Buddhist Athiest
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Confession of a Buddhist Atheist List Price: $26.00 Sale Price: $8.50  |
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Written with the same brilliance and boldness that made Buddhism Without Beliefs a classic in its field, Confession of a Buddhist Atheist is Stephen Batchelor’s account of his journey through Buddhism, which culminates in a groundbreaking new portrait of the historical Buddha... |
On behalf of the gay community, I would like to thank..?
all of the supportive straight people who are Christian, Athiest, Buddhist etc. that empathise with us (the gay community) and completely understand that sexual orientation is not a choice.
So my question is:
Were you homophobic before you came to this conclusion?
What changed your mind? Was it because you have a close family member/friend that is gay?
How does this conflict with your religion, and what do you say when people ask you, you are not a true believer in *insert your belief here* because you don't hate homosexuals?
[People who do not stick to a religion can also answer this.]
I was homophobic until I was about 14 or 15 and then I realized how silly it was. A friend came out to me, and I realized there was nothing wrong with it...he was still the same person. I realized that those who were homophobic were probably afraid of anything different, and they used it as a blanket term for anyone who was a little different than the narrow high school norm. Over the years, my attitude hasn't changed, and if I find out someone is gay, it barely warrants a shrug from me. A few years ago, an old friend told me that his brother had come out. He acted like it was some kind of rotten thing for his brother to be gay, and that he should have just shut up and continued to live as he had been. I just let it drop...sometimes there's no arguing with people like that, and you have to let them see for themselves that there's nothing wrong with being gay. Maybe he will one day.
As a straight (and happily married) atheist, I have no worry about any belief conflicts, and as I have said, I outgrew homophobia a long time ago. If someone told me I was wrong because I don't hate homosexuals, I would tell them that they are wrong for using religion to justify their own fears and hatred of anyone different.
