I think the bit most people miss here is that most of these weirdly obsessed homophobic types dont think its “just a matter between two concenting adults”. Most of them, either on a consious or subconsious level believe gay marriage etc is somehow causing harm to society as a whole. It doesnt just disgust them, it quite literally terrifies them.
In the case of religeous folks, that terror can extend as far as divine retribution (i.e. floods, hurricanes, natural disasters). In non-religious folks, the terror is probably more akin to stuff like “the breakdown of law and order” or some nebulous threat of societal upheival creating chaos. But in a sense, both are effectively the same because it wont ever work to tell them to “just ignore it”.
When was the last time that calmly explaining to a religious zealot that their god doesnt exist actually succeeded in convincing them?
I dont know the actual solution to this problem. At least for the religeous folks, it will have to involve religeous figures demonstrating acceptance and disavowing sects that refuse along with a lot of actual progress and exposure to get people to empathise and humanise lgbtq+ people and realise that theyre not a threat. Its possible, its actually quite easy once the balls rolling, but its a difficult thing to do to start i think.
And this is obviously not to excuse or diminish the actions of homophobes and anti-progressives. But its important to actually understand the root of the problem if its going to be possible to change them for the better in the future.
The solution to religion is public welfare. The better people have it, the less need they have to go to something devine to search for answers or have hope because of it. They will also have the ability to learn more about their religion and other religions.
That’s the reason religion has been in decline in some countries, or at leas the original religion has been declining in a favour of another religion increasing. Cough Muslim cough. Like we have here in NL.
I dont know the actual solution to this problem. At least for the religeous folks, it will have to involve religeous figures demonstrating acceptance and disavowing sects that refuse along with a lot of actual progress and exposure to get people to empathise and humanise lgbtq+ people and realise that theyre not a threat. Its possible, its actually quite easy once the balls rolling, but its a difficult thing to do to start i think.
In that regard, especially protestant churches are like the open source community: You don’t like what your church is doing? Just fork it and create a new variant that is even more radical.
In the case of the catholic church and other churches with centralized authority it’s more like “Let’s ignore what the Pope says and instead be holier than the Pope, but with holy we mean radical”.
Tbh, I don’t think the base problem is religion/churches here. The base problem is that a huge portion of the population are incredibly fearful and insecure, often bordering (or venturing deeply) into the territory of anxiety disorders. And instead of that getting addressed in therapy, populists (both political and religious) abuse that fear and insecurity to gain power.
The real solution would be easily available free therapy for everyone, preferably during young age, to make sure that at least the large majority of people enter adult life without being petrified of their own shadow.
I think the bit most people miss here is that most of these weirdly obsessed homophobic types dont think its “just a matter between two concenting adults”. Most of them, either on a consious or subconsious level believe gay marriage etc is somehow causing harm to society as a whole. It doesnt just disgust them, it quite literally terrifies them.
In the case of religeous folks, that terror can extend as far as divine retribution (i.e. floods, hurricanes, natural disasters). In non-religious folks, the terror is probably more akin to stuff like “the breakdown of law and order” or some nebulous threat of societal upheival creating chaos. But in a sense, both are effectively the same because it wont ever work to tell them to “just ignore it”.
When was the last time that calmly explaining to a religious zealot that their god doesnt exist actually succeeded in convincing them?
I dont know the actual solution to this problem. At least for the religeous folks, it will have to involve religeous figures demonstrating acceptance and disavowing sects that refuse along with a lot of actual progress and exposure to get people to empathise and humanise lgbtq+ people and realise that theyre not a threat. Its possible, its actually quite easy once the balls rolling, but its a difficult thing to do to start i think.
And this is obviously not to excuse or diminish the actions of homophobes and anti-progressives. But its important to actually understand the root of the problem if its going to be possible to change them for the better in the future.
Homophobia is the fear that a gay man will one day treat you the way you treat women.
The solution to religion is public welfare. The better people have it, the less need they have to go to something devine to search for answers or have hope because of it. They will also have the ability to learn more about their religion and other religions. That’s the reason religion has been in decline in some countries, or at leas the original religion has been declining in a favour of another religion increasing. Cough Muslim cough. Like we have here in NL.
In that regard, especially protestant churches are like the open source community: You don’t like what your church is doing? Just fork it and create a new variant that is even more radical.
In the case of the catholic church and other churches with centralized authority it’s more like “Let’s ignore what the Pope says and instead be holier than the Pope, but with holy we mean radical”.
Tbh, I don’t think the base problem is religion/churches here. The base problem is that a huge portion of the population are incredibly fearful and insecure, often bordering (or venturing deeply) into the territory of anxiety disorders. And instead of that getting addressed in therapy, populists (both political and religious) abuse that fear and insecurity to gain power.
The real solution would be easily available free therapy for everyone, preferably during young age, to make sure that at least the large majority of people enter adult life without being petrified of their own shadow.