That's like saying I could be completely against Afro-American rights and you would still tolerate me. I hate using the word 'Love' in these sorts of conversations.
Sure would. I wouldn't agree with you in the slightest and probably wouldn't be close friends with you but I would try my best to help you understand that what you are doing is wrong in many different social and political ways.
1 Corinthians 6:9-10 - "Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God." That being said, it does not mean that they are automatically evil. 1 Corinthians 6:11 - "And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God." So what it actually says is that those ways are wrong in the eyes of the LORD. But he still loves you and in turn, has washed you of your wrongdoings. So you may inherit his kingdom. Just thought I would clear that up. And now it's cleared up and I shall leave you guys be as not to annoy anypony with my bible verses.
I remember doing this in RE, and there were multiple versions of Corinthians 6:9-10, one directly speaking about them and one with just the male prostitutes.
Though I completely disagree with what is written in the Bible many times over, I do like the way it's laid out. That, and it's a good example of literature. Just some random thoughts.
[video=youtube;wGcyKEZtWuE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wGcyKEZtWuE[/video] I think that people are the worst things the world has to offer. I am pansexual. And living in Texas even under the assumption that someone is gay is a very dangerous situation. Every day, children are bullied, abused, and mentally assaulted by parents, students, and other children alike. Children kill themselves every day. 90% of the time, this is because they are bullied. And of these 90%, around 70% of these are accused of being gay and verbally (And sometimes Physically) bullied because of it. Due to the state of things here, I've long since decided to go to the UK. But that's besides the point. This is really old news, for sure. This Article Here Explains What I Mean. People let this go by. And it pains me to see that people can't realize that we are all just that: People. Until humanity can learn to respect one another for who they are, there will always be war and intolerance. And that means we will forever be plagued by it.
I personally believe its up to us to be the tolerant in a world of the intolerant. Be the shining beacon. Be the better person. Show people you care. Give your most and expect nothing in return. People will look up to you and respect you for it.
Let's put this into perspective: I'll respond calmly and tolerantly to what I perceive to be bigotry if they actually want to discuss the matter. If someone says: "I don't President Obama because he is black man, and I distrust the black race," then I will try to engage him/her and see where he/she is getting his/her ideas from. If someone baldly states: "I don't like darkies/negros/etc." I will have few words for them that aren't four letters long. Tolerance is a limited virtue. This especially becomes the case if the intolerant attack my friends or family.
I created a long post for this topic that somehow got erased. So I'm going to be blunt this time around. If you have any questions, feel free to ask. Also, as a disclaimer, don't be put off if I sound iron-clad or close-minded in my views. I'm merely not a soft-spoken individual. Like Horton the Elephant, or Applejack, for that matter, I say what I mean and mean what I say. I LOVE debate, so if you want to disagree with me in a civil manner, feel free. I don't think I will have a problem with you guys. I joined Everypony rather than other pony forums because it seems wonderfully open to diverging points of view. I respect everyone I have interacted with so far. I am a materialist, which means I don't believe in soul, spirit, mind, or any other substance that people are unable to adequately define or coherently describe. As such, I am a naturalist and have no reason to believe a God exists. I do not belong to a political party. I do believe in the basic value of a capitalist society. However, I believe it is deeply immoral for any well-off society to not aid its less well-off inhabitants. Nobody in America should have to worry about dying from malnutrition or be terrified at the prospect of hospitalization because they don't have health insurance. I am mixed on gun control. Gun control works better in densely-populated urban areas than in rural areas. I do believe in a federal ban on the private ownership of assault weapons, but as for shotguns, handguns, rifles, etc. I think the states should be able to decide. I believe criminal justice should be focused on punishment rather than rehabilitation, both because I doubt the effectiveness of rehabilitation for violent offenders and sexual predators AND because I believe it is immoral for a society to imprison you until it feels you're safe to release. One should be punished for a certain amount of time for a crime and then be released when their punishment period has ended. I do not believe in the death penalty. There will always be a fraction of innocent individuals who are executed unjustly, and it is more important for a society to protect its innocents than it is to punish their guilty. Life imprisonment without parole should be the highest punishment we can mete out to criminals. I believe strongly in the Castle Doctrine, and in one's general right to self-defense. I believe the law should protect the innocent and punish the guilty. Oftentimes it seems like we have that reversed. I am not a pacifist, but I do think war or other forms of state-sponsored violence should be employed only when further negotiation and compromise become impossible or too risky to reasonably pursue. I believe strongly in expanding the rights of gays, lesbians, and transsexuals. The rights of women to contraception should remain as well. I believe in unlimited abortion access for ADULTS in the first trimester of pregnancy, limited access in the second trimester, and no access (sans concerns about the mother's life) in the third trimester. I believe rape and incest are morally irrelevant when it comes to the issue of abortion. It is either moral or immoral to abort a child at any given point of its development, whether or not rape or incest were involved. I am a white male and refuse to be ashamed of that fact. I will address prejudice wherever I see it, but I will not accept responsibility for the actions of men who lived generations before me. I am not a feminist. I believe women should be treated with respect and dignity, as all people should be treated. I do not think women have a special license to commit immoral acts, however, leading to my feelings on the abortion issue. This also means I will call out man-bashing or misandry in general. I believe there is never an excuse for rape or date-rape. This includes marital rape. Women are not chattel. However, I also think claims of rape should be investigated thoroughly before any action is taken. I don't think men should have their lives ruined because some girl regrets getting drunk and waking up in bed next to some guy she can't remember. That's all I can think of right now. Great thread!
I've actually been waiting for this thread for quite a while now. Truly I didn't pick one of the three groups that you put up on the opening of this thread SRD. Instead I am myself as for others, well they are themselves and that's all I could ask for really. I don't get into politics much and avoid it as much as possible. My religion on the other hoof is one of my own, one that I came up with and have stuck with ever since. I generally accept people for who they are, mainly because I like them like that, themselves. I don't like it when someone tries to act or even live like another person, it just kind of puts me off, but I still role with it. I don't usually speak my mind, but instead keep a lot of stuff and ideas locked up inside my head. I will only reveal these ideas and other none sense when I think the time is right, and now I am going a bit off topic so I will stop here ^^;
Well, politically I consider myself a liberal, and religiously, I don't believe in anything, although I do follow Buddhist philosophy to the best of my ability. . . . That's the simple version, of course. No person is a simple line like that. To some detail, then. I'm pro-choice, but frown on people who look at it as a form of birth control, like condoms or the pill. On the other hand, I don't believe life starts at conception, so perhaps it doesn't matter. I believe people should be treated equally, whoever they're sleeping with, as long as it's consensual. And, yes, anyone should be able to marry anyone. Heck, I have nothing against multiple partnerships, although that's quite a bit harder to make work. Mmm, what else . . . I suppose I'm not what you'd consider a patriotic person, although I do think it's one of the better places to live in the world, just not what it could be. Against capital punishment, and our current form of capitalism. There's more details to that, I can assure you, and none of them are set in stone, so please do try and change them - I think opinions aren't worth having if they can't stand up to a simple challenge from others.
You can just resort to ignoring the person. Especially when what they are saying makes no difference. It's best to steer clear of a person who will not listen to reason. Even then, you should still want what's best for that person and want them to change. Want them to know its wrong. Never give up hope on that.
Basicly my own view on the subject, you summed it up better than I did. To tell more about my beliefs. Some people would call me a feminist, I believe women should have the same rights as men, but not a scrap more. But I think the greatest problem is while women can enjoy masculine things, it is still taboo for a man to like girly things. To reach true gender equality we must be allowed to like whatever we want, regardless of gender sterotypes. So I see bronies as a huge leap in the right direction. Like Rashall, my religion is one of my own making. I considered to join christianity for a while (though I would be an extreme liberal), I have found that it is better for me to start fresh, that way I don't have to deal with the heavy weight that is the past of christianity on my shoulders. My own belief entails no objective truth, a god for me is a being created by the faith of humanity. They are dependant upon believers as animals are of water, that would mean every single deity exists as long as there is believers. This would also make it possible to create new deities, I would rather like to have Rainbow Dash as my goddess of weather. This is also my view. I respect people that stand up for their opinions, regardless of how much I may disagree with them. Just ask Simon to see that I speak the truth.
I think that this is primarily because most boys are brought up with gender specific ideas - playing war is good, playing dress-up is bad, don't play with dolls (unless they're "action figures" of course), don't use the color pink, etc., etc. I was a bit luckier - my parents ignored me a lot of the time, so I never got the idea that I had to go hunting and kill Bambi to prove I'm a man. I played with "action figures" and dolls. And I think I'm more in touch with my feminine/masculine aspects than most people. A part of me thinks that we all alter religion to fit our general world-view to some degree; just most people stay within "norms" and are easily accepted by others. Whereas we more imaginable people don't. Hmm, Rainbow Dash as a weather goddess. I like where this is going. Twilight is goddess of knowledge; Applejack the goddess of the land, harvest, and seasons; Fluttershy a nature diety; Rarity is a, uh, fashion goddess? I'm not sure. And Pinkie is a goddess of parties. And I should add, I in no way endorse the idea of cartoon ponies as goddesses. I'm sure we all agree that Faust is the one true Goddess.
I'm not really in any particular group. I don't really think I'm a strict anything. There's exceptions to just about everything, so I'm never really all for something or all against something. Right now I'm dealing with vegans constantly on youtube, and though most of them are incredibly irrational and full of hate ironically, there are a few who make sense and I can have a nice, informative conversation with them. I don't like to judge people based on a whole group because I know every group has negativity, and bronies are no exception to that. Sometimes it may seem like the whole world is full of bad people in the general public, but it just makes the good ones that much more respectable. I'm multi-tasking like crazy right now. Hope my post makes sense.
