Karen
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Posts posted by Karen
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Saying you "disagree" with it is just as bad as saying you hate them. What would happen if your child was gay? And this is just out of curiosity.
I think you have a problem of concepts.
Hate: Feel intense or passionate dislike for (someone).
If my child was gay? You mean if my child was born gay? If so, people aren't born gay. But in case I'm wrong, I'd love him/her anyway.
And that is the most important thing
Thank you, Will. -
HAPPY BIRTHDAY ARIE!!! GD bless you!!! you are amazing <3
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Boston is known as the "birthplace of the american revolution" because many of the events leading up to the start of the american rev started in Boston! Many things that happened during wartime happened here as well, so it is all around a very historical city.
Boston is also called Beantown because beans were very popular way back when - people would put then in to stew overnight saturday and they would be ready when people got out of church services on Sunday (which were generally very long). The song "My Country, Tis of Thee" was first sung in Boston at the Park Street Church then titled as "America", and Boston Commons is one of the oldest public parks in America. Oh oh oh and our underground subway system is the oldest in America - 1895!
Salem, Massachusetts (where I was born) is most famously known for the Witch Trials that occurred in the Winter of 1623 - to Spring 1963. It is also known as being the hometown of Nathaniel Hawthorne, who wrote "The House of the Seven Gables" - which is in Salem, actually - and also "The Scarlet Letter".
Lowell, Massachusetts (north of boston, like Salem) is famous for being a very old mill town where some of the worker's rights movements started. Thank Lowell for the 8 hour work days xD A lot of worker's movements started here!
Yep, that's it! lol
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I love this series! I had heard about it but my friend showed it to me and I LOVED IT. I loved the ones from the 80's with Jeremy Brett and I really liked the modern spin they put on stuff, with the texting and everything. I don't think the Robert Downey Jr. movie was totally awful, I think they put a different spin on Sherlock Holmes and although it wasn't totally accurate, it was an amusing movie. However, I just love the tv series. I can't wait to see the next part but america has to wait foreeeeever to get the BBC stuff. :'(
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They are two totally different things. I may be atheist but I have faith. And I'm so sick of people saying just because we don't believe in someone/higher power doesn't mean we don't have faith. For me faith is the feeling and knowing something good can happen. Having faith things will get better. Having faith your loved ones will be okay. I have faith that things will get better. But I am not on my knees every night to feel it. It comes from me and me alone, not some higher power. Like mentioned earlier, religion is following a religion. Believing in a higher power.
My two cents for now.
This is such fantastic input! I've mentioned before in other topics that if I were athiest, personally I'd give my own life meaning just as I have meaning now. It might not be to a higher power but I think a common misconception among religious people about athiests is that their life is meaningless. I don't think this is the case at all, and you have just proved it! Faith is definitely an important point of anything - religion or not. I think that religion is, a lot of the time, waiting for things to get better and having FAITH that God will come through for us. It becomes really complicated because of the God thing - a belief in a higher power isn't an easy thing to have (imo). Thank you for such a great and insightful post!
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Arie thank you so much for posting this! Sorry I didn't get to it earlier
I hope that you and all the other jewish members of this forum have a very blessed rosh hashanah, and thank you so much for sharing your history with us!Oh, and if you could please pray for my friend Becca as she faces all sorts of personal difficulties in her life and that she can learn to accept herself, and for my campus so taht we can become enlightened and work together to making a better future for us all. And also for me, that I make the right choices and continue to discover and get to know myself
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I think gays who are religious aren't in conflict. Why do I think such thing?
- Not all religions condemn homosexuality.
- People can be religious in their own way.
That's a really good point Will, people don't necessarily have to follow a religious denomination in order to have a connection with God or a higher power.
That's a tricky one. If they are a Christian, its written as being wrong, then it becomes a very delicate process. I think if they are willing to change or see another way, then people can help them. If not then its between them and God only.
I don't know enough about other religions and beliefs to really say anything else
Hmm, but then it gets into the discussion if gay people really can change - I think it's an inherent thing, people don't really choose it. I don't know if anyone will ever really know, though, it's still being debated about.
Some of them are not, like Will said some people can be religious in their "own" way. They may believe in God but they are not religious per cey. All they need to think is that God is Love and there should be no rule to worry about.
Some of them are though. I would be in a great conflict, i am as a matter of fact, even if i'm not gay. Imagine believing in a religion that tells you what you do is wrong and unnatural and a sin, and you must fight it, but you can't fight it cuz you're born this way it's who you are.
Homosexual people -even religious ones- don't get the support they need from their religious place i think. That's why the vast majority of them end up hating religion and God. Because people tell them it's wrong and they don't accept them the way they are and they take their rights away (marriage, adoption, bullying..)
I like your thinking, Dina, that God is love. He really is, no? To be religious can be a tough thing to follow sometimes, there are so many rules and regulations and I agree with you that even though I'm not gay, it's still hard to be my own person and also be a practicing Christian and not lose that sense of myself. I think also outside of the church, gay, transgender, transvestite people etc, don't get the support they need. It's really hard to find a safe place, and I can't even imagine to be rejected from a religion. I also agree with you that that is why a lot of gay people end up hating religion.
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Guys, Ned Flanders is funny. It's not meant to insult anyone. I didn't get mad when they made wiccans all look nuts. It's TV.
They do it for the lulz and to troll. XDAnyway..
Pagans:
1) We all have pet black cats.
2) Salem, MA is our Mecca.
3) We are evil Satan worshipers.
4) We sacrifice animals.
5) All Wiccans are insane.
6) All Wiccans are Goth teenage girls.
7) Wicca is a phase.
8) Wiccans are all sex crazed.
9) All Wiccans are female.
10) Pagans hate all other religions.
I love this! There are soo many misconceptions, I feel in Wicca especially because so few people practice and it's not very well known/EXTREMELY misunderstood. I think a lot of people see Wicca as a female dominated religion, I mean of course there are guys that practice, but so many Wiccan books are written by women, I mean the concept of a guy witch is very strange to a lot of people - cuz women have been seen as witches in movies, books, folklore for a long, long time.
Salem, MA...well...hahaha it is definitely VERY wiccan oriented. I love salem, I go there all the time, but during halloween i will NEVER go there just because it is always mobbed and crowded and insaaaane. Salem is a very interesting place, though, and learning the history there never ceases to amaze me.
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Poor argument bro, really poor. We aren't told to do that anywhere, we don't promote violence and bullying against it. We disagree with it, what a stupid thing to say.
To call our God cruel and petty over the work of humans is the stupidest thing to say. There is no work of God involved in him killing himself, or the bullies. Your idea of Christians is pretty blind.
That doesn't make me think twice about "disagreeing" with homosexuality. It just reminds me of how cruel Godless people can be, and what leading a Godless life can cause you to do to yourself
Keep it back on track, Joe, we're not talking about being believing in God or not.
Everyone has some interesting points here, especially about the Bible and the time it was written in. It's interesting to see about how being gay translates into a religion and that always goes back to the holy book.
Ok, new question - what do you all think about people who are gay, AND religious - do you think a lot are conflicted? Do you think they are getting the support they need from their religious place? If you were someone who is gay and religious, how would you feel? And if there's someone here who is both gay and religious, PLEASEEE input. That would be great
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A coincidence and/or a bit ironic that the Star Spangled Banner is sung to the tune of an English (I think) drinking song huh? lol0
Francis Scott Key was watching the English siege on Ft. Convington during the War of 1812 when he wrote the poem about the American storm (smallest) flag when it was still flying during the entire bombardment amid the flak and fire. During the siege, English gunboats were firing their mortars and cannons (rockets and bombs[airbursting cannonballs] bombarding the American fort); some were aimed directly at the flag. But amid all the fire, the flag was still flying "...gave proof through night, that our flag was still there...., Oh, say does that our Star-Spangled Banner yet wave..."
Hahaha, you did much better with the history than I did. I would have googled it last night but...I was too lazy
I'm a lot more patriotic now than I was before about the national anthem. I used to not really care but now I pay attention to it and at least give it the respect it deserves. I hate most modern singers' versions of the national anthem - JUST SING IT, they don't have to make it all fancy! It really bothers me lol. -
i absolutely HATE 'God Save The Queen' its monotonous and boring, crap national anthem!
Lol well us americans took it and made it the song "my country 'tis of thee" so I guess...sharing is caring?
This is the american national anthem, it's nice I guess but you all wouldnt BELIEVE how many people IN AMERICA a.) don't know the lyrics
or b.)forget them whilst singing. -__- it's not THAT hard to remember, I don't think.
ANYWAY. Our anthem was written by Francis Scott Key during the War of 1812 and the song was taken from an old english pub song. The lyrics were inspired when Key was seeing some of the action going on during the war and through everything (and the rocket's red glare, the bombs' bursting in air...) the American flag still flew. So. Just a bit of history for ya
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This is the same thing as being transgender, right? I did a research paper on this my frosh year of college
I wrote about the support systems for gay, tranvestite, and transgender peoples! It was really sad actually - those groups have a higher rate of suicide and depression because they aren't getting the right support system. I have a friennd named Zack, who used to be Michelle - she slowly changed over the years, first changing her sex on facebook then putting Zack as her middle name, then fully changing her name...etc. He's great! we speak spanish together
when she was still a woman (which I guess she TECHNICALLY is because she hasn't had any operations yet to my knowledge) she was a lesbian. So now I guess that because she's a guy she's straight? Not sure. The only thing that throws me off is the pronouns - i never know whether to call her "her" or "him" or "she", "he" etc. Because *I* remember her as michelle/mitch so it's weird to think of her as a guy now. I accept it and the choice that she's made, OF COURSE. I think that's such a brave thing to do! -
Well I got up very late so I kinda had a combo breakfast, lunch, dinner thing
I had a honey wheat bagel with plain cream cheese
Fruit!! (I love the fruit at my school) :Purple grapes, and green grapes
raspberry ice crystal light
and now i'm sipping some coffee wif cream and sugar
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First off, what a great topic!
I don't think my eating habits have changed much, but rather I have more choice at college as to what I CAN eat, so it's always a struggle to try to eat balanced meals and get my veggies and fruits in
At home, it's kind of an interesting eating situation for me because when I was younger, my gram would do the food shopping and get LOADS of junk food. So I grew up with a sweet tooth, which I still have...which is a good and bad thing at the same time (lol). She would also get a surplus of stuff we didn't need, so a lot went to waste and it wasn't the best food, either.
Now that my gram is too old, my uncle paul does the shopping and he is completely the opposite. He gets JUST what we need, nothing more, or less. Just what we write down on "the list". So there's never ANYTHING to snack on, and food situation never changes. My family also kinda does their own thing when it comes to food - paul eats the same thing, my uncle mike has had to cut back on a lot of stuff ever since he had heart surgery, my gram eats the same dinner every day - so me and my mom are kind of left to scavenge xD
So my food choices have been...interesting. Going to college I was like
. I could make my own salads, get soup, etc. My diet isn't terrible, but it's definitely about making healthy food choices!! It's always a struggle to get a salad instead of like...oh, I don't know, whatever (insert unhealthy food here). It's been a very good experience kind of choosing what I like, what I don't like, and making my meals fairly healthy. So it wasn't so much that my eating habits changed in college, but that I got to (and still do) experience how to create healthy meals to the best of my ability. -
I'm an atheist,but I have no clue what are stereotypes about me. Since I refuse to talk about religion. It always ends the same...not good! And that being said,I have no clue why I posted here...
You're always welcome to post her Demian! Especially if you want to talk or challenge people, everything in the forum is open for discussion. Questions about why a certain religion does something? Go ahead, post it up!
EVERYONE is welcome here!I've heard some bad stereotypes of atheists, but these come from really religious people - like CRAZY religious, not the good involved in the religion. You know, like Bible Belt religious. A lot of those people say that Atheists are going to hell (that's the most obvious one, I think), they're possessed, etc etc etc. It just goes on and on.
I agree damian, I can't stand when people push other religions on me. And I have had some bad experiences with people trying to convert me. No joke!
That being said. Here is my biggest issue that has been driving me nuts the past few days. Why does the world view anyone who is religious as crazy?! Like, if I mention I am an observant jews people look at me like I have lost my mind. Why is it so weird to be religous? And farthermore observant?! So many people think I'm crazy because I pray and ect. Okay I'm going to stop because I am ranting lol
Ya know Arie, I've been thinking about that for the past few days as well. People think I'm crazy as well, because I love God and I like going to church, involving myself with Christian Fellowship, and so on. In my personal opinion, it can be really easy not to believe in anything, but it's super hard to believe in God or Allah or GD or the Great Spirit, or WHATEVER. It's not malleable or visible or anything, and that's where all the theological discussion about faith comes in.
No,no,you're not ranting,I completely understand your point. And don't get me started on people tryin' to convert me. That's why I said I don't discuss religion. I mean,I'm one of the 4-5 percent (true fact!) of people (in my country) who consider themselves atheists. Ireland is one of the most 'religious countries' in the world.
And the reason why people think you're weird and crazy for being religious is the same old. Lack of understanding and tolerance. People like to believe that they are in the right when in comes to their beliefs and views. Well,most people. They think it's not normal,cause they don't do it or believe in it. I like to believe that is has something to do with the fear of the unknown. You know what I mean? The same with gay people. Some people (well,unfortunately,most people) don't approve of gay relationships,marriages and adoption. It's because it's unknown to them,not normal,so they are scared of it. Hence their views that it's crazy,weird,insane etc. At least that's how I see it...
I am aware that I have a different belief system than most of you here. But I can't help it. I can't help what I believe in any more than you guys can. But that doesn't mean we can't be civil with one another. Unfortunately,that is not how it is when you 'look outside the window'. Okay,now I'm ranting!
You're right Demian, it probably is lack of understanding and tolerance. People naturally fear things that are different from they are! It's sad, really, because a lot of people don't even make an attempt to see things from another point of view, they just say I'M right and that's it. There is no other way. It's really sad to me, because I think the world would be a much better place if we could step outside all of our comfort zones and experience a different religion for a day with all of the stereotypes and stuff that comes with that religion. Like imagine if women did "be a muslim for a day" and they had to wear a headscarf. I bet that would cause some AMAZING discussion and a lot of understanding about Islam. At least, I would hope.
Aw thanks for understanding! When I really care about something I start to go on and and on and on lol. I actually did know that about Ireland!! So it must be truly hard for you!!
I understand that, but its still frustrating you know? I hate that people always think I am weird. Why can't it just be normal?? lol. I cant definetly agree with your fear of the unknown theory!! That is actually an AMAZING way of explaining it!! Thanks!! I really understand some things better now. Like, in high school kids are so scared to speak their opinion or do anything thats not normal.
For sure!! I think, in some ways, you have it the hardest. Most people except G-D. They might not do more then that but they believe in some sort of higher being. Same fear of the unknown apply to you. I feel like everyone knows someone who is religious, but not everyone knows an Atheist. A real atheist, not just someone who is having doubts. A true Atheist. People just dont even know that there is a real almost "religion" about atheism. I mean religion in the sense that there is almost some sort of unified view. Plus, it scares people that there are people in the world who don't believe. It scares me even!! But, I think a lot of people cant understand that idea so they are rude. That is not okay!! We all MUST be tolerant and work together!
This is a great point, Arie. It can be hard for religious people to be religious in some sense, like people think they are "crazy" but yeah, it definitely can be hard to not believe in ANYTHING, especially because people can be like "how is that even POSSIBLE? Don't you find life meaningless??" I dated a kid who was truly atheist once, and we started talking about meaning and everything and I've come to the conclusion that if I didn't believe in God my life would still have meaning and it wouldn't be worthless. I think that's definitely a stereotype against athiests - that they have nothing to live for if they don't believe in God! I think that's ridiculous - I personally create my own meaning for life and I think other people do the same.
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All of these are really interesting, you guys! What do all of you do to overcome these stereotypes? Attempt to explain to people? Education programs? just do the opposite of what the stereotype is? I think the stereotype of Flanders is an interesting one. It seems that everyone has a common wariness for missionaries and people who try to convert others in general.
It can be hard, sometimes, I think, to want to listen to others who want to convert us - I think all of generally reject the pushy people. Personally, if someone wants to talk to me about their belief system cool, we can have a discussion. But don't hand me pamphlets and say, convert or burn in hell!. I've luckily never had the experience of a jehovah's witness coming to my door (yet), but there IS a guy who takes my bus sometimes that I like to call the Jesus guy...he wears a placard around his neck with various Bible quotes and has such a deep voice i can never tell what he's saying.
Anyway.
Why do all of you think that people are so wary to listen to the people push their faith on others? -
Well the title kind of says it all - what are some of the most common misconceptions against your belief system? I use belief system because it doesn't necessarily have to be a religion. If you're an athiest, what are some stereotypes against you?
This topic is to address the most common misconceptions and hopefully clear them up. I've been seeing this come up a lot in discussion so I wanted to make a centralized topic for it! Go nuts, people!
I'll start - these are the ones that I've heard and have been directed towards me. These are your PERSONAL experiences - what have you heard against your religion or belief system?
All Catholics don't believe in abortion
All Christians speak in tongues
All Christians don't believe in gay marriage.
These are some of the most common one's I've experienced! Your turn!
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No one has said we hate homosexuals.
This is actually an interesting point (and a true one, as well). Most Christians don't hate gay people. They may disapprove because the Bible says contrarily, but I think (and truly hope) that if most Christians practice the way God tells us, we won't hate anyone because God does not hate anyone. In my personal belief, I also think it's not up to us to judge someone - only something greater can do that.
- There are proof that the history in the Bible is actually real, not tales (history of Judea, the Kings, Egypt, existence of the prophets).
- People lived more than 500 years in that time (Genesis); but the Bible isn't the only book that claims people lived that long, you can find several secular books in several acient culture. But why people lived that long? Note the factors that shorten the life span of men (climate and disease mostly), at the time (again, the time of Genesis) the world was young, the climate was almost perfect and there weren't much diseases. In addition, man's life span is gradually declining, and you know that.
- There's not contraindications in the Bible. If you claim there is, maybe you have to consider the time factor and the concept factor.
I love your post about the history, will! Learning about the history of the Bible and the context from when Jesus lived is really interesting to me.
You're right, there's a lot that happens in the Bible that ACTUALLY did happen. I think the thing that people forget is that the Bible is a conglomeration of works - there are a TON of different authors who were writing from different time periods. Obviously things are going to get a little bit screwy if someone reads straight through - it just doesn't make sense. As Will said, it's important to consider who was writing and over the period of time that it was being written. The Bible is a very interesting piece of literature, along with being a holy book.
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Just coming to realize this over the last week or so. I've been alone in the flat a lot the last week or two and each time I've found myself listening to slower melodic Christian heavy metal, while just browsing the internet, I find myself going into such a relaxed, happy mood and every now and then thinking about God. I'm coming to find that I find peace and rest in God through this! Even though I'm not praying, worshiping and hardly thinking about Him, its like I'm somewhat in the presence of God, just relaxing and enjoying myself.
That's the end of my story. Praise God
Aw Joe, I love this! Thank you for sharing your personal story with us
I can also really hear (or read?) the happiness and peacefulness in your voice.
I got together with a girl from my uni's christian fellowship yesterday and we were working on songs to sing for next week! And Idk, I just love singing worship songs because it makes me feel so good inside! The lyrics are so simple and a lot are joyful. One of the girls I was talking with said something like, our values may be different (for christians), but I think the thing that brings us together is worship. And I think she's right!
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Well, I'm a bit biased because I live in Boston, but Berklee is seriously an AMAZING school for music! I don't think people realize just how tough it is! They place an emphasis not only on music but on your schoolwork as well. If you do want to apply there, research the addition process really thoroughly because I'm not sure if you'd actually have to come to boston to audition or if you can send a CD. Definitely research thoroughly! But I can assure you that if you want to do music, berklee is INCREDIBLE.
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Good:
Kind
Funny
Sympathetic
Stubborn
Determined
Detail-oriented
Smart
Faithful/loyal
Accepting
Open
Bad:
Stubborn
Jealous
Self-conscious (working on that though. Much better than I was)
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welcome! I'M FROM BOSTON TOO OMGGGG YAYYY SOMEONE WHO'S WITH ME!
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I agree! And I do that a lot. But I know the members here. Some just want to start trouble and he was one of them. He was not going to listen to anything you had to say. I know which members to answer and which not too. Some are interested. Some just want to fight. I am not going to fight with someone about this on an online forum... But believe me, I do my fair share of telling everyone all about israel! Also most people here don't think like him. Most people here are very supportive. These are things you will learn once you meet more members.
Some people don't want to listen and that is a shame because I know that ALL of you have something amazing to share! Now *makes a whooshing noise* back to topic!
Hmm, I'm out of questions lol. I'm sure once I actually attend a service I will have loads more questions!
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I know how you feel and obviously I agree with you! But, we have to be careful as this is a public forum. Believe me I have gotten in trouble many times for fighting about this exact topic. I know it's hard not to respond, but this isn't the place.
I think (and to histor too) it's hard to listen to generalizations, in any aspect. No one wants to listen to lies but it's important to see where the other person is coming from because to them, it's not a lie it's just what they think or what they've been told.
Oh arie, I meant to reply sooner, but you said how interesting it is to listen to an "outsider's" pov for judiasm. I guess it must be! I can only describe what I see but you know all the technical terms, etc. It must be really weird, lol
Misconceptions/Stereotypes about your belief system
in Religious Resource Forum
Posted
Yeah it's funny Joe, I was watching a show called American Horror Story the other day and this couple moves into a house and the neighbor comes in to introduce herself and the first thing she says is "I'm a good Christian, but...." and basically gives off a really bad first impression of herself. I wouldn't have noticed had my friend not said, "I really hate how the first thing she said was that she was a Christian, writers seem to like to do that...". I've never really had an issue with how Christians are portrayed in the media because I know that not all of them are like that but now that it's been pointed out to me, it's really interesting to see how the non-christian population gets their ideas. And for me, that's why it's so important to make myself relateable because I want to destroy people's perceptions of how Christian should be. I really like surprising people, more than I should, lol. I never want people to expect stuff from me because I will usually always end up not doing what they expect.
And yeah, there are soooooo many stereotypes about Wicca. SO MANY. I can't even begin to count them all, and then try to debunk them all. I do the best I can though, I promise!! I think it's interesting because wicca is a "new" religion, as in it's very old but it just had a revival like 60 or so years ago so there is still a lot of education to be had for people to learn about it.