Friday, September 30, 2011

I'm Here to Support the Person.

Lifestyle choices.  We all make them.  Some of us drive hummers, some of us drive smart cars.  Some of us join a gym, some of us prefer to eat Doritos in front of the tv during prime time.  Some of us, oh you see where I'm going with this, enough said.  People make different lifestyle choices, we all agree and disagree on our fellow citizens' personal choices.  We all have a right, within the bounds of the law as it stands, to make our own choices.  We also have the right to disagree with each other on our choice of food, entertainment, place of worship, occupation, and so forth.

So if I was going to say to someone, "you bleep bleep bleep bleepin bleep, you bought a hummer," what would be wrong with that statement? I would say that the part that would be wrong would be "you bleep bleep bleep bleeping bleep." I have every right to disagree with someone for buying a hummer do I not? I also have every right to disagree with someone's lifestyle choices if those choices go against my personal beliefs. I have a right to my own beliefs, you have a right to your own choices.  We have the right to disagree with each other.  What neither of us has the right to do is to abuse, either verbally or physically, the other person for a behavior that we disagree with.  You do not have the right to abuse me because I disagree with your lifestyle choices, nor do I have the right to impose my beliefs on you.

What I see with the gay rights movement, generally speaking,  is that they don't seem to see the difference between people honestly disagreeing with their lifestyle, and people who would abuse them.  They seem to lump everyone into the same basket. I have never abused or treated a homosexual unkindly in my life, and yet because I disagree with the gay lifestyle, I'm branded as a hate mongerer and a homophobe within the culture of the gay rights movement, simply for disagreeing.  Where's the tolerance or acceptance in that?  Where's the respect for diversity in that?

The important thing as a society, is that we agree that there is an accepted standard of conduct regarding the treatment of people, not that we all have to agree on political or controversial issues or lifestyle choices.  For the gay community to demand that everyone accept their lifestyle, and give no consideration to the fact that this demand contradicts the personal beliefs of millions if not billions of people is crossing a line.  It's crossing the personal boundaries of millions of people in demanding that everyone change their personal beliefs to conform with the GBLT community's convictions, or face being labelled. If I were writing the script for the gay rights movement, I would say something like, "you can disagree with my lifestyle, feel free, but you do not have the right to abuse me." I would de-emphasize sexuality, and instead emphasize our common humanity and ethical standards.  That's my suggestion.  I think that's where the gay rights movement alienates a lot of people, because they seem to insist, to use an analogy, on shoving meat in the face of vegetarians, and then insist on their right to be outraged when people are offended. I would be happy to stand on the sidelines of a parade to support people.  I am not going to go out of my way to see any standard of decency mocked and  ridiculed.

So anyway, I've had this recurring idea, that if I were going to go to a gay pride parade, and I never have to be honest for the above reasons, I was thinking I would like to wear a t-shirt that says, "I'm here to support the person." Feel free to let me know how you think that would be received. My hope is that in time reasonable people will find common ground on some of these very controversial issues.

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