Kellogg's Korner

I was blasted this week at www.dad-blogs.com for stating my opinion and beliefs. Of course, it is because I believe it is immoral and unnatural to be gay. I have never tried to hide this fact- I have always been open with my opinions. My openness with my opinion has hurt many people’s feelings. Guess what- I have the right to state my opinion thanks to the First Amendment, and they have the right to voice theirs. Where I have an issue with this, is when these people act as if I do not have the right to an opinion because they don’t agree with me.

If you want to see the discussion thread check it out here: http://www.dad-blogs.com/the-blogs/editorials/joeprah/1048-defining-family-in-public-schools.html

First thing I am going to address here is rights-human rights. What rights do I believe people have? This is a simple answer here-in America, we have the “Bill of Rights” for those who have a hard time understanding their rights.

The First Amendment is one that I think many people do not fully understand. “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.” This first states that we have the freedom of religion (no law respecting an establishment of religion). This says that Congress, no mention of individual state here, can not make a law stating that the people of America MUST follow a specific religion.
Second, it says that Congress, once again the federal government, can not prohibit us from freely expressing our religion (or prohibiting the free exercise thereof). There are a lot of people that think if I post a Christian sign on PUBLIC property that the government is establishing a religion. Allowing me to post a sign is not making a law, or leaving a landmark such as the Mojave Cross on a national park, is not establishing a law. Having a Christian sign displayed at a football game at a public school is not establishing any law.

I think people understand, for the most part, the freedom of speech and press; I can say and print what I want, but there are laws that say I cannot print lies (libel) or speak lies about people (slander). If what I print or say is true or just opinion based, I have the right to print or say it. If you don’t like what I have to say, get over it, read something else- I don’t really care.

The “Declaration of Independence” state that all humans are created equal and have the rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Note: you have the right to pursue happiness, whether you get happiness is not guaranteed. I will not dispute any of these rights- everyone has the right to live and live any lifestyle they chose that makes them happy. If you are happy with your partner, regardless of who your partner is, that is your right to be happy. I have the right to think your relationship is not right.

I have discussed rights, now I will talk about what is right. When I am talking about right in this way, I am talking about right and wrong. Right and wrong to many people is based in moral codes. When people talk about morals there is a big divide because of the way people define morals. There are two basic ways to view morals. The first is as a Moral Realist, this is a person who believes there is a factual basis for morals. They believe there is a hard line of right and wrong and this line has no basis on any subjective condition, such as religion or background. The second is a Moral Relativist- a person who feels that morals are formed by teaching, background, and religious beliefs.

I am of the opinion that there are a few of both types of morals. A few of my Realist morals would be that is it immoral to kill and harm others with no reason. Now there are reasons that you might harm someone, as in protecting a life from another. Then there are relative morals, many of which I base on my studies of the Bible; if you don’t study the Bible as I do, your relative morals may be different. The relative moral that we were dealing with was whether being gay, in a same-sex relationship, is moral. I will start with only one book of the Bible, although there are many that I can point out. For this instance, let’s just look at the beginning. In the book of Genesis, God tells Adam and Eve to be fruitful and multiply. The meaning of this has never been in doubt, and to follow this commandment for God you must be pair of with someone of the opposite sex. This alone makes homosexuality immoral in my belief.

Then next issue I had on www.dad-blogs.com was the fact that people think that I am not tolerant of others. I feel that they may be using the word without realizing the true meaning. I have copied the definition from Webster’s Dictionary here:

Tolerance:
1 : capacity to endure pain or hardship : ENDURANCE, FORTITUDE, STAMINA
2 a : sympathy or indulgence for beliefs or practices differing from or conflicting with one’s own b : the act of allowing something : TOLERATION

Take note that nowhere in the definition of tolerance does it ever say acceptance, I tolerate people being gay, but that does not mean I think that what they are doing is right. I am tolerant in the fact that I agree that they have the right to be with whom they chose. I am tolerant because I do not judge the individual as good or evil due to the fact that they chose to be gay. I will not think anything less of a person’s education, skills, abilities, or capabilities. What I am not tolerant of is when someone tries to force their beliefs and way of life on me as normal.

As for the basic concept of normal vs. abnormal, I hope I don’t have to define the two concepts. When you have to define something as “Alternative” it is not normal. A prime example is the politically correct term “Alternative-lifestyle.” The fact that homosexuals willing accept this as a PC term proves that the majority of them acknowledge that homosexuality is not normal. It is not normal in nature of animals of any type to exhibit homosexual tendencies. There have been studies on this fact, and there have been species of animals that do exhibit some homosexuality, but it is a rare occurrence in all examples. The fact is that even in the animal kingdom, homosexuality is not normal.

In closing, my statements that homosexuality is not normal is based not only on my beliefs, but backed up by scientific fact. For my comments of homosexuality being immoral, that is my opinion based on my personal moral values, which I do share with many others. The statement made by others that I am not “tolerant” of homosexuals is libel in this case, because I DO tolerate them, whether I think their lifestyle is right or wrong. I acknowledge the fact that they have the right to be gay, I just feel that it is not right or moral.

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