How We Feel vs. What We Think- Part 2

I will deal briefly with #4 above and perhaps in later posts I will deal with the others, though we shall see. Many times in the forum I was on, someone would post about a loved one, who was gay (or had come out). They would statehow loving this family member was and how could people discriminate or judge this person and deprive them of the happiness they desire.


For many, this is a compelling assertion. How can we discriminate? How can we judge? The thing is, we discriminate all the time. We judge all the time. And sometimes, it is appropriate. We discriminate against things and people all the time when we "distinguish between" them. We treat different things differently.

Currently, we discriminate against thieves or murderers when we jail them for what they have done. We judge their behavior as wrong. We think that someone who abuses children is wrong. We do not let them watch our children alone. We discriminate. We judge.

However, there may be times when these folks are a loving individual. (How many times do we hear from neighbors or family- He was such a loving person, wouldn't hurt a fly, I find it hard to believe they would do such a thing...) The point is: it does not matter how loving a person is if their behavior is harmful to themselves or others.

We must make the distinction between the people we love and the behavior that is immoral, illegal, or a detriment to the future of our society. It doesn't matter how I feel. I must make a decision that is right, based on what is best for our whole society and not just individual people I care about and love. What I think and how I feel are often opposed to each other. When that is the case, it is dangerous to simply base our decision on "what feels right". It didn't work in sex and drug filled 60s and it doesn't work now.

Sorry for the length, but I think this is an important issue.

D.