More Homophobic Authors, apparently...

Ah, the blog-o-sphere has brought to light another well-respected author's raging, puzzling homophobia.

I have this problem. I have a hard time reading books by authors that seem to believe that homosexuality is some kind of satanic joyride into bestiality, incest, and forced child-orgy labor camps.

The problem isn't the religious opinion that is different from mine. One can say "Hey, I think homosexuality is against my god, so... It's wrong. Gay sex is the work of the devil." And, to me, that works, as an argument. It's a crappy argument, but I'm not one to argue against your God. I also don't think you can take that and extend it out onto society, even though you really want to.

Here's the way I think about that. I am a vegetarian. I think bacon is evil. Many religions agree with me on the "eating bacon"="evil and wrong" equation.

Bacon is not the slippery slope to cannibalism. Making that logical leap makes me an idiot, (even though part of me actually does believe that eating our close genetic cousins, like monkeys, pigs, cows, and other land-dwellers and whales walks the line of cannibalism to close to permit to continue). Making that argument, despite your personal belief that sees a connection where reason does not follow diminishes my trust in you, as a craftsperson of intelligent, plausible, rational, realistic characters and prose. (Seriously, bacon might as well be cannibalism, and it's destroying our planet. Stop eating bacon. You're evil and wrong. You! Yes, you! Put down that bacon!)

Personally, I'm not a big fan of bacon. I think the world - and America - would be a happier, healthier, more morally righteous place if there was no bacon. The environment would be improved by the end of bacon. The cost of healthcare would shrink. The deficit would shrivel. World peace would result, as all nations and religions unite. The end of bacon is the path to nirvana.

But, the act of eating bacon (which I believe is wrong and evil and bad) does not mean that the people who eat bacon are baby-eaters just waiting for their chance to chomp down on the fetuses of forced abortion clinics.

How do you deal with an author who can't grasp that nuance? Do you trust their fiction?

(You're craving bacon right now, aren't you. It's evil. It's wrong.)

I may pick up a book or two by someone who has lost my trust as an intellectual. Maybe. But, if I smell anything that could be judged as stupid in the right light, I tend to suspect it might be stupid.

There better not be any bacon in there, though. Bacon is evil and wrong.