Gotcha.....being a retired road warrior Ive seen millions of those cakes and breath mints! They smelt so bad I pissed on em....
Florida wants to make it a crime for a teacher to address or refer to a student using anything other than the pronouns for the gender assigned at birth. In the free state of Florida no one is nonbinary.
DeSantis called Russian invasion of Ukraine a territorial dispute. You know, like when Lucia hisses and screeches at the cat who lives down the street. Love that, @ABM ?
Despite our disagreements, I have actually had a conversation with him fairly recently. He's had eye opening, life changing medical issues and has reorganized his priorities. And I can't blame him. Why get all worked up in an online forum over things we really can't change or impact much on our own micro level? He's entitled to his views (like 'em or don't) and getting beat up on by a majority who do not agree with him is not conducive to the recovery process. I too have strong views on particular subjects but at my age (close to his) am finding it less and less worth getting worked up over things I have little or no control over. I too am trying hard to prioritize what is most important as I pass through my waning years, and am getting it pounded into my thick head that American politics is a rabbit hole that has no bottom or good solutions (and is an almost complete waste of time). I have enough problems in my own life to deal with, and change starts at home (and in my own head). The guy takes a hiatus and we still beat on him. That says more about us than it says about him..........
I have no problem with taking a break. And someone sick has to take care of themselves. But I don't have the luxury of pretending. Anti woman laws, anti-Semitism, homophobia and transphobia absolutely impact me. I can't just hide in my house and pretend the world ends at my door. And reportedly Jesus said what you do to the least of these you do to him. Yet too often Christians define themselves by their bigotry. That's how they define themselves. I oppose marriage equality became I am Christian. I oppose access to birth control because I am Christian. I oppose insurance companies covering AiDS prevention because I am Christian.
This is a problem Christians need to reckon with. It's becoming increasingly hard to support or even have patience with faith based ANYTHING.
I'm not pretending that that it doesn't matter. I'm just realistic that I can only do so much at my level. Go ahead and bag on Christians or whoever as a "whole". But you keep poking at a lone guy who hasn't been posting for several months. What's your endgame in that regard? If he is "lurking" on the forum, he certainly knows how the majority of us feel without being called out by name. What is the purpose of singling him out? When that happens to me I tend to dig my heels in even further. I used to be brutal (for me) with ABM and all it did was make him even more resistant. It got neither one of us anywhere. Time (at least for me) to take a different tack....kind of in line with the Jesus quote you so generously provided.......
OK a couple of different issues. Everyone has the right to a break. You call me out for baiting ABM. Fair enough. He has done that to me but you could argue that's no excuse. You might be right. But if I say I love someone and that someone praises Hitler, I give anyone advance permission to call me on it. As for bagging on Christians. Yes, I recognize not all Christians are bigots. But at least in this country most bigots proclaim themselves Christians. A fact.
All good points. And I bag on Christians all the time for the very same reasons as you. The hypocrisy of so many of them drives me absolutely crazy. But all I can change is myself. I'm trying (very trying, some would say) but I have a long way to go.....
Nice post, brother. Thanks. Yeah, along with the health-related reevaluations overall, it became abundantly clear to me that my worldview is diametrically opposed to so many in here. Nobody is deviating from their own worldviews, so efforts in this regard are futile. Meanwhile, I've found so many other activities that take up my time these days. We're spending a lot more time with my wife's mother, who is in assisted living. We're well in the throes of a downtown Nashville townhomes development project. We're connecting more with our church family. We're traveling some. We're taking time out for the extended family. I'm doing some cool things to our property/yard. We're expanding our chess skills. I've been walking a lot. I have a great dog for that. It hasn't been lost on me that God has given me a second chance at this thing called life, and I don't want to squander it. It's been great chatting with you and I appreciate you. Thanks.
Glad you are having a second chance on life. Truly. I hope you make things better for people, animals and plants and worry less about other people's personal lives Go Blazers.
The man who trolled this section with his takes for a couple years is now realizing his views are not liked Yawn
Thanks for your kind words. That said, my involvement as it relates to these topics mainly involves the potential over-sexualization of children and the protection of fetuses. If that's worrying about other people's lives, then so be it.
