When will some Americans grow up?

I despair! The level of ignorance of people in powerful positions is frightening.

Of course, he could just be pandering to his red-neck, extremist Christian voters!

Its not just this idiot who feels this way. Lots of people think gay men are paedophiles, its ignorance pure and simple.Many Americans who live in the mid-west and the south have extreme views hidden in the guise of religion.

I enjoy watching 'Four in a bed' and they often have gay couples who are running a B & B business. Some of the other participants clearly have a real problem with adjusting their prejudices. I am sure there is still plenty of bigotry around in the UK, but at least the politicians have more sense than to voice it.

I have no problem at all with gays , in fact a friend of mine is , not that I see much of him these days as gone to live for a large part of the time abroad. Anyone who does should get real , as they are part and parcel of life .

Oh dear! Yes, there certainly is a lot of bigotry about.

The grim thing is that this bigotry is in high places in the US and fueled by religion. It is frightening to think what small-minded bigots might finish up with their finger on the nuclear button.

Some of my very best friends are gay couples male and female and they are the first people I would go to if I needed help or support within my family,I cannot understand the prejudice from some people and their ignorant opinions.

When my son was at school several of the teachers were known to be gay. It didnt worry the school, the boys or the parents. Most of them had partners and were no more likely to endanger the boys than married male or lesbian teachers were to endanger the girls at my daughter's school.

I couldnt care less what way people's sexual orientation is as long as they do not do it in the street and frighten the horses.

I have friends who are gay and do not have a problem with it. The average American is very insular. Has probably never left the US. A very small percentage of Americans actually have passports. There is also a number of very fundamentalists churches in the US which does not help the situation. We don't seem to have that problem in the UK. However, feel free to correct me if I'm wrong.

There are some fundamentalist of various religions in Britain, but the big difference is that they are not supported by most sensible people.

Americans do seem to be a trifle naïve and get sucked into all sorts of silly organisations.

What can you say about a nation that takes a religion like Scientology seriously, I believe it's not recognised as a religion here and is seen only as a cult. Somehow having a spiritual leader called Ron doesn't cut it, unless you happen to be Tom Cruise!

www.voanews.com/content/french-court-convicts-church-of-scientology-for-fraud-138560384/151465.html

Quite sensible sometimes, the French!

I hope I heard this news item wrongly - did it really say on the news that there has been a huge upturn in gun buying in the area of the massacre?

Yes

collective madness. They just are convinced that guns make them safer.

I have had the misfortune to know two paedophiles in my life and both were hetrosexual married men.

Many Americans seem narrow minded to me. They don't seem to be able to see the result of their actions on the wider picture. It's probably because the US is so vast they can't envisage another way of life. It always seems to be shoot first and ask questions later and this is also depicted in their films as well as real life - and then reality gets blurred with horrible consequences. After all in films the wounded often get up and fight back, don't they?

I do hope the day never arrives when the police force in the UK are routinely armed - there have been enough mistakes made by the few who are currently allowed to carry guns.
When I first went abroad, it was a shock to see French policemen strolling around with guns on their hips, but it was an even greater shock when armed police appeared in UK airports.

A US colleague kept a gun in the glove pocket of his car. I found that very scary.