JT said:

you're drawing parallels between two really different types of groups here. if we just open up tax free status to new groups like homosexuals, where are we going to draw the line? it just isn't feasible.

instead of working to make homosexuals their own unique group, with laws and restrictions and taxes of their own, we just need to accept them as normal. they don't need special privileges.

you sound bitter about the issue. that's understandable i guess. you can't just go about re-writing the rules of free speech for a minority though. no matter what your sexuality, wearing a shirt that says "i like cock" in school would get you in trouble. it's obscenity, and you are violating other people's rights with it.

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Gastronomicus said:

Homosexuality is not a religion.

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CycleThoughts said:

I would assume on this board most people are tolerant of gays and believe they deserve equality.

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Diploid said:

If gay people choose to be gay

This makes no sense. Can someone choose to like (or dislike) onions?

Do you make a conscious choice to get a chubby when you see a hot chick or does it just happen in spite of any choice?

Can you decide to switch tomorrow and get a chubby when you see a hot guy?

Meanwhile, religious people can decide to think critically and rationally about things or decide without critical thought or rationality to accept everything said in a self-contradicting old book.

I don't see how being gay and being religious are similar on any level.

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Well, an obvious bad joke would be:

They both suck.



It was too easy.

Diploid said:

If gay people choose to be gay

This makes no sense. Can someone choose to like (or dislike) onions?

Do you make a conscious choice to get a chubby when you see a hot chick or does it just happen in spite of any choice?

Can you decide to switch tomorrow and get a chubby when you see a hot guy?

Meanwhile, religious people can decide to think critically and rationally about things or decide without critical thought or rationality to accept everything said in a self-contradicting old book.

I don't see how being gay and being religious are similar on any level.

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CycleThoughts said:

I'm really trying to point out the absurdity of special religious freedoms.  I have no problem with people practicing religion freely, but why are they allowed to wear special clothing when others are not?  Why are they allowed tax exemption?  Why do we bend over backwards for religious people, but when it comes to them accepting things, they're the most intolerant group.

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CycleThoughts said:

Gastronomicus said:

Homosexuality is not a religion.

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It could become a religion, couldn't it?  I mean, if it got enough followers and they made up some fairytale about their creator, what would stop them?  L Ron Hubbard and his cult obtained tax-exempt status.

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CycleThoughts said:

Gastronomicus said:

Homosexuality is not a religion.

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It could become a religion, couldn't it?

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Therian said:

Number one, homosexuality IS genetic, as is the propensity to believe in a god. Have you not ever heard of the "god gene"? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/God_gene

Also, sodomites are given special rights not given to the religious. If you beat a homo you can be persecuted as well as prosecuted for a hate crime. This goes above and beyond the sentencing for the crime were it between two normal human beings, aka heteros. In other words you are afforded special rights simply due to the fact you like to have your colon pounded by a hairy, fat, sweaty, HIV carrying man-beast.

Transvestites, trangenders, transtesticles, or whatever you call yourselves already do walk around with dresses on. They do have their sodomite parades with men dressed in leather bondage gear advertising they like cock. And they wonder why those in small communities where people are attempting to raise normal children don't want these dysfunctional boy lovers in proximity to their children. I'm all for freedom of expression but it should also take normal codes of conduct into consideration. I also feel is someone wants to yell or wear a shirt proclaiming their love of cock esp. around children, then the local population should be able to express themselves by bringing them to a soccer arena and stoning them taliban style. I think that sort of thing happens when you proclaim your love for penis in Laramie, Wyoming.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matthew_Shepard
It makes me want to cry

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CycleThoughts said:

With that said, I have two compromises.  Gay people should be granted the same special rights as religious people, their organizations being tax exempt, the rights to marry, as well as rights to wear their gay clothing with t-shirts like, "I like cock" or men wearing blouses.  Or we can take away tax exempt status from religious groups and their special privileges to wear their cloth in school and court.

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Quote:

Gay people should make homosexuality a religion and they could receive all the benefits that Christians, Muslims and Jews are allowed.

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Prisoner#1 said:

CycleThoughts said:

With that said, I have two compromises.  Gay people should be granted the same special rights as religious people, their organizations being tax exempt, the rights to marry, as well as rights to wear their gay clothing with t-shirts like, "I like cock" or men wearing blouses.  Or we can take away tax exempt status from religious groups and their special privileges to wear their cloth in school and court.

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wow, your argument is like swiss cheese, big gaping holes

religious people and groups dont have a tax exempt status, some
organizations do, if tax exemptions were available for religious people
I'm sure we'd have more than the number of believers that we do now and
there's nothing stopping men from dressig as women or wearing a shirt
that says "I take it in the butt for a buck"

Quote:

Gay people should make homosexuality a religion and they could receive all the benefits that Christians, Muslims and Jews are allowed.

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and just which god would that be, what privilege  are gay religious 
given that non-religious gays denied

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Quote:

Why do we respect a persons individual religious beliefs but not individual personal beliefs?

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Quote:

A religion is a set of beliefs concerning the cause, nature, and purpose of the universe, especially when considered as the creation of a supernatural agency or agencies, usually involving devotional and ritual observances, and often containing a moral code governing the conduct of human affairs.


Aspects of religion include narrative, symbolism, beliefs, and practices that are supposed to give meaning to the practitioner's experiences of life. Whether the meaning centers on a deity or deities, or an ultimate truth, religion is commonly identified by the practitioner's prayer, ritual, meditation, music and art, among other things, and is often interwoven with society and politics. It may focus on specific supernatural, metaphysical, and moral claims about reality (the cosmos and human nature) which may yield a set of religious laws and ethics and a particular lifestyle. Religion also encompasses ancestral or cultural traditions, writings, history, and mythology, as well as personal faith and religious experience.


The term "religion" refers both to the personal practices related to communal faith and to group rituals and communication stemming from shared conviction. "Religion" is sometimes used interchangeably with "faith" or "belief system," but it is more socially defined than personal convictions, and it entails specific behaviors, respectively.


The development of religion has taken many forms in various cultures. It considers psychological and social roots, along with origins and historical development.


Religion is often described as a communal system for the coherence of belief focusing on a system of thought, unseen being, person, or object, that is considered to be supernatural, sacred, divine, or of the highest truth. Moral codes, practices, values, institutions, tradition, rituals, and scriptures are often traditionally associated with the core belief, and these may have some overlap with concepts in secular philosophy. Religion is also often described as a "way of life" or a life stance.

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Quote:

Sexual orientation is a pattern of emotional, romantic, and/or sexual attractions to men, women, both genders, neither gender, or another gender. According to the American Psychological Association sexual orientation also refers to a person’s sense of "personal and social identity based on those attractions, behaviors expressing them, and membership in a community of others who share them." Sexual orientation is usually classified relative to the gender of the people who are found sexually attractive. Though people may use other labels, or none at all, sexual orientation is usually discussed in terms of three categories: heterosexual, homosexual, and bisexual. These orientations exist along a continuum that ranges from exclusive heterosexual to exclusive homosexual, including various forms of bisexuality in-between. The continuum between heterosexual and homosexual does not suit everyone, however, as some people identify as asexual. This linear scale is a simplification of the much more nuanced nature of sexual orientation and sexual identity; many sexologists believe it to be oversimplified.


Most definitions of sexual orientation include a psychological component, such as the direction of an individual's erotic desire, or a behavioral component, which focuses on the sex of the individual's sexual partner/s. Some definitions include both components. Some people prefer simply to follow an individual's self-definition or identity.


Some scholars of sexology, anthropology and history have argued that social categories such as heterosexual and homosexual are not universal. Different societies may consider other criteria to be more significant than sex, including the respective age of the partners, whether partners assume an active or a passive sexual role, and their social status.


Sexual identity and sexual behavior are closely related to sexual orientation, but they are distinguished, with identity referring to an individual's conception of themselves, behavior referring to actual sexual acts performed by the individual, and orientation referring to "fantasies, attachments and longings." Individuals may or may not express their sexual orientation in their behaviors. People who have a homosexual sexual orientation that does not align with their sexual identity are sometimes referred to as 'closeted'. The term may, however, reflect a certain cultural context and particular stage of transition in societies which are gradually dealing with integrating sexual minorities. In studies related to sexual orientation, when dealing with the degree to which a person's sexual attractions, behaviours and identity match, scientists usually use the terms concordance or discordance. Thus, a woman who is attracted to other women, but calls herself heterosexual and only has sexual relations with men, can be said to experience discordance between her sexual orientation (homosexual or lesbian) and her sexual identity and behaviours (heterosexual).


Sexual identity may also be used to describe a person's perception of his or her own sex, rather than sexual orientation. The term sexual preference has a similar meaning to sexual orientation, but it may be interpreted as endorsing the notion that sexual orientation is, in whole or part, a matter of choice.


Sexual orientation is a concept that evolved in the industrialized West and there is a controversy as to the universality of its application in other societies or cultures. As philosopher Michel Foucault wrote, "'Sexuality' is an invention of the modern state, the industrial revolution, and capitalism." Non-westernized concepts of male sexuality differ essentially from the way sexuality is seen and classified under the system of Sexual Orientation. The validity of the notion of 'sexual orientation' has also been questioned within the industrialized Western society.

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See the difference?

Quote:

In 1973 the American Psychiatric Association declassified homosexuality as a mental disorder. The American Psychological Association Council of Representatives followed in 1975.

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Quote:

I also feel is someone wants to yell or wear a shirt proclaiming their love of cock esp. around children, then the local population should be able to express themselves by bringing them to a soccer arena and stoning them taliban style.

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