Foundation Of The Earth Short Story

The movement of the gay and lesbian population in the United States is one that has been in progress since the early 1900s, and is still facing overwhelming controversy and backlash today. The push for gay liberation in a country founded on Christian morals and beliefs has subsequently led to struggles over equality of marriage, adoption, jobs, and healthcare. One side of the controversy argues that every individual deserves the same rights, while the opposing mindset argues that being homosexual puts you into a group of people that is different, and will therefore be treated as such.

The way people ultimately view homosexuality, whether in religion, politics or modern popular culture, is all determined by traditional or changing points of view. This essay will discuss mainly liberal and conservative Christian interpretations of the Bible, including many verses that may support or condemn homosexuality. It will also discuss the political views and laws against same-sex marriage and the social activism in the homosexual community. This is all about view points and it has many conflicting views and arguments.

It was not until the twelfth century that homosexuality started to be condemned. This condemnation proved to live through then until now. Due to the fact that America incorporated these early views into its early laws, even the most bland of today's sex acts were seen as unlawful (“Homosexuality and Mental Health”). Since then, these laws have changed, however, there is still a primarily negative connotation on homosexuals when coming from a church or legal standpoint concerning the masses of America.

This book Pray the Gay Away by Bernadetta C. Barton discusses about certain areas in the United States called Bible Belts were they have made absolutely no progress in securing rights for gay people. They lag behind the rest of nation were people are accepting homosexuality (Pray the Gay Away 15). Barton argues that in small towns were Christian institutions serve as a foundation for both passive and active homophobia in these areas (Pray the Gay Away 19). This article is related to the play because the two dominant religions discussed in the play was Judaism and Mormonism and both religions strongly oppose homosexuality and this lead to homophobic attitudes and themes within the play.

Homosexuality is one of the most debated issues among Christians today, regardless of the denomination of their church. Some churches view homosexuality as a sin and have no tolerance for it, while other denominations are more accepting and consider it a non-sin. Even though some denominations have taken a stand on homosexuality, there seems to much discord within the governing bodies of the churches regarding this issue. It has moved from a topic rarely discussed and considered very personal and private, to a mainstream topic of conversation.

In the past ten years, the nonstop discussion and stress has been over the question of homosexuality. Are homosexuals to be excluded from the community of faith? Article writers, Richard B. Hays and Walter Wink explain their perspective and answer the ongoing talk.

During the 1980’s indulging in homosexual activity was considered in crime, people were imprisoned when caught doing so. But in 2003 some parts of the United States, suspended the law, and made homosexuality legal, soon European countries such as Canada, Belgium, and Netherlands passed an act which approved of homosexual weddings (Bonvillain 2006). If one digs deeper into this issue, where these debatable, one can find that it roots back from religions. Most religion disapprove of homosexuality but in religions such as Hindu, for sexuality, scriptures of homosexual activity only stated that it was normal and natural, to be attracted to the same sex (Bonvillain 2006). But in today’s society the main issue is regarding the issue of males being attracted to each other, an example of this issue is ‘Homophobia of men’. Homosexuality is considered to be a cultural construct, which apart from the ‘lesbian identities’ gave rise to the ‘gay identities’ (Herek 1986). It is common for normal men, to avoid influencing with homosexual men, as they fear what the public might think of them being judged as not ‘masculine’, where as its more normal for woman to associate with lesbians or homosexual women, as they are not being judged by the rest of the females (Herek 1986). Studies showed, that the social construction of gay identities meant that there was something psychologically wrong with that person,

Miller demonstrates in “Our Mutual Joy: The Religious Case for Gay Marriage” the importance in Scripture concerning gay marriage and why it isn’t necessarily valid in all arguments. The gay community suffers biblical scrutiny at all times because there are people, and whole communities such as churches, who don’t agree with their sexual orientation. Miller defends this community by comparing it to a heterosexual marriage because after all, it isn’t any different. “More basic than theology, though, is human need.” (Miller). What any person wants is to love and to be loved; why should this be exclusive to only heterosexuals? Using statistics to prove her points, she turns to a poll: “(In the Newsweek poll, 55 percent of respondents said that married heterosexuals who have sex with someone other than their spouses are more morally objectionable than a gay couple in a committed sexual relationship.)” (Miller). This shows how the idea of marriage has changed. Miller also compares old traditions that are presently

Gay’s is something many people do not agree on. It has through the country for a spin, the hate, violence, and eventually equality. John found out when the pastor ask for any confessions later in the sermon just like every Sunday that his son stood up and admitted that he was gay. John didn’t know what to do. Stacey didn’t laugh or jump up and down she gave him advice and John someone would had hated gay people, and didn’t understand the situation has been ushered into the same shoes that Stacey had been. It doesn’t matter who you’re, what your name is, or how much money you make, you’re equal to the person next to you. People are entitled to their opinion and moral standards, but that should be kept to themselves. “I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character.” –Martin Luther King Jr. People should not be judged by the color of their skin, same goes with sexuality, it should be judged by the kind of person they are, how they leave an impact on the world. I leave a challenge to the reader, what impact will you leave on the world, positive or

In the past decades, the struggle for gay rights in the Unites States has taken many forms. Previously, homosexuality was viewed as immoral. Many people also viewed it as pathologic because the American Psychiatric Association classified it as a psychiatric disorder. As a result, many people remained in ‘the closet’ because they were afraid of losing their jobs or being discriminated against in the society. According to David Allyn, though most gays could pass in the heterosexual world, they tended to live in fear and lies because they could not look towards their families for support. At the same time, openly gay establishments were often shut down to keep openly gay people under close scrutiny (Allyn 146). But since the 1960s, people

Due to slavery, segregation, and the countless acts of racial discrimination in our society, African Americans have placed their reliance and faith in religion. During difficult periods, the only perceived and genuine alliance has been found in God himself. For these reasons, religion has become the fundamental set of moral rules and values followed inside a typical Black household. However, one essential factor to understanding human life is acknowledging sexuality, whether it pertains to heterosexuality, homosexuality or transsexuality. Unfortunately, other forms of sexuality remain silenced in the Black community, as it is believed homosexuality is a “white man’s disease”. Silence, judgement, and denial fail to acknowledge the sexual

Considering the dominant heterosexual culture that dominated the conservative south throughout Jennings’ childhood, tolerance for homosexuality was seemingly non-existent, as beliefs were fueled by deep-rooted religious beliefs. The concept of societal discrimination explains that homosexual prejudice originates from an illogical fear of sexual minorities. Such discrimination produces a sense of concern and segregation for those populations that are not treated as equals (Lum, 2011). With the southern Baptist church serving as the central institution of Jennings’ community, he felt hate toward the institution as early as grade school when he was targeted with the words, “faggot” and “queer.” Despite this constant battle for acceptance, Jennings received no help from his school’s administrative leaders. He writes, “I’d better not count on authorities to do the right thing because they tended to side with those who had power already” (Jennings, 2006, p. 61).

Mereana is identified as a victim of discrimination and oppression as a result of her family being deeply religious and she is a committed Christian. As being from a Christian family her culture is strictly against homosexuality. Mereana is concerned because her family do not have the wish to talk about her woman partner even though she loves her more than anything else in the world. Reasoning this is she has not formally come out to the family. From my perspective the idea of being marginalised has already been set by the family. Mereana is basically trying to articulate she only wants acceptance, and she wants her family to appreciate her and her woman partner with open loving arms, and especially to approve of who they are as a person regardless of their sexual orientation. It seen like Mereana wants homosexuality to be seen as just another alternative lifestyle. But her culture, the Bible does not support homosexuality, nor does it support homosexual marriage. Homosexual marriage is perceived as condemned. Marriage is conceived as a legal union only between a man and a woman. This legislation portrays as a declaration about how the heterosexual family is appraised and how all other family forms are not. Mereana’s uncle was estranged from the whanau because of this sexual orientation. This caused the whanau to dissociation with the uncle. It said to be, he had sinned and having any association with the uncle will be against their family’s values and beliefs. An article

Gay parents are facing discrimination because of their sexual orientation. Twenty-two states currently allow single gays to adopt and 21 states currently allow gay and lesbian couples to adopt in the U.S. (Mallon, 2007, p. 6). The ability of gay couples to rear a child should not be denied only because they are gay. Homosexuals may be looked down upon by society, but they still are humans and have morals. These morals they possess, may influence a child more than those morals taught to a child with heterosexual parents. All over the world, children suffer in families consisting of alcoholics, drug abusers, and sexual abusers (Powell, 2007, p.1). It is not possible that these environments are safer than what would be provided by homosexual

The realization of the homosexuality in the modern western world as a cultural, sexual and a social category has been a result of complex power relations that surround sexuality and gender. The acceptance of homosexuality in the society has met its fair share of resistance and skepticism. The view that homosexuality can be in the same league as heterosexual has led it to be viewed as a normal behavioral and moral standard (Gallagher & Baker, 2006). Inasmuch as the skeptics may not want to accept the existence of homosexuality studies show that the habit is rampant today with many gay people coming out in the open. Of interest is the political acceptance of homosexuality with passing gay rights so that it can be recognized by law. This move has given homosexuals the ability to engage in legal entities like marriage (Gallagher & Baker, 2006).