The news that the Boy Scouts Of America will allow gay youths as members is a half step, as it still bans gay youths once they reach 18, and gay scout leaders, and that will have to be adjusted over time.
But it is extremely disturbing to see Religion being utilized to promote prejudice, bias, hate and discrimination against gays, as if they choose to be gay!
So we see the Mormon Church, the Catholic Church, and evangelical Christians employing very “Unchristian” values, and also Orthodox Jews and Orthodox Muslims, refusing to recognize how many of each religious group are gay, including some of the protesting leaders, who are “in the closet”, and are true hypocrites!
And it is disturbing that one family, as an example, with five sons, is removing all of them from scouting, as, supposedly, the children asked to be removed, and if that is so, that means they have been taught to hate and to despise gay people, when they will have to cope with plenty of them over a lifetime!
And who can be sure that some of these kids, or others, are secretly gay, and totally paranoid and fearful of being found out, and might cause them to commit suicide because of their guilt and their burden that they know they will NOT be accepted by their own parents and other family members?
This is all very sick and disturbing, but after all, we all know that elements of organized Christianity were infamous for nativism, racism, sexism, and antisemitism in american history! So what else is new?
Fortunately, the number of young people who accept gays is a clear majority and growing, and organized religion is losing adherents rapidly, so when the more devout and older bigots in society pass from the scene, we will have a much more tolerant and open minded society, free of their prejudice, hatred, and bias!
Again, confusing acceptance with tolerance. The family and kids that wanted to be removed from the Scouts are not hurting anyone, they are not blowing up the Scouts, or ranting and marching on, they just made a choice, leave. In other words, they tolerate what the Scouts has done, but they don’t necessarily have to accept and condone a lifestyle which according to their personal moral values is based on a sinful act. I personally do not agree, but I cannot condemn them for their moral values that condemns certain acts. They left and will live their life without bothering anyone, that is tolerance, forcing them to accept is on the other hand intolerance.
It’s a small step but a step in the right direction.
Considering the fact that homosexuality is an orientation that some people are born with, I also believe in acceptance of them.
http://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2012/12/11/scientists-may-have-finally-unlocked-puzzle-of-why-people-are-gay
Too bad we are not tolerant with 20 weeks unborn children. How many hundreds of thousands of lives would be saved.
Sighs and rolls eyes in disgust @ Juan.
Maybe my liberal “friends” will understand someday where I come from.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VdwKpVlaNBQ
“All that I ask of God
is that I will not be indifferent to suffering,
that I will not come to the moment of my death
having failed to do what I could.
All that I ask of God
is that I will not be indifferent to injustice,
that I will not merely turn the other cheek
after the first has been clawed.
All that I ask of God
is that I will not be indifferent to war;
it is a terrible monster that tramples
the people’s innocence.
All that I ask of God
is that I will not be indifferent to deceit;
if a traitor cannot be stopped from having his way,
at least let it not be soon forgotten.
All that I ask of God
is that I will not be indifferent about the future,
not despairing like those who abandon their home
to make a new life in a foreign culture.
All that I ask of God
is that I will not be indifferent to war;
it is a terrible monster that tramples
the people’s innocence.”
By Leon Gieco
I am pro-choice because I believe in letting women control their own fertility and decide for themselves when they are ready to be a parent.
I was raised Southern Baptist. When I was in my 20s, I and my parents fell out with Southern Baptist beliefs and found our spiritual home in Unitarian Universalism.
As far as politics, like my parents, I am mostly moderate. While I am mostly moderate, like my parents, I also tend to lean slightly left (according to the US spectrum). Therefore, I consider myself to be a moderate progressive.
Anyway, my stance on abortion is this: I think it should be the woman’s right to choose and it should be legal, safe, and rare.
As for the original topic concerning gays, here is my belief: All people are created equal. End of discussion.
Princess Leia, I find it fascinating that you have become a Unitarian, which I consider the most tolerant and open minded Christian religious group! And I totally agree with your description of abortion as legal, safe, and rare!
From my experiences with the Unitarian faith, I’ve learned that many Unitarian Universalists refer to the denomination as “post-Christian†– that is, coming out of a fully Christian heritage (both the Unitarians and the Universalists were Christians, though not quite “orthodox†ones) but no longer as a group identifying with any particular Christian message about Jesus or God or salvation.
Unitarian Universalists take such labels as Christian and Buddhist as identifiers of PERSONAL belief, philosophy, theology, practice, or committment – rather than as identifiers of the denomination, which can include many different personal identifiers.