Originally posted by NemeBro
If you believe that gay sex and marriage are wrong in the eyes of God and that by practicing them that God holds these people in less esteem, then you believe those people are inferior, generally speaking.Or, to put it in another way, if all other attributes of two given individuals are completely equal, but one of them is gay, then someone with the point of view listed above would view the gay individual as being strictly inferior to the straight one.
You're thinking of this as an individual, which is good. Only the most deranged of people are absolute collectivists.
Your mistake seems to be in thinking that all bigots 100% hate/think inferior all x (in this instance gay people). In reality, a bigot can easily find examples of people in the category he has an aversion to as being respectable. Abraham Lincoln certainly believed in the general inferiority of blacks under whites, but still deeply respected Frederick Douglas, for example, and I'd imagine did not think him in particular inferior to most white men. Quite the opposite I'd expect.
But regardless, even if someone who disapproves of gay sex and marriage does not necessarily find any given gay man inferior, I'd certainly say they are far more likely to find them so. Get what I'm saying?
Do observant, Orthodox Jews not believe in exceptionalism of "theirs"?
Religion and equity can easily be at odds, considering we're talking about competing "tribes" who's mission is to convert/dominate a social landscape, to promote social cohesion through a "shared experience".
I see your point, though. You can argue Catholics see women as inferior, by what scripture says about the role of women in a household.
At that point, we're no longer arguing about individual bigotry, though, imo, but against the virtues of an entire religion.
Which is fine, but not a debate I'm interested in anymore. I'd rather just assume most followers a religion are generally good people at heart, secretly disapprove of the parts I don't like, yet respect the fact they personally have hurt no one, and that the institution they follow must work for the and theirs.
And that last part is the most important thing: A religion that doesn't result in social cohesion is a bad religion. If the followers are happy with it and aren't hurting anyone (They lost the gay marriage battle, so no harm in their beliefs there), let them be happy with it.