Reply to Please tell me why liberals and posters here call Focus on Family a "hate" group

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Here's an example - suppose I decided that Christians shouldn't be allowed to worship in the style they prefer. I don't hate them personally. I just don't think they should have access to Bibles or be allowed to gather in Christian churches or say prayers in public or wear crosses anywhere.  I don't have anything against them personally. I just think they're behavior is deeply twisted and that no one should engage in it because obviously a religion is a choice and people can choose other religions.

Now suppose I formed an organization to lobby for legislation to support my views and I encouraged lots of people to join me in my views.  Nothing personal, y'know, I just think my child should be protected from people who use cannibalism as part of their worship (eating the body and drinking the blood - what else could that be?).  So no Christians should be allowed to join her Girl Scout troop and I definitely wouldn't want any Christians teaching her.

I'm a nice family person, I'm not rude in public, I tell you I don't hate you, just your behavior - which you could choose not to engage in. I have to protect my family after all.

Do you really think you would believe that I didn't basically hate you and what you stand for? That I wasn't trying to hurt you in a fundamental way or to destroy what is sacred to you and your identity? I will tell you over and over I don't hate you but what do you think it would feel like to you?

Then think about how it would feel if you were a 12-year-old. And that's why I can't forgive Focus on the Family for what they do. I've seen what it did to my middle-schooler, who, thank God, has survived it but no child should ever have to feel that way ever.

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I must say, I'm a Christian conservative and believe in a traditional marriage.  However, this post really made me see this in a completely different way.  I usually hate these types of threads because it becomes so heated and people throw out words like "hate group" or typically jump to the heinous stories of killing and mutilating gays.  I don't mean to sound flippant, but I've never treated anyone that is gay differently and I showed them respect and kindness.  Therefore, when these arguments would take place, and there's an automatic jump to the "your group mutilates and kills us for who we are" I just ignore that post and stick to my convictions because I think they don't understand where I'm coming from.

But, in reading your post, I can now see how hurtful lobbying for a certain belief can be.  Even when that group does not support any hate crimes - and is actually adamently opposed to that horrific behavior.    I see now that it's still very hurtful.  I still have my beliefs and still value them, but you have honestly changed the way I think about supporting certain groups or lobbying for certain outcomes.  Thank you for taking time to write a thoughtful (and not bashing) post - sometimes, throughout all the fighting, one sentence, thought, or post sneaks through all the others and makes a difference to the other side (me) - whether it made a small difference or big difference, your post DID make a difference to me.  Thank you for opening my eyes to something they were closed to before.  [/quote]

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