Do people here think we should keep our beliefs to ourselves?

lol SarahS very straight to the point.

But i will say that i think that religon has its place like all things, but not when it makes you disrespectful or rude for no in your face reason.
I consider myself a Christian not devout but i think im in touch with my beliefs, but i manage to do that without being a God Botherer, which is what my dad calls religious people who inflict there views upon others in a negative way( and hes a Catholic !)
I respect everyones beliefs, be it any religion but there is a time and a place

 

I already responded to most of this post, but I wanted to get back with you on this one. Read Matthew 19:12 - I referred the Apostle Paul but it was Christ who said it. I apologize, It says:

"For there are eunuchs who were born that way from their mother's womb; and there are those who were made eunuchs by men; and there are eunuchs who made themselves eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven..."

Those who made themselves eunuchs are those men who chose celibacy, or even to castrate themselves so they don't have to deal with sexual urges. I don't think it means sex changes, the whole context is talking about being married or single.

 

And ref the Hell thing who are you or anyone to tell me or anyone else they are headed to hell!.
Thats something i hate ,christians getting on there high horse saying that we are all going to hell, since when did you have authority to dish out heaven and hell tickets.
Preaching the word of God! and you cant even tolerate conversation with a fellow human being, but you can address an issue about them without conversing with them, i really dont know what to say to you luv

 

Thank you, I understand I should have placed a thread here to discuss it and in the future will do so it that is acceptable. For that I have apologized.

 

I copied this from another thread here in this section. This is how I responded. I want to say that it is relevant to DH's statement about choice, and my response about Eunuchs.

Quote:
Originally Posted by TheChosenOne View Post
Changing one's sex isn't much different from dying one's hair or having cosmetic surgery....it's altering one's body from the way it was intended to look.


That is an interesting point, I'll have to think about it a bit, because I am guilty of dying my hair. Would that go for dieting, and exercising also? Maybe it shows I don't like who I am, if I do that?

OK - Thought about it, Changing ones hair color and having cosmetic surgery can be good or bad depending on the motivation behind it, so I will say so can changing ones sexual orientation. Because if I change my hair color to change or hide the essence of who I really am, thus denying my self, I am doing myself a terrible wrong. OR if I do so to deceive others into thinking I am someone, or something completely different than I am, I am doing them a terrible wrong.

In changing ones sex for purely cosmetic reasons, not denying ones real identity, and with no intent to deceive, then I guess I would have to concede it's OK, but in this case he is trying to become a woman so as to appear so to others, and to find himself a male mate. He doesn't say he is homosexual, he doesn't even admit he's male, he calls himself a shemale.

(If this were a hook up site for gay people, I would have kept my mouth shut, and when, and if, I ever want to understand such people more I will go looking for that information, at this point I do not have that much curiosity.)

IMO this is one of the most dangerous forms of lies, because he is actually trying to convince himself, he is not what he is. He may even end up in a relationship, casual or otherwise where a lot of that deception is relevant. That has not yet happened, as far as I know, so I cannot judge it.

 

Yea, I wonder why too. I wanted you to tell me! Heh. If you knew.

Yea, I considered that. But, when I talked to my friend about it, she denied anything like that and thought I was crazy. So, I'm hoping not.

Maybe. I hadn't ever smoked enough to get high before and I did think that might have had something to do with it. Maybe it's something you have to ease yourself into? Though, I don't think I really smoked a lot with her. We smoked/shared a J then when it was about gone we smoked that in a little bowl/pipe thingy.

Yea, I wasn't scared of it or anything. But if I could be psyched into a bad trip by that. Could how I was feeling (about probs with boyfriend) prior have brought on the bad experience? Hmm. Know what I mean? Like maybe surfaced those feelings, magnified them, in a weird psychodelic under the influence of a controlled substance sort of way? Being allergic didn't come to mind though, because I'm not allergic to anything else. But I don't know if that would have much gravity, really. As far fetched as this might be; my Pisces sun sign says, "Pisces don't process alcohol and drugs well." Although, I process Jack n' Cokes and Long Island Iced Teas just fine :smt023 heh. Something gross I didn't mention is when I woke up the next morning my tongue was black. That was freaky, I thought maybe it was laced with arsenic or something, but if that were the case, I don't think I would have woke up the next morning. But, I also got rid of it with a toothbrush and so I think it might have just been some resin or something. Has that ever happened to anyone else? I did hear though, that for some people it does affect them badly, though I don't know if it was like my experience or not. I don't think "I'm just a pussy." though, at least that's what I like to think. As far as alcohol though, I mean I don't know if it's really related, but with alcohol, I have a very high tolerance, and I don't drink a lot. So I thought, I'd have a high tolerance with weed as well, maybe not? Hmm...

 

GET HIIIIIIIIIIIIMMMMM!!!!!!!!!!!

 

I was not saying that you or anyone specifically was going to hell, I posed a hypothetical question about the discussion of religion! Sorry is upset you so much. But just remember, I put this thread here in the religious section so I wouldn't offend people who weren't interested.

You know the cool thing about freedom of speech is, you don't have to converse with everybody, if I don't think they'll listen, and I don't want to hear anything they have to say why should I. There are other people I don't really interact with on a personal level too, not just the type of person we discussed in this thread. I don't care to hang out with lairs, cheaters, and drunkards either. (Now don't take that personal, I wasn't referencing anyone on this thread!)

 

Did you ever stop to think that maybe, just maybe it would be mentioned at some point in the dating process that she used to be a man?

Don't automatically assume anyone is a liar unless you have proof. Just because she was born with a penis and would prefer a vagina doesn't mean she'll lie about it.

And this isn't a "hook-up site" for anyone. The personals section is, but as the webmaster pointed out on the thread that started all this, that the personals are not to be brought to the board.

This is a message board for conversation. Conversing with someone doesn't constitute having sex with them or having more than a casual conversation, an on top of all that she put "Shemale" in the freaking title of the thread". So not only is she informed that this is not the place for advertising for a date, but she didn't seem all that mean, and she was upfront about everything from the very beginning. There wasn't any lying on her part, she said nothing wrong (and even rearranged what she'd originally said when she was told about how "slut" isn't exactly a nice word in English), she can't turn this bloody website into a gay hook-up site unless she does so through the personals in which case it has no bearing on this forum or it's members whatsoever...So why does that even come into the equation? "If this were a gay hook-up site" shouldn't even matter, since it's not a hook-up site for anything so it's not like you're suddenly going to have to watch gay porn because she's here. You're not going to turn gay. You may think it's a choice, but even if it is, it's not a contagious choice. You can't catch our cooties, especially not through the internet.

I'm sorry. I don't want to be rude, but this thought process you've expressed seems a bit irrational to me. I understand it's against your believes for a person to behave as the person in question does in their personal life, but I don't understand how you can disapprove so greatly that you can't even ignore them on a message board. If one gay person's presence bothers you so much as to make you question a website where previously no mention of homosexuality had been stated except when I and one other girl that I know of mentioned being bisexual...then there's something wrong.

One person. After you've been here for a while, seeing that there aren't clandestine gay sex going on behind closed forum doors, you still think that one person is going to suddenly change the very fabric of this website, which is expressly a heterosexual site in the first place, as stated in the address?!?!. You liked it before...why stop now?

It sounds like the mentality of my hometown, which is old school Baptist, by the way. Bible belt baptist. These people think that the presence of one black person would taint their precious community and everyone in it.

Don't worry, I don't think they're right, either.

In both situations the people are deeply religious, all believing themselves to be perfect Christians. But I was told Christianity is about love, and forgiveness. I was told God loved everyone, and wanted to forgive his children because he knew they were flawed, and he wanted us to be loving enough about our fellow man to forgive him, too. Discrimination isn't loving. Generally it's either seeded in fear, or hatred.

If God would like to forgive us for what we do, if God is so damn benevolent that anything can be forgiven if only you love him in return and be a good person, then why is it so hard to just be in the online presence of someone who wants a different gender? If God would hate her for it, then so be it. But do you really think God wants you to hate her for it? Why don't you let God figure it out. I think he knows what he thinks better than you.


And as for your explanation about Eunuchs...again, I'm sorry, but I don't use the bible as the last word in everything. It goes down to belief, and while I appreciate the information, we'll just have to agree to having different ideas about the word.

 

Nah, you're not a pussy. "Pussy's" when it comes to smokin are the lil bastards who love to smoke but are always falling asleep two hits in. *L* You'd be classified as a "non-smoker". Ain't nothing wrong with that.

I've never heard of anyone's tongue going black. o.o I'm telling you, this doesn't sound like something that happens on weed usually. The only bad experiences I've heard of to this degree have been from people who believe the shit was laced with someone.

I had a bad one my first time, but it was cause I psyched myself out. I got scared, because my mom is allergic and I wasn't fully expecting it to be the way it was, so I got scared. And being scared when you're high is double than when you're not. So I basically made myself have a bad trip. After my friend calmed me down I was great, though, and I just laughed at stupid stuff for the next hour.

The emotions you had going on could've definitely made the experience unpleasant, though I'm not sure if it would've done so to such a degree. It mostly just mellows me out, a kinda herbal zoloft, which is why I love it. If I'm feeling horrible a couple tokes make me chill out a bit.

But eh. Some people can't take aspirin. If it was so bad, I'd definitely not suggest trying it again, even though it's likely it was laced (regardless of what your friend said. They might not have noticed anything off with it). But since there's also the possibe allergy, it's not something to attempt unless you know for sure. Different substances affect people differently, so maybe your sign went lenient on you with alcohol but decided to push the drug part to make up for it! *L*

 

You are not proving your point. It works like this:
You can be who you are, and live with people hating and slandering you.
Or you can surpress your feelings, choose to be someone else then you, be depressed, suicidal and have a horrible life.
You do not choose to be yourself, you choose not to live a lie.

It is english. And the zie/hir thing is starting to be used to show respect. Show that we respect these people and their struggle to be true to themselves.

Oh, in this country, religious people are a minority. ^_^. In this city, most religious people are secularized muslims actually. And never EVER have I got the Qu'ran bashed on my head in a discussion the same way I get christianity.

We do show respect for your believes, it's just that you don't show respect for people, and then say that it's christian values. To non-christians that just sounds like something you say to get away with hate.

Please, check the difference between scientific theory and the everyday use of the word theory. I agree that the evolution isn't a falsifiable fact, but it is a scientific theory. Religion, however, is not.
And the only one considering evolution a religion, are hardcore christians.
Faith based on survival of the fittest, could possibly count as religion, or just you know, general evil because they lead the racism, fascism etc.. but evolution is NOT the same thing.

I think this is a cultural thing. I'm not used to people being this hardcore religious. If my dad said similar things, I'd say bye bye to him and not talk to him again more or less. My life, my choice.

And no, I don't think we should quiet down oppinions, as long as they are not based on hate. But you need to be able to realize that when you voice these opinions you will get people upset, and people will tell you to get real or whatever, just like people tell me, when I step over the line or say something controversial. Religion is not an alibi.

 

The whole going to hell question is interesting.
Being an atheist and all: My first thought is how can I possibly go somewhere that doesn't exist?
Even the state church here has said that hell is just a metaphore.

I don't think my soul is going anywhere. Since the soul is just a metaphore for the synapses in my brain twinkling away.. And I have a hard time see them stand up and walk away to any place without the help of a body.

Its quite impossible to say "but you will all go to hell!" if people don't even believe in it. There you go again, thinking that christianity is a fact, and not a believes. You think we that it's possible for us to end up in what you call hell, but there is not an actuall risk for it.

 

Actually to believe heaven and hell exists is more feasible than not to believe, if it doesn't exist where are you going when you die? unless ofcourse you believe in reincarnation?

 

If you don't see the deception, I won't argue it any further here!

You're right, and I do admit I over-reacted there, so do you forgive me?

Got it! Thanks for setting me straight! :smt023

You have a great point, you aren't rude, you are just vocal, like me, so it really doesn't bug me that much, I even appreciate your input, I can ignore him in the future, and I probably will and you are right about the website not catering to gays, but I am still within my first 90 days (you know the probationary period, OK?) Just like you all are getting to know me, I'm getting to know you.

I haven't stopped liking this site, I actually have discovered a few good things about it through all this. I just felt, for a while, my views wouldn't be allowed, (I don't care if they aren't accepted) and since that is who I am I know it will come across in a lot of my posts. I don't want to offend people nor do I plan to spend a lot of time defending myself, nor do I plan to try to stifle my belief system in my speech, but I will be more careful in the way I word things. I guess I just needed to put things in the right area of the site and leave it there.

GOOD for you!! Neither do I on that subject, I am neither Baptist, nor from the Bible belt, but I'm sure some of what they teach I would agree with, and I probably have a lot in common with them.

I don't hate nor do I fear any people groups, nor any individuals, but I do not believe discrimination in the sense I am talking about is wrong. I chose my friends carefully, I also chose who I allow to teach me carefully.

I can learn a lot from you, for instance, because you come from an area where there has been a lot of racism, and you have been through a lot more in that area than I can even imagine here in AZ. I can learn a lot from the black men and white women on this site due to the collective experiences in IR relationships. However I do not think a shemale can teach me anything I want to know, and in that I "discriminate".

It has been said that you are most like your 5 best friends, (financially, socially, spiritually, etc...) I find it to be true most of the time.

Again, I don't hate him! I simply was shocked that I got such an attack at the few words I stated in disagreement with his lifestyle. That was more what made me re-evaluate my participation here.

I'm glad we can agree to disagree. That's what's so great about America.

You see I do accept the Bible as the last word on pretty much everything. I live my life by it, and if I do find it in there it's important to me, if I don't find it clear enough, I'm less opinionated on that issue.

 

I've never lived anywhere that religious people are a minority, so I really don't have anything to say about that.

I don't hate any people, but I do hate certain behaviors. I think you do to. I heard some strong words from you when you spoke about women who save themselves for one man, in another thread.

Probably to some extent, it is a regional or cultural thing. My dad will come around. He is kind when I speak about my guy, he hasn't met him yet, but I know my dad is a very loving man, and will grow to love him too.

I don't mind the disagreement, I just had to find out how much of me people on this site are willing to take. I don't agree with you in a lot of your posts, you know that, but if you can say you don't think we should quiet down, then I'm glad because I don't think so either.

BRING IT ON GIRL!! :smt068:smt083:smt051:smt077

 

Well I think we have a question of semantics here!

To me the very word belief, means I have a real persuasion that it is indeed TRUTH! So if I say I have an opinion, that, is not a belief, if I say it is a theory, again, not a belief. But to say it is a belief constitutes that it is to me FACT.

It means I have accepted that FACT as TRUTH by FAITH! That's what it is to really believe something.

If you do not have such a strong persuasion, then it is not a belief, it is only an opinion, or a leaning, or something less than a belief.

So if you are not so strongly persuaded that there is no God, if you can not say you have accepted it to be so by FAITH then you are not, in my opinion an atheist, you are more likely an agnostic. Thus your style of atheism may indeed not be a religion. Because you are accepting nothing on FAITH!

 

Centuries from now, cyber-anthropologists will look back on these chatboard discussions and decide to include some of them in museum collections. Millions of people will get a chance to read about the various superstitions that characterized the early part of the 21st century.

The best that you can say about it is that Sweden had a huge head start on the rest of the world.

 

The middle word in Believe is lie. A man convinced against his will is of the same opinion in the end. one day I'll break down religion and the 16 crucified saviors

 

Sounds interesting. I'd like to read about that!

 

I feel lazy tonight. So here you go http://www.infidels.org/library/historical/kersey_graves/16/chap16.html You can also get the book from any book store.