Interview with Daniel Tammet

[BenL]

I just received the June 19 issue of The Advocate. It includes an interview with Daniel Tammet, the British savant, who has Asperger's syndrome, and happens to be gay. The sidebar with the interview is on advocate.com, but the interview isn't, at least not in the free section. Tammet talked about two things we discuss here often, so I thought I would excerpt them for you. These are HIS thoughts, not necessarily mine.

On the Bible and Christianity:

How do you reconicle being gay and being Christian?
There are many gay Christians. Some choose to be celibate. That would be a very hard choice for me. My own understanding is that the Bible is God-breathed. And I am not a modernist, so I don't think you can chop and change the words. Still, the Bible is like a mirror. You end up reading it not as a reflection of how it is but of how you are. If you're a bigoted, narrow person, you will find bigotry in the Bible.

Have your read the entire Bible?
I haven't read the entire Bible -- I'll be honest -- and most Christians I know haven't. I do try to make time to sit and read it.

On gay marriage:

Would you like to be able to marry Neil (his partner)?
We should have the same rights to visit in hospitals, to inherit -- all the rights and responsibilities that come with marriage. But we're not male and female. Why should we have to be shoehorned into something that wasn't made for us? Marriage can be retained for men and women and a separate but equal institution be available to same-sex couples. We are different; let's not only ask other people to respect our difference but also respect it ourselves.

These are two brief sections of a lengthy interview that makes fascinating reading. Daniel Tammet is the author of Born on a Blue Day, a New York Times best-seller.

[Zerbie]

He makes interesting points, especially about acknowledging difference. However, the separate BUT equal always disintegrates into separate AND very UNequal. In theory it sounds fine, but in practice the absence of that word "married" plays out to the disadvantage of gay couples and their famiilies.

The point of marriage equality is not that all gay couples SHOULD marry, but that all gay couples deserve the right to make the choice for themselves whether to marry or not.

[Dash]

I love Daniel Tammet! I have his website, Optimnem (http://www.optimnem.co.uk/index.php), in my favorites--One of the first that I added this year after I completely reformatted my laptop.

Watched something online...documentary, I guess, about him. He memorized Pi to some 25000 digits and recited it for charity. I'm fascinated by the way he describes "seeing" numbers as colors and shapes, with larger numbers being complete landscapes.

Very drawn to his story and personality.

[Daniel]

He's an interesting person. There was an article on Tammet in the NYTimes that I posted here:

http://www.soulforce.org/forums/showpost.php?p=20361&postcount=1

[BenL]

He makes interesting points, especially about acknowledging difference. However, the separate BUT equal always disintegrates into separate AND very UNequal. In theory it sounds fine, but in practice the absence of that word "married" plays out to the disadvantage of gay couples and their famiilies.

The point of marriage equality is not that all gay couples SHOULD marry, but that all gay couples deserve the right to make the choice for themselves whether to marry or not.

I agree with you 100 percent, Zerbie. I find it interesting, though, because the UK does not have the American context of the Supreme Court's rulings about separate but equal being in fact unequal. I know two gay men who don't WANT to get married, even here in Massachusetts where it's legal, because they consider marriage a heterosexual institution that has been part of a larger set of institutions that have oppressed them. And they have been happily monagomous for 35 years. I found it interesting that Tammet, whose mind operates on a different level than mine, sees it as an issue of distinction rather than sameness.

[Zerbie]

I know two gay men who don't WANT to get married, even here in Massachusetts where it's legal, because they consider marriage a heterosexual institution that has been part of a larger set of institutions that have oppressed them[/B]. And they have been happily monagomous for 35 years. I found it interesting that Tammet, whose mind operates on a different level than mine, sees it as an issue of distinction rather than sameness.

Yes exactly. And the point is that they have the right to make that choice, but other couples likewise deserve the legal right to make a different choice if it suits them. Cookie-cutter is not the answer. But equal access to opportunity (whether you want it or not) IS.

And true, I have been speaking to the situation in the US. I'm quite ignorant of how these things play out in the UK.

[REHAN]

..........

[progressive4christ]

"Still, the Bible is like a mirror. You end up reading it not as a reflection of how it is but of how you are. If you're a bigoted, narrow person, you will find bigotry in the Bible." D. Tammet

This would make for a great sticker, a bit long but great message. I would like to make a t-shirt .

[REHAN]

Go Ahead. But make sure you render unto Caesar what is Caesar's.