Utterly disgusting...

[DavidH]

I know that violence solves nothing...

Disagree. Violence has solved most of the major issues in history. Settled them, anyway. I deplore that fact as much as you do, but it has to be faced.

[Edd]

I know that violence solves nothing...

Disagree. Violence has solved most of the major issues in history. Settled them, anyway. I deplore that fact as much as you do, but it has to be faced.

What do you mean by 'major issues in history'?

[DavidH]

I don't see many Cathars around today. Nor Nazis, Inca rulers, Tsars, Arians, dodos, passenger pigeons... The list goes on and on.
Please don't get the idea that I approve of this. Insofar as it is possible to prevent violence, it should of course be prevented.
Anyhow, I went off-topic in a way, because I don't think Scott should really punch those bastards, tempting as it is.

[daftbeaker]

dodos, passenger pigeons

[DavidH]

They've all been shot. That's not exactly settling any major issue , I know, but violence was very effective against them.

[Grumpy]

I don't understand what it is like to be gay. I have no problem admitting my ignorance here. I will furthermore. likely never know what it is likely to be gay. It makes no sense to me to be attracted sexually to a man or to love a man. I know what it is like though to be sexually attracted and to be in love so maybe in that respect there is some sort of common ground.
Why that ought to be a bar to getting along with someone I can't figure. At the same time it similarly ought not be a bar against not liking someone. Peoples being are not the sum of their gender or race or sexually preferences. People are people and all individual. I am free to like or hate anyone on the basis of what they are or display to me and I kind of like that freedom. Bigotry is pathetic and self-limiting.
Then again I suppose I am myself in a minority in society. A 0.5%'er so maybe that makes a difference. I dunno. I hope not.

[Qwertyuiopasd]

Do you live in the bible belt or something? You sound like most reasonable people I know, and I know mostly reasonable people.

[Tigger_the_Wing]

Qwerty: Grumpy is eminently reasonable. In fact, one of the easiest-going and generous people I have ever met. And he's an Aussie through-and-through.

BUT he doesn't suffer fools gladly. Like me, he's autistic; neither of us plays 'social games'; in my case, usually because it isn't until the next day, when my subconscious has been replaying the exchange for a few hours, that I realise that a game was even being played. In his case, probably because he likes to cut right through the BS. Unlike me, he will be blunt.

He often says he reserves the right to hate anyone for their behaviour, regardless of race, creed, gender or orientation!

Grumpy: Son Number Four Son was horrified when a lad at their school developed a crush on his brother (his brother just brushed it off). It took me a while to explain to him that the boy wasn't being bad.

1. As a straight male, my son finds females sexually attractive. So does his dad. My son can accept that, and understand it, because he has the same kind of feelings. I accept that, although I do not understand it because I do NOT find females sexually attractive. He, however, can understand lesbian attraction because he is attracted to the same body-shape.
That took him a while to digest!
2. As a straight female, I find males sexually attractive. He can accept that, but he cannot understand it because he does NOT find males sexually attractive. I, however, can understand anyone finding males attractive; it's a brain thing, the body just tags along, whatever its shape.
3. He understands that sometimes he finds a girl attractive but she gives him the brush-off; that's OK, because it's likely there will be dozens more straight females in his environment for him to be interested in, some of whom are likely to return his interest. Sometimes girls he doesn't find attractive have a crush on him. He doesn't feel threatened by them, does he? No.
4. The gay lad doesn't choose who he finds attractive any more than my son does. BUT, being in a minority, the chances of his crush being reciprocated are many times smaller. That doesn't make him a threat, it just makes him lonelier.

Finally, it clicked. Common sense 1: Homophobia 0.

[Grumpy]

Thanks very much for the Big wrap Sis.
I do strive for fair. Nice is neither here nor there but fair I have a lot of time for.
Too old to start tiptoeing subtlety through social situations I know I suck at it. I like to call it like it is.

Reasonable? Hope so. Thanks for inviting me here. Will try to be well behaved and respectable....or failing that be me.

[daftbeaker]

Reasonable? Hope so. Thanks for inviting me here. Will try to be well behaved and respectable

I wouldn't worry too much about that, no-one else here is

[Scott the Pirate]

wow! in retrospect ishould have said "smashing in the face of the fundie idiot would have fueled his hatred of everyone 'not him' and would have given a (somewhat) bad name to Pastafarians everywhere"...

[Grumpy]

I know that violence solves nothing...

Oh that is if the end goal is "solving things". If it is to have fun disempowering bullies or sticking up for a friend or family or releasing stress....it has its moments.

Course as a disclaimer I do not engage in acts of violence. I am a gentle soul and all who know me would agree.

[Pythonist]

I'm not really big on violence at all...

I wouldn't call myself a pacifist because i think it's impractical in the same way that Communism's impractical: If everyone played by the rules it would be fantastic. However, it doesn't work in practice.

I try and avoid violence at all times and i think that almost all problems, big or small, can be solved peacefully. You need to be careful not to reach a preWW2 appeasement type level though. Saying that, i have great respect for Chamberlain's actions and i think i probably would have done the same; He had no other option, he needed to buy time to build his armed forces.

I apologise, that post seems to be quite tangenial.

[Tigger_the_Wing]

…
I apologise, that post seems to be quite tangenial.

Lovely new Pastafarian word you coined there!

Going off at a genial tangent - I like it!

[PKMKII]

The National Post has an interview with one of Fred Phelps' sons that left the church. Disturbing to see the psychological trauma that that kind of upbringing causes.