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• Thursday, November 2, 2006 02:34 PM

  Self Hate

  I began thinking about the issue of gay bashing generally, and gay-bashing gays, more specifically, during the Foley eruption. The Haggard situation, if true, is another in a chain of the self-righteous falling.

  Why, I wonder, are some people so consumed by their hatred for gays? Objectively, there's not much there to get worked up about. A gay man isn't going to steal your wife, or lead your straight son into perdition. His "sin" does not impact you or society the way the sin of a murderer or thief (or an "abortionist") does. What harm can the actions of consenting adults in their own homes possibly do in the world?

  Perhaps this is a bit too "armchair pyschiatrist" and perhaps its been written about before in studies that I have overlooked, but it seems to me that only the self-hatred of a sinner could provoke such passion. A biblical literalist evangelical who also happens to be gay must face a horrible internal conflagration. The inner conflict would surely be unimaginably intense. Can it be that their violent crusade against the "homosexual agenda" is but an effort to atone for and cast out what they see to be their own demon, and a reaction to their failure to "overcome" their own sexuality?

  I'm interested in hearing what others with more experience and insight in these matters has to say on the issue. I realize I could very easily be completely full of shit here, but what are some other theories on this matter?

  —timhowe Read timhowe's other letters
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