www.byzcath.org Forums General Discussions Town Hall Those violent gays, eyh?

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4711261.stm

:rolleyes:

Reminds me of the later nineteen-sixties and protest demonstrations against the Vietnam War - everything one could mention, from epithets to brickbats, was hurled at us (so were a couple of items which won't bear mentioning).

Incognitus

Shlomo Lkhoolkhoon,

Violence in the name of God is wrong in all cases. We need to remember two things, one is that we HAVE TO love others as ourselves, and that it is our God given right to exercise our free wills as long as that does not impact on others directly.

On this Holy Day, let us pray for peace between all of us.

Poosh BaShlomo Lkhoolkhoon,
Yuhannon

I am very happy to pray for peace as suggested. But by "this Holy Day" are you referring to Sunday (which is in fact a Holy Day) or had you something more specific in mind?

Incognitus

Scandinavian, I'm not sure what your point is.

Are you trying to say that homosexuals are vindicated by the fact that other people threw eggs at them? Homosexual behavior naturally inspires a great deal of revulsion in most people.

And Incognitus, protesters were not the only ones who got stuff thrown at them during the Vietnam War. Our returning veterans and POW's didn't exactly get a red carpet welcome either.

On this Lord's Day, let us all pray that Christians will have the grace to accept God's mercy and live according to His commands. I am so far from doing that myself. Please pray for me too.

LatinTrad

This kind of perverse pride is not like the anti-war marches of the 1960s and 1970s. I find it insulting to our anti war and anti- discrimination efforts of that era to equate this perverseness with those efforts. There is nothing righteous about these more recent hedonistic parades.

Dan L

Throwing eggs at people and hurling insults at them is unlikely to convince them of their own lack of righteousness. They are much more likely to become convinced of the boorishness and barbarism of their assailants.

By the way, did the USA ever get around to an unconditional amnesty for those who refused to fight in Vietnam? [This is not a trick question; I honestly don't know the answer.]

Incognitus

Incognitus,

I'm not particularly concerned what a person who would so insult others as to march in a parade demanding acceptance of their hedonism. In America we don't bust into people's homes and demand that they demonstrate what they do in their bedrooms. Likewise, I don't expect people to parade around in the streets demonstrating what they do in their bedrooms. It is completely insulting to anyone who demonstrated for equal rights for blacks to have anyone propose that these parades have anything at all to do with the civil rights efforts of earlier days. It's insulting not only to Christians at large but to all blacks. Within that context throwing eggs seems very minor indeed.

Some amnesty was offered from the Carter Administration if my memory serves. The Ford administration probably offered some limited amnesty as well. I do not know if total amnesty was ever offered.

Dan L

"By the way, did the USA ever get around to an unconditional amnesty for those who refused to fight in Vietnam? [This is not a trick question; I honestly don't know the answer.] "

Ingonitus: Do you have a job?
"

Violence is not acceptable. Nor is a parade of sin. It is interesting to note that marchers came from other places to attend...why is that? Is it a feeble attempt to convince people that this sin is more mainstream and popular than they suppose?

Gaudior, disgusted that people insist on being PROUD of sinning.

How are we as Catholics to interpret the throwing of condoms on the altars of St. Patrick's Cathedral?

sam

Sam asks "How are we as Catholics to interpret the throwing of condoms on the altars of St. Patrick's Cathedral?"

I should hope that any normal person would interpret such behavior as barbarism and boorishness - and would therefore resolve not to emulate such behavior. That sort of misconduct is certainly offensive, and will not convince anybody of the validity of the cause of the perpetrators.

A good friend, who was then the deacon at Saint Nicholas Cathedral, New York, was faced with a bunch of misguided "anti-Communist" demonstrators outside the cathedral, who threw eggs at him, ruining his good riasa in the process. Now just what might we expect was the effect on the deacon? Did he regard the offensive behavior as indicative of people with whom one might carry on a rational discussion of anything? No, of course he didn't. He quite properly called the cops. The egg-throwers spent the night in the slammer, which is precisely where they belonged - or perhaps they belonged in a loony bin.

Yes, I do have a job. I have this habit of eating, which requires some degree of wherewithal! But what does that have to do with my curiosity as to whether - and what sort - of amnesty has been offered to the draft-dodgers of yesteryear?

Incognitus

To return to the initial issue which in question form I suppose would go like this: "Are gay parades a form of violence?"

My answer is a simple Yes, of course.

Dan L

An aside about the supposed mistreatment of returning Vietnam veterans: it apparently never happened. There exist no contemporary news stories about such mistreatment; the stories are later accusations, apparently with the government as its source. Perhaps at some time somewhere it did occur, but there is no contemporary evidence for it. It is a myth, one that has had a pervasive effect on American public discourse and perception of the antiwar activists of the 60s and 70s.
In fact, peace activists set up coffee shops around military bases and offered counseling to soldiers. After all one of the main points was to stop the deaths of young American soldiers. Vietnam veterans were a very active and visible presence in the movement. I certainly never saw any scorn for ordinary American soldiers.
-Daniel

The mistreatment of returning Vietnam veterans is not a myth. Sadly, the press was uniformly against the Vietnam War and pretty much ignored the mistreatment of the returning veterans. It didn�t happen everywhere, but there were plenty of examples of acts of spitting and throwing things at returning military. It reached its peak at roughly the same time the anti-war protests reached their peak. There was a small outburst of support for the troops when they were all brought home, but for the most part the veterans were then ignored. It is true that some anti-war protesters organized various activities to welcome them home. This was, however, the exception rather than the rule.

Anyone seeking first hand testimony of the mistreatment of Vietnam veterans needs only to spend a few hours in a waiting room of any VA hospital to find it.