Anti-Pink Dot group claims abolishing Section 377A will lead to legalised same sex marriages

If anything, they did exercise creative freedom.

Guan Zhen Tan | June 24, 2017, 04:50 PM

Anti-LGBT Facebook page Singaporeans Defending Marriage and Family (SDMF) uploaded this animated infographic video on Friday, June 23.

As there are no credits or details on the video's production crew, we can't immediately tell who created the video or if it is solely attributable to SDMF.

Neither was there a clear title or statement of what the video was specifically trying to get at, although it is quite clearly targeted at the pro-LGBT Pink Dot movement, as well as and its escalator ad at Cathay Cineleisure, questioning viewers' understanding of the "freedom to love".

Here's the transcript, in case you're running out of data:

Freedom: What a great word.

Celebrated around the world as one of the most basic, but powerful human rights.

It's the right to act, the right to speak, the right to think, the right to love. As I want, without restraint. Who doesn't want freedom? Who doesn't love freedom?

Who doesn't want freedom? Who doesn't love freedom?

But imagine a Singapore with absolute freedom.

If I like something, I could take it. If I hate someone, I could kill him, Not so fun now, huh. That's because true freedom can only operate not without

If I hate someone, I could kill him, Not so fun now, huh.

That's because true freedom can only operate not without restraints but within restraints. We call this restraint laws.

If I liked something and took it, Section 378 of the Penal Code calls it theft.

If I hated someone and killed him, Section 300 of the penal code calls this murder. You see, laws exist for freedom.

The Freedom to act without someone acting to harm you at will.

The freedom to speak, "hey!" without getting shut down for speaking up.

The freedom to think without being told what I can or cannot think.

Here's a crowd favourite: freedom to love.

To love how, when, and who I want.

But there's this pesky little law tucked under Section 377A of the penal code. That seems to deny just that.

What an awful law, some people have said. please remove it.

Voice recording of Pierre Trudeau, Prime Minister of Canada, 1969: "There's no place for the state in the bedrooms of the nation."

So what if Section 377A was removed? and same-sex marriage is consequently allowed in Singapore? Everywhere that this has happened, there has not been freedom to act according to religious beliefs.

In the USA, Christian pastors can go to jail for refusing to marry homosexuals.

In Singapore, this could extend to imams, priests, and other religious leaders.

Don't wish to extend business services to a gay wedding?

You might have to pay a price for your stand.

The freedom to speak up for what your religion says has also been undermined in other countries.

Even if homosexual unions have been specifically prohibited in holy texts.

Schools might start introducing same sex education and gender neutrality, long introduced in Canada and the USA.

And if you teach them otherwise, the state can interfere, and your child may be expelled or taken from you. Today's holy book could be tomorrow's hate speech.

Essentially, there might not be freedom to think, if what you think is not what they think. shouldn't liberal thought accept all points of view?

So if the freedom to love compromises other freedoms, Is that really freedom?

More importantly, we must ask ourselves, is that really love?

And here's the TL;DR:

Freedom is awesome, but we can't have it 100 per cent because that means robbers and murderers can do their thing without consequences, for example. Therefore, restraints in the form of laws are necessary.

To extend this to the premise of the bedroom and allow the "freedom of love" — specifically, in repealing Section 377A (which criminalises sodomy between men) — which results in same-sex marriage being allowed (that escalated quickly), means people with religious beliefs who speak out against same-sex marriages will necessarily be shut down.

Priests, imams and pastors can be jailed; businesses may be prosecuted for not offering services to same-sex couples, and holy books opposed to same-sex marriage will be deemed as hate speech.

Therefore if LGBT people get their freedom, it means people who disagree with their beliefs will lose their freedom to live out what they believe.

Capiche?

 

The internet reacts

With the examples quoted, the freedom to love is implied to complicate matters for the anti-LGBT group, making it unfair for them to be penalised for their discrimination refusal to serve same-sex couples.

It's understandable that no matter which side you're on, you have the freedom to speak out — but some of the statements were quickly picked apart by netizens, including playwright Alfian Sa'at:

Screenshot via Singaporeans Defending Marriage and Family's Facebook post

From the multitude of comments backing and criticising the arguments put forward in the video, netizens invariably found themselves debating even over the age of the Earth, and the glory of a newfound religion in Google:

Screenshot via Singaporeans Defending Marriage and Family's Facebook post

Screenshot via Singaporeans Defending Marriage and Family's Facebook post

Screenshot via Singaporeans Defending Marriage and Family's Facebook post

 

For every topic, including that on LGBT issues and same-sex marriage, there are ways to engage in calm and rational debate, which enlightens the ignorant and resolves potential misunderstandings and fallacies.

Screenshot via Singaporeans Defending Marriage and Family's Facebook post

But sometimes, when someone comes up with a really silly reply, a straightforward response is the only way to deal with it.

Screenshot via Singaporeans Defending Marriage and Family's Facebook post

Alternatively, if it comes down to it, we could come towards a "win-win" situation:

Screenshot via Singaporeans Defending Marriage and Family's Facebook post

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Top image via Singaporeans Defending Marriage and Family (SDMF)'s Facebook page

 

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