| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
New topic. This might be of interest to some:
Also, very specific callout here -- I would love to see some comic pitches about trans characters that are written by trans folk. PITCH ME.
Yarwood is an editor at Oni Press.
She's specifically said she isn't looking for them until May:
tweet
tweet
| 3 people marked this as a favorite. |
And apparently the Presbyterian Church has changed its constitution to recognize and allow same sex marriage.
The Presbyterian Church (USA), to be specific. (There are other, more conservative Presbyterian denominations that do not support LGBT Christians.)
I'm an ordained Elder in the Presbyterian Church (USA). I've been a member of the Covenant Network of Presbyterians since 1995, and my local congregation as a whole joined the network in 1998. We;ve been working for full inclusion of LGBT Christians in the church for a very long time. It's good to know it's finally come true!
The chronology may be clear (although even upthread it was mentioned that Millenial could be either 1980-2000 or 1985-2005, meaning that the generation of people like me born between 1980 and 1985 is not a consensus), but I think many people on a generational cusp may struggle to identify with the generation on either side based on culture. Generations are assigned certain characteristics, and are assumed to have certain shared coming-of-age experiences that we "cuspers" may not identify with. Hence the feeling of not fitting in.Well, as someone too young to be a Gen-X-er, and too old to be a Millenial, I support that distinction.I'm... not sure how that can be.
Baby Boomers: 1940s & 50s
Gen X: 60s & 70s
Millennials: 80s & 90sI can understand feeling like you don't quite fit into one group or another based on their overall characteristics (I'm on the cusp, and while I have way more in common with the millennials than the Gen Xers, I'm Gen Xish in a few regards), but there's not really any chronological gap between them. If anything, based on different estimates, they overlap at the edges.
I know a great way of discerning between generations! I divide people into those that remember learning of Chernobyl disaster, and those that don't.
Ok...
Maybe for most of you I'll make an exception and divide you into those who remember Challenger disaster, and those who don't. It's just a three month difference.
|
I know a great way of discerning between generations! I divide people into those that remember learning of Chernobyl disaster, and those that don't.
Ok...
Maybe for most of you I'll make an exception and divide you into those who remember Challenger disaster, and those who don't. It's just a three month difference.
I remember both. My father was in Moscow at the time. Thanks for providing some clarity to those definitions, though.
I'm a Gen Xer (1970) but my religious experience may be skewed by the fact that I come from the South and quite an isolated part of it at that. For us church was a societal pastime because there wasn't really much else to do. Needless to say, it was quite conservative, and I was happy to get the heck out of that church and away from such overwhelming judgment.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
New topic. This might be of interest to some:
Also, very specific callout here -- I would love to see some comic pitches about trans characters that are written by trans folk. PITCH ME.Yarwood is an editor at Oni Press.
She's specifically said she isn't looking for them until May:
tweet
tweet
Oooh, that does sound interesting. I hope a bunch of people are able to pitch their ideas, and I’ll be jealous in anticipation of those who are creative enough to do so.
I’ve had a ludicrous notion rattling around my head for ages about a comic that I might like to doodle out if I ever have the free time, and I’ve wondered if it might be fun to start a blog at some point, with occasional amusing (to me, at least) sketches interspersed. I have a vision of a young, modern-day trans woman travelling to find the Amazons and … just talking about various subjects, really. Slice-of-life, LGBT themes, and geek culture-y things, only with more wonderful, dangerous women from Greek myth. And, because I aspire to the calling of the philologist, the dialogue would have to be in classical Greek. It would be a highly edifying project, of course. :)
It’s silly stuff, and certainly not the sort of thing I could imagine pitching to a publisher. Besides, I’m rubbish at drawing. Sigh. The idle dreams of innocent, if nonetheless jaded, youth…
Incidentally, Oni are the people who publish the Courtney Crumrin books, aren’t they? *Retires to muse about magic and fairies.*
I am ashamed that we still live in the Dark Ages.
There have been a number of stories like this one lately, calling attention to the fact that DADT is still more or less in effect for trans people. (There are a number of veterans in my local trans support group, so I see this stuff on Facebook a lot.) CBS News just did a piece on him Landon Wilson as well, and did a pretty good job of it. Link.
Things are heading in the right direction, though, as these articles indicate: "Progress in action: Transgender soldier gets disqualification reversed under new Army rules" and "The Army just made it easier for transgender troops to serve."
Basically, a week ago, the Army changed it's policy somewhat. The ban isn't lifted, but:
... the Army has issued a directive that shifts the decision for dismissal to the service’s top civilian for personnel matters, a senior-level official, isolating transgender service members from decisions of mid-level officers.
The move echoes the process by which the military’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy was eventually dismantled.
Add in statements made by the new Secretary of Defense and I think the military's anti-trans policy has a good chance of getting overturned before the end of the Obama administration. I'm very optimistic about where things are going on this issue.
It still sucks for those currently being hit by it, though, or who've been hit by it in the past, such as Landon Wilson.
Hmm, I've had a few ideas rattling around in my head for a while...
But sadly, I don't have a Twitter account (and, to be honest, I have no interest in getting one).
I know a great way of discerning between generations! I divide people into those that remember learning of Chernobyl disaster, and those that don't.
Ok...
Maybe for most of you I'll make an exception and divide you into those who remember Challenger disaster, and those who don't. It's just a three month difference.
I remember both. My father was in Moscow at the time. Thanks for providing some clarity to those definitions, though.
I'm a Gen Xer (1970) but my religious experience may be skewed by the fact that I come from the South and quite an isolated part of it at that. For us church was a societal pastime because there wasn't really much else to do. Needless to say, it was quite conservative, and I was happy to get the heck out of that church and away from such overwhelming judgment.
I have no memory of chernobyl. Was unfortunately watching challenger in class when it happened.
Well, as someone too young to be a Gen-X-er, and too old to be a Millenial, I support that distinction.I'm... not sure how that can be.
Baby Boomers: 1940s & 50s
Gen X: 60s & 70s
Millennials: 80s & 90sI can understand feeling like you don't quite fit into one group or another based on their overall characteristics (I'm on the cusp, and while I have way more in common with the millennials than the Gen Xers, I'm Gen Xish in a few regards), but there's not really any chronological gap between them. If anything, based on different estimates, they overlap at the edges.
I'd say it's down to a combination of class (like Celestial Healer I didn't have an e-mail until 1998, which is the same year I got my first cell-phone, and my 80's and 90's were a lot less about video games than playing outside) and geographical location (I'm Swedish, not American).
Edit: Maybe you can even add ethnicity into it. It seems to me that all examples given of typical Gen X-ers or millennials tend to be very white, and while I'm certainly that myself, I grew up in a very diverse neighbourhood (4000 people speaking about 70 languages if I remember a municipal report I read correctly), so I usually have a hard time identifying with what constitutes a "regular Swede" (insert barf-emoji after that term).
RPG Superstar Season 9 Top 32
|
New topic. This might be of interest to some:
Also, very specific callout here -- I would love to see some comic pitches about trans characters that are written by trans folk. PITCH ME.Yarwood is an editor at Oni Press.
She's specifically said she isn't looking for them until May:
tweet
tweetOooh, that does sound interesting. I hope a bunch of people are able to pitch their ideas, and I’ll be jealous in anticipation of those who are creative enough to do so.
I’ve had a ludicrous notion rattling around my head for ages about a comic that I might like to doodle out if I ever have the free time, and I’ve wondered if it might be fun to start a blog at some point, with occasional amusing (to me, at least) sketches interspersed. I have a vision of a young, modern-day trans woman travelling to find the Amazons and … just talking about various subjects, really. Slice-of-life, LGBT themes, and geek culture-y things, only with more wonderful, dangerous women from Greek myth. And, because I aspire to the calling of the philologist, the dialogue would have to be in classical Greek. It would be a highly edifying project, of course. :)
It’s silly stuff, and certainly not the sort of thing I could imagine pitching to a publisher. Besides, I’m rubbish at drawing. Sigh. The idle dreams of innocent, if nonetheless jaded, youth…
Incidentally, Oni are the people who publish the Courtney Crumrin books, aren’t they? *Retires to muse about magic and fairies.*
Oh man, that sounded amazing up until the part about being written in classical Greek. Not that it's a bad idea, just that I think there might be a bit of an accessibility problem. At least when I try to brush up on my Spanish, my keyboard has most of the letters. :P
All right, is everyone ready to feel old? My partner is a teacher assistant in a before- and after-school program at a couple different elementary schools. A lot of those kids don't even know what 9/11 was (and these are US kids, for context).
Even if Millennials are leaving the Christian faith. I don't think Christianity will die so easily and Christianity seems to be Growing rapidly in Africa and Latin/south America and Asia.
Yeah, I should have specified "in the U.S."
I don't think Christianity will die out even here (it feeds too well into the narrative of American exceptionalism to go away entirely). But I do think it will become a minority religion.
Well, as someone too young to be a Gen-X-er, and too old to be a Millenial, I support that distinction.I'm... not sure how that can be.
Baby Boomers: 1940s & 50s
Gen X: 60s & 70s
Millennials: 80s & 90sI can understand feeling like you don't quite fit into one group or another based on their overall characteristics (I'm on the cusp, and while I have way more in common with the millennials than the Gen Xers, I'm Gen Xish in a few regards), but there's not really any chronological gap between them. If anything, based on different estimates, they overlap at the edges.
I'd say it's down to a combination of class (like Celestial Healer I didn't have an e-mail until 1998, which is the same year I got my first cell-phone, and my 80's and 90's were a lot less about video games than playing outside) and geographical location (I'm Swedish, not American).
Edit: Maybe you can even add ethnicity into it. It seems to me that all examples given of typical Gen X-ers or millennials tend to be very white, and while I'm certainly that myself, I grew up in a very diverse neighbourhood (4000 people speaking about 70 languages if I remember a municipal report I read correctly), so I usually have a hard time identifying with what constitutes a "regular Swede" (insert barf-emoji after that term).
It's definitely culturally specific -- different areas of the world define the generations differently.
And as I said in my first post, I get not feeling like you fit into one division or another. I just don't get "I'm too old to be this but too young to be this" from a chronological perspective, given that if anything, they overlap.
|
Edit to add: Or my thinking of the two terms as distinct might just be that I was using the term "Gen-Y" before "Millennial" was coined (or at least well before I heard of it), so it just seemed like a different group to me. Anyways, enough rambling on that.
I have this vague memory of there being a time when what we are currently calling Millenials were called Gen Y, and the term Millenial was coined to mean people who were born after 2000 (ie the new millenium). I also got the feeling that it was a trial-balloon sort of coinage that didn't gain much traction.
My guess is that when Gen Y got old enough to *name themselves* they gravitated towards this existing but ill-defined label 'Millenial' and appropriated it for themselves.
It was inevitable that Gen Y would change to some other term. No one likes to be labeled solely in response to their parent's generation. (See "Baby Bust" => Generation X)
| 2 people marked this as a favorite. |
That really, absurdly awkward moment when you realize that someone you value as a friend has a crush on you-and you haven't told her that you're actually a girl.
I just had this moment today :(
| 3 people marked this as a favorite. |
Religious institutions are generally quite slow to accept concepts that weren't around, understood, or part of their society at the times of their founding. Many of them have elements fighting modernization and reform (thankfully most of the time it's only yelling or stern looks rather than barbaric violence in much of the world), but a lot of them also have pushes from within to retain modern relevance, adapt to modern society, or simply to admit they carry cultural baggage developed over hundreds or thousands of years that's at odds with their own founder.
Those of us with religious beliefs are trying as much as we can to push for greater tolerance/acceptance and reform against older social mores that continue to haunt us. It will be a longer struggle for some of us in some religions or sects within said religions than others, but we're working on it [I'm Russian Orthodox, so allow me to sigh and lament that it's going to be slow going at the moment].
Pope Francis meeting with gay and transgender inmates
The above made me smile.
I have no memory of chernobyl. Was unfortunately watching challenger in class when it happened.
For what it's worth, I definitely remember the Challenger disaster and Halley's Comet, but I don't remember the Chernobyl leak, even though it was around about the same time.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Chernobyl was scary. Sweden... Isn't that far away.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
They're still having to check the elk meat in Gästrikland for traces of the fallout, aren't they?
[Insert dig about how this explains the size of the mosquitoes up north.]
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
I was very happy when I learned that Gästrikland was next to Västmanland.
| 4 people marked this as a favorite. |
That really, absurdly awkward moment when you realize that someone you value as a friend has a crush on you-and you haven't told her that you're actually a girl.
I just had this moment today :(
Could you see yourself developing romantic feelings for her? I was on the other side of that back in high school. At the time, I had reluctantly resigned myself to only being attracted to girls... and then this one particular boy came along and confused the hell out of me when I started crushing hard on him. Turns out I still wasn't attracted to boys after all. :D
|
|
Religious institutions are generally quite slow to accept concepts that weren't around, understood, or part of their society at the times of their founding. Many of them have elements fighting modernization and reform (thankfully most of the time it's only yelling or stern looks rather than barbaric violence in much of the world), but a lot of them also have pushes from within to retain modern relevance, adapt to modern society, or simply to admit they carry cultural baggage developed over hundreds or thousands of years that's at odds with their own founder.
Those of us with religious beliefs are trying as much as we can to push for greater tolerance/acceptance and reform against older social mores that continue to haunt us. It will be a longer struggle for some of us in some religions or sects within said religions than others, but we're working on it [I'm Russian Orthodox, so allow me to sigh and lament that it's going to be slow going at the moment].
Pope Francis meeting with gay and transgender inmates
The above made me smile.
I liked that, too, Todd. I'm Catholic and am really enjoying the openness of Pope Francis. (I actually became Catholic; I grew up in Jim Bakker's brand of Christianity.)
It's going to be slow going for quite a bit of us in being accepted, but I'm cautiously optimistic. And quite happy at seeing how far we actually have come. I wish we'd had that kind of acceptance when I was growing up; I'm glad to see our younger "siblings" getting more of it now.
P.S. Tell everyone at Gamer's Armory I said hello. I miss that group.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Yeah, while I doubt the Catholic Church's stance on homosexuality will ever change as it is part of the faith that homosexual behavior is inherently disordered there does seem to be a push towards treating it as just another mortal sin, which officially it always has been, but was sometimes treated as a more serious sin by some(socially speaking). So you still can go to hell without confession and stopping your behavior but at least the social stigma fades a bit.
I dunno, after the last Pope retired and was replaced by Pope Awesome the First (Francis) and his push towards tolerance if not acceptance I feel a strange stirring in my breast, almost as if the world I live in is getting consistently better.
Add to that legal gay marriage sweeping the U.S. and the legalization of pot in a few states I'm having to blink a few times as I look around, when did the world outside my door start getting fun?!
|
|
Yeah, while I doubt the Catholic Church's stance on homosexuality will ever change as it is part of the faith that homosexual behavior is inherently disordered there does seem to be a push towards treating it as just another mortal sin, which officially it always has been, but was sometimes treated as a more serious sin by some(socially speaking). So you still can go to hell without confession and stopping your behavior but at least the social stigma fades a bit.
I dunno, after the last Pope retired and was replaced by Pope Awesome the First (Francis) and his push towards tolerance if not acceptance I feel a strange stirring in my breast, almost as if the world I live in is getting consistently better.
Add to that legal gay marriage sweeping the U.S. and the legalization of pot in a few states I'm having to blink a few times as I look around, when did the world outside my door start getting fun?!
I agree about Pope Francis and your take on the dogma. Even that part of the faith, though, is better than the "I'm better than you are! You're going to Hell and I hate all sinners! Hallelujah!" kind of rhetoric I heard growing up. Yeesh.
I'm loving being able to get married if I want to(i.e. If I ever meet someone). It's great not feeling like a second-class citizen anymore.
That's actually kinda the weird thing about Catholic beliefs, they aren't anti-gay love, just anti-gay sex. Two men can love each other and even live together as long as there is no wiener touching(including touching their own wieners, masturbation is a mortal sin).
| 9 people marked this as a favorite. |
Funny note; playing D&D is a venal sin in the Catholic Church but other RPGs seem to get a free pass because of lack of brand recognition. (the anti-D&D sentiment was common in quite a few churches back in the day)
When I was a kid(true story):
Mom: You're not playing Dungeons and Dragons are you kids?
My friends: Nah, we are playing Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay.
Mom: Oh alright then, as long as you keep your souls clean by not playing Dungeons and Dragons. -leaves-
Me: Anyway where was I? Oh yes, sacrificing all the innocent villagers so that mighty Tzeencth will grant my Champion a Daemonsword...
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
I have a hard time seeing that an organization that thinks gay sex (and masturbation!!!) is something that warrants AN. ETERNITY. OF. TORTURE!!! would ever be able to be a positive factor in these issues...
I guess, perhaps you're right. Or having that shift might lure other people to them while they maintain their views of ETERNITY OF TORTURE. I dunno.
I find much of Catholicism more palatable than, say, Calvinist ideas, but at that point, you're discussing theology and not anything practical.
| 2 people marked this as a favorite. |
Why is it that it's a near certainty that when someone talks about same sex couples they focus on gay males? It's a common theme in political and homophobic discussions about the LGBT community. I hesitate to use religion as one of the discussions because it's usually politically motivated (they want to get reelected, are working closely with politicians on laws regarding the behavior, etc.). Lesbians are an after thought, bisexuals are just confused gay men (bisexual women are only experimenting or aren't even an after thought), and transgender folks are just gay men in skirts (even the trans men are just gay men who used to wear skirts).
This is just an observation. It's something I've noticed even in the LGBT community a bit. Not to the same extent but still high enough to be noticed.
| 2 people marked this as a favorite. |
Why is it that it's a near certainty that when someone talks about same sex couples they focus on gay males? It's a common theme in political and homophobic discussions about the LGBT community. I hesitate to use religion as one of the discussions because it's usually politically motivated (they want to get reelected, are working closely with politicians on laws regarding the behavior, etc.). Lesbians are an after thought, bisexuals are just confused gay men (bisexual women are only experimenting or aren't even an after thought), and transgender folks are just gay men in skirts (even the trans men are just gay men who used to wear skirts).
This is just an observation. It's something I've noticed even in the LGBT community a bit. Not to the same extent but still high enough to be noticed.
A significant part of that is because of common (and ancient) misconception that sex is putting penis into something. According to that way of thinking two women can't have real sex.
| 3 people marked this as a favorite. |
Why is it that it's a near certainty that when someone talks about same sex couples they focus on gay males? It's a common theme in political and homophobic discussions about the LGBT community. I hesitate to use religion as one of the discussions because it's usually politically motivated (they want to get reelected, are working closely with politicians on laws regarding the behavior, etc.). Lesbians are an after thought, bisexuals are just confused gay men (bisexual women are only experimenting or aren't even an after thought), and transgender folks are just gay men in skirts (even the trans men are just gay men who used to wear skirts).
This is just an observation. It's something I've noticed even in the LGBT community a bit. Not to the same extent but still high enough to be noticed.
Well, with homophobes gay men tend to be the ones that provoke nauseous feelings while gay women provoke a "can I watch?" reaction.
More generally though our entire world treats men as the default with women being treated as just an afterthought, so the focus on men isn't that surprising really.
I have a hard time seeing that an organization that thinks gay sex (and masturbation!!!) is something that warrants AN. ETERNITY. OF. TORTURE!!! would ever be able to be a positive factor in these issues...
Two things to note about Catholic beliefs that are kinda important:
1. Committing a mortal sin without ever receiving confessing doesn't mean you will go hell, it just means you can go to hell. So if you die with a clean soul you will go to heaven but if you die with a mortal sin on your soul you might go to heaven depending on how merciful God is, so you are kinda rolling the dice.
Catholics are required to believe in hell but not that an actual number of people go there(it could be nearly empty except for, I dunno, Hitler(assuming he didn't go to confession) and Nero or something).
2. Catholic doctrine is just generally strict about sexual behavior, a straight couple having sex before marriage is a mortal sin, using birth control even in marriage is a mortal sin, not being chaste in marriage is a mortal sin(I think, that might have been a venal sin, also chaste being polite, respectful and not dirty in the bedroom, not being celibate).
So gays aren't really targeted specifically in that regard. They are cut out wholesale from any sexuality at all instead of just strictly controlled sexuality but it has more to do with the Catholic idea that sex is primarily about creating a family and procreation than anything else.
| 7 people marked this as a favorite. |
A joking conversation between a christian friend of mine and myself once:
Friend: I just don't understand what the advantage is to being an atheist, don't you find it horrifying to believe you live in a universe where there is no God and once you die your consciousness just vanishes and you rot in the ground?
Me: Well, I get to sleep in till noon on Sundays then spend the rest of the day masturbating.
Friend: Sold!
|
|
Religion seeks to control sexual activity simply because religion wants to control people, and people really, really want sex.
So you can't have sex outside marriage, can only get married in church, can only get married if the church approves, can't do anything which gives you sexual release apart from within church mandated marriage.
So, my body is urging me to have sex, I can only have sex if the church approves (by way of marriage), therefore I have to obey the church.
Less opiate for the masses, more Rohypnol for the masses.
| 4 people marked this as a favorite. |
I hope Christianity as is declines in the US.
I hope more Christians live the teachings of Christ.
If he'd been a woman, the Sweden Democrats's over-90 voters would have been cut in half. ;-)
Religion seeks to control sexual activity simply because religion wants to control people, and people really, really want sex.
So you can't have sex outside marriage, can only get married in church, can only get married if the church approves, can't do anything which gives you sexual release apart from within church mandated marriage.
So, my body is urging me to have sex, I can only have sex if the church approves (by way of marriage), therefore I have to obey the church.
Less opiate for the masses, more Rohypnol for the masses.
Well, while it does act as a system of social control most people who subscribe to the beliefs do so because they genuinely believe it not because they are trying to manipulate people. I would guess this applies to the vast majority of the clergy as well.
That's the beauty of the system.Well, while it does act as a system of social control most people who subscribe to the beliefs do so because they genuinely believe it not because they are trying to manipulate people. I would guess this applies to the vast majority of the clergy as well.Religion seeks to control sexual activity simply because religion wants to control people, and people really, really want sex.
So you can't have sex outside marriage, can only get married in church, can only get married if the church approves, can't do anything which gives you sexual release apart from within church mandated marriage.
So, my body is urging me to have sex, I can only have sex if the church approves (by way of marriage), therefore I have to obey the church.
Less opiate for the masses, more Rohypnol for the masses.
I understand. But while there have been incidences of say, the Catholic Church manipulating people for money or social power, especially in the past, I am not particularly convinced religions are specifically set up to control people as opposed to just systems that arise naturally due to various circumstances.
*shrug* Although I guess Scientology was pretty much just set up to exploit people so I guess the founders of more ancient religions might have done the same thing.
I guess I'm just saying I don't really care.
The effects are the important part. Talking about what religion "seeks" is metaphor anyway, since religion isn't a person, but you can observe the behavior and see what that behavior brings about.
Ok, but are you saying the effects of religion are all or even mostly bad?
Sure there is a lot of crappy stuff in many religions but there is a lot of good stuff too.
Indeed. I don't see why it would matter.
| 4 people marked this as a favorite. |
The genius of Christianity is "turn the other cheek" and "love your enemies". Jesus established a way to live that could actually work there. Not just the golden rule, but far, far more than that. Jesus was also quite clear that Heaven was not another place: "Heaven lies within you". It is THIS life that matters, that is important.
Unfortunately, those parts are generally ignored, in favour of either "Jesus made water into wine and walked on water and lived again after dying" or stuff from the old testament about stoning people and living forever in Heaven with God.
I find it deplorable.
No. I don't even think Malachi was saying that.
I guess I'm just saying I don't really care.
The effects are the important part. Talking about what religion "seeks" is metaphor anyway, since religion isn't a person, but you can observe the behavior and see what that behavior brings about.Ok, but are you saying the effects of religion are all or even mostly bad?
Sure there is a lot of crappy stuff in many religions but there is a lot of good stuff too.
Well, saying religion seeks to control sexual activity simply because religion wants to control people and religion is Rohypnol for the masses implies a certain level of forethought and/or malice that I'm not convinced really widely exists now or ever existed. Yes 'Religion' doesn't do anything, people do, and many people suck but it sounded like a blanket anti-religion statement, as if there was nothing to religion but a cynical desire for control.