Why are southern US Christians so extreme in their homophobia ?

Where I'm from, homophobic Christians are in the miniority. I think alot if people on EC like to demonize and sterotype Christians, even though there are many Christians who fully support gay marriage.

I'm sorry that that happend to you and your boyfriend. Just try to ignore it and move on.

 

Not all are like that but a lot of people not just southern Christians are assholes quite frankly. Some may take it to more of the extreme depending on their views. But I think it's the same for anyone its not just southern Christians that can be quite forceful with their views.

 

Because Jesus

 

I'm from SC, so yeah... there are a lot of homophobes here. It can very much depend on what part of SC you live in exactly, as some communities are pretty accepting whereas others aren't at all.

Why are people like that? Its part of the culture they grow up in. When you grow up in an environment where people believe that homosexuality is a sin, you will most probably believe it as well. Religious cultures like that are isolationistic and pretty much promote blind acceptance and credulity.

And I just want to throw this in here before it comes up. Many like to critique that such views are a distortion of "real" Christianity (or similar arguments.) Such arguments are not only false, (there's no such thing as one real Christianity, as there are about as many different Christian beliefs as there are Christians) but it also ignores that people still believe this and its still religious dogma. Such an argument is merely a semantical issue, and ignores the real issues.

 

That's how my whole family and my coworkers are, except they aren't rude to people's faces. But I've heard their comments whenever it's brought up and no one gay (they don't know about me) is around. Like around the chick-fil-a incident the conversation moved to that, and one woman referred to gay people as "faggots", and another began talking about it "ain't nothing but the devil", and "we are in the end times".

My mom is always saying things about gay people, and she is so fucking over the top (she obviously knows I'm gay). She refers to our neighbors as "dykes" rather than by their names, and when my best friend came out as gay she told me I was forbidden from going inside his house and that I need to pray for him.

Not to mention I've heard many people in my family, at church, and school talk about how disgusting they think gay people are, and even when they're trying not to seem bigoted, they still obviously equate homosexuality with mental illness.

I try not to be anti-christian, but growing up around that attitude makes it difficult for me not to be hostile toward the religion and it's followers. And even people who aren't unfriendly are still liable to think you're disgusting...

I live in the south, but I never imagined that christians would be different anywhere else.

 

Because they were taught to be, and it never occurred to them to stop being the way they are.

 

Likewise, there are a lot of Christians who like to demonize and stereotype gay people, even though there are many LGBT Christians. It goes both ways, and apologizing for bigotry does nothing to solve the problem.

Anyway, I believe the core of the problem is the rigidity of people's beliefs. It becomes pretty easy to demonize others when you unquestionably abide by dogma that teaches you that everyone who doesn't have the same set of beliefs, or whose behaviours don't abide by said beliefs, are lesser and unworthy people. I don't know that there's a solution apart from waiting for people to have a more deistic approach to monotheism.

 

I think that saying that Southern Christians in general are homophobic is stereotyping, somthing of which im sure many of us are tierd of being on the reciving end of. Being from there i can tell you that the homophobia is more of a socioeconomic/ignorance thing than a religous thing.

 

Well its how they were raised , i liv in the southand barely hear that kind of stuff , and i am out with pride belt buckles wristbands t shirts and all. Its like saying all gays are flaming gay cause you know only 2 gayguys and they are.

 

Thank you for posting this.

One of my best friends is actually a Christian South Carolinian. He is straight, but most of his Facebook status updates are about victories in the LGBTQ community. In conversation, he is always the first person to come to the defense of our community.

Likewise, I am sorry this happened to you, but don't lose faith in people. Homophobia in Christianity is not as widespread as people think. It's a loud minority distorting the beliefs of the majority.

 

WAYYYYY too late.

No, but unfortunately the homophobic ones talk too much.

 

I agree with this pretty heavily. I live in Texas and where I'm at almost EVERYONE has a zero tolerance policy for homosexuality. I do think that Christian teachings here help propagate the idea that it's so 'wrong', but even without it, there would be hate here just from the Conservative ideals of the area.

I think honestly Christianity could be used instead to promote understanding and acceptance, but from what I've seen most of the people I know actively avoid open-mindedness.

 

I thought you were crazy, until I saw that you were from Dallas. Austin is a much more LBGT friendly place, and open homophobia is strongly discouraged.

 

Ha that must be nice. Yeah I'm up near Dallas but more out in the country where everyone is a little bit redneck, unfortunately. :/

There are gay friendly communities even in downtown Dallas but sadly the further you get out the harder it is for homosexuals to find acceptance.

 

That's really unfortunate :/

 

It's the Bible Belt. There's a culture of Christian fundamentalism there.

 

As someone who lives in the south, let me explain. It tends to go like this: The older people tend to be very conservative, but the younger generation tends to be more accepting. As some people have said before, the ignorance is not really a Christianity thing as much as it has to do with several socioeconomic and cultural factors (there's a difference between religion and culture). Also, take into account whether or not the area one lives in has an aging populace.

The issue is way more complex than just blaming Christianity, I've actually met a few homophobic atheists online, there are many different factors that can result in ignorance/prejudice. The most important thing to prevent such attitudes is education, and since much of the South is doing poor economically (which often results in poor education), it becomes easier for prejudice to become more wide-spread/accepted. Although, based on my experience, if one was to suddenly go on a homophobic rant in public here, one would probably be kindly told to shut up or something of that nature.

 

It's people like that who should go to church and beg for forgiveness.
Like that does anything. I'm an atheist anyway.

"Maybe we should just pray a lot" - Jeff Foxworthy

 

I just wanted to point out that just as one could take exception to the idea that it is due to Christianity, I could take a similar view in the idea that it is due to one's political or economic views. There are for example many conservatives, particularly secular conservatives, who have no issues at all with homosexuals or things like gay marriage (and may actively campaign for the legalization of such.) And really, I don't see how homophobia has really any logical basis at all outside of various religious dogmas. (Not that everyone's views are all that logical.) I think the primary issues are the environment combined with the backing of religious dogma. Issues like conservatism do however play a role in that as an ideology it essentially promotes maintaining the status quo, but not all conservatives are conservative on all issues. The cultural environment of communities who hold these sorts of views are as I said before, isolationistic and credulous. It is factors like these two, along with the religious dogma and indoctrination (and indeed conservatism or the refusal to truly consider the issue) that cause these views to continue.

That is of course only half of the story, being that I have only spoke about why homophobia continues to be so widespread in certain communities rather than its historical and psychological origins.

---------- Post added 15th Apr 2013 at 12:06 AM ----------

Religion and culture are different terms, certainly. However pragmatically the two can in many (but certainly not all) cases be inseparable. While some communities are more secular where religious beliefs don't have much influence on people's lives or their other beliefs, in others it is just the opposite. In some communities, nearly all the things they believe and do can be based in some sort of religious foundation.