In response to Burr Deming:
Senator Hatch may have arrived late.
LGBT youth deserve our unwavering love and support.
Perhaps, like many of us, he is still coming to terms with his past, a past that includes irrational rejection of the humanity of others.
We who once stood with him, unquestioningly accepting our bigotry, can now walk with him toward the light. Somewhere along that path we ought to join in silent apology toward our God and toward those of his children whom we have joined in hurting.
I agree that we should generally welcome those who change for the better rather than focus on their past. However, those who hate and use political power to spread that hatred bear additional responsibility. After building a career partly out of such behavior, it is not enough to say that one has changed his mind. He must work to undo the damage that he caused.
Furthermore, condemnation serves a useful purpose whether the condemners are perfect or not. Beyond simply making the condemners feel good, it sends a message to the condemned and to observers that some behavior, attitude, or thought is wrong. If people are on some sort of path to become “finished,” praise and condemnation, like reward and punishment, can assist in the journey, even if they can also be abused. We cannot rely on everyone softening with time or with exposure to the people they hate or with some revelation.
“We just stop hating some people for who they are. It doesn’t make us hypocrites. I am sure we hate others in their place.”
We replace one form of bigotry with another? That may be true of those who only change due to exposure to the people they hate, especially among friends or family. Such people have no guiding principle. But those of us who don’t see a reason to hate others who don’t cause harm are not similarly swept from one form of bigotry to another on the waves of passion. While religion is certainly not the sole source of such hatred in the world, it does help to abandon religions that preach hatred for (or as some might say, “compassionate opposition to”) the non-traditional, the abnormal, or whatever else makes people uncomfortable for no solid reason.