Scoff all you want, scoffer! But the fact is that there is a real and meaningful difference, translated into the real world thusly: a gay person is likely to have a different fate at the hands of somebody who believes that homosexuality is a genetic, inherited state (such as Hans the Nazi) and somebody who believes that it is a sin (such as Kindly but Stern Father O'Malley).
--- On Thu, 11/13/08, Dwayne Monroe <dwayne.monroe at gmail.com> wrote:
> From: Dwayne Monroe <dwayne.monroe at gmail.com>
> Subject: Re: [lbo-talk] Gay marriage
> To: lbo-talk at lbo-talk.org
> Date: Thursday, November 13, 2008, 4:50 PM
> Dennis Claxton:
>
>
> Indeed they do.
>
>
> In fact, the other day a racist scoundrel accosted me
> whilst I was
> enjoying my evening constitution. With deliberate violence
> he knocked
> the top hat from my head. As if that were not sufficiently
> evil, with
> a sinister gleam in his eye reminiscent of the dark light
> which surely
> shone from the countenances of the barbarians who sacked
> Rome, he
> roughly grabbed my monocle, smashing it beneath his heel.
>
> "Good heavens sir" I said, "what is the
> meaning of this outrage?!"
>
> Grabbing me by the lapels he replied "you sir, are a
> black and as
> such, my bitterest enemy!" "But how can this
> be?" I asked. "We have
> not met; I've done you no harm. Release me, and
> we'll say no more
> about this unfortunate incident."
>
> "I cannot" he hissed. "On the one hand, I
> harbor enmity in my heart
> due to your very essence as a black fellow. Foul blood
> flows through
> your veins, compelling you to terrible deeds. I cannot
> suffer you to
> live! Academics call this racism or perhaps,
> racialism."
>
> After saying this he paused in a most curious way, as if
> receiving a
> message from some spectral quarter.
>
> "But then again, I also hold moral objections inasmuch
> as you, as a
> black fellow, are predisposed to murder and other forms of
> villainy. I
> oppose murder and suchlike so naturally I will oppose you,
> the doer of
> such deeds; if not now, then surely at some future
> moment."
>
> It was then that I saw a way out of my dilemma.
>
> "I'd say your division is false sir. And not
> merely false, but each
> side of your argument is at war with its fellow. On the
> one hand, you
> decry my very existence as a spot upon nature because, you
> insist, I
> cannot help but do evil owing to my terrible racial
> heritage. But
> then you reverse the order of things, declaring the evil
> you say I'm
> bound to do as the cause of your vigorous objections. This
> is most
> confusing. If I am to have my brains bashed out, I'd
> at least hope
> for some consistency."
>
>
> "Why...yes...I..." he said, becoming strangely
> silent. Quite
> suddenly, his head began to smoke, as if his skull
> contained a Turkish
> shop. Next, his entire body shook most violently.
> Suddenly, he fell
> apart. It was then that I saw he was not a man at all but
> some sort
> of clockwork automaton.
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> .d.
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