Jason Collins - NBA Center, 12 years in the league, comes out

[bhamHusker]

I didn't take it as if it were being directed at me. He said the Catholic religion wants gays to burn in hell. And that is complete bullsh#t. You might want to read and comprehend my response before deciding what it is you think you are hearing.

 

 

I didn't say that at all, if you would read the whole statement I even said that I was using the royal "your" not JJHusker specifically. Read the whole post, not just part of it.

 

 

That's kind of the beauty of religion... a group can warp it to mean anything they want it to mean, especially when you generalize laws like this. I can say that my views, as a devout Pastafarian, don't allow me to rent an apartment to a Christian. And also, as a side note, why I never understood the religious impetus behind a gay marriage ban. Just because YOUR (the royal your, not JJHusker specifically) sect of Christianity wants gays to burn in hell, doesn't mean that ALL do.

But I'm the one with reading comprehension issues, apparently.

[Junior]

I didn't take it as if it were being directed at me. He said the Catholic religion wants gays to burn in hell. And that is complete bullsh#t. You might want to read and comprehend my response before deciding what it is you think you are hearing.

 

 

I didn't say that at all, if you would read the whole statement I even said that I was using the royal "your" not JJHusker specifically. Read the whole post, not just part of it.

 

 

That's kind of the beauty of religion... a group can warp it to mean anything they want it to mean, especially when you generalize laws like this. I can say that my views, as a devout Pastafarian, don't allow me to rent an apartment to a Christian. And also, as a side note, why I never understood the religious impetus behind a gay marriage ban. Just because YOUR (the royal your, not JJHusker specifically) sect of Christianity wants gays to burn in hell, doesn't mean that ALL do.

But I'm the one with reading comprehension issues, apparently.

 

Yea, I mean he had to go and specifically edit out that line and everything... Just so he'd feel good and persecuted.

[carlfense]

[Someone]

Your FBI statistics list just over 1200 incidents and 1500 victims for the year 2011. I have to believe that is somewhat less than the crime rate for something like road rage yet you aren't encouraging people to not drive and stay home. I also believe that a good portion of the incidents listed have to be from people not acting very wisely or taking logical precautions. I'm not saying it makes the crime any less or validates it but if a person goes to bars or clubs or other high risk activities and does the wrong thing with/to the wrong person, they are increasing their chances of being victimized. It's no different for a heterosexual person going to a bar and ending up in a fight because of alcohol and some misunderstanding.

 

 

Others have addressed other parts of this post, but I don't see anything specifically addressing this, so I'll tackle it.

 

Crimes against gays for being gay are not all categorized as hate crimes. Many go unreported, many don't rise to the level of the legal definition of hate crime. But that doesn't mean the attack or slur or whatever they faced wasn't motivated by the fact that they're gay. Hate crimes are not always reported as hate crimes, and it's important to note that the federal stats I cited are gleaned from local police reports, and are thus affected by state and local laws pertaining to such crimes. The statistics can easily be skewed by states where such laws aren't considered hate crimes unless they're especially egregious, or if the state or local PD doesn't want to. States like Kansas, for example, or West Virginia, where such crimes could be more likely to occur because the citizenry can't or won't make their elected officials enforce such laws.

 

I fail to see what the road rage example has to do with anything. You could have named any other crime and it would be equally irrelevant in such a conversation. The fact that those crimes exist does not mean that crimes against gays for being gay do not exist, nor does the fact that we're not talking about those crimes in this thread have any relevance on... anything. If you want to start a discussion about the dangers of road rage, or any other crime, do. It would have no bearing on this thread, just as this discussion has no bearing on that.

 

I cannot tell you how disappointing it is to read this:

I also believe that a good portion of the incidents listed have to be from people not acting very wisely or taking logical precautions. I'm not saying it makes the crime any less or validates it but if a person goes to bars or clubs or other high risk activities and does the wrong thing with/to the wrong person, they are increasing their chances of being victimized. It's no different for a heterosexual person going to a bar and ending up in a fight because of alcohol and some misunderstanding.

 

 

 

This is, bluntly, bullsh#t. It's the "asking for it" excuse for rape. If your wife went out to a bar and had a good time with her girlfriends, and she happened to be loud and giggly and caught the attention of a guy prone to rape, is that a high-risk activity? There simply is NO EXCUSE for hate crime, just as there is no excuse for rape.

 

Being gay in public is not a "high-risk activity."

 

 

1. A poster recently said that he or she can't see any reason why a person would not come out of the closet.

 

2. Now, that same poster is saying that hate crimes against gays are the result of the victim "not acting very wisely or taking logical precautions".

 

Statement #2 seems to contradict statement #1.

 

In fact, there are plenty of reason for a gay person to not come out.

[bhamHusker]

...I (if I may) am a perfect example of this. I have not hidden the fact that I am white, male, Christian, Catholic, Conservative, and tend to prefer most republican policies over democrat...

For me, this might be the funniest part of this thread considering how you pissed and moaned last year when I referred to you as a "religious conservative."