10 Anti-Gay Myths Debunked

[MacTheWolf (imported)]

jack, I'm somewhere between an atheist and an agnostic...I think.

[bobover3 (imported)]

The point of religious laws isn't their practical worth. It's about demonstrating your membership in the community by doing things you otherwise wouldn't do. Going against your instincts shows that you're thinking about your religion and putting its rules first. Every religion needs silly rules to help keep up the sense of belonging.

Christians used to not eat meat on Fridays. They give something up during Lent. They take their hats off in church. (Jews put their hats on for the same reason.) Jews and Muslims don't eat pork. Muslims must travel to Mecca once in their life. Orthodox Jews won't wear clothes containing both cotton and wool (said to be a crime comparable to murder). Most Hindus are vegetarian, or at least won't eat beef. It's a long list, but every religion has to require something people wouldn't do otherwise.

[morganster (imported)]

Not entirely true, that entire section deals with the prohibition of any act that will not result in procreation and did indeed apply to lay persons as well as the priesthood.

These acts, including but not limited to masterbation, same gender sexual relations and eating any animal that was deemed "unclean" meaning"unhealthy" such as pork which wallows in its own filth and shellfish most of which are bottom feeders, again the filth issue, related to creating a new generation.

We must remember the time frame, the Jews were just admonished for worshipping the golden calf and therefore as punishment the existing generation would not be allowed to set foot in the promised land. Therefore, any act that did not result in procreation was prohibited. A new generation had be born and reared to enter the promised land.

I found this quote in the Encyclopedia Britannica:

"The Code of Holiness, is a collection of secular, ritualistic, moral, and festival regulations in the Old Testament Book of Leviticus, chapters 17–26. The code stresses that the people of Israel are separated from the rest of the world because Yahweh (God) has chosen them. They are to demonstrate their unique election by disassociating themselves from profane worldliness and by retaining their ritualistic and moral purity.

The Code of Holiness includes regulations for animal sacrifices, eating, cleanliness, priestly conduct, speech, and sexual regulations. Also included are a list of days that are to be held sacred and laws concerning the sabbatical (jubilee) year, in which Israelite slaves were to be freed and interest was to be prohibited."

Many scholars include the sexual regulations in Leviticus (e.g. "do not lie with a man as with a woman") among the rules for priestly conduct. These rules may also have been meant to apply to lay Jews as well (i.e. the children of Israel), but they certainly were NOT meant to apply to anyone else, since the whole idea was for Jews to distinguish themselves from non-Jews.

The sexual regulations in Leviticus might have been seen at the time as part of a code of conduct that would elevate Jews morally above all other groups, and a way for Jews to distinguish themselves as being exceptionally moral. They were not, in any case, regarded as commandments for the entire human race to follow, then or now.

[morganster (imported)]

It is also interesting to note that the story of Sodom and Gomorrah in Genesis (which was more about sexual assault than homosexual love making) is used by anti-gays as proof of biblical condemnation of homosexuality. Yet even if Sodomy, per se, is sinful according to the Bible, it is not exclusively a homosexual practice. Heterosexual couples also practice sodomy (practice makes perfect!) both for pleasure and for pregnancy avoidance.

Furthermore, some gay couples never engage in sodomy because they consider it distasteful (not just rimming - anal intercourse too). Yet 'sodomy' is widely regarded as a synonym for homosexuality and is used as a blanket condemnation of homosexuality - a bit like saying, "barking is bad. Dogs bark, so dogs are bad."

The bottom line is, Many Christians are anti-gay, so they look for, and find, anti-gay passages in the bible even when they aren't really there.

[bobover3 (imported)]

That's right. The prejudice precedes the biblical "scholarship." But that means it's futile to counter bad scholarship, because the bad scholarship was not the source of the prejudice. It's only a rationalization. If those who hate gays couldn't justify themselves with the bible, they'd say something else. The thing to fight is the hatred itself, not the efforts to make hate respectable.

[gareth19 (imported)]

Interesting about the bottom feeders being unacceptable to Jewish diet...What about carp...a bottom feeder if there ever was one..It's a staple of Jewish foodstuffs..All this crapola about pigs being filthy animals...I wonder if any of these folks ever really studied pigs...Given a chance, they shit in the opposite corner of their pen from where they eat, and sleep in the other two corners...They're actually the cleanest of farmyard animals...and are very discerning of the food they eat..It is almost impossible to poison a pig...As I understand it, they are also very intelligent...about the equal of dogs...I sometimes cringe when I see how they are raised and slaughtered...

Pass the porkchops! dragonfly

Marvin Harris's book Cows, Pigs, Wars, and Witches points out that, like circumcision, the pork taboo originates in desert climates. Pigs, although clean and clever animals, root for their food. They compete with humans (since humans don't eat grass, sheep, goats, and cattle don't, but pigs tear up the topsoil to get at roots and tubers). In a wet climate like Europe, China, or Polynesia, where pigs are regularly eaten, the damage to the soil is readily repairable, but in an arid climate, the rooting of the topsoil (which is less than an inch deep) takes hundreds of years to repair. If no one is allowed to eat or raise pigs (it is not only forbidden to eat but also touch pigs), there are no pigs around to destroy the topsoil.

[Riverwind (imported)]

jack, I'm somewhere between an atheist and an agnostic...I think.

You heretic

River the Pagan

[hungrycat (imported)]

One thing that I feel sets me apart from others is my compassion and over time I have lost some of it due to the way that other view me.

Most of the anti-feeling comes from those who wish to make themselves feel more superior than others (or doing "good deeds") by following the rules set up in these religions.

My main capacity to relate to others has been seriously damaged not by people (in a Christian church in this case) being horrible to me but by their own conviction that what they are doing is right.

Even in a "happy clappy" liberal church the underlying effect of an organised system of imposed rules overrides any though on how this may mentally effect the lives of others.

Whatever the translation the current words that makeup the "rules" are, it is ingrained in history and society and until we make a change ourselves, (or correct them) those who follow these rules will continue to try and impress their own view of human existence upon us.

Science and human equality laws have given us a foothold not to condem but to educate and express who we are..

This may seem a bit contrived by a gay (un outed at work) transsexual but we can all make a difference in a small way.

[bobover3 (imported)]

Minorities are hated everywhere because they're minorities. Their very existence upsets the harmony and unanimity of society. For most people, morality amounts to conformity. Goodness is defined as what the majority says is good, and the majority says that whatever it does is good.

So there's the problem. Straight society will never wholly accept gays. If the law and polite opinion says so, the better educated part of straight society may become polite and avoid open discrimination. That's where black people sit now. Of course, if people are forced to act nice, it eventually softens their feelings - most of them. But there will always be a concealed reserve with gays, just as there is with blacks. Older guys like me learned to cope with it by living mostly in the closet. It hurts, but that's how it is. Sorry.

[nullorchis (imported)]

There are so many ways to live life.

Act 1

You can play act and pretend to be a person who is what those around you like and will accept. You live a sham. Internally you are consumed and full of fear that someone might discover the real you. Your health suffers.

Act 2

You can be yourself and be a rebel and go on a confrontational course with others. This takes a lot of time and effort away from living the life you would otherwise life. Anger and frustration may affect your health.

In the above two situations you will be in internal odds with yourself, at conflict. This is a result of what others would think of you (if they knew you) or what they really do think of you, since you revealed the real you.

Then Act 3.

You are the real you, living life to fulfill you aspirations, hopes, dreams, living it openly, and not letting what other people think of you luring you to be a rebel or consumed with internal strife. Not spending moments debating or being anger or frustrated of upset about what other people think about you. You just move on as best you can and live your life. Other stresses in life may adversely affect your health, but living a life of truth and avoiding confrontation is healthy.

Act 3 is the most difficult.

In Act 1 you are doing what is in your best personal interest so you can blend in, pursue your aspirations, and succeed. But you are living a lie, and it eats away at you and you can not achieve emotional and personal success.

Act 2 isn't easy either because you have to have the conviction, courage, strength or be open, come out of the closet, and endure the consequences. People you know and love may reject you.

A different act 2 might have been that your cover was blown against your will and you are outed, and can no longer stay in Act 1.

People who can help or hinder your career may shun you.

If you chose to reveal the real you, it depends on your development and personality on whether you move on to act 3 or play out act 2 and become a rebel.

If you were outed, it again depends on your inner self and strength. You might move on to act 3, or you might become a rebel, or you might withdraw, hide, drink, do drugs, or even commit suicide. Act 2 is full of darkness and danger.

Act 3 is not a piece of cake either. It depends on the individual on which direction act 3 goes. There are a variety of endings to this act. You might let yourself blossom and become superior in personality, warmth, and professionalism - the best in your field. People who would normally reject or shun you might put those feelings aside, or even dispel them, as you go about your daily life being of great value to society.

It pretty much depends on you, and also on where you live. Each of us is also known by the company we keep. If you hang around with draggards, whether you are one or not, others will perceive you as one. If you hang around with people who are creative, honest, ethical, inspirational, productive, people of value, people who in their community are respected this in the good direction. You may not be one of them yet, but if you have those same core values such values can rub off. If you are just a scam artist, a pretender, your acceptance into such a life, and perception by others, will be discovered and revealed and you will be socially outed as a fraud, which is perhaps even worse than being outed as simply gay.

Being gay to some people means you are more to be pitied than censured.

To other people it becomes just a matter of fact and you are accepted.

Elton John, Rock Hudson come to mind. And this is a very long list.

But coming out of the closet does not make you a fraud. People who accept you and reject you understand and accept why you hid the real you.

Whether you are gay or straight, Pretending to be ethical, honest, true, upright, and any kind of person other than the real despicable you, will result in everyone labeling you as a fraud, and you will be socially rejected. You can undoubtedly think of many people who fall into this category, be they gay or straight. Straight social fraud: Bernie Madoff. What gay person who was a social fraud comes to your mind?

Bottom line, in the end you need to accept yourself, be the real you, come out of the closet and move on to act 3 and work hard, be good, do the right thing. And realize that had you been not-gay, and lived a life that was the real you, there would STILL be people who reject you. None of us is going to avoid rejection - so get over it.