Tuesday, September 30, 2008

Protest

There was an anti-homosexual protest today on the College Green. It was small, just some guy and his adult daughter, but it caused quite a stir. The Pride Alliance was out there in full force, it was a huge mob of very angry rainbow-bedecked people by the time I got there. It was peaceful, even though the students were shouting and getting in their faces, Pride kept things under control. The man was apparently really belligerent, but his daughter was trying to explain her position reasonably and people were very disrespectful and aggressive with her. I was impressed by how calm they were, I would be pretty freaked out if I was facing that kind of angry mass of college students. I was indignant when I first heard about it, but before I got to the Green my favorite professor made the point that they were doing what they thought was right, and they really think that gay people are going to go to Hell if they don't change. That's wrong and ignorant, but I feel like it's well-intentioned if they are coming from a loving place and not just hating gay people. If you are going to be honest, the students were being disrespectful too, by swearing at these people and disregarding their beliefs. The whole thing was just frustrating, and people are impatient with me for not being more angry, but it isn't that black and white. The man was apparently saying that Catholics aren't Christians, but I feel like the thing to do in these situations is to ignore them, and not give them the satisfaction of causing a stir, and forgive them, because they don't know any better. Two rugby girls reacted by making out in front of this guy, and I feel like that's sort of disrespectful, but a better way to protest, acts of love, and not anger. It's like my roommate's friend wanted to throw a Bible at the man, it made me think of that scene from "Saved!", that isn't what it's for.

4 comments:

Lily said...

yeah, I agree with you. acts of love are the only way to protest. after all, losing your temper and becoming violent only takes you to the level of people being disrespectful. in all honesty, though, I think that sexuality, like religion, is personal, and while pride is important as long as there are hateful people, other people's sexuality is none of your business. live and let live.
that said, that sounds wicked awesome! I wish I could have seen it.

Emily said...

I'm confused by your description of the event - why were they protesting at that time in that place? Was there an actual event going on? It seems to me that whether or not the protesters were reacting to anything specific, the correct response is to ignore them. People like that will not be convinced by anything you can say or do in a forum like that. And I don't approve of girls kissing each other just to be provocative - kiss whom you like for the pleasure of kissing, not to make a scene. It sounds as if those girls were using affection as a weapon, and that's a misuse.

Caroline said...

the anti-homosexual people are sort of touring college campuses, i'm not sure why. spreading their message i guess. they had permission to be there, but they didn't tell the administration what they were going to do, they said they were going to preach the gospel.
the kissing girls are both bisexual, but i get your point.

TCA said...

Here's the thing of it...I really believe in sin. I know it when I do it or when I think about doing it or, regretfully, when I reflect on what I already did. And so does everyone else.

CS Lewis once wrote that a proof of God is that we are aware of right and wrong even fro m a very early age.

We humans tend to want to do what we want to do anyway but that does not mean we don't know what we plan to, are doing or have done is wrong. Youjust DO. Always.

But here's the rest of it...it is each individual's responsibility to take on his or her own sin and make it right. It is NOT your job to tell anybody else. someday the man and his daughter will have to face their self righteousness and explain it to God or themselves and so will all the equally self righteous folk who came to sneer and jeer.

I am so proud of you and Em and Lil for having gotten all this quite right...as usual.

As for the kissing thing, Miss Manners would cover that beautifully, I'm sure. Em can give you some quotes.