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"Good and decent people" don't go around deliberately inciting hatred and violence against other people.
It would be "normal" for you to pee standing up, but not for me.
How does that change the meaning of the word "normal"?
You used the phrase "currently defined" which suggests that you are aware that the meaning has been defined differently in the past.
Marriage was also a man and several wives. Kidnapping virgin girls from another tribe. A property agreement between a father and his daughter's future husband. Having sex then agreeing to live together etc. Marriage meant a man could rape his wife with no legal consequences.
"Inciting hatred" makes one person responsible for the actions and attitudes of another and is simply a leftist's preferred method of silencing opponents. Last I heard, in America it was still a Constitutionally protected right to hate another person or group. Note liberals are not arrested for hating Christians and Southerners.
You are very correct that marriage has been defined differently in the past and still is in other parts of the world. By our current standards of "normal" and "decent" these definitions fail to protect the interests of women and children as well as the larger society.
As for your method of urination, I don't base my most important relationships on the elimination of bodily waste.
What is normal cannot be one thing for one group and something else for another unless the word has no meaning. You also cannot change the meaning of the word marriage which is currently defined as a union between one man and one woman to include same sex unions without changing the meaning of that word. Taking the meaning away from the word "normal" and redefining "marriage" is the means by which gays hope to co-opt the normalcy and respectability provided by marriage to the detriment of those who have built their lives and most treasured personal relationships around the institution which is defined by that word.
Um, you do know the meaning of marriage has changed countless times throughout history right?
And where did you get the definition of marriage only being one man and one woman? Who has the authority to define words and ban their change?
You are very correct that marriage has been defined differently in the past and still is in other parts of the world. By our current standards of "normal" and "decent" these definitions fail to protect the interests of women and children as well as the larger society.
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Who is "our"? The majority of the civilized 1st world is far ahead of the United States on this front, so I'm assuming our = the US?
44 years ago the US considered interracial marriage immoral and indecent (in fact, according to latest polls in Mississippi, many people still do).
I have an opinion and suddenly I'm "not well informed" .. epic
Back to the topic at hand ..
"Does homophobia really mean hating gays?"
um .. NO .. Homophobia is a word that gets thrown around by those who would act out irrationally when someone doesn't agree with the gay agenda.
Every time I see the word itself, I can already bet that I'll be treated to an array of unscientific rhetoric .. by people who would jam the word down the throats of others because their opinion is so much more important.
Homophobia has come to mean that the discourse should never be taken seriously .. or even at all for that matter.
Homophobia, not too unlike the word racism, has been overused and abused, by so many agenda driven hardheads, that it's lost it's impact .. it's a watered down element in the bowl of irony .. it's a worthless thing and should be left to it's muse.
The arguments are as old and tired as the arguments for global warming .. no science, no facts .. just feelings and wishes from people wanting acceptance, but yet unwilling to accept the opinions of others on the matter ..
The funniest part of this whole thing is that both straights and gays wander around in the dark, looking for answers .. here's a bit of news .. Gays are just as clueless as straights are when it comes to the choices of the human race ..
I agree with every point here. My thread was intended to point out cases where homophobia really is an issue. Disagreeing with homosexuality is fine. The case where I don't believe the term is being overused or abused at all is in the case of rape and murder in other countries, that are given out as direct penalties for homosexuality. In that case I think homophobia would be the appropriate term. What do you think? (I am really interested in your opinion--not trying to be sarcastic or provocative.)
Really - gay people can learn to be gay at age 3 or 4? How exactly would they do that?
You would be shocked to learn just what a 4 year old can learn .. study up on it sometime .. you may learn something .. about kids, and .. about yourself
According to Rowland Miller's Intimate Relationships text, the propinquity effect can be defined as: "the more we see and interact with a person, the more likely he or she is to become our friend or intimate partner." This effect is very similar to the mere exposure effect in that the more a person is exposed to a stimulus, the more the person likes it; however, there are a few exceptions to the mere exposure effect.
The mere exposure effect, also known as the familiarity principle, states that the more we are exposed to something, the more we come to like it. This applies equally to both objects and people (Miller, 2006). The social allergy effect occurs when a person's annoying habits grow worse over time, instead of growing more fond of his or her idiosyncrasies.
I'm of the opinion, after reading many different opinions and articles on the subject, that being "gay" is a learned behaviour ..
Are you arguing that all sexual orientations are learned or just homosexuality? Is heterosexuality learned or inherent?
How about calling people, who believe homosexuality is wrong, NORMAL? That's what we were called up until the last 20 years or so.
Sex was made pleasurable for procreation. Use all ya'lls psycho-babble you want to, you are still wrong. Everything ya'll say in support of homosexuality is true in adultry, and it is wrong too.
Adultery is wrong not because you're having sex but because you're lying to your spouse and being secretive. You're breaking a vow. There's nothing inherently dishonest or secretive about homosexuality, and there's no vow being broken if you are not engaging in homosexual relations outside of a marriage.
So you are telling me you learned to be straight?!?!
So you got up one day and said "I am going to like women! YIIIIPEEEE!!"
I am also straight and I believe I was born this way.
Just as I believe gays are born the way they are born.
If I was born into an environment that was conducive to the promotion of the gay principle .. chances are .. I'd be gay (overbearing Mothers come to mind here) .. but since I was raised in a rather healthy environment, I ended up straight.
.. note: Dependency and Love are two different things, and there are the many that confuse the two .. just because a parent insists that they love you, doesn't mean that they do .. your definitions, concepts, individuality, tastes .. and more .. are developed at a very young age.
Many can't remember being born, or even what they ate for dinner one afternoon at 5 when they were two .. so it's no wonder that can't remember ever "becoming gay" .. this isn't something that you're born with .. likes, tastes, and the desire for things, are all learned behaviors ..
For someone to come in here and claim that being gay is as natural as the sun shining, is a bit of a stretch .. we all have the potential to become, or not to become, the best or the worst we can be .. and it all starts in the first year of life .. what you "learn" as a child, will follow you for the rest of your life.
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