"I cannot for the life of me see how this isn't exactly the same thing."
Yes! It completely boggles my mind. Several times, I've tried to employ that argument - the one that asks the person who's against gay marriage or gay rights in general to simply substitute another minority group into their protest - and it never works. It should. It should make people think about it and really examine what it is they believe. I'm not saying people aren't free to believe what they want. I'm saying those beliefs might not be as right as they think they are. It certainly wasn't right to make black people sit in the back of the bus or countless other WORSE things even though people believed it was. What those beliefs did was deny a huge group of people basic HUMAN rights.
I have family who insist they have no problem with gay people, they just cannot condone the lifestyle, and that's what they always toss at me. Sorry, but if by not condoning the lifestyle you (general) mean they don't have the right to live what is essentially the EXACT SAME lifestyle you as a heterosexual male or female live, then yes, that DOES mean you have a problem with gay people. The issue IS that they are attracted to the same sex. Switch it around. What if hetero was the frowned upon orientation? Would you be okay with repressing your natural tendency because the 'majority' deemed you 'unnatural' or 'immoral'? Would you think it completely right to be oppressed in such a manner? Somehow I think not.
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Yes! It completely boggles my mind. Several times, I've tried to employ that argument - the one that asks the person who's against gay marriage or gay rights in general to simply substitute another minority group into their protest - and it never works. It should. It should make people think about it and really examine what it is they believe. I'm not saying people aren't free to believe what they want. I'm saying those beliefs might not be as right as they think they are. It certainly wasn't right to make black people sit in the back of the bus or countless other WORSE things even though people believed it was. What those beliefs did was deny a huge group of people basic HUMAN rights.
I have family who insist they have no problem with gay people, they just cannot condone the lifestyle, and that's what they always toss at me. Sorry, but if by not condoning the lifestyle you (general) mean they don't have the right to live what is essentially the EXACT SAME lifestyle you as a heterosexual male or female live, then yes, that DOES mean you have a problem with gay people. The issue IS that they are attracted to the same sex. Switch it around. What if hetero was the frowned upon orientation? Would you be okay with repressing your natural tendency because the 'majority' deemed you 'unnatural' or 'immoral'? Would you think it completely right to be oppressed in such a manner? Somehow I think not.