I had a short exchange the other day that got my brain cells churning. I said something to the effect that Marriage Equality is about love, and this was the response I got:
Well, that's a nice thought but... (0+ / 0-)
...it's totally inaccurate. Men have always had the right to love each other. Best friends, brothers, fathers and sons, comrades in arms, shipmates...all sorts of strong emotional bonds between men have always been condoned and lauded. It's only those who express themselves sexually (and either are caught or admitted to it) who have been illegal, imprisoned, beaten and murdered for the SEX ACT, not the feelings the men had for each other. So, IMO away if you like, it's just factually incorrect to say that the movement toward equality for homos (Gay Liberation) isn't predicated on same-gender sexual behavior.
I was of course unable to refute it, but it occurred to me that this divide is part of the problem.
Of course few people want to marry someone they don't love, hence my opinion that equality is about love. But the comment was correct... in the minds of homophobes it is about sex.
We have a very puritanical culture still, despite all the sex bombarding us. Just look at all the recent legislation aimed at controlling women. Yes it's fine for them to parade around in a Victoria's Secret commercial, but decide what to do with your own uterus? Oh hell no.
But I digress.
Religion has always had a strong interest in making sex of all kinds (except married, straight, missionary style) shameful. It's a simple and effective way to wield control. Nature gave us strong sex impulses, and unless we can be made to feel guilty about it, there would be no control over the masses. Shame is a powerful psychological tool. In fact, the only thing stronger is
Love.
Which is why so few churches really preach and demonstrate love. They fear loss of control. Hate is so much easier to promote. Love requires action, it requires soul searching, it requires sacrifice, and it requires humility.
Hate requires none of that, indeed, it cannot survive any of that.
It is entirely natural to want to have sex with someone you are in love with, and sometimes marry them. Marriage denotes commitment, sharing, faithfulness, stability. That is why gays want equality. We can have sex with whoever we want anyway. So after giving it a lot of thought... yes, persecution of gays is about sex. The long road towards equality, it's about love.