Bigotry in America

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6u3F4n_t2Mw

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xeOaTpYl8mE




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"Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind." - Dr. Seuss

Its my experience that there is less bigotry in America now than there was 10 years ago. And, there was less then than there was 10 years before that. And so on.

First of all, the 'sodomy' movie. It was made (apparently) back in 1996. Since then, those laws have been struck down. Per a 2003 article on CNN.com:

Legal analysts said the ruling enshrines for the first time a broad constitutional right to sexual privacy, and its impact would reach beyond Texas and 12 other states with similar sodomy laws applied against the gay and lesbian community, and into mainstream America.

and

As recently as 1960, every state had an anti-sodomy law, according to The Associated Press. In 37 states, the statutes have been repealed by lawmakers or blocked by state courts, the AP reported.

Of the 13 states with sodomy laws, four -- Texas, Kansas, Oklahoma and Missouri -- prohibit oral and anal sex between same-sex couples. The other nine ban consensual sodomy for everyone: Alabama, Florida, Idaho, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Utah and Virginia.

I cannot speak about laws in other states due to lack of specific knowledge about them, but in Texas, many years ago, all sexual activity was illegal except that between a man and a woman, married to each other, in the so-called 'missionary position' only. As time passed, these sorts of laws have been progressively relaxed. About the only law of this sort still on the books in Texas is the one nicknamed the 'dildo law' (Texas Penal Code, Section 43.21) which restricts possession of 'sex toys'. It is extremely rare that this law is enforced these days, and it is likely to be removed from the books sometime soon (either by the Legislature or more likely by the Courts).

So, yes, there used to be laws that backed up prejudice against 'sexual perversion'. However, as time has passed, many actions formerly considered perverted have become accepted into the mainstream. Sure, there are still some bigots against them, but time will take care of them as well. Nowadays, I would say that by and large, bigotry against consensual adult alternative sexual practices is a dead issue.

The issue raised in the second film you linked is a bit tougher. The issue some of the police officers in various places shooting minorities claiming that they thought that they had a weapon in their hands. I am not so sure that this issue can be considered to be 100% about racial prejudice. First of all, not every victim of a police shooting of this sort is a minority. Some of the victims are 'white'. Second, not every police officer in this sort of case is white. Some are minorities. I think that this is at least as much (and likely much more) a 'police training' issue as it is a racial prejudice issue.

Think about it. Many criminals today are much better armed than the police. Sadly, we frequently hear of situations where a Police Officer is shot and killed by a criminal. So, in any situation, even traffic stops, where a police officer has to confront someone, the possibility exists that the police officer will be shot. The police officers in this nation have good cause to be paranoid. Frequently, in these cases, there is very little light. The person the police officer is confronting makes a sudden movement of their hands, with the appearance of something either metallic or dark in their hands. The police officer has a split second to react, and the officer's life is, at least potentially, on the line. Most of the time the police officer makes the correct decision. Sometimes, they don't.

Maybe I am a little biased in this situation, having been on the receiving end of gunfire from criminals, back when I used to carry a gun and a badge. But then again, maybe not. I do not deny that there might be some element of racial prejudice in some of these cases. But, I still see the majority of these cases as a police training issue, not a bigotry issue.

Ok, now to the subject of the films themselves. I have never been a fan of Moore's films. In my opinion, he approaches serious issues with a bit too much irreverent comedy. Furthermore, in at least these two films, he makes use of a large number of negative stereotypes. Perhaps he is just using the device that Rush Limbaugh made famous: 'demonstrating absurdity by being absurd.' But, I am not a fan of it when Limbaugh does it, and I am not a fan when Moore does it.

left wing bull....

Thanks KWSN - MajorKong,

I think Moore uses sarcasm to help illustrate the absurdity of the situations featured. It works for me because I get to laugh and cry about the issues. A little comic relief is required sometimes when looking at the way the world can be, and is.

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"Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind." - Dr. Seuss

America Antisemetism:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gxqo8jSkAqs

2.5 minutes

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"Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind." - Dr. Seuss

I think Moore uses sarcasm to help illustrate the absurdity of the situations featured.

I like his style... ;)

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It may not be 1984 but George Orwell sure did see the future . . .

Muslim Profiling on Fox News

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lkdDNNkRD3Y


Japanese profiling

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=1666229366601415640&q=en




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"Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind." - Dr. Seuss

Prejudice and Obesity:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T8Zv-W7Oh4o

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"Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind." - Dr. Seuss

American History X:

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-1564035643569751368&q=

1 hr 58 min 50 sec

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"Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind." - Dr. Seuss

I wonder how come it's always the unemployed or a minority complaining about bigotry when they have no problem stealing my tax dollars through welfare and minority specific programs...

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White, employed people made the movie.

I work at a Hospital. Or were you referring to someone else?


Your the minority. You just haven't figured it out yet.


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"Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind." - Dr. Seuss

White, employed people made the movie.

What a coincidence, they're getting paid, you're still JUST complaining.

I work at a Hospital. Or were you referring to someone else?

Funny that you can use the term OR without understanding it's meaning when I use it as in poor or a minority

Your the minority. You just haven't figured it out yet.

LAF....Yeah, I forgot that white people comprise nearly 3/4 of the American population.

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Your an analog freak in a digital world,

Try thinking globally for just a moment. I don't want your head to pop from the strain.



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"Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind." - Dr. Seuss

Can Fox News Blame Anti-Mormon Bigotry on YouTube, Liberals?:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UvhrW7S1fVI


For Catholics: How to Speak With Mormon Missionaries. Part 1 of 4

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=5978646546952322386&q=

See page for parts 2, 3, 4.


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"Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind." - Dr. Seuss

A Brief History of the USA

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hu_FkTCBHLo

3 mins 18 sec

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"Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind." - Dr. Seuss

Date: Aug 12, 2007 8:25 AM
Subject: Church Learns Vet Was Gay - Cancels Memorial

ARLINGTON, Texas - A megachurch canceled a memorial service for a Navy veteran 24 hours before it was to start because the deceased was gay.

Officials at the nondenominational High Point Church knew that Cecil Howard Sinclair was gay when they offered to host his service, said his sister, Kathleen Wright. But after his obituary listed his life partner as one of his survivors, she said, it was called off.
“It’s a slap in the face. It’s like, ’Oh, we’re sorry he died, but he’s gay so we can’t help you,”’ she said Friday.
Wright said High Point offered to hold the service for Sinclair because their brother is a janitor there. Sinclair, who served in the first Gulf War, died Monday at age 46 from an infection after surgery to prepare him for a heart transplant.
The church’s pastor, the Rev. Gary Simons, said no one knew Sinclair, who was not a church member, was gay until the day before the Thursday service, when staff members putting together his video tribute saw pictures of men “engaging in clear affection, kissing and embracing.”

‘It’s not that we didn’t love the family’
Simons said the church believes homosexuality is a sin, and it would have appeared to endorse that lifestyle if the service had been held there.
“We did decline to host the service — not based on hatred, not based on discrimination, but based on principle,” Simons told The Associated Press. “Had we known it on the day they first spoke about it — yes, we would have declined then. It’s not that we didn’t love the family.”
Simons said the decision had nothing to do with the obituary. He said the church offered to pay for another site for the service, made the video and provided food for more than 100 relatives and friends.
“Even though we could not condone that lifestyle, we went above and beyond for the family through many acts of love and kindness,” Simons said.

Wright called the church’s claim about the pictures “a bold-faced lie.” She said she provided numerous family pictures of Sinclair, including some with his partner, but said none showed men kissing or hugging.
The 5,000-member High Point Church was founded in 2000 by Simons and his wife, April, whose brother is Joel Osteen, well-known pastor of the 38,000-member Lakewood Church in Houston. Now High Point meets in a 432,000-square-foot facility in Arlington, near Dallas.
Wright said relatives declined the church’s offer to hold the service at a community center because they felt it was an inappropriate venue. It ultimately was held at a funeral home, but the cancellation still lingered in some minds, she said.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20221295/?GT1=10252



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"Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind." - Dr. Seuss

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"Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind." - Dr. Seuss

Date: Aug 12, 2007 8:25 AM
Subject: Church Learns Vet Was Gay - Cancels Memorial

ARLINGTON, Texas - A megachurch canceled a memorial service for a Navy veteran 24 hours before it was to start because the deceased was gay.

Officials at the nondenominational High Point Church knew that Cecil Howard Sinclair was gay when they offered to host his service, said his sister, Kathleen Wright. But after his obituary listed his life partner as one of his survivors, she said, it was called off.
“It’s a slap in the face. It’s like, ’Oh, we’re sorry he died, but he’s gay so we can’t help you,”’ she said Friday.
Wright said High Point offered to hold the service for Sinclair because their brother is a janitor there. Sinclair, who served in the first Gulf War, died Monday at age 46 from an infection after surgery to prepare him for a heart transplant.
The church’s pastor, the Rev. Gary Simons, said no one knew Sinclair, who was not a church member, was gay until the day before the Thursday service, when staff members putting together his video tribute saw pictures of men “engaging in clear affection, kissing and embracing.”

‘It’s not that we didn’t love the family’
Simons said the church believes homosexuality is a sin, and it would have appeared to endorse that lifestyle if the service had been held there.
“We did decline to host the service — not based on hatred, not based on discrimination, but based on principle,” Simons told The Associated Press. “Had we known it on the day they first spoke about it — yes, we would have declined then. It’s not that we didn’t love the family.”
Simons said the decision had nothing to do with the obituary. He said the church offered to pay for another site for the service, made the video and provided food for more than 100 relatives and friends.
“Even though we could not condone that lifestyle, we went above and beyond for the family through many acts of love and kindness,” Simons said.

Wright called the church’s claim about the pictures “a bold-faced lie.” She said she provided numerous family pictures of Sinclair, including some with his partner, but said none showed men kissing or hugging.
The 5,000-member High Point Church was founded in 2000 by Simons and his wife, April, whose brother is Joel Osteen, well-known pastor of the 38,000-member Lakewood Church in Houston. Now High Point meets in a 432,000-square-foot facility in Arlington, near Dallas.
Wright said relatives declined the church’s offer to hold the service at a community center because they felt it was an inappropriate venue. It ultimately was held at a funeral home, but the cancellation still lingered in some minds, she said.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20221295/?GT1=10252



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Declined based on principles? Which principles are those? I'm still trying to figure out where in the Gospel Jesus said it was ok to despise someone because of the sexual orientation.

432,000 Sq ft? That's not a church, that's a mini-mall!

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Hopefully the cosmos is not trying to reverse the charges.
Moderation in all things.

Declined based on principles? Which principles are those? I'm still trying to figure out where in the Gospel Jesus said it was ok to despise someone because of the sexual orientation.

432,000 Sq ft? That's not a church, that's a mini-mall!

'Do not lie with a man as one lies with a woman; that is detestable.'
(Leviticus 18:22)

'If a man lies with a man as one lies with a woman, both of them have
done what is detestable. They must be put to death; their blood will
be on their own heads.' (Leviticus 20:13)

Once again, it's not rocket science. Maybe you should try reading the Bible if you intend on questioning the actions of the church.

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Funny how some people think every minority should be allowed to do as he/she pleases yet when someone with morals is offended and takes action, you just don't understand why...

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