murderers are NOT bad people. people who have murdered, or raped, or cannibalized, or whatever, they arent BAD people, because there is no such thing as this binary of ‘good and bad’ in that regard. they have done bad things, and maybe they will continue to do bad things. but people are conditional animals. were are all shades of gray.
AND I’m pretty sure this is where Romney lost the debate!! “Murderer’s are not bad people.”? are you out of your mind? you sound like you’ve been working at a prison too long. those people have you brain washed.
in the prison i meet with people who have done horrible and atrocious things, disgusting things. but that doesnt make them as people any less valid than you or i.
yes it does. even by your standard that you write about further down, " but actionS define us, not any one single action." “i meet with people who have done horrible and atrocious thingS” Yeah, “THINGS” and yet you think even though these people have horrible actions they are no different that someone cheating on a spouse.
they are still people with something more inside of them, and that is part of what my job is trying to do. get people to see that.
You may be right, there may be something more, but their action(S) have created the situation where nobody should be required to give them anymore attention/respect. Until they have really shown they are rehabilitated, which doesn’t come with an “I’m sorry.”
i have done things, you have done thing that we are not proud of. but actionS define us, not any one single action.
What happened to the shades of grey you spoke about? you think a rapist, cannibal, murderer is the same as some high school kid that cheats on his b/gfriend? or the guy who gets pulled over for speeding?
Yeah a neo nazi, as an individual, may not have killed anybody but the fact that they subscribe to a group that has advocated that behavior and many/some of those members may have done so means the blood is on all of members’ hands
this part aside, in the episcopal church there are MANY gay, female and even trans priests. in the catholic church, there arent. BUT, there are catholic priests who make needles and the likes available.
once again, these people are the exceptions not the rules, the exception means not common. and yes I am aware of the episcopalians and I applaude their progressive stances but again they are the exception to religion and not the norm… they also don’t happen to knock on doors.
if someone believes i am less of a person because of my sexuality, my gender, my skin, my cultural history, whatever, then so be it.
and I agree, but we’re not talking about thoughts we are talking about actions we are talking about people knocking on doors to tell everyone about how rustyhacksaw is a “White Male Faggot foreigner”. whether they start out on the doorstep with this phrasing or “let me tell you about my God” it’s all the same, because they wouldn’t be part of the group if they didn’t condone those actions.
its my responsibility to live my life in a way that will show those people i am NOT less than.
you think you have to prove yourself to biggots, racists, misogynists and the vermin of society? Why?
getting angry, being rude, mocking people for what they hold dear and close to their hearts, that doesnt help my case.
Why is it your case?
being sanctimonious and deciding that i am a better person because i dont pray to a god that some people have decided is a god of wrath, that doesnt make me better than they are.
Again, if it were just thoughts feelings and attitudes it wouldn’t matter, but you and I know that it’s more than that.
same way that you supporting the american meat industry and monsanto, helping to mutate crops genetically and cause for the downfall of non corporate farms doesnt make you a worse or any less valid person than i am.
it’s not really the same thing.
like i said before, we are all people, and we have to take the stuff we agree with along with the stuff we dont. thats kind of a big part of being in a society.
you keep bouncing back and forth between actions and thoughts as if they are the same but then you try to make distinctions between the two. which is it?
when the neo-nazi tells me that he thinks i am less than he is because of his bigotry, THEN i can get angry. THEN i can fight with him about that.
why? according to your last block of text you said you gotta take the bad with the good. he’s not doing anything to you. He just has his thoughts which he shared with you. his actions didn’t do anything to you at that moment.
but when he is holding open a door for me, because he thinks its just a nice thing to do, i cant start yelling at him because of his bigotry.
yes you can because you know he’s only doing it because your’e white.
So let me ask you this, so neo nazi holds the door for you but closes it on the black guy coming in behind you. Do you say something or only focus on the fact that he was nice to you, the white male?
when the traveling church salespeople want to be helpful to you, be polite, but the moment they act in an unchristian (and yes, any sort of malice, anger, or animosity is unchristian) way, then be annoyed.
but they’re not being helpful to me. they are being helpful to their own cause.
my point is, you cant just be rude to someone for what they believe. thoughts, conversations, and disagreements aren’t crimes. actions are.
yes I can because from those beliefs come actions and if they, as individuals, have not committed horrible actions they are supporting an organization that has.
Late,
grmpysmrf