# spectrum, I don't get it. **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [June 26, 2004, 4:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spectrum-i-dont-get-it/252280 "2004-06-26T04:31:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![SolGrundy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bbce88/32.png) [@SolGrundy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SolGrundy)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2004, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spectrum-i-dont-get-it/252280/61 "2004-06-28T20:23:50Z")
> [@Mr. Moto](#): > > Bit off topic, no? If this is supposed to just be a dogpile on **spectrum** thread, then yes, it is getting off topic. But it’s still relevant if you’re looking for explanations of why some people could get extremely angry and even (gasp) rude, instead of responding calmly and coolly with comments such as, “Yes, I see your point and it is well-addressed. If I may, allow me to offer a counter-example to demonstrate how I am not, in fact, a child-molestor, involved in an incestuous relationship, or suffering from a mental illness that must be eradicated.” It should go without saying, but I’ll say it anyway: wishing violence on someone is not acceptable, even in anger. I’m not condoning that. I’m merely trying to give insight into the anger. > [@bodswood](#): > > Well, I believe that homosexuality is wrong. I’ve discussed it with homosexuals (not often) and they understand my position. As a Christian it’s difficult to overlook words that explain that it is unacceptable because it is unnatural. I’m glad you’ve discussed it with the homosexuals; it’s good y’all were able to clear everything up. I regret that I was unable to attend the meetings. I would’ve said that yes, it _is_ difficult to hold on to an outdated bit of dogma that calls itself Christianity when you’re forced to be seen example after example of adult, loving, monogamous, and healthy homosexual relationships. I would also point out that it’s far, far more difficult to grow up in a society where people can encroach on your personal freedoms because of these outdated beliefs, even if your personal life is absolutely none of their concern. > [@bodswood](#): > > But, how should or does that affect my dealings with homosexuals and my thinking about legislation about them? This is a very difficult question for me. > > My experience with homosexuals is that they’re pretty much the same as anyone else, no more or less moral or smart, or even sensitive. Incidentally, that particular portrayal really pisses me off. For Gods’s sake, I’M the most sensitive guy in the world! I _guess_ that’s a step in the right direction. For the record, we don’t all speak with a lisp, either, or dress particularly well. Also, please don’t take the lord’s name in vain. The Bible says you’re not supposed to do that. Understand that I don’t hate you for being a blasphemer, I just think that because you choose to break one of the 10 Commandments, you should not be allowed to adopt children (only for their sake – they’ll be made fun of when people find out their dad is a blasphemer), or visit your spouse in the hospital because you’re not truly the immediate family. And also, you should be subjected to reparative therapy until you stop it. > [@bodswood](#): > > Homosexual marriage seems a bizarre thing, but many bizarre things are not legislated against (prostitution comes to mind). Okay, maybe bizarre isn’t the right word, but the Bible is certainly not in favour of intercourse with a hooker. I completely fail to see how this is at all relevant. Please explain before I make assumptions about what you’re saying. > [@bodswood](#): > > So I suppose I wouldn’t oppose homosexual adoption, although I have some reservations on the grounds of giving the kid a fair chance, in terms of the teasing they might get. But that doesn’t seem a particularly strong argument either. If by “not particularly strong” you mean “completely groundless and circular,” then I agree with you. The only reason someone would tease a child for having two parents of the same sex, would be if society tells them that it’s acceptable to believe that homosexuality is “unnatural,” “bizarre,” and “wrong.” > [@yosemitebabe](#): > > You know, bodswood can think whatever the hell he wants (as far as I’m concerned) as long as he supports equal rights and is not mean to anyone. I learned a while ago that it isn’t what people think in their heads that is so important, it’s what they do. And while I’m sure many of you will rip bodswood a new one, it seems to me that he’s bordering on having lukewarm feelings towards gay marriage and gay adoption. So to me, that’s what’s most important. Not what he thinks is “unnatural” or not. I ain’t the thought police. I don’t care what he thinks privately. That’s true, of course. I have no more right to tell him what to think than he has to tell me who I can and can’t fall in love with. Unfortunately, our society is still at the stage where we can be denied our basic rights, be the targets of violence, and be subjected to unnecessary “medical” treatment because of being gay. We need to take care of that before we can get _too_ concerned about changing people’s perceptions. But in the larger picture, we can’t really get one without the other. It’s not going to be until after people do start thinking differently about homosexuality that we’re going to get any real change. Even if you somehow manage to pass a law protecting gay rights, it’s not going to be all that useful if a majority of your population still resents or disagrees with that law. And maybe I’m overly optimistic, but I’d like to see us make at least a little bit of progress in my lifetime. The only reason I had such a comparitively easy time coming out is because a _lot_ of people had to go through a _lot_ of violence, hatred, and condemnation to get us even to this stage. I’d like to see us get to the point where people growing up can come to terms without orientation with no outside grief, because it’s just no longer an issue. ---
**Author:** ![SolGrundy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bbce88/32.png) [@SolGrundy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SolGrundy)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2004, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spectrum-i-dont-get-it/252280/62 "2004-06-28T20:29:30Z")
Case in point: it’d be really cool if people could talk about the consensual love between two monogamous adults without the conversation turning to prostitutes, fruit bats, and monkeys mounting each other in a primate house. It’s somewhat distressing. ---
**Author:** ![matt\_mcl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@matt\_mcl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt_mcl)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2004, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spectrum-i-dont-get-it/252280/63 "2004-06-28T20:33:14Z")
Guess what, **Sol** : that was your turn to say something trenchant and insightful that I wished I had said. ---
**Author:** ![yosemite](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/3ab097/32.png) [@yosemite](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yosemite)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2004, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spectrum-i-dont-get-it/252280/64 "2004-06-29T01:51:55Z")
> [@SolGrundy](#): > > But in the larger picture, we can’t really get one without the other. It’s not going to be until after people do start thinking differently about homosexuality that we’re going to get any real change. Even if you somehow manage to pass a law protecting gay rights, it’s not going to be all that useful if a majority of your population still resents or disagrees with that law. You definitely have a point there. But I don’t think that you need to expect people to embrace homosexuality (not that you’ve said that) to see that it’s unfair and cruel to deny other people, who are minding their own business, some rights. I think that bodsworth, for all his talk of “unnatural,” is surprisingly open (or has the potential to be open) to the notion that these are just ordinary folks like him, and they have feelings too. I recall something that happened to me a few years ago. The local elections were deciding on something regarding gambling—whether or not they should open up the opportunities for more casinos, or something. Now, I’m very much against gambling. I think it’s useless. To be honest, I kind of think it’s a sin. But I realize that many good people (including my aunt), enjoy it. I also realize that people’s livelihoods were depending on these casinos. So, I voted to allow more casinos. I didn’t do it because I thought it was good or right in _my_ opinion. I voted for it because I didn’t think that I should let my own feelings about what is or is not a “sin” get in the way of other people’s lives. I also don’t think highly of smoking or drinking (or eating meat, for that matter), but I’d never dream of trying to deny someone the right to smoke, drink, or eat meat. (Just as long as they don’t stink up _my_ house or car with it, that is . . . ) 😉 I suppose there’s a slippery slope there, because a lot of things that we commonly think of as “wrong” are also considered “sins.” So yes, I still would vote against things that I thought were “sinful,” even if not everyone agreed with me. There’s a fine line, I suppose. But I do try to be fair-minded and take into account that other people have other sensibilities and ideas about what is or is not a “sin,” and just because _I_ don’t like it, or don’t approve of it, it doesn’t follow that there should be a law against it. Pretty obvious, huh? 😉 Anyway, my hope and expectation is that eventually, people who believe that homosexuality is a “sin” will also realize that many people—decent people—even people who are _related_ to them—are gay and therefore, these people (the ones who believe that homosexuality is a “sin”) will be fair-minded enough to support basic rights. Not because their private thoughts have made a complete transformation, but because they are able to recognize how _unfair_ it would be to deny these fellow citizens their rights. ---
**Author:** ![bodswood](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e68b1a/32.png) [@bodswood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bodswood)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2004, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spectrum-i-dont-get-it/252280/65 "2004-06-29T02:26:44Z")
People can poo-poo the Bible all they want, that doesn’t bother me. They can say it’s open to a zillion interpretations. Likewise. That doesn’t shake my faith. But the nub of the Biblical stance on homosexuality (male and female) is that it is unnatural. This is the position taken by someone writing a little after the Bronze Age incidentally, Paul. Now I understand that this is about the worst thing that homosexuals want to hear. Much better to have people like me quote stuff from Leviticus about homosexuality being an abomination. It’s much easier to get your teeth into that kind of vocab and savage the message/messenger. But “against nature” goes to the core of the homosexuality issue. It’s the reason why people are so keen to downplay choice, the right to choose. Because if it were a real choice - and not something the individual was hard-wired towards - then it would no longer (in any real sense) be something that the person was born with. I can understand why people feel uneasy about people like me, who accept homosexuals’ right to almost every thing in a secular society (like I’ve said I’m not sure about adoption but I’m open to it), and YET at the same time feel it’s wrong and remain unafraid to say that. Those who understand the complexities of taking a principled stand about an issue will at least be able to sympathise with my position. Those for whom expediency is everything will consider me - and my like - a very dangerous person. ---
**Author:** ![SolGrundy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bbce88/32.png) [@SolGrundy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SolGrundy)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2004, 5:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spectrum-i-dont-get-it/252280/66 "2004-06-29T05:16:42Z")
> [@bodswood](#): > > People can poo-poo the Bible all they want, that doesn’t bother me. They can say it’s open to a zillion interpretations. Likewise. That doesn’t shake my faith. But the nub of the Biblical stance on homosexuality (male and female) is that it is unnatural. This is the position taken by someone writing a little after the Bronze Age incidentally, Paul. > > Now I understand that this is about the worst thing that homosexuals want to hear. Much better to have people like me quote stuff from Leviticus about homosexuality being an abomination. It’s much easier to get your teeth into that kind of vocab and savage the message/messenger. I would really appreciate it if you didn’t put yourself into the position of martyr so quickly. The last I read, I was the one who was being told that I’m “wrong.” If you truly have personal conviction about the issue, then I think it’s perfectly reasonable that you be expected to explain them in a forum of debate when someone asks, and give a forthcoming answer instead of implying that your religious faith is under attack from some Corrupt Homosexual Agenda. I just completely fail to understand how anyone’s religious faith could be so dependent on keeping people of the same sex from loving each other. So I have to genuinely ask – why is it so important to believe it’s wrong and sinful? Because it was written? How does simply being a homosexual compromise anyone’s principles? How is it any less arbitrary than what is written in Leviticus? What is the justification for it? Or do you believe that it’s wrong to even ask for justification? > [@bodswood](#): > > But “against nature” goes to the core of the homosexuality issue. It’s the reason why people are so keen to downplay choice, the right to choose. Because if it were a real choice - and not something the individual was hard-wired towards - then it would no longer (in any real sense) be something that the person was born with. No, the only people who are so keen to downplay the right to choose are heterosexuals and homophobes who take it upon themselves to condemn, rehabilitate, eradicate, or restrict the rights of homosexuals. I am not against a person’s “right to choose” homosexuality. Because that is completely meaningless. I might just as well say that I’m not against a person’s right to choose to grow a third leg, or become a fish, or breathe sulfur. A person who is truly homosexual (not bisexual) cannot choose to be heterosexual. You want proof? I’m proof. Not good enough? Explain why. And don’t show me other men who claim that they were gay and now they’re not; they’re irrelevant. Explain to me how _I_ could have willed myself to be straight. And while you’re doing that, explain to me exactly why I need to. That’s what so many anti-gay types fail to comprehend – the fact that a person doesn’t choose his orientation is irrelevant. The burden is not on me to justify or defend my homosexuality; the burden is on you to explain to me why it’s wrong. You seem to have made a token attempt, by pointing out repeatedly that it’s “unnatural” and “against nature.” I’m afraid this is lost on me; I genuinely don’t understand what you’re saying, or how it’s a condemnation. Contraception is unnatural; is it also wrong? Do you use it anyway? Why or why not? I’m reluctant to turn personal questions around in these types of conversations – I chose to make a part of my personal life public, but can’t expect everyone else to. So if you’re uncomfortable answering, just treat it as a rhetorical question: when you first became attracted to your wife, did you feel _anything_ other than a desire to have children with her? If you really and truly believe that procreation is the _only_ reason for a man and a woman to fall in love and remain true to each other, then I will have to say that yes, by your standards, homosexuality is “unnatural.” And then that will be the end of the discussion, because I want no part of a worldview that cheapens human relationships so much. > [@bodswood](#): > > I can understand why people feel uneasy about people like me, who accept homosexuals’ right to almost every thing in a secular society (like I’ve said I’m not sure about adoption but I’m open to it), and YET at the same time feel it’s wrong and remain unafraid to say that. > > Those who understand the complexities of taking a principled stand about an issue will at least be able to sympathise with my position. Those for whom expediency is everything will consider me - and my like - a very dangerous person. Yes, if you’ve read any of my posts on the subject, you’ll see that I’m all about expediency. I took the quick and easy path of more than a decade of self-loathing. I’ve read many accounts of people claiming that coming out is “so much easier” than fighting to stay straight. And the funny thing is, it really is. And I don’t see why that’s a bad thing. I don’t see why I should have to fight to “earn” my sexuality when the vast majority of men on the planet don’t have to. I’d much rather fight for the more important things – to stay principled, to treat people well, to resist empty temptation, and to live my life the right way. I consider you – and your like – a very dangerous person because you promote intolerance while disguising it as tolerance, compassion, and standing by your principles. Note that I’m not accepting the concession that you’ll “accept homosexuals’ right to almost everything in a secular society.” That’s not enough. As long as you use qualifiers like “almost,” that’s not enough. And as long as you are unable or unwilling to explain to me why it’s wrong, then that’s not enough. It’s just giving begrudging, token concessions to the fags because they’re getting all uppity. This isn’t being thought police, this isn’t religious persecution – this is me demanding to know why you can tell me I’m “wrong.” I believe I’m entitled. ---
**Author:** ![bodswood](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e68b1a/32.png) [@bodswood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bodswood)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2004, 5:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spectrum-i-dont-get-it/252280/67 "2004-06-29T05:27:17Z")
Does it not sometimes happen that someone becomes attracted to someone of the same sex having previously been attracted to persons of the opposite sex? I could certainly imagine this, and wonder if some people have not had this experience. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2004, 5:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spectrum-i-dont-get-it/252280/68 "2004-06-29T05:48:26Z")
> [@bodswood](#): > > Does it not sometimes happen that someone becomes attracted to someone of the same sex having previously been attracted to persons of the opposite sex? > > I could certainly imagine this, and wonder if some people have not had this experience. Yes. They’re called bisexuals. ---
**Author:** ![SolGrundy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bbce88/32.png) [@SolGrundy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SolGrundy)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2004, 5:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spectrum-i-dont-get-it/252280/69 "2004-06-29T05:49:28Z")
> [@bodswood](#): > > Does it not sometimes happen that someone becomes attracted to someone of the same sex having previously been attracted to persons of the opposite sex? > > I could certainly imagine this, and wonder if some people have not had this experience. I can’t say for sure, since it’s not true of me. But by my definition of the word, that person would be bisexual. I’ve never spoken to or read the words of anyone who actually switched from 100% one to 100% the other; the attraction doesn’t just go away. In my case, genuine attraction to women was never there in the first place, and I “knew” this even before I understood what sexual attraction was. ---
**Author:** ![bodswood](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e68b1a/32.png) [@bodswood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bodswood)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2004, 5:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spectrum-i-dont-get-it/252280/70 "2004-06-29T05:56:50Z")
I may well be dangerous, though not in the way you mean, I suspect. Anyway, enough of my own dreams! Sure, you can write that I’m telling you that you’re wrong. Same way that I decline to call judges by that hame but rather prefer the appellation ex-lawyers. (It sort of makes a point.) But I think you appreciate that it’s the Bible that says that homosexuality is wrong, not least because it is unnatural (according to the Bible). It also says a lot of other things are wrong, pretty badly wrong, in fact, such as lying and being cowardl. So that’s where I coming from. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2004, 6:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spectrum-i-dont-get-it/252280/71 "2004-06-29T06:10:18Z")
Well, so you believe homosexuality is wrong. So? The point is, denying people the right to marry the person they love and other, basic civil rights on the basis of RELIGIOUS BELIEFS is wrong, in this nation we live in. So, as long as you support equal rights, there shouldn’t be a problem. You don’t have to believe everything another person does is right. You just have to treat them with dignity and respect. As **yosemite** put it, “Mind your own business.” ---
**Author:** ![Dunderman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ecb155/32.png) [@Dunderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dunderman)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2004, 6:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spectrum-i-dont-get-it/252280/72 "2004-06-29T06:12:15Z")
> [@bodswood](#): > > Now I understand that this is about the worst thing that homosexuals want to hear. Much better to have people like me quote stuff from Leviticus about homosexuality being an abomination. It’s much easier to get your teeth into that kind of vocab and savage the message/messenger. Are you implying that homosexuals somehow fear that argument? Do you really think they haven’t heard it a million times before? > [@](#): > > But “against nature” goes to the core of the homosexuality issue. You know what? Fuck nature, and fuck you. Without people like you, there would be no homosexuality “issue”. There shouldn’t be. Why should anybody care about the gender of anyone else’s adult partner? It’s just completely pointless, harmful, and moronic. It’s such a total waste of energy and time. It means spending energy to actively make the world worse. Why do you do that? As for nature, _it doesn’t even exist_ in this sense. Nothing is “against nature” because “nature” is a mind ghost, an apparition, an abstract. It has no substance or meaning; it’s just a tool for hatemongers and idiots. ---
**Author:** ![bodswood](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e68b1a/32.png) [@bodswood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bodswood)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2004, 6:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spectrum-i-dont-get-it/252280/73 "2004-06-29T06:26:18Z")
Intolerance and hatemongering are not, it appears, _on the evidence_, the sole domain of heterosexuals. ---
**Author:** ![Dunderman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ecb155/32.png) [@Dunderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dunderman)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2004, 6:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spectrum-i-dont-get-it/252280/74 "2004-06-29T06:28:02Z")
Who said it was, what does that have to do with anything, and are you going to answer the question “why”? ---
**Author:** ![bodswood](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e68b1a/32.png) [@bodswood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bodswood)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2004, 6:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spectrum-i-dont-get-it/252280/75 "2004-06-29T06:30:34Z")
Guinastasia, I think you’re being a bit disingenuous if you believe my beliefs are fine, as yours are fine, etc. Do you defend the right of people to teach in schools according to the Bible? Let’s keep it easy, and limit the question to private schools. PS I’m not American, so be aware that sitautions I’m familiar with may not be the same as some of you (i.e. Americans) are familiar with. ---
**Author:** ![bodswood](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e68b1a/32.png) [@bodswood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bodswood)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2004, 6:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spectrum-i-dont-get-it/252280/76 "2004-06-29T06:37:58Z")
To answer Priceguy’s ‘why’ question (why should anyone care about the sex of a couple), a make-belief conversation with my daughter may illustrate my position. Dad, do those two men live together? Yes. Is that okay? Sure, they can live together just as we live together. Did you ever live with a man? No. Why not? Because I believe it’s wrong. Why wrong? [Answer given above] So legally, I’m okay with it (to use your words “I don’t care”), but morally I do care. ---
**Author:** ![Dunderman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ecb155/32.png) [@Dunderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dunderman)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2004, 6:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spectrum-i-dont-get-it/252280/77 "2004-06-29T06:41:48Z")
Exactly, you care. When you tell your daughter that, you tell her that it’s somehow “wrong”, in some undefinable vaporous way, for two adults to love each other, provided their chromosomes happen to have a certain configuration. And why? You don’t even know. It’s “against nature”? Puh-leese. ---
**Author:** ![Dunderman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ecb155/32.png) [@Dunderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dunderman)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2004, 6:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spectrum-i-dont-get-it/252280/78 "2004-06-29T06:43:02Z")
Another thing: you just said you never lived with a man “because you believe it’s wrong”. So if you didn’t believe that, you’d be gay? Is that what you’re saying? ---
**Author:** ![bodswood](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e68b1a/32.png) [@bodswood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bodswood)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2004, 6:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spectrum-i-dont-get-it/252280/79 "2004-06-29T06:48:23Z")
Actually, I’d probably tell her that it’s not the way God designed us to be. But, the funny thing is, I have a feeling that most kids would nod their heads and have no problem with that idea. Growing up with a mum and a dad may have something to do with that, but I have learned not to underestimate the understanding of children. ‘Another thing: you just said you never lived with a man “because you believe it’s wrong”. So if you didn’t believe that, you’d be gay? Is that what you’re saying?’ Thought you might pick up on that. If I had said “because I’ve never fallen in love with a man”, it would contain the presupposition that I had the facility or the desire to do so. I don’t; so I phrased it the way I did. ---
**Author:** ![Dunderman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ecb155/32.png) [@Dunderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dunderman)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2004, 6:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spectrum-i-dont-get-it/252280/80 "2004-06-29T06:56:53Z")
> [@bodswood](#): > > But, the funny thing is, I have a feeling that most kids would nod their heads and have no problem with that idea. Growing up with a mum and a dad may have something to do with that, but I have learned not to underestimate the understanding of children. _Of course_ she wouldn’t have a problem understanding that! Why on Earth would she? Who’s saying she would? She’ll understand whatever you tell her. And now she’ll grow up “understanding” that a huge subset of the human race is “wrong”. Just like that. > [@](#): > > If I had said “because I’ve never fallen in love with a man”, it would contain the presupposition that I had the facility or the desire to do so. And you don’t think the phrase “because I believe it’s wrong” does? I still want to know why. Why is it so important for you to make these innocents unhappy? What did they ever do to you? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spectrum-i-dont-get-it/252280.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spectrum-i-dont-get-it/252280.md?page=5)