Does Religion Create or Influence Homophobia?

[Kylyssa]

The world's major religions' holy books all contain condemnations of homosexuality ranging from simply calling it an abomination to recommending that homosexuals should be put to death.  Am I crazy to think that those religions affect peoples' beliefs about homosexuals?

If religion does not affect people's beliefs about homosexuals, please explain why homophobes themselves often cite those holy text passages that support their hatred of homosexuals.

[pinkocommie]

The world's major religions' holy books all contain condemnations of homosexuality ranging from simply calling it an abomination to recommending that homosexuals should be put to death.  Am I crazy to think that those religions affect peoples' beliefs about homosexuals?

If religion does not affect people's beliefs about homosexuals, please explain why homophobes themselves often cite those holy text passages that support their hatred of homosexuals.

I think that religion is used as the mechanism for justification of hating gay people in a lot of cases, but I don't think homophobia necessarily wouldn't exist if those religions didn't condemn homosexuality.  At one point it was a biological imperative for people to distrust people different from themselves.  The nature of culture in some cases is to diminish other cultures.  I don't think religion created homophobia, I think the very nature of culture creates things like homophobia and religion is a part of culture which at times perpetuates it.

I'm a cultural anthropology nerd though, so my opinions are admittedly heavily influenced by my study of that.  

[mzuniga]

I agree with pinkocommie. I don't think religion creates homophobia, but I do think that it helps to perpetuate it.

We'd have homophobia in a strictly atheistic society, but I think it would be much smaller than it is in our predominately Christian society.

[karadan]

The world's major religions' holy books all contain condemnations of homosexuality ranging from simply calling it an abomination to recommending that homosexuals should be put to death.  Am I crazy to think that those religions affect peoples' beliefs about homosexuals?

If religion does not affect people's beliefs about homosexuals, please explain why homophobes themselves often cite those holy text passages that support their hatred of homosexuals.

I think that religion is used as the mechanism for justification of hating gay people in a lot of cases, but I don't think homophobia necessarily wouldn't exist if those religions didn't condemn homosexuality.  At one point it was a biological imperative for people to distrust people different from themselves.  The nature of culture in some cases is to diminish other cultures.  I don't think religion created homophobia, I think the very nature of culture creates things like homophobia and religion is a part of culture which at times perpetuates it.

I'm a cultural anthropology nerd though, so my opinions are admittedly heavily influenced by my study of that.   But back to the point. Here was a really lovely girl with a heart of gold who was also entirely hateful against homosexual people simply because of something the bible had taught her. I'm utterly convinced that she'd be a lot less hateful, if at all, without the bullshit of religion and her fundie mother dictating her thoughts.

[pinkocommie]

Actually, I think in some cases, it teaches intolerance toward gay people. The following is a personal experience of mine:

The initial reason I sought out this forum was because I'd essentially had my heart ripped out by a girl I'd been dating, who was also a work colleague of mine. I'd liked her for a very long time but after several dates, she revealed herself to be christian. It wasn't an issue for me and we still got along very nicely. Then one day, out of the blue, whilst on a date, she made a remarkably homophobic comment. I was astonished. Here was a perfectly lovely, kind, intelligent girl looking at two guys in the same pub as us with snarling contempt. I had to call her out on this as I'm very much against homophobia. I quizzed her as to why she thought this way and her response was short and curt. "The bible says it is wrong and immoral." End of story. I was unable to get her to budge even the slightest bit on this topic.

As it turned out, after a rather large amount of debating about a great many things I told her I didn't believe in god (something I'd never given much thought to before) and her attitude towards me became rather different. She told her mum about me and that was that. No more dates. She even stopped talking to me at work unless it was work-related.

Ok, so I was rather hurt and needed somewhere to vent and also to find out more about the feelings I was feeling, which ultimately brought me here.

I think one of the reasons I distrust/dislike the power of religious influences is because religion has the ability to convince people that bigotry can be justified.  I agree that in many cases religion seems to teach people who otherwise may not be inclined to be hateful to hate gays and other groups, and were it not for that religious stamp of approval on homophobia, I think a significant chunk of people who are homophobic wouldn't be.  But some people still would be because some people just don't like gays.  Some people just don't like people different from themselves or from their perception of what's normal and for them, religion is the excuse and not the reason.

[mzuniga]

I suspect that most people who are homophobic fall under one of two categories (and as with all generalizations, take this with a grain of salt):

1) They are insecure, and any deviation in society from what they are threatens their fragile self-esteem.
2) They are closet homosexuals, or at least, have latent homosexual tendencies, and wish not to be. So, in a fit of self-hatred, they lash out at others who are homosexuals.

In a society that condones the degradation of homosexuality as a norm, people in the first group have no motivation from changing their view, and it only serves to intensify the hatred felt by people in the second group.

In a society that accepts homosexuality as a normal and accepted condition, then people in the first group might still continue to be homophobic, but because of their insecurities, wouldn’t dare to voice that feeling for fear of offending society as a whole. If the idea of homosexuality were accepted enough, then these people would likely not be homophobic at all (although, I’m sure they’d find something else to fret about).

Also, in such a society, those people in group 2 might not find it so bad being homosexual, or having homosexual tendencies.

In a society where homosexuality is openly accepted as a normal and morally acceptable behavior, we’d still have homophobes. But, in such a society, the occurrence would be rare. Far rarer, I expect, that what we see today. Also, in such a society, simply because the incidents would be so uncommon, instead of homosexuals being threatened by them, or being intimidated, or otherwise made to feel bad about their own sexuality, you’d just feel sorry for them.

They’d rant, and your first reaction (after you got over the shock) is to think “ooooh, how sad.”

[semperfitca]

I don't think religion invented homophobia, but it did perfect it.

[Ihateyoumike]

Apologies if this is off topic, but I've always wondered why homophobia is called homophobia.

From dictionary.com:
pho·bi·aâ€, â€,[foh-bee-uh]  
â€"noun
a persistent, irrational fear of a specific object, activity, or situation that leads to a compelling desire to avoid it.

I've never really been sure this fits with the animosity these homophobes typically show towards homosexuals. They aren't attempting to avoid homosexuality --hell, I avoid engaging in the act because I'm straight and it's not something I'm interested in doing-- they are attempting to get rid of it... to destroy it altogether.  Pure hatred of a singled out group of people seems to be much more than a mere phobia, IMHO.

Why are other hate fueled groups not labeled in the same manner?

I think, perhaps, a more suitable moniker should be coined to really point out the hate these people have for homosexuals. Unfortunately, I'm just not smart enough to come up with one.

Alright... to make this at least a bit on topic.... To answer the question "does religion create or influence homophobia", I agree that it would exist without religion, but not to the same extent.

[Kylyssa]

Apologies if this is off topic, but I've always wondered why homophobia is called homophobia.

From dictionary.com:
pho·bi·aâ€, â€,[foh-bee-uh]  
â€"noun
a persistent, irrational fear of a specific object, activity, or situation that leads to a compelling desire to avoid it.

I've never really been sure this fits with the animosity these homophobes typically show towards homosexuals. They aren't attempting to avoid homosexuality --hell, I avoid engaging in the act because I'm straight and it's not something I'm interested in doing-- they are attempting to get rid of it... to destroy it altogether.  Pure hatred of a singled out group of people seems to be much more than a mere phobia, IMHO.

Why are other hate fueled groups not labeled in the same manner?

I think, perhaps, a more suitable moniker should be coined to really point out the hate these people have for homosexuals. Unfortunately, I'm just not smart enough to come up with one.

Alright... to make this at least a bit on topic.... To answer the question "does religion create or influence homophobia", I agree that it would exist without religion, but not to the same extent.

I don't care for the term homophobia, either.  A phobia is an irrational fear and generally not the fault of the person who has it.  There's a difference between hate and fear.  While there's probably a bit of fear in homophobia it isn't entirely fear.