The asshole factor

I'm trying to recall if I've mentioned this before. I'm at 250+ posts on this blog. There are times when reality blurs a little bit for me and I can't recall if I've written about it before, especially if I'm espousing a longstanding theory of mine.

(As a side note, one of those theories - that white people can't dance while darker skin people clearly can - is under review having watched the video of Dups in a previous post. Not that the white guy was anything less than terrifying, but that Dups eerily resembled, as Colette pointed out, Michael Flatley).

Anyway, the Asshole Theory is quite simple: That it doesn't matter what your religion, sexuality, ethnicity, geography, etc you can be an asshole.

I came to this realization when I was hanging out with a group of people and there was this gay guy being a real, well, asshole. He was annoying the hell out of me, but I wasn't saying anything because I was wondering "Am I being discriminatory by thinking negative thoughts about this gay person?" And the answer, when I was talking to another friend later, who was also gay, was "Of course not. He is an asshole. Everyone knows it."

Which was one of those light bulb moments. It's perfectly reasonable to dislike someone who is gay or black or Christian or whatever. As long as you dislike them because they're an asshole who happens to be one of those things. The assholeness trumps the minority status.

I point this out because I read this story and nearly popped a small blood vessel.

For those not following the link, the gist of the story is this: A student at the Georgia Institute of Technology is suing the university because its anti-harassment policy prevents her from discriminating against homosexuals. As an evangelical Christian, who believes homosexuality is abhorrent, she believes the policy restricts her religious freedoms and her right to free speech. In this case, her right to espouse her hatred of homosexuals. She's also Chair of the campus' Republican Party.

I nearly did a Carolyn Parrish and start cursing on Americans, Republicans and Christians. Then I took a deep breath, walked away from the computer and remembered the Asshole factor.

Not all Americans are assholes. Far from it. Not all Christians are assholes. Again, far from it. And I'm sure I've met nice Republicans somewhere.

I just have to remind myself of this every time I read a story like this. And yes, just for the record, I can actually see small points in their arguments about freedom of religion and free speech. I really do. But using free speech and religion as reasons to hate is about as distasteful as it gets for me. It's dragging down into the mud concepts that should be prestine and treated with respect.

I swear, Cathy is going to find me keeled over my computer one of these days, with blood oozing out of my ears, and the web browser on a page with a story just like. America is going to be the death of me yet.

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