"Lock'em up and throw away the key..."

Painting your opponents in broadly negative strokes is a common technique used by many elements of the far left: if you oppose affirmative action, you are therefore a 'racist who hates minorites'. Oppose abortion? You're a 'chauvenist pig who hates women', of course. Oppose gay marriage? You 'homophobe', you...

Of course, the right does this as well--broadly characterizing their opponents in unflattering terms when they happen to disagree with their philosophy or policy. [Lesson #1 in American politics: Anything one side does, the other side does just as much. No exceptions...]

For example, here's a sample article which reflects the very common philosophy on the far right that you're 'anti-family' if you don't support the 'criminalization of homosexuality'. That's right, you don't truly support the cause of The Family unless you think gays should be hunted down and locked up as criminals...

As I've said before, 'homophobia' is an over-used cliche which elements of the politcal left arbitrarily use to characterize those who don't accept any part of the gay rights agenda. Yet, in many cases it is a reality... What other word could you use in this situation? You live next door to a guy who cheats on his wife, or has a subscription to a pornographic magazine and you say 'That's too bad--he needs to repent and change..." without ever thinking of a jail sentence--but if you live next door to a guy who...dates other men and suddenly it's "Quick, lock him up in prison before he comes over and molests my children. Oh, won't somebody PLEASE think of the children!" Give me a break...

Hasn't anyone considered that the reason many gays don't even try to change their behavior and live a more chaste and righteous life is that many of the so-called 'righteous' people they would be associating with think that having same-sex attraction means they should be locked up in prison and/or taken outside and beaten? How are they supposed to know God loves them and wants to help them progress and achieve their eternal potential, when many of His followers tell them the exact opposite? Egads...