Prejudice against homosexuals has been rampant across the course of time, and even in the United States is currently still very evident. Homosexuals are not legally acknowledged under the same respects as Heterosexuals, often unprotected in many crucial situations. Though it is true we live in a democracy ruled by the people, there is neither a loophole nor an exception to the Fourteenth Amendment: Equal Protection under the Law for ALL Citizens. It is the Christian Bible that has split the country over the "morality" of Homosexuality, despite all the consistent scientific proof that Homosexuality poses no greater danger to society than Heterosexuality. Furthermore, Christianity is not at all compatible with the United States' constitution because its bible refutes the idea of separating Church from State, which by law is enacted by the First Amendment. And therefore, obviously Christians should be completely disallowed from restricting the rights of Homosexuals - period! But, has Christian America nevertheless infringed upon our fundamental right to freedom of religion, one of the primary liberties that our ancestors fought so hard to guarantee us?!

It is commonly conceived that America is a "Christian" country, but that is absolutely untrue in every way. If we are not a theocracy - and we are not - then we cannot be a Christian country, hence; moreover, America's pioneering ancestors sought a land in which they could practice their religions freely, which they were being denied in their European homeland. Christians often selectively cite that these people were Christians, thereby making this country based on Christian-Judaic principles, but the following facts completely invalidate this wrongly-accepted statement: Historically speaking, though the Pilgrims, Puritans and Quakers indeed were Christians overall, the overlying complex is that they were all being separately persecuted by other sects of Christians themselves; secondly, America and Christianity are mutually EXCLUSIVE by means of the Federal Constitution, which only mentions religion (not Christianity) to explicitly state that it is to be separate from government. (The constitutional text reads verbatim, "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.")

THAT is our country's founding principle, in no way Christianity, and the very reason why the rapidly increasing twenty-six percent of the country who are not Christians are safe from federal persecution. Thus, even if all but one citizen were Christians, the Bible still couldn't be used as a crutch to make policy. But Homosexuals have been rampantly attacked unconstitutionally anyway: they can be dismissed from their jobs over their sexuality alone in 30 out of the 50 states, can only be married in five states, cannot openly serve in the military, are much less likely to be accepted by adoption agencies etc. The error of Christians' compassionless, prejudice ways is quite clear, considering it is almost solely them who have remained so anti-Gay throughout American history. (August 2012 side-note: As of the year 2012, eighty-eight percent of Atheists reportedly support same-sex marriage, compared to twenty-four percent of Republicans overall (the overwhelming majority of whom explicitly identify as conservative Christian), according to Christian Post: "Poll: 2/3 of Democrats Support Gay Marriage".) Frustratingly, merely because their cherished Bible teaches them to condemn Homosexuals, Christians formulate the following unsubstantiated arguments: Homosexuality is an abominable, deviant, unhealthy choice and sin; marriage is strictly sanctioned between men and women; Homosexuals are dangerous people, products of abusive childhoods (often sexual), and are hazardous to children.

These three controversial statements are absolutely disingenuous - hatefully chosen ignorance - and completely untrue.

First and foremost, Homosexuality is a proven genetic disposition and has neither been considered a deviance nor a mental illness by the American Psychiatric Association since 1971. Homosexuals have several slight but significant physiological differences from Heterosexuals (such as their being left-handed much more often); Homosexual men's brains are more similar to women's while Homosexual women's are more similar to men's, though not identical, as reported by National Geographic and many others. (The diagram to the left shows the brains of heterosexual men next to lesbians', and heterosexual women's next to gay males'.) No credible psychiatrist will try to treat homosexuality, as attempts have completely failed. There is no treatment for a person's biological sexuality, as the American Psychiatric Association and all other credible establishments have concluded. And to emphasize, in addition, as a dearest friend of mine, John A. Leonard, says it, "It's true that even saying, "it's a choice" is a homophobic comment. A lot of religions (including the Catholic Church) say that choosing something wrong is a "sin", but if it's not something you can "chose" it's not a sin [-] Although the current Pope seems to be backtracking on that." Homosexuality does not cause any of the imaginary negative, preliminary factors that Christians promote, nor is it the cause of sexual abuse by any mean, either. The idea that gay people are pedophiles is preposterous. Most pedophiles have no preference between the genders and seldom enjoy sex with adults all together. These are ill-intentioned misconceptions that serve as comforting lies for those who choose hatefulness instead of acceptance for others. (Empirical proof regarding the nonexistence of a link between pedophilia and homosexuality can be found here, and at all other credible institutions of psychological research.)

Secondly, as far as the "sanctity" of marriage goes, it is a wonder that the divorce rate in America - a country where about seventy-five percent of the population is Christian - is over fifty percent (without including annulments and legal separations, too), which is COMPLETE hypocrisy to their faith. The Bible strictly condemns divorce (recognizing women as men's property for starters, also too noteworthy a fact), with adultery being the single permitted exception, according to Jesus' words, "And I say unto you, Whosoever shall put away his wife, except it be for fornication, and shall marry another, committeth adultery" (Matthew 19:9); if, that is, one is to ignore his CONTRADICTORY words, "And he saith unto them, Whosoever shall put away his wife, and marry another, committeth adultery against her" (Mark 10:11) & Luke 6:18).

Either way, most divorces are filed under irreconcilable differences very conveniently. Curiously, the SAME verse in the Corinthians 6:9-10 that condemns Homosexuality (or just "sodomy" depending on the translation, since the term was not coined until the 1800s) also condemns fornication, which according to The Orlando Sentinel is practiced by over ninety-six percent of the country (most of whom practice sodomy themselves too, if they practice more than just vaginal intercourse in the missionary position.) This hypocrisy is illustrated with great vividness, and it is a wonder how selective Christians apparently are about their Bible when it comes to following it themselves, whereas how strict they enforce it for their political agendas. But marriage, in fact, has been drastically altered as a LEGAL establishment in spite of the Bible throughout history - from allowing women equal status to actually recognizing interracial couples inclusively - and we have looked back upon it shamefully since. Curiously, same-sex marriage may only be legal in six states as of July 2009 (and counting), but voters in the 18-35 age demographic overwhelmingly vote in its favor, foreshadowing history repeating itself.

Thirdly, according to a study done by the FBI, over seventy-nine percent of VIOLENT and long-term criminals in prison were Christians; in contrast, though Homosexuals comprise between seven to ten percent of the overall population (alike to the rest of the animal kingdom, remarkably), their general prison consensus seems to be lower, as are their chances at safety because of violent, hateful homophobia. (This is a moderated percent thanks to Christian inmates and their religious exploitation for parole, whereas secularists, which is what most Homosexuals identify as, very rarely convert since the Bible, in their eyes, is a detestable scientific and moralistic complex.). If Homosexuals fill the prisons, then why are they often put in solitary confinement for protection? The answer is that they do not comprise a disproportionate number of inmates, obviously. In terms of parenting, the Department of Children and Families and the American Psychiatric Association have both concluded that Homosexuals raise happy, healthy children. Christians' arguments that a child has to have a mother and a father, the "Protect the Children!" signs against gay marriage - all of it is immoral nonsense. Children need mature, responsible parents. Their definitive drawback as a demographic, rather, is the country's sociology - their suffered, needless persecution (Most sickeningly, sixty-one percent of hate crimes are against gay men, whom conveniently comprise roughly five percent of the population.)

In conclusion, because being a homosexual does not stop one from being a law-abiding, taxpaying, moralistic citizen, they must be protected equally under the law, as required by the first and fourteenth amendment (the latter which was passed to abolish slavery, notably.) The Bible is not only legally inapplicable, but it is not a safe source to base policy either. Nevertheless, the Christian bible has been used to condone racism and slavery, sexism and the dehumanization of women, intolerance and murder (such as the Crusades or the Holocaust), child abuse, witch hunts of all kinds, anti-Semites, ageism, culture prejudices, elitism, The Dark Ages (etc.). Christianity has been the political antagonist with fatal consequences too many times in history since its establishment! Homophobia simply has no place in a democratic government under any circumstances, especially not to invalidate the rights of seven to ten percent of America's law-abiding citizens. Homophobic Christians have no truths to substantiate their inflammatory prejudices, none outside their immoral Bible anyway (and there's only a few shorts lines about homosexuality there, even!). By compromising the rights of Homosexuals, America is only adding a historical taint of prejudice that will be reflected upon with shame later.

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