I hope there are no faggots on my floor,” one idiot said to the other.

“This is America,” the other idiot replied. “There are definitely some dungists on this floor.”

The two idiots in this conversation were me and a friend of mine. When I first got to the United States, this is a typical conversation my friends and I would have on the subject of gays. This conversation highlights the fact that when people are in situations or environments outside of their comfort zone, they will react in irrational ways.

There are so many examples of this irrationality. There was a time in the United States when well-meaning people regarded being left-handed as a sign of flawed character. Some children who were left-handed were beaten by their parents to encourage them to change. There were many people who gave economic reasons for slavery and oppression against blacks. In those two cases, that irrationalism led to child abuse, racism and the inhumane treatment of black people. With all these facts in mind, let us examine ourselves so that we are not guilty of bigotry and hatred — without even realizing it.

In my case, my Christian beliefs, coupled with the fact that there were no openly gay people at my high school, made this an area of discomfort. But after observing many examples of Christian beliefs being used to justify the ill treatment of others, I was forced to question that belief.

For example, it was only about four years ago that Bob Jones University dropped its rule against interracial dating. For decades, people believed that interracial dating would bring in the world of the Antichrist, even though such a belief is irrational.

This irrationality is also demonstrated in the war on terror. I have heard too many Christians make comments like: “These people are just evil. The only way to stop them is to blow them up.” That is an irrational statement because no one is inherently evil. No one was born to strap a bomb to himself or herself and blow people up.

All are subject to influence from their environment. It is so much easier to say a group of people is evil and decide to blow it up than to think of the complicated factors that may have led them to become terrorists.

In the case of the Taliban, the conditions under which the Afghan people lived during the decade-long anti-Soviet war must be considered as a factor.

If the United States is killing terrorists but at the same time creating an environment that fosters terrorism, it is making itself less safe in the end.

War, like most things, has its advantages and disadvantages. As we have seen in the case of the Taliban, one of the disadvantages is that it could create an environment that fosters the recruitment and forming of terrorist groups.

The problem with irrationality is that people turn a blind eye to their own faults.

What if there was a country that decided to invade the United States, believing it was harboring groups tied to terrorism? Would the cost in lives, livelihood and infrastructure be justified by such a vague conclusion?

Now, with the United States in a war on terror and a heated debate about gay issues, it is important to examine our opinions on these issues and ask if they are rational or based on ideology, selfishness, cliches and other tools of irrationalism.