Mizzou's Michael Sam comes out

[nash61]

Some interesting food for thought.

Why this guy couldn't care less about Michael Sam: (don't let the title scare you, it's tongue-in-cheek)

http://themattwalshblog.com/2014/05/12/homophobic-rant-michael-sam/

[Sport]

Why is religion a choice? If it's part of who they are, how is that any different than sexuality?

Because if I want to be Jewish I can go be Jewish. If I want to convert to Islam I can convert to Islam. If I wish to stop practicing Christianity I can do that too.

I never chose to be a straight guy and my gay friends didn't choose to be gay. My one gay friend says all the time that he hates being gay because of all the extra bull$hit (like this) that he has to put up with and if he could choose he wouldn't be gay, but that hard as he tried he'll never not be gay. He's also an officer of the law so it's not exactly an ideal work environment for someone to "choose" to be gay. Even through all of that though, he still lives his life as himself because that's better than hiding who he really is.

I'm not defending his beliefs. As a Christian myself, I think it's incorrect. But he still has the right to believe what he believes. He's not calling for violence or harm against gays, he's not calling for the league to disallow gay players or to boycott if they do. He's simply saying what his personal belief is. Hell he even wished him well in the league. That's the opposite of hate. He may be incorrect, but he's not being hateful. No different than Phil Robertson. He was asked a question on his beliefs, he stated his personal belief but also said that shouldn't matter and everyone, of any sexuality, should be treated with respect.

I think he did some world class backpedaling when asked about it (is he a defensive back?). People can state their beliefs all they want and if they put it in a public forum then others have the right to discuss it. Okay, maybe he wasn't being "hateful", but he was being out of touch with what is acceptable in 2014.

But should that earn him a fine?

Yes. He represents the Calgary Stampeders and if they feel that he's acting outside of their desired code of conduct then as an employee of theirs they have the right to fine him.

[nuordr]

Why is religion a choice? If it's part of who they are, how is that any different than sexuality? I'm not defending his beliefs. As a Christian myself, I think it's incorrect. But he still has the right to believe what he believes. He's not calling for violence or harm against gays, he's not calling for the league to disallow gay players or to boycott if they do. He's simply saying what his personal belief is. Hell he even wished him well in the league. That's the opposite of hate. He may be incorrect, but he's not being hateful. No different than Phil Robertson. He was asked a question on his beliefs, he stated his personal belief but also said that shouldn't matter and everyone, of any sexuality, should be treated with respect.

Everyone is so hell bent in eradicating prejudice, which is good, but keep going after instances that really carry no weight in that regard. And constantly doing so risks losing any credibility when an actual instance occurs.

You can leave your faith at any point. It's not genetic, it's not biological. It is only social forces keeping you in the place. You can't stop being gay.

Sure you can, just like an alcoholic can stop drinking or a meth addict can quit smoking the pipe. People can do amazing things when they set their mind to do it. I am not gonna beat a dead horse, but to say that someone cannot stop something is insane and not true.

[rams80]

Why is religion a choice? If it's part of who they are, how is that any different than sexuality? I'm not defending his beliefs. As a Christian myself, I think it's incorrect. But he still has the right to believe what he believes. He's not calling for violence or harm against gays, he's not calling for the league to disallow gay players or to boycott if they do. He's simply saying what his personal belief is. Hell he even wished him well in the league. That's the opposite of hate. He may be incorrect, but he's not being hateful. No different than Phil Robertson. He was asked a question on his beliefs, he stated his personal belief but also said that shouldn't matter and everyone, of any sexuality, should be treated with respect.

Everyone is so hell bent in eradicating prejudice, which is good, but keep going after instances that really carry no weight in that regard. And constantly doing so risks losing any credibility when an actual instance occurs.

You can leave your faith at any point. It's not genetic, it's not biological. It is only social forces keeping you in the place. You can't stop being gay.

Sure you can, just like an alcoholic can stop drinking or a meth addict can quit smoking the pipe. People can do amazing things when they set their mind to do it. I am not gonna beat a dead horse, but to say that someone cannot stop something is insane and not true.

OK, fine. You can't stop being gay without a succession of torture, intimidation, and prolonged psychological abuse that would even make the torturers at Gitmo say, "um...that's not right.".

[IceCap]

Why is religion a choice? If it's part of who they are, how is that any different than sexuality? I'm not defending his beliefs. As a Christian myself, I think it's incorrect. But he still has the right to believe what he believes. He's not calling for violence or harm against gays, he's not calling for the league to disallow gay players or to boycott if they do. He's simply saying what his personal belief is. Hell he even wished him well in the league. That's the opposite of hate. He may be incorrect, but he's not being hateful. No different than Phil Robertson. He was asked a question on his beliefs, he stated his personal belief but also said that shouldn't matter and everyone, of any sexuality, should be treated with respect.

Everyone is so hell bent in eradicating prejudice, which is good, but keep going after instances that really carry no weight in that regard. And constantly doing so risks losing any credibility when an actual instance occurs.

You can leave your faith at any point. It's not genetic, it's not biological. It is only social forces keeping you in the place. You can't stop being gay.

Sure you can, just like an alcoholic can stop drinking or a meth addict can quit smoking the pipe. People can do amazing things when they set their mind to do it. I am not gonna beat a dead horse, but to say that someone cannot stop something is insane and not true.

This is just...you just crossed the "stupid" threshold." Gays are like drug addicts. Wow. Does it not register how insulting that is to you?

You go on about how you "chose to be Christian and not gay." You really don't get it do you? When someone says "I'm a Christian I can't accept gays" they're talking out of their ass. Being "Christian" hasn't ment following a unified theology since the year 1054. So to say being a "Christian" means you can't accept gay people is incorrect. It's not because you're a Christian. It's because you're a bigot whose using Christianity as an excuse.

As someone who believes in the same father in heaven as you do it's my *belief* that He's disappointed and angry that you've used His name to justify the hatred of your fellow man.

There are Chistians who have no issue with gays. One of the largest Christian churches in the world even lets openly gay men serve as clergy! There are even gays who are also Christian despite your claim that this is impossible.

That's the funny thing in all of this. That those that so proudly trumpet their identity as Christians and use it to justify their bigoted feelings of homosexuals are often the ones who have the least knowledge of their religion. That they're often Protestants of some form is the ironic cherry atop of this sad sundae.

[infrared41]

Why is religion a choice? If it's part of who they are, how is that any different than sexuality? I'm not defending his beliefs. As a Christian myself, I think it's incorrect. But he still has the right to believe what he believes. He's not calling for violence or harm against gays, he's not calling for the league to disallow gay players or to boycott if they do. He's simply saying what his personal belief is. Hell he even wished him well in the league. That's the opposite of hate. He may be incorrect, but he's not being hateful. No different than Phil Robertson. He was asked a question on his beliefs, he stated his personal belief but also said that shouldn't matter and everyone, of any sexuality, should be treated with respect.

Everyone is so hell bent in eradicating prejudice, which is good, but keep going after instances that really carry no weight in that regard. And constantly doing so risks losing any credibility when an actual instance occurs.

You can leave your faith at any point. It's not genetic, it's not biological. It is only social forces keeping you in the place. You can't stop being gay.

Sure you can, just like an alcoholic can stop drinking or a meth addict can quit smoking the pipe. People can do amazing things when they set their mind to do it. I am not gonna beat a dead horse, but to say that someone cannot stop something is insane and not true.

Assuming you are heterosexual, do you really believe you can simply "decide" to stop being attracted to women?

[crashcarson15]

You'll find that most athletes these days do not care about a teammate's sexuality. All they care about is if the person can help them win!!

There'll still be some that will object due to religious reasons or because of disinformation they've received about homosexuality.

Complete and total bull :censored:.

Let's put it this way—if I had a dollar for every time I heard the word " :censored:" at a practice or game as an athlete during my life, I'd have enough money to put my way through college.

[STL FANATIC]

That's the funny thing in all of this. That those that so proudly trumpet their identity as Christians and use it to justify their bigoted feelings of homosexuals are often the ones who have the least knowledge of their religion. That they're often Protestants of some form is the ironic cherry atop of this sad sundae.

And unfortunately, they're the people who bring a bad name to the religion. Many have a gag reflex when Christian faith comes up, and that's really unfortunate, because the core of Christianity is acceptance. Even those who do not believe in the religion should look upon it's principles favorably. But I can't really blame those who don't because there are so many who have skewed it's teachings towards intolerance.

Hell, I'm a Christian, and I even have that gag reflex when people begin talking of their faith.

[Still MIGHTY]

Why is religion a choice? If it's part of who they are, how is that any different than sexuality? I'm not defending his beliefs. As a Christian myself, I think it's incorrect. But he still has the right to believe what he believes. He's not calling for violence or harm against gays, he's not calling for the league to disallow gay players or to boycott if they do. He's simply saying what his personal belief is. Hell he even wished him well in the league. That's the opposite of hate. He may be incorrect, but he's not being hateful. No different than Phil Robertson. He was asked a question on his beliefs, he stated his personal belief but also said that shouldn't matter and everyone, of any sexuality, should be treated with respect.

Everyone is so hell bent in eradicating prejudice, which is good, but keep going after instances that really carry no weight in that regard. And constantly doing so risks losing any credibility when an actual instance occurs.

You can leave your faith at any point. It's not genetic, it's not biological. It is only social forces keeping you in the place. You can't stop being gay.

Sure you can, just like an alcoholic can stop drinking or a meth addict can quit smoking the pipe. People can do amazing things when they set their mind to do it. I am not gonna beat a dead horse, but to say that someone cannot stop something is insane and not true.

This right here is the end of me even coming in to check on this thread.

Goodbye thread.

[Needschat]

Stop being gay? LOL That is the funniest thing I've read in a long time. If you can stop being gay, I can stop being olive skinned.

[nuordr]

Why is religion a choice? If it's part of who they are, how is that any different than sexuality? I'm not defending his beliefs. As a Christian myself, I think it's incorrect. But he still has the right to believe what he believes. He's not calling for violence or harm against gays, he's not calling for the league to disallow gay players or to boycott if they do. He's simply saying what his personal belief is. Hell he even wished him well in the league. That's the opposite of hate. He may be incorrect, but he's not being hateful. No different than Phil Robertson. He was asked a question on his beliefs, he stated his personal belief but also said that shouldn't matter and everyone, of any sexuality, should be treated with respect.

Everyone is so hell bent in eradicating prejudice, which is good, but keep going after instances that really carry no weight in that regard. And constantly doing so risks losing any credibility when an actual instance occurs.

You can leave your faith at any point. It's not genetic, it's not biological. It is only social forces keeping you in the place. You can't stop being gay.

Sure you can, just like an alcoholic can stop drinking or a meth addict can quit smoking the pipe. People can do amazing things when they set their mind to do it. I am not gonna beat a dead horse, but to say that someone cannot stop something is insane and not true.

Assuming you are heterosexual, do you really believe you can simply "decide" to stop being attracted to women?

It's not worth it!

[STL FANATIC]

It's likely true that there is a spectrum of sexuality and not just two possibilities, but that is significantly different than choosing to be gay or not.

Additionally, in theory anybody with extreme self-control could stop a physical action, but that is NOT the same thing as changing one's instinctive desires. In other words, a gay man could theoretically stop having sex or have sex with a woman, but that doesn't mean he's stopped being gay.

[crashcarson15]

It's likely true that there is a spectrum of sexuality and not just two possibilities

THIS x100.

I mean, hell, we all run around on a website that's a message board about clothes.

We've got a little bit of gay in us all, right?

[Braden]

The REAL choice is whether people use their religion to hide their closed-mindedness and bigotry behind.

[floydnimrod]

McCarthy's post a page back about cherry-picking certain sins is something I've always thought about, but never really been able to put into kind-enough words. But I find that heterosexuals cherry-pick that sin because they feel there's no chance that would commit it, thus supposedly absolving them of sin completely, because that's what they've apparently chosen as the ultimate sin. There's nothing stopping a heterosexual person from committing murder, adultery, getting a divorce, having sex/children outside marriage. Therefore, those sins just apparently aren't as bad because there's a chance that they could commit them. And committing them certainly wouldn't be as bad as kissing member of the same sex.

Yesterday when we were eating lunch at work, they talked about the Michael Sam thing on TV right before the Donald Sterling story. A couple of people I was eating with were saying that it wasn't right to show the Michael Sam thing on TV because of religious reasons (and ESPN is obviously the Lord's Station). When the Donald Sterling thing came up, suddenly the conversation shifted to "Politically Correct BS" and how people chose to be offended by Sterling's remarks, or the n-word, or the r-word, or any words demeaning homosexuality. But that same person "chose" to be offended by Michael Sam.

(Let it be known that I don't really believe in the act of choosing to be offended)

[Needschat]

The REAL choice is whether people use their religion to hide their closed-mindedness and bigotry behind.

BINGO!

A 3000+ year old book is telling you that it's a sin to "lay with another man," yet you embrace the bacon double cheeseburger on your plate and wipe your mouth with a multiblend napkin. If you chose to speak out about Michael Sam in the name of religion, you have to picket Five Guys or In and Out Burger too!

[dbadefense1990]

You'll find that most athletes these days do not care about a teammate's sexuality. All they care about is if the person can help them win!!

There'll still be some that will object due to religious reasons or because of disinformation they've received about homosexuality.

Complete and total bull .

Let's put it this wayif I had a dollar for every time I heard the word " :censored:" at a practice or game as an athlete during my life, I'd have enough money to put my way through college.

If I had a dollar for every time I heard the word "f#ck" in all the pornos I've ever watched, I'd have enough money to pay my student loans on the 1st day of viewing.

[dbadefense1990]

The REAL choice is whether people use their religion to hide their closed-mindedness and bigotry behind.

BINGO!

A 3000+ year old book is telling you that it's a sin to "lay with another man," yet you embrace the bacon double cheeseburger on your plate and wipe your mouth with a multiblend napkin. If you chose to speak out about Michael Sam in the name of religion, you have to picket Five Guys or In and Out Burger too!

[NJTank]

I think there has been enough evidence that being gay is caused by a genetic annoramilty. Who knows if they ever issolate what causes it or how to indentify, but whatever it is a something in the DNA of some people and even animals.

What will be intersting to see what happens politically if they do issolate the gay gene.

Would a Pro-Life Christian have an Abotion?

Would many Pro-Choice people suddenly want restrictions on abortion, especially people in the gay community.

That will be some battle and the hyprocracy will be flying.

[monkeypower]

I think there has been enough evidence that being gay is caused by a genetic annoramilty. Who knows if they ever issolate what causes it or how to indentify, but whatever it is a something in the DNA of some people and even animals.

What will be intersting to see what happens politically if they do issolate the gay gene.

Would a Pro-Life Christian have an Abotion?

Would many Pro-Choice people suddenly want restrictions on abortion, especially people in the gay community.

That will be some battle and the hyprocracy will be flying.

I honestly don't know if that post's offensive. ...Is that post offensive?