I’m on a club at school that’s called the respect commitee. Our goals are basically to promote diversity and create a welcome environment.. As a muslim, in a city where there arent that many muslims.. by not many i mean like 20 muslims in all of highschool.. I felt that this commitee was really my type of thing cuz im very passionate about helping people and promoting islam aswell. So i joined this commitee and became the most active member of it. and I quit some of the other clubs for it.. so i would have time.. but last week we had a week where we support gay,lesbian,bisexual,transexual people: Rainbow week. This event is run by the respect commitee and we have these rainbow ribbon pins ur suppose to wear to show u support the homosexuals. This event happens thruout almost every highschool in our city. As the days were getting closer to the week, I got more nervous.. because this was contradicting my beliefs.. and for me it’s Islam before anything.. well i try to be like that. i admit theres time when im not. but anyway so the meeting before Rainbow week, our advisor.(this english teacher) was away..so that ticked me off. because it was such a big event and the other members didnt show up. um anyway so i ended up cutting the rainbow ribbons which are the pins with this other girl who’s christian and she felt sumwat like me.. she’s like aajkal kee “good christian” so she didnt support the whole idea of it either. i promised myself that i wouldnt do anymore for this event, because i was getting Gunah for it, and so did she.so then came rainbow week. on the second day the advisor asked me to help cut more ribbons. I said that me and that girl(lindsay) didnt want to help out with rainbow week anymore because we didnt support it.. and so she was fine then. she said ok. they next day i got called down to the councillers office and the head of respect commitee was there with a counciller . they talked to me as if i had dun sth wrong.. and anyway so it was a very emotional conversation for me. i felt like they were ganging up on me. with their “why do u feel this way” and ****. and they told me i had to support everything that the respect commitee did and that i had to choose between staying on respect commitee and supporting homos or quitting. i was like i guess im quiting then. and they told me to talk to ppl i look up to and stuff like my family and friends about this.. anyway so i left on the verge of crying.. because it was MAY (end of the school year)and basically they were kiking me out of the commitee. so yeah i left and that night i talked to my brother and my parents and my brother was pissed.. they all thought it was unfair aswell..but they told me how to deal with teh issue.. and obviously like ppl that are born with like a confusion of gender.. their PEOPLE too.. they NEED to be accepted into our socity.. but those are transexual ppl right. not gays. so i felt that i was being discriminated against. in a way. but yeah so i talked to this other counciller and she understood me like i respect homos but dont support them.. and she said she would get me back on respect commitee and without it being awkward and stuff. so the next day she called me in to her office and both councillers were there and they explained to me that i had to support everything the respect commitee did.. and crap and she asked me how i would feel if there was an event that promoted muslims and sumone didnt wana be part of it because they didnt exactly like muslims..and stuff like that and basically i couldnt get back on the commitee.. and i really wantedto.. so this happened a couple hours ago and
i dont kno wat i should do.. i kno this was really long but i really need ur opinions on this matter.
Re: homosexuals and the respect committee
que?
Re: homosexuals and the respect committee
Don't worry about whatever happened, you stood up for what you think was right and thats what Allah will count, IMO. Whether to be on some committee or not is a secondary thing. You made them clear that Islam doesn't promote homosexuality.
Re: homosexuals and the respect committee
However, before you joined this committee, did you know that they support "Homosexuals"?
Re: homosexuals and the respect committee
please tell me one thing to be clear will they support an event if its called support the arabs. if not then definately this is a case of religious descrimination.
i mean you clearly mentioned that you are not against these people just can't support it due to your religious believes.
i can't believe they can be so thick headed.
anyway what happened to Lindsay, she was in the same boat as you. did they expelled her from the team as well or not?
Re: homosexuals and the respect committee
They NEED to "respect" your views on the matter. If you were not being hateful, but a matter of fact stating your stance, and if they can't accept that, it's not the place for you.
The fact is, that everyone else on that commitee isn't a Muslim has not persuaded you to quit...and clearly by them not being Muslim they're not exactly for or "okay" with Islam...that doesn't mean they can't respectfuly disagree on this topic as they do with your fiath. Or as a matter of expressing "respect" to Islam, did they validate it's message by taking the Shahada?
The view that Homosexuals exist, and as long as they keep it to themselves, it is of no concern to you is not a bad compromise...and that's the essence of mutual respect - distance. Pushing down your throat that it must be recognized as a "respectable" relationshp, or that any who disagree are somehow bad is not acceptable.
Re: homosexuals and the respect committee
lindsay's completely fine.. she didn't take as it harshly because she doesn't have like as strong faith in her religion.she's thinking of leaving respect commitee too.. the thing that bugs me is the commitment i made for the commitee and this is how i get paid back.
Re: homosexuals and the respect committee
the counciller said that homosexual ppl are born with an attraction towards the same sex? thats not wat islam says right? isn’t it just like a bad habit u develop??? like lying. this whole issue is so confusing! but i was thinking some more and I’m willing to make one more sacrifice for Allah, He knos wat I’m going thru, this whole issue has become such a struggle for me.. it shouldn’t have even been made an issue in the first place:grumpy:
Re: homosexuals and the respect committee
Hmmm well she did make a point about th Muslims thing.. But I feel as long as ur not exhibiting violent behavior towards fags, then they should leave you alone.
You did stand up for ur beliefs in a respectful way, even if they’re not popular, which is very commendable :k: .. how old are u?
Re: homosexuals and the respect committee
:) im 15 .. ssshh.
Re: homosexuals and the respect committee
The fact is, that everyone else on that commitee isn't a Muslim has not persuaded you to quit...and clearly by them not being Muslim they're not exactly for or "okay" with Islam...that doesn't mean they can't respectfuly disagree on this topic as they do with your fiath. Or as a matter of expressing "respect" to Islam, did they validate it's message by taking the Shahada?
The view that Homosexuals exist, and as long as they keep it to themselves, it is of no concern to you is not a bad compromise...and that's the essence of mutual respect - distance. Pushing down your throat that it must be recognized as a "respectable" relationshp, or that any who disagree are somehow bad is not acceptable.
Words of Wisdom. :-)
Re: homosexuals and the respect committee
Mashallah! It's nice to have someone who is the same age as me (more or less) in this forum :)
In my school we had a similar problem. We had to speak about why we should accept (and even applaud) homosexuality in group discussions in order to become a prefect. Since homosexuality is legal in Canada, it is just assumed that everyone accepts it as a good thing. I politely declined to speak on this topic, and they gave me another one instead.
WaSalaam
Re: homosexuals and the respect committee
Damn, thats out of order,...............
Re: homosexuals and the respect committee
i kno wat u mean!! i live in Canada too!!
Re: homosexuals and the respect committee
Something to think about legally_desi. They didn’t ask to be gay, they were born that way…
Lesbian brains different from hetrosexuals.
WASHINGTON – Lesbians’ brains react differently to sex hormones than those of heterosexual women, new research indicates.
That’s in line with an earlier study that indicated gay men’s brains respond differently than straight men’s, though the difference for men was more pronounced than has now been found in women.
Lesbians’ brains reacted somewhat, though not completely, like those of heterosexual men, a team of Swedish researchers said in yesterday’s edition of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
The findings add weight to the idea that homosexuality has a physical basis and is not learned behaviour.
http://lfpress.ca/newsstand/Today/2006/05/10/1572316-sun.html
Re: homosexuals and the respect committee
As a Muslim living in the West, we should be accepting of gays. These are the values of this society and we must accept them. No matter how much you or I close our eyes and pretend, they will not go away. Per the laws of this society, consenting adults may engage in any activity not deemed unlawful by most citizens. As a Muslim, you should pray for these people but be kind and understanding to them. Many cannot help being the way they are and it is a very difficult test from Allah. Today, we Muslims must speak up for equality for people. Many gays are friends of Muslims and speak out against discrimination of Muslims. You should not be afraid to tell them that while you disagree with their chosen way of life, you hate the action, not the actor. Trust me, you will earn the respect of all. I personally don't think this is against the Sunnah either as
Re: homosexuals and the respect committee
Tums a good post but I'd like to point out that the vast majority of gay people are not 'choosing this way of life', this is how they have been born, you did not choose to be stright you were born that way, same with homosexuals.
Re: homosexuals and the respect committee
I agree. You can have friends that are gay, and respect them for who they are. However, I find having to say that you like them because they are gay as going too far. I respect a person that indulges in homosexual actions (not just somone who is homosexual) the same as I would respect an athiest, they can be be my friend, but I don't have to agree with what they do.
Also - I don't see why whether or not it's a choice matters. Suppose person A is born with a bad temper. That doesn't give him an excuse to use it and then blame God. Similarly, if someone is born with a tendency to like people of the same sex, they can just pray to Allah to chance that. They don't have to act on it.
WaSalaam
Re: homosexuals and the respect committee
sadiqhassan if someone told you to stop loving your parents could you?
You should understand that being homosexual is more than doing a physical act, it means you have the loving feelings for someone of your own sex just like the feelings that a heterosexual couple has between one another. Yet you expect them to not show this love? That is like telling a married couple not have sex, it's unrealistic and not fair.
Re: homosexuals and the respect committee
Screw the respect committee if they can't respect your views. You're better off without them. There is no room for homosexuality in Islam. If they can't understand that, then it's their problem. As long as there is no violence towards them, I don't see why they're getting so worked up about it.