Why are People Homophobic?

[Euronion]

You can't forcibly change people's attitudes or morality. If you do that you're practically headed for thought control. Political Correctness, as it's being practiced in some circles, falls just short of thought control by penalizing people for certain attitudes, feelings, and 'incorrect' thinking.

They can live their lives and have the relationships they want, but they can't have the exact reaction and outcome by forcing people to give it to them.

who is trying to change your attitude, allowing gay marriage is about changing the law, you can keep your beliefs.
and of course you can forcibly change someones morality, that's what laws do, make everyone live by the same rules. You are arguing I should be allowed to murder people if I happen to think it is morally acceptable.

not when you force down kidnegartner's throats and give the parents the option of either going to jail or accepting sometihng that is against their religion

[The Alma Mater]

Which is only half of the worlds population Currently that is.
But true, it is unlikely. Still, thought experiments often are

Christians make up 3 billion of the worlds population

Make that 2. Christianity is smaller than you think, though it indeed is the worlds largest religion (ignoring the diferences between denominations, and including mormons and such).

[Galla-]

Would you oppose making it right, provided it stays equal ?

no I wouldn't oppose making it right, but the post I was orginally responding to was saying that gays don't have equal rights,which they do, they just don't have what they wish

Heteros can marry heteros.
Homos cannot marry homos.

Not really equal.

[Pauper Kings]

they most certainly do, if a gay man married a women, he would be entitled to the same tax benefits, because he is married. Again heterosexuals can't marry their own sex either.

Would you be content to marry another man, while all the time loving another woman? Or would you argue that someone has taken your rights away?

"Content to marry another man"

That's only a problem if heterosexuals are forcing gays to marry the opposite sex.

Nobody, except fundamentalists maybe, expect homosexuals to change to the dark side and marry and live as a heterosexual.

[Sociobiology]

Imagine, Euronion, if the law changed. Imagine if heterosexual marriages were banned, and homosexual marriages were the only accepted form of marriage. Would you be content to marry another man, while all the time loving another woman? Or would you argue that someone has taken your rights away?

1. that scenario is extremely unlikely because not only would it go against the relgion of Muslims, Jews, and Christains all over the world and we rely on marraige for mostly reporduction and the stable raising of a child with both contributors to the gene pool present.
2. I would not be happy, I would leave the United States, but I would have equal rights as the next person to marry

marriage has nothing to do with reproduction.

[The Irish Marchlands]

Why are people homophobic? Couldn't tell you, most of the people I know opposed to gay marriage or the LGBT movement as a whole generally aren't afraid of Homosexuals.

However, smart alecy-ness aside. The truth is there are a wide variety of reasons people are opposed to gay rights - Or 'homophobic' if you wish to insist on it as an umbrella term - and this includes of course being in the closet themselves and are reacting harshly against open or percieved homosexuals because of it. But this is a VASTLY overrated definition, almost worryingly so. Its actually gotten to the point that if one were to speak their minds about either not liking homosexuality as a whole (or in part, or merely opposed to gay marriage as opposed to homosexuality in its entirety) that there are people who genuinely believe that person 'to be in the closet' themselves as it were. We are dealing with a deep and complex sociological issues on all sides, and to reduce opposition to Homosexuality as merely 'fear mongering' is doing as much a disservice to social discourse on the matter, as insisting that Homosexuality itself is a genetic issue that a person cannot help themselves but become active homosexuals or be faced, as they are led to believe, a life of mental sickness for not engaging in homosexual activity and self identity. (If this sounds familiar, it should, it is EXACTLY the kind of social pressure people accuse 'homophobes' for imposing on people with confused sexual identity only reversed)

Getting away from the meat of the matter, my two cents is that alot of factors come together to generate 'homophobia' and only some of it is genuine fear of homosexuals, but ultimately it is altogether an instinctive sociological reaction. The vast majority of our biological, pyschological and evolutionary pressures encourage us to procreate, protect our young (protecting our genes), when an abberation to this norm is spotted (for example, zoophilia or necrophilia) it is often met with hostility, moral or otherwise (this isnt universially true of course but it is a general rule of thumb for the vast majority of cultures we know about), homosexuality would have also suffered from this instinctive reaction from sexual normality (which to clarify again I shall limit solely to procreation), this instinctiveness over time became traditional and institutionalised. Long story short, if Homosexuality is natural, opposition to it is only more so.

[Euronion]

Christians make up 3 billion of the worlds population

Make that 2. Christianity is smaller than you think, though it indeed is the worlds largest religion (ignoring the diferences between denominations, and including mormons and such).

no, 1.8 billion people are catholics, and another 1.5 billion are other Chritains

[The Alma Mater]

1. that scenario is extremely unlikely because not only would it go against the relgion of Muslims, Jews, and Christains all over the world and we rely on marraige for mostly reporduction and the stable raising of a child with both contributors to the gene pool present.
2. I would not be happy, I would leave the United States, but I would have equal rights as the next person to marry

marriage has nothing to do with reproduction.

Do not be silly. Did you not know we forbid the old and infertile to marry, and that being pregnant is a requirement to obtain a marriage license ?

[De Quay]

Anger and abuse in return for the truth I see . . . nothing new there.

Well, let's move away from the personal and take some information from others - http://citizenchris.typepad.com/citizen ... _supe.html
- and if it's a bias to want to be able to decide one's own worth and let others decide it for us, then I suspect it only shows the real problem.

And as a personal aside, no gay man has ever raped me and left me bleeding in my home. No straight male is capable of hearing that without somewhere in their "mind" ( I use that term sarcastically) the thought that I must have deserved it coming up no matter how hard they protest that they disapprove and would not have wanted to be there to 'get their share'.

[The Alma Mater]

Make that 2. Christianity is smaller than you think, though it indeed is the worlds largest religion (ignoring the diferences between denominations, and including mormons and such).

no, 1.8 billion people are catholics, and another 1.5 billion are other Chritains

Hmm. My figures are 6 years old.. I guess it is possible that the 2 billion christians have since fucked their way to 3 billion.
Do you have a source ?

[The Irish Marchlands]

no, 1.8 billion people are catholics, and another 1.5 billion are other Chritains

Hmm. My figures are 6 years old.. I guess it is possible that the 2 billion christians have since fucked their way to 3 billion.
Do you have a source ?

Actually I'd like a source too, I'm Catholic and last I checked we were well under 1.8 billion.

[Keronians]

Well, marriage is also a custom in Hinduism as well, though historically it has been mainly polygamous.

So add in another billion.

Hinduism is a fractured religion - and not wholly against gay marriage. In fact, quite a few Hindus even believe there are more than 2 genders.
Sikhs otoh do not like gays

Well, I suppose I have to give you that. We Hindus are a bunch of hippies.

... Until you put us next to Pakistani Muslims that is.

[Pauper Kings]

You can't forcibly change people's attitudes or morality. If you do that you're practically headed for thought control. Political Correctness, as it's being practiced in some circles, falls just short of thought control by penalizing people for certain attitudes, feelings, and 'incorrect' thinking.

They can live their lives and have the relationships they want, but they can't have the exact reaction and outcome by forcing people to give it to them.

who is trying to change your attitude, allowing gay marriage is about changing the law, you can keep your beliefs.
and of course you can forcibly change someones morality, that's what laws do, make everyone live by the same rules. You are arguing I should be allowed to murder people if I happen to think it is morally acceptable.

No, laws dealing with criminal acts don't change morality so much as they attempt to uphold the rights of a person not to be harmed. Your rights end where my nose begins. That's merely about order in a society.

[Euronion]

no I wouldn't oppose making it right, but the post I was orginally responding to was saying that gays don't have equal rights,which they do, they just don't have what they wish

Heteros can marry heteros.
Homos cannot marry homos.

Not really equal.

Homos can marry
Heteros can marry

I really am getting tired of typing the same thing 10 times for someone who has just entered the thread, go a page or two back.

[Sociobiology]

I demand the same rights for others that I reserve for myself, and I reserve the right to marry the consenting adult of my choice.
I reserve the right to put what I wish into my body, so even though I do not smoke, I demand others have the right to smoke if they wish.

[The Alma Mater]

Hmm. My figures are 6 years old.. I guess it is possible that the 2 billion christians have since fucked their way to 3 billion.
Do you have a source ?

Actually I'd like a source too, I'm Catholic and last I checked we were well under 1.8 billion.

MIne is the site adherents.com.
But, as I said, the figures there are from 2005.

[Keronians]

Hmm. My figures are 6 years old.. I guess it is possible that the 2 billion christians have since fucked their way to 3 billion.
Do you have a source ?

Actually I'd like a source too, I'm Catholic and last I checked we were well under 1.8 billion.

Yeah, I thought Catholics were roughly 1 billion.

And despite not being Catholic myself, I live in a country full of Catholics: Spain.

75% recognise as Catholics. 90% baptised.

[Pauper Kings]

Anger and abuse in return for the truth I see . . . nothing new there.

Well, let's move away from the personal and take some information from others - http://citizenchris.typepad.com/citizen ... _supe.html
- and if it's a bias to want to be able to decide one's own worth and let others decide it for us, then I suspect it only shows the real problem.

And as a personal aside, no gay man has ever raped me and left me bleeding in my home. No straight male is capable of hearing that without somewhere in their "mind" ( I use that term sarcastically) the thought that I must have deserved it coming up no matter how hard they protest that they disapprove and would not have wanted to be there to 'get their share'.

Don't mix issues. Rape has nothing to do with this. You're biased against hetero men.

[Keronians]

no, 1.8 billion people are catholics, and another 1.5 billion are other Chritains

Hmm. My figures are 6 years old.. I guess it is possible that the 2 billion christians have since fucked their way to 3 billion.
Do you have a source ?

They've fucked and converted their way to 2.2 billion.

Muslims have fucked and converted their way to 1.7 billion.

Jews have fucked their way to 18 million.

[Dyakovo]

I would love to know how many of you're fashionably gay. When the stupid fad, to some extent, disappears I wonder how many of you will still be gay or 'gay'.

For the moment darling.

I would love to know why you are assuming everyone who supports equal rights for homosexuals is themselves homosexual...

[Dyakovo]

if it goes against someone's religion then it goes against someone's religion, and therefore parents should be given the choice to opt-out, many christians believe that homosexuality is wrong and should not be taught, since there are around 3 billion christains on Earth, I think it the system should at least offer an opt out option

Fine, having to do exams goes against my religion. Therefore I should just be given grades without having to do them. That makes precisely as much sense as your statement.

Just a nit-pick, but it already works that way... The grade will be a zero, but it's still a grade...

[Pauper Kings]

I would love to know how many of you're fashionably gay. When the stupid fad, to some extent, disappears I wonder how many of you will still be gay or 'gay'.

For the moment darling.

I would love to know why you are assuming everyone who supports equal rights for homosexuals is themselves homosexual...

If you're not gay than I wasn't addressing you; kay?

[The Alma Mater]

I would love to know why you are assuming everyone who supports equal rights for homosexuals is themselves homosexual...

If you're not gay than I wasn't addressing you; kay?

I am quite lighthearted sometimes. Does that make me gay ?

And I am also a gay man in the 17th century meaning of the word

[Dyakovo]

Because the possibly schizophrenic leader of a tribe of socially backwards, scientifically and philosophically illiterate ancient goat herders wrote something about how evil god said it is over 2,000 years ago in some desert somewhere.

insulting the Christain God and christian beliefs is no better than insulting homosexuals for their beliefs.

Difference is we know that homosexuals exist...

[Euronion]

no, 1.8 billion people are catholics, and another 1.5 billion are other Chritains

Hmm. My figures are 6 years old.. I guess it is possible that the 2 billion christians have since fucked their way to 3 billion.
Do you have a source ?

actually after studying this for a while I know why your numbers are different, apparantly democgraphic experts have trouble drawing a line at what christian actually means, is it someone who worships Jesus alone, or is it someone who worships Jesus but follows practices that are not considered christian, this has lead to figures that are far different though, so we can't really know for sure, but the numbers I have are from an old demographics paper on the human population from around '08-'09