The Rasta vs. Homosexuality (kinda long)

Dear Rasta Guy Who Can’t Shut The Fuck Up,
I just wanted to write you a little note to let you know what I think of your daily verbal sewage. When loudly yelling out “Burn out da Babylon!” in reference to any sort of rule or show of authority, please note the large quantities of eye-rolls present in the room. It looks somewhat like this: :rolleyes: . When attempting to preach out against the hypocrisy of Christianity and its followers, please realize that no one really cares what you have to say.
However, I have had quite enough of your gay-bashing, and today I told you so. We then proceeded to get in a heated debate over just why you found it necessary to put down someone for reasons that have no affect on you what so ever. Let us do a run down of your arguments, shall we?

[ul]
[li]“Being Gay Is Un-natural”[/li]Your first point against homosexuality is that it is un-natural for two men or two women to engage in sexual activities. However, when confronted with the fact that dolphins and many species of monkeys engage in such activities, you were at a loss to explain this further. You said that because humans are more intelligent than either of those two animals that we “should know better”? You say that the only purpose for sexual activity is procreation. I asked you if you had never fucked a girl just to fuck her. You said no, that everytime you have had sex, you were “spreading your seed”.
“I’ve never used a condom, and I never will”, you said.
“So you are willing to spread diseases and risk pregnanacy?”, says I.
“I don’t have any diseases.”
“Not yet.”
[li]“Gay People Not Only Fight For Equal Rights, But Take Away Straights’ Existing Rights”[/li]This one really threw me. You told me that you hate gay people because they’re overstepping their bounds by asking for equal rights. According to you, a loving gay couple should not enjoy the same benefits as straight couple. That means no marriage, no adoptive privileges, no joint tax filing, no joint medical insurance benefits, etc…Then you go off and say that they’re actually taking other people’s rights away! Your example? If a woman was to slap a man for hitting on her, the cops wouldn’t do anything about it. But if a man hits another man for hitting on him, that’s a hate crime. First off, is it really necessary to hit a man who finds you attractive? A simple ‘no, thanks’ isn’t enough? And second, if you’re being slapped by women when you hit on them on a regular basis, you’re doing something very wrong, my friend.
[li]“If Gay People Are Born Gay, Then Why Isn’t Child Molesting Ok?”[/li]Why, you looking for permission? What kind of argument is that. You can’t equate sex between two consenting adults to child molesting. Do you not see the flaw in your logic here? Go ahead and ponder it for a bit. I can wait.
[li]“God Says It’s Wrong”[/li]Lastly I just asked you if basically you oppose homosexuals because God says to. When you answered yes, I knew I had just wasted the last 15 minutes. There’s no way to counter an argument that isn’t grouded in logic anyway. You profess to believe in God, and want to follow his ways into heaven, yet I don’t think you’re going to get very far with hatred towards your fellow man in your heart, buddy. You once asked me why I don’t believe in God. Look in the mirror, there’s your answer.
[/ul]
I didn’t even mention to you the fact that when gay people are being gay, it has nothing to do with you! People could be having gay sex all around your neighborhood, and it wouldn’t affect you in the least. What gives you the right to condemn someone for doing something that has no affect on you as a person? I don’t think you’ve got people breaking into your house to have gay sex, and I highly doubt you’re constantly being raped by men. So what’s the problem?
Here’s another fact: you’re black. No shit? Really. Now, consider for a moment your standing in American society. Your race is what is known as a minority. Gay people are also a minority. Don’t you think this gives you a little something in common? If anything, you guys should join up and rally against the straight white men keeping you all down!
In conclusion, please grow a heart so that you can have some compassion for your fellow man. Also, grow a spine while you’re at it. You profess to be a hardcore rasta, yet you won’t even tell your parents because you’re afraid your Jehovah’s Witness daddy will throw you out! If you’re going to have the inclination to follow a religion, have the courage to own up to it. And don’t use it to hide behind and spread your hate.

P.S. We all know you’re probably just trying to deal with your own sexuality, so we understand.

P.P.S. I am neither a Christian, nor am I gay. Not that that should make a difference…

Right on. Welcome to the SDMB. You’ll do well here:)

Oh, fuck. This is the pit.

One thing that amuses me, though… “When attempting to preach out against the hypocrisy of Christianity and its followers, please realize that no one really cares what you have to say. … You told me that you hate gay people.”

Obviously someone well-versed in Christianity. God tells us to love everyone, not to pick and choose. This fella ain’t Christian (unless there’s some relationship between Rastafarianism and Christianity of which I’m unaware), but still.

In determining just how much to fear, loath, and/or pity this person, I find some clarification would be helpful. First of all, am I correct in understanding that this guy speaks out against any authority? Do you know what this “Burn out de Babylon” means specifically? Also, just out of curiosity, is this guy an actual Jamaican Rasta or some guy who took it up last year because he like the bit about weed?

This guy sounds like the last person who should be spreading his seed. Did he provide any evidence that he didn’t have any diseases? It sounds like the syphilis may have reached his brain.

I have a long-time friend who is in a reggae band, and consequently I’ve spent a fair amount of time in the company of self-identified rastas. I don’t mean to make any generalizations, because there are good & bad folks in every demographic, but it seemed to me that the whole rasta thing has a streak of intolerance and patriarchal oppression a mile-wide running through it. The anti-gay thing stands out pretty clearly.

One time, a particular guy, uh, let’s call him “Asher”, was mouthing off about how unnatural homosexuality is, blah blah blah - you’ve heard it. Now I have a certain amount of contempt for this guy to begin with – lazy, abusive to women, and would blatantly abuse people’s generosity with weed – to the point of knocking on your door and saying “just passing through the neighborhood. Give me a little bud to take with me. Eyrie.” Creep.

Anyway, my good friend Jimbo managed to shut him up that day. He said “Let me get this straight-- You’ve never taken it up the ass?” Asher makes a good show of being shocked at the very idea. “I’d never do anything disgusting like that.” “So how do you know that you aren’t missing something great? Maybe you should be quiet about it until you’ve tried it at least once.”

Heh heh. Dude wouldn’t even stay after that. Nobody missed him, either. Asshole.

Why is it that whenever a gay person is abused by a straight person they always say “You must be having problems with your own sexuality” or something along those lines?

And if he said he had taken it up the ass, you would have thought that he must have been questioning his own sexuality, and is probably gay.
He cant win.

Basically, he speaks out against any non-rastafarian authority. The government, the local police force, etc…He seems to hold a special hatred for the Catholic church. Don’t even get this guy started on the Pope. Geez.
As far as the “Burn out de Babylon!” stuff, I have asked him about that. He says it’s a common way of expressing one’s desire to reform an institution. The burning refers to a spiritual cleansing fire. You can substitute pretty much anything for Babylon (Babylon being the whole of America’s institutions, I infer), such as the Pope, or Bounty Boy. Bounty Boy is his favored slur for homosexuals. You can imagine he uses it a lot.
Finally, this guy used to be a Jehovah’s Witness like the rest of his family until a couple years ago. I don’t know why he changed, but he does take advantage of the weed thing. Frequently.

I’m not a psychiatrist/psychologist. Suffice to say it seems to be human nature that if one is acting out against something (homosexuality), so vehemently when it has relatively little consequence on the individual, then that individual must be frightened of the thing (homosexuality), within himself. I tell him that just to ruffle his feathers. Maybe someone else can explain better?

And the colored girls say: “Link!”

Oh, you’re gonna be reaaally popular around here!

:rolleyes:

plucked her eyebrows on the way shaved her legs and then he was a she she said
From this discussion of the matter , matt_mcl quotes:

This appears to be a typo:

Shouldn’t the underlined word be “homophobic”?

And thanks, Guin, but I meant a link to the thread in which Rasta exposes his teeny mindedness.

aaarrrrrrrrrrrgggh

Yes, apparently matt made a transcription error in originally typing it in. Wendell Wagner noted it, asked about it, and matt noted that it should be “homophobic”. And because of the indexing problem when we upgraded, the posts are out of order, so I missed it. Blergh.

I work in a clinic and have online access to all the medical journals. I did a search and found the article. Lo and behold, matt, the quote you pasted has been altered by just that one word from the original, which I here attach:

Just tell him that Tafari Menkonnen (aka Haile Sellasie, Ras Tafari, Jah, etc) was a usurper to the crown no more related to Solomon then the kings during the Zagwé dynasty.

Also tell him "I just can’t believe people would worship a despot like that, who is no more the Son of God then a tomato. He also a bad king and ruler who ignored the plight of his own countrymen during a severe famine. That is why his people took him out of power, and that is why he was killed. (work in that he is dead)”

Nothing will get him madder then these like historic facts, if you need more just ask.

Anyway, I’ve seen plenty of anecdotal evidence to support the conclusions of this research, FWIW. To be fair, though, if Rasta is black, that’s not entirely irrelevant to the discussion. I’ve seen it brought up in several different contexts (I’ll try to find a cite) that African-American men seem to disproportionately uncomfortable with male homosexuality. This does not suggest to me that more black men are homosexual; rather it seems to suggest that there is a cultural bias at work here as well.

Stokes JP, Peterson JL. “Homophobia, self-esteem, and risk for HIV among African American men who have sex with men.” AIDS Education & Prevention. 10(3):278-92, 1998 Jun.

Hmmm…your ideas are interesting and I wish to subscribe to your newsletter. Do you possibly have a book reccomendation with this information? Much thanks! Thanks to everyone else who came through with links to studies!
Oops, this is the pit and I haven’t really taken advantage of it. I love the lot of you goat-felching, shit-raping corpse-eaters! Wait, something’s still not right…

A dunno about a book recommendation, but Toy Soldier Gallery has a nice concise biography:

Nice figure they have, too.

This is an interesting study, thanks for informing me of it’s existence. I think you guys are being a little misleading, though. By failing to acknowledge that anxiety may have been responsible for the reaction of the homophobic group you imply that repressed homosexual urges are the only explanation. Shame on you! :slight_smile: