Category: Religion / Religious / Theocracy

Alan Shore on Homosexuality

This is a clip from Boston Legal. Obviously I do not own any of the rights to Boston Legal, I simply own the DVD set to season 3. However, I believe it is both a tribute to the show and a good sales pitch towards purchasing a copy of this show to introduce herein a clip that demolishes the absurd religious views on homosexuality. In this clip, Alan Shore presents his case as to why the man he represents has been scammed out of $40k by a religious organization that intended to “cure” his SSAD (“same sex attraction disorder”, aka homosexuality). Brilliant and appropriate for this moment in time.

DA ‘TOONS … THEY JUST KEEP ON COMING!

Da ‘Toons … They Just Keep On Coming!

Hey everyone.  I know I am late to the party as they say on a lot of posts, but as I work my way through the backlog of fellow posters whose content I love, Jill again made a post I want to share.  Even if everyone already seen it, the cartoons are so spot on, Jill’s post deserves another viewing.   Hugs

Gender Affirming Care Is Evil Except When It’s Not

Cartoon: Gender Affirming Care Is Evil Except When It’s Not

Thanks to Ali for the link.   This cartoon really says it all.   Please go to the link above and read the two few paragraphs that fill in the cartoon’s backstory.  It is important.  I am going to post the cartoon so you get a taste of it, but the two short stories of how the same care is approached when a young person is cis vs when they are trans.   Hugs

Mom shares why she let her 17-year-old get top surgery. His face says it all.

https://www.upworthy.com/mom-explains-trans-sons-top-surgery

Thank you, Ali, for the link, just sorry it took me so long to post it.   Hugs

I am waiting for the screaming comments about kids getting life changing surgeries, about kids / minors having body parts chopped off when they are too young to understand it.  So before you get stupid and write that comment, read the entire story.  Then think about the fact that kids as young as 13 and 14 years old get charged as adults in the US.  Kids / minors as young as 12 get married in many states in the US, a very life changing even they are too young to understand.  Kids / minors are being forced to carry pregnancies to term no matter how young (one was only ten), giving birth to children while they are children if they survive the ordeal which is a life-changing event / surgery that they are way too young to begin to understand or consent to.  Plus breast surgery is common for young females in the US with girls 16 or younger getting reductions or enlargements as gifts from parents, and a popular surgery for minors is rhinoplasty.  Yes kids / minors getting nose trims.   The point is that many surgeries happen for kids, especially wealthy and or white kids.  Look up the stats before you start screaming about kids being mutilated.   Even more important is the saving of lives that transitioning does for trans kids, those studies are real, well documented, and are available for the haters to see anytime they could put their hate aside long enough to read them.    Hugs

“Cody’s heart is so full…”

trans kids, gender affirming care, top surgery
@jannatransmomma/TikTok

Living in truth is beautiful.

Top surgery, otherwise known as chest feminization or chest masculinization, is a gender-affirming procedure that changes the looks of a trans person’s chest. For female-to-male top surgery, breast tissue is removed to give a more masculine appearance for transgender males and non-binary people who are assigned female at birth.

This procedure, along with all forms of gender-affirming care, is surrounded by stigma and misinformation, especially when it comes to minors. Many parents fear that a teen could make a severe, irreversible decision regarding their gender presentation, given that adolescence is a time when the whole subject of identity is in flux.

It’s partially fears like this that have resulted in gender-affirming care receiving a wave of backlash in America, even being labeled as a form of child abuse.

However, a mom by the name of Janna, who recently helped her 17-year-old son receive top surgery, sees it as a form of love.

“Why would I ever allow my 17-year-old to have top surgery? Why would I do that? That’s insane. That’s crazy. It’s child abuse,” says Janna in a clip posted to TikTok.

Her reasoning is really quite simple—and something that almost every parent can relate to in one way or another.

“You look at the really, really happy kid who walked out of the doctor’s office today, feeling really great about himself for the first time in I don’t even know how long.”

Janna then put the spotlight on her son Cody and asked what it felt like when he saw his chest for the first time.

Getting instantly teary, Cody replied, “Normal…It finally feels right for the first time.”

Janna’s video is captioned “Cody’s heart is so full right now.”

Watch:

 

Janna, who regularly advocates for trans rights, has previously explained in another TikTok that Cody didn’t undergo any surgery until just before his 18th birthday, and that was only after “a lot of meetings” with doctors, therapists and both of his parents since coming out at the age of 15.

 

And prior to his procedure, Janna encouraged Cody to explore through a “social transition,” rather than a medical one. This basically means experimenting with other forms of gender presentation—changing their name, pronouns, wardrobe, etc.—that feel more fitting to their authentic identity before undergoing any surgeries.

Bottom line: “We are not just sending these kids to surgeons to have body parts removed. That doesn’t happen,” Janna stated.

 

When parents support their kids throughout their journey, “one of two things is going to happen,” she added. “They’re going to come out as trans when they’re old enough to really make that decision, or they’re going to say, ‘Yeah, I’m not really a boy.'”

“Either way,” she continued, “their relationship with you will not be tarnished because they know that my mom loved me no matter what my decisions were.”

Like every other turbulent and confusing chapter of teenage-hood, the waters are so much easier to navigate (for both the parent and the child) when there is compassion. Sometimes allowing kids to be who they really are is the best gift a parent can provide.

 

 

 
 
 

TYT: A Fallen Empire

This is long, and maybe too long for most people.  It took me three days to watch it all.  But it is even handed, it is informative, it is well documented, and it is truly how I and so many feel.   I loved TYT, but about the time Cenk decided to run for office and gave a lot of control over the company / show to Anna, I noticed a shift / change in both hosts and the company direction.  Cenk became very bitter and anti-democratic party, while Anna became overly more assertive on every show.  When Cenk came back so bitter from being what he felt was unfairly treated by the democrats but others felt was him trying to claim a position without doing the work others had done before him Anna started talking over him, interrupting him, not letting him finish his sentences.  But at the same time if he tried to interrupt her she got very vocal about it and wouldn’t tolerate it.  She was now in charge and she wanted the world to know it.  It showed how she felt about her position, she had the authority and say, so don’t disagree with her.  That was very off-putting for me a long time viewer and supporter of the show.   But then Cenk’s constant vitriol against the Democratic Party started to interfere with his reporting on Biden.  Right from the start he wanted Biden to do the impossible and when he did not Cenk couldn’t even give him credit for what he did get accomplish.  Cenk being a bombastic fighter spent two years demanding Joe Biden attack and call out Joe Manchin and pushed for the most virulent attacks on him.   Which would have lost the democrats the control of the Senate and stopped any left leaning judge appointments.  Then Cenk got more bitter towards Biden and other progressive members of congress who did not throw the disruptive bombs he wanted to destroy the party, so he openly attacked the very groups he started along with attacking all progressives.  What crossed the line for me what his attacks on Biden and openly trying to promote primary challengers to him talking up fringe candidates, knowing historically any time a sitting president was primaried they lost, giving the other party the win.  He did not care, his bitter anger was more important to him.  He kept up his now constant attempts to tear down Biden to the point he is doing the work of a republican challenger for president.   I wrote that when I canceled my long time membership, that Cenk was doing the work of the Republican Party in tearing down and maligning Biden.  This hard right turn of Anna’s and Cenk’s weirdly not even willing to listen to any criticism of her was the last straw for me.  He is not even really addressing the issue that Anna made as the start of this problem, and keeps misrepresenting it.   If Anna wants to be called woman that is great, if trans women demand to be called women that is great and everyone would do as they ask.  But there are transmen with parts that medical people need to address and that are on medical forms / question forms.  It was pointed out so often that no one in conversation referred to Anna as a “birthing person” but she still took offense to the term even existing.   She was demanding a medical term to be inclusive not exist because she felt it diminished her as a female.  Total right wing maga fundamentalist thinking.  This is entirely a case of two people drinking their own Kool-Aid on their own importance and getting called out for it.  Their egos have gotten in the way of the work they were doing.  I can no longer support them as they are, and I hope people will watch this well researched and documented video.   Hugs 

Cenk Uyger, Ana Kasparian, and The Young Turks have had a history of scandals and controversies throughout the existence of the network. I want to talk about that history, as well as the events leading up to their recent meltdowns on the podcast circuit and Twitter.

What is the Biblical Meaning of Sodomy?

We explore the origin and historical development of Sodomy and its association with Homosexuality.

Video is part of an ongoing LGBTQ Ministry taught be an instructor with 15 years of experience in religious education.

Flamy Grant, Sean Feucht, and God doing something so good

I am not a religious person.  I do not believe in the supernatural nor in any deity.  I am a confirmed heathen.  I enjoy being a heathen and do not hide it.  But by My Dogs That Love Gravy, I do appreciate and respect this man, this person Rev. Ed Trevors!  I respect him, I support a lot of what he says as is clear in that I repost his videos.  I think I could sit in his congregation and hear a sermon of his with no anger or disgust.  I could spend a happy pleasant afternoon in chat with him.  I wouldn’t believe in his deity or in their holy book, but I do believe in his message of inclusion.   It is one I not only support but want to amplify.  

I want to make one thing very clear on this site, my Play Time (that some days doesn’t feel much like playing or fun), I am against hate, bigotry, discrimination, and abuse of others.  Notice in that list I did not include religion, faith, personal codes of conduct, worship, or any particular deity / religion.   When I joined the military I took an oath to support the constitution of the US and its principles, which I still believe in.  One of those rights was for people to worship their own gods in ways that did not harm others and government wouldn’t / couldn’t form a preference for any religion over any other, including simply having none.  

Notice in the above paragraph I did not include being able to force others to worship and live as you do.  I am against that and the hate churches that preach that.  I post a lot against them.  Just as I don’t insist everyone have same-sex relations just as I do, I fight against heterosexuals who insist others must have the opposite sex relations they do.  I support trans rights, but I don’t insist all cis people must be trans, must dress as the gender they don’t identify with.  When you break it down into those terms you see clearly what the bigot haters are trying to do, what they want to force the world into, a mold of them, just like them and only them.  And they misuse their religion and deity to do this.

Which leads me back to the Rev Ed Trevors.  Here is someone that understand his faith is not justification to harm others.  His faith is not a weapon to use to hurt those who are different from him.  Instead he uses his faith as a guide on how to live his life and treat others.  Just as I do with the Christians who come to my Play Time I respect and admire him.  Those people are welcome and deserve our respect, and that goes for any faith that comes here with the same ideas of respect.  Hugs

 

GOP lawmaker’s wife says she’s been replacing ‘terrible books’ with Bibles in local Little Free Libraries

https://www.rawstory.com/arkansas-banned-books/

Understand she is not just trying to regulate what she or her family reads, she wants to control what everyone else reads.  She wants the power to control what your child reads, and what you read.  Plus she is in some ways damaging other people’s property.  But hey it is all OK because it is in the name of her religion, even though this is a secular country.   Even after being found out, the religious gang thugs want her to keep doing it.  Deny everyone else their right to read stuff, praise god!   Hugs

** thanks to Ten Bears for the link.  I had just heard of this when I read his page with the link. Hugs **

GOP lawmaker's wife says she's been replacing 'terrible books' with Bibles in local Little Free Libraries
Reading the Bible (Shutterstock)
 

The wife of a Republican state lawmaker in Arkansas has made herself the unofficial monitor of her neighbors’ Little Free Libraries.

 

Arkansas Times reports that Jennifer Meeks, the wife of Arkansas State Rep. Stephen Meeks, posted on Facebook recently about her efforts to remove “terrible books” from local Little Free Libraries and replace them with Bibles.

“I have been swapping out books in little free libraries for awhile,” she wrote in a Facebook post earlier this month. “I have seen good books, terrible books… Recently I have been picking up free Bibles at flea markets and thrift stores. Sometimes I find good devotion books or kids’ Bible stories at a good price to add. Or just great books, and a gospel tract is a nice idea too.”

Meeks said she was inspired to do this after seeing a lot of LGBTQ Pride-themed books in the libraries.

RELATED: ‘Just absurd’: Shakespeare is latest casualty of Florida’s book ban law

“From what I have seen a lot of these books and other things don’t align with Christian values,” she wrote. “Today, I saw a bunch of Pride stuff in one. There’s a group of leftists, especially in Conway, who are very active in keeping little libraries well stocked.”

Meeks has since either deleted the Facebook post or made it private, although the local progressive organization Faulkner County Coalition for Social Justice said that her efforts would not stop people in the area from stocking libraries with quality reading material.

“Keep removing them, Jennifer,” they said. “We won’t stop.”

The Linguistic Gymnastics of Young EARTH Creationism

🎉 Buckle up for a rollercoaster ride through history, humour, and a touch of scepticism! In this video, we dive headfirst into the curious world of Young Earth Creationism, taking a side-splitting journey through their interpretation of the Bible’s age claims. 🌍📖

Join us as we dissect the claims that the Bible itself supposedly contains evidence of Earth’s mere 6000-year existence. With a dash of wit and a sprinkle of satire, we expose the creative contortions these claims require. 🎭🤯

From deciphering Bible verses with the finesse of a Shakespearean rapper to exploring the hilarious linguistic gymnastics of Young Earth Creationists, we dissect the arguments that keep us chuckling. 💃🎤

But hey, why stop at the age of the Earth? We’ll also tackle burning questions like: Did Moses really part the Red Sea? Why didn’t God just snap his fingers for creation? And who’s Father Abraham, the smurf guy or the biblical patriarch? 🤔😂

Get ready for laughter, thought-provoking analysis, and a pinch of scepticism as we navigate the world of scripture interpretation, contrasting it with the tried-and-true methods of science. 📚🔬

So hit that play button, grab some popcorn, and prepare to laugh your way through the twists and turns of biblical literalism and the scientific pursuit of truth. Don’t forget to hit the like button, subscribe, and ring the notification bell so you won’t miss a single punchline in our journey to unravelling the age-old mysteries!

Is it Okay to be Transgender and Christian?

00:00 Austen Hartke’s Theological Struggles
1:07 Why did God create Transgender people?
4:12 Queering Philip and the Ethiopian Eunuch
6:16 Jesus’ Teachings on Eunuchs
8:27 Other Gender Queer Biblical Figures
9:13 Roman Catholic Teaching on Transgenderism
9:40 Counterarguments
10:40 Is God Progressive?

During the Fall of 2020, my college course on the “Theologies of Gender and Identity” was forced to go virtual. This video is one of the pre-recorded lectures from that course that I would like to share with a larger audience. Feel free to respectfully comment and question and I will respond in kind.

This is the 18th lecture in the series. Today we reflect on the Theological arguments presented in Queer Theologian (and fellow YouTuber) Austen Hartke’s book, “Transforming: The Bible and the Lives of Transgender Christians.” Next we reflect on the arguments presented in a 2019 Roman Catholic Document entitled “MALE AND FEMALE HE CREATED THEM” and explore the question whether God is Progressive.

Recommended Reading: “Transforming: The Bible and the Lives of Transgender Christians” by Austen Hartke “Male and Female He Created Them: TOWARDS A PATH OF DIALOGUE ON THE QUESTION OF GENDER THEORY IN EDUCATION” by the Congregation for Catholic Education