Total posts: 3,556
Posted in:
-->
@RemyBrown
You insulting me isn't going to change my mind.
I'm pretty sure you're the one that took acid.
Created:
Posted in:
-->
@Shila
Jupiter is 10 times larger than earth.. Yet in the picture it looks smaller than earth.
The universe is three-dimensional, Earth is closer to the POV of the picture, Jupiter is farther,
Created:
Posted in:
-->
@CatholicApologetics
Well done CA, I'm impressed.
My question is around what you meant when you said you will "address a significant topic within the Catholic Church". Are you saying this is the position of the Church or is it your own position, speaking as a Catholic.
Is there consensus within the Church regarding this, or are there multiple perspectives within Catholicism regarding the subject? There are about 1.4 billion Catholics, I would think there would inevitably be a considerable amount of diversity of opinion and understanding.
Created:
Posted in:
-->
@RemyBrown
Whoa, far out man.
I've never taken acid, but reading the OP is what I imagine taking LSD is like.
Created:
Posted in:
-->
@WyIted
I have no dog in the fight. I would vote him even if he was a rapist, however it's pretty obvious it's bullshit. If he has a D by his name you wouldn't question it given how obvious it is. Unless your just one of those retards who believes every rape story and still conside Dennis Rodman a rapist etc
If a Fascist Dictator can't rape women, then what's the point of even being a Fascist Dictator, right?
Created:
Posted in:
-->
@Best.Korea
Are you saying the bombing actually made Japan smarter?Dont know for sure, but something did make them smarter.
I've heard of smart bombs before, but didn't know that's how they worked.
Created:
Posted in:
-->
@WyIted
The only proof is her statements 50 years after the fact that sounds eerily like the storyline of a specific law and order SVU episode
He was found guilty in a court of law...and what it sounded eerily like was the Access Hollywood Tape, starring...Donald Trump.
You are just afraid you won't get your doublewide if Musk drops him off the ticket.
Created:
Posted in:
-->
@WyIted
Correct"They let you do it"Let = allow = consent
Created:
Posted in:
-->
@WyIted
Trump said if you are rich and famous you can just grab a pussy without asking,Not quite. He said women will allow (give consent) you to grab then by the pussy.
Trump and Musk have not changed their position on immigration, they are against it unless it benefits them personally.
That's pretty much Trump's position on everything.
Created:
Posted in:
-->
@Greyparrot
Why do you want both parties to have purity tests? Isn't one too many?
By noth parties, I presume you mean Bannon MAGA and Musk MAGA, right.
Created:
Posted in:
-->
@WyIted
MAGA is at war with itself now, Bannon vs Musk and Trump sided with Musk (he always follows the money).So Musk said that h1b1 Visas are a good thing essentially. Trump came out and said that they are good but we need to end the abuse of them, offering a compromise position between the populist faction and the techbro faction. Not sure how offering a way to reconcile differences, means he is siding with the silicon valley types
Trump said if you are rich and famous you can just grab a pussy without asking, Cadet Bone Spurs is a pussy, and Musk grabbed him, Trump goes to the highest bidder, Musk bought the Presidency, and Trump did what Musk said.
It had nothing to do with H1B1, it was about poser and control, Musk controls Trump because he has him by the pussy.
It's Trump's Golden Rule, he who has the gold, makes the rules.
.
Created:
Posted in:
MAGA is at war with itself now, Bannon vs Musk and Trump sided with Musk (he always follows the money).
Then a terrorist attack on a Trump building using a Musk Truck happens.
Coincidence, I don't think so, and it would be just like Bannon to try to pin it on ISIS.
Created:
Posted in:
-->
@ebuc
We are all in agreement.
Will you look at that ebuc, even Shila thinks he's dumbass obnoxious troll
Created:
Posted in:
-->
@ebuc
...but I can't find a link about him being a Unitarian Minister, but I'm pretty sure he was.SW, If you do find a link to any info of Fuller being a minister, I would be interested in that source for sure.
I found one reference in Wikipedia of all places, no details, just a mention.
Philosophy
Buckminster Fuller was a Unitarian, and, like his grandfather Arthur Buckminster Fuller (brother of Margaret Fuller),[41][42] a Unitarian minister.
Im familiar with all the other stuff you mentioned.I think you are making a distinction between Transcendentalism and Spirit that is a false dichotomy, Transcendentalism is a form of Spirituality, and Fuller's entire philosophy was implicitly spiritual.I posted the quote from some site about the spirituality transcendentalisms connection. I embolden the word spirit to make the point of the word spirit there, cause as I stated, I dont recall Fulller every using the word spirit in any of his books. At best, he may have used the word spirit, in reference to something other than himself in those regards. At least in all that Ive read of his books, or audio recordings.I think of much of his action and thoughts being of a spiritual nature, just as you do. Just he never states that himself, to best of my knowledge.
I think you are right, I guess because I saw him as very spiritual, like you do, I just assumed he used the word a lot, looks like you are right, I can't find a single instance of him having used the word.
Created:
Posted in:
-->
@ebuc
Buckminster Fuller was a Unitarian minister. and he wrote a lot about spirit and spirituality:Really, ive never heard any of that before. SD, do you have source for statements?
I did some searching, there's a lot about his grandfather, he was a very influential Unitarian Minister and there's plenty online about that, but I can't find a link about him being a Unitarian Minister, but I'm pretty sure he was. A long time ago I worshipped in a Unitarian Church and the Minister took great pride in the fact That Fuller had been a minister too. Transcendentalism emerged from Unitarianism; they are very close spiritually.
Regarding his vision on Lake Michigan, he said he was enveloped in a white sphere of light and heard a voice tell him not to commit suicide, that he belonged to the Universe and should use his intellect to serve mankind, I'd call that a spiritual experience. That experience is referenced all over the internet, he wrote about it and attributed everything that he accomplished to it. Here is his own account of that experience:
I think you are making a distinction between Transcendentalism and Spirit that is a false dichotomy, Transcendentalism is a form of Spirituality, and Fuller's entire philosophy was implicitly spiritual.
Created:
Posted in:
-->
@ebuc
Buckminster Fuller was a Unitarian minister. and he wrote a lot about spirit and spirituality:Really, ive never heard any of that before. SD, do you have source for statements?
I did some searching, there's a lot about his grandfather, he was a very influential Unitarian Minister and there's plenty online about that, but I can't find a link about him being a Unitarian Minister, but I'm pretty sure he was. A long time ago I worshipped in a Unitarian Church and the Minister took great pride in the fact That Fuller had been a minister too. Transcendentalism emerged from Unitarianism; they are very close spiritually.
Regarding his vision on Lake Michigan, he said he was enveloped in a white sphere of light and heard a voice tell him not to commit suicide, that he belonged to the Universe and should use his intellect to serve mankind, that is referenced all over the internet, he wrote about it and attributed everything that he accomplished to it. Here is his own account of that experience:
I think you are making a distinction between Transcendentalism and Spirit that is a false dichotomy, Transcendentalism is a form of Spirituality, and Fuller's philosophy was implicitly spiritual.
Created:
Posted in:
-->
@ebuc
Fuller never used the word ' spirit ' in any of his books that Im aware of.
Buckminster Fuller was a Unitarian minister. and he wrote a lot about spirit and spirituality:
In 1927 he was contemplating suicide on the shore of Lake Michigan when he had a transforming vision that is best described as spiritual, it caused him to dedicate his life to the betterment of mankind.
The Center for Spirituality and Sustainability at Southern Illinois University embodies Fuller's philosophy and is housed in a Fuller Dome.
Try reading his book, No More Secondhand God: And Other Writings -- by R. Buckminster fuller
Created:
Posted in:
-->
@WyIted
You might be right for once; the truck had an ISIS flag on it.
Created:
Posted in:
-->
@Savant
Mods remove this if Mall objects.
He's done two threads asking folks to listen, I'm sure he won't object.
Created:
Posted in:
-->
@FLRW
And he was only married once.
For 77 years too.
Created:
Posted in:
-->
@ebuc
First President to be born in a hospital.
Created:
Posted in:
-->
@ebuc
@FLRW
In the Second Trump Era, don’t expect reality to be realistic.
There is a power that dumb things have in this world. It is not the power of imperviousness to criticism, but rather of being so permeable that all criticism passes through with no effect, like the invisible neutrinos that stream through our bodies every second. Grappling with the dawn of the Second Trump Era will require an acceptance of the disquieting truth that Dumb Things and Important Things are about to merge into a single excruciating category of existence.
Donald Trump is an ignorant, overconfident, narcissistic, grievance-ridden man — a dumb man, who over time has attracted around him an asteroid field of dumb allies who are but lesser versions of himself. His invariable instinct to act without knowledge is dumb; his unwavering instinct to make consequential decisions based upon minor personal whim is dumb; his unshakeable belief in his own laughable reasoning is dumb. No sober analysis would grant him any benefit of the doubt. He possesses the poisonous combination of great power and the utter absence of concern for responsibility. He knows little and does much. He lives the child’s fantasy of arranging the immediately visible parts of the world for his own flattery and receiving in return the praise of all the people who wish that they themselves could live such a charmed and feckless existence.
In 2004, a Bush White House official was famously quoted in the New York Times Magazine deriding the “reality-based community.”
“We’re an empire now, and when we act, we create our own reality. And while you’re studying that reality — judiciously, as you will — we’ll act again, creating other new realities, which you can study too, and that’s how things will sort out,” the anonymous official said. “We’re history’s actors…and you, all of you, will be left to just study what we do.” This quote was widely mocked at the time. These haughty imperial stereotypes! Surely they will be hoist on the petards of their own grandiosity! The failures of the Iraq War were attributed to this sort of overweening arrogance in the White House.
Two decades later, the arc of the moral universe has bent back towards this attitude. But dumber. The Trump administration will have not only the belief that it can create an alternate reality, but also the pacifying lack of understanding that such a thing might raise eyebrows. Here are history’s new actors: Reality show dregs, cable news hair gel models, pro wrestling moguls, wastrel political heirs driven insane by online conspiracy theories. If you think that the joke is on them, I’m sorry to report that it’s the other way around. They will create the reality that all of us are about to be swamped by. The sooner we understand this, the better.
Part of Trump’s power has always been that his dumb decisions strike his opponents like a series of blows to the head, leaving them woozy and spluttering. The amount of analytical power that non-Republicans have dedicated to trying to process Trump’s actions over the past decade could fuel all the nation’s data centers. We scrutinize each apparently idiotic policy or quote or appointment for signs of hidden strategy, like crazed numerologists trying to pull meaning out of a random number generator. This serves to exhaust the intellectual opposition, while Trump World proceeds merrily on its way. We can do ourselves a tactical favor by coming to terms with the role of one integral factor in what is about to happen to America: Dumbness.
How has the mightiest nation in the world ended up with a Fox News host as its Defense Secretary nominee? A weird vaccine disbeliever running its health services? A fraud-adjacent television doctor named to lead Medicare, a pro wrestling executive to run education, a skeevy little failson sex predator as attorney general, a meme-poisoned billionaire nerd king as Lord of the federal budget? The swirl of senselessness that seems to grow with each passing day should be a familiar feeling to anyone who was forced to reckon seriously with the first iteration of a Trump presidency. It is enough to make people welcome the nominees who are merely fascist but not incompetent. That is one of its most dangerous effects.
We can torture ourselves by trying to impose mental order on the chaos that is to come, but it is not the best use of our time.
Donald Trump is an aggressively ignorant man who doesn’t care about anything that doesn’t affect him personally. He doesn’t know much about issues of consequence and is picking his cabinet based upon who has done the best job of flattering him and who he has seen on television. The fact that this is a ridiculous thing to do — a method that a child operating in a dream might use, a fearful abdication of responsibility that will surely have terrible consequences for the entire world — does not matter. He is the president and this is how he is. The American people decided to forsake the opportunity to prevent this, in favor of the entertainment value of watching it play out. We can torture ourselves by trying to impose mental order on the chaos that is to come, but it is not the best use of our time.
Reading the mind of a dumb man has no payoff. The Reign of the Dumb is a black hole for attacks of the intellect. It is going to happen much faster than any complex theories about it can be usefully employed. What is worth thinking deeply about is not what will happen, but how we got here. The fact of the Dumb Tidal Wave is already upon us.
Created:
-->
@WyIted
I'm afraid I didn't read all 900 pages of your Project 2025 Plan, was there a section where an unelected foreign billionaire can buy the Presidency and install himself as leader?
Created:
-->
@Best.Korea
I already miss the parrot.
Did GP go somewhere?
Created:
Posted in:
-->
@Shila
Post #12 ebuc
Shila, please take a hike from my threads I've started, as you now quote people and don't tag them, as you continually just want to pollute my threads with you content.Please do me a respectful favor and back all the way off from my threads with toxic pollution.
Created:
Posted in:
-->
@Shila
You didn't read the study he posted, apparently you didn't get past the title, how about you read the post and the article it is about, and maybe you can get your head out of your ass and say something relevant Non-Sequitur Man.I was commenting on what YOU posted.Take the butterfly, you have a caterpillar that at a certain point in time, grows a cocoon, then the caterpillar liquefies, and this homogenous liquid, with no structure at all, it slowly assembles into a butterfly, a completely different creature emerges from the cocoon, full grown and able to fly....from a liquid.We are just going to have to look deeper to understand it.But you don’t study butterflies to understand mammals.Because butterflies are not mammals. The topic is about mammals.
I get it, you saw the word mammal in the title and that's everything you can grasp about the thread, you haven't read the article posted, so you don't understand anything about the thread, and even less about what I posted. You still have your head up your ass and are still desperate for attention, so blah blah blah, non-sequitur nonsense is all you can comprehend.
"Mommy, Mommy, look at me, look at me."
OK, now it's your turn to say something really stupid.
.
Created:
Posted in:
-->
@Shila
Take the butterfly, you have a caterpillar that at a certain point in time, grows a cocoon, then the caterpillar liquefies, and this homogenous liquid, with no structure at all, it slowly assembles into a butterfly, a completely different creature emerges from the cocoon, full grown and able to fly....from a liquid.We are just going to have to look deeper to understand it.Great examples. Butterflies are not mammals.
You didn't read the study he posted, apparently you didn't get past the title, how about you read the post and the article it is about, and maybe you can get your head out of your ass and say something relevant Non-Sequitur Man.
Created:
-->
@WyIted
Damn it. If you don't atop I will be sending you unsolicited dick pictures.
What do you mean "will be", are you saying it isn't you that's been sending me all those other dick pics.
Because of the little MAGA hat on it, I just assumed it was you.
Created:
-->
@WyIted
Ruh roh, Musk overruled Trump on H-1B visas and now MAGA folks are threatening to murder him.Trump literally said he wanted to increase legal immigration but decrease illegal immigration. He has been pretty consistent but if you watch the video again, it was scarramucci who threatened to murder Elon Musk
FAKE NEWS, DEEP STATE, WITCH HUNT
You are a contemptable fool.
https://www.cnn.com/2024/12/27/politics/video/elon-musk-laura-loomer-foreign-workers-visa-digvid-src
Created:
Posted in:
-->
@Mall
@Shila
@MAV99
2 Corinthians 3:6
Who also hath made us able ministers of the new testament; not of the letter, but of the spirit: for the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life.
Created:
-->
@Shila
Ruh roh, Musk overruled Trump on H-1B visas and now MAGA folks are threatening to murder him.They don't like it when Musk puts Trump in his place.Trump is head of MAGA not Elon Musk.
Sure, right up until Musk drops him from the ticket.
Trump could never pass a mental competency test, and Musk knows it.
Created:
-->
@WyIted
Ruh roh, Musk overruled Trump on H-1B visas and now MAGA folks are threatening to murder him.
They don't like it when Musk puts Trump in his place.
Created:
-->
@Mall
And if as you say the BIBLE teaches us not to judge others then this contradicts the command that those that commit" homosexual abominations "against god should be put to death, doesn't it? "
Matthew 7:1
Judge not, that ye be not judged.
Galatians 5:14
For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this; Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
Romans 13:8
Owe no man any thing, but to love one another: for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law.
Created:
Posted in:
-->
@WyIted
Yes, I forgot, they are our saviors, fighting against the evil that is America....die deep state, die!Actually the fascist deep state that is destroying the bill of rights is anti American. I assume that is a typo and I am being pedantic though
Eggs are $3.00 a dozen, only fascism can save us from expensive eggs.
Created:
-->
@Shila
You thought Leviticus was in the New Testament...you are a genuine Biblical Scholar. LOLHere's something to add to your vast knowledge of great Bible intellectual, no, the Bible was not written in English.Trump selling bibles doesn’t mean he has read it or knows anything about what’s in it.
Non-Sequitur Man strikes again!
Created:
Due to the heterosexist ideals associated with gender norms, gay men often experience negative attitudes towards their own sexuality—internalized homophobia....So! What's your point. thicko? For me at least , it is as I have repeatedly said:Just like everything else on this thread, you have completely ignored and or forgotten that it is (as you put it) the "2,500 year old" BIBLE content and beliefs of the age that are discussed and debated on this religion forum, and, - certainly in my case - has nothing to do with my own personal opinion on what I think and or believe about homosexuality in the 21st century.I can assure you that my reflections on the BIBLE in the 21st century are far removed from the opinions and attitude of those living and writing 2,500 years ago. But I don't expect a thick bible dunce such as yourself to even consider this.Off you go now.
You thought Leviticus was in the New Testament...you are a genuine Biblical Scholar. LOL
Here's something to add to your vast knowledge of great Bible intellectual, no, the Bible was not written in English.
Created:
-->
@Mall
It's very passive aggressive, of immature and disingenuous of you to try to project of people that are against something to actually be involved in it.People are just not going to accept everything, grow up, wake up.
"Methinks the lady doth protesteth too much."
Created:
Posted in:
-->
@WyIted
Fascist Dictator is a four-man job, said nobody ever.Bro this literally happened as a response to fascism such as censorship of speech and courts going after political opponents.
Yes, I forgot, they are our saviors, fighting against the evil that is America....die deep state, die!
Created:
Posted in:
We need toconsider that someone as disturbingly radical as Christ, as powerful inactions, presence, and legacy as he was, could only be expected to incitewidely varying interpretations of his life.The Bible says you are all wrong.Isaiah55:8-9For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither areyour ways my ways," declares the LORD. "As the heavens are higherthan the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than yourthoughts.”1 Corinthians 8:1-2Now as touching things offered unto idols, we know that we all have knowledge. Knowledge puffeth up, but charity edifieth. And if any man think that he knoweth any thing, he knoweth nothing yet as he ought to know.1 Corinthians 13:9-10For we know in part, and we prophesy in part. But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away.1 Corinthians 7:7For I would that all men were even as I myself. But every man hath his proper gift of God, one after this manner, and another after that.None of the verses you quoted are from Jesus.
Look up in the sky! It's a bird! It's a plane, no its Non-Sequitur Man!
Luke 18:19
"Why do you call me good? No one is good but God alone."
Mark 10:18
And Jesus said unto him, Why callest thou me good? [there is] none good but one, [that is], God.
Matt 19:17
And he said unto him, Why callest thou me good? [there is] none good but one, [that is], God
Luke 18:19
And Jesus said unto him, Why callest thou me good? none [is] good, save one, [that is], God.
John 10:30
I and the Father are one.
John 14:28
"My Father is greater than I"
Created:
Posted in:
-->
@WyIted
Maybe he could delegate some of the parenting to his assistant, Donald Trump.You know the media making this claim just think they can turn Trump against Musk.Most Trunp voters are fully aware we voted for 4 president'sTrump, Musk, Gabbard, RFKWe expect all of them to make as much changes as 4 presidents combined.
Fascist Dictator is a four-man job, said nobody ever.
Created:
Shila, Mall, and Stephen,It's quite a stretch to think your prejudice and bigotry is based on the 2,500 years old attitudes of a foreign culture...it is more likely that science provides the explanation, I think.Just like everything else on this thread, you have completely ignored and or forgotten that it is (as you put it) the "2,500 year old" BIBLE content and beliefs of the age that are discussed and debated on this religion forum, and, - certainly in my case - has nothing to do with my own personal opinion on what I think and or believe about homosexuality in the 21st century.I can assure you that my reflections on the BIBLE in the 21st century are far removed from the opinions and attitude of those living and writing 2,500 years ago. But I don't expect a thick bible dunce such as yourself to even consider this.To break down this simple fact for such a bible dunce as yourself I offer this vile example of something that I wouldn't agree with in the 21st century.Judges 11:30-40 New English TranslationMaking a promise to God.30 Jephthah made a vow to the Lord, saying, “If you really do hand the Ammonites over to me, then whoever is the first to come through the doors of my house to meet me when I return safely from fighting the Ammonites—he will belong to the Lord and I will offer him up as a burnt sacrifice.” Jephthah approached the Ammonites to fight with them, and the Lord handed them over to him. He defeated them from Aroer all the way to Minnith—twenty cities in all, even as far as Abel Keramim. He wiped them out! The Israelites humiliated the Ammonites.When Jephthah came home to Mizpah, there was his daughter hurrying out to meet him, dancing to the rhythm of tambourines. She was his only child; except for her he had no son or daughter. When he saw her, he ripped his clothes and said, “Oh no! My daughter! You have completely ruined me! You have brought me disaster! I made an oath to the Lord, and I cannot break it.”Can you guess what happened to this poor young virgin, thicko ?
The Relationship between Masculinity and Internalized Homophobia amongst Australian Gay Men
Due to the heterosexist ideals associated with gender norms, gay men often experience negative attitudes towards their own sexuality—internalized homophobia....
Created:
Posted in:
We need toconsider that someone as disturbingly radical as Christ, as powerful inactions, presence, and legacy as he was, could only be expected to incitewidely varying interpretations of his life.
The Bible says you are all wrong.
Isaiah55:8-9
For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither areyour ways my ways," declares the LORD. "As the heavens are higherthan the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than yourthoughts.”
1 Corinthians 8:1-2
Now as touching things offered unto idols, we know that we all have knowledge. Knowledge puffeth up, but charity edifieth. And if any man think that he knoweth any thing, he knoweth nothing yet as he ought to know.
1 Corinthians 13:9-10
For we know in part, and we prophesy in part. But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away.
1 Corinthians 7:7
For I would that all men were even as I myself. But every man hath his proper gift of God, one after this manner, and another after that.
Created:
Posted in:
-->
@Shila
Turkey dinner with friends Christmas Eve, then spent the day with one of our sons and his family, the other two sons live in other states. So, friends and family.How about you JoeBob, how did you spend it?No turkey with family, only with friends?
Best part of turkey dinner is the turkey sandwiches afterward, had the sandwiches with the family.
Created:
Study Finds That Homophobic People Are Actually More Likely To Be Gay
Created:
Posted in:
-->
@JoeBob
Turkey dinner with friends Christmas Eve, then spent the day with one of our sons and his family, the other two sons live in other states. So, friends and family.
How about you JoeBob, how did you spend it?
Created:
A secret attraction or defensive loathing? Homophobia, defense, and implicit cognition
"Psychodynamic conceptions of homophobia suggest that homophobics may have a latent attraction to gay sex."
Created:
Shila, Mall, and Stephen,
As Seinfeld put it, "Not that there's anything wrong with that."
Homophobia: An Impulsive Attraction to the Same Sex? Evidence From Eye-Tracking Data in a Picture-Viewing Task
Created:
-->
@Mall
@Shila
Shila, Mall, and Stephen,
I get it now, and no, I won't go out with you, try dating each other.
Is homophobia associated with homosexual arousal?
Created:
-->
@Mall
@Shila
Shila, Mall, and Stephen,
It's quite a stretch to think your prejudice and bigotry is based on the 2,500 years old attitudes of a foreign culture...it is more likely that science provides the explanation, I think.
Homophobes May Be Hidden Homosexuals
An aversive reaction to photos of gay couples may stem from a person's authoritarian parents and their own inner conflict with sexual orientation, researchers have found.
Homophobes should consider a little self-reflection, suggests a new study finding those individuals who are most hostile toward gays and hold strong anti-gay views may themselves have same-sex desires, albeit undercover ones.
The prejudice of homophobia may also stem from authoritarian parents, particularly those with homophobic views as well, the researchers added.
"This study shows that if you are feeling that kind of visceral reaction to an out-group, ask yourself, 'Why?'" co-author Richard Ryan, a professor of psychology at the University of Rochester, said in a statement. "Those intense emotions should serve as a call to self-reflection."
The research, published in the April 2012 issue of the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, reveals the nuances of prejudices like homophobia, which can ultimately have dire consequences. [The 10 Most Destructive Human Behaviors]
"Sometimes people are threatened by gays and lesbians because they are fearing their own impulses, in a sense they 'doth protest too much,'" Ryan told LiveScience. "In addition, it appears that sometimes those who would oppress others have been oppressed themselves, and we can have some compassion for them too, they may be unaccepting of others because they cannot be accepting of themselves."
Hidden homosexuality
In four studies, the researchers looked at the discrepancies between what people say about their sexual orientation and their implicit sexual orientation based on a reaction-time test. The studies involved college students from Germany and the United States.
For the implicit measure, students had to categorize words and pictures flashed onto a computer screen into "gay" or "straight" groups. Words included "gay," "straight," "homosexual" and "heterosexual," while the pictures showed straight and gay couples. Before each trial, participants were primed with the word "me" or "others" flashed momentarily onto a computer screen. The researchers said quicker reaction time for "me" and "gay," and a slower association of "me" with "straight" would indicate said an implicit gay orientation.
Participants indicated their own level of homophobia, both overt and implicit; in word-completion tasks, students wrote down the first three words that came to mind when prompted with some of the words' letters. Students were primed at some point with the word "gay" to see how that impacted the amount of aggressive words used.
Controlling parents
In all of the studies, participants who reported supportive and accepting parents were more in touch with their implicit sexual orientation, meaning it tended to jibe with their outward sexual orientation. Students who indicated they came from authoritarian homes showed the biggest discrepancy between the two measures of sexual orientation.
"In a predominately heterosexual society, 'know thyself' can be a challenge for many gay individuals," lead author Netta Weinstein, a lecturer at the University of Essex in the United Kingdom, said in a statement. "But in controlling and homophobic homes, embracing a minority sexual orientation can be terrifying."
Those participants who reported their heterosexuality despite having hidden same-sex desires were also the most likely to show hostility toward gay individuals, including self-reported anti-gay attitudes, endorsement of anti-gay policies and discrimination such as supporting harsher punishments for homosexuals.
The research may help to explain the underpinnings of anti-gay bullying and hate crimes, the researchers note. People in denial about their own sexual orientation, perhaps a denial fostered by authoritarian and homophobic parents, may feel a threat from other gay and lesbian individuals. Lashing out may ultimately be an indicator of the person's own internal conflict with sexual orientation.
This inner conflict can be seen in some high-profile cases in which anti-gay public figures are caught engaging in same-sex acts, the researchers say. For instance, evangelical preacher and anti-gay-marriage advocate Ted Haggard was caught in a gay sex scandal in 2006. And in 2010, prominent anti-gay activist and co-founder of conservative Family Research Council George Rekers was reportedly spotted in 2010 with a male escort rented from Rentboy.com. According to news reports, the escort confirmed Rekers is gay.
"We laugh at or make fun of such blatant hypocrisy, but in a real way, these people may often themselves be victims of repression and experience exaggerated feelings of threat," Ryan said. "Homophobia is not a laughing matter. It can sometimes have tragic consequences," as was the case in the 1998 murder of Matthew Shepard, a gay man.
Created: