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On January 29 2013 13:07 KwarK wrote: You missed the point. It's not about underpopulation, it's about giving every sperm a shot at becoming a person. God hates wasted sperm.
aw shit, I wish someone gave me a memo, I'm going to hell for sure, I've wasted at least 10x more sperm than your average 20 year old gay guy.
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On January 29 2013 13:30 Jormundr wrote:Show nested quote +On January 29 2013 13:19 Foblos wrote:On January 29 2013 13:15 Jormundr wrote:On January 29 2013 13:11 Foblos wrote:On January 29 2013 12:55 KwarK wrote:On January 29 2013 12:50 Foblos wrote:On January 29 2013 12:35 KwarK wrote:On January 29 2013 12:30 Foblos wrote:On January 29 2013 12:25 Arghmyliver wrote: It all just stems from ignorance. I think it's sad that people are so afraid of something they will go to any length to justify their hatred of it - even citing divine edict.
I hope one day we can learn to live more tolerably.
: ( I don't think a low view of homosexuality is "ignorant." People who choose to withhold their support of it may acknowledge that it is uniquely abhorrent in the fact that it has no purpose in producing offspring, which is the biological and anatomical purpose of the sex organs, and as far as sex it only satisfies lust. People may also recognize that homosexuals (specifically men) have to undergo extreme rigor in the safety of their sex because they are more likely to produce stds. Some of those people happen to be Christians, yes, and the Bible does indeed cite two places where homosexuality is explicitly condemned, but in the New Testament it does not offer any leeway to hate. I can't speak for other religions. Then, of course there are just hateful bigots and you may be more correct in stating that they are ignorant. Nevertheless, just because someone does not support all the values that you may or may not believe in does not make them ignorant. For these arguments to be consistent then they must also be applied to infertile people or people who use birth control. It would be very hard to make a case that a group was homophobic if they denied access to anyone who engaged in non procreative sex. But when you say it's about procreation but only pick the subgroup of people having non procreative sex who are gays to discriminate against then it's clear that it's actually another criteria being used. Well, I'm only speaking about homosexuals here, and was giving informed evidence of why people don't like it to illustrate that it isn't solely ignorant people who don't support homosexuality. Regarding the infertile people, that doesn't really apply here because it isn't by choice. The example of people on birth control is a better parallel and we could debate on the morality of whether or not men with girlfriends on birth control should be allowed into the BSA (when I was in it I believe we were expected to not be having sex unless we were married...to a female), but there are also other reasons why a woman might take birth control other than just because she is sexually active. I'm not 100% sure what it is, but I have a friend who is frequently sick and the medicine she is on for her illness is something like $500 before insurance and even after insurance it is cheaper for her to pay for birth control out of pocket and the birth control apparently works at least as well for her as the prescription drugs. Are there any cases of anyone being kicked out of the BSA for having protected sex (condom, blow job, hand job) with their girlfriend? Because if not then the "non procreative sex is lustful and immoral" argument would seem to only apply to gays. This is the problem with these arguments. Gays are, in pretty much every respect, much like everyone else. Firstly, I didn't argue that non-protected sex is lust. I said that it seems to me that the only purpose of homosexual sex is to gratify the sexual desires found in everyone: i.e. lust. That said, I'm not a BSA historian so I don't know for a fact, but I would venture to guess that there have been people kicked out for all of the reasons you listed. Essentially though, what it comes down to with the BSA is that they have a right to make their own rules, and whatever logic or rhetoric you use to convince them that their arguments are fallible (if they even argue from a logical perspective) won't matter. They are legally entitled to their beliefs, as are you, and that is that. My only purpose in posting on this thread was to demonstrate that not everyone who opposes the homosexual movement/agenda or whathaveyou are ignorant or backwards as some in this thread have suggested. Good, then explain a logical position that denounces homosexuality. You haven't done that yet. We're in no danger of species extinction through underpopulation, so your former position doesn't hold any weight. Furthermore, your position is driven more ludicrous because the looming threat on the horizon is OVERPOPULATION, something homosexuality has a positive effect against. Please review the post that you just quoted, as I edited it to respond to your initial post against me, which I had not seen. Additionally, please reread the last sentence of the post that you just quoted. My purpose in this thread is NOT to write a peer-reviewed journal article that will display beyond all power of criticism why homosexuality is immoral, and why we should all take up weapons and burn them at the stake. My purpose IS to demonstrate that I can have informed reasons why I may or may not agree with the homosexual agenda, and that because I may disagree with those who do support it doesn't make me backwards or ignorant. THEN DO THAT! Make a logical, reasonable case for people are vehemently anti-gay! You're the only one in your way, so get to it!. You made a claim. Your claim was that people are against gay people because they can't reproduce. First off, this is false. A gay man can have his sperm implanted in a surrogate mother. A lesbian woman can have her sperm fertilized externally by a third party and implanted in herself or a surrogate. Second of all, this argument does not reflect the sincere viewpoint of even 1% of the group you are trying to defend. This might be because of the above two points which make this argument kind of pointless.
Again, read the spoiled quotes. In full. At the end of my first post I said "Then, of course there are just hateful bigots and you may be more correct in stating that they are ignorant. Nevertheless, just because someone does not support all the values that you may or may not believe in does not make them ignorant." The people I was referring to there are what I would interpret as the "people are vehemently anti-gay," and I make no excuse for them. I'm also not intending to make a completely logical and reasonable case for the anti-gay side. I simply raised a few points of why someone who is reasonably well informed may object to the homosexual lifestyle.
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United States7483 Posts
On January 29 2013 13:28 Foblos wrote:Show nested quote +On January 29 2013 13:19 KwarK wrote:On January 29 2013 13:11 Foblos wrote:On January 29 2013 12:55 KwarK wrote:On January 29 2013 12:50 Foblos wrote:On January 29 2013 12:35 KwarK wrote:On January 29 2013 12:30 Foblos wrote:On January 29 2013 12:25 Arghmyliver wrote: It all just stems from ignorance. I think it's sad that people are so afraid of something they will go to any length to justify their hatred of it - even citing divine edict.
I hope one day we can learn to live more tolerably.
: ( I don't think a low view of homosexuality is "ignorant." People who choose to withhold their support of it may acknowledge that it is uniquely abhorrent in the fact that it has no purpose in producing offspring, which is the biological and anatomical purpose of the sex organs, and as far as sex it only satisfies lust. People may also recognize that homosexuals (specifically men) have to undergo extreme rigor in the safety of their sex because they are more likely to produce stds. Some of those people happen to be Christians, yes, and the Bible does indeed cite two places where homosexuality is explicitly condemned, but in the New Testament it does not offer any leeway to hate. I can't speak for other religions. Then, of course there are just hateful bigots and you may be more correct in stating that they are ignorant. Nevertheless, just because someone does not support all the values that you may or may not believe in does not make them ignorant. For these arguments to be consistent then they must also be applied to infertile people or people who use birth control. It would be very hard to make a case that a group was homophobic if they denied access to anyone who engaged in non procreative sex. But when you say it's about procreation but only pick the subgroup of people having non procreative sex who are gays to discriminate against then it's clear that it's actually another criteria being used. Well, I'm only speaking about homosexuals here, and was giving informed evidence of why people don't like it to illustrate that it isn't solely ignorant people who don't support homosexuality. Regarding the infertile people, that doesn't really apply here because it isn't by choice. The example of people on birth control is a better parallel and we could debate on the morality of whether or not men with girlfriends on birth control should be allowed into the BSA (when I was in it I believe we were expected to not be having sex unless we were married...to a female), but there are also other reasons why a woman might take birth control other than just because she is sexually active. I'm not 100% sure what it is, but I have a friend who is frequently sick and the medicine she is on for her illness is something like $500 before insurance and even after insurance it is cheaper for her to pay for birth control out of pocket and the birth control apparently works at least as well for her as the prescription drugs. Are there any cases of anyone being kicked out of the BSA for having protected sex (condom, blow job, hand job) with their girlfriend? Because if not then the "non procreative sex is lustful and immoral" argument would seem to only apply to gays. This is the problem with these arguments. Gays are, in pretty much every respect, much like everyone else. Firstly, I didn't argue that non-protected sex is lust. I said that it seems to me that the only purpose of homosexual sex is to gratify the sexual desires found in everyone: i.e. lust. That said, I'm not a BSA historian so I don't know for a fact, but I would venture to guess that there have been people kicked out for all of the reasons you listed. Essentially though, what it comes down to with the BSA is that they have a right to make their own rules, and whatever logic or rhetoric you use to convince them that their arguments are fallible (if they even argue from a logical perspective) won't matter. They are legally entitled to their beliefs, as are you, and that is that. My only purpose in posting on this thread was to demonstrate that not everyone who opposes the homosexual movement/agenda or whathaveyou are ignorant or backwards as some in this thread have suggested. You haven't demonstrated that. You have attempted to show that there are objections to homosexual behaviour that aren't just "because they're gay" but your objections do not appear to be consistent with the actions of anyone you suggested might hold them. Imagine if you said "their policy isn't specifically homophobic, they just banned everyone with brown eyes", you would have to show that A) they banned people who weren't gay who had brown eyes and B) they didn't ban people who were gay who didn't have brown eyes. Unfortunately their policy is specifically homophobic. I see. With my objections, I wasn't trying to defend the BSA. I was more or less defending the people who others in this thread have referred to as 'backward' simply because they disagree with the other people's stance. More specifically, I was attempting a rebuttle to the person I quoted in my OP who said the entire problem stemmed from ignorance. Regarding the BSA, it doesn't matter if they have a logical position or not. The are a private group that does not have to allow everyone, and the people they do allow represent them. If they don't want gays to represent them, there is no reason why they should have to. We may disagree on whether or not that is 'right,' but it is a fact. In another situation, I wouldn't want a GMO company representing me as an organic growth advocate. They may not be pure evil, but their cause still does not line up with mine and they shouldn't represent me on account of that.
It's a private group which apparently receives government funding and/or benefits that other private groups do not receive. Do you not see a problem with that?
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United States41979 Posts
On January 29 2013 13:28 Foblos wrote: Regarding the BSA, it doesn't matter if they have a logical position or not. It absolutely does matter whether or not they can logically defend their stance as not homophobic. I feel at this point you're just sidestepping into "it doesn't matter anyway" when you've run out of ground to retreat to. It might not matter in the sense that they cannot be legally compelled (in the US) to alter an openly homophobic policy but it absolutely matters for their public image and for people who may want to not be a part of a homophobic organisation.
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United States41979 Posts
On January 29 2013 13:35 Foblos wrote:Show nested quote +On January 29 2013 13:30 Jormundr wrote:On January 29 2013 13:19 Foblos wrote:On January 29 2013 13:15 Jormundr wrote:On January 29 2013 13:11 Foblos wrote:On January 29 2013 12:55 KwarK wrote:On January 29 2013 12:50 Foblos wrote:On January 29 2013 12:35 KwarK wrote:On January 29 2013 12:30 Foblos wrote:On January 29 2013 12:25 Arghmyliver wrote: It all just stems from ignorance. I think it's sad that people are so afraid of something they will go to any length to justify their hatred of it - even citing divine edict.
I hope one day we can learn to live more tolerably.
: ( I don't think a low view of homosexuality is "ignorant." People who choose to withhold their support of it may acknowledge that it is uniquely abhorrent in the fact that it has no purpose in producing offspring, which is the biological and anatomical purpose of the sex organs, and as far as sex it only satisfies lust. People may also recognize that homosexuals (specifically men) have to undergo extreme rigor in the safety of their sex because they are more likely to produce stds. Some of those people happen to be Christians, yes, and the Bible does indeed cite two places where homosexuality is explicitly condemned, but in the New Testament it does not offer any leeway to hate. I can't speak for other religions. Then, of course there are just hateful bigots and you may be more correct in stating that they are ignorant. Nevertheless, just because someone does not support all the values that you may or may not believe in does not make them ignorant. For these arguments to be consistent then they must also be applied to infertile people or people who use birth control. It would be very hard to make a case that a group was homophobic if they denied access to anyone who engaged in non procreative sex. But when you say it's about procreation but only pick the subgroup of people having non procreative sex who are gays to discriminate against then it's clear that it's actually another criteria being used. Well, I'm only speaking about homosexuals here, and was giving informed evidence of why people don't like it to illustrate that it isn't solely ignorant people who don't support homosexuality. Regarding the infertile people, that doesn't really apply here because it isn't by choice. The example of people on birth control is a better parallel and we could debate on the morality of whether or not men with girlfriends on birth control should be allowed into the BSA (when I was in it I believe we were expected to not be having sex unless we were married...to a female), but there are also other reasons why a woman might take birth control other than just because she is sexually active. I'm not 100% sure what it is, but I have a friend who is frequently sick and the medicine she is on for her illness is something like $500 before insurance and even after insurance it is cheaper for her to pay for birth control out of pocket and the birth control apparently works at least as well for her as the prescription drugs. Are there any cases of anyone being kicked out of the BSA for having protected sex (condom, blow job, hand job) with their girlfriend? Because if not then the "non procreative sex is lustful and immoral" argument would seem to only apply to gays. This is the problem with these arguments. Gays are, in pretty much every respect, much like everyone else. Firstly, I didn't argue that non-protected sex is lust. I said that it seems to me that the only purpose of homosexual sex is to gratify the sexual desires found in everyone: i.e. lust. That said, I'm not a BSA historian so I don't know for a fact, but I would venture to guess that there have been people kicked out for all of the reasons you listed. Essentially though, what it comes down to with the BSA is that they have a right to make their own rules, and whatever logic or rhetoric you use to convince them that their arguments are fallible (if they even argue from a logical perspective) won't matter. They are legally entitled to their beliefs, as are you, and that is that. My only purpose in posting on this thread was to demonstrate that not everyone who opposes the homosexual movement/agenda or whathaveyou are ignorant or backwards as some in this thread have suggested. Good, then explain a logical position that denounces homosexuality. You haven't done that yet. We're in no danger of species extinction through underpopulation, so your former position doesn't hold any weight. Furthermore, your position is driven more ludicrous because the looming threat on the horizon is OVERPOPULATION, something homosexuality has a positive effect against. Please review the post that you just quoted, as I edited it to respond to your initial post against me, which I had not seen. Additionally, please reread the last sentence of the post that you just quoted. My purpose in this thread is NOT to write a peer-reviewed journal article that will display beyond all power of criticism why homosexuality is immoral, and why we should all take up weapons and burn them at the stake. My purpose IS to demonstrate that I can have informed reasons why I may or may not agree with the homosexual agenda, and that because I may disagree with those who do support it doesn't make me backwards or ignorant. THEN DO THAT! Make a logical, reasonable case for people are vehemently anti-gay! You're the only one in your way, so get to it!. You made a claim. Your claim was that people are against gay people because they can't reproduce. First off, this is false. A gay man can have his sperm implanted in a surrogate mother. A lesbian woman can have her sperm fertilized externally by a third party and implanted in herself or a surrogate. Second of all, this argument does not reflect the sincere viewpoint of even 1% of the group you are trying to defend. This might be because of the above two points which make this argument kind of pointless. Again, read the spoiled quotes. In full. At the end of my first post I said "Then, of course there are just hateful bigots and you may be more correct in stating that they are ignorant. Nevertheless, just because someone does not support all the values that you may or may not believe in does not make them ignorant." The people I was referring to there are what I would interpret as the "people are vehemently anti-gay," and I make no excuse for them. I'm also not intending to make a completely logical and reasonable case for the anti-gay side. I simply raised a few points of why someone who is reasonably well informed may object to the homosexual lifestyle. But your points were ignorant, poorly thought through and nonsensical. You have utterly failed to show why anyone not ignorant would be homophobic. If anything you've shown the opposite. If you're really trying to defend opposition to gays here then you are doing your side no credit.
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On January 29 2013 13:36 KwarK wrote:Show nested quote +On January 29 2013 13:28 Foblos wrote: Regarding the BSA, it doesn't matter if they have a logical position or not. It absolutely does matter whether or not they can logically defend their stance as not homophobic. I feel at this point you're just sidestepping into "it doesn't matter anyway" when you've run out of ground to retreat to. It might not matter in the sense that they cannot be legally compelled (in the US) to alter an openly homophobic policy but it absolutely matters for their public image and for people who may want to not be a part of a homophobic organisation.
I don't intend to sidestep. My purpose was never to defend the BSA's position. Regarding their right to maintain a position which you may find morally wrong or logically lacking, I think Mecra wrote quite an eloquent post explaining it.
On January 29 2013 13:34 mecra wrote:Wow, all the Christian hate. Plus the whole argument that Christians are wrong to dislike homosexuals goes against the religion's beliefs. Here's the deal, to Christians, including myself, homosexuality is sin. Plainly and simply stated in the Bible. If we are to believe the Bible, then we are to subscribe to that notion. If we are to be Christians, we subscribe to said book. Now, other concepts are also in there that I agree a lot of Christians don't adhere to very well. For example, loving thy neighbor, regardless if they are homosexuals, atheists, or the like is a pillar of the faith. So, while Christians view homosexuals as sinners, there is no clause in there to state that they should hate them or such. In this, a lot of Christians are found wanting, I won't disagree with that. I strongly dislike it when people basically want to throw out the Bible for its stance on things but yet want to still be true Christians. It really doesn't work like that. You may still believe in God, but once you start purposefully dissecting the book into things you agree with and don't, you've effectively created your own religion with the sole purpose to console yourself. Religion isn't something you get to specifically create with any hopes of it being true. (oh the flood of posts on this one point, of which I won't address here.) A great number of Christians believe the religion to be very true, and thus the Bible its guidance. To claim the Bible is wrong, that the Christian should just sit in their house to pray and stay hidden, is the very essence of proclaiming them and their religion as nothing but paper and folded hands. You are stating that Christians are wrong in the same way they proclaim homosexuality wrong. Both sides negate, one based on a religion, and the other based on ideal. You don't get to tell one group to go hide, but then declare others get full reign to do whatever they want. You stomp on the rights of the one group, in favor of the other. You stomp on the rights of Christians to want their world to be somewhat in alignment with their beliefs. What if society decided that pedophilia wasn't so bad and that the age of consent was 10? I'll tell you one thing, Christians won't like that at all. Other people, however, may see it as a logical extension of being and thus want equal rights. Religion gives a rock to stand on to base one's beliefs. When there is no rock, you can simply adopt any belief and claim its truth and justification. Society does the rest to implant it, which of course doesn't actually mean it's true. Just that it's commonly accepted. (At least until scientifically proven.) Anyway, I'm just posting some thoughts on religion. One poster above said, "I hope one day we can learn to live more tolerably." Believe me when I say that Christians wish the same thing. Lately it's fun to poke fun at an entire religion because of a small number of people. I don't know any of the types of Christians that would cause the world to rage at us, so I get highly annoyed when those people are used as prime examples of why a religion fails. We have simply way too many people in the world, and as a result, you are going to get bad apples in every walk of life. So, to finalize, the Boy Scouts are a Christian organization. To Christians who read their Bible, homosexuals pose a conundrum. If it's the BSA's line to not allow homosexuality (changing it seems), atheists, or agnostics, that is their right. Now it may cost them money, support, etc, but it is ultimately their right to be able to stand for their beliefs. It's easy to stand for your beliefs when they are all encompassing and they go with the general populace. It's generally not so easy when religious. So, I applaud them for standing their ground. If they feel that they need to change, that is also their right.edit - I apologize for the size of the post. Just had a lot to say I guess. 
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On January 29 2013 12:04 Risen wrote:
Can a man say no? Yes. Can an animal? End of discussion. Damn that was hard to think through, eh?
Edit: don't know why I expect anything different from someone who in the same post says he follows higher power morals not realizing he's been taught all his morals by other humans and not God.
Ok, I'll bite. Lets suppose a man has a dolphin or bonobo. Both of which have sex for purposes other than reproducing. Is it ok for the man to have sex with the bonobo or dolphin as long as he doesn't force it to have sex with him? What if he bribes the bonobo or dolphin with food, and they're ok with it?
I know thats wierd (and its a decently stupid example, i think theres truth here), but I feel like there are so many situations that are hard to justify.
I don't think athiests are fine with that, but I could be wrong. One thing I do appreciate about atheism is that usually the people are critical thinkers.
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United States41979 Posts
You just sidestepped again into freedom of religion. Nobody is saying they're not legally entitled to homophobic religious beliefs. They're condemning the beliefs. Completely different.
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edit: damn. posting on tl is hard.
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United States41979 Posts
On January 29 2013 13:41 HumpingHydra wrote:Show nested quote +On January 29 2013 12:04 Risen wrote:
Can a man say no? Yes. Can an animal? End of discussion. Damn that was hard to think through, eh?
Edit: don't know why I expect anything different from someone who in the same post says he follows higher power morals not realizing he's been taught all his morals by other humans and not God. Ok, I'll bite. Lets suppose a man has a dolphin or bonobo. Both of which have sex for purposes other than reproducing. Is it ok for the man to have sex with the bonobo or dolphin as long as he doesn't force it to have sex with him? What if he bribes the bonobo or dolphin with food, and they're ok with it? I know thats wierd (and its a decently stupid example, i think theres truth here), but I feel like there are so many situations that are hard to justify. I don't think athiests are fine with that, but I could be wrong. One thing I do appreciate about atheism is that usually the people are critical thinkers. If you can murder an animal then you can rape an animal. Nobody needs to eat steak, they're just hedonists indulging urges. It's no different. Beastiality gets an all clear from me up until the animals themselves sign a petition against it which I'll expect right after the one banning abattoirs.
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On January 29 2013 13:23 Jormundr wrote:Show nested quote +On January 29 2013 13:17 FeelingTookish wrote:On January 29 2013 12:52 Buff345 wrote:On January 29 2013 12:42 FeelingTookish wrote: I think it's a bit dehumanizing to wildly paint people who discourage the homosexual lifestyle (majority of the world, all of history I'm pretty sure) as "bigots", "ignorant", people who somehow "fear" homosexuals, and especially "hateful". These just aren't accurate. The vast majority of people don't go out of their way to condemn homosexuals as terrible people. They simply believe in the man-and-wife, white picket fence, bring-home-the-bacon kind of lifestyle and I don't think that's to be frowned upon. The problem for me personally though is I have no idea why someone would think its better to be straight or to be gay. Like, how could someone think that one way of life is superior for someone else. I can understand if they are looking at their situation and are like, yo it would be way easier this way. But if the person with the controversial life enjoys living his life that way, then why would anyone else care? I think thats how it is for most people. Unfortunately, i think people are assuming that the only way for someone to think someone else should live their life differently is because of religion. I dont know if thats true or not, but i know that not all religious people tell others to live their lives certain ways. I personally think it is better to be a heterosexual. I totally recommend it. I think it's great and the best way to live. I also like 80's rock music, dubstep, and computer programming. I naturally want people to enjoy what I enjoy and dislike what I dislike. I discourage people from listening to the Beatles and driving a Prius. I encourage people to admire a Firebird Trans Am. I don't feel ashamed of this. I don't feel like a hateful person. Everyone thinks their own way of life is superior. Think of it like that when you see a white Christian man who'd rather not have homosexuals teaching his children that the way of life they've known is oppressive and backwards and ignorant. I am personally fine with anyone who hates niggers. I just don't believe that our government or any commercial or non-profit entity within it should be allowed to discriminate against someone based upon some man-made classification. It seems a bit petty, to decide what a human being can and cannot do based on the color of their skin or who they legally fuck. I, believing in limited government, think that the government has no place throwing tax money at any social organization, regardless of purpose, regardless of their social and political values. In California, whites, and especially asians are empirically discriminated against in the public universities with respect to admission. This is also wrong. It seems we agree.
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On January 29 2013 13:45 KwarK wrote: If you can murder an animal then you can rape an animal. Nobody needs to eat steak, they're just hedonists indulging urges. It's no different. Beastiality gets an all clear from me up until the animals themselves sign a petition against it which I'll expect right after the one banning abattoirs.
This is a perfectly good example of one of my points. The world has the ability to define right and wrong simply by whim or until it becomes common practice. People might argue about torturing the animal vs just killing it, but again, how can anyone really argue either way without a moral base. Animals can't speak words, so unless we use their actions, there's no justification to claim what's happening is wrong. This is obviously where Christians grind against the world since a great deal of their morals come from religious texts and are thusly already defined.
In 10-20 years, who knows what the world will say is right or wrong. I'm not saying it's right or wrong, it's just the nature of a system that self defines itself whenever it desires. So, as with homosexuality, what will be the item of moral debate in the next generation?
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On January 29 2013 13:57 mecra wrote:Show nested quote +On January 29 2013 13:45 KwarK wrote: If you can murder an animal then you can rape an animal. Nobody needs to eat steak, they're just hedonists indulging urges. It's no different. Beastiality gets an all clear from me up until the animals themselves sign a petition against it which I'll expect right after the one banning abattoirs. This is a perfectly good example of one of my points. The world has the ability to define right and wrong simply by whim or until it becomes common practice. People might argue about torturing the animal vs just killing it, but again, how can anyone really argue either way without a moral base. Animals can't speak words, so unless we use their actions, there's no justification to claim what's happening is wrong. This is obviously where Christians grind against the world since a great deal of their morals come from religious texts and are thusly already defined. In 10-20 years, who knows what the world will say is right or wrong. I'm not saying it's right or wrong, it's just the nature of a system that self defines itself whenever it desires. So, as with homosexuality, what will be the item of moral debate in the next generation?
This is largely the point I was trying to make, unfortunately it seemed to be largely ignored as well .
Morality is subject to the perspective of the majority.
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On January 29 2013 13:57 mecra wrote:Show nested quote +On January 29 2013 13:45 KwarK wrote: If you can murder an animal then you can rape an animal. Nobody needs to eat steak, they're just hedonists indulging urges. It's no different. Beastiality gets an all clear from me up until the animals themselves sign a petition against it which I'll expect right after the one banning abattoirs. This is a perfectly good example of one of my points. The world has the ability to define right and wrong simply by whim or until it becomes common practice. People might argue about torturing the animal vs just killing it, but again, how can anyone really argue either way without a moral base. Animals can't speak words, so unless we use their actions, there's no justification to claim what's happening is wrong. This is obviously where Christians grind against the world since a great deal of their morals come from religious texts and are thusly already defined. In 10-20 years, who knows what the world will say is right or wrong. I'm not saying it's right or wrong, it's just the nature of a system that self defines itself whenever it desires. So, as with homosexuality, what will be the item of moral debate in the next generation? You could understand his post? I couldn't sift through all the sarcasm... If it was sarcasm. Murdering animals? Who murders animals? The closest you can get to murder (that is acceptable in society) is hunting for sport, but thats for the challenge, the hunt, not the physical act of killing? Mind you, I may have missed KwarK's point entirely because Im tired/dumb/both.
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On January 29 2013 13:45 KwarK wrote:Show nested quote +On January 29 2013 13:41 HumpingHydra wrote:On January 29 2013 12:04 Risen wrote:
Can a man say no? Yes. Can an animal? End of discussion. Damn that was hard to think through, eh?
Edit: don't know why I expect anything different from someone who in the same post says he follows higher power morals not realizing he's been taught all his morals by other humans and not God. Ok, I'll bite. Lets suppose a man has a dolphin or bonobo. Both of which have sex for purposes other than reproducing. Is it ok for the man to have sex with the bonobo or dolphin as long as he doesn't force it to have sex with him? What if he bribes the bonobo or dolphin with food, and they're ok with it? I know thats wierd (and its a decently stupid example, i think theres truth here), but I feel like there are so many situations that are hard to justify. I don't think athiests are fine with that, but I could be wrong. One thing I do appreciate about atheism is that usually the people are critical thinkers. If you can murder an animal then you can rape an animal.
Ugh why does this seem so logical and illogical at the same time?
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On January 29 2013 13:08 Jormundr wrote:Show nested quote +On January 29 2013 12:57 FeelingTookish wrote:On January 29 2013 12:48 Jormundr wrote:On January 29 2013 12:42 FeelingTookish wrote: I think it's a bit dehumanizing to wildly paint people who discourage the homosexual lifestyle (majority of the world, all of history I'm pretty sure) as "bigots", "ignorant", people who somehow "fear" homosexuals, and especially "hateful". These just aren't accurate. The vast majority of people don't go out of their way to condemn homosexuals as terrible people. They simply believe in the man-and-wife, white picket fence, bring-home-the-bacon kind of lifestyle and I don't think that's to be frowned upon. One man, one woman, add misogyny. Got it. I mean, I don't hate christians. I don't actively condemn them as terrible people (because I stay away from them whenever I can). I just try to make sure that they can't get married or raise children. I'm not sure belief in traditional gender roles implies misogyny any more than it implies misandry. I think both sexes should be encouraged to use the strengths biologically given to them. And you brought up child-rearing, so I'll pitch this: It's hard to argue that one mother and one father is demonstrably the ideal situation for a child, however much you may cite the divorce rate, etc. When and where were these gender roles traditional, and what were they? What strengths are biologically given to men to make them more able to "bring-home-the-bacon"? Enlighten me! Really? You haven't figured out that women are better looking and men are stronger, that women are better at dealing with small children, and a man makes a better commando, sheriff, ditch-digger, etc? Is this too common-sensical for you or do you want me to dig up obscure statistics and lengthy historical arguments? If you can't accept this premise, then any argument we have will be rather low-level and semantic.
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LOL humping hydra, what an appropriate name .
But aside from that this recent discussion makes me wonder if there is any reasonable justification for...not liking homosexuals? Wanting to ban them from holding positions in your club? I guess that's what it comes down to.
Well I think there may be in terms of natural, inborn aversions to certain types of people. Like, certain individuals may dislike talking to fat people, because all of that blubber makes them uncomfortable for whatever reason (lol) - maybe its just disgusting to them, and they don't want to look at all that flabbiness and observe the deterioration of any human body. Along the same vein, maybe its also reasonable for certain people to dislike gays, because their sexual preferences gives them a "freakish" nature that others may find disturbing.
So then, is it okay to discriminate against someone, or deny them access to the higher levels of your club? Would it be "moral" to look down upon a beautiful person's club, which does not allow ugly people to join? I feel like that's what could be going on here. Its a club, that among other things, promotes "straight" sexuality and a certain way of life because they think that the homosexual way of life is somewhat perverse or disturbing, so they keep it out of the club. Is it morally wrong for people to be disturbed by these sorts of things (if they indeed are)?
I feel like the assumption is that, its okay to criticize them (Boy scouts) because they just have some bigoted attitudes against gays that aren't founded on anything except baseless hatred - or similarly, based in the perceived fantasy that is religion. Not sure if this is necessarily the case. But anyway I somehow doubt that my hypothetical idea is very likely. But for the indoctrinated, I think there is something to be said about transitioning from bigoted religious belief to something inborn that can't be shaken. Then its not so easily defined.
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On January 29 2013 14:01 FeelingTookish wrote: Really? You haven't figured out that women are better looking and men are stronger, that women are better at dealing with small children, and a man makes a better commando, sheriff, ditch-digger, etc? Is this too common-sensical for you or do you want me to dig up obscure statistics and lengthy historical arguments? If you can't accept this premise, then any argument we have will be rather low-level and semantic.
Mental differences even! Men and women are very different physically and mentally. If you take the evolutionary stance, there are even more differences that may have lessened over time.
I, however, certainly have no desire to lactate! So evolution can leave the women with that. 
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On January 29 2013 13:34 mecra wrote:Wow, all the Christian hate. Plus the whole argument that Christians are wrong to dislike homosexuals goes against the religion's beliefs. Here's the deal, to Christians, including myself, homosexuality is sin. Plainly and simply stated in the Bible. If we are to believe the Bible, then we are to subscribe to that notion. If we are to be Christians, we subscribe to said book. Now, other concepts are also in there that I agree a lot of Christians don't adhere to very well. For example, loving thy neighbor, regardless if they are homosexuals, atheists, or the like is a pillar of the faith. So, while Christians view homosexuals as sinners, there is no clause in there to state that they should hate them or such. In this, a lot of Christians are found wanting, I won't disagree with that. I strongly dislike it when people basically want to throw out the Bible for its stance on things but yet want to still be true Christians. It really doesn't work like that. You may still believe in God, but once you start purposefully dissecting the book into things you agree with and don't, you've effectively created your own religion with the sole purpose to console yourself. Religion isn't something you get to specifically create with any hopes of it being true. (oh the flood of posts on this one point, of which I won't address here.) A great number of Christians believe the religion to be very true, and thus the Bible its guidance. To claim the Bible is wrong, that the Christian should just sit in their house to pray and stay hidden, is the very essence of proclaiming them and their religion as nothing but paper and folded hands. You are stating that Christians are wrong in the same way they proclaim homosexuality wrong. Both sides negate, one based on a religion, and the other based on ideal. You don't get to tell one group to go hide, but then declare others get full reign to do whatever they want. You stomp on the rights of the one group, in favor of the other. You stomp on the rights of Christians to want their world to be somewhat in alignment with their beliefs. What if society decided that pedophilia wasn't so bad and that the age of consent was 10? I'll tell you one thing, Christians won't like that at all. Other people, however, may see it as a logical extension of being and thus want equal rights. Religion gives a rock to stand on to base one's beliefs. When there is no rock, you can simply adopt any belief and claim its truth and justification. Society does the rest to implant it, which of course doesn't actually mean it's true. Just that it's commonly accepted. (At least until scientifically proven.) Anyway, I'm just posting some thoughts on religion. One poster above said, "I hope one day we can learn to live more tolerably." Believe me when I say that Christians wish the same thing. Lately it's fun to poke fun at an entire religion because of a small number of people. I don't know any of the types of Christians that would cause the world to rage at us, so I get highly annoyed when those people are used as prime examples of why a religion fails. We have simply way too many people in the world, and as a result, you are going to get bad apples in every walk of life. So, to finalize, the Boy Scouts are a Christian organization. To Christians who read their Bible, homosexuals pose a conundrum. If it's the BSA's line to not allow homosexuality (changing it seems), atheists, or agnostics, that is their right. Now it may cost them money, support, etc, but it is ultimately their right to be able to stand for their beliefs. It's easy to stand for your beliefs when they are all encompassing and they go with the general populace. It's generally not so easy when religious. So, I applaud them for standing their ground. If they feel that they need to change, that is also their right. edit - I apologize for the size of the post. Just had a lot to say I guess. 
I think youre making some sweeping generalizations about christians that are not necessarily true. Homosexuality may be a sin, but so is flipping someone off when they cut into your lane on the highway. It's a sin to eat too much and to not study enough for your tests. The definition of sin wasnt layed out so we can tell eachother not to sin, its there so we can know that we are incapable of being perfect. Just because a christian doesnt care whether or not people are gay doesnt mean they are throwing the bible out the window. Theres a problem people have within themselves that permeates beyond their actions.
If someone claims they dont have a problem then it isnt up to me to change their mind. If someone says they do have a problem, then me telling them that they need to stop sinning isnt going to help them at all.
So in light of this, as a christian who believes he is holding to all of the bible, i have to disagree with you. If it claims to be a christian organization it shoudnt expel children who have "problems" it should try to help them actually take care of the real issue. And if the child doesnt think he has a problem, its kind of messed up for me to try and be the hand of god in convicting them
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On January 29 2013 14:03 radscorpion9 wrote: Is it morally wrong for people to be disturbed (if they are)? I feel like the assumption is that, its okay to criticize them (Boy scouts) because they just have some bigoted attitudes against gays that aren't founded on anything except baseless hatred - or similarly, based in the perceived fantasy that is religion.
Again, if you keep discounting religion and falsifying it, you won't ever understand it. You say baseless hatred, I don't see hatred (you over-dramatized) but an adherence to their religion. If you negate that simply because you don't believe it, then it's quite easy for me to negate your view of homosexuality as being ok.
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