Uganda passing law that allows them to put homosexuals to death.

[Kousbroek]

And naturally you have evidence?

Yep, your writings here on the forum ...

[Aractus]

The last gay person I spoke to - on the topic of homosexuality and Christianity - about a month ago, said that I was the only person who had understood how he feels.

What if I tell you that what the Church says about homosexuality is often incorrect? Would that raise your interest?

[Kousbroek]

The last gay person I spoke to - on the topic of homosexuality and Christianity - about a month ago, said that I was the only person who had understood how he feels.

What if I tell you that what the Church says about homosexuality is often incorrect? Would that raise your interest?

To be honest i don't give a rat's ass about what "the church" ( whatever that may be ) thinks or says about homosexuality.

What i do care about is what you think of it and so far i'm not impressed sorry ..

[Aractus]

That's fine, if I impressed you then I wouldn't be doing my job.

[KichigaiNeko]

Major fail Daniel.

[festive1]

It's not just considered bad - it is bad.

In your ethnocentric, Western view it's bad. It's obviously not "bad" in many African cultures, otherwise those societies would have squashed this practice over the thousands of years these cultures developed.

I do a lot of reading, and I've been told by African people on numerous occasions about their practises.

I was talking to a Saudi Arabian 2 years ago - he was a pretty extremist Muslim, and he was telling me about how great his country is. I rattled a few facts off my head like if it's so great why can't women drive, and how would their economy survive without crude oil etc, and he said "how do you know so much about Saudi?"

Insert Willy Wonka meme as needed.

You've misunderstood. It simply shows that in the gay community drug use is higher, STI's are higher, number of sexual partners in the last 6 months is higher, unemployment is higher, etc, this isn't unique to Canberra - it's the same in Sydney, Melbourne, and the other capital cities where the periodic surveys are done. I imagine the same would be true in the USA and other western countries. How would you address the problems is my question. You're not going to tell people not to engage in gay sex, you're not going to tell them not to have gay relationships - how will you address the issues of drugs, STI's and unemployment in the gay community - besides "do nothing"?

Sydney, Melbourne, and Canberra are Western societies. These figures have no application to African cultures.
If I were Queen of the World, I would not regulate the sexual practices of others. Period. What people want to do between consenting adults, should be allowed amongst the consenting parties. Public education is a handy tool. Education linking evidence between higher numbers of sexual partners and the spread of STIs and how condom usage can greatly reduce one's risk for certain STIs. The gay community in the US did a very good job of getting this message out. If people choose to engage in risky sexual behaviors, and sex with multiple partners without the use of condoms is risky sexual behavior, it does impact society at large. However, it's not up to the government or society to tell people how they should live their lives. Drug abuse should be treated, not punishable by imprisonment. Unemployment... well, I'm not an economist, I really don't have enough understanding of the underlying causes of unemployment to offer a solution.

[Kousbroek]

That's fine, if I impressed you then I wouldn't be doing my job.

Sorry maybe it's because i'm dutch but i don't really get this other than 'i do not want to continue talking with you' which of course is fine with me.

[Darth]

You've misunderstood. It simply shows that in the gay community drug use is higher, STI's are higher, number of sexual partners in the last 6 months is higher, unemployment is higher, etc, this isn't unique to Canberra - it's the same in Sydney, Melbourne, and the other capital cities where the periodic surveys are done. I imagine the same would be true in the USA and other western countries. How would you address the problems is my question. You're not going to tell people not to engage in gay sex, you're not going to tell them not to have gay relationships - how will you address the issues of drugs, STI's and unemployment in the gay community - besides "do nothing"?

The problem lies with the gay community? I think not. I would be willing to bet a lot of money that most of those issues stem from how they are treated including their family's reaction (look at the gay teen homelessness rates), under the law, or the community at large.

The std issue may be partially due to mechanics, I don't know (I hear lesbian sex is the safest though).

Doing nothing to them sounds like an excellent plan tbh. Treating them no differently than you would anyone else. I'd say the problems are largely because we haven't been doing that.

[Aractus]

In your ethnocentric, Western view it's bad. It's obviously not "bad" in many African cultures, otherwise those societies would have squashed this practice over the thousands of years these cultures developed.

Oh right, so look what happened when they got HIV then. Then the westerners had to come in and give them condoms and circumcision, and they wouldn't use the condoms in most brothels.

If I were Queen of the World, I would not regulate the sexual practices of others. Period. What people want to do between consenting adults, should be allowed amongst the consenting parties. Public education is a handy tool. Education linking evidence between higher numbers of sexual partners and the spread of STIs and how condom usage can greatly reduce one's risk for certain STIs. The gay community in the US did a very good job of getting this message out. If people choose to engage in risky sexual behaviors, and sex with multiple partners without the use of condoms is risky sexual behavior, it does impact society at large. However, it's not up to the government or society to tell people how they should live their lives. Drug abuse should be treated, not punishable by imprisonment. Unemployment... well, I'm not an economist, I really don't have enough understanding of the underlying causes of unemployment to offer a solution.

So your approach is reactive. Wait for the problem and then address it.

If 25% of Xians were drug users and 20% of them unemployed, you'd use it against us, wouldn't you?

I think we need to start by acknowledging the problems at hand. I'll post back with more later.

[cratehorus]

what's going on? christians protesting for more genocide??? again? ....uuuuhhh that's so boring