Thursday, July 30, 2009

LGBT anti-rationalism

Probably the most frustrating thing about discussing issues with other LGBT people is being hit with a tidal wave of logical fallacies, New-Age woo-woo, politically correct "because I said so," and just plain emotional outbursts. I know that anti-rationalism permeates American culture, but we seem to be particularly prone.

One possible reason, I suppose, is that so many of us tie our self-identification to issues of gender and sexuality. It follows that we tend to cast our lot with the Dionysian rather than the Apollonian.

Still, I have to question the wisdom of our doing so. First, if we want to figure out where we want to be and how to get there, we cannot afford the luxury of trusting only our own emotions. Second, in terms of appealing to emotions, we cannot begin to compete with our enemies; in particular, religion has a head start of millennia. Finally, since reason supports LGBT liberty and equality, does it make sense to abandon such a potent weapon?

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