"2,) What if the son told the father that he would be a virgin forever and would never get married? Would that make disownment appropriate? Probably not. The only difference between that example in the real life example is the son is attracted to males. It has nothing to do with marriage or kids. The father just can't stand the idea of being attracted to males."

But he would still be normal and nobody can say if they'll always be a virgin or get married, but once you come out as gay that's it. Parents would rather their kid not get married at all than end up being gay, not getting married is disappointing for parents but being gay is embarassing for them.

"What about the parents in my country who are gay themselves? Would they also be ashamed if one of their children later turned out to be attracted to people of the same sex?"

They would be gays already so they wouldn't care. I'm talking about normal parents.

And what, you think Inquisition and crusade killings were all just because one wasn't catholic ??? No it was still largely politics,greed and lust for power same as everything. The problem is, religion and politics were irreseperatable back than. In fact, the whole massacre the church committed on friday the 13th 1307 was because the Templars were getting too powerful and the church wanted them dead. The original point was that the regimes who favour atheism also killed tons of people like the institutions that favour religion.

Actually, the most recent science says that homosexuality is genetic AND it associated with female fertility. I.E. if a woman is capable of having many children it's more likely that one of her children will be gay. It's almost like a natural birth control for the DNA. (This was not based on population statistics but DNA sequencing.)

O.T. When I read this I thought it made perfect sense. Not that being homophobic makes sense but that's a perfectly normal reaction, and as gamers we should all expect these types of reactions.  

How many games have sequals which have changes that are immediatel rejected by the community and cause many gamers to communicate their outrage. It's the same thing. The father had a certain set of beliefs and they were broken. In Dragon Age 2 you lost a lot of your ability to customize your companions. The outrage for that change was incredible. 

The very fact that homosexual couples "can't" reproduce, and yet there are so many of them should tell you something as well.

I hope that you are aware that there is quite a vast number of straight cooples that can't reproduce either. There are several medical resons that trouble both genders in that task. So is that a "natures" way of saying that couple is a bad match?  Beside "can't" in that sentence is just a matter of perspective. Human race has come so far that you don't need to have sex to conceive a child. Our knowladge and understanding over the years expanded... In vitro fertilisation is widely and commonly used method of "reproduction".

http://www.home60515.com/27.html

http://www.equip.org/articles/is-homosexuality-an-illness/

http://www.healthieryou.com/mhexpert/exp1052101c.html

Sides on the issue have been shifted multiple times, and gay activists have intervened with the results and the research multiple times during history. They did the same thing when they tried to connect Ancient greek civilization with homosexual acceptance

I see this has attracted many comments on the subject. Here is what I will say about it all...

While in the letter it is not clear of what faith the father is, but we are just assuming that it is Christian. In light of that I understand his stance on homosexuality. The letter is not filled with hate. At the same time it is not filled with love that you would expect from a good father either. He is telling his son that he does not approve of his homosexuality, and how it is wrong. That is fine and nothing wrong there. However, though he tells his son that he never wants him to be in contact with him again. While true he was probably feeling very hurt, his response to me does not seem as Christ would intend.

Assuming he is Christian i can understand if he would not want any part of his son's homosexual relationships and likely would not want to have any involvement with them, nor does he need to accept them. The problem is that he is choosing to completely shun his son. While that is his rightful choice, I still do not see the Christ-like response in that.

I have an 8 month old son myself, and honestly no matter what he does in his lifetime i will always love him. I am sure there will be times in the future where his actions may disapoint me, but it never changes my love for him. He is my own flesh and blood. We cannot fully know if that father still loves his son, but by telling his son he never wants to have anymore contact with him I cannot see the love in that. In the Christian fath sin is sin no matter what wrong doing it is, so in otherwords if my son had a problem with constantly lieing It dosn't mean I would shun him, but he would know from me that it is wrong to do so. Dosn't change the fact that I would love him and still want to spend time with him.

So, while I dont at all agree with some that are saying he is just a hateful human being, my objection is that I just disagree with the manner in which he responded to his son.

I agree with you Khaaaaaaann!  

See, I'd love to believe that everyone deserves to have their opinions, and that when it comes to morality there's a lot of gray areas, but the fact is there are lines you do not cross.  there comes a point when what people believe is horribly wrong and an unacceptable afront to decency.  I once had a boyfriend who tried to sell me on pedophilia (I truly wish I was making that up).  His argument?  "Well, you can fuck an 18 year old, so objecively, what's the difference between that and a 17 year old?  or the difference between 17 and 16 and so on?  I mean, it's really all shades of gray and every situation is unique, so there really shouldn't be age laws, but maturity laws.  I know of some 12 year olds more mature than 20 year olds, and yet I'm not allowed to diddle that 12 year old." 

What you people are saying, those who feel the "Father has a right to his opinions" or that we have "no right forcing tolerance on him" or that (and this one is the worst), that we are "Just as bad as he is for forcing our beliefs on us" are suffering from a logical fallacy.  I don't know the name of it, so I can't explain it and sound all super smart and shit, but just becuase 18 is okay, that doesn't mean 16-12 is okay too.  I'll call it a 'shades of gray' fallacy.

There comes a time when you HAVE to draw the line.  Disowning your son for something beyond his control is well over the line.  Hell, even "I disagree with your lifestyle but I accept it" is straddling it, mostly because its primary assumption and assertion is based on faulty science or logic.  Homosexuality has been scientifically proven to be a natural occuring phenomenon, and while it's not too common, it does affect about 5% of the world's population, which is more than enough to give consideration.  

If you honestly think that the father is right or his actions are acceptable, or if you honestly think being gay is inherently wrong or evil, or if you think religion is a good excuse to feel that way, then you are a despicable human being.  you're an ignorant, bigoted person, and I have no respect for you and you do not deserve my respect, nor do you deserve anyone's.

As an example - perhaps not proof but definitely supporting evidence in favor of fixed sexuality -  I've wanted to be gay or at least properly bisexual for YEARS.  Logically, I convinced myself it was the simplest and best way to get what I want (Don't want kids, I honestly feel I should be attracted to a person's mind over their body, would love to have a reason to fight for my rights in this world), but no matter what I try, no matter how hard I work, I cannot for the life of me find attraction in fellow males. I've tried stuff with dudes, I've looked at gay porn and done gay things, but being with another dude makes me horrible uncomfortable even though I actively WANT to do it.  I do not have control over what my body is comfortable with, I cannot force it to be attracted to something I am not, so it's incredibly ignorant of straight homophobes to assume a gay dude can force himself to be attracted to females any more than he can force himself to be attracted to men.  It's the EXACT SAME THING.  

Linking to articles doesn't automatically give the argument weight, especially when the 'articles' are poorly thought out, poorly argumented, and poorly researched.  It just makes you look like a zealot. 

Atheism isn't that illogical at all.  While we live in a world, where, yes, religion is a thing and therefore it forces people to consider the possibility of a divine creator, the fact of the matter is that there's absolutely no logic backing up the idea that the world, or at least the universe, was created by a higher power.  Science does plenty to support the theory that there is no god by taking away all the things he supposedly did.  While we're still left with a 'beginning' or 'origin' to explain, making a higher power explain it just opens up more questions, such as "If god created the universe, what created God?"  Beliving that the universe was not created by a higher power is not illogical, it makes perfect sense from a scientific standpoint. 

frankly, your crusade agaisnt atheism is really not winning you any favors. 

And what does your picture prove?  It has nothing to do with our argument.  Basically it says that people only believe what's convenient for them at the time, which really isn't an argument in favor of anything you seem to believe in.