Follow along with the video below to see how to install our site as a web app on your home screen.
Note: This feature may not be available in some browsers.
MaxMirkin said:John.......can you like write less? Seriously bro, your shit is giving me a headache.
MaxMirkin said:John.......can you like write less? Seriously bro, your shit is giving me a headache.
fantasma62 said:WTF? How the hell did this go from "sexuality" into a full out religious discussion????
Guys, just like in politics, religion talk is where I tune out. I don't appreciate it when the Jehova's Witnesses come to my door knocking and I sure as hell wouldn't want to push my beliefs upon anyone that doesn't care to hear them. I respect, therefore I expect to be respected....
This thread was quite interesting before, but once religion-talk came in, that was it for me. I am a practicing catholic and I leave my religion-talk to sundays or saturdays (depending on when I go to mass)
By the way John, you are entitled to your opinions, and I am sure you feel you are right. Having said that, please don't take this the wrong way, but I just can't read your posts. Try to shorten them a bit. People like me with ADD (that's what I claim I have anyway) tune out after a little while![]()
Minotaur said:Go read some of his 'epics' at bodybuilding.com![]()
![]()
![]()
bulletproof1 said:john h.![]()
![]()
![]()
![]()
sheesh
Hey John, thanks for the post, I hope you didn't misunderstand my need for a shorter post as mocking you. I was serious about not being able to read the whole thing. I get bored very fast....John H. said:I do try to make my posts as short as possible. I do not have time to waste posting and do not want to waste others time reading what I post. I want it to be short and to the point - and accurate and honest. And contributing.
You say: "...I am sure you feel you are right"... - what I say has nothing to do whatsoever with whether "I feel I am right" but that I am accurate and honest in what I have said - don't believe me? Check it out for yourself and see. I do not want people to ever just "accept" what I have to say but to check it out for themselves and learn for themselves. That way we all KNOW for sure and are not just swallowing what someone has to say. Just "accepting" what someone has to say or what any religion has to say without checking out the FACTS for oneself is where we all run into problems...![]()
Take Care, John H.
bulletproof1 said:ya see how i did that john? i got my point across in 1 sentence. no need to drag it out into a novel.
fantasma62 said:Hey John, thanks for the post, I hope you didn't misunderstand my need for a shorter post as mocking you. I was serious about not being able to read the whole thing. I get bored very fast....
Regarding religion, I have my beliefs, you have yours. No need to check anything. I am not just "accepting" what you say. My problem here is that it seems that you are sending an anti-religion message, at least it seems that way, and it feels like you are trying to convince me that I should not believe either. That's what I was talking about when I mentioned the Jehova's Witnesses. I like my religion, I am open minded and I don't meddle. I may have misunderstood you, and if I did, accept my apologies, I misread.
If I didn't, here is my main belief. We have free will. I am free to believe in what some will call "Fairy Tales", while others are free to worship a paper clip or a nail....
I respect your views. I don't agree with you completely but I respect your views....
Take care John![]()
fantasma62 said:Regarding religion, I have my beliefs, you have yours. ... I like my religion, I am open minded and I don't meddle. ...
If I didn't, here is my main belief. We have free will. I am free to believe in what some will call "Fairy Tales", while others are free to worship a paper clip or a nail....
I respect your views. I don't agree with you completely but I respect your views....
Take care John![]()
kbm8795 said:I think that would require those fanatical "christians" to actually expect to take social responsibility for their own sins, and it's more fun to vilify and persecute others, especially those who appear to have the least likelihood of resistance.
Those passages, along with the hundreds exhalting members to help the poor, seem to fall by the wayside very quickly when there is a perceived outsider to crucify.
kbm8795 said:I tend to agree with that, except I believe one side in particular spends a lot of time trying to legislate restrictions on civil rights based on their denominational "beliefs." When that happens, it becomes persecution with practical and material damages. Please don't mistake my statements about some "religious" beliefs as applying to all - even if our current President seems to limit taxpayer assistance to organizations that most often display that persecution complex and then attempts to try to regain the middle ground by preaching tolerance.
I don't tend to find atheists quoting scriptural interpretation as an excuse to persecute - just a week ago I watched a televangelist rage for twenty minutes on the validity of discrimination against sexual minorities, basing that belief on biblical doctrine and the unsubstantiated claim that their condition is not "innate." When they use that reasoning, it certainly opens them right up to persecuting other denominations, since religion isn't an innate characteristic. And that becomes much easier to do than taking social responsibility for their own behaviors, including propagating outright lies in order to continue deflecting attention.
This is easily shown in how common it is for a heterosexual to break one of the Commandments and be readily absolved of their sin, especially when it is of a sexual nature. While these ministers rage that a gay couple who have lived together for 20 years can't be allowed to inherit each other's property or plan their own funerals, we never violate the "sanctity" of the relationships of a rapist, sex offender, pedophile, wife beater, murderer or adulterer. Those bonds are considered above the interest of the State, which doesn't even require heterosexuals to consummate a relationship in order to have a marriage recognized.
And while the "religious" argument is that these people can repent from their sins while gays are celebrating their "sinful" life, there isn't a lot of evidence that most of those heterosexual criminals ever necessarily change their behavior, although we certainly put a lot more money and research into attempting to rehabilitate their condition than what we've poured into finding a gay "cure" or acknowledgement of how that condition exists. I think sometimes that failure (of both government and religion) must stand out pretty strongly to those people, because it indicates either we don't care to "help" them and have accepted that condition as a natural part of the social fabric, or that it has been just too easy to crucify them. I have never heard a single televangelist advocate more money going into research to better identify the reasons for their existence, but I hear plenty about how they should be persecuted and victimized. In the same vein, I would think gays should be suspicious of the claims that their condition is "environmental" or of "upbringing," because I've never heard a minister advocate punishing the heterosexual parents or extended family. . .only the victim. On the contrary - they tend to like to put large wedges between that gay person and their own families in order to isolate the victim even more, xpecting the victim to take full responsibility for their situation.
Esmerelda you are partly right. This thread, when I first read it, seemed like a interesting thread to go to. However, I think this thread was started by John H to speak about religion and it's effect on sexuality. Sorry John, but it looks like you started this thread because you knew that this would be deteriorating into a religious debate. I have sat down to read posts in this thread and all I see from you is an indictment on religion.esmerelda said:I'm sorry.....I've been away for some time....but I thought the idea for these threads was for some lighthearted banter...................???? Its taken me sooooooo long just to get to the end....I almost forgot what the bloody thing was about....how about we all lighten up......and have a little fun!!!! Where's my sparing partner Albob when I need him!!!
Just like I like and respect you and your opinions. I don't judge people no matter what. I believe in giving everyone a chance. That's just me...Minotaur said:Tony, you and I seem to have hit it off... I like and respect you, and I think I understand your point. You have your beliefs and faith for you. To make you a better person and bring you closer to God, not to use it as a club to persuade, change or browbeat other people. That is exactly what religion and faith should be. I have the same feelings. I am probably more 'spiritual' than religious. I'm nominally Eastern Orthodox, but I haven't been to church in years, and may never set foot in an Orthodox church again after some of the things our bishops have published about being gay...pretty ignorant and excluding and marginalizing stuff.
I know that's not what religion should be, but unfortunately it's what people see and do. We should mow our own lawn before we tell our neighbor his property looks like shit.
fantasma62 said:...and if I did it would have to do with the fact that I am a practicing catholic and you are simply making people like me out to be fanatics, uninformed and just a bunch of blithering idiots. ... I know what's bad about religion, but I also know what's good. I am 35 years old, I am not a child. I have informed myself and I am happy believing what I believe in, even if to someone like you it may seem like a fairytale.
...or I can always blame "El Minotauro" for getting this mess started![]()
fantasma62 said:It's ridiculous when someone who has no business being philosophical, decides to rant...that's me....![]()
Minotaur said:I'm careful what I go on a tirade about. If there's a remote chance it can be used against me, I stay quiet. My Julia Sugarbaker wig stays in its box more often than it comes out.![]()
fantasma62 said:Esmerelda you are partly right. This thread, when I first read it, seemed like a interesting thread to go to. However, I think this thread was started by John H to speak about religion and it's effect on sexuality. Sorry John, but it looks like you started this thread because you knew that this would be deteriorating into a religious debate. I have sat down to read posts in this thread and all I see from you is an indictment on religion.
Don't get me wrong, I don't take offense to this, and if I did it would have to do with the fact that I am a practicing catholic and you are simply making people like me out to be fanatics, uninformed and just a bunch of blithering idiots. I hadn't taken my time to read everything, but that is the feeling that I am getting. I assure you I don't want to start a holy war, but I don't want someone teaching me about religion. I have studied religion. I know what's bad about religion, but I also know what's good. I am 35 years old, I am not a child. I have informed myself and I am happy believing what I believe in, even if to someone like you it may seem like a fairytale. I'm also happy to be teaching my kids what I believe in. They'll choose to do what they want when they grow up, but right now, their minds are mine...![]()
...or I can always blame "El Minotauro" for getting this mess started![]()
John you definitely got me thinking and drew me out, now it's time for me to go back to my "bad, bad" religion.
No harm done. I am not upset and remember, things sound worse when you write them but if you were in front of me right now, I would be saying the same things that I am saying now and you would know that I don't mean to start a fight....
Later John, take care....
fantasma62 said:Just like I like and respect you and your opinions. I don't judge people no matter what. I believe in giving everyone a chance. That's just me...
John has his views, for which he feels very strongly and so do you. I respect both your views and go on...That's what we should do, have a little tolerance for one another and, oh yeah, have a little fun (I just added that because I am really beginning to sound like a freaking Hallmark card). It's ridiculous when someone who has no business being philosophical, decides to rant...that's me....![]()