RE: "Jesus would rather kill, not marry, gay people" - Franklin Graham
July 16, 2018 at 1:58 pm
(July 16, 2018 at 1:49 pm)RoadRunner79 Wrote:(July 16, 2018 at 12:10 pm)SteveII Wrote: I feel badly that your experiences have led you to this conclusion. My whole point in getting involved in this thread was to dial back the generalizations, mischaracterizations, and straw men. We still disagree, but the angry rhetoric and demonization has to stop because it is counter-productive.
I do also, but it seems that there is little that can be done if you do not celebrate homosexual activity; then you are a "hateful", "homophobic", "bigot". Even though I'm not hateful, not fearful, and I'm not intolerant towards homosexuals. I just think that homosexual activity is immoral and a sin. Along with a number of other sins, which we are all guilty of.
I don't think that you can reason with the angry rhetoric and demonization which you describe. It is what I would consider bigotry (from the definition). There is nothing you can do with the lies, except for correct it; for anyone who may not know what you are saying, and jump to the wrong conclusion based on the abuse of language.
In the interest of not abusing language, what do you call it when a group of people, speaking on behalf of ancient traditions and a particular religious perspective, wish to deny some of their fellow citizens the rights, privileges, and responsibilities that come from a government-issued license? This always was a question of equal protection and equal opportunity under the law. Churches and other religious institutions are free to discriminate all they want. The government issuing the license may not.