Diversity

A former president of a notorious religious college apologizes for calling for gays to be stoned to death many years ago. In 2015, a California lawyer creates a ballot initiative he calls the “Sodomite Suppression Act” and proposes a bullet in the head for gays. Hate speech may not change much from decade to decade, even as laws evolve to recognize tolerance and acceptance. Society, in general, may show the potential to mature and acknowledge that boys can like boys and girls can like girls without the country going to pieces, but individuals who carry hate in their hearts may never change until they see that all humans are children of the same universe.

Legally Obligated

Legal experts agree that California Attorney General Kamela Harris is legally obligated to follow the procedure to recognize a new ballot initiative and allow it to circulate to gather signatures. Even the morally repugnant proposal filed by a California attorney that would criminalize homosexuality and punish gays with death must receive the same legal recognition accorded to any proposed ballot initiative when its proponent pays the filing fee and files the required paperwork.

Statements of a Stranger

In 1980, Bob Jones, III was president of Bob Jones University, a notoriously conservative Christian college in South Carolina, when he joined a group of fundamentalist ministers in taking a petition to the White House with over 70,000 signatures. The group requested that civil rights not be extended to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) individuals under the federal Civil Rights Act.

Quoted at the time as saying “I’m sure this will be greatly misquoted, but it would not be a bad idea to bring the swift justice today that was brought in Israel’s time against murder and rape and homosexuality. I guarantee it would solve the problem post-haste if homosexuals were stoned, if murderers were immediately killed as the Bible commands.”

Jones, now 75, issued a formal apology for the statement in response to some 2,000 signatures on a petition from BJUnity, a group that offers support for past and present LGBT students on the campus of Bob Jones University. “I take personal ownership for this inflammatory rhetoric,” he affirmed in a statement issued recently. “Upon now reading those long-forgotten words, they seem to me as words belonging to a total stranger — were my name not attached.”

Intolerance Lives On

While laws change, society progresses, and tolerance advances in many areas, there remain ardent supporters of intolerance within the larger group. Much like Bob Jones, III in the ‘80s, hateful bigots of the 21st century draw their inspiration from religious texts that condemn homosexuality and find support in inflammatory rhetoric of today on the internet and in the media.

The California lawyer who brought the hate-filled ballot petition, however, may face consequences related to his efforts to stir more hate in the world. State Sen. Ricardo (D) has requested that the California State Bar open an investigation into the lawyer’s practice in light of his hateful speech, and nearly 4,000 people have signed a petition to the president of the bar organization asking for revocation of the lawyer’s law license.

Building Space for Acceptance

Many people in the world set an example of what a positive society can look like. Many individuals have learned to embrace their neighbors, family members, and community with tolerance and love, regardless of differences in appearance or gender identity or preference. While intolerance continues to persist in some individuals and groups, more and more people realize that all creatures on earth share more in common than they have dividing them. Seeing all people as part of the same human family, deserving of respect and acceptance, leads more individuals to value the contributions of all the different members of society.