I heartily applaud your stance and sheer honesty @Ken Anderson , it would be a lot nicer world if everyone took the same attitude....but just one question.. if you had been a Navy Seal yourself...would you have still been as tolerant with the guy across the road and his imaginary life and tall tales ..... ?
Wife and I will both agree and disagree with Ken. BUT, he does make some excellent points. We recently found out that our Great Neice is bi-sexual. Definitely don't agree with her admitted (to her mom) sexuality preference. We have seen her so-called "roommate", who is female that definitely looks like a guy, on Facebook. Since we have found this out, wife and I have decided to "unfriendly" her on Facebook. Most everything she does off the Army Base, she's in the Army, is with this girlfriend/lover. Her grandma and mother might accept her choice of sexuality, but we sure don't. Sometimes a person just has to say "no" to certain things. Where I grew up, in the country and farming, things aren't nearly as accepted as in the big city.
There is nothing that my kids could do that would make me love them less or not accept them...even murder, I'd be disappointed but I would still love them unless it was so heinous that it became impossible but that's never gonna happen anyway. I'm pretty accepting of all lifestyles, it's not my life and not my business. I don't have anybody in my family that's not heterosexual so I don't even have to worry about it.
One of the reasons We were glad to move out of So California is that pretty much everything done there is acceptable. Now we live in a city that is pretty much the same way and can hardly wait to leave here. One thing we pretty much are NOT is "open-minded".
Those are my sentiments about my kids also, @Chrissy Cross , and it is hard as a mother to even imagine how something like this could affect how you love your children. I am a Christian, and I realize that many Christians feel that they need to reject homosexual people of whatever gender; but I do not feel that way. I think it is my job to apply the precepts in the Bible to my own life, and not try to enforce it in someone else's life, or reject them for whatever they believe. One of the main Christian tenets is that "Jesus Saves", and that we need Him to change us because otherwise we can't change ourself without accepting salvation. So, if we believe that we need help from God to change our life, how on earth can we even expect someone else to change theirs ? Ether we need God to change or we don't, it can't be both ways.
@ Cody Fosnaugh I respect your viewpoint - up to a point. I am Jewish and don't accept that anyone has really read the Bible unless they have read the Hebrew Tanakh in it's entirety. That however, is perhaps better suited to another thread but religious threads do tend to cause more problems than they resolve. I will say on that point that that in the original creation story in the " original " Bible. Adam & Eve were one being and that being or race of beings were androgynous in nature. If that seems outlandish, understand that we are not talking about biological sexual entities, but a race of beings that were androgynous in mental nature and without sexual form, - in effect creatures with bodies of light . In this sense, Man & Woman as distinct " physical beings" originated after the fall from Grace. If it makes any sense to you and perhaps provides some comfort, I also believe that the current manifestation of the Transgender phenomena is an indication that the Human Race is ready to return to embrace that state of grace which was lost through the fall into duality of consciousness., that is, taking all the superficial elements out of the equation, Humanity is being prepared for mass- Ascendancy. It is inevitable that a certain confusion surrounds that . The ignorance surrounding Transgenderism, mirrors the general ignorance between different races, Nations etc , who all conflict in the belief that they alone are right, and the others are wrong. I would make the point that , regardless of why you have a particular view , I respect your right to it. I am not a P.C. idiot. God made us all different for a reason and a simple one., - to learn the meaning of Christian Love , which is to love the people you don't understand and even dislike regardless of how much or how little you understand them. I personally have had as much problems of understanding within the Trans community as outside of it. I also don't understand homosexuality but my spiritual convictions demand that I should love them and so I do.In this context, Christian Love could be compared to the Loving Kindness or Metta of Bhuddism, To love someone in both senses just means to accept their right to exist and wish them no harm. I'm glad you decided to continue posting.i don't believe in censorship ( except for rudeness ) - that includes the self-imposed censorship the P.C. brigade attempt to impose on people through shouting them down. I also believe all of the sub-categories pertaining to Transgender are simply gibberish. In my view there are genuinely Transgender or Androgyne people who are psychologically more feminine, more masculine or closer to aGender or Asexuality than the equally stereotyped " Normal " people. That , for me, is the limit of true Transgender definition, i sometimes wear more feminine clothes for reasons of comfort and nothing more. The sexual elements , the " expert sociologists " have projected on to the Transgender psyche reveals a lot more about their psychology than mine. Unfortunately, people who instinctively know they are Transgender and are looking for answers to why they are different ,are assailed by all of these expert advice givers who like "normal" people want to shape them into something they can understand. That is why , your voice is just as important as mine. You think the confusion of Transgender terminology is confusing to you? Perhaps you should consider how much more confusing and unsettling it is for a teen-age boy or girl seeking answers to suddenly be confronted with even more confusion and ignorance from the very professionals who have set themselves up to help them.Sometimes the answer to the question only leads to other questions. The true answer from my viewpoint is simply to accept people as they are and not even try to understand them. Love is acceptance. it is not something given only to people we understand or can define. it is this emphasis on the need to understand that causes all the world's problems. People are different , because they think differently and evolve at at an individual rate and in individual ways. The significance of the individual in regard to all aspects of evolution -including spiritual is the real " missing link " in evolutionary theory , not some non - existent monkey -man.It is God's plan for us to be different and to live with these differences and not attempt to understand or eliminate them. That is the only way to peace on earth. i hope this post goes some way towards clarifying things and from this point on we may be a little better acquainted ?
Not to change the topic, but it appears to me, and my wife, who does read/understand the Bible much more/better than I do, that different Christians have different thoughts about different things. She listens to/watches a Pastor each Sunday, "live" on her computer. His name is John Hagee and totally condemns the GLBT community and every time he does, his congregation gives him a large applause. He has a very large church. One thing for sure, he knows a lot more about the Bible than we do. Another fact, some people like him a lot, while others definitely don't. Like I said already, where/how I was raised has a lot to do with how I feel. Heck, even rodeo has a gay organization that most, if not all, straight rodeo cowboys and cowgirls don't agree with at all. There is a difference between being "open-minded" and not.
First- why in the hell, does everyone feel the need -all over the world to tell us their sexually prefences?Should be outlawed. What do we do next, accept people because they rather bed with their dog? Second- and please do not take me wrong here-and i will not delete or ignore you, still buddies- but why is religion always brought into the hub of things ? I am not a biblical scholar,I accept all religions provided they are Godly based-however, each bible, each preacher, each person interprets the Bible to their own choosing. I believe in one God almighty-period. But i do not have a religion, do not need religion, religion is what creates the problem. Third- To each his own, meaning what ever You want to say, do,wear, hear, think - is your right. At the same time, it is my right, without intent of harm physically or verbally to access you however I feel. Fourth- To be kind, caring and try to understand people different than myself, is not an acceptance of their behavior or lifestyle- I call it trying to be a decent and fair human being. My life was, has been, and is a conglomeration of variety in people of all faiths, colors, and sexual differences.I don't always "get where they are coming from".... but hey, to each his own. Bottom line, we each share this planet, we each help screw it up, none of us have all the answers...what we do have - is the will, the right, the humanity to care enough to continue on, in peace.
I know what you're talking about in your last reply. Apparently, Billie wanted to defend the transgender sex. In reading all the jokes, which could be taken as "put-downs", Billie had to say something. People bring religion and the Bible into different things as a defense/belief thing. Some folks like "open-minded" people, but not everyone in every city and town in the U.S. is "open-minded". GLBT people are not found in every city or town in the U.S. and that is fine with the people that live in those cities or towns. I'm part of a re-location forum and I'm always reading how different races and people who are GLBT, in their Thread, ask how people handle a certain race and/or a GLBT person who is thinking about moving there. The answer varies, depending on the area and state. I use to work for a lesbian couple who were very nice, but I never once seen them holding hands or kissing and didn't even what to think about them sleeping together. For us, and I did ask my wife about this, when the GLBT community pushes their beliefs onto straight people, whether it's talking or showing some type of affection, that's when we don't like it. It's got to be now where a news station will do a report on a gay or lesbian wedding and show a picture of the couple giving each other the "wedding kiss".........to muck, YUK!
I think there are LGBT people everywhere you just may not know it. There were always LGBT people, it just wasn't broadcast as it is now and that's the way with everything...we just have access to things because of the internet.
What about the small towns in Idaho, Wyoming, Montana, the Dakota's? Chicago, NYC and big cities like that, I'll agree, yes, but not so much, if any, in those states I mentioned. Those are basically cowboy and ranching states that don't want to be like Chicago, NYC or any other really big city in the U.S. Actually, in that relocation forum, I have never seen any LGBT people asking about a certain city or town, in those states, they are thinking about moving to. They, like some races, want to make sure there is a certain percentage, and they hope a large one, of the race or LGBT community is there.