Posted by Wendy B. on September 5, 2001, at 20:39:11
In reply to Re: Religion and the Board Civil rights » Wendy B., posted by Simcha on September 5, 2001, at 13:38:19
> Wendy,
>
> If we are going Federal here then I have a right not to be preached to. Here he has a captive audience, so to speak. I for one will participate less here if I must read religious preaching in here. I have a right not to be harrassed. I have freedom of religion too. My religion does not have a problem with how I live my life. I am free to practice my religion here too without harrassment.
>
> I know that the Feds do not have a nondiscrimination law that includes homosexuals. Chicago and Cook County do have such an ordinance and this board is administered there. Also I'm reading this in Davenport, Iowa. We have a similar ordinance here.
>
> Therefore if Sal is allowed to harrass me with his condemnations and talk that I am going to Hell because of my G-d given sexual orientation then he is breaking the laws of where this board is founded and administered and where I read this.
>
> Respectfully Yours,
> Simcha.dear simcha:
just to set the record straight:
i couldn't disagree more strongly with Sal's condemnation of gays. he is way out of line. dr. bob should make it clear, and i think he has (? - not sure it's enough), but my response to Sal is to laugh at the absurdity of it all. in other words, i know i am not going to hell and eternal damnation for my so-called sins, as someone like Sal might call certain behaviors of mine.for example, he wouldn't have liked my participation in a rally in upstate ny in 1981, when we celebrated the 10th anniversary of Roe v. Wade. we were posted in the front lobby of the local abortion clinic, and others of Sal's ilk stood outside the lobby on the sidewalk, in sub-zero temperatures and shouted 'baby-killers!' and other nonsense, holding signs with pictures of damaged fetuses. the irony was that they brought their children, dressed in thin coats and knee socks and no boots, and had their precious, non-aborted offspring pass out anti-abortion fliers to passing pedestrians. they thought nothing of their own children freezing to death while out there doing their parents' dirty work for them. for years, we escorted women into the clinic when the Randall Terry group harassed us and the patients out on the sidewalks, or chained themselves to the doors of the building. i believe the women seeking abortion advice or treatment had the right to not be harassed. but if Randall Terry wrote an editorial in the local paper, which he did regularly (as much as the paper allowed him to), i had the option of not reading it, just as you have that option here on the babble boards...
or are we just going to have to agree to disagree? :-]in my own view, one which i know is not necessarily shared by others, no matter what intolerant thing might be said to me, it doesn't change my behavior. i am not a victim. let him think his antiquated thoughts. it doesn't affect me or what i do.
however, if someone like Sal is *asked* what his opinions are, he will be sure to tell you. i think this happened re: same-sex marriages. didn't someone ask him point blank what he thought, and then when he replied, everybody went berserk... don't give him the forum, and we won't have to read such intolerant banter. i don't like any of the stuff he is spouting, but he will respond when asked.
my other point is, and i repeat the simple advice: we don't have to read his posts. we are NOT a 'captive audience,' as you call it. i am not captive to his words. i can choose to never look at any of his postings again. but we can't choose not to listen to someone in the street who is shouting obscenities, or baiting us about our sexual preferences. i do think it's different, and i do then think it's a civil rights issue. (however, dr bob has pointed out that the FAQ page tells us our civil rights are limited on the board, so there goes that issue...)
sorry for the long-winded reply. i respect your views very much, by the way, and wish no one ill will by expressing my views.
yours sincerely,
wendy
poster:Wendy B.
thread:1870
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/admin/20010718/msgs/1980.html