Monday, March 23, 2009

The tide of bigotry must be challenged

The Times, UK, Tim Teeman, writes:
It's always surprised me, paying my taxes and keeping drearily within the letter of the law, that my human rights are negotiable just because I'm gay. Political figures and comedians can seemingly say absurd things about gays and, instead of being criticised or censured for doing so, it is we few who query this remorseless tide of insults and hatred (sometimes overt, sometimes under the guise of “irony”) who are accused of being “politically correct”, “too sensitive” and ignorant of “freedom of speech”.

Suppose an MP described black or Asian people as an abomination and compared them to paedophiles. That MP would surely earn not only the opprobrium of his or her political party but also a visit from the police for inciting racial hatred, be on the news a lot and have to apologise.

The Democratic Unionist MP Iris Robinson, wife of Northern Ireland's First Minister, will not face charges over comments that homosexuality was an abomination akin to paedophilia; that is was “viler” than child abuse and could be “cured”. This is insidious nonsense, but even if it's not inciteful nonsense, she also escaped censure from her party.

The Muslim preacher Anjem Choudary says that if gays have gay sex they should be stoned to death. The good news, unless you are an exhibitionist, is that under Sharia there must be four witnesses. Choudary also equated gay sex with having sex with donkeys. Do those in authority not condemn this because they think it is laughable or because they are frightened to tackle a Muslim cleric? So much bigotry is tied up with an obsession about gay sex, but to conflate what people do in bed with their human rights makes as little sense as comparing homosexuality with bestiality.

.....
There must be a balance between the right to free speech, the right to express one's faith and gay people's right to live equally and free from fear.

7 comments:

IT said...

Yes, but in the US, the first two are nearly absolute and the third is completely dispensible.

Leonard said...

The Democratic Unionist MP Iris Robinson, wife of Northern Ireland's First Minister,¨ Ann

This lady, even the look of her, sends chills up my spine...and to think there are millions and millions of people who think like she does and worse (as your second example pointed out).

Truly, we´re not even on the edges of the fear/hate ¨issues¨ as noted at the Anti-LGBT Conference, Government sponsored, while +Orombi gloated, in Nigeria a week ago.

The emotionally and spiritually twisted filthy ¨beliefs¨ regarding LGBT Christians by self-righteous Christians and others have YET to hit the fan with the rest of their insane sh*t...the, recently reported, Christinazis are damned terrifing (rewriting the Holocaust to include Nazi promoters who were GAY).

DANGEROUS fools on the lam.

Anonymous said...

Senator Chuck Schumer has come out in favor of marriage equality (you can read why this is important, here)

PseudoPiskie said...

I started reading this and saw MP and immediately wondered... Well, MP to me has nothing to do with government except as state religion so far hasn't found him a position.

Oh. An MP is a politician. Who knew? Except for the lack of brains.

David said...

RE: IT's comment...

That's one reason that I sometimes feel that places like Canada (the Sane Country®) have that balanced out better vs. the U.S.

Words have power. And you'll notice that it's almost always the hard-core, hateful conservatives who howl at the very mention of anything limiting "hate speech".

Anonymous said...

OT. Episcopal Cafe has reported that the Colorado trial court has ruled that the Colorado Springs church, currently held by the schismatics, must be returned to the Episcopal Church congregation. I suspect the schismatics will appeal but it's great news after such heartbreak for the Episcopalians. You can read the full story here.

Göran Koch-Swahne said...

And this was published in The Times?

(which is not the grand old lady of Fleet Street any longer, but a Murdoch rag)