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Am I evil for liking to make hyper-religious people squirm?

I recently got into an argument with a rather homophobic person who claimed that being gay was a choice and an abomination. After calmly explaining to this person what conceivable logic is there to choose to be a persecuted minority that is constantly denied rights and privileges that others have, and in some countries the right to even exist at all, (that is to say, there is no logic in doing so) he looked at me rather puzzled, scarlet in the face like he was about to burst.

It took all within me not to laugh as I'm sure he felt truly conflicted. So he quoted more scripture at me, I believe it was the one from 1 Corinthians. I then asked him, "OK. Fine. You're right. Being gay is a choice. I have a challenge for you then. Just for this week, choose to be gay. You have all the rest of your life to repent, but just for this week, choose to be gay."

I have to say I have started to grow fond of "choose to be gay for a week" as a response and am definitely going to use it more, but is it wrong that I got pleasure from seeing him look confused and bewildered and slapped in the face from both those comments as his world view crashed in front of him?

Brian_Blum 4 Nov 27
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19 comments

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1

After one of my cousins came out several family members took up the 'choice' line. I was fond of asking them what age they were when they conciously chose to be straight.

0

Every now and then I'll get into a conversation like that. Only if I'm up for it; sometimes it's not worth my time and energy.

0

Want a wing gal for that? FUN!

2

No. These cretins take great joy in destroying the lives of others. Serve them up as much logical discomfort as possible.

2

My favourite is always "Does your god love all his children or just the straight ones?"

2

No. No, you are not. They need to squirm more.

1

Yes.

skado Level 9 Nov 28, 2018
0

It's an entirely natural feeling. It gave me a good laugh to read 🙂

2

Wrong? Nah, bro, you're good. ?

2

If there was a medal for such an act of immense pleasure, you'd surly have it, sir! Bravo!

2

This is a question that probably every debater who gets the upper hand in an argument has to ask themselves. Is it wrong to be right? Is it wrong to have a supportable answer and to demonstrate that your interlocutor does not? I think it's fine, given that you aren't holding a gun to their head and forcing them to debate you. Presumably you're doing it by mutual agreement. Put the shoe on the other foot. If you get bested, is it legitimate for you to be angry at the holder of the winning argument or to feel wronged by them simply b because they supported their contentions better than you?

I think the difficulty comes from the fact that most theists have little to no intellectual integrity and no real argument and so must of necessity resort to character assassination, goalpost-moving, deflection, false equivalences, etc., and so become angry when you have them dead to rights. It's especially the case when you know their holy book or theology better than they do.

The only thing that would be wrong would be to stoke your ego, feel superior, and become condescending. You would then be losing epistemological humility and possibly compassion / empathy. Always be kind, but don't be afraid to congratulate yourself for mastering your subject matter. Doing so IS, legitimately, part of the fun.

5

I always just tell them that the only person that can chose is Bi, so if they believe it is a choice they are professing that they are bi, changes them to defensive.

6

Mr Brian , u r 19 yr old and u have the courage and energy to fight w logic these trolls . I admire u and pls continue . Stand up for what u know is right .
U remind me someone I knew long time ago in another continent .
I am near 50 now and not always have the energy to argue . On nowdays I just tell them " u r f moron " and moving on .
Good job Sir .

3

Brilliant. Totally stealing this.

4

It would be nice to think that it had some humane impact, but those people are really hard core! They are blinded by what is written in the Holy Bible of ‘god’s words!’ It is so sad to me, to loose one’s whole self, into this Religious dogma, that I find no humor anymore in their stupidity! Let them dry up on the vine...

you are right

2

Yes being a gay is a choice

Are you serious? If this is not a joke, I can report that over my life time, knowing lots of ‘gay people,’ not one of them ever said that they decided to be gay, just for fun or otherwise! Maybe I traveled in different circles?

@Freedompath i just gave my opinion..

@Freedompath @mortal no . He is a religious man that doesn't have the $ for xrstian mingle apparently . F him .

U r laughable and uneducated .

@Pralina1 i know right.. but that how i understood it

@muahaziz I want to soften my response to you as you are new and You should have some time to acclimate yourself to this forum. But, surely in this age of Science and education in general, you can learn what it means to be something other than a heterosexual human being? Gay people have been on this planet as long as any other species! Maybe you don’t like gay people, and maybe you don’t understand them, but they are not here for you one way or the other! They are a ‘creation of life,’ and that far ‘out-weighs’ your opinion! You are welcome here, but expect to be challenged! You might even learn something new...I hope so!

On the contrary, many gays really try not to be gay by marrying women & having children--using other innocent human beings as disguises essentially. Hard to say if the suffer more than the wife & kids, but it certainly can't be fun for them. Particularly in the past, many gays & lesbians went through at least a stage of wishing they could choose to be straight--& they couldn't. So no, I do not believe it's a choice anymore than we have chosen to be straight--& I come from an area with a very high population of gays & lesbians.

So being straight is also a choice?

@Carin I have known these people! There once was less acceptance than there is now for being gay!

@Freedompath Yes, & it only brought tragedy, probably more often than now. Very sad. Something harmless turned into something very harmful by ignorance & intolerance.

@Freedompath, @A2Jennifer Well if a person can decide what orientation to be, could they not also choose to be straight? I personally don't believe either is a choice.

@Carin I agree, and Science states the same. Biology is not a choice.

Being gay in this culture is a highly dangerous nightmare!
Because of Fatheads like you!
"CHOOSE" to be reviled, discriminated against, made to feel less than...yeah, right.......

@Carin that’s my point.

2

The religious never get logic so it makes it somewhat entertaining to mess with them. Good on you!

4

Nope. Nothing wrong with you.
I rather enjoy turning everything they believe on it's head.

Your "be gay for a week" is pretty good. I like that, and may try it during a future discussion.
My usual go-to is, "Your god created homosexuals. Where do you get off disrespecting any of your god's creations?" That one hangs them up.
I also point out that there are over 1,500 species, besides humans, with naturally occurring homosexuality. That one really hangs them up, too.

god never created gays ....is a choice they made

@muahaziz Horseshit.

@muahaziz if there is a ‘god,’ then he would have created everything! The Bible says...’there is nothing that god, did not create!’ How did god miss gay people?

@muahaziz you know that there are gay animals, right? So if animals do not have souls or free will like humans according to most of the world's religions, these gay animals are going of genetic and hormonal differences within their bodies. Therefore they have no choice but to be gay. Homosexuality is not a choice.

@irascible True about god not existing. I called 'horseshit' on homosexuality being a choice.
Another thing I like to ask the assholes when they're spewing their ignorance, is "Since it's a choice, when did you make the choice to be a heterosexual??"
I do enjoy dismantling their stupid fucking "arguments".

3

I like that. Or go with the Calvinist approach that all is preordained and god wants some gays around.

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