Pope's words
Dec 25th 2008 20:46
diary
english
As usual, Pope gave his end-of-the-year speech today. And I found this whole God-against-gay-behavior thing very disturbing. ("saving humanity from homosexual or transsexual behaviour is just as important as saving the rainforest from destruction." by Pope)
I'm not a Catholic or Christian, barely even a Buddhist. I regard myself as an atheist. But religion itself doesn't bother me because basically I understand the possible reasons that why it is needed. What really bothers me is that some people never question their beliefs at all.
When prop. 8 was being discussed, I've read a statement urging people to vote yes. Though I've decided to support gay marriage, I still want to understand the opposite arguments. So I read it and asked myself to be as objective as I could. However, I was very disappointed. The statement was very inconvincing; the premise (homosexualality is a "choice") was not acceptable; the result of the only statistic study used was questionable.
I was surprised that some people really believed in the poor argument. They even spread it and used it to go against others.
As a kid, believing in something without any doubt is understandable. But as an adult, one should be aware of the faultiness and incompleteness of his/her own thoughts and try to correct them. In this case, I really think those who believed in the statement should re-exam those ideas critically. After all, we should understand why we accept something before accepting it.
I want to emphasize that I'm not anti-Catholic/Christian. I know there are many Catholic/Christians are doing good around the world. Actually, the dorm I'm living in now belongs to a Catholic church, and everyone here is very nice to me. I'm grateful for that. But still, I can't agree some ideas Catholics are holding, let alone the attitude that some controversial issues should all be denied just because the Bible says so.
Comparing with many other issues (eg. abortion), gay marriage is relatively uncontroversial. If people all speak based on reasons, I think the agreement can be reached more quickly.
By the way, I'm not gay but I have many gay friends. I support gay marriage simply because I hope my friends all live happily without being discriminated or separated. I hope they all have the rights they deserve.
I'm not a Catholic or Christian, barely even a Buddhist. I regard myself as an atheist. But religion itself doesn't bother me because basically I understand the possible reasons that why it is needed. What really bothers me is that some people never question their beliefs at all.
When prop. 8 was being discussed, I've read a statement urging people to vote yes. Though I've decided to support gay marriage, I still want to understand the opposite arguments. So I read it and asked myself to be as objective as I could. However, I was very disappointed. The statement was very inconvincing; the premise (homosexualality is a "choice") was not acceptable; the result of the only statistic study used was questionable.
I was surprised that some people really believed in the poor argument. They even spread it and used it to go against others.
As a kid, believing in something without any doubt is understandable. But as an adult, one should be aware of the faultiness and incompleteness of his/her own thoughts and try to correct them. In this case, I really think those who believed in the statement should re-exam those ideas critically. After all, we should understand why we accept something before accepting it.
I want to emphasize that I'm not anti-Catholic/Christian. I know there are many Catholic/Christians are doing good around the world. Actually, the dorm I'm living in now belongs to a Catholic church, and everyone here is very nice to me. I'm grateful for that. But still, I can't agree some ideas Catholics are holding, let alone the attitude that some controversial issues should all be denied just because the Bible says so.
Comparing with many other issues (eg. abortion), gay marriage is relatively uncontroversial. If people all speak based on reasons, I think the agreement can be reached more quickly.
By the way, I'm not gay but I have many gay friends. I support gay marriage simply because I hope my friends all live happily without being discriminated or separated. I hope they all have the rights they deserve.
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I'm not a Catholic or Christian, I'm barely even a Buddhist.
In fact, I would regard myself as an atheist. I would add these because of your previous phrase "barely even a Buddhist".)
But Religion itself doesn't bother me because basically I understand the possible reasons that why it is needed.
When prop. 8 was being discussed, I've read a statement urging people to vote yes. (because this was in the past and is finished ("I read" instead of "I have read".)
Though I've decided to support gay marriage, I still wanted to understand the opposite opposing arguments.
The statements was were very unconvincing; the premise (that homosexualality is a "choice") was not acceptable, and the results of the only statistical study used was were questionable. (You can also say: "the premise was unacceptable".)
They even spread it and used it to go against opose others. (This is a little more natural.)
But as an adult, one should be aware of the faultiness and incompleteness of his/her own thoughts and try to correct them. ("Faultiness" is odd - choose another word?)
In this case, I really think those who believed in the statement should re-examine those ideas critically. (Which statement you are referring to is unclear - the statement of the pope? Proposition 8? Maybe clarify...)
I know there are many Catholic/Christians who are doing good around the world.
But still, I can't agree with some ideas Catholics are holding hold, let alone the attitude that some controversial issues should all be denied just because the Bible says so.
Comparing Compared with many other issues (eg.
If people all speak based on reasons, I think the an agreement can be reached more quickly.
I support gay marriage simply because I hope my friends all live happily without being discriminated against or separated.
I hope they all have get the rights they deserve.
You're English is excellent! I can't believe the pope said that in today's age! I agree with your post. I live in California, and I think Proposition 8 was a big sham. I am also not gay, but I have gay friends too. I don't see why they shouldn't have the same rights as everyone else. What's more, homosexuality is a private thing, and it doesn't affect anyone else! I don't know what the anti-gay people are afraid of. Wouldn't it be better anyway to advocate MORE stable relationships and homes, whatever kind they are?
I think it is good to point out though that not all Christians are anti-gay. A co-worker of mine's church (non-denominational) advocated voting NO on 8 on the basis that it is only a matter of semantics, and proposition 8 would result in discrimination. People are arguing over a word, "marriage". Some people who voted yes say they are not anti-gay, but that marriage is a religious term, and that they support "civil union" (supposedly equal rights). I think this is a poor argument for two reasons: (1) separate but equal rights have NEVER worked in this country (remember segregation?) - it's a bad idea, and (2) marriage is first and foremost a LEGAL contract, not a religious one. If we still did things like are advocated in the bible there would still be slavery and polygamy... do we really want to use this as a model of how things "should be"?
Incidentally, I was raised Catholic, but as an adult I would consider myself an agnostic. :) Thanks for writing this thoughtful post!
Oops, typo --> opose should be oppose