Geo-politics

[jackie hayes]

I just don't get that. Aren't there more women on this planet than men? So we don't fight sexism because population totals?

 

do you see why this is unsettling? it should be a universal thing. That's what I don't get from the left. why is that ok?

Okay, I was thinking of dominant majorities, those in power. In America, Christians are just the overwhelming majority. Women still don't have (I'm watching Seinfeld) equal hand.

 

I understand. (Honestly -- I still get peeved at all the 'Catholic priests are all molesters' comments.) I just don't think the concerns are equal. Do Christians really think they're going to be marginalized?

[sox4lifeinPA]

 

 

in all seriousness, have you ever read revalation?

[jackie hayes]

in all seriousness, have you ever read revalation?

As in, the Book of? (I assume you mean Revelations.) Yeah. Which horseman is upon us now, PA?

[sox4lifeinPA]

I'm not a crack pot end times guy, so I couldn't tell you. I'm just answering your question. I grew up a Christian and had many experiences being on the receiving end of ridicule...

 

Not that I think I've had it nearly as hard as most black individuals, but I think it's very difficult a white person to understand the prejudices a black person faces. I just don't think non-christian, or non-born again believers rather, can grasp what I'm talking about.

[FlaSoxxJim]

in all seriousness, have you ever read revalation?

OK, I'll bite. What does reading Revelations have to do with the matter at hand?

 

And the whole "that's what I don't get from the left" is a convenient and seemingly agendized oversimplification. I don't have any numbers, but I feel confident that the left is on the whole much more aggressive in defending the rights and freedoms of non-Christian denominations in the country.

 

Christians as an oppressed minority in this country is a hard sell no matter how you cut it.

[jackie hayes]

I'm not a crack pot end times guy, so I couldn't tell you. I'm just answering your question. I grew up a Christian and had many experiences being on the receiving end of ridicule...

 

Not that I think I've had it nearly as hard as most black individuals, but I think it's very difficult a white person to understand the prejudices a black person faces. I just don't think non-christian, or non-born again believers rather, can grasp what I'm talking about.

Well, if you get marginalized at the End of Days, sorry 'bout that in advance. Best of luck to you and the other 143,999. I grew up Christian too (it's changed since), and I never once felt ridiculed for it.

 

Since then, of course, I've been informed that I don't have any morality, but hey, my internet porn searches tell me that.

[Rex Kickass]

The last time I checked, calling something gay on this board isn't illegal. If you do it in an insulting manner on this board, you'll catch some flack. Not because you're gaybashing but mostly because there are so many better insults in the english language and some of us would like to see them used a bit more often. Especially since - when you take away the sexual connotation - you're just calling it happy and - seriously, that just doesn't make sense. Some of us are trying to take back the word and trying to not see it used as an insult.

 

I'd also like to go on the record and say I don't mind gay jokes - as long as they're actually funny. Insults aren't funny. Unless you're Don Rickles and last time I checked, he don't post round here. And honestly, with me - for example - there are so many things better to insult me about like my unnatural obsession with Bea Arthur (one day I will bear her children) or my coffee table escapades (shut up, that's why).

 

Now this doesn't mean that you can or should post ethnic or gay jokes here because some people probably will get offended and pissed off, and some of those people may happen to run things around there. And when you're in someone's house and you don't show the proper respect - you very often get shown the door. Unless you pay the bills for this website, you don't own it, and you're here only at their good graces. If you use common sense and respect and basic manners, you won't have a problem 99% of the time - especially on this board. If you don't, you probably spend too much time on the internet and not enough time interacting with people - so go to Starbucks and flirt with the barrista or barristette.

 

And as for the whole gay as a choice thing someone brought up, I'm not gonna go there - cause I got a headache and I really don't like having to defend who I am to people who mostly won't change their minds about this anyway - so I'll just say this.

I tried SO hard to be straight (How hard did you try?)

I tried so hard that I still can't find my sense of style!

 

PS. Selfdeprecation is always funny.

[sox4lifeinPA]

Nicely put winodj, but I dont get why ethnicity and sexual orientation are above religious faith on the offense meter. That's the basis of my question. I care more about my faith than some people do about either of those things, as many others I would assume.

[sox4lifeinPA]

Nicely put winodj, but I dont get why ethnicity and sexual orientation are above religious faith on the offense meter. That's the basis of my question. I care more about my faith than some people do about either of those things, as many others I would assume.

 

 

 

edit: and just because you find one gay joke funny and not another doesn't make that gay joke not funny. If we have to pass humor through that kind of filter then this place will be ridiculously boring. futhermore, I don't find "buddy Jesus" funny, but I don't go seeking to ban people over it. I sit and discuss why it's not funny.

[FlaSoxxJim]

Nicely put winodj, but I dont get why ethnicity and sexual orientation are above religious faith on the offense meter.

I've been thinking about this core issue and i think it's really a lot simpler than we've all made it out to be here.

 

First, I don't place any higher premium on protecting ethnic or sexual identity over religious identity, and I don't know that many others do either.

 

Very, very often when these world collide the central issue is a rights issue. Anybody can pursue any religious calling they hear in their heart -- until their pursuit infringes on the rights of others not called in the same direction. Typically this is what happens when Christian conservatives come to blows with gay rights advocates. And, as the party looking to compromise the rights of another party, anybody concerned over individual rights is going to find the oppressor to be in the wrong, even if they feel stronly that they are merely heeding their spiritual call. A person's right to practice his/her faith does not give them the right to curb the freedoms of others.

 

And for me, that's the long and short of it. "Love and do what you will" (sage advice on the wall of a Champaign coffee house) are words that you would assume would be stamped on the Christian heart. Very often, they have the 'do what you will' part down pat, but the 'love' part not so much.

 

Or, as FZ said on the subject:

Do what you wanna,' do what you will, but don't mess up your neighbor's hill.

[Texsox]

I tried SO hard to be straight (How hard did you try?)

I tried so hard that I still can't find my sense of style!

 

PS. Selfdeprecation is always funny.

I saw your new car. You stopped trying.

 

I know one thing, by not prejudging someone for various obvious and not so obvious reasons, I have met some wonderful and interesting people. Maybe I'm just not smart enough, but everyone takes their own walk with their faith. Some have faith in various Gods, others have faith in the randomness of genetics and the miracle of new life forms spontaneously happening. I'm going to let God sort that out someday. Until then, I'm going to continue to try and respect other humans, give them the benefit of the doubt, and choose to like or dislike people based on criteria other than their race, creed, or sexual orientation. Besides, I would love to be the last straight guy in America, then, well maybe then, that little b**** Julie from 7th grade will pay attention to me.

[Rex Kickass]

edit: and just because you find one gay joke funny and not another doesn't make that gay joke not funny. If we have to pass humor through that kind of filter then this place will be ridiculously boring. futhermore, I don't find "buddy Jesus" funny, but I don't go seeking to ban people over it. I sit and discuss why it's not funny.

 

If people make gay jokes, whatever. But I think there's an obvious line between an attempt at humor and just being insulting/derogatory. And that goes for nearly everything.

 

Oh and Tex, she'll still be trying to convert me anyway so don't get your hopes up.

[Texsox]

If people make gay jokes, whatever. But I think there's an obvious line between an attempt at humor and just being insulting/derogatory. And that goes for nearly everything.

 

Oh and Tex, she'll still be trying to convert me anyway so don't get your hopes up.

 

Humor is a difficult area to work in. It is a built in coping mechanism. If we can laugh at something we lose our fear, our sadness, our aggravation. Watching the Comedy Channel for any length of time is enough to convince me that everything is funny to someone and everything can be insulting to someone.

 

She might be trying to convert you, but it's only to get her hands on your Barbara Streisand signed copy of Guilty with Barry Gibb

 

 

You gotta be mine

We take it away

It's gotta be night and day

Just a matter of time

And we got nothing to be guilty of

Our love will climb and mountain near or far , we are

And we never let it end

We are devotion

And we got nothing to be sorry for

Our love is one in a million

Eyes can see that we got a highway to the sky

[mreye]

I like the sigs and avs. I shouldn't have to make an all or nothing choice because of one inconsiderate person.

Amen!

[mreye]

Full disclosure, I've been recognized for my work with youth through both the Catholic and Methodist Churches. I consider myself Catholic.

 

Yes, a tiny percentage of Priests have been committed terrible acts against youth boys and girls. They have violated a trust and those acts ripple far beyond just the people involved. Further, the Church acted in a manner that was inconsistent with Church teachings and more in the interest of the institution that its members.

 

The same can be said for Doctors, Teachers, Nurses, Camp Counselors, Scoutmasters, Police, and other people who were entrusted with children and took advantage of them. The Catholic Church has been the ones in the headlines and takes the brunt of the publics' outrage.

 

To be more outraged when this was a person who by their position in life should be more trustworthy is using faulty logic. To be more outraged that this was a religious leader, means one would be less outraged if this was a plumber or engineer or short order cook at McDonalds. We are all humans with human strengths and weaknesses. We should be equally outraged when an adult takes advantage of a child.

 

I saw the cartoon of Jesus and it pained me to see my Savior the brunt of this joke. Was I offended? Yes. I also know that my God is a strong God and this will not change that. I saw the dollar sign on a medal around this caricature's neck and it reminded me that not all religious leaders are in it for the right reasons. Some see it as easy money and prey on people who trust them. All people of faith should be alert for those unscrupulous individuals who seek to defraud believers because the bad person thinks we are easy marks. We should bring the same skepticism that we bring to car salesmen, attorneys, Doctors, and politicians with us to Church.

 

Of course this is all interwoven and interrelated. Con men, pedophiles, and crooks of all shapes and sizes, prey on trusting people. They look for victims. They find them where they find them. Overall you are safer in Church than a bar, ballpark, or walking down Milwaukee Avenue.

 

Post of the year, Tex! Very well written.

[Rex Kickass]

Humor is a difficult area to work in. It is a built in coping mechanism. If we can laugh at something we lose our fear, our sadness, our aggravation. Watching the Comedy Channel for any length of time is enough to convince me that everything is funny to someone and everything can be insulting to someone.

 

She might be trying to convert you, but it's only to get her hands on your Barbara Streisand signed copy of Guilty with Barry Gibb 

 

 

And I thought it was for my original vinyl copy of Baby I'm A Want You by Bread.

[Texsox]

And I thought it was for my original vinyl copy of Baby I'm A Want You by Bread.

 

I loved that album, and their greatest hits. One summer I wore that out and the Greatest Hits of the Lovin' Spoonful.

 

Am I gay?

[Rex Kickass]

Only if you replaced them with "Delta Dawn" by Helen Reddy.

[southsider2k5]

Only if you replaced them with "Delta Dawn" by Helen Reddy.

 

Along with the Golden Girls Season One on DVD

[Texsox]

I guess I'm still a breeder . . .

[Texsox]

Only if you replaced them with "Delta Dawn" by Helen Reddy.

 

Could it be a faded Rose from love gone by?

 

I did memorize all the words to I am Woman, the wrestlers made the basketball players sing it often enough

[mreye]

Could it be a faded Rose from love gone by?

 

I did memorize all the words to I am Woman, the wrestlers made the basketball players sing it often enough   

You ran XCountry AND played basketball. I guess we have more in common thatn I thought.

[Texsox]

You ran XCountry AND played basketball. I guess we have more in common thatn I thought.

 

The wrestlers loved nothing better than to trap a lone b-ball player in the weight room, drop him, and in about 2.3 seconds have him spread eagle on his back singing songs. Today, someone would be arrested, then, I just learned to hate weight rooms.

 

Rest of my geek HS resume

 

President -- Chess Club played board 1 we won county three years in a row.

Treasurer -- Varsity Club

Captain -- Track (880) and CC

Golf

Editor in Chief HS and College newspapers

[kapkomet]

I got to be captain of my cross country team in high school. That was a blast.

 

Damn freshman.

 

Hehe.

[Queen Prawn]

I was never a captain, but I ran 2 years of cross country. My cousin was in JV his freshman year and then varsity ever since (he's a junior now) - kid is fast!