This is why Westboro Baptist Church is a joke

[kandrathe]

You're telling me that people who believe that homosexuality is morally wrong, are folk of complex opinions who not only don't deserve to be "lumped" together as bigots for their (self-expressed!) bigotry. Not only are you telling me this, but you're telling me that saying so is "an obvious tactic of demagoguery" and that I'm pretty much in the same category as Dubya? You started it.

I'm not black. I'm not a woman. I'm not a homosexual. I'm not a Texan. I can empathize with the conditions of those who are, and with those who are denied equal rights protection. The law should be oblivious and applied to everyone equally. It is not, but I don't automatically assume those who stand in the way of what I deem to be fair and equal treatment are hateful, or bigoted. That is what I called demagoguery, not you. I was arguing against the eppie position.

It reminds me of the Juan Williams fear of Muslims brew-ha-ha. Is he a bigot because he expresses his mental reservations? No, he is honest. Had it been 1965, and 3rd world guerrilla's in camo boarded the plane, there would be a similar moment of concern. We live in a society where the daily glaring social problem on our media and by government actions are defined as Islamic extremism, and so naturally people have some reservations. But, in a PC world we can't have honest discussions with being branded as this or that. Bigot. Racist. Homophobe. Whatever.

That is why I offered the example of Bill Clinton, who is obviously not against homosexuals, but it was him, in fact, who signed the Defense of Marriage Act while he was president. You can check into it as I have, since he was called on it many times. His reasoning is complex, and much of what he did he claims after the fact, to have been defensive. Underlying the argument is an undercurrent of political position, where on the one side claims for equal rights and fair treatment of minorities, and on the other, the outright destruction of societal norms, traditions, and institutions.

But, were the man alive today, doing and saying exactly what it says in the Bible (proper nouns suitably updated)? I'm pretty sure I'd think approximately the same of Jesus.

We're not going to make any progress on this. You have your opinion, and I have mine. I see his work as redemptive, and you see it as absolute and condemning.