God Hates Fags -- In Athens

[R. S. Martin]

So Athens is not the Western Cultural Centre anymore? I saw it first in my newspaper and also found an online article. Two same-sex marriages were annulled in Athens, Greece. According to the very brief newspaper article, the "powerful Orthodox Church of Greece" was behind this and the government annulled the marriages.

 

I'm not sure if this should be in the Rants & Replies, News, or Off-Topics section. Then again, it's because of a homophobic god, bible, and theology that such cruel things happen so I'll put it here for now.

[Ameen]

Greece is a Western nation by political alliance, NATO affiliation during the Cold War, and standard of living, but it is not geographically in Western Europe. By European standards, the Balkans (where Greece is situated) are like rural Portugal in their degree of conservatism.

 

Also, surrounded by

 

1. secular Turkey,

2. formerly atheist Albania (where religion was outlawed under the Communist regime),

3. Bulgaria (where religion was tolerated but frowned on under the Communists), and

4. Macedonia (which, as part of the old Yugoslavia, was part of Tito's enclave),

 

Greek society developed its post-World War II identity via a civil war immediately after WW II and military regimes. Like Spain, it has left much of that behind today, but Greek Orthodox Christianity is part of Greece's national identity and part of the way it distinguishes itself from its Muslim (Turkish and Albanian) and Slavic (Bulgarian and Macedonian) neighbors.

 

There are many educated Greeks who have no problem with homosexuality; I know because I have taught a few of them in my ESL classes. Unfortunately, homophobia is alive and well in Greece despite the existence of cash cow gay resorts in the Greek islands.

[R. S. Martin]

Greece is a Western nation by political alliance, NATO affiliation during the Cold War, and standard of living, but it is not geographically in Western Europe. By European standards, the Balkans (where Greece is situated) are like rural Portugal in their degree of conservatism.

 

Also, surrounded by

 

1. secular Turkey,

2. formerly atheist Albania (where religion was outlawed under the Communist regime),

3. Bulgaria (where religion was tolerated but frowned on under the Communists), and

4. Macedonia (which, as part of the old Yugoslavia, was part of Tito's enclave),

 

Greek society developed its post-World War II identity via a civil war immediately after WW II and military regimes. Like Spain, it has left much of that behind today, but Greek Orthodox Christianity is part of Greece's national identity and part of the way it distinguishes itself from its Muslim (Turkish and Albanian) and Slavic (Bulgarian and Macedonian) neighbors.

 

There are many educated Greeks who have no problem with homosexuality; I know because I have taught a few of them in my ESL classes. Unfortunately, homophobia is alive and well in Greece despite the existence of cash cow gay resorts in the Greek islands.

 

Just found this post now. Thanks for explaining the culture. I guess things change across millenia. Having once been the cradle of Western civilization does not mean it remains that.

[Vomit Comet]

Yes and no. Athens is very much a European city. The rest of Greece is another matter.

 

That said, even on the most distant Isles, Greek people are intellectually oriented. Even relatively uneducated folks will be talking philosophy and ethics at sidewalk cafes in ways that would make most of our heads spin, and they'll debate and argue and debate at least as much as Jews will. It really is that ingrained in the culture.

 

But otherwise, yeah.