What is discrimination?
Discrimination is the act of choosing among options. In the context of civil rights, discrimination means accepting or rejecting people based on criteria such as race or skin color.
Discrimination is a word whose political redefinition originated in the civil rights movement. In normal usage, discrimination is synonymous with discernment, but as used in a civil rights context it means irrational bias against a person. “Irrational” is the hidden qualifier in the term that distinguishes appropriate discernment from prejudice. In an enlightened society there can be no rational basis for discrimination on criteria such as race, skin color or ethnicity.
Discrimination against harmful conduct is entirely rational, and in
many cases necessary. Discrimination is now synonymous with racial prejudice in
the public mind. The homosexual movement has exploited this association to
legitimize its own claims by adding itself to the list of minorities in
anti-discrimination statutes.
Discrimination has been useful to homosexualists because the public
is deeply conditioned to associate this term only with prejudice, especially
racial prejudice. The solution is to add the qualifier “rational” or
“irrational” to discrimination whenever one uses the term. At minimum this
tactic causes the hearer to consider the significance of the qualifier. It also
sets the stage for a discussion about the standard for determining what is
rational vs. irrational discrimination.
Is it wrong to discriminate against homosexuality?
Discrimination based on sex, religion, tribe, race or skin
color is morally wrong because there is no legitimate reason for it- the
criteria is morally neutral and immutable. Such discrimination springs
from irrational prejudice. However, homosexuality involves voluntary sexual
conduct that has negative personal and social consequences. It is perfectly
reasonable and responsible to discriminate against homosexuality on religious,
moral, sociological and public health grounds.
What is tolerance?
For most people, “tolerance” means
putting up with something we don’t like in order to serve the greater good of
public civility. Tolerance is therefore an essential
virtue in a diverse society. Homosexualists, however, use the
term to mean total and unconditional acceptance of homosexuality in all of its
aspects. Anyone who disapproves of homosexual conduct
is labeled intolerant, even those who treat self-defined homosexuals with the
utmost courtesy and respect.
Abuse of language is a dangerous
thing. The misuse of the term tolerance is a good example. For every person
that gives in to political correctness to avoid being considered intolerant,
there is another whose strong disapproval of homosexuality makes him or her
willing to be considered intolerant. The latter may even begin to see
intolerance as a virtue, since it appears necessary to be intolerant to stop
the legitimization of sexual perversion.
As the homosexuals have proved,
many people just don’t think clearly enough to understand why intolerance of
race and intolerance of sexual perversion are different. This confusion serves
the racists as easily as it serves the homosexuals. To reaffirm the true
meaning of tolerance in the face of homosexual sophistry, point out that
tolerance is relative. Some things deserve absolute tolerance and some things
deserve zero tolerance but most fall somewhere in between. For example, our
society should have high tolerance for freedom of speech but low tolerance for
harmful behavior and conduct that
damages the body and spreads disease. The tolerance a thing deserves is relative to the
degree of benefit or harm that it may cause.
Source:
See also: The Case for Heterosexuality and Are Homosexuals Being Persecuted in Uganda?
