It wouldn't be any trouble to scroll down, of course, but I decided to post the comment in its entirety.
Anonymous said...
So you want us to leave you the f--alone, eh? Then why do you force us to witness your displays of "gayness" (i.e. TV shows, store displays, parades, T-shirt, "pride" events, indoctrination of children in public schools, indoctrination of employees, forcing taxpayers to pay for your benefits, go through "diversity training," etc. etc.)And yes, you are forcing it on the rest of us; if we don't comply, you call us a "bigot." But you go on fooling yourself that you're somehow "tolerant." What a joke.
I'm doing this because, Swear To Dog, I had a very similar conversation about this subject just a few days ago.
Believe it or not, some of my best friends are conservatives, and some of them even fit into the Holy Terror mode about which I rant all the time. We get along just fine, personally, and we often get into "enthusiastic" discussions about our opposing views on virtually everything. Frankly, heated political and philosophical arguments are, for me, just about as much fun as a fellow can have and keep his clothes on.
Anyway, last week I was chatting and having a few beers with one of my righty friends, Bob.
"Look, J.T.," Bob said. "I don't have a problem with what those homos do in their own bedrooms, and I kinda see your point when you talk about 'mind your own business,' but there's gotta be a limit. It's one thing to live like a queer, but it's another thing to brag about it and expect people to put up with your shit. All those gay pride parades and 'we're here, we're queer, get over it,' that kind of thing."
"Well," I said, "they seem to be proud of who they are, and they're not afraid of admitting it. Whether you think they're perverts or not, they want to be treated like norman human beings."
"But they're not normal. It's abberant behavior."
"That's your opinion."
"They choose this deviant lifestyle..."
"I don't know a single homosexual who says he or she chose to be gay," I said. "They've all said being gay is just who they are. Who they were born to be."
Bob said, "I could show you studies that say gay people choose to be gay."
I said, "And for every study you showed me, I could show you one that says just the opposite. Anyway, it doesn't matter. Whether gay people choose it or are born gay, they want to be treated like 'normal' people. And normal people are proud of who they are and they want other people to treat them like normal people. That means marriage benefits, that means no discrimination, that means having a 'gay pride' bumpersticker on their cars."
"Okay, smart guy," Bob said. "Gay people say they want to be treated like normal people, but why do they try to push their gay agenda down peoples' throats? They talk about how they want to be left alone, but why do they shove being gay in our faces if they want us to leave them alone?"
"Like I said, it's probably because they're proud of who they are and they don't want other people to treat them like shit for it. They don't necessarily want you to like them, but they want you to respect who they are, whether it's a lifestyle choice or a gay gene, and as long as they're not actually hurting you, they want you to just let them be."
Bob drained his bottle of beer and ordered two more. "They want to have their cake and eat it too," he said. "They want respect but they're not respecting my right to be offended or disgusted by them."
"Are you a Christian," I asked.
"You know I am."
"You've got the fish emblem on your car and bumper stickers that say things like, 'Honk if you love Jesus,' and 'In Case Of Rapture, This Car May Be Unmanned.'"
"Absolutely. I just said I'm a Christian," said Bob.
"You've got a Bible on your coffee table and pictures of Jesus in your house and you're proud of your faith."
"Right."
"Being a Christian is part of your identity. Whether you were born into it, or whether you chose Christianity, it's part of who you are."
"Of course. Wait a minute..."
"If someone were to tell you he thought Christians were depraved and reactionary and that most of the world's problems were caused by Christians, you'd be offended."
"You're damned straight I would, but J.T...."
"If someone told you he found your Bible and your bumper stickers and your pictures of Jesus offensive and you were trying to shove your faith into his face, you'd stand up for yourself, right?"
"J.T., that's something completely..."
"Answer the question. If someone said, 'Your flaunting your Christianity, your promoting your Christian agenda is disgusting,' you wouldn't want to hide it, would you?"
"No, I wouldn't."
"You'd want to show it off. Even if you knew you could never make this person like you or your faith, you'd say you were at least entitled to be who you are, and that includes being proud of your bumper stickers and your pictures of Jesus and talking about your Christianity."
"You're right about that. But there's a difference between being a Christian and being gay."
"And that is? For the purposes of being proud of who you are, despite what other people, right or wrong, might think of you, what's the difference?"
Bob took a long sip of his beer. He said, "Let me get back to you on that."
He hasn't yet.
No comments:
Post a Comment