Homosexuality - how do you see it now?

by MariAruet 19 Replies latest jw friends

• 

  RubaDub

  I guess ones view changes if he is the pitcher or catcher.

  Rub a Dub
• 

  zagor

  Just reading this and remember something from my master’s research. I came across his book and subsequently met professor Richard Florida of Carnegie Mellon University. It is not only about gays and lesbians. It actually goes deeper than that. Much, much deeper, in fact. It strikes right at the heart of what defines certain community or society as well as what it means for it’s future.
  In his research, Florida asked a crucial question? Why is it that we find high concentrations of gays and lesbians in centers that go through intensive technological or cultural boom? Why is it that places such as San Francisco, Boston, Seattle, Washington D.C., Austin and New York are economic powerhouses, and incidentally also have disproportionately large number of recorded gays and lesbians (judged by those in recorded same sex relationships). Why indeed??
  Or turning the other side of the medal, why is it always a place such as Silicon Valley and not elsewhere in the world? You know, governments around the world have spent billions of dollars trying to recreate their own version of Silicon Valley, which was mostly wasted money, because apparently something else was at play, which they didn’t have and all their money couldn’t buy.

  Returning back to gays, Florida dubbed it the “gay index”. The higher the gay index the higher the number of recorded gays/lesbians, which also proved to be an excelled predictor of how successful that place was economically.

  What he also found was that same places have the highest concentration of immigrant too, as well as quite a number of other minorities. But it really goes much deeper. In his book The Rise of the Creative Class Richard Florida then states

  “And if you think about technology-based people, or the kinds of people who go to a place like Carnegie Mellon or MIT and study electrical and computer engineering, computer science - they tend to sometimes describe themselves as 'geeks. And geeks tend to be the kind of people who were not necessarily the all-American, homecoming queen, or turkey king in their high school. They tend to be people who were always unique and different.”

  Interesting isn’t it?

  Are you noticing anything yet? What do all those people have in common??? That’s right they are all different. They are not your regular Joes and Jills. What Florida discovered was quite simple. All those places have very low entry barrier. Anyone can come, just plug-in and become accepted part of the community. He said he could have used any index “immigrant index”, “women in high places index”, etc. But gay index was something that basically said, “If gays are accepted here anyone is”

  So places where so called “extreme lifestyles” can be freely practices are also places where tolerance in highest, and guess what?
  Creative people, people who are driving our economy love freedom of expression, they love tolerance. They seek out place with value system that is receptive to experimentation, self-expression and diversity, places with bohemian-like qualities.

  In fact, if you research just a bit deeper you will find that such tolerant places existed throughout the history and were often cities you’ve heard about – Athens, Florence, Paris. The places that shaped history, as we know it. In his book Cities In CivilizationPeter Hall describes many such places if you ever feel like reading a monumental work that redefines how we look at the world around us, take this book, it will change your view of world forever. This is just an excerpt for the book speaking about such places.

  They have strong but often very informal structures for the exchange of technical knowledge and conceptual ideas. Barriers to the diffusion of innovation are so low as to be almost non-existent; there is a constant search for the novel. Levels of synergy, not only between like-minded individuals but also between quite disparate socio-economic-cultural groups, are very high; this is the archetype of an open society. (Hall, 1998: 302)

  In other words these are places where “anything goes”. These are the places that have and will always have advantage over places where people are close-minded or to put it more nicely “conservative”

  But even if you look elsewhere, take the map of the Europe for example it is not only Eastern and Western Europe. These are monumental shifts in how people see themselves and the world around then. And is also reflected in their economic status. Go to Italy, you will basically see two Italys. northern and rich and southern and always begging and poor, and guess what they are both receiving the same funding have the same governmental structure and everything else since early 1970 and it doesn’t work for southern Italy. Does it have anything to do with the fact that they are very “conservative”. I will leave it to you to decide, need I remind you that Sicilia is in southern Italy as well.

  And you can see it throughout the Europe, the level of tolerance is very easily correlated to economic status of individual regions. It is not even any more the fact that some of those countries were behind “iron curtain”. Heck, when you think of it, Germany was destroyed by ally forces in WWll and they rebuilt in a decade or so.
  So even today in those eastern countries you can see who is growing quicker and who is not and chances are ones who are tolerant are better off economically.

  You might be surprised or even laugh at it but there is a country in Eastern Europe who’s government is seriously considering banning Teletubbies and winnie the Pooh because these according to them promote “gay lifestyle” (poor Winne apparently got only male friends) . Don’t believe me?? Read this from BBC site. Poland targets 'gay' Teletubbies Look on right side there are least five or six similar topics.

  So this issue of accepting gay/lesbians goes much deeper. It asks us “Are we ready to accept things that are different as part of beauty and diversity of this world without trying to change them?” That will determine long term survival of our economy and I would dare to say even our civilization if we are not to let ourselves being sucked back into “Dark Age” mentality of “witch hunting ”.
• 

  Junction-Guy

  I too have dealt with these issues. Im a Christian, and I believe that God does not approve of homosexual relations. My sexuality is kinda conflicted. I like women, and am attracted to women, but not all women. I also find certain males to be attractive too.
  
  My heart and my mind tells me that homosexuality is not for me, yet it doesnt stop me from looking at other guys now and then.
  
  I have done alot of personal research into homosexuality and the various mindsets of gay men. I have perused gay discussion boards trying to see what their mindset was like. I have discovered that I am totally different in that aspect. I dont even think like a gay man.
  
  I do believe that my sexual confusions are a direct result of being raised a JW.
  
  I also dont believe that all gay men are genetically born gay. i do believe that prehaps there is some kind of gene that comes into play, but after that, it mostly falls upon us to decide what to do with that.
  
  Just as there is alot of anti-gay sentiment on the far right wing, there is also alot of anti-society, anti-family on the far left side.
  
  There is also alot of discrimination in the gay community, which is why I told a gay rights activist, "before you take on church and society, why not tackle your own issues of discrimination first"
• 

  steve2

  BTW this topic's been done and done and done.....

  So? Lots of topics on this forum have repeatedly cropped up. Interesting that you appear to have a lower threshold for commenting about the frequency of one topic over another... But I agree that the forum has lots of previous posts that well covers aspects of the Bible and homosexuality, and even a few more interesting posts on psychological research on the topic.

  BTW, there are many hypotheses about what "causes" or "induces" same-sex attraction, and even a few interventions that promise to cure the attraction for those who don't want to be attracted to the same sex. The important thing to remember is that these are "just" hypotheses and supposed interventions to cure the attraction remain controversial.
• 

  needproof

  Although I fall short often, I try to make a concerted effort not to judge anybody because of what they decide to do these days. I guess the real extreme elements of society, like child abusers and terrorists, are exempt from that rule and I judge them freely, but I really couldn't care less about sexual orientation now. Religion, race and sex are just ways that they try to create divisions amongst us, and when we are divided we are easily manipulated. We are all one.
• 

  Finally-Free

  Homosexuality - how do you see it now?

  Mostly on my computer. It's as simple as clicking the links in the emails entitled, "hot asian lesbians" or something to that effect. But my credit card's taking a beating...

  Seriously, some of my best friends and co-workers are gay, and are among the nicest people I've met.

  W
• 

  MariAruet

  Evening :-)

  Very interesting, well did you know that the word 'gay' was originally used to describe a female prostitue and comes from the old French word 'gai' which meant 'carefree', 'showy' or 'happy'?
• 

  nvrgnbk

  Penetrating comments.
• 

  steve2

  Very interesting, well did you know that the word 'gay' was originally used to describe a female prostitue and comes from the old French word 'gai' which meant 'carefree', 'showy' or 'happy'?

  The word actually goes back even earlier, being of Germanic origin. Like lots of words in current usage, its meaning never remains static but changes. I like some of the songs from the 1930s whose lyrics talk about (heterosexual) lovers being 'carefree and gay'. Frank Sinatra, the singer and womaniser of the last century, often sang about 'being gay'. He may have wanted to modify the lyrics as the association of 'gay' with 'homosexuality' became stronger from the 1960s onwards!
• 

  misanthropic

  I see it pretty much the same if not more open minded now than when I was a witness. I had always known people who were gay even in grade school so I was always intrigued by them, later in life I had several close friends that were gay. I don't think a persons sexual preference necessarily matters. It's not a deciding factor of me befriending them either way.