Letter to the Editor
Editor,
The pilgrims left Europe and came to North America to escape intolerance. Mormons left the east and eventually settled in Utah to escape intolerance. Now, the author of “Fine line between homosexual acceptance and tolerance” encourages discriminating against a group of U.S. citizens. Given the history, it amazes me that a Latter-day Saint residing in Utah, U.S.A. could be so blind to what discrimination, tolerance, and acceptance are.
Discrimination is not “gay-bashing” and teasing, discrimination is denying rights to a group of individuals because of who they are. Getting rid of “gay-bashing” would be great, and it may seem like a noble concession to the author, but I think homosexuals would be more pleased with having the same rights and privileges the straight author enjoys. Not picking on gay people is a niceness issue. To not discriminate would be to allow our homosexual faculty, who are doing the same work as our straight faculty, to be privy to the same benefits; to view our entire faculty as “inherently” equal regardless of race, religion, or sexual preference.
I’m assuming that the author reaches the conclusion that the “problem” of homosexuality is “inherently wrong” based on the teachings of his religion and the texts they reference. It’s fine that the author believes in a certain religion’s teachings and certain religious texts but, as obvious as it should be, that belief does not make that text or the religion true or correct. Given this, why should a passage from that text or a teaching of that religion be used to withhold rights from minority populations? If we were to use religious texts to establish which groups should have which rights, we’d erase well over 100 years of what most people would consider civil rights progress.
When you use the ideals of your religion to judge another person or group of people you put yourself in very, very bad company (think Crusades, KKK, etc.). In spite of articles being printed in our school newspaper that teach otherwise, I hope that everyone on the USU campus will remember an important but elementary lesson that history has taught us repeatedly and clearly – that no one is better than anyone else – no matter what the issue at hand may be.
Brian Gladu435-770-3558briangladu@cc.usu.edu219274514