Try another little exercise. In all or any of the above posts - and the original article, substitute the word "Aboriginal" for the word "homosexual". Look familiar? This is, once again, an exercise in minority bashing. It's not funny, it's not healthy and it reveals the degree of fear attached to difference. "They're different, so they must be wrong/bad/immoral/stupid/un-Australian (select your favourite pejorative)".

Who gives a rat's hat whether someone is homosexual or not. The real test is people's status as human beings and our ability to relate respectfully to others. Gender preference is irrelevant in that context.

“who will be the first homosexual who will ask (with a straight face) why Christians who respond are so “obsessed” with homosexuals.”

A post I made to another thread http://forum.onlineopinion.com.au/thread.asp?article=5025#59448 is a partial response to this.

The fact is that many christians _are_ obsessed with homosexuality. The campaign against this particular tolerance-promoting learning activity was led by the Australian Christian Lobby.

Further, christian groups use lies to spread their intolerance in the name of their religion. Gordon Moyes said in his CDP press release this week that in the United States after the granting of some rights to same-sex couples, “Religious institutions and charities were losing their freedoms.” The heading of his press release “Gay Rights or Religious Rights” makes it perfectly plain that he sees himself in a zero-sum game, where it’s not possible to grant rights without taking rights from someone else.

This is wrong, and misleading. It’s the same ‘you’re either for us or against us’ rhetoric that has been used by cheap dictators throughout human history.

This week the whole country, and much of the world, have been (rightfully) enraged by a muslim cleric’s statements about women. But when a christian leader spreads lies about homosexuals wanting to take away the rights of christians, no-one says a word.

Fortunately most christians don’t care a rats arse about who’s gay and who’s not. However many are indeed obsessed, and with the well-meaning majority looking on, they do great damage.

When you ask, mjpb, if it is possible to ask with a straight face why so many christians are obsessed with homosexuality, you give the impression that you are moving from the well-meaning majority to the ranks of the obsessed.

The core issue, in my view, is that there seems to be a strange little mechanism in the human brain (an example of unintelligent design, if you like). When it this switch trips, which it does with monotonous regularity, it results in the delusion that a fellow human being is a “non-person”, a “nobody”. The results of such a delusion can include callous indifference to the suffering of other people exemplified by bullying and exclusion, and the deliberate infliction of suffering. Homophobic bullying and violence is only one of many, many, species of this delusion, but it is important and prevalent enough to demand our attention.

Now in my experience there are a number of factors that can make the tripping of the switch more probable. One is immaturity, another is impairment of frontal lobe function. One of the most striking factors is that same switch tripping in ones peers, which creates a chain reaction (you see this in adolescents a lot, but mob violence and bullying are by no means simply restricted to the young).

Throughout history, religious belief and dogma has at times also been a facilitator of this switch. Some of the worst religious dogma consists essentially of apologetics for the delusion of the non-personhood of others. Charles Kimball, a US Baptist minister and theologian, wrote an excellent book on this phenomenon, in which he identifies five warning signs that a religion is becoming evil, including absolute truth claims, the requirement for blind obedience, and the belief that the end justifies any means. http://www.denverseminary.edu/dj/articles2002/0400/0405

Now, unlike Kimball, I’m an atheist, but like Kimball I believe that a core function of any authentic religion or other ethical system must be to make us very aware of this switch in the brain, and to train ourselves, and our kids, to avoid tripping it, or allowing it to be tripped.

Whether or not homosexuality is personally to your taste or not is actually pretty irrelevant to the issue.

Snout,

It was such an extreme incident that it was reported at least across the country.

I need you to clarify the relevance of the incident to the education system and in particular the essay on homosexuality. Your extrapolations lost me.

“...Such alleged incidents are, unfortunately, not uncommon.”

What!? If we don't define "common" extremely dissimilarly then the 'give up your rights so we can protect you from the terrorists who will definitely get you otherwise' propagandists may be honest afterall and I'm too skeptical.

W,

““who will be the first homosexual who will ask (with a straight face) why Christians who respond are so “obsessed” with homosexuals.”

A post I made to another thread http://forum.onlineopinion.com.au/thread.asp?article=5025#59448 is a partial response to this. “

And in there is my response.

”...The campaign against this particular tolerance-promoting learning activity was led by the Australian Christian Lobby.”

The attributed significance presumably derives from you assuming the victim was not Christian? Your euphemistic description of a unique learning activity that children were ordered to conceal from their parents as a “tolerance promoting activity” stands out like dogs’ gonads.

”This is wrong, and misleading. It’s the same ‘you’re either for us or against us’ rhetoric that has been used by cheap dictators throughout human history.”

Any cheap dictator in particular in mind that you think the religious right are following?

”But when a christian leader … no-one says a word.”

But for your comments, I would never have known about the thing you are shocked I didn’t take to the streets in response to.

”When you ask ... you give the impression that you are moving from the well-meaning majority to the ranks of the obsessed.”

I am certainly seeing an alarming depth of hatred but I noted the situation due to finding it tedious focusing on the thing for so long. It is obvious that those who drag Christians into discussions of homosexuality turn around (hand on heart) and accuse Christians of being obsessed. It seems to express frustration that there can’t be an unbridled vilification of Christians more than an honest belief.

@Philo, what a clanger of a reply to Shauns: "so you can educate them in your values" Shauns was sticking to the topic of only talking about safety and duty of care, not the curriculum itself.

You cannot teach homosexuality, that is a laughable notion. You cannot teach homosexual values either. You see Philo, what the phelps is a "homosexual Value"? It doesn't exist. You see, "they" are us. And "they" have a wide range of values just like any other Australian. Many are very conservative: David from the 2006 Big Brother household, who is now the President of the Queensland Young National Party.

If the subject matter was hypothetically in the curriculum, are you talking in a sexual health frame, a cultural frame, or a subjective frame? They are not the same kind of lesson plans. Sexual health frames are already being taught in Physical Education / Health: in preventing the spread of STIs and HCV / HIV. That has been common practice for some time now.

Now MJPB, this topic does not include the church. Christians dragged that into the topic first, not the gay people.

This is from Jagger's "Performance". Notice the role change. I dedicate this to Philo and MJPB. It looks wicked, note the sex abuse at the core which works the same either way. This is NOT duty of care. This is how gay kids are bullied. I hope this irritates the hell out you. You guys really sh-t me now. Just for you (lol)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FbczmaIvTEc

Meanwhile, back in the real world, kids are being bashed, abused and intimidated because they look like they are gay.

I tried bashing a church once. It was made of rocks and I don't think the Church was hurt.

The church has the adenda to convert everyone but the gay kids just want to survive in Australia. Stop screwing with their heads and let them be. That is all "duty of care" asks for.

This is an American U Tube: cliche cute but relevant:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cWB7LXUnIp8&mode=related&search=

Good Luck and Good Night

I and my partner in a few weeks will be taking a British Civil Relationship ceremony. I being the UK citizen and my partner the Australian. Why are we doing this ? Because we can, and it gives us options we never had before. Our Australian family, who are elders of their church, are very happy for us, that we are making a public commitment to our love for each other.
Our families are happy we are happy, and nothing will change for anyone, other than we have a piece of paper signifying our love and commitment to each other.

Love is always right!