Just read a really dreadful news article about gays and lesbians across Africa being persecuted , raped , and killed. So ...
*climbing onto the soapbox*
Seems some people have yet to understand that silly notion, where it's immoral , to kill people for their sexual orientation.
I use the word orientation and not preference, because preference implies that there is choice. And having learnt a small amount about genetics in my years at University, I have come to the conclusion that this is , unfortunately, one of those things that genetics and not environment determines the most.
I say it's unfortunate, because I believe that given a choice , a great many people would not choose a life of persecution , pain and suffering. I am certain no-one would choose to be different in such a way as to induce pure unadulterated hatred.
Being male or female , is about so much more than just the bits that come with your body. We know this for a fact. There are trans-gender people , whose brains are one gender, and their bodies another. Sexual attraction , orientation and gender is a part of the human make-up that we are only just touching the surface of. We have no idea how it really all works.
I believe the same about sexual orientation. And it is not a simple thing, people do not simply fall on either side of a distinct line. There are in my opinion varying 'shades' of 'straightness' and 'gayness'. Mostly dictating the level to which we are prepared to deny our instincts and hormones.
Now, there are several psychology papers out there , all the way from those radical studies in the 60's that border on porn, right up to the surveys conducted by condom manufacturers in recent years. And they all point to the same thing. There is very likely , no such thing as a completely straight person. Most people are at least somewhat slightly attracted to a person of the SAME sex, at least once in their lives.
People are either too young to understand it and deal with it emotionally when it happens as a young person, or too brainwashed to appreciate the normality of it , if it happens to them later in life. Or they write it off to being 'tempted' by the devil.
They get scared - and if they are even mildly religious ( ahem , i.e. brainwashed) they start praying , either to be forgiven, or to be cured, or for both.
I see all around me , in a 'first' world country- that this society at least has grown past the point of caring what you do in the privacy of your own home. They have at least accepted generally in principle that it is wrong to prejudice a person based on their sexual orientation. The problem is, they are still quietly confident that their 'god' is the one who will do the judging, and they believe fervently that being gay is wrong. They may even want to act bigoted , but they can't because society has done a full 180 on this matter, and it is now totally unacceptable to do so.
Granted , over here the gay community have it somewhat better than their counterparts over in Uganda , where the law is on the side of the bigots. But it's still there - that undercurrent of smug judgement .Not to mention the openly 'homophobic' politicians catering to their constituents.
I wish the bigots feared their mythical god enough to understand that "turn the other cheek", and "love your neighbour as yourself" if taken literally mean that beating up gays and lesbians is wrong. And that hating them is wrong too.
But then again , when you get to pick and choose which scripture is meant to be taken literally , and which is not - where do you draw the line ? Faith is a bad thing to rely on , because it's strange how some people of faith always end up with an almighty father god that strangely mirrors their own petty dislikes and fears. I am reminded of a quote from Anne Lamott ..." you can safely assume you’ve created God in your own image when it turns out God hates all the same people you do."
Having no religion is the best , I believe . Just plain old ethics , where interfering in another's personal rights , liberties and freedoms is wrong, because we as a society have collectively deemed it so. No magical wonderland to work towards , just plain old simple personal responsibility. You hurt people, you pay the price now by having to deal with the consequences of your actions. Plain and simple.
I like that world , where we just do the right thing , simply because we know it's wrong not to. And what's right and wrong is decided by how much it hurts our fellow man. Where we care enough about ALL people not to want to hurt them. Where we are not motivated by fear. Fear of what we don't want to know about ourselves , fear of how our perceptions may be wrong, fear of our dearest 'truths' being ripped from us as fraud , or fear of going to hell, which is admittedly the most ridiculous of the lot - and also sadly, the most widely held.
*Climbing off soapbox*
Ok - I've ranted it out - I feel better now ...
*climbing onto the soapbox*
Seems some people have yet to understand that silly notion, where it's immoral , to kill people for their sexual orientation.
I use the word orientation and not preference, because preference implies that there is choice. And having learnt a small amount about genetics in my years at University, I have come to the conclusion that this is , unfortunately, one of those things that genetics and not environment determines the most.
I say it's unfortunate, because I believe that given a choice , a great many people would not choose a life of persecution , pain and suffering. I am certain no-one would choose to be different in such a way as to induce pure unadulterated hatred.
Being male or female , is about so much more than just the bits that come with your body. We know this for a fact. There are trans-gender people , whose brains are one gender, and their bodies another. Sexual attraction , orientation and gender is a part of the human make-up that we are only just touching the surface of. We have no idea how it really all works.
I believe the same about sexual orientation. And it is not a simple thing, people do not simply fall on either side of a distinct line. There are in my opinion varying 'shades' of 'straightness' and 'gayness'. Mostly dictating the level to which we are prepared to deny our instincts and hormones.
Now, there are several psychology papers out there , all the way from those radical studies in the 60's that border on porn, right up to the surveys conducted by condom manufacturers in recent years. And they all point to the same thing. There is very likely , no such thing as a completely straight person. Most people are at least somewhat slightly attracted to a person of the SAME sex, at least once in their lives.
People are either too young to understand it and deal with it emotionally when it happens as a young person, or too brainwashed to appreciate the normality of it , if it happens to them later in life. Or they write it off to being 'tempted' by the devil.
They get scared - and if they are even mildly religious ( ahem , i.e. brainwashed) they start praying , either to be forgiven, or to be cured, or for both.
I see all around me , in a 'first' world country- that this society at least has grown past the point of caring what you do in the privacy of your own home. They have at least accepted generally in principle that it is wrong to prejudice a person based on their sexual orientation. The problem is, they are still quietly confident that their 'god' is the one who will do the judging, and they believe fervently that being gay is wrong. They may even want to act bigoted , but they can't because society has done a full 180 on this matter, and it is now totally unacceptable to do so.
Granted , over here the gay community have it somewhat better than their counterparts over in Uganda , where the law is on the side of the bigots. But it's still there - that undercurrent of smug judgement .Not to mention the openly 'homophobic' politicians catering to their constituents.
I wish the bigots feared their mythical god enough to understand that "turn the other cheek", and "love your neighbour as yourself" if taken literally mean that beating up gays and lesbians is wrong. And that hating them is wrong too.
But then again , when you get to pick and choose which scripture is meant to be taken literally , and which is not - where do you draw the line ? Faith is a bad thing to rely on , because it's strange how some people of faith always end up with an almighty father god that strangely mirrors their own petty dislikes and fears. I am reminded of a quote from Anne Lamott ..." you can safely assume you’ve created God in your own image when it turns out God hates all the same people you do."
Having no religion is the best , I believe . Just plain old ethics , where interfering in another's personal rights , liberties and freedoms is wrong, because we as a society have collectively deemed it so. No magical wonderland to work towards , just plain old simple personal responsibility. You hurt people, you pay the price now by having to deal with the consequences of your actions. Plain and simple.
I like that world , where we just do the right thing , simply because we know it's wrong not to. And what's right and wrong is decided by how much it hurts our fellow man. Where we care enough about ALL people not to want to hurt them. Where we are not motivated by fear. Fear of what we don't want to know about ourselves , fear of how our perceptions may be wrong, fear of our dearest 'truths' being ripped from us as fraud , or fear of going to hell, which is admittedly the most ridiculous of the lot - and also sadly, the most widely held.
*Climbing off soapbox*
Ok - I've ranted it out - I feel better now ...
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