Freedom of Speech, which I do strongly believe in... but it's just so much easier for propaganda to be spread than before. That said, that also means it's easier for us to try to get the truth out there... it's just a matter of if enough people are listening to the right message.
Unfortunately, that might be easier said than done as some of it may boil down to differences beyond our control. There have been numerous studies showing differences between conservatives and liberals.
Quote:Exploring the neurobiology of politics, scientists have found that liberals tolerate ambiguity and conflict better than conservatives because of how their brains work.
In a simple experiment reported todayin the journal Nature Neuroscience, scientists at New York University and UCLA show that political orientation is related to differences in how the brain processes information.
Previous psychological studies have found that conservatives tend to be more structured and persistent in their judgments whereas liberals are more open to new experiences.
Study finds left-wing brain, right-wing brain - latimes.com
Quote:A study to be published next year at University College London suggests that conservative brains are structured differently than the brains of other people. The investigation, led by Geraint Rees, focused on 92 individuals in the U.K. -- 90 students and two members of Parliament.
Specifically, the research shows that people with conservative tendencies have a larger amygdala and a smaller anterior cingulate than other people. The amygdala -- typically thought of as the "primitive brain" -- is responsible for reflexive impulses, like fear. The anterior cingulate is thought to be responsible for courage and optimism. This one-two punch could be responsible for many of the anecdotal claims that conservatives "think differently" from others.
Study: Conservatives have larger "fear center" - War Room - Salon.com
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