WOW... what a banquette :)
Snout.. I'm warming to your sense of humor.. and sense of restraint.. well done. Regarding Nambla, I haven't checked their status for a while. Probably a year. I simply make the observation that they are trying the same arguments used by the gay lobby back in th 60s.
I was not connecting adult homosexual behavior with paedophilia. I was just noting the similarity of strategies for social change.

mjbp.. my only justification for the neighbour thing, is cultural.
The Bible clearly and unambiguously condemns homosexual behavior/acts, as much as incest and bestiality. The clear implication is that in the social realm such activity cannot be condoned or encouraged. For a Christian to have a neighbour who is engaging in acts which are 'an abomination' to God, would not be comfortable. So, in this case it boils down to the democratic right of any citizen to promote laws which cater to their value system.
I accept that I'm probably a bit of a loner on this one.

One beautiful example of 'bias' or at least 'selective sentencing' came out today.
Example 1. 'The Leb Muslim who was convicted of STARTING the riot by actual bodily harm and violence, was given 300 hours community service and a lecture.
Example 2. An Anglo man who wore a T-shirt insulting Mohammed was jailed for 12 months.

Quite a disparity I would say.

C.J. sorry.. got distracted in the middle of that last post and failed to respond to your point.

I freely admit that there is legislative discrimination against homosexuals. Why should I deny it ?

There is also legislative discrimination against many behaviors.

“The Bible clearly and unambiguously condemns homosexual behavior/acts, as much as incest and bestiality. The clear implication is that in the social realm such activity cannot be condoned or encouraged.”

So if I was to say that they need somewhere to live and just letting them live next door is not condoning their behaviour but just providing them with their rights I would be vulnerable to the accusation of hypocrisy if I didn’t accept a pedophile moving in next door? I’ll have to think about that one.

“For a Christian to have a neighbour who is engaging in acts which are 'an abomination' to God, would not be comfortable.”

You may be surprised what your neighbours already get up to.,,

“So, in this case it boils down to the democratic right of any citizen to promote laws which cater to their value system.”

What would be the law?

”I accept that I'm probably a bit of a loner on this one.”

Probably just more honest than many. There are many people with the Seinfeld (disgusted look) “I’m not gay! (pause to think) Not that there is anything wrong with that!” approach who say whatever is politically correct. At least some of them would probably agree with you (privately).

“There is also legislative discrimination against many behaviors.”

And may people. As much as it has become a dirty word the word simply means to make distinctions. Children get discriminated against all the time.

mjbp...on 'what would be the law' yep...thats a difficult one.

There has to be a reference point. Then laws can be drafted accordingly.

When homosexual behavior was a criminal offense, it was easy.
Since (due to organized political activism) it has been decriminalized, it is a challenge.

One problem is that if a couple moves in next door, and we are teaching our children that such behaviors are unacceptable to God, even worse an abomination, on par with incest etc...it would be most difficult to avoid some kind of outward attitude by our children towards such people. If the residents of a street all felt the same, then it would be worse for such a couple. Look at how communities act towards child molestors among them.

Perhaps it would be best to bring such an issue to local council, and consider it as a 'community sexual health/values' initiative and even make a planning law which prevents homosexual couples from living together in that area.

It boils down to "is this behavior ok...or not" "ok" meaning in the deeper moral sense.

My daughter was actually going to LIVE with a gay man who is one brother of her best female friend. The family thought he had a crush on my daughter ! But he 'came out' a while back.

Knowing this chap personally, and having a family f'ship connection, I would not like to add to this fellows sense of rejection, (real or imagined) but at the same time, not deplete our sense of community moral acceptability.
Him 'being' what he is,... is one thing. But "Being" that... as a couple next door, is another. There we have social values ramifications. Example, influence etc.

I'll keep thinking about it along the lines of

a) Not 'punishing' such a person for their sense of sexual identity.
b) Protecting the community from undue influence of such a lifestyle/orientation.

cheers

BD,

"One problem is that if a fundy couple moves in next door, and I'm teaching my child that such attitudes are unacceptable to humanity, even worse an abomination, on par with other extremists etc...it would be most difficult to avoid some kind of outward attitude by my child towards such people. If the residents of a street all felt the same, then it would be worse for such a couple. Look at how communities act towards child molestors among them."

On the other hand I could teach my kid to accept that while I don't agree with extremists the world has them, and that it is not acceptable to try and stop what they do in the privacy of their own homes.

My kid my be exposed to their sick attempts to turn them to an sad belief system but hopefully I've trained them to look at how well the words they are told match the reality of the fundies lives.

Yes it would be nice to have our neighbourhoods and workplaces free of the uncomfortable presence of biggoted fundies but to try and do so raises a whole bunch of other problems. Better to to let them live in the community and make sure they keep their beliefs between consenting adults and in private.

R0bert

Rob,

"One problem is that if a fundy couple moves in next door, and I'm teaching my child that such attitudes are unacceptable..."

ROFL. For the record it is an unfair comparison (from my perspective not yours) but very witty.

Bosy,

It is nice to be concerned about the cool reception of the neighbours. The homosexual couple may not make many friends in the neighbourhood but wouldn't it be nicer for them if they can live and let live so to speak without everyone trying to be their buddies then to actually be refused accomodation in the street?