The church of Westboro, i'm sure many of you have heard about them before. They are mainly known a hate group because of their extreme stances against homosexuality. As you can see in the picture above these kids are being taught from childhood that being a homosexual is wrong and that they will probably burn in hell if they even think about acting this way. This certain religious group installs fear into their children which causes them to be afraid of being homosexual, regardless of what their true feelings may be.
The issue that lies behind this is that most religions state that homosexuality is a sin and such activity shouldn't be conducted. Unfortunately people who follow these religions are constantly conditioned, whether they know it or not, to discriminate against homosexuality and by the time they're older will have a negative opinion of homosexuals. In this todays society homosexuality should be accepted, not looked down upon. Due to this conditioning many people who are homosexuals may in fact be afraid to admit it, and end up living a unhappy lie of a life. Also people who are homosexuals often have to end up acting this way only in secret, in fear of being punished by the law.
Possible Questions:
1) Is religion really a good enough reason to allow children to be conditioned to discriminate against homosexuals?
2)Is it really right to discriminate against something just because of the fact that it is "tradition" to do so?
3)Everything in this world is subject to decay, whether its a flower or even an idea. Everything is also constantly evolving, isn't it time we changed old discriminatory thinking and replaced it with more understanding and accepting thinking?
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ReplyDeleteHmm, sorry didn't see his, so I changed my picture, no harm done. ;p
ReplyDeleteI agree with you on the idea that change, if done in a too short a time period, will have the possibility of back firing, but thats not exactly what I was getting at. In regards to religion, there is no change happening to the ideals and views of religious people on topics such as homosexuality and I doubt there will be any changes happening any time soon. Unfortunately what is written in the holy books is whats considered right to religious believers, and the only thing I suggest is that change has to occur, otherwise religion runs the risk of being discriminatory. Unfortunately not everything lasts and old ideals such as homophobia will eventually pass. Religion must be accepting of this, not decline it fully, simply based on the fact that it is written in their holy books. Everything in this world changes, our ideals, our physical bodies, and the world around us. Nothing can stay the same forever because of the fact that everything around is constantly changing.
Also in regards to the forcing people to be what we think they should be, I never suggested that. The only thing I am concerned about is the fact that younger generations are being conditioned to hate human beings simply based on homosexuality. In an age where the amount of homosexual population is rising no good can come from the interaction between a new generation of homophobic children and a rising homosexual population in a world that is growing to support homosexuality.
1)I think nobody should be allowed to discriminate against homosexuals as they are being accepted in Canada. Therefore I think religion is not a good reason to allow children to be conditioned to discriminate against homosexual. In my opinion, there should be no reason to discriminate anyone based on their sexual orientation.
ReplyDelete2)I do not think it is right to discriminate against something because it is tradition to do so. I am a person who likes to break tradition and try new things because I think it is too restrictive. We need to change with the environment and we cannot stay with the same tradition as they will get outdated.
3)I totally agree with your statement and I said the same thing as you in answering question 2. We need to be more understanding and accepting of new things. But I have to add that changing too much in a short period of time can be risky and anything can happen. It might cause a revise effect, we cannot force people to be what we think they should be.
1) No. Treating everyone as equals is a morale obligation. Religious beliefs are secondary to morale law.
ReplyDelete2) No. People must be as fair as possible. Treating someone poorly based on ANYTHING that is not their choice, is not fair.
3) Yes. I'm not familiar with any major religious, but if any of them preach hate against other groups they should be forced to revise what they teach.
Treating everyone as equals is a morale obligation. Religious beliefs are secondary to morale law.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you Eric, but unfortunately a majority of the world might not. One of the major problems I see with religious countries is that they will mix religious beliefs with morale laws thus creating morale laws with are simply revisions of their religious beliefs. The problem with this is that most holy texts were written such a long time ago, and as a unfortunate result they contain ideals that existed during that time period. Such as discrimination against homosexuals, and the suppression of women. Now if we continue to follow these ideals we end up suppressing the growth of moral correctness and end up creating diversity among humans through hate rather than uniqueness.
No religion is not a good enough reason to discriminate against homosexuals. Everyone should be free to choose their sexual orientations regardless of religion. Plus, i think that the aim of most religions out there is to teach core values and making sure that their followers understand the importance of those values. I can't think of any religion that would explicitly state hetero sexism as being the only form of sexuality allowed on earth. One real problem that might arise in this situation is one where a church devoted member begins to have a homosexual orientation? Is he/she going to reveal those feelings or keep it as a secret? It is almost guaranteed that he/she won't be welcomed anymore. This would be a form of social exclusion and could potentially lead to the child or adult relying on some other sources of comfort (drugs, etc) to forget about their "sinful" orientation.
ReplyDeleteNo of course not. The word tradition means something that is not recent, they are core values that have been believed by people for a long, long time. The roots of any religion are pretty old, meaning some of the things mentioned at the time don't really apply to real life nowadays. I personally think that people should care about core values and maintain their tradition while at the same time being open-minded. I totally agree with you Jon when you say that those old thinkings must be abandoned and replaced with more acceptive thinking. This can be tricky sometimes but it has to be done to lessen discrimination and prejudices among the people in a society.
Religion is a BIG thing, perhaps the biggest thing in many people's lives. To many people, religion gives meaning to their lives, and reasons for events and actions. There are many devout religious people who believe in their religious teachings, and in their God. If in there religion, homosexuality is forbidden, I think they should have the right to follow their religion and instil these values in their children.
ReplyDeleteI think that they have the right to a certain degree of discrimination. They shouldn't be allowed to use violence, but I think that if homosexuality is forbidden in their religion, they should have the right to remove any homosexuals from their religion. We cannot force them to accept homosexuals when it is against their religion to do so.
I don't think what you are suggesting is possible. Frankly, a thousand years from now, it will still be impossible. I cannot say this about any other religions, but for my religion, the values and beliefs that were inscribed to us, were not rules created by ordinary humans, but by our God. To change them entirely would be blasphemous.
Amipreet said: If in there religion, homosexuality is forbidden, I think they should have the right to follow their religion and instil these values in their children.
ReplyDeleteAmipreet, you realize by saying this you are supporting homophobia and even promoting the allowance of children to be conditioned to be homophobic. Now in a logical viewpoint, what religion is doing to people in regards to views on homosexuality is conditioning people to hate. There is no way to deny this. Now how can you say that the teaching of hate should be allowed just because it is tradition. This makes no sense. No views, ideas, or religions should dictate our moral values to point where we accept hate and even teach it to our children.
You said: They shouldn't be allowed to use violence, but I think that if homosexuality is forbidden in their religion, they should have the right to remove any homosexuals from their religion.
Wow, really. It should be a persons private choice whether they want to be a certain religion, and their personal sexual orientation should not affect this. People have no right to remove anyone from their religion. In all honesty, what gives anybody the right to force a person what to believe. By removing a person from a religion you are dictating to them what they should believe is wrong. I see this as very cruel and the opposite of what religion truly should be.
You said: I don't think what you are suggesting is possible. Frankly, a thousand years from now, it will still be impossible.
Now in regards to this, you should know by this point that religions will come and go. What I am suggesting is that old discriminatory thinking is to be replaced with more understanding thinking. Also, in 1000 years I can guarantee you we will be much different as a species then what we are now. So what I am suggesting is very possible. The main thing you have to understand is that nothing can last forever. We as humans constantly change, our ideas included. 50 years ago we were not close to as accepting as we are towards homosexuals as we are today. The thing to take from this is that in order for something to survive it must evolve. Religion included.
People believe in religions so much and its so critical to our lives. It's hard to say ignore your religion and also ignore the way of thinking which both have been around much longer then the acceptance of homosexuality in Canada. When were young many of us are not introduced to homosexuality and don't know anything about it but when we grow up its not the norm and we believe it's wrong. It horrible that this church is teaching so much hate towards homosexuals because they are extremists against it. They force little kids at a young age to hate gays.
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