Editor:

I found Krystal Young’s letter to the editor (Oct. 31) a little ridiculous. Young writes, “”there is nothing wrong with somebody thinking that homosexuality is wrong.”” But then she goes on to clearly find something “”wrong with somebody thinking that homosexuality is wrong.”” She sees a “”troubling imbalance of judgment,”” where she finds that homosexuals are less likely to find heterosexuality morally wrong than heterosexuals are to find homosexuality immoral. Later, she claims, “”judging a homosexual as morally repugnant because he or she is different from oneself is a simple act of bias.””

There are several problems with this analysis. The first: It does not matter what homosexuals think of heterosexuals; that has absolutely no bearing on the issue. I could think that all people living in Mississippi should be shipped off to France; what the fine folks of Mississippi think about me has nothing to do with whether my view is valid, intolerant or just plain ridiculous. (Side question; would France take them in or just surrender?)

The second major inconsistency that Young brings up is the assumption that those who see homosexuality as morally repugnant do so “”because he or she is different from oneself.”” This is simply not true. Those who view homosexuality as wrong don’t do so because homosexuals are different from them, they do so because they think that homosexuality is wrong. Is Young implying that one would need to be a homosexual to have an opinion about the issue?

Young is, however, correct in her estimation that moral rejection of homosexuality is a bias. But then, so is everything else we hold to be true. Without our “”biases”” we are just floating along, without opinions, beliefs or standards. Besides, our motivation to believe something is irrelevant to whether it is true. (Take PHIL 10 — you get to learn all about fallacies.)

The question here should not be what causes some people to view homosexuality as wrong, but whether such people have a point or are just old-fashioned bigots.

— Nathan Osborne

UCSD student