Marriage

[rivalarrival]

I think the problem you're having is that you're interpreting "phobia" as "fear" - arachnophobia = fear of spiders; acrophobia = fear of heights.

The Greek word "Phobia" translates to "fear", but this meaning has long since been corrupted in the English language. Its English meaning is closer to "aversion".

"Hydrophobia" doesn't mean "fear of water" - it refers to a property of certain chemicals. A chemical that repels water is described as "hydrophobic".

"Photophobia" doesn't mean "fear of light". Ever have your eyes dilated and walk outside in the daylight? You likely experienced photophobia.

"Phonophobia" and "Osmophobia" have similar meanings for sound and smell, respectively.

As it is popularly used, "Homophobia" refers to an aversion to homosexuality. Nothing more, nothing less.

WITH THAT SAID, your argument suggested that there was no such thing as "an irrational fear of homosexuals". Seeing as how nobody else in the thread had even referred to such a concept (all other uses of "homophobia" described the simple aversion to homosexuality, not a pathological condition), it's your obligation to prove your point, not mine to disprove it.

[teaberryeagle]

Originally Posted by rivalarrival

Prove it. Prove that "anyone" can put "anything" they want in there. Go ahead, change this page:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homophobia

Make that page reflect your own opinions on that term. Let's see how successful your changes are.

A word in the English language means what a consensus of English speakers want it to mean. The word "homophobia" has a clear meaning and describes a real concept.

You argued: "No one dislikes or is scared of gays because they are afraid they might be one." People have argued that they are, in fact, homophobic and because they are homophobic their otherwise criminal behavior should be excused. Basically, they argued that they themselves were mentally dysfunctional and were incapable of behaving like any reasonable person would after observing homosexual behavior.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~
Editing Homophobia

http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?...ia&action=edit

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:About

Wikipedia is written collaboratively by largely anonymous Internet volunteers who write without pay. Anyone with Internet access can write and make changes to Wikipedia articles, except in limited cases where editing is restricted to prevent disruption or vandalism. Users can contribute anonymously, under a pseudonym, or, if they choose to, with their real identity.

Log in / create account
http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?...ut&type=signup


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page

Wikipedia's sister projects

Wikipedia is hosted by the Wikimedia Foundation, a non-profit organization that also hosts a range of other projects:
Commons
Free media repositoryWikinews
Free-content newsWikispecies
Directory of speciesMeta-Wiki
Wikimedia project coordinationWikiquote
Collection of quotationsWikiversity
Free learning materials and activitiesWikibooks
Free textbooks and manualsWikisource
Free-content libraryWiktionary
Dictionary and thesaurus

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[rivalarrival]

Teaberryeagle, the point I was trying to make is the same as the point leadarrows made a couple posts up: Wikipedia is heavily moderated. While anyone can technically post anything they want, the reality is that wikipedia articles tend to present the broad consensus on a given subject. In general, the more public interest in a subject, the more accurate the article on that subject.

[teaberryeagle]

Originally Posted by rivalarrival

Teaberryeagle, the point I was trying to make is the same as the point leadarrows made a couple posts up: Wikipedia is heavily moderated. While anyone can technically post anything they want, the reality is that wikipedia articles tend to present the broad consensus on a given subject. In general, the more public interest in a subject, the more accurate the article on that subject.

Thanks for your info. ....I just thought I would also present the point where it can be edited, so everyone would know this was possible by anyone...and your point is well taken that it would help make the article more accurate.....thanks again.......