Following the Supreme Court's landmark marriage equality ruling on Friday morning, social networking sites spread the news faster than the NRA spreads fear and paranoia, and while most of the posters (from my vantage point anyway) appeared to be in quite the celebratory mood, there were of course a few whom were disappointed. With regard to the latter group, one such post I read was a Facebook meme, attributed to Duck Dynasty's Phil Robertson, but which was really said by pastor Rick Warren, and said this:
"Our culture has accepted two huge lies. The first is that if you disagree with someone's lifestyle, you must fear or hate them. The second is that to love someone means you agree with everything they believe or do. Both are nonsense. You don't have to compromise convictions to be compassionate."
First of all, these words weren't uttered by Phil Robertson, so please stop including his picture on the memes.
Secondly, and more importantly, stop referring to homosexuality as a "lifestyle." A lifestyle is, according to the dictionary, "The habits, attitudes, tastes, moral standards, economic level, etc., that together constitute the mode of living of an individual or group."
Homosexuality is not a lifestyle, it's part of who a person is - an essential component to their identity. Do these same people call heterosexuality a lifestyle? No, of course not. So, let's cut the crap. Here's what Rick Warren's quote was and how it can be translated:
Actual quote: "Our culture has accepted two huge lies. The first is that if you disagree with someone's lifestyle, you must fear or hate them. The second is that to love someone means you agree with everything they believe or do. Both are nonsense. You don't have to compromise convictions to be compassionate."
Translation: "Our culture has accepted two huge lies. The first is that if you disagree with someone's identity, you must fear or hate them. The second is that to love someone means you agree with everything they believe or do. Both are nonsense. You don't have to compromise convictions to be compassionate."
What that really means: "If we think you're a sick, immoral person that goes against what we've interpreted to be God's rules, even though we never wrote them ourselves and have little idea if they're true or not, we're going to judge you, condemn you, and dislike you, but attempt to cover up our bigotry by claiming we just disagree with your way of life and not you, the actual person."
Such quotes just mask a person's prejudice and overall dislike of the LGBT community. It reminds me of the saying, "Hate the sin, not the sinner." Sure, if this phrase were used consistently for every sin, then I may be a little more forgiving. However, 9 times out of 10 (that may be an understatement), I hear it used in reference to homosexuality, and once again, it illustrates a lack of understanding about this particular demographic. Both of these quotes suggest that homosexuality is voluntary and not innate, even though science and studies continue to showcase otherwise (not to mention testimony from LGBT individuals themselves). So when a person tells a homosexual, "Hate the sin, not the sinner," they're essentially saying they hate the "sinner," for homosexuality is an essential component to the person's identity.
When hearing these two quotes uttered by (supposed) Christian conservatives, I always want to ask the following pair of questions:
1) When exactly did you wake up one morning and decide to be straight? Take your time...
2) Is being white a lifestyle? Black? Asian? Latino? Straight? Male? Female? Again, take your time...
I have a feeling I'll be waiting for a while...
http://aattp.org/new-low-phil-robertson-supporters-now-attributing-false-quotes-to-cleanse-his-image/
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/lifestyle?s=t
"Our culture has accepted two huge lies. The first is that if you disagree with someone's lifestyle, you must fear or hate them. The second is that to love someone means you agree with everything they believe or do. Both are nonsense. You don't have to compromise convictions to be compassionate."
First of all, these words weren't uttered by Phil Robertson, so please stop including his picture on the memes.
Secondly, and more importantly, stop referring to homosexuality as a "lifestyle." A lifestyle is, according to the dictionary, "The habits, attitudes, tastes, moral standards, economic level, etc., that together constitute the mode of living of an individual or group."
Homosexuality is not a lifestyle, it's part of who a person is - an essential component to their identity. Do these same people call heterosexuality a lifestyle? No, of course not. So, let's cut the crap. Here's what Rick Warren's quote was and how it can be translated:
Actual quote: "Our culture has accepted two huge lies. The first is that if you disagree with someone's lifestyle, you must fear or hate them. The second is that to love someone means you agree with everything they believe or do. Both are nonsense. You don't have to compromise convictions to be compassionate."
Translation: "Our culture has accepted two huge lies. The first is that if you disagree with someone's identity, you must fear or hate them. The second is that to love someone means you agree with everything they believe or do. Both are nonsense. You don't have to compromise convictions to be compassionate."
What that really means: "If we think you're a sick, immoral person that goes against what we've interpreted to be God's rules, even though we never wrote them ourselves and have little idea if they're true or not, we're going to judge you, condemn you, and dislike you, but attempt to cover up our bigotry by claiming we just disagree with your way of life and not you, the actual person."
Such quotes just mask a person's prejudice and overall dislike of the LGBT community. It reminds me of the saying, "Hate the sin, not the sinner." Sure, if this phrase were used consistently for every sin, then I may be a little more forgiving. However, 9 times out of 10 (that may be an understatement), I hear it used in reference to homosexuality, and once again, it illustrates a lack of understanding about this particular demographic. Both of these quotes suggest that homosexuality is voluntary and not innate, even though science and studies continue to showcase otherwise (not to mention testimony from LGBT individuals themselves). So when a person tells a homosexual, "Hate the sin, not the sinner," they're essentially saying they hate the "sinner," for homosexuality is an essential component to the person's identity.
When hearing these two quotes uttered by (supposed) Christian conservatives, I always want to ask the following pair of questions:
1) When exactly did you wake up one morning and decide to be straight? Take your time...
2) Is being white a lifestyle? Black? Asian? Latino? Straight? Male? Female? Again, take your time...
I have a feeling I'll be waiting for a while...
http://aattp.org/new-low-phil-robertson-supporters-now-attributing-false-quotes-to-cleanse-his-image/
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/lifestyle?s=t
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