This user only spams their blog that is most likely lazy AI plagiarism. Reported and blocked.

Truly devout/pious folks from any religion I’ve known have been good people and a joy to be around. I think they’d be good people anyway though, and their religion just gave them a framework.

They probably would be yeah. Although I have family members who definitely weren’t great before they found religion. Two uncles in particular who are great now but were not on this path before. Then I have another uncle on the other side of my family who absolutely refuses to accept that his daughter is gay and him and his wife have put that child through absolute hell. I’ve seen videos of her mother screaming at her that she was the devil and all sorts of disgusting shit that a child should never hear from anyone let alone a parent. Being trans I’ve cut contact with them completely because even if they act nice in my face, I know what they say when I’m not around.

When folks use religion as their justification for behaving in ways that are clearly at odds with its most basic tenets, that’s what I find toxic, and do feel is far, far too common.

Yeah unfortunately it is. Religion is as corrupted as politics are these days. These people seem to think they’re only following the word of god but they’re just being manipulated. I can’t help but feel bad for them even if some of them would literally want to see me dead.

I’m probably coming in hot on the topic in general because although I’m a cishet white guy I’ve just about had it with the ridiculous bullshit from the right in this area in recent years, and it’s becoming a real hotbutton issue to me.

I get it. This all needs to stop. I’m just scared that if all sides just stay angry at each other we will never be able to get past this without things getting even uglier. So when I see someone like the dad in this story, I’d rather forget everything else and appreciate the fact that they’ve improved and even give them praise. They’ve admitted to being wrong at least once so maybe now they won’t be so quick to hate things they don’t understand.

I don’t know, maybe I’m naive. All I know is that I’m really sick of all the negativity, the constant outrage and outright ragebait articles, all the pundits and the talking heads who basically just try to make the other side look dumb for views, all of it. It feels like we’re all being played, even by the people on “our side”.

I agree that there are problems with that kind of religious thinking but what I got hung up on in your original reply was this

What happens when his interpretation changes again?

What says that the next interpretation will be negative? We can’t assume that. I know where you’re coming from and I was a bit bitchy in my reply, I’m sorry about that.

Who knows why he said those things the way he said it, but if that’s what it takes for him to accept the things that are going on around him then it’s just whatever, good for him. Who knows, maybe his next realization will be that the bible and religion aren’t “all that”.

The way I interpreted your post at first was almost like accusing someone of “futurecrime”. We don’t know what is in store for this person, all we know is that he had a change of heart about something but obviously he is not ready to let go of his religious beliefs. I guess it also made me a bit angry because it sounded like something I might’ve said a long time ago when I used to be fiercely anti-religion and I really don’t that old version of me. It wasn’t very productive.

Maybe that was a bit of projection on my part.

I wouldn’t dream of taking religion away from someone today. I don’t like it but for some people it’s all that they know and it’s how they make sense of the world. It’s a crutch but some people need it and are completely lost without it.

It’s not about that. The man is religious, that’s not gonna change from one day to the next. You don’t need to be religious to be a bigot, that was just his excuse.

What happened to being tolerant of others beliefs? Religion has nothing to do with being an ignorant bigot, it’s just often used as an excuse for it.

This ape gets it.

Speaking as a trans person, there is a lot of stupid, painful and upsetting questions that even well-intentioned people ask when they are learning about trans people.

Yup 100%, I know that all too well. It can be hard to deal with, especially at first, but it’s worth doing. Much more than just assuming bad intentions and that they’re just hateful people.

Ignorance ≠ Hate

Edgy

I agree, it is incredibly frustrating but people learn at different paces and in different ways. Some people can only learn from hands-on learning and first-hand experiences.

I’m not crying you’re… nah I’m crying.

I really don’t care what it takes for people to finally open their eyes and minds as long as it happens. This father could’ve very easily not accepted his daughter, but he did. Not only did he accept his daughter, he admitted to himself that he was wrong his entire life. It doesn’t matter how he was in the past, we should not judge him for it. He knows what he did and who he was, he will beat himself up over it enough and doesn’t need anyone else to help him with that. We should celebrate this man.

People who have awakenings like that later in life are very valuable allies. They can speak to segments of the population that we can’t and I am very happy to have someone like him on our side.

I’m trans and I don’t think conservatives just hate other humans. I think they’re scared and they don’t want “bad things” to happen to their communities and their children. They know things are fucked up right now, and they are right about that. It’s something we can all agree on.

The problem is that they’re being offered a bunch of things to point the finger at as a cause of their misery, like LGBTQ+ people/rights, immigrants, diversity, etc. On the other hand, those of us who are left-leaning are being offered the same type of thing, except in our case, it’s them. The media is doing such a good job of othering both sides that we’ve lost sight of their humanity and we don’t even listen to a single thing they have to say. Nobody is there to agree with them when they’re right and nobody is there to actually have a conversation when they’re wrong. Both sides just write off everything the other side has to say. It has to stop. If you think that these people only care about guns, taking away abortion right and getting rid of LGBTQ+ people, you’ve been played.

Politicians won’t stop using these things as political tools until we stop giving them reasons to. It is working so well for them.

Reality is that both sides are being manipulated. People on the left and people on the right are the same people and in these times we need to actively make an effort to remember that. Saying that conservatives just need to die out is so ugly and dangerous.

We need to start talking to each other again. We need to stop the constant consumption of outrage. I know it’s not an easy thing to do but you can do it, it can be done. It is an addiction that is destroying us all and it doesn’t matter if other people still consume, these things start with “You”.

Tie Your Mother Down

Bahah yeah I thought so! It was SO amazing. Probably the most beautiful thing I’ve seen in my life so far.

Hey I know that bridge! 😜

Or you could just find yourself freaking out at 7am with your arm up your ass all the way to the elbow trying to grab that cute heart shaped buttplug that was way too small and somehow just kept crawling further and further up your ass while praying that you won’t have to go to the ER. That’s cool too.

I think “Only half the time.” is actually the correct answer here.

Yeah it certainly looks that way… Terrifying stuff to watch from the sidelines. I hope for all our sakes that these people have a moment of realization sooner rather than later.

Kinda?

However, some Republicans have characterized Biden’s effort as a “bailout for the wealthy.”

I’M SORRY WHAT???

Do these people think that having an education means you’re wealthy?

Have you tried power cycling your router?

I thought mine was too but it is hard to navigate the storms of life and my sense of self is still tied up in the wrong things.:-( Then again, I will meditate on it and it becomes an opportunity to do better and grow… so that’s always a boon. Nobody enjoys those opportunities, but we do become so much better - less Monkey, more Mind - as a result:-).

Aw, that’s just part of the ups and downs of life. Just don’t let yourself fall too far down. Two steps forwards one step back is still one step forward. The last 2 days have been pretty shit for me in terms of mental health but at the same time I still realize that I am still doing MUCH better than I was just a month ago. It’s always a bit painful when your mood and mental health takes a bit of a dive but it helps to try and keep things in perspective.