What is "The Homosexual Agenda".

Recently I answered a question in the "Answers" section of Hubpages. The question was, "Is same sex marriage a positive ideology?". There were a number of responses either in support of the issue or not seeing why there was such a big fuss being made about the issue. There was one negative comment, which was typical of those who are against any change in the status quo, as far as social issues are concerned. The term, "homosexual agenda", which is quite common amongst the religious right was used due vilify anything to do with gay rights. I have seen this term used many times by those Christian Right spokesmen and women to condemn anyone or any movement which may give basic civil rights to gay people. Up until now I hadn't given the term much thought. As they say, "I considered the source".

I began thinking about the word "agenda" and I began to think back the to time after the War on Terror began. I remember hearing those lunatic conservative radio talk show hosts talking about the "Muslim Agenda". They were warning America that Muslims are out to destroy Christian America. The conservatives were out to instill fear and hatred of Muslims, basically because they were different and their mere existence was a threat to the Christian majority. Then I recalled the days of my youth when Martin Luther King and others were marching in the Civil Rights Movement in the US. Back then the term "the Black Agenda" was quite common to refer to the audacity of Black people to demand their civil rights. If we go back to the early 1900's we find the "Women's Agenda", which referred to the fight for women to gain the right to vote. In recent history the term, "women's agenda" is still used as a negative retort to those people supporting such issues a equal pay for women, birth control and equality of women in the workplace. So in other words, when a certain group of people seek to improve their lot in life and demand their civil rights (changing the status quo), the movement is given the negative connotation as an "agenda".

Often those who wish to deny rights to other individuals or group are people associated with religious groups. They impress the fact on their followers that anything outside of the "normal" is a sin against God and the Church. In other words bigotry in the name of Christ or religion. I went to Catholic schools for both my elementary and secondary education. At that time we were taught that it was a "sin" to date non Catholic girls . It was a "sin" to support The Salvation Army and it was seriously frowned upon to have friends who were not Catholic. Today these teachings all seem archaic,embarrassing, ridiculous and hateful. We can then look back to era of the Crusades when Christianity was at war with the Islamic world. Christianity viewed Islam as heathen and a threat to Christianity. Thousands of people were murdered in the name of religion and the Christians were guilty of atrocities and torturous acts which would horrify any human rights activists today. Sound familiar? In my opinion the worst example of Christianity denying the right of people to believe or act differently from the status quo is what happened to the native peoples of the New World. Catholic Spain tortured, murdered and virtually destroyed the Incas, Aztecs, Mayans and other indigenous civilizations in the Americas. Today very little of the cultures of these people survive because their art, writings and culture were considered to be heathen and anti-Christian and were summarily destroyed, along with the people. Spain was the first country to be guilty of ethnic cleansing. And we Americans celebrate Columbus Day!

All throughout history there are numerous examples of such incidences of atrocities committed in the name of one religion or the other. I am sure that in the future this will continue. Today there are numerous religious leaders and members actively fighting to deny gay people their civil rights. There are even some who advocate violence towards gay people. It is interesting to note how often those who are the staunchest religious opponents of gay rights are are found guilty of child abuse or are caught in illicit homosexual affairs. Not all members of religious groups behave similarly to those I have mentioned above. I am sure or at least I hope that the bigots, homophobes and racist are in the minority. But I am also sure, for those who use religion as a tool to discriminate against people who may be different, they will always find a reason to hate.