Religious Right Will Never Give Up Making LGBT Lives Miserable. They Just Want LGBT Exterminated.

[TheMastersNemesis]

If anything these new anti LGBT laws proves that the religious right and GOP will NEVER give up trying to make the lives of these people miserable. They simply want to make them go away forever. This battle will NEVER go away as long as the GOP and its religious right have any power.

They will terrorize and discriminate this group ad infinitum and even after hell freezes over. For them the battle has only just begin. They want to make even being LGBT a criminal offense.

The question is how long do we tolerate them? How long before we make it so abundantly and irrevocably clear that they will lose.

[Zen Democrat]

1. Ha! Those crazy right-wing political religions will bite the dust ere long.

[Arugula Latte]

2. Hopefully religion will continue to wither among the young of this country,

and subsequent generations will be less and less religious, and these dinosaurs will lose their grip on power.

[21st Century Poet]

6. You'd better get used to religion.

When I was younger and more quixotic, I also used to believe that religion would wither away as my generation grows up and starts running the world. It has not happened and it will not happen. Religious beliefs shift and change shape but they don't go away.

Wherever you have societies, you will have religions springing up. Immigrant communities like building their own houses of worship. Islam is growing considerably. Christianity is growing in some parts of the world and retreating in others. Many people who abandon organised religion still hold onto their own religious beliefs or find new ones which suit their 'evolution' about issues (converting to Buddhism, Wicca or New Age religions seems to be quite a favourite). Some atheists are so zealous that they turn that into a kind of religion in and of itself. Religion is not going away any time soon. Explaining existence, the universe and everything is very hard for people to do and the attraction of the divine is too enchanting.

The difference for me is that, although I am an agnostic, I have learnt to live with religions and appreciate them too. I am not angry at religions anymore except some aspects of them. Religions, for good or ill, have contributed greatly to the societies which we have today. They have been intrinsic to cultures, art, laws, politics, community services and many other things. Yes, they spread misinformation too but without them misinformation would find other ways to go around. Societies (some argue that the human brain is) are religious and there is little we can do about it. And let's not forget that there are many churches and religious orders which are very accepting of sexual orientation diversity so let's not paint all religions with the same brush either. Just as we are accepting of LGBT people, we should also be accepting of the religious kind.

[Arugula Latte]

8. It is different now, though, because of the Internet.

Look at this graph, how religious belief takes a nose dive when the Internet moves into our lives...The current younger generation is far less religious than previous generations. The Internet has given people the ability to compare notes -- and that's not good for religion, which tends to thrive in bubbles where people's doubts can be stomped down by herd mentality. Western Europe has seen a sharp decline for many years. We are a bit behind, but the erosion of religion is finally happening here at a pretty good clip.



The graph of this index tells the story of the rise and fall of religious activity. During the post-war, baby-booming 1950s, there was a revival of religion. Indeed, some at the time considered it a third great awakening. Then came the societal changes of the 1960s, which included a questioning of religious institutions. The resulting decline in religion stopped by the end of the 1970s, when religiosity remained steady. Over the past fifteen years, however, religion has once again declined. But this decline is much sharper than the decline of 1960s and 1970s. Church attendance and prayer is less frequent. The number of people with no religion is growing. Fewer people say that religion is an important part of their lives. All measures point to the same drop in religion: If the 1950s were another Great Awakening, this is the Great Decline.
http://tobingrant.religionnews.com/2014/01/27/great-decline-religion-united-states-one-graph/

I don't share your charitable view of religion itself. The veneration of "faith" in fact-less, evidence-less nonsense has caused untold harm around the world. And the least religious countries (e.g. Scandinavia) are the best off.

[21st Century Poet]

11. Religions won't go away.

Many people who abandon organised religion still say that they are spiritual (whatever that means). Religion is becoming more fluid but not really going away. Even many self-described non-religious people have all kinds of strange beliefs. The increase in homeopathy, traditional cures, alternative medicine and superstitious beliefs is immense, for example.

And the internet does more, and does it faster, to spread fact-less and evidence-less nonsense than any religion does. If you think that in 50 years' time, religions are going to be a thing of the past and people everywhere are going to be walking geniuses, you are going to be very disappointed.

[Arugula Latte]

12. I'm not saying it's going to completely go away.

I think it will continue to decline, though, and its influence in politics will lessen.

[msongs]

3. jesus loves me this I know...and other false propaganda nt

[mnhtnbb]

4. They do want to revive The Inquisition and target LGBT people.

One has to hope that as they continue to take these more extreme positions, the blowback will
be sufficient to deny them a controlling seat at the political decision making table.

And maybe we'll get lucky: younger people will turn away from the hatefest that right wing Christianity represents,
so their numbers will dwindle over time.

[Proud Liberal Dem]

7. I agree with you

Also to add that big business, which is much progressive when it comes to LGBTQ rights, seem to be resistant to such measures as well and have had a positive effect in preventing/fighting against such laws. Not for altruistic reasons necessarily but the money they bring into (and can easily remove from) states and local communities can "speak" rather loudly and carry a big stick when it comes to supporting the LGBTQ community against these anti-LGBTQ laws.

[Prism]

10. Exactly this n/t

[Ford_Prefect]

5. The Koch Brothers Fund Religious Groups That Are Eliminating Women’s and LGBT Rights.

Something missing from the discussion is how Karl Rove, the Kochs and other influential RW conservatives have used this idea just as they used gay marriage in the last election to stir the fears of their voting base. This most recent phase of attacking LGBT people through legislation is a distortion of the public sentiment on the issue.

Yes there certainly are those with strong feelings against and who vote that idea when they can. But they didn't write the legislation passed in NC. Someone from the Koch Brothers agency for arcane legislative attack on federal authority did. They write and distribute model legislation on issues such as this as a method for denying Federal legislation and authority at every level they can. They have gone so far and so low as to provide language for local school board policy.

Their intention is to dismantle the whole mechanism of Federal authority over business practices by weakening it at every level through local and state laws in defiance. This makes it appear as though the majority of voters and citizens agree when they do not.

They also pit "us" against the religious right when there is no reason to have a culture war in the first place. The MSM plays along by repeating their outrageous claims in the echo chamber and ignoring the degree of influence the Koch's are wielding as the source of the legislation and the organizers of this latest wave of state house bills.

Imagine how it would sound if the local news or CBS evening news began the report on the NC ban with the statement: "Koch industries directs another illegal anti-LGBT legislative coup." Wouldn't that be refreshingly direct?

see also their attack on women's rights: http://www.politicususa.com/2014/12/08/kochs-brothers-funded-religious-groups-eliminating-womens-rights.html

[Prism]

9. They're losing

And they know they're losing. And the rest of the country has let them know they're losing.

Let them gasp.

Tomorrow has come.