Intolerance can be best characterized as the unwillingness or refusal to tolerate or respect opinions or beliefs contrary to one’s own. There are a few different kinds of intolerance, such as religious intolerance, sexual intolerance and racial intolerance. Throughout history many types of intolerance have been used to discriminate against others beliefs. The Crucible is an example of this since it portrays religious figures discriminating against others simply because they don’t agree with the court of law. This shows that intolerance has been with us for quite some time, in one way or another. In today’s society intolerance is still present in a few different ways. One of the biggest forms of intolerance is religious intolerance. This is a global problem where many people are discriminated or restricted of people expressing their religious beliefs. This problem also affects homosexuals who are targeted and discriminated for practicing their beliefs by many members of today’s society. Christian leaders are mainly the one’s who discriminate against homosexuals. They use the Old Testament to judge and discriminate against homosexuals. However the Old Testament doesn’t mention anything about homosexuals, therefore many leaders bend the Old Testament in order to discriminate members of the LGBTQ community. The following research paper will discuss reasons why Christian leaders rely on the Old Testament to discriminate and heavily judge members of the LGBTQ community.
As stated before there are a quite a few different types of Intolerance that have been around for along time. Individuals are discovering more and more ways to demonstrate their intolerance against certain people. People who are intolerant to others do not agree with what they believe in regardless of what that might be. A huge form of intolerance is homosexual intolerance, not only from Christian leaders but also from governments and organizations who heavily disagree with homosexuality. Many individuals believe that homosexuality should be illegal and go far enough to say that they shouldn’t have the same rights as straight people. This is a serious issue especially in a well developed country like that of the United States. Even though most of the states in the U.S. declare same-sex marriage legal, many citizens are against and disgusted by it. Jeffrey M. Jones conducted a study which states, “Americans’ views on same-sex marriage have essentially stayed the same in the past year, with a majority of 57% opposed to it.” (Jones 1) The majority of U.S. citizens oppose same-sex marriage, this of course makes it extremely difficult for homosexuals to express their feelings since most of their fellow citizens are against it. Individuals aren’t the only ones who show intolerance against homosexuals many countries prohibit for same-sex couples to even date. Some extremist groups or religions go to the extent to where if one is caught as a homosexual he or she will be executed. Christian leaders obviously won’t kill homosexuals but instead will condemn those who are to hell where they will be punished for eternity.
Christian leaders will use the Old Testament in order to discriminate members of the LGTBQ community. They believe that the Old Testament condemns homosexuals but in reality the Bible is not decisive. The New Testament doesn’t mention homosexuality at all, it instead tells us to love each other regardless of our beliefs. So then again why do Christian leaders judge and discriminate homosexuals if in the Bible it says not to judge but instead to love everyone?They also believe that homosexuals and members of the LGBTQ community are a threat to their religion and to the community. In a article about Anti-LGBT it states, “that homosexuality itself is dangerous, support the criminalization of homosexuality and transgender identity, and that there is a conspiracy called the ‘homosexual agenda’ at work that seeks to destroy Christianity and the whole of society.” (SPLC 1) By discriminating and judging homosexuals the Christian leaders believe they are protecting their religion and those in the community. They try to convince individuals and family members that being part of the LGTBQ community is morally wrong and that if one is a member of this organization they should not practice their religion. Around the globe fundamentalists promote and encourage discrimination against homosexuals and members of the LGBTQ community.
A different way Christian leaders discriminate homosexuals is by citing passages from the Bible. In a 1992 article published by Peter J. Gomes, an American Baptist minister who supports homosexuality, observed that nine Biblical citations are invoked to homosexuality. Two of these citations (Leviticus 18:19-23 and Leviticus 20:10-16) condemns homosexual acts and is referred to as an abomination. However the Bible also states that eating pork and having an wearing mixed-fabric clothing. In today’s society Christians don’t believe in eating pork or having an image of another god as an abomination, so then why should homosexuality be an abomination. Robyn J. Whitaker, a lecturer in Bible studies wrote on article on this topic which states, “To claim one set as timeless truths while ignoring the others is patently hypocritical and goes against the grain of the text itself.” (Whitaker 3) Robyn is absolutely right, why should Christian leaders ignore eating pork but keep referring to homosexuality as an abomination. They both were seen as an abomination, but they only chose to focus on homosexuality in order to discriminate against homosexuals.
Therefore, Christian leaders rely on the Old Testament to discriminate members of the LGBTQ community because it is the only section of the Bible that mentions homosexuality and also since they think of them as a threat to their religion and community. It’s not only religious leaders that discriminate homosexuals but instead more than half of the population of the United States. Most U.S citizens view homosexuals as threat to their community. Religious leaders also see homosexuals as a threat to their community, but most importantly see them as a threat to their religious practices. The Old Testament mentions homosexuality and it is seen as an abomination, but consuming pork was also considered an abomination. Christian leaders ignore certain things and focus on what they think is a more important topic in order to discriminate against a certain cause, such as homosexuality. Shouldn’t homosexuality be allowed if consuming pork and wearing any type of clothing is as well?