Are Gays Persecuted? (moral, punishment, beliefs, minority, homosexuality)

[Sunstone]

Are gays persecuted in our societies? If so, how?

Do gays have a better case for being persecuted in our societies than do Christians? If so, why? If not, why not?

[Gentoo]

Originally Posted by Sunstone

Are gays persecuted in our societies? If so, how?

Do gays have a better case for being persecuted in our societies than do Christians? If so, why? If not, why not?

Yes and no. Yes, there are people who persecute them for whatever reason they believe to be true; and no, there are those who will stand by them in their hour of need and beyond that hour.

I think that it's the Christians who do most of the persecuting in this country. Of course, being pagan, I'm a little biased on that

[Mike182]

i'll need to mull this one over before responding...

[Terrywoodenpic]

Probably more than non-gays think
And less than Gays think

Very few of us go round thinking who can we persecute today.+

some women don't like men
some men don't like women
some of both don't like Gays.

The people I like and don't like are not bounded by their sexuality.

[FatMan]

It depends on the definition of persecuted. If one uses the Dictionary.com Unabridged definition of:
a program or campaign to exterminate, drive away, or subjugate a people because of their religion, race, or beliefs: the persecutions of Christians by the Romans.

Then I think this happens very infrequently. There are not many instances of programs or campaigns that do this.

If one uses the Merriam-Webster definition of:
punishment or harassment usually of a severe nature on the basis of race, religion, or political opinion in one's country of origin

Then the lines become somewhat blurred.

Personally, I think there is more covert harassment of gays and races than overt harassment, and the majority of it inocuous. Those people who are apt to beat up a person for being gay are probably just as likely to beat up a person for being homeless or rob a person for being rich. Even in hateful people my opinion is that they will use anything as an excuse to take their rage out.

[Fluffy]

Are gays persecuted in our societies? If so, how?

Yes there is persecution against gays.

The predominant religions of the worlds consider homosexual sex to be morally inferior to heterosexual sex. Some theists consider homosexuality itself to be morally inferior. I consider the act of holding either of these beliefs to be true as persecution in and of themselves regardless of the consequences that holding such a belief might have. I consider "love the sinner, hate the sin" to be persecution since it implicates inferiority regardless of one's emotional response to that inferiority.

Homosexuals are unable to attains the same rights as a full citizen through government legislation.

Homosexuals are physically and verbally abused both by institutions as well as individuals.

Do gays have a better case for being persecuted in our societies than do Christians? If so, why? If not, why not?

Yes for a number of reasons.

Firstly persecution is not always wrong/unjustified or at least I do not consider it so. I feel that locking criminals up is a form of persecution, for example. It is the type of persecution and the motives for that persecution that determine whether it is justifiable.

There is no coherent argument against either homosexuality or homosexual sex nor justifications for any of the persecutions I listed above. Therefore, persecution against homosexuals lack reasonable motives.

This is not necessarily the case for Christians. Many rational arguments can be presented for limiting the Christian influence in the public and political spheres and, whilst these are persecution, they are entirely legitimate.

Furthermore Christianity, in the West at least, is dominant both religiously and socially. Homosexuality, by comparison is far smaller. As would be expected, the persecution that a majority faces is far outweighted by that faced by a minority. There are simply more people with a reason to persecute homosexuals than there are for Christianity.

[zombieharlot]

Yes, gays are persecuted, but who cares if they have a better case than Christians? Persecution is persecution, whether against gays, Christians, Satanists, ethnicities, culture, animals and the environment, etc.... Why not just try and stop all of it rather than get caught up in who has a better case for it?

[ChrisP]

Everyone is "persecuted" in one way or another... it just depends on who's looking at it.

Persecution, like beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

If you're saying sexuality effects rights, then I agree in so far as legally recognised equality for same sex/polygamatic relationships.

[michel]

I am not gay, but I have met a few (who seemed happy with life) - they never complained of persecution - but I guess that's my little corner of England which seems to be quite different from Fluffy's or Mike's.