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Supporting LBGTs is the right thing to do
Published:  Nov 7, 2011 8:47 AM
Updated: 3:01 AM

YOURSAY 'Gays are simply asking to be treated fairly and without discrimination. Is that pushing into public space?'

Islam, homosexuality and the West's guilt

your say David Dass: I looked for a point in the article by Abdar Rahman Koya but could not find it.

The West is motivated by guilt to overcompensate for past wrongs to the homosexual community? The Catholic Church is responsible because of the requirement for celibacy by its priests?

Islam has always been tolerant and accommodating of homosexuals notwithstanding its condemnation in the Quran so long as it is not pushed into the public space?

If that were true, then there should be no problem. Gays are simply asking to be treated fairly and without discrimination. Is that pushing into public space?

Milosevic: How amazing that Islam always gets it right, from getting the only true understanding of God for all time to the most enlightened treatment of homosexuals.

The sinful evil West, always full of aggression, guilt, sin, and ultimately getting God and Jesus all confused, can never strike the right balance.

And these Westerners are so ignorant that they do not even know that their actions of support for gay rights stems from their guilt of past harsh treatment of homosexuals, a history they have no knowledge of (except for the writers the author quotes) but amazingly feel guilty about the sins from previous centuries.

The West is truly messed-up. Thankfully there are Islamic scholars to set things right.

Fair Play: As is invariably the case, the West and Christianity are the usual suspects for the ills, real or imagined, around us.

Retnam: I am confused. Abdar Rahman says Islam has always been tolerant of homosexuality. And he also claims emphatically that Islam absolutely does not condone homosexuality.

I used to wonder what is meant by ‘self-delusion'. After reading this article, I have a pretty good idea what it is. So I say, let them destroy themselves in self-delusion. And they are already well on the way, obviously.

Manjit Bhatia: Abdar Rahman needs to re-read his article and realise it's a biased, contradictory and incoherent piece. He simply couldn't help himself from linking the Jewish lobby to a Zionist conspiracy, could he?

It's typical of Muslims like him who pretend to be scholars; their heads are filled with their delusions and insecurities. Abdar Rahman should prove the link.

He goes on to attack Israel's occupation of Palestinian lands. But what has any of this to do with gay rights and human rights and religious tolerance? It's this kind of stupidity by Abdar Rahman and his ilk that makes them a laughing stock.

Abdar then suggests Islam's tolerance for homosexuality - after saying the Quran opposes it vehemently. Next, he calls for ijtihad and maqasid in Islam toward finding a 'solution'.

It's not his naivety that's worrisome, but his bodoh-ism and deceit.

Temenggong: Throwing in the names of one or two Western scholars does not help substantiate the writer's argument. We need substantive ideas, not blame and apologetics.

The writer seeks shades where there are none. He should learn that there are 250 variations of the transgender phenomenon that have been medically established.

The writer should seek professional medical opinions instead of medieval books and Dark Ages history.

Dood: I don't know whether to feel amused about the author's strange attempt to link certain issues together or just feel dismissive of him as being an ignorant semi-intellectual.

I mean, come on, he tries to push logic and reason onto us, but he is linking Western acceptance of homosexuality (and related issues) as some warped interpretation of human rights and then connecting it with the West's feeling of guilt over historical wrongs related to Christianity, Zionism and the Israel-Palestinian issue?

What takes the cake for me is his naive statement that "interestingly" most of the people who support LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender) rights are themselves heterosexuals.

Perhaps the author, like many less-enlightened people, does not realise that other people out there in the world (and yes, some of these people do reside in the West) fight for LGBT rights and other issues not because they are members of these groups or stand to benefit personally, but because this is the right thing to do.

The author would do well as a service to himself if he were to look into himself and carefully understand that some things are right and some things are wrong because they are so at a fundamental, ethical level, and not because Allah, Jesus, Yahweh, Buddha, Krishna or whoever "said so".

If he cannot understand this simple fact, then perhaps I am indeed wasting my time trying to talk in the language of rationality, logic and facts to him.

Fawwaz Aminuddin: I support human rights to the highest degree, but we got to draw the line somewhere. Campaigning for gay rights is definitely over the limit.

If you don't like to be dictated by religion, you should at least respect our moral conduct - in this case, we are talking about preservation of progeny.

If homosexuality is allowed today just because it doesn't encroach into the rights of other individuals, are we going to allow prostitution tomorrow?

Anonymous_40dd: Prejudice against the homosexuals is the remnant of our barbaric past. In the past, we were prejudiced against women. It took hundreds of years for this prejudice to slowly fade away.

And now we notice that we are still at odds with the ‘third gender' which suffers from the same type of societal attitudes against women during our barbarian era. Maybe we are still barbarians?

Onyourtoes: I can't help but feel that this piece is a ‘one up-man-ship' against other religions, especially Christianity.

I accept that Christianity in the past has done great wrongs, not only against the homosexuals but against others as well. That is why the religion has changed and it is now more benign and accommodating.

The lack of ‘issues' in the Muslim world on homosexuals is not because there are no issues. I think the homosexuals there dare not even show their tendency, much less exert their rights.

Kyteh70: Most of us, including myself are lucky because we are born with distinct or clear sexual characteristic and orientation.

Please note that we are born, but not trained, to be such a way. Recent studies have shown that homosexuality may be due to some genetic reason.

What I want to say is - please don't discriminate this group of people. I believe it is futile to change their sexual orientation.

Apart from the sexual or marital aspects, they are capable of carrying out their social duties, like other people. They still can be individuals with high morality.

I believe that those who can minimise - if hard to abolish - their greed, hatred and ignorance, they can become persons with high morality, and they deserve our respect.

Their sexual orientation is not an issue. Sex is one kind of greed, whether it is hetero or homo in nature. This is my personal opinion as a doctor and Buddhist.

 


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