I am also not a religious person in the conventional sense of the word. I think most religions have a good heart, at their core is a set of values that I agree with, love, tolerance, selflessness etc…etc. But i cannot ignore the way that people use parts of religion very selectively to justify ignorant, hateful, intolerant, hypocritical and bigoted views they hold with no need to question those beliefs because of 'FAITH'.
As far as i can tell most of the storm here is over this guy saying that homosexuality is a sin. I could not disagree with this more wholeheartedly. Here is a perfect example of what i was just talking about above.
Was Phil being hateful/homophobic? I've certainly heard worse, but to say this is ok…IN MY OPINION….because it is informed by faith in a particular religion does not wash, some very nasty things (note i refrain using the word 'evil' because of its religious baggage) have been done in history that were quite ok at the time because this or that deity said it was.
Things change over time, I remember as a kid stuff that was blatantly racist and sexist was acceptable on TV, this is no longer the case because people campaigned to change that, challenging the power structures(read religion among others)that perpetuated these hateful, bigoted myths.
So…back to what Phil said……there is a clip on youtube that I love. Because 'sin' implicitly implies choice, i think it challenges Phil's religiously informed opinion on homosexuality , ( the same way that other 'opinions' have, overtime, been challenged and changed for the better)