[Tom4784]

Originally Posted by smudgie

I think the problem is everything has to be under the phobia umbrella.
If somebody doesn’t believe in same sex marriage due to religious beliefs then they are classed as homophobic, could that mean that people that believe that statement are Christaphobic?
I am not trying to be glib, just trying to explain that I think throwing everything together under any phobic title sort of waters down the real issues people have to deal with.
This coming from an atheist who believes people have a right to believe in god if they so wish.

Saying things like Christophobia is like saying heterophobia with a straight face, neither exist because both are the majority in their fields. A majority can never truly be discriminated against because they are the majority.

The 'Phobia umbrella' comment only seeks to undermine the fact that these problems still exist. Is Ann not comfortable around gay people? Yes. Has she voted against gay rights in the past? Yes. She IS a homophobe, she may not be out there hunting down gays and executing them but she does have a homophobic attitude.

Religion ultimately isn't an excuse for bigotry, especially with something like Christianity since the bible is FULL of contradictions, you cannot realistically follow all it's teachings, you have to pick and choose and people who choose to believe that homosexuality is wrong yet don't see an issue with wearing different kinds of materials or eating shellfish should not be protected by their religion.

Religion comes under the umbrella of Free Speech, she's allowed to be homophobic as long as it doesn't transcend into hate preaching or violence and people are allowed to criticise her and the religion she uses to justify her beliefs as long as they abide by the same rules she does.