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| Why do minorities turn to their oppressors' religion? |
Have you ever noticed that many racial/ethnic minorities seem to cling to the religions of their oppressors? The African-American community, for example, is often a big opponent of same-sex marriage. Many Native American tribes, which are generally sovereignty nations, have also come to outlaw same-sex marriages. In many parts of Africa, homosexuality can get you raped or even killed. But why?
Several of my friends that are of a racial/ethnic minority have told me that they’ve had comments directed to them such as, “You can’t be gay, you’re black” and “But that’s a white disease.” No one is apparently doing a history check before making these really ignorant statements. Guess what, homosexual behavior can be found, and could always be found, everywhere.
Most tribal people didn’t have a concept of “orientation.” They also weren’t always quite as strict when it came to what gender someone was despite their sex. Many cultures could have a male woman, for example, or a female man, or maybe even a completely different gender, and in most of those cultures these people were considered a powerful, positive asset to the community. Sometimes these male women were allowed, even expected, to marry a male man. Sometimes they were allowed, even expected, to have same-sex relationships outside of their opposite-sex marriages. Were they ‘straight’ transsexuals? Just a ‘gay’ feminine male? Who knows. And it didn’t matter. It was irrelevant that their sexes were the same. I know of tribes in both the Americans and in Africa that had these traditions. There are probably many more.
