I do not hate anyone, not even my worst enemy. I have friends who are attracted to the same sex, and our friendship is not changed because of it. I do not publicly protest gays, I do not shout hateful words at them and I do NOT hate them. My reasoning for wanting to homeschool is a personal choice, a choice that I am gifted the right to have because I live in the United States. I am also gifted the right to freedom of speech. Apparently, that right is only given if you agree with the "popular norm." I believe that teaching your children things such as sex or homosexuality is the rights of parents, not the school systems. To have a law saying that it is required takes away some of the rights of parents, and that is not right.
Let me digress. I should here take a look at the root of the issue. There is a mindset that is very popular today which is adopted by most people who favor "gay rights", "equality", and the like. I am talking about relativism.
The ideas about relativism are inspired or taken from an excellent little booklet my husband just read called Absolute Relativism by Chris Stefanick.
The fundamental philosophy driving relativism is that Absolute Truth (hereon referred to as A.T.) does not exist. But this statement is immediately flawed, because to believe that A.T. absolutely does not exist is not absolutely true unless A.T. exists. But if A.T. exists, then... well, it exists. In fact, the only reason so many people today are relativists is because it is rarely scrutinized.
Relativism is the concept that truth, and morality, can be defined by each person. In this case, if one person wants to believe that homosexuality is immoral, and another believes it is acceptable, they agree to disagree because "truth" is relative.
Relativists are quick to label anyone who takes an objective view of truth "intolerant". Obviously, this cannot be applied to all moral issues; for example, you would surely agree that murder (take the 9/11 disaster as an extreme case) is OBJECTIVELY wrong. Even American relativists would not dispute that. Stefanick says: "because it is impossible for relativism to be consistent, many people end up being 'selective relativists,' objective about things they feel strongly about (terrorism? gun control? global warming?) but nothing else (sexual ethics? religion?).
Relativism is not necessary to maintain peace in the world. As it is, whenever someone states he can know with certainty the truth about something, and anyone who disagrees with him is "wrong", he is quick to be labeled "intolerant," "rigid," or "close-minded."
Isn't it ironic, however, that relativists are less tolerant than Christians? Chris Stefanik gives many examples of cases where schools persecute public prayer, activists sue companies for public religious symbols, and so on. Christians are one of the least-tolerated groups, but they are most-frequently labeled "intolerant".
"Relativists state that each person can create his own right and wrong with the one rule that we shouldn't hurt or restrain anyone else. But as soon as someone admits a single should into his vocabulary... he has undetermined moral relativism, where there are no objective moral standards."
What is tolerance? To tolerate something, we must first agree that it is wrong. Sunshine is never tolerated, it is enjoyed. Rain sometimes has to be tolerated. A Christian does not agree with homosexual practices, so for them to be labeled intolerant is actually a misnomer.
What is tolerance? To tolerate something, we must first agree that it is wrong. Sunshine is never tolerated, it is enjoyed. Rain sometimes has to be tolerated. A Christian does not agree with homosexual practices, so for them to be labeled intolerant is actually a misnomer.
To close, I would like to point out that Catholics do NOT hate homosexuals. To disagree with their lifestyle choice is not hateful, it is a disagreement, it is not unlawful to disagree. As a Catholic I hear many people spouting hateful things about my church, but I never accuse them of "hate speech," for that would be a very strong accusation and I know there will always be people who disagree with my faith.
God bless, and have a safe and happy 4th of July!
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