With the whole gannongate thing in mind...

[Democrat Dragon]

do you think the only reason why homosexuals are bashed by the religious wrong is due to progressive tendincies?

[peacebird]

1. i think it is out of fear of the "different"

The need to demonize people who are not like themselves...

[applegrove]

2. No it is because they need an enemy to feel strong & biblical so

their leaders, very concerned with keep or increasing power, choose to leave gays out of the updated sermons - though slavery is now considered a bad thing.

Monotheism was an amazing thing and taught some great values & still does. Such a shame it has been taken over by wing-nuts.

[justiceischeap]

3. I'd say it's a combination of ignorance and fear

My mom considers herself a christian and worries for her lesbian daughters' soul but promptly quit her church when they said if she didn't kick the lesbian out of her house, she'd become one too. I'd say that's ignorance.

Fear is something that strikes at different levels for different kinds of reasons. An example of that fear are the homophobes that beat and killed Matt Shepard. It's the people who yell out, "Fag!" or "Dyke!" when they see gay people, because the idea of two people of the same sex loving eachother somehow threatens them and that's scary feeling threatened. Just my 5 cents.

[ultraist]

5. I agree, it's about fear and power

I'm not well versed in the history of homophobia in this country but I do understand that it is rooted in the religious beliefs that were prevelant prior to the time homosexuals became a political group with a progressive voice. So I would not say it's because the majority are politically progressive.

[idiosyncratic]

4. I think it is more like stupidity and fear-mongering.

I am a Christian, but I cannot attend church anymore. I don't want my presence there to be misconstrued as support for their discrimination against gays.

[ultraist]

6. Yes, a threat to one's worldview or power

I thought the following essay offered some insights. It goes on to say that homosexuality is caused by various forms of people feeling threatened: an "Us versus them: It is the subconscious belief that if someone else is granted rights, those rights come at one's own expense, a threat to one's worldview, and a loss of control.

excerpts
http://www.bidstrup.com/phobia.htm

The Effects of Homophobia On American Society
In 1994, during the campaign of Oliver North for the U.S. Senate, there were several of his supporters seen carrying signs along a Virginia freeway that read, "Homophobia Doesn't Kill." By announcing that belief, they were exposing their ignorance to the world, because homophobia does kill, and it kills with surprising frequency.
There are the obvious murders inspired by hatred. In the U.S., they number in the dozens every year. Abroad, the numbers run to the hundreds to thousands, no one knows the precise number for sure, as in many countries, the deaths of homosexuals are not considered worth recording as a separate category.

But there are other ways in which homophobia kills. There are countless suicides every year by gay men and lesbians, particularly youth, which mental health professionals tell us1 are not the direct result of the victim's homosexuality, but is actually the result of how the homosexual is treated by society. When one lives with rejection day after day, and society discounts one's value constantly, it is difficult to maintain perspective and realize that the problem is others' perceptions, not one's own, which is why suicide is several times as common among gay men as it is among straight men.

Perhaps the highest price is paid by youth. The young person just emerging into adulthood who has begun to realize that he is different, and the difference is not approved of, finds acceptance of self particularly difficult. This is especially true when others perceive the young person as different, and persecute him as a result, with little effort made by authority figures to stop the torment. This is why gay youth commit suicide at a rate of about seven times that of straight youth. Yet it is surprising how often homophobes actually try to prevent intervention by teachers in the schools...CON'T