Senate passes repeal of DADT with 65 votes

[Brittain33]

Trying to avoid the predictable (and unproductive) discussions and go for a different angle:

First off, I HATE homosexuality

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Why do you feel so strongly against homosexuality -- all caps "HATE" -- and then say all sin is the same? Do you feel the same depth of feeling about little white lies?

[Brittain33]

Wow you have a lot of hate, venom and bigotry inside of you.

I disagree. No more than the average person, for certain, and whatever else is going that doesn't make it to the keyboard, he displays less than the average. There's other stuff going on here (no, not saying he's gay himself) which is less interesting.

[Brittain33]

Bushie, I'm on record here saying that you weren't being a hateful person, but also asking why you say you "HATE" homosexuality in one line and then say that a sin is a sin, homosexuality is equivalent to a white lie. I was wondering why, then, you view homosexuality as meriting HATE which you presumably don't feel in your bones about other sins.

Beyond that, I'd ask why you say homosexuality goes against everything God teaches, when I think any Christian would recognize there are plenty of things God teaches against that have nothing to do with homosexuality (like, for example, doing harm to other people and failing to take care of and love family members.)

What I see here is that your citing your religious education as a basis for your beliefs, but you've layered on some more serious feelings that aren't justified by the Biblical basis for your views, although I can believe that your religious leaders may share that... excessive concern... about homosexuality as oppoed to other sins. I'm not going to all you a bigot or hateful, but I am going to note that.

[Brittain33]

Condemning down harshly on homosexuality, BTW, is a pain-free way for people to feel like they're doing good and being rigorous in their morality without paying any price for it. That's kind of why it's galling. I imagine Bushie feels he's being persecuted here for standing up for his deeply-held religious beliefs, while I doubt he's ever had to give much thought to why he holds this belief or what the implications are for other people, how it conflicts with other teachings, or why those of us who embrace this "sin" do so and to understand how we reach that conclusion in a way that respects our autonomy and basic goodness as individuals. Instead of holding to cartoon-book explanations of lazy sinners, ignorance, or the devil, as if none of us had to struggle through religious views that conflicted with what our own creation tells us is true.

If he were preaching this in a college classroom in some parts of the country, he would be going out on a limb, but where he lives, everyone is part of the game and applauds his moral stand to be critical and hold himself above that which he doesn't understand and declines to try to understand.

I know, based on the job search discussions, that it's nearly impossible to get him to reconsider something when he's already decided he knows the answer--especially something like this where he is absolutely certain he has the answers and there is no threat of a vanished paycheck or angry, defrauded relatives to focus his mind and force him to examine the contradictions and shallow thinking at the root of his beliefs. But, like him, I have to keep sharing the truth and hoping people will open their eyes and see the light. In the meantime, I love him as a person and hold out hope he will rise out of his pride and lack of compassion for his fellow man with time.

[Brittain33]

0.5/5

This is usually the quality of all of Sam's posts.

A racist homophobe with an obscene sense of self worth. A horrible, loathsome person.

Sam provides a lot of value for the kind of stuff I come to this site for. His predictions posts take a lot of work and a lot of thought, and I appreciate it. 

[Brittain33]

Comparisons to filth, mud, and vomit are an effective propaganda technique for associating the target with an individual's natural sense of disgust. Additional options are to associate them with infectious disease, vermin (rats, fleas), or decaying food.

[Brittain33]

Comparisons to filth, mud, and vomit are an effective propaganda technique for associating the target with an individual's natural sense of disgust. Additional options are to associate them with infectious disease, vermin (rats, fleas), or decaying food.

please tell me you're joking

I am completely serious. I don't know if you're aware of what you're doing when you choose either harmful traits (lying, stealing, cheating) or those associated with disgust (mud, vomit) when making analogies to homosexuality, but it's an old tactic and easy to slip into. I'm sure it reflects your own feelings of disgust as well.

[Brittain33]

For you to state sexual sin isn't harmful simply shows how degraded your mind has become.

I don't consider harmful to one's soul to be objectively meaningful. It can be so for you, but I find that even people who cite religious scripture often lump that in with other assessments (you're unhappy, you don't know true love, you're going to get sick or become an alcoholic etc.) I measure harm differently from the way you do, and do so for all acts categorized as sins, not just the one that's central to who I am and how I live my life. On the factors other than the wellbeing of my soul, I know for certain my life would be worse if I tried to be celibate and single.

[Brittain33]

the bible says the wages of sin is death, and since death is the antithesis of being "healthy", you're basically arguing you reject the bible. 

True. Alternatively, I could be rejecting the New Testament or a literal reading of the Bible, but I accept that those may be functionally equivalent. I concede the metaphysical ground to you because I don't have the grounding to argue it, nor do I see it as worthwhile. Where I involve myself is when I perceive arguments that have some intersection with the physical world.

[Brittain33]

the bible says the wages of sin is death, and since death is the antithesis of being "healthy",

See, this is an argument of the physical world as well as the metaphysical world. You're arguing that the Bible says that by committing the sin of homosexuality, I will die earlier than I would otherwise.  Is that your argument?

Do you believe that God kills people earlier if they're sinners?

[Brittain33]

The ex-gay movement doesn't mark success in terms of people who become straight--it does so in terms of people who try to suppress their same-sex sex drive and or get married, neither of which is the same.

Anyone remember John Paulk, who was a national spokesman for one of these groups until he was caught going into a gay bar in Washington, D.C.?

The women who marry these men are also victims.

[Brittain33]

what part of the bible doesn't intersection with the physical world?

The idea of a soul; life after death. Neither of these are observable or provable in the physical world. They exist because you believe the Bible says they exist and that the Bible is without error.
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obviously, it impacts physical health, but not always to an early death.  but "the wages of sin is death" is referring to current spiritual death even though one is physically alive, as well as referring to the physical-spiritual "death" of eternal condemnation after the resurrection.
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"Spiritual death" is a meaningless statement to me, and therefore isn't the antithesis of being healthy, because it has nothing to do with any form of health that affects my life. I recognize physical, emotional, and financial health. Spiritual health is a vapid phrase to me because I don't have a soul and there is no account where it is being tracked.