Now I'll Have to Start Watching Duck Dynasty?

Actually in most of the country, murder is still a big deal. Even in a city the size of Seattle murder makes the front page.

I guess I'm out of the loop then. When the Susan Komen organization tried cutting off Planned parenthood, I figured it was abortion. but here recently with DOMA being axed, Don't Ask Don't Tell being axed, and all the various states legalising gay marriage, I figured the du jure thing nowadays was homosexuality. But it's still just plain old murder? My bad then.

It would not surprise me if in some states homosexuality is considered a greater sin than murder.

It would suprise me.

I would think that you would understand where I'm coming from. It's a given that murder is way worse than homosexuality. On the other hand, when it comes to national news, it seems to me at least that the big three have been abortion, gay rights, and mass shootings....and here recently, gay rights have been getting the most consistant spotlight. Am I wrong?

Perhaps in a general hypothetical sense if you asked certain people.

I doubt anyone would ever consider it so in an actual situation.

Come on Garamet, do you really have this much disdain and disgust for certain parts of the United States?

One thing I do not understand is that a substantial number of homosexual people seem to define themselves largely through their sexuality. Almost an attitude of "I'm a homosexual first and anything else second".

It doesn't seem to me that hetereosexuals do that

Why would they?

From E

No. But....

maybe 3% of the population defines themselves as homosexuals and considerably less than all of them make great pains to say "respect me fuckers!!!"

On the other hand, considerably more of the population gives the impression of defining THEMselves as "I'm against the damn faggots!" no matter how sweetly they dress up the words.

I'm not altogether disappointed in Phil, or in A&E, or in GLAAD - though all have handled it poorly in my view.

The ones I've found DEEPLY disappointing is all the "Christians" among my friends who run blindly out into the streets to say, no matter what words they use, "I'm against the gays like Phil!!!"

There are, at least in our part of the world, WAAAAAAAY more of those than there are vocal gay folks. And frankly, you lot have a lot more at stake in the image you choose to present than they do.

I agree with you, but at the same time, if he doesn't have hate in his heart, then he and others may have something to learn from this, which is that language matters. We used to talk about genteel racism -- people who aren't really racist in the sense of hating people from other races, but still say and do things that sound hateful, because the sayings are part of their culture, and they don't realize how it sounds from the outside looking in. That may well be what happened here. But he needs to own it and learn from what has happened. He can't simply point out the sinner, then say "oh, don't worry, I still love him, even though I know nothing about him." That's not loving the sinner, that's avoiding the sinner.

The responsible thing is for Robertson to step up, say "no, I'm not Rosa Parks, I simply spoke out of ignorance."

How many gay people are among your personal friends?

Of all the gay people I've known, I can't think of ANY who were "gay first, everything else second." I think perceptions like yours stem mainly from two things:

1. The existence of events like Pride parades, which in fact probably WOULDN'T exist without the widespread discrimination that they're a reaction to.

2. The exact same behavior being perceived as "flaunting" when done by a gay person and not even noticed when done by a straight person (such as holding hands with a boyfriend or girlfriend in public, taking about a crush, having a picture of a hot guy/girl on a wall poster or as a desktop wallpaper, etc.).

As to whether sexual orientation is an IMPORTANT part of one's life... of course it is. Yours, for example, helped lead you to marrying your wife, one of the most life-altering decisions a person can make. I'd say its effects are pretty significant.

crazy ain't it... we actually still react with shock and revulsion to senseless killing in this country.

Listen closet fag. I know which people are black so it's easy to oppress them. They wear it on their faces. I don't necessarily know which people are gay so you should appreciate their help in identifying their unworthyness.

for me, probably about 1 out of every 5 or six friends has "flexible" sexuality. I'm not sure I know any women that aren't bi. This isn't the gaybourhood, but has always been a good area for the marginalized. It also seems that the TV/S community has started to settle in around here.

1. The pride parade here has become more popular than the Santa Claus one. Irony time- guess which one mayor Ford wasn't invited to attend this year?

2. So very correct I don't know where to start. Being not just a bohemian neighbourhood, but also in the radius of UofT housing, seeing gay folks walking around hand in hand or giving eachother a peck on the lips in greeting/goodbye elicits a gut response of "aww... young folks in lurve! "

I don't have any gay friends (that I know of).

But then again, I don't have hardly any friends at all for various reasons. I have a really narrow definition of friends. I'm very reluctant to classify people I go to church with or that I work with as friends because my acquaintance with them is initiated by factors completely unrelated to their being there or not.

Many of my friends I had in previous years (like the fellow who was best man at my wedding) I've drifted apart from over the years due to divergence of our lives mainly.

As for homosexual people.

I've worked with a number of openly homosexual people in the past.

I do not recall treating them any different from anyone else I worked with. Certainly not anything that could remotely be called "oppression".

Jesus may have talked about love, compassion, forgiveness, etc. but he also says (paraphrasing) he came to divide, to set family members against each other. That is those members who choose to follow him and those who don't. He also mentions hell a lot, and punishment. Oh, and at the end of the day if you don't believe in him, the devil shoves a pitchfork up your ass for eternity. Nice to have that anvil hanging over your head for motivation!

I'm glad we agree on something.

But when a woman believes she has no career choices, she in essence sells herself out to the "highest bidder." She is property at that point. Thus powerful/wealthy men get all the women because society and history dictate that you as a woman need to hitch your wagon to a successful star of a man. One reason I have nothing against prostitution. All women are are instinctively hookers. That is their default trump card. Mothers/wives are hookers with strong maternal instincts.

Also, a good, quick and simple fish recipe:

One whole trout, cleaned
fresh herbs that you like, italian is excellent
some lemon juice

butter
salt, pepper, flour

fresh potatoes

Cook the potatoes, peel them.

Stuff trout with herbs, sprinkle some lemon juice over them. Roll in flour. Warm the butter. Put the trout in until it's crispy. Take it out. Put the potatoes into the remaining butter, toss a few times.

Fillet the trout on the table if you dare, otherwise do it in the kitchen. One half = one portion. Put some of the brown butter over it.

Some comments about Duck Dynasty in particular

1) While Phil Robertson has been portrayed as an ignorant backwoods hick, he in fact has a masters degree from Louisiana Tech and taught high school (English IIRC) for a number of years.

2) Calling Phil Robertson the "star" of Duck Dynasty is a bit misleading. His third son Willie Robertson actually has far more air time and is largely the focus of the show.

3) Willie Robertson (and his wife Korie, the hot blond in the opening credits) are the ones largely credited with turning Duck Commander from a small family business into a multimillion dollar corporation. Willie Robertson and his wife both have college degrees of course. Korie is the Chief Financial Officer and her family are the ones who marketed Duck Commander (and Buck Commander) DVDs for the Robertsons.

Willie Robertson's net worth is estimated at 20 million dollars.

4) Earlier this year, Phil Robertson had stated some interest in stepping away from doing the television show for various reasons.

5) The beards are in fact a gimmick and everyone has long acknowledged that. Phil Robertson was the only member of the family with a huge, flowing beard and had it when he was marketing and appearing in DVDs. His second oldest son Jase Robertson grew one when he started appearing in the DVDs, IIRC Willie only grew one later on to adopt the Robertson look.

folks with $20 ,million, make even more money from the easily duped by presenting themselves as "simple country folk"....folks who go to church in camo, headbands, and sunglasses so that they are always photographed "in character"...but end up being heralded as the source of "truth"

Indeed, we have at least one member on here who is extremely quick to criticize homosexuals on religious grounds, while he is dating other people despite still being married by those same religious standards.

Right now, being gay is the bogeyman.

Who is that?

Is it you, Apostle? Are you stepping out...again?

IOW-Frauds

yeah... who's the Ned Philanderer?

Seriously, I want to know who this is.

Okay, I'm intrigued because of the hint that they're one of the Christian Pride folks who's also a homo hater... what's the source of your schadenfreude here?