Originally Posted by Maru
(Post 9827248)
I think forget we vote for people (well we try to) who share similar values, so Ann represents a portion of the population. Does it make her views correct? No... but it shows we're not all the same and there are different reasons I think people have for voting someone in and what we may consider homophobic, may not really be that in other people's eyes... they see it as a value difference and you don't have to agree. But that is a democracy...
It's difficult for me to take an extreme opinion, because there's lots of things I could have an extreme opinion on... for example, people who are from cultures that don't treat animals well. It is a major issue for me, but if I were to encounter people and tell them "You are a cruel abuser!"... it does nothing for me, nothing for them, nothing for society.
We just have to remember that we live in a democracy and sometimes what is not fair for us, is fair for others, as their opinions (ideally) should have equal weight... in a democracy.
Now on a forum, the rules are different... we are allowed to play out those differences here and we voice our opinion whether otherwise we would not be able to. So if I saw someone who was practicing behavior I disagreed majorly with, this would be an opportunity for me to be like "Hey, do you consider your behavior here when it effects ****"...
I don't think it is wrong that some people like their culture and the way they do things, but there is a problem when we decide as individuals to say our culture is superior to others...
I mean there's a lot of things I could say about being American that give me a headache. There are a lot of people here who don't care about the environment, who are happy to throw trash on the road and generally, don't care that they feed their kids tons of fast food, processed garbage and junk food, and are surprised when they suddenly have major health problems (especially mental) and other learning issues when they are older...
My grandmothers, both religious and strong matriarchs, made us sit down to a table and made us use proper language and forced us to finish what we got from our bowls. Said that it's not right that we waste food we got off our plate... well, they also say things about God and other things that other people here would call superstitious.. But we didn't talk much about religion growing up and now I see from their angle better as an adult, why for them having decorum in how you behave and treats others is so important nowadays...
My point is, you can watch Ann and you can say her views are homophobic... but you can't say anything else about her views. The rest of her views, actually, are things that are missing from our society. Such as self-respect, dignity, decorum, caring for your reputation and looking after others (some people would call this bossy :laugh:)... there's nothing necessarily wrong with this... but she's one thing in a huge melting pot, which is Western culture. No single individual defines who we are as a society, and I think that's where diversity is a strength...
So yes, she is showing what I would call homophobic... but to judge a person based on one thing would be unfair. You have to see the whole picture, their upbringing and see where their views work and don't work... and where it doesn't work is that she's not able to share in some of the other changes in society that have made us a more positive and less restrictive way of expressing ourselves...
Anyway, I think that some could maybe borrow a lesson or two from Ann, but that also others could rub off on her... though maybe not literally :laugh:
She is in her 70's, the end is nearer than farther... so she may be even more concerned about the end of life and her self-perception as a religious person may not be up to snuff, so she may have that in mind there when being environment that she may come off very wrong... and I think that is her right. She has sacrificed comfort to stick to her guns and to challenge others, and I think that's true for most devout people in 2010+... it's "risky" to say these views in the public, much less the homophobic stuff, but even just anything about religion... it's stigmatized now..
...but then again, what isn't stigmatized anymore? That's pretty much 100% of cultural discourse these days is stigmatizing this that and the other and having your (often strong) opinion about it... that is Western culture now, strongly opinionated and staunchly this or that... that mushy middle is slowly disappearing.
TDLR... Sorry, you have to read the post. :laugh: #maruthuglife
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