And so it begins...

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ex-khobar Andy
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Re: And so it begins...

Post by ex-khobar Andy »

The Guardian has a story about an Australian rugby player (wing three quarter, my old position) who apparently posted on social media that "Hell awaited homosexuals and an array of other sinners if they did not repent." He's a Pentecostal, and Rugby Australia has cancelled his contract because he has breached their code of conduct by "posting religiously inspired, anti-gay, comments on social media." He is going straight to the Australian Supreme Court to challenge this decision on the grounds that it denies his freedom of religion.

We all (AFAIK) condemn that tiny proportion of Muslims who believe that the world is a better place when they throw gay men off high buildings. I'm not religious in any meaningful way but I believe that people should be free to worship their god in any way they please.

Until they decide that someone else, who does not apparently share their exact theology, should die or live in servitude. I don't think that the apartheid era Dutch Reformed Church of South Africa was (they have changed their theology, apparently) a religion we should have treated tolerantly. Karl Popper, in his The Open Society and its Enemies, had a chapter on the tolerance paradox - can an open society be tolerant of intolerance? Basically a free society which wants to survive must be intolerant of intolerance. I'm with him on that.

Emo Phillips is worth a listen.


Burning Petard
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Re: And so it begins...

Post by Burning Petard »

Watching the You Tube above was my first exposure to Emo Phillips. I have no excuse for this shameful hole in my cultural knowledge, but Thank YOU Andy for introducing me.

This bit of schtick has been declared the best religious joke of all time. Here is Mr. Phillips' reaction to this announcement:

https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2005/ ... y.religion

which is also a great explanation for why I drink coffee.

snailgate.

ex-khobar Andy
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Re: And so it begins...

Post by ex-khobar Andy »

Thanks SG - I knew that it had been voted the best religious joke but I hadn't seen that Guardian piece you linked.

In it Emo Phillips tells some of his other religious jokes. I especially liked this one:
· So I'm at the wailing wall, standing there like a moron, with my harpoon.
I shall use that myself one day. If I'm sober I will even give the proper attribution.

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RayThom
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And so it begins...

Post by RayThom »

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“In a world whose absurdity appears to be so impenetrable, we simply must reach a greater degree of understanding among us, a greater sincerity.” 

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MajGenl.Meade
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Re: And so it begins...

Post by MajGenl.Meade »

Now that's funny :ok :lol:
For Christianity, by identifying truth with faith, must teach-and, properly understood, does teach-that any interference with the truth is immoral. A Christian with faith has nothing to fear from the facts

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Bicycle Bill
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Re: And so it begins...

Post by Bicycle Bill »

As long as we're telling religious jokes ....

A bishop walked straight up to the bar.
The bartender said, "Hey, you can't do that.  Bishops can only move diagonally."

Thank you.  I'll be here all week.
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Yes, I suppose I could agree with you ... but then we'd both be wrong, wouldn't we?

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Lord Jim
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Re: And so it begins...

Post by Lord Jim »

I was expecting a funny joke, but I got rooked...
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Scooter
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Re: And so it begins...

Post by Scooter »

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"If you don't have a seat at the table, you're on the menu."

-- Author unknown

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Scooter
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Re: And so it begins...

Post by Scooter »

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"If you don't have a seat at the table, you're on the menu."

-- Author unknown

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Scooter
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Re: And so it begins...

Post by Scooter »

More spiteful pettiness from the Cheeto-in-Chief:
US embassies denied permission to fly rainbow pride flags from flagpoles

Washington (CNN)Multiple US embassies were denied permission by the Trump administration to fly the rainbow pride flag from their flagpoles to commemorate LBGTQ Pride Month, two senior State Department officials told CNN Friday.

Embassies are required to get permission from the State Department when flying anything besides the American flag on their main flagpoles.

At the US Embassy in Berlin, which was one of the locations denied permission this year, flying the rainbow flag in the month of June had previously been simply "a routine thing that happens every year," one source said.

"It's always accepted," the source said, adding that the embassy had asked to fly the flag just during the city's Pride Week, at the end of June.
But this year, "an email was sent back from State's Management office, saying no. Denied," the source told CNN.

The ambassador at that embassy, Richard Grenell, is gay and an advocate for LBGTQ rights around world. He said they will "hang a huge banner on the side of the Embassy" and host multiple events during Pride Month.

NBC News was first to report the story.

In a statement that reads like a most diplomatic rebuke of what seems to be a new policy, Grenell said, "The President's recognition of Pride Month and his tweet encouraging our decriminalization campaign gives me even more pride to once again march in the Berlin Pride parade, hang a huge banner on the side of the Embassy recognizing our pride, host multiple events at the Embassy and the residence, and fly the gay pride flag."

When asked if Grenell was annoyed that they had been denied permission to fly the flag from the flagpole, the State Department source replied with an emphatic "yes."

"His take now is basically, OK, then we'll fly it inside the embassy, we'll fly it from the window, we'll fly it from the balcony, and everywhere else," the person said.

The State Department has not responded to a request for comment.
"If you don't have a seat at the table, you're on the menu."

-- Author unknown

ex-khobar Andy
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Re: And so it begins...

Post by ex-khobar Andy »

I remember how, at some point during the campaign, Trump said that Caitlyn Jenner was welcome to use the Ladies' room at Trump Tower. I actually gave him points for that because it seemed to me that he was more enlightened on the subject than most of his Republican friends. I should have realized that he was just, as always, making a vote calculation, nothing more. He might lose some from the rightmost end of his base (but where are they going to go? - they weren't going to suddenly vote for Clinton) and maybe gain a few more of the LGBT+ vote.

Burning Petard
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Re: And so it begins...

Post by Burning Petard »

From the WaPo: https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/na ... 1abab1c073

Diplomat calls it basic insurrection. In a very basic 'military leadership' class I sat through a long time ago in Germany, I was told 'never give an order that you know will not be obeyed." Guess they did not teach that in Jr ROTC where POTUS went to high school.

snailgate

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Scooter
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Re: And so it begins...

Post by Scooter »

Trump honored marriage equality anniversary by speaking at an anti-gay conference

Yesterday was the anniversary of three major LGBTQ court victories, and Donald Trump chose to “celebrate” them speaking at an anti-LGBTQ conference.

June 26th marked the fourth anniversary of the Obergefell v. Hodges decision (which ended bans on marriage equality in every state), the sixth anniversary of the U.S. v. Windsor decision (which forced the federal government to recognize same-sex marriages), and the sixteenth anniversary of the Lawrence v. Texas decision (which ended sodomy laws in the U.S.), all major victories for LGBTQ rights that happened during Pride Month.

To mark a day important to LGBTQ people, Trump chose to address the Faith & Freedom Coalition’s “Road to Majority” conference.

The conference addresses a number of social issues and its website describes marriage as “a sacrament of faith, a reflection of God’s perfect plan for humanity and the living embodiment of Jesus’ love for the church and the church’s devotion to Him.”

The Faith & Freedom Coalition, which runs the conference, supports the First Amendment Defense Act, a bill that would make it illegal for the government to take action against people who discriminate against LGBTQ people as long as the discriminator says they did it because they have a “religious belief” that marriage is “the union of one man and one woman.”

Their website also touts “President Donald J. Trump’s Remarkable Record of Achievement,” which includes appointing judicial nominees who oppose LGBTQ rights, passing rules expanding religious exemptions, banning “transgendered [sic] people” from serving in the military, choosing “rock-solid conservative” Mike Pence as a running mate, and “ending ObamaCare.”

The Faith & Freedom Coalition was founded in 2009 by Ralph Reed, who also founded the Christian Coalition. Reed has a long history of anti-LGBTQ statements, including calling workplace protections for LGBTQ people “a dagger aimed at the heart of religious freedom for millions of Americans” and that the U.S. v. Windsor court decision in favor of marriage equality was an “Orwellian act of judicial fiat.”

Reed has recently started trailing out presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg on the campaign trail to heckle and demean him for being gay. In April he staged a protest outside one of Mayor Pete’s rallies that featured a Buttigieg impersonator flogging Jesus as Satan cheered him on. He also shouted insults and anti-gay slurs at the candidate.

So it’s no surprise that Trump didn’t discuss any of the Supreme Court decisions that LGBTQ advocates were celebrating the anniversaries of when he addressed the conference yesterday, according to the Washington Blade.

Instead, he bragged about his over 140 judicial nominees who will give movement conservatism victories in court.

“When I asked for your support in 2016, Americans of faith were under assault,” Trump said. “But the shameful attempt to suppress religious believers ended the day I took the oath of office.”
"If you don't have a seat at the table, you're on the menu."

-- Author unknown

liberty
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Re: And so it begins...

Post by liberty »

I hate and condemn all thugs but mother fucking “Shit For Brains” loves some and hates others.
I expected to be placed in an air force combat position such as security police, forward air control, pararescue or E.O.D. I would have liked dog handler. I had heard about the dog Nemo and was highly impressed. “SFB” is sad I didn’t end up in E.O.D.

rubato
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Re: And so it begins...

Post by rubato »

liberty wrote:I hate and condemn all thugs but mother fucking “Shit For Brains” loves some and hates others.

Might you try adding a little punctuation, perhaps change a word here and there? As-is this is incoherent.


yrs,
rubato

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Lord Jim
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Re: And so it begins...

Post by Lord Jim »

Well...

If "coherence" is interpreted to mean "being able to understand the meaning the writer is intending to convey", I believe I get that...

Lib is saying that Scooter approves of thuggish behavior when it's carried out by "some" people...

My problem with this is, that while I have certainly had plenty of disagreements with Scooter over the years, I can't off hand think of a single instance where Scooter has defended, lauded, or in any way written approvingly about thuggish behavior on anybody's part...

Any individual or group...

Lib, do you have some examples of things he has posted on this site that you can quote (actual verbatim quotes; preferably with a link back to where the quote was posted by him originally) that would back up your charge?
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Lord Jim
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Re: And so it begins...

Post by Lord Jim »

Lib, since I see that you have been active on the board today, but have chosen not to respond to my question, I'm going to have to conclude that the answer is "No, I don't have any evidence to back up my accusation"....
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Scooter
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Re: And so it begins...

Post by Scooter »

I'm just having a chuckle at how he has decided to have me live in his brain rent free.
"If you don't have a seat at the table, you're on the menu."

-- Author unknown

ex-khobar Andy
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Re: And so it begins...

Post by ex-khobar Andy »

Scooter wrote:I'm just having a chuckle at how he has decided to have me live in his brain rent free.

It might be rent free Scooter but there's not a lot of furniture. But I bet it's peaceful in there.

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Scooter
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Re: And so it begins...

Post by Scooter »

The echo does get pretty loud at times. But there is a clear view through each ear.
"If you don't have a seat at the table, you're on the menu."

-- Author unknown

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