[Vision2020] Tips for Trolls--Come out of the closet

[Garrett Clevenger]

Donald,

Please accept my apology for implying you are a troll if indeed you are 
Donald Toogood.  We get a lot of trolls posting to this list and I assumed 
you were one.  I misread one of your earlier posts which I interpreted as 
you implying you wanted to remain anonymous.

I'll have trust that you are indeed who you say you are.

I called you a bigot, not necessarily because I disagree with you, but 
because, according to dictionary.com, a bigot is "one who is strongly 
partial to one's own group, religion, race, or politics and is intolerant of 
those who differ."

Perhaps I'm a bigot, too, for being intolerant to your homophobia and in 
other areas.  I'll admit that.  But I'm willing to be self-reflective and 
change my views if it seems like my views are based on faulty information.

My initial post to you was under the impression that you were a troll, thus 
my comments were disrespectful and unChrist-like and were intended for the 
other bigots on this list who can't get past their homophobia. My second, 
much longer reply, was more serious with the hope you would respond to that 
in more detail about why you are homophobic.

If you are sincere, please read my post if you have not already done so 
(http://mailman.fsr.com/pipermail/vision2020/2005-July/018771.html) and 
reply.  In particular, how do you classify people who's gender is 
indeterminate?  Should they be allowed to marry?  Why are you so against 
homosexuals deciding they want to commit their lives together?  Why 
shouldn't they be allowed to marry?

Times change with our advancing knowledge.  Definitions of words are not 
holy.  Love is what matters.  Long term relationships, regardless of gender, 
should be encouraged because it is right to want people to be happy and 
healthy.

If you want to give marriage a good name, don't blame the people who want to 
get married.  Look to those who can't handle their own marriage or 
relationships.  There are plenty of unhealthy marriages that need guidance.

In my opinion, there really haven't been any rational arguments made by 
people who don't want homosexuals to marry other than their bigotry.  It 
seems that this reasoning is simplistic and thus should be challenged.

Convince me otherwise with your reasoning and I won't be so adamant about 
standing up for homosexuals' rights.

I'll endeavor to be more respectful to folks I don't agree with and 
hopefully with civility we can come to an understanding of one another.

Sincerely,

Garrett Clevenger

http://www.icehouse.net/garrett

"What are we doing to our Home?!:("