Thirty Something Student Blog: Sports and Social Change
If you'll take note, my direct comments are only the first paragraph. The rest is quoted from an article by Thomas Sowell, an African-American. I'm not going to try to explain Mr. Sowell's background, but it would shed some light on his feelings about equal rights and affirmative action. If you’ll also take note, Mr. Sowell says that equal rights has become the road to special privilege, thus he does not discount the genuine struggles of those of the past. The debate is about the here and now and not necessarily about minorities. Mr. Sowell says he wants to stop the word games about equal rights from leading to special privileges for anyone. Doesn’t creating special privileges for some make things unequal too?
“The issue is not individual rights. What the activists are seeking is official social approval of their lifestyle. But this is the antithesis of equal rights.
If you have a right to someone else's approval, then they do not have a right to their own opinions and values. You cannot say that what 'consenting adults' do in private is nobody else's business and then turn around and say that others are bound to put their seal of approval on it.” – Thomas Sowell
My main point in quoting Mr. Sowell was to make the point about impending social collapse. I hold homosexual conduct akin to things like bestiality, adultery, rape, pedophilia, and murder. I don’t think it demands social acceptance. Homosexuals need to be reformed, not encouraged.
I believe in equal treatment, and I think that so much emphasis on differences is destructive to attaining that goal. “We are going to treat you equally because you are different and we would have treated you differently if it weren’t for the fact that we feel we need to treat people equally,” is a lot different than, “We treat you equally because we do not see or care about the difference.”
How about instead of asking me on your questionnaire what my race and origin is, you leave that off and judge me by my skills, achievements and the content of my character.
I understand that the necessity for things like affirmative action and certain laws has come about because of genuine discrimination and the need to combat it. I just wish those things were not being used to fight for social acceptance of vile activities and lifestyles.
It is true I am part of a religion that was and is persecuted. I do not promote the persecution of others for their beliefs or lifestyles. I also believe in right and wrong. Social acceptance of something that is wrong does not make it right. I speak out against homosexuality because I believe it is wrong. Those who do wrong need to change and conform to society, not the other way around. The church to which I belong offers support and help to homosexuals with a desire to change, there can be no acceptance of the behavior just like there can not be acceptance of fornication and adultery. The church offers help through an organization called Evergreen International.
The impact of HIV and AIDS is tragic. I do not label it a homosexual disease. Still it remains that it is for the most part a sexually transmitted disease. I wish that more and more could commit to living a chaste life and thus dramatically reduce their risk of ever acquiring it.
Ryan, I hope this clears up my point of view a little.
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You said: "If you'll take note, my direct comments are only the first paragraph. The rest is quoted from an article by Thomas Sowell, an African-American."
But by not having any qualifying statements regarding the Sowell quote and instead just listing it verbatim, you were signalling that not only did you fully endorse everything Mr. Sowell had to say, but that you thought it pertained perfectly to everything within my post. I'm glad that the truth is different, because my initial reaction was that the intelligent person I had been debating online for the past several months had suddenly morphed over the holiday season into some kind of monster.
The main point of contention I have with your statement is when you said: "I hold homosexual conduct akin to things like bestiality, adultery, rape, pedophilia, and murder."
Homosexual conduct requires two consenting people, and does no physical harm to them or no harm of any kind to anyone else. (Whether it causes any non-physical harm to the participants I'm sure we would disagree - so let's table that debate for the time being and stick to just the above statement).
The other acts you compared homosexual conduct to do not fit my qualifying statement. As such, I contend that the comparison is invalid. Even for those who think homosexuality is wrong, I believe you should still see a difference in magnitude.
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