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Speaking out for gays
Jonathan Fiedier
Columnist
Over time in this great nation, there
have been many movements to bring
about social justice. In the earlier part of
the century, woman gained suffrage and
the right to vote. Women gained recogni
tion from being labeled as domestic
housewives to leaders in the free world.
This was very good.
In the 1960s, African Americans gained
many freedoms that should be granted to
all people regardless of their color of skin.
African Americans in the United States
began to be treated fairly, as moves were
taken to promote equality among all peo
ple in America. This was another great
change.
Today, homosexuals are treated as
unjust people who have done wrong
against society. It is acceptable to look
down on gays and it is ok to feel that gays
are wrong-doers. I am calling out for a
change in this injustice.
I believe homosexuals were bom homo
sexual. If you disagree with me, please ask
a gay person if they chose to be hated and
looked down on due to whom they love.
I simply encourage people who have
homophobic views to get to know a gay per
son before you make judgments on them.
Most people who view gays as sinners
get a majority of their beliefs from the
Bible. I do believe the Bible is the word of
God, yet I believe sometimes it is more
important to look at the grand message of
any Holy Scripture rather than take every
single translated verse to heart.
Society has changed over time, and some
of the Bible’s sayings need to be taken into
account. The Bible talks about how women
should be submissive to men (1 Timothy
2:11). We will see how people feel about
this when this great nation elects a woman
as president very soon.
The Bible also makes many references to
slaves, yet through the great Emancipation
Proclamation, slaves are no longer legal in
America (Thank goodness!).
My point is not to belittle the Holy word
of any religion at all, my point is that peo
ple who dislike homosexuals based solely
on their Holy Scripture are missing the main
point of most religions, which is to love oth
ers, not just yourself and your beliefs.
I have a problem trying to understand
why there is so much hatred towards gays.
Did homosexuals do anything to offend the
mass population?
I am afraid to believe that the only rea
son people are able to hate gays is because
they are scared of them, or more important
ly, insecure about their own sexuality. That
is not right.
Before coming to Elon, I did not really
know any gay people. Now that I know a
few, I realize that our sexual orientation is
not really a big deal in the grand scheme
of things. Whom people are attracted to is
not really a big deal to me.
How people treat me is a big deal to
me, as I try to drop all prejudices towards
minorities in my eyes and only judge peo
ple by their character, not by their color,
gende, or sexual orientation.
In 20 years, I hope that when people
make comments against gays, they will be
looked down upon and maybe even cor
rected. Just as it is now unacceptable to be
racist, I hope that soon it will be unjust to
have begrudged hatred towards the gay
and lesbian community.
Let us start the gay rights movement
here at Elon University and encourage the
Contact Jonathan Fiedler at
pendulum@elon.edu or 278-7247.
What’s wrong with conservatives?
Giving insight into misconceptions in politics
Eric Hydrick
Columnist
It seems that “conservative” is the latest
four-letter word with a lot of people. People
attack conservatives and conservatism with
out actually knowing what it is, or realizing
that there is little to no actual conservatism in
modem politics.
The terms “conservative” and “liberal”
aren’t synonymous with Republicans and
Democrats respectively. Republicans have
spent the last several years demonstrating that
they don’t intend to hold themselves to the
standards of conservatism.
It also takes very little research to find a
liberal school of thought that doesn’t match
Lip with the current Democratic Party plat
form, like socialism or communism.
Conservatism is the principle of limited
government in all aspects of life, and provid
ed the actions of private citizens and busi
nesses don’t endanger the safety or property,
nor do they infringe upon the rights of others,
then there is no justification for any sort of
government involvement.
Conservatism provides the private citizen
ry the greatest possible fiieedom, what’s so
bad about that?
Another myth about conservatives is that
they’re all intolerant. Actual conservatives
adopt a live and let live attitude about other
people’s personal choices regarding their
lives. If it doesn’t hurt anybody or endanger
someone else’s rights, and it makes them
happy, then let them do it.
The simple fact that someone believes that
there’s no good reason to forbid actions that
you find personally distasteful doesn’t make
them special. It means they understand that
there are some things that government has no
business butting in on.
Conservatives also think that when the
government gets involved, quality and effi
ciency go down. A few days before
Christmas, a nationally syndicated talk show
host pointed out that UPS could still get a
package delivered in time foi* Christmas, and
that there was no way the U.S. Postal Service
can offer that same kind of service.
If you want another example of govem-
ment inefficiency and failure, look at educa
tion. Public schools are humiliating them
selves on standardized tests on a regular basis
(and if you’re in a N.C. public school, some
of those tests are at a lower grade level to help
you do better), whereas private schools are
being heralded for their superior education
every time these results come out.
The sad part about conservatism is that it
left the mainstream years ago. The
Republican Party abandoned conservative
principles years ago.
In fact, right now the only political party
that I know of that actually believes in tme
conservatism is the Libertarian Party, which
unfortunately doesn’t have the national status
that it deserves.
However, as the Republican Party contin
ues to abandon its conservative principles in
the name of political power, perhaps we wUl
see the Libertarians come to a greater nation
al prominence.
Conservatism can be summed up as the
belief in individual rights, individual free
doms and a strictly limited government.
Conservatives believe that unless the govem-
ment has been given explicit powers to act or
regulate an area, then it should stay away.
Conservatives believe that the greatest
possible freedom comes when the govem-
ment isn’t trying to regulate what people can
and can not do.
If you tmly love individual freedoms and
believe that private citizens can do better than
the government, then conservatism is right
for you.
Contact Eric Hydrick at pendulum@elon.edu
or 278-7247.
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