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- Newsgroups: soc.motss
- Path: sparky!uunet!think.com!paperboy.osf.org!coren
- From: coren@speed.osf.org (Robert Coren)
- Subject: Re: Fundamentalists and the clitoris
- Message-ID: <1992Nov18.221648.3640@osf.org>
- Sender: news@osf.org (USENET News System)
- Organization: Open Software Foundation
- References: <9NOV92.11344298@enh.nist.gov> <1992Nov9.215419.16057@news.ysu.edu> <1992Nov12.035614.14567@funlwb.enet.dec.com> <BOB.92Nov11210959@dolores.Stanford.EDU> <1992Nov17.050246.12001@funlwb.enet.dec.com>
- Date: Wed, 18 Nov 1992 22:16:48 GMT
- Lines: 53
-
- In article <1992Nov17.050246.12001@funlwb.enet.dec.com>, sunderl@obvius.stl.dec.com (Mike Sunderland) writes:
- > Seriously though, what is it that pisses you off about the "religious right"
- > so much? I mean what makes the religious right the bad guys?
- >
- > Ok, they hold a world view that is probably seriously at odds with yours.
- > They think you are doing something morally wrong in having sex with a partner
- > of the same gender as yourself. AND they want to make sure that everybody
- > hears about what they have to say about it. Are they wrong just because they
- > disagree with you and disaprove of something that you hold very dear, or is
- > there more to it than that? And what does all this creationism stuff have to
- > do with the subject?? Enlighten me.
-
- The point is that the religious right in the USA does not merely have
- objectionable opinions that they are vocal about. They have real
- political power -- disproportionate to their actual numbers, I believe
- -- and they use that power to control lives in ways that horrify
- people who respect civil liberties. GLB folk in the US are
- particularly sensitive to this issue because we are a principal target
- of the religious right.
-
- The relevance of "creationism" is that in many parts of the country
- the agenda of the religious right directly affects what it is
- permissible to teach in schools. They are capable of stirring up a lot
- of trouble in some places if somebody dares to teach evolution as
- accepted scientific fact, without at least giving "equal time" to what
- they are now calling "creation science". A vocal minority (or even, if
- it came to that, a vocal majority) that attempts to force its views on
- the entire population, especially at the fundamental level of forcing
- their viewpoint to be taught in public schools, is dangerous to people
- of all viewpoints.
-
- They are particularly dangerous to us because they have a goal of, at
- the very least, denying GLB folk full citizenship, and at the most
- extreme of eliminating us entirely. They have the power to get laws
- passed denying us our civil rights -- in case you hadn't noticed, this
- just happened in the state of Colorado. They are not merely an
- annoyance; they are a serious threat.
-
- Apparently you are unaware of the political strength of the religious
- right in the US. You got taken to task for your original post because
- it seemed to suggest that because you had not heard about this, and
- couldn't conceive of it, then it must not be the case. Think for a
- moment about why people actually living under this threat might find
- such an attitude a shade arrogant.
-
- >
- > BTW, on the judgement thing - am I not allowed to hold an opinion about what
- > other people do just because their activities don't affect me? If I don't like
- > what you do does that mean I am judging you? Is it ok for me to believe that
- > some things are open to personal preference while some other things are not?
-
- Not if it means that you attempt to deny me the right of exercising my
- preference, insofar as it doesn't affect you directly.
-