Is Discrimination against Gays/Religious as Bad as Racial Discrimination? (Poll)

[Infohawk]

After Prop 8 a lot of people were angry at hispanics and blacks for voting against gay marriage. The idea was that discrimination based on sexual orientation is just as wrong as discrimination against race. There was a discussion about this in a thread yesterday too. What if we add religion to the mix? Where does that stand?

My opinion is that you should not be discriminated against for things you can't change (excluding obvious like not having handicapped people be police officers.) Logically, sexual orientation and race fall into this category. Religion does not. Therefore discrimination based on orientation or race is a much greater wrong than discrimination based on religion.

On the other hand, my gut tells me that the right of a black man to marry a white woman is much more important than the right of two men to marry each other.

Edit: And we're talking about ethically wrong here not what is currently accepted under the law. (Remember folks ethics!=religion)

 

[LunarRay]

You seem to have two kinds of wrongs....

Morally wrong and legally wrong.

There is remedy for a legal wrong. And discrimination is a legal wrong regardless of against whom it is applied... You simply can't deny a right against a class of society and grant it to the balance without a very complelling State need to do so... Strict Scrutiny or maybe the lesser Intermediate Scrutiny!

A moral wrong on the other hand seems to be what some confuse to be a legal one... I feel strongly that the Catholic Church can deny the Sacrament of whatever to anyone they feel is not morally just in receiving it... Or any other Non Government entity who in exercising their prerogative to deny and allow as they see morally fit to do may.

I also think it is perfectly right for the biggest bigot religion to profess their views on white/black marriage... to deny marrying folks in that condition and all that... AND, if in their scheme they cause the government to adopt that position it is the Court that should remedy that issue...

 

[Craig234]

Your gut is wrong. My gut tells me two men having sex is viscerally disgusting, but it doesn't stop me from strongly supporting their rights. Use your head instead.

 

[Tristicus]

All these forms of discrimination are reasonable

Heil Hitler!

 

[TastesLikeChicken]

The question of discrimination is a binary one. People either support it or do not support it. Any level of degree assigned to the support, or lack of it, is ultimately meaningless.

 

[sandorski]

Is this an attempt to throw Religion under the Bus to stop the Mosque?

 

[Infohawk]

Is this an attempt to throw Religion under the Bus to stop the Mosque?

Please don't attempt hijack thread with your mosque obsession. K thanks bye. (And conservatives are the ones who are supposed to be keeping the mosque story going?)

 

[Amused]

Well, personally, I consider religion a choice (it is not inherent), as opposed to race and sexuality which are inherent.

Legally, all three should Constitutionally be seen as equals under the law.

So legally, all three are equally illegal to discriminate against under the law. Personally, it's up to you. That's what freedom is supposed to be all about. You're free to be as big an idiot as you wanna be.

 

[BoT]

i didn't vote but i would like to say that neither, nor any other form of discrimination is no good and should not be tolerated, belittled or accepted.

however, ..and i assume you refer to gay marriage, the discrimination African Americans faced in the U.S. and Africans still do in Africa as well as the Jewish communities and our native Indians, not even the suppression of womans rights by not being able to vote is not anything in comparison to the right of gay marriage.
comparing being enslaved, murdered, hunted, starved, beaten, etc with not being able to marry is close to blaspheme.

i am not against same sex marriage at all from a legal stand point but i do not condone the comparison of a disaster to an inconvenience.

 

[Craig234]

i didn't vote but i would like to say that neither, nor any other form of discrimination is no good and should not be tolerated, belittled or accepted.

however, ..and i assume you refer to gay marriage, the discrimination African Americans faced in the U.S. and Africans still do in Africa as well as the Jewish communities and our native Indians, not even the suppression of womans rights by not being able to vote is not anything in comparison to the right of gay marriage.
comparing being enslaved, murdered, hunted, starved, beaten, etc with not being able to marry is close to blaspheme.

i am not against same sex marriage at all from a legal stand point but i do not condone the comparison of a disaster to an inconvenience.

I don't think the question is about the effects, and I doubt anyone would compare the Holocaust to being denied the right to marry.

However, your characterization of being denied the right to marry the person you want as 'inconvenience' is offensive and wrong. What if it were you having that done?

 

[jackschmittusa]

Infohawk

"(Remember folks ethics!=religion)"

Huh? Ethics or ethical behavior are not dependent on religion. They are just as easily derived from personal and common philosophies.

While one can easily demonstrate that the effects of various forms of discrimination (a term you use quite loosely) are of different magnitude, using it to negatively affect others is wrong from my atheist moral perspective.

 

[Craig234]

Infohawk

"(Remember folks ethics!=religion)"

Huh? Ethics or ethical behavior are not dependent on religion. They are just as easily derived from personal and common philosophies.

While one can easily demonstrate that the effects of various forms of discrimination (a term you use quite loosely) are of different magnitude, using it to negatively affect others is wrong from my atheist moral perspective.

!= means 'not equal'.

 

[Sheik Yerbouti]

discrimination is wrong no matter if it's regarding race or sexual preference or religious affiliation.
And don't got morals into it, people used morality to prevent Blacks from voting, going to the same schools, marrying, etc. It was all 'morally' based. Clearly those morals are fucked up and way past ignorant. Not much (or any) different than the set of 'morals' preventing gay couples from being able to marry, etc.

 

[jackschmittusa]

"!= means 'not equal'"

Never seen that representation. Would have used "≠"

 

[dfuze]

"!= means 'not equal'"

Never seen that representation. Would have used "≠"

!= is commonly used in some programming languages

 

[dfuze]

discrimination is wrong no matter if it's regarding race or sexual preference or religious affiliation.
And don't got morals into it, people used morality to prevent Blacks from voting, going to the same schools, marrying, etc. It was all 'morally' based. Clearly those morals are fucked up and way past ignorant. Not much (or any) different than the set of 'morals' preventing gay couples from being able to marry, etc.

Well put.

 

[werepossum]

I think racial discrimination is probably a bit worse, at least among private citizens; you don't have to wear your religion or orientation on your sleeve, whereas with your race you have no choice. From a government standpoint only racial discrimination has had a truly huge effect in this country (USA.) Homosexuals may still live together even if not able to marry, there has been very little government oppression based on religion, but racial discrimination is rife in our history and in that of most nations.

 

[Infohawk]

!= means 'not equal'.

Correct.

 

[JS80]

If government wasn't in the marriage business we wouldn't have this problem.