The Banned said:
kurt vonnegut said:
For the record, I never called you a bigot. I think that mocking posts suggesting the fire bombing of gay pride parades is in bad taste. I'm glad you agree. I also don't think I should have had to fight is hard as I did to get one person to agree.
On a side note - do you think non-Christians get tired of having Christianity shoved in their faces? Or being called 'cancerous', 'degenerate', and 'detestable'?
Did I say you called me a bigot? We're talking about in the general populace here, not just Kurt. So in that context, I have been seen, and I'm sure will continue to be, a bigot in the eyes of many, many people. That's what I was referring to there. It's easy to let frustrations boil over sometimes. No different than how servium, myself and others are accused of being right wing radicals for pointing out human rights issues with IVF on the politics board. It gets old being seen as some radical for holding to what we believe are incredibly rational views. So I was relating to him.
You had to fight hard to get a comment denouncing his graphic because your posts were confusing as hell. Or maybe myself and the others that initially responded have poor comprehension skills. Once you clarified, you got your comment without a fight.
It's very likely that they do. But I don't see a ton of Christian media propaganda, company ad campaigns, tv shows, movies or parades being funneled into our culture. I never saw "keep Christ in Christmas" take off in any of those outlets. Surely you can see how it's a bit different in magnitude. You don't have to scan every kids show designed for children 10 and under for random LGBT crap. My 5 year olds two favorite dinosaur shows have gay couples in them. Not real excited to explain why two girls are kissing to him at this point. Just let my kid watch some damn dinosaurs.
I was clarifying that I haven't called you a bigot. I recognize that some ascribe the term automatically to all Christians. . . I am disassociating myself from that practice.
However, the terms 'cancerous', 'degenerate', and 'detestable' were lifted from Servium's post on the pride month thread. Now, I'm not ascribing the use of those terms to you. But, if you object to the way your fellow Christians talk about LGBTQ persons, then call them out. And if you agree with talking about them in this way, then what sympathy do you want from anyone else when you are called a bigot? Too many Christians hate others and then clutch their pearls when they receive hate back.
If it is important to you for people, or American culture (broadly), to stand up for Christianity, then perhaps Christians should consider standing up for someone other than themselves. You know, instead of calling them cancerous degenerate detestables. And I already hear the objection - why do Christians have to endorse homosexuality? I'm not saying that. I'm saying endorse someone else's God given right to decide from themselves without your judgement. And if you insist on judging them, be prepared to be judged in return.
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I have a friend who moved here from England a few years back. A few months after he moved here, I remember him telling me how funny it was to find American flags and American symbols everywhere. Schools, banks, offices, tv commercials, tvs, bumper stickers, the national anthem at every sporting event, etc. I don't know if it is true that American symbolism is more prevalent here than British symbolism is there. But, what I do know is that once he pointed it out to me, I began seeing flags everywhere I went. And after the novelty of looking for flags everywhere wore off, those flags went back to blending into the background of my day to day.
I think something similar can happen with other cultural phenomenon like religion. I don't think you realize how much Christianity is absolutely everywhere in our culture unless you look for it or unless you are non-Christian. You can't drive 10 feet in Texas without seeing a church. Keep your eyes open for it, and you'll see crosses around people's necks, t-shirts, 'He Gets Us' commercials, our money, our pledge, and bumper stickers. The only national holidays for religious holidays are Christian. Christianity is in our phrases and idioms, our music, and our names. Coworkers praying before a meal. My kids have friends who pray before lunch at school. And all of that is fine and great. If Christianity is part of your identity and you wish to do or say something that expresses that, then by all means, go for it. Every Christian in this country deserves their 1/333,000,000 contribution to the overall character and culture of this country. However, I would extend that same courtesy to people who are LGBTQ. . . . does that make me radical? Should LGBTQ persons not be permitted to be in commercials, or wear shirts that express their views, or make movies? You can build a church on every street corner, but someone waving a rainbow flag is a problem?
I don't endorse your religion, but I sure as Hell support your right to it and your right to contribute to this culture as you see fit. What is so offensive about suggesting others might do the same?
As far as media is concerned, production companies are in the business of making money. If you want more tv shows like 7th Heaven and Veggie Tales, then people have to start actually watching them. If you think there is too much alternative lifestyle representation in your tv and movies, then blame the Christians who aren't watching Christian programming. Or just don't watch it. I never sat my kids down in front of an animated Christian show and then complained about all the Christian 'crap'.
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The equivalent to this would be your kids watching a dinosaur show and they randomly slip in that dinosaurs didn't actually exist because the earth is only 7000 years old. Doubt you'd be happy with that. Maybe you have some counter examples though.
WTF? Why on Earth would this bother me? You know what I tell my children when we see something on tv or someone at school says something different from our values? I tell them that there a lot of people who believe a lot of different things and we should have respect for them all. Then I tell them what I believe and why and tell them they get to make their own decision. How massive of a snowflake would I have to be to be upset that a tv show writer or producer had a different belief from my own?