Thursday, February 28, 2013

Tolerance of Hate


Superman
I learned something rather disturbing the other day.  Sometimes I wish I would never take my head out of the sand.

I'm a fan of science fiction, among other things.  Last year, I read Ender's Game for the first time. I loved it, I can't tell you how much I loved it.  I hear that there is a movie in the works.  I'm usually disappointed by movies based on the books that I love, but I don't care.  I wanted to see it anyways.

That's not what was disturbing.

Last week I came across an article about the writer of Ender's Game, Orson Scott Card.  DC Comics has asked Card to write for their newest Superman series, Adventures of Superman. Great! Right? No, actually it's not, and a lot of people are pretty upset.

You see, the disturbing thing is that Orson Scott Card is a raging homophobic.  Look, opinions are like assholes, everyone has one.  I have my opinions, I don't expect everyone else to agree with me.  I know I'm right, but that's not the point.  Despite my attempts at tolerance, I know that I am incapable of not thinking about this little tidbit of information anytime I think about this great book.  The book is now tainted.  I probably won't want to go see the movie, I probably won't pick up the book again, I probably won't recommend it to anyone. (Fortunately I didn't actually pay for the book, so I haven't yet supported him financially.)
The dark secret of homosexual society—the one that dares not speak its name—is how many homosexuals first entered into that world through a disturbing seduction or rape or molestation or abuse. (Homosexual ‘Marriage’ and Civilization”, 2004)
Card's views on homosexuality are egregiously distorted. 
The argument by the hypocrites of homosexuality that homosexual tendencies are genetically ingrained in some individuals is almost laughably irrelevant. We are all genetically predisposed toward some sin or another; we are all expected to control those genetic predispositions when it is possible. ("The Hypocrites of Homosexuality", 1990)
His idea that homosexuality is caused by some early trauma is idiotic. His idea that acting on homosexual impulses is akin to an immature child's need for instant gratification is offensive.  There is no room in Card's world view for the idea that a man could form a happy, loving, healthy relationship with another man, or the same for a woman.  In his article, "Homosexual 'Marriage' and Civilization", he explains how allowing homosexuals to marry actually destroys real marriage for real couples, because, allowing homosexuals to marry changes the very definition of the word "marriage".  He hangs a lantern on his writing as hate speech in an attempt to defend it.  But, in fact, it is just that, hate speech.

I am not in the habit of posting about my political or social views, that's not what this blog was intended to be about.  Almost everything that I have posted about I have had to keep secret from those in my "real" life.  What is ironic is that my life, my inability to "control [my] genetic predispositions" gives credit to Card's views.  So, in addition to the cheating and the lying, I also get to enjoy the guilt of epitomizing the man that Card is speaking out against.

In my public life, I am a straight man (bisexual man to a precious few) that fully and whole-heartedly supports such novel ideas of equal rights for everyone, the right for people to marry whomever they want to marry, the right for all boys to gain the benefits of being a Boy Scout, the right of children to grow up in a safe environment free from bullying.

I realize that I am beginning to ramble on, so I will stop now.  I just, I guess I want to say that I try to be as open-minded as possible, even to those whose beliefs directly contradict my own.  Perhaps I am not as tolerant as I thought.

4 comments:

  1. Yeah I knew this...which is terrible because I really enjoyed his book Ender's Shadow and Ender's Game...after reading both books, I decided to do more research on him and stumbled on his homophobia and I just couldn't bring myself to keep reading his work.

    And it's not just that he's a passive homophobe, some guy who hates gays on his porch, he's a rabid homophobe who actively, in his heart of hearts, probably wants to exterminate us. As if that was possible! ha!

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    1. I never read Ender's Shadow, but I heard it is just as good as Ender's Game. That really sucks because I don't know if I can bring myself to read it, or if I did, if I would enjoy it just the same. Fortunately, I've heard the rest of his books aren't worth the time.

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  2. I don't like the word homophobia, be real a call them homo haters, pathetic excuse of a human, gay haters. The don't fear gay people they don't like us.

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  3. Really thoughtful post today, Jay.

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