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This thread reminds me of an old tv commercial which aired during the 1960's. The scene was children of different races playing together in a park. While a woman with a beautiful voice, sang the following words.
"You've got to be taught to hate and fear.
It's got to be drummed in your dear little ear.
You've got to be carefully taught".
You can keep your kids home and teach them the same message tomorrow. What a same.
I think race and religious beliefs are two entirely topics for most people...your comparing apples and oranges here zonababe, most people of ALL Races who are christians believe that the lifesytle is wrong, cause their bible says so, that is their right, whether we agree or not, that is their right to think this and to act upon it. It is their religious beliefs, yes even African Americans believe this to be wrong.
I'm likewise a homosexual, and I will not be participating in tomorrow's Day of Silence due to classroom, committee, and workplace commitments. I participated in it last year, and it was truly a somber experience, as it drew a lot of attention on our upper-middle-class, politically-conservative Roman Catholic campus. I can understand the original poster's point of view; I just think she didn't express herself very well and came off as a bigot as a result to most people. I wouldn't call her narrow-minded. I'll just say that she has yet to be "enlightened" to certain realities, among them being:
-Those participating in the Day of Silence can not in any way, shape, or form harm your children, much less turn them gay. If your children aren't turning these people straight, then what makes you believe the opposite can occur? If I were to walk into a bar in Alabama with a pistol and say "I want each of you guys to start making out with each other or else I start shooting," I can guarantee it wouldn't end well for them. You can't just "force" someone to alter their sexual orientation. I know this for a fact after five years of unsuccessfully trying to make myself "turn straight."
-Those participating in the Day of Silence do not seek to "force" their lifestyle upon others. They simply hope that the "deafening silence" that many of their straight counterparts will endure tomorrow from being ignored will make them wake up and realize what it would be like without them in their lives if they were taken in the same manner as Matthew Shepard was due to hate.
-Like it or not, MUCH of the nation is starting to realize "Hey. We're not all that much different after all!" We both bleed the same color blood, re-energize at the same Starbucks, shop at the same IKEA, commute on the same freeways, etc. We come in all shapes and sizes, and this diversity is what makes humans such wondrous creatures.
-Stereotypes benefit nobody. I know most straight people equate gay males to being fashion-obsessed, feminine, dramatic, limp-wristed, and quite skilled at interior decorating. However, I fit none of those parameters. I play and watch sports, I work at a "guy's store", I do some work on my own car and get my hands dirty, and I have the fashion taste of a 78-year-old Connecticut man. Granted, I may fit the "bleeding heart liberal" and "good best friend for women" parameters, but that's not much of an accomplishment.
Overall, while I wish people were more tolerant of me, I also realize that you can't force people to behave in a way they don't wish to behave. Just as straight people can't turn gays straight, gay people can't turn straights into being "accepting." It hurts me to hear cruel remarks about Hitler, AIDS, or hell, but each time I hear a mouthy remark like that, I just think to myself "My intelligence quotient is likely higher than that person, who wasn't smart enough to know when not to make an **** out of himself in public. Therefore, I can take what vitriol they say about me with a grain of salt!" It also hurts a bit to realize that there was a large following of people in this nation who wanted to erect an anti-Matthew Shepard monument in Wyoming, even though he was the victim of a brutal murder. I suppose in a way gays NEED to start acting militant to prevent acts like those committed upon Matthew Shepard from being laughed at and/or encouraged by the mainstream.
Tell this to my friend who recently died about tolerance, or lack of it, who was not only harassed by a parent for being gay, called my Q U E E R and other names worse than this by his father and teased and ignored in school. Children need to accept people that are different and because someone is gay does not mean they are wrong only different from the majority. Unfortunately school isn't just a place to learn whats in book's,teaches a lot of who we are and what we are whether we like it or not. My youngest daughter was exposed to Christianity in school we did not like it , but it taught her to be more tolerant of Christians. We did put her in a private school, not because of the Christians but because of the school system. Most of you wouldn't be able to tell a straight from a gay and a lot of you would be rather surprised at who is and who's not. Viva the differences. I would rather mine go to an all gay school than go where all the children are taught that gays are bad.
I'm sorry to hear of your loss. Suicide amongst gay teens is an epidemic problem. I even attempted suicide myself back in high school because my own parents wouldn't accept me, and when they found out about it, they became even more angry. It's not like I woke up one morning and said "I want to spend the rest of my life with a DUDE by my side!" On the contrary, as I seek political office in the future, I know the odds of a historically-conservative city like Scranton electing an openly-gay male to city council would be slim-to-none. If I had the same ideas, funding, motivation, etc. and had a wife and three children instead of a life partner, I'd be a shoo-in. Why on Earth would I intentionally want to sink my future political aspirations if I could avoid it? That's what I don't understand about straight people. Don't they think that if people COULD avoid the hassles of discrimination, cruel remarks, etc. that the WOULD?!
If they want to protest fine just not while we the tax payers are paying for it. That is what the debate is about.
Really? Why then are bible groups encouraged and supported by taxpayer groups at some PUBLIC schools? Hypocrisy, anyone? I thought public schools were supposed to have no religious affiliation, as they are overseen by the government. If you're going to permit ONE group to have their way, then you better allow ALL groups to do the same or expect lawsuits to be filed. Bible-study groups at public schools should be disbanded for "making a statement" if people likewise don't want acts like the "Day of Silence" to occur. Fair is fair, right?
Last edited by SteelCityRising; 04-17-2007 at 01:56 PM..
Reason: Typo
correct Pa Native, and it is in the Koran too, so its not just christians whose religion teaches that, but islam as well and other races and cultures too
Location: In an illegal immigrant free part of the country.
2,096 posts, read 1,469,719 times
Reputation: 382
The statistics for disease in homosexuals is far greater than for hetrosexuals. People have a right to protect their children from this influance. Children will always try the shocking thing and it may take only one time to contract AIDS, a death sentance. Even one of the largest gay organizations in LA had a promotion "Aids Is A Gay Disease, Own It End It." I can well understand why the gay community is afraid of the truth.
Location: In an illegal immigrant free part of the country.
2,096 posts, read 1,469,719 times
Reputation: 382
Quote:
Originally Posted by ScrantonWilkesBarre
I'm likewise a homosexual, and I will not be participating in tomorrow's Day of Silence due to classroom, committee, and workplace commitments. I participated in it last year, and it was truly a somber experience, as it drew a lot of attention on our upper-middle-class, politically-conservative Roman Catholic campus. I can understand the original poster's point of view; I just think she didn't express herself very well and came off as a bigot as a result to most people. I wouldn't call her narrow-minded. I'll just say that she has yet to be "enlightened" to certain realities, among them being:
-Those participating in the Day of Silence can not in any way, shape, or form harm your children, much less turn them gay. If your children aren't turning these people straight, then what makes you believe the opposite can occur? If I were to walk into a bar in Alabama with a pistol and say "I want each of you guys to start making out with each other or else I start shooting," I can guarantee it wouldn't end well for them. You can't just "force" someone to alter their sexual orientation. I know this for a fact after five years of unsuccessfully trying to make myself "turn straight."
-Those participating in the Day of Silence do not seek to "force" their lifestyle upon others. They simply hope that the "deafening silence" that many of their straight counterparts will endure tomorrow from being ignored will make them wake up and realize what it would be like without them in their lives if they were taken in the same manner as Matthew Shepard was due to hate.
-Like it or not, MUCH of the nation is starting to realize "Hey. We're not all that much different after all!" We both bleed the same color blood, re-energize at the same Starbucks, shop at the same IKEA, commute on the same freeways, etc. We come in all shapes and sizes, and this diversity is what makes humans such wondrous creatures.
-Stereotypes benefit nobody. I know most straight people equate gay males to being fashion-obsessed, feminine, dramatic, limp-wristed, and quite skilled at interior decorating. However, I fit none of those parameters. I play and watch sports, I work at a "guy's store", I do some work on my own car and get my hands dirty, and I have the fashion taste of a 78-year-old Connecticut man. Granted, I may fit the "bleeding heart liberal" and "good best friend for women" parameters, but that's not much of an accomplishment.
Overall, while I wish people were more tolerant of me, I also realize that you can't force people to behave in a way they don't wish to behave. Just as straight people can't turn gays straight, gay people can't turn straights into being "accepting." It hurts me to hear cruel remarks about Hitler, AIDS, or hell, but each time I hear a mouthy remark like that, I just think to myself "My intelligence quotient is likely higher than that person, who wasn't smart enough to know when not to make an **** out of himself in public. Therefore, I can take what vitriol they say about me with a grain of salt!" It also hurts a bit to realize that there was a large following of people in this nation who wanted to erect an anti-Matthew Shepard monument in Wyoming, even though he was the victim of a brutal murder. I suppose in a way gays NEED to start acting militant to prevent acts like those committed upon Matthew Shepard from being laughed at and/or encouraged by the mainstream.
"gays NEED to start acting militant"
That sounds like the perfect way to make more people hate gays. Is it not enought their creedo is "Out Loud, Out Proud and In Your Face"?
The statistics for disease in homosexuals is far greater than for hetrosexuals. People have a right to protect their children from this influance. Children will always try the shocking thing and it may take only one time to contract AIDS, a death sentance. Even one of the largest gay organizations in LA had a promotion "Aids Is A Gay Disease, Own It End It." I can well understand why the gay community is afraid of the truth.
That is beyond ridiculous.
These facts contain commonly accepted public health information about the prevention and transmission of HIV and AIDS.
Question: Isn’t AIDS a gay disease?
Basic Answer: No. AIDS (a result of HIV infection) is caused by a virus (HIV). Anyone can get HIV through blood-to-blood or sexual contact with a person with HIV. Like anyone else, men who have sex with men are at risk if they have contact with an HIV-positive person’s blood, semen, vaginal fluid or breast milk.
Detailed Answer: No. AIDS (a result of HIV infection) is caused by HIV, a virus that can infect people regardless of sexual orientation. HIV can infect anyone who has sexual or blood-to-blood contact with an HIV-positive person. The virus can infect men, women and children. Men who have sex with men or women and women who have sex with men or women are at risk if their partners have HIV infection. Correct and consistent use of latex (or polyurethane if allergic to latex) condoms, however, greatly reduces the risk of transmission. Risk relates to what people do, not who they are.
In many countries, the numbers of women with HIV are nearly equal to the numbers of infected men, and the number of women with HIV/AIDS continues to steadily increase worldwide. As of July 2002, the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) estimated that about 18 million women were living with HIV/AIDS worldwide, accounting for 47 percent of the 37.2 million adults living with HIV/AIDS. In many countries, HIV spreads mostly through sex between men and women. And in the United States, the number of people with HIV/AIDS who became infected through sex between men and women continues to grow.
SOURCES:
* Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS). "The Report on the Global HIV/AIDS Epidemic: The Barcelona Report." July 2002.
* National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health. "HIV Infection and Women." Fact sheet. May 2001.
* Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. "HIV and Its Transmission." January 2001.
* Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. MMWR, 1997; vol. 46, no. 37. "Update: Trends in AIDS Incidence United States, 1996."
* Mann, J., and Tarantola, D., eds. AIDS in the World H: Global Dimensions, Social Roots, and Responses. 1996.
* U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Surgeon General’s Report to the American Public on HIV Infection and AIDS. June 1993.
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Not a Big Deal
I wouldn't call her narrow-minded. I'll just say that she has yet to be "enlightened" to certain realities, among them being:
We both bleed the same color blood, re-energize at the same Starbucks, shop at the same IKEA, commute on the same freeways, etc. We come in all shapes and sizes, and this diversity is what makes humans such wondrous creatures. 
Granted, I may fit the "bleeding heart liberal" and "good best friend for women" parameters, but that's not much of an accomplishment. 
It also hurts a bit to realize that there was a large following of people in this nation who wanted to erect an anti-Matthew Shepard monument in Wyoming, even though he was the victim of a brutal murder. I suppose in a way gays NEED to start acting militant to prevent acts like those committed upon Matthew Shepard from being laughed at and/or encouraged by the mainstream. 
On the contrary, as I seek political office in the future, I know the odds of a historically-conservative city like Scranton electing an openly-gay male to city council would be slim-to-none. If I had the same ideas, funding, motivation, etc. and had a wife and three children instead of a life partner, I'd be a shoo-in. 
