Hate the ‘Sin’: Part III

I was recently involved in a heated (and utterly hopeless) youtube debate, with one of the classic notorious youtube douchebag posters. Honestly this guy, apparently in his mid-forties and a multiple major, seemed absolutely determined to crush any views that were not his own.

And I don’t mean just about Homosexuality.

This guy was on fire. At one point, as politely as I could phrase it, I said that while his opinion was valid, being gay, I believed homosexuality was okay. of course he came back with, “are you ashamed of being gay?”, “piss off kid,” and of course, “you are a little devil who wants to piss and spit on the Bible.” He just came back with anti-gay comments after another, and many were pretty irrational, insulting, and irrelevant to what I had actually been trying to tell him.

But what surprised me was his final post to me. He said he had no problems with gay kids and he believed that (while we are all going to go to hell), that he hated homosexuality but not the homosexual.

You see, this confused me because the statement was completely antithetical to what he had been trying to preach before. Many times I felt obliged to tell him to just shut up (but thankfully, since this guy seemed to be unstable, in very nice terms). Why? Because I had been prepared to take this kind of abuse. But I remembered what it had been like first realizing the truth. And I know what it can be like for other kids.

I still stand by with the Hate the ‘Sin’ and not the person philosophy. I believe it to be just. Everyone deserves their own views. However, I disagree with what this youtuber was “kind enough” to do.

Feel free to possess your own views. But even if you are only “Hating the Sin,” I would say to watch what you say (or type). And I am talking to everyone here. Gays, Straights, Bible thumpers, Atheists… Because you see, I don’t want people to stop sharing their views publicly, and it’s one of the great things about America. However, this privilege of the First Amendment comes with a responsibility. A responsibility to be conscious of others who might be reading/listening.

For example, the youtuber had his views, but they ways he expressed them were insulting and threatening. While I believe he was completely allowed to express his views, that he doesn’t think that homosexuality is natural, he had no right to call people devils, tell them they’re doomed to hell, or anything of the sort.

The line is thin, and it’s a difficult thing to do, but we all must watch both what we say and how we say it. In all honesty, we don’t want to risk that poor unstable soul out there who doesn’t know what to think. What the youtuber should’ve realized is, (and I don’t think he did) is that a desperate gay teenager could’ve taken what he had said the wrong way. It could’ve led to catastrophic results. If he truly believed that he only Hated the Sin and not the person, I think he should’ve realized that.

Hating the sin and having your views is one thing. Expressing it is another.

I beg everyone, of whatever “group” you might consider yourself to be, to express your views properly.

(Too Much) Pressure for Success.

Many people hold high expectations of others, and oftentimes, others will go into great extents to meet said high expectations. Although sometimes this can be productive and can act as an incentive towards hard work, these expectations can oftentimes be detrimental to the psyche of the individual.

Children end up spending too much time attempting to appease their parents rather than spending what precious time they have enjoying what they do. Today’s society places an increased emphasis on Universities and other forms of high-level education. Of course, the children are stuck receiving the brunt of the pressure, and they strive hard to meet the expectations their parents have placed on them. Furthermore, many parents hold high expectations for their children beyond university, expecting the children to become doctors or lawyers. Unfortunately, these huge life decisions and goals are not actually held by the children, yet they strive for them anyways, in hopes to please their families. However, the children oftentimes do not enjoy what they do, which can be detrimental to their psychological health. For example, among the boarding school population, it has become a well-known fact that while St. Paul’s is an elite and successful boarding school, the majority of the school’s student body starts doing hard drugs like cocaine. Because St. Paul’s has a rigorous course load, the students deal with the pressures with dangerous drugs. They use the cocaine to keep them alert and awake so that they can finish their papers or cram for their tests.

Teachers and parents oftentimes tell children that, in order to do well in life, they must go to a good university (usually that of Ivy League standards). So, children, driven by their parents and their teachers to do well in school, simply work too hard. The St. Paul’s students, concerned with their GPAs, did cocaine. At other elite high schools, students worried about their scores resort to cheating. Therefore, children simply spend too much time trying to appease others, thus leading to negative results.