Wednesday, October 12, 2011

Making the Distinction Between Personal Belief and Being Flat Out Wrong: Part II

This aspect of prejudice and intolerance is something that I have been wanting to comment on more fully ever since I briefly read the comments section of this video


Basically a woman working as a clerk in New York wants to quit her job because she refuses to be a part of gay men and women getting married. Well good riddance. In the video, one of the hosts notes that there are many other groups that would welcome her in for her decision, like the KKK for example.

This comment was met with a sizeable amount of outrage. How DARE he compare this woman's personal beliefs with such a vile hate group like the Klu Klux Klan??!! Just because she's not in favor of gay marriage! How reprehensible.

I disagree. First of all, the KKK hates the gays just as much as they hate the blacks and the catholics. It is true that they would commend her for her decision. So this is my question: if a person quit their job in protest of mixed race marriages, would it still be reprehensible to make such a comment based on their personal beliefs?

Assuming for a moment that this woman really does despise gay people (an assumption made on the fact that she would be willing to quit the job she's been doing for the better part of her life over something so asinine), hating gays doesn't qualify as a "personal belief" any more than hating black people. If you think racism is a personal belief and deserves the same respect as someone's religious preferences that's fine, so long as you're consistent. It's not OK to shout and be morally outraged at someone for being a flat-out racist, but pussyfoot around someone who is a flat-out homophobe.

Hating someone for how they are born, something they have no control over, is wrong no matter what, whether they are born with a certain amount of melanin in their skin, with a certain sexual preference or with a vagina. It disgusts me how homophobia is so accepted while racism is so reviled that people are terrorized into being overly PC for fear of offending someone. It's not even two sides to the same coin, it's the same side of the same coin because it's the exact same thing. It's a prejudice, dislike or even outright hatred, stemming from ignorance, for someone based on who they were born as. That's what is truly reprehensible.

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