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Meanwhile, it's open season on Governor Christie.Originally posted by c.d. View Post -
Not even particularly fat.Comment
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I agree Damaso, in fact, I don't think Michelle Obama is fat at all. She is very tall and has a muscular, athletic build. If her backside seems disproportionately large, that is more of an ethnic trait than an indicator of obesity.
Anyway, targeting a person's weight/looks is hitting below the belt. I read the linked article about the coach, Bob Grisham, who made the comments. He strikes me as incredibly obnoxious and intolerant. Teachers shouldn't be prevented from expressing controversial views in the classroom, but they should take great pains to do so in a way that encourages civil discourse. This guy was just ranting against the FLOTUS for his own sake.Comment
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As a fellow teacher, I think this guys actions are completely shameful.
What I do want to say, however, is that people are making way too big a deal over the Michelle Obama thing and skirting over what, I feel, is the worst part about what he said.
I think outright stating, "I don't like queers," is much worse than talking about the first lady's posterior, or am I alone in this?Grisham ran into trouble when a student taped remarks of his class on Jan. 27, in which he also had choice words for gays. “I don’t believe in queers,” he said, according to the newspaper. “I don’t like queers. I don’t hate them as a person, but what they do is wrong and an abomination against God.”Comment
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I'd agree.
We can all have a view on someone's looks or physique. It's subjective.
But an attack on a whole set of people is (to me at least) different. If he had said I don't like (insert an ethnic group) because the Bible says so, then I believe he would offend natural justice.
I saw the film "Lincoln" this week. It is largely about passing the 13th Amendment abolishing slavery. Interestingly, in a week in which the UK Parliament was debating gay/same sex marriage, the views expressed by some Congressmen in 1865 about black people appear very obnoxious and deeply offensive today. I think the coach you refer to, and some UK MPs, may live to regret remarks that will appear highly discriminatory before many years have passed.
PhilComment
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I agree with you Ayailla. I deliberately omitted that aspect of his suspension from my post, because I recently became entangled in a long debate about gay marriage/adoption on this forum. If others want to pick up the issue and continue on, that's fine by me. But I need a breather.Comment
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You have a point. I don't want to get into that debate either, but being a teacher, he shouldn't really be expressing opinions like this. It is possible he would have had a gay student in the class. I'm not trying to start an argument around homosexuals, so please don't take that from my post. I'm just saying that, if I was to walk into one of my classes and express the opinion that gay people were an abomination against God (which I would never do because this is most certainly NOT my opinion), one of my homosexual students would have something to say about it.Originally posted by DrummondStreet View PostComment
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I understand Ayailla and completely agree with you. Actually, I'm relieved that someone else brought up Grisham's gay slurs, so I wouldn't have to. (I only alluded to his homophobia very discreetly when I called him "intolerant.")
Gay rights is hot button issue in the States right now. I haven't witnessed such intense debate since the 1980s when the country was divided over abortion. Even those of us who have nothing at stake get worn down by the fighting.Last edited by DrummondStreet; 02-06-2013, 03:17 PM.Comment
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It's actually the same over here now, since yesterday, the government voted to allow gay marriage in the UK. The debates are going to be all over the place.Originally posted by DrummondStreet View PostComment
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At least this guy didn't say that some gay bloke had a fat backside. Now that really would have been putting his foot in it.
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