In a message dated 2/15/2004 1:34:58 PM Eastern Standard Time, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes:
> > >many. I suspect and hope that over time people will get used to the idea > but > >for > >now it does not do the cause of gay union any good to sharply casitgate > >someone > >for honestly expressed feelings. > > > > If you don't confront people and call them on their prejudices, they will > get > the idea that it's okay to feel the way they do. The problem is that the post in no way indicated that he thought it was ok. He expressed personal misgivings while acknowledging them for what they were, the product of his upbringing. You confront people for their actions not their thoughts. In the long run, that does > not lead to them abandoning their dislikes. I suspect that for many there will be no walking away from the unease about this. We come to adulthood with baggage and beliefs and we must live with them. You cannot make someone less uneasy about this by calling them biggots. You just alienate people trying to honestly deal with a dilemna It's easy to walk away when you > hear someone express feelings of dislike > and even hatred based not on knowing a > particular person but just on the group that person belongs to. How many of > us, > when we hear someone say something negative about "the Jews" or "the blacks" > > or "the Muslims," simply decide to take the easy way out and not cause a > scene? Wonderful; I completely agree but it is irrelevent to this particular post and poster. I'm > not saying jump all over people who express these thoughts, but we also > don't > have to let them think there's nothing wrong with being biased. Because > there > is something very much wrong with it. If we don't object, we are complicit; > they may even feel we agree with them. But you did jump all over someone who expressed personal discomfort with the notion of gay marriage at the end of a post that strongly supported gay unions. > > _______________________________________________ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
