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    Masshole JamesRich Juzwiak
    6/13/16 12:01pm

    In the U.S. Rich, like you said, Christians are the fucking problem. (Especially LGBT traitors like Sen. Tom Cotton of Arkansas, the most viciously anti-gay Senator in Congress, who is, of course, gay himself.) In Europe and the Middle East, it’s Mulsims. I have no idea why progressives have a problem with this fact but it’s something that needs to be addressed.

    http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/more-50-british-muslims-back-criminalising-homosexuality-icm-poll-reveals-1554126

    An ICM survey of 1,000 British Muslims showed that 52% disagreed that homosexuality should be legal in Britain, while 18% agreed. In contrast, a control sample of 1,008 people who represented the general population of the UK revealed that 5% were opposed to homosexuality.

    The survey also revealed that 47% of the British Muslims oppose a gay person teaching in school, compared to just 14% of the general population. The poll showed that 23% of British Muslims supported the introduction of sharia law in some parts of the UK.

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      RhoticWahlbergMasshole James
      6/13/16 12:04pm

      Cotton is a piece of windblown garbage, but Muslim homophobia is orders of magnitude worse than Christian, in the modern era.

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      cdavis17Masshole James
      6/13/16 12:04pm
      I have no idea why progressives have a problem with this fact but it’s something that needs to fucking be addressed.

      I don’t have a problem with it, I just don’t see how it can be “addressed” and what exactly we’re supposed to do about it.

      Let me try: “I hereby declare that Radical Islamic Terrorism is a problem in the Middle East”.

      Ok, now what? What happens?

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    sigmaoctansRich Juzwiak
    6/13/16 12:02pm

    The issue here isn’t his religious foundation, but the extent to which he was willing to deviate from it in the name of righteousness.

    I’d argue its the opposite: It’s people, in all ancient religions, who are willing to deviate from the fundamental texts (Bible, Koran, Hadiths, etc.) and practices (stonings, sacrificing, honor killing) of thousands of years ago who are the most tolerant and peaceful. The people willing to repudiate, denounce, or at minimum just ignore the ugly, hateful foundations of their religions are the ones able to live in a modern society.

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      icanneverremembermyburnercodesigmaoctans
      6/13/16 12:04pm

      This.

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      MartinSsempaEatsPooPoosigmaoctans
      6/13/16 12:04pm

      Absolutely. It’s the lunatic literalists who are dangerous. Those who interpret their religious text as an organic document, to be read in light of present day conditions, are surely the sane ones.

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    Rich JuzwiakRich Juzwiak
    6/13/16 12:13pm

    I don’t suppose this will provide much comfort, but the public and media response to this massacre is a sign of progress when contrasted with that of the Up Stairs Lounge. Again from Jim Downs’s Stand by Me:

    The Advocate also recorded some of the bigoted reactions in the immediate wake of the fire. One person in the French Quarter commented, “I hope they burned their dress[es] off.” Others reportedly asked, “What major tragedy happened in New Orleans on June 24?” To which the answer was, “That only thirty faggots died—not more!” An offensive joke that became popular throughout the city and was promulgated by New Orleans radio hosts ridiculed the victims of the fire by asking: “What will they bury the ashes of queers in? Fruit jars.”

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      KittensInBoxesRich Juzwiak
      6/13/16 12:17pm

      Why isn’t this part of the article?

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      EvanrudeJohnsonRich Juzwiak
      6/13/16 12:23pm

      If I were named dictator, I would force everyone in the country to watch news from the 50's, 60's, 70', and 80's, so all sides would realize what things were actually like.

      You read the commentors on left and right wing websites, you would think the world has never been in worse shape. Yet by a ton of metrics, things are way better.

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    icanneverremembermyburnercodeRich Juzwiak
    6/13/16 12:01pm

    Why can't it be both? Why can't it be a terrorist event that happened because of hatred of the LGBT community? This is a time where everybody should be coming together to mourn these victims and have dialogue around ways to fix it. Instead all I see is people on both sides of the political spectrum rushing to judgement, affix blame, and score points for their team. It's fucking sickening and disheartening.

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      benjaminallovericanneverremembermyburnercode
      6/13/16 12:18pm

      Don’t do that. Don’t equate the cynical erasure of these victims’ identities and the disgusting hate trolling that the far right is engaging in with the response from the left.

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      icanneverremembermyburnercodebenjaminallover
      6/13/16 12:25pm

      I can and I will. It isn’t wrong or unjust to equate the hate trolling that the far right is engaging in with the hate trolling that the far left is engaging in. Both sides are complicit in the garbage that’s been spewing the past day and a half. To say people on the left aren’t trying their damnedest to try and score political points out of this is naive and ignorant. Look at the threads. People are chomping at the bit to blame this on the NRA and somehow, Christians. It’s gross. They don’t get a pass just because they’re on the “right team.”

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    Violent FellowkneesRich Juzwiak
    6/13/16 12:02pm

    The Islamic maniacs are cut from the same cloth as the Christian maniacs. For some reason it is controversial in this country to try to limit maniacs’ access to machines of mass death. It can be an anti-gay hate crime, an act of (radical islamic) terrorism, and an act showing how fucking stupid this country is for not limiting access to machines of mass death. Funny how the laws liberals want (restrict access to machines of mass death) would have actually helped here, but the laws conservatives want (ban Muslim immigration) wouldn’t have done jack shit. But they’re the tough guys. They’re the guys who are tough on crime and terrorism but they think that maniacs should have access to machines of mass death.

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      Smith Wesson '16Violent Fellowknees
      6/13/16 12:09pm

      Holy shit, you’re literally ill in the head! If a muslim somewhere does something horrific, it’s a race with you shitbuckets scrambling over each other’s backs to shriek, “...but the christians!”

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      Hank ScorpioViolent Fellowknees
      6/13/16 12:09pm

      The problem is that the interpretation of the second amendment as an absolute right for private citizens to have access to weapons which the writers of the constitution could not have dreamt of is a pox on our society. That interpretation has been upheld in court to such a degree that it’s basically impossible to pass reasonable legislation.

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    Kony TornheiserRich Juzwiak
    6/13/16 12:06pm

    Saw this written on Twitter yesterday (but can’t find the original Tweet): ““If you don’t understand why a gay bar would be a sanctuary, you’ve never been afraid to hold hands in public.”

    So very true.

    I noticed yesterday that my social media isn’t as crazy as it was after the Paris attacks. Is that because of the victims or because we’ve grown so accustomed to this?

    This awful, awful story has it all: A Muslim son of an Afghani immigrant shoots up a gay club that was hosting a Hispanic night and used firearms that were purchased legally despite being interviewed by the FBI on numerous occasions and being on terror watchlists.

    I can only guess that the reason I’ve been spared a ton of opinions on Facebook yesterday is due to the fact that some people don’t know which shitty partisan point to make.

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      ThatFatScatCat fucking loves muddy puddlesKony Tornheiser
      6/13/16 12:14pm

      I work with a couple guys who I fully expected to say something insensitive, either about gays or Hispanics (you know the type), but all they had was sympathy for the victims.

      I think that this tragedy is just too much, too sad and awful, for the usual bigotry and attacker apologizing to take hold for most people.

      It’s been surprising to see the lack of usual Facebook hatred in the wake of this thing. Surprising, but welcome.

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      BrianGriffinKony Tornheiser
      6/13/16 12:18pm

      I think you need better friends. My Facebook feed has been a sea of tears, rainbows, and fury.

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    BossElectroRich Juzwiak
    6/13/16 12:03pm

    As a gay person on Twitter, the extent to which gay people are defending an ideology that wants them dead is baffling to me. No matter what religion you are, if huge chunks of it are devoted to the punishment and vitriol of gay people or any number of other normal ways of life, I find it hard to respect or defend your right to practice it. Of course there are peaceful believers of all religions, I’m hoping the large majority of them, but I really don’t feel like that’s the case.

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      Smith Wesson '16BossElectro
      6/13/16 12:05pm

      It’s not politically correct to say mean things about islam.

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      NobizdashizBossElectro
      6/13/16 12:11pm
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    KIREEKRich Juzwiak
    6/13/16 11:56am
    Seddique said, “This had nothing to do with religion,” but that is clearly untrue—it just may have not had to do with Seddique’s religion. Mateen’s act of hatred and destruction, in fact, illustrates the absurd extent to which “sincerely held” religious beliefs—the same rhetoric underpinning “religious liberty” laws and bathroom bills—can be taken. I don’t say that as an indictment of Islam (white Christians have the power in this country, thus the most effective homophobia, anyway), but of radical religion. Certainly, Mateen held his beliefs more sincerely than most, as he was willing to die for them. The issue here isn’t his religious foundation, but the extent to which he was willing to deviate from it in the name of righteousness.

    I’m glad this paragraph was in here and fuck anybody who thinks it shouldn’t be.

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      mawsim3KIREEK
      6/13/16 12:02pm

      It’s still pretty apologetic, but yes this is a huge step up for Gawker.

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      Smith Wesson '16KIREEK
      6/13/16 12:04pm

      But he’s absolutely wrong.

      “White Christians” are much more accepting of homosexuality than “Black _____,” who in turn are much more accepting than muslims.

      http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2015…

      http://www.pewforum.org/2016/05/12/cha…

      http://variety.com/2015/voices/op…

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    huh1Rich Juzwiak
    6/13/16 12:01pm

    Did you write anything when Muslim were throwing gays off buildings?

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      Smith Wesson '16huh1
      6/13/16 12:06pm

      Of course not. That isn’t politically correct.

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      Ka Mai - New and Improvedhuh1
      6/13/16 12:08pm

      Did you?

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    id0ntkno88Rich Juzwiak
    6/13/16 12:21pm

    It turns out the right has more in common with ISIS than it previously wanted to admit.

    Oh man, this is so true. Assuming for argument the shooter actually yelled out “Allah hu Akbar!” as reported by Trump, I really can’t see the difference between the shooter yelling that, or “Praise Jesus!” It is still a gay hate crime carried out by a religious nut job, not some greater terrorist plot.

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      Jerry-Netherlandid0ntkno88
      6/13/16 12:25pm

      Yeah, same deal, different outfits...

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      ramennovid0ntkno88
      6/13/16 1:29pm

      No, I’m not willing to throw other religions under the bus for the actions taken by a radical Islamic mass murderer.

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