Human nature is an interesting thing. That's probably why so many people study it.

I keep running into the Spitzer Syndrome. Y'know - that's when the one thing that a person objects to most vehemently is what that person is doing on the side in secret. Bashing gay men while your feet are under the bathroom stall wall, family values put forth by pedophiles, cleaning out prostitutes while you're visiting them. The more a person expounds their virtues against their pet peeve, the more suspicious I become. There must be some kind of rational inherent in this, something that says if one is verbose enough against the practice to which they object and takes sufficient action to defeat it, it's OK to do a little of it yourself since you've so obviously saved so many others.

The Westboro Baptist Church from Topeka, Kansas was in town recently. It's the second time they have been here. They are anti just about everything, but specifically gays and lesbians in their visit here. Vermont is the first state to legislate same sex marriage and they arrived on the date upon which it was to take effect.

They carried signs: "God Hates Fags", "God Hates America", "You Will Eat Your Children", etc. etc. I thought that they should be totally ignored, especially by the press and TV, but it was not to be. Five members of the "church" were met by about 200 local citizens. Fortunately, everyone remained far removed from physical violence, but there was a lot of yelling and such.

According to Wikipedia, "The group maintains that God hates gays above all other kinds of "sinners" and that homosexuality should be a capital crime."

This was all started by one Fred Phelps in 1955. I am very suspect of Mr. Phelps.

Why do people sign on so aggressively to extreme ideals? I think it stems from a human need to convince others that your way is right. This seems particularly true in organized religions, but it also happens in virtually all aspects of life. The need to get other people to agree with your point of view often supersedes the original subject. Extreme radicals of all kinds are perfectly willing to bomb, kill, maim, lie to and mutilate others who don't agree with their viewpoint. This need seems, in fact, to be the reason for most wars. If you can't get people to agree with you then the next step is to force them into submission, where you can work on them until they have no choice but to agree.

To some degree, we are all guilty of this. I am certainly no exception. I argue my thoughts to the point of distraction because I don't want to be wrong.

But even though it may not always seem like it, I am trying to change. Just because there is an opposing idea doesn't mean it's wrong. If I can actually force myself to listen to a different viewpoint, maybe it's a beginning. Maybe it will spread--