Zixar

Teknon: It could just mean that HQ has just cooked up a good cover story for all the crap they've pulled and the Rev has the latest copy of it. In my opinion, TWI has slid so far into iniquity that they cannot climb back out. Look to God. He'll lead you where you need to go if you can squint hard through the TWI-blinders.

Teknon: Welcome, and God bless you! It can be a real shock to find out what was going on behind the scenes (it was to me, when I found out) but it's extremely sobering as well. TWI never did speak for God, only He speaks for Him, and He puts things a hell of a lot better than they ever did. Rest assured that: 1) You are NOT being tricked by the Adversary, 2) This is NOT just a bunch of sour grapes and grudges, 3) You WILL be better off by shedding waybrain, regardless of your subsequent beliefs, and 4) You will most definitely NOT be a grease spot by midnight! :)--> At your service, in Christ's name, Zixar reecew [at] excite [dot] com

I want to know how one person can have a "consensus".

RunDLL32.exe is a program that executes other programs as background services under WinXP.

Raf: For a couple of days, all I saw in your avatar block was some unreadable text.

Wow, what a guest list! Hope everyone makes it!

I do not appreciate the personal attacks of certain posters, especially those, who, like Trefor, apparently feel it necessary to paint me as a gay-basher in order to have a straw-man for their favorite pro-gay sound bites. Since Long Gone and laleo have elaborated much better on the point I was making, I'll leave this thread to them. For the record, though, it appears that there was some confusion as to exactly who said what between Cynic, excathedra, and I, a few pages back. I did not reply in any way to what excathedra said to Cynic, I replied to what she apparently said to me. Garth, you may want to re-read that exchange in that light.

Got my plane ticket today... :)-->

Dan: What the hell are you talking about? Excathedra: I'm a little tired of your snits. It's a complex issue that you obviously don't agree with me on, but if all you can bring to the table is ad hominem wisecracks, then perhaps you should take Cynic's advice after all.

Come ON, ex! No one can be that dense! It is illegal to marry a first cousin or closer relative because of the real danger of genetically damaged inbred children, which have a high probability of winding up wards of the state, taken care of at society's expense. Polygyny is illegal because such families can quickly overexpand past the ability of the adults to provide for basic needs of the children, let alone how it subjugates women. Pedophilia is illegal because minors are not deemed able to understand the ramifications of their actions, no matter if the child consents.

Sorry for the confusion! I was referring to the little pic beneath Raf's handle, like my snap of Saturn.

Bob and Tom have the same right to engage in a marriage as any other person, they simply cannot get married to each other, or any other member of their own gender. Neither can marry his sister, either, no matter how much the two might consent, even if both are sterilized. Nor can either marry a six-year old unrelated girl. It doesn't matter how much any of them whines about it, the fact is that the state has always reserved the right to dictate marriage restrictions for the greater good of the society as a whole. As has been repeatedly asked and avoided, there is no apparent societal plus side for the defense of homosexuality whatsoever, whereas there is an obvious downside to it, just the same as incest, polygamy, and pedophilia. One always has to take the responsibility for every single privilege they wish to claim. They do not get to transgress the rules just because they want to have their cake and eat it, too. If a person wants to be a Catholic priest, they cannot also have sex with women. If a person wants to enjoy base purchase privileges, they must be a member of the Armed Forces. If you refuse to pay the price, you don't get to have the goods. I don't see why that's so difficult for anyone to grasp. If you want to be married, you can only be married to one unrelated person of the opposite gender. That's the price of being married. Attempting to change a long-established institution is very much seeking special privilege. Homosexuality is not a disability. Just as the priest-wannabe must choose to repudiate his sexual preferences in order to become a priest, homosexuals must currently make the same choice if they want to enjoy the benefits of marriage. If they cannot choose that path, no one will force them to. But just as single people must also marry if they want marriage benefits, should they be able to just claim they don't want to marry and receive them anyway? Of course not.

Oh, good grief! What is it with you people and analogies? All right, fine. Here's another one that's entirely secular, and government-based, to boot. Scene: Outside an American Air Force base GUARD Good morning, sir. May I see your military ID? MAN I haven't got one. GUARD What is the nature of your visit today, then, sir? MAN Oh, I heard that you can buy things cheap at the BX, so I came to do some shopping. GUARD Sir, the base exchange only sells to active or retired military personnel. MAN Oh. You won't make an exception for me? I'm a citizen after all. I pay your salary, and the subsidy on that merchandise so you can buy it cheap at the BX! GUARD Military personnel only, sir. MAN Well, how do I become one, then? GUARD You could enlist, but... MAN But what? GUARD How old are you, sir? MAN 60. What's it to you? GUARD I'm afraid that's too old to enlist. MAN Isn't that age discrimination? GUARD Well, can you run an 8-minute mile with a full backpack? MAN Not any more. GUARD Well, there you go. MAN So I can't shop at your store because I'm not military, and I can't join the military because I'm too old. That means I can't shop at your BX just because I'm too old? That certainly is ageist! GUARD Well, indirectly, that's correct. MAN There ought to be a law! GUARD As soon as they pass it, I'll defend it, sir. Until then, it's off to Wal-Mart with you. MAN I don't want to go to Wal-Mart! I want to shop at the BX! Since when did this become Nazi Germany? GUARD If this were Nazi Germany, I'd have shot you by now. Now please clear the gate area, sir. MAN (driving off) I'll suuuuuue...

Ex: The point is that marriage has a traditional definition, with certain rules. Now, homosexuals want to redefine it to suit their wishes, regardless of how it has always been practiced. There have been many, many homosexual men who married women, either for appearance's sake, or to have children, or some other reason. There is currently no sexual-preference check in order to get a marriage license, but you do have to have one and only one of each gender to do so. There is no ban on homosexuals entering into marriage, they just can't do it with another person of the same gender. That's just how marriage works--like the priesthood. You want to be a priest? Fine. But you have to obey the rules, and one of those is that you must be celibate. Why should they have to make an exception because some people don't want to choose celibacy? There are other churches which do allow marriage of the clergy. I've forgotten at the moment who was making the "democracy" argument for states voting on gay marriage one by one. That doesn't wash. Why? Well, what would have stopped the Southern states from re-instating slavery at the first general election after the Civil War? We should address the secular inequity from gay/single vs. married, but only that. Anything more would build even more on the new state-sponsored religion--political correctness.

Let's change the words a bit and see how this sounds: Place: The Vatican A young man walks into St. Peter's and goes up to a cardinal. CARDINAL What can I do for you, my son? YOUNG MAN I wish to become a priest. CARDINAL Splendid! You have a noble heart. If you just go down the hall, we can start the process. YOUNG MAN There's one thing, though. CARDINAL What is it, my son? YOUNG MAN I'm heterosexual. CARDINAL Well, that's irrelevant. In order to become a priest, you must take a vow of celibacy anyway. YOUNG MAN No, I'm not about to do that. I am all about the beaver, if you know what I mean. CARDINAL Oh. Well, the priesthood isn't for everyone, you know. Sorry. YOUNG MAN Hey! I still want to be a priest! CARDINAL Why don't you just get married and become active in your local church then? Nothing wrong with that. YOUNG MAN No, I want to be a priest, and I want to have sex with women! CARDINAL Like I said, if you want to become a priest, you have to be celibate. That's how it's always been. It is a sacred institution between a man and God, and the vow of celibacy is the man's commitment not to put earthly lusts ahead of zeal for the Lord's service. YOUNG MAN Fascist! You need to change to let priests get some! CARDINAL Why? If you cannot contain, marry. YOUNG MAN You oppressive bastard! I should have every right to wear a black cassock, conduct a Mass, and tap some a**, if I want to! CARDINAL Have you tried the Lutherans? YOUNG MAN No, I don't want to be any "Lutheran", I want you to make me a Catholic priest, and chop chop! I've got a date! CARDINAL Forget it. Now Pax Vobiscum the hell out of here! The Swiss Guards grab Young Man and drag him towards the door YOUNG MAN You'll be hearing from my lawyer! Heterophobe!

Raf: what's with the new avatar? I can't read it...

bump!

Pirate: I wouldn't be so quick to condemn all of Japanese animation based on the likes of "Pokemon" and its evil clones. Japan has produced some of the best animation ever filmed despite that dreck. They had some true visionaries of the art, like Miyazaki, Otomo, Tezuka, Tomino, Matsumoto, etc., etc.

I really should go to grad school. I could wring a doctorate in abnormal psychology on a case study of Mike alone... To every question, Turn, turn, turn, Cir-cu-lar reason, Turn, turn, turn... Aaaand chaaaange, when con-fron-ted, all def-i-ni-tions!

Rocky: "Consensual incest" means engaging in a sexual act with one's own sibling, first cousin, or similar adult relative.

Garth: You're blurring the issue. I'm not saying anything about the sodomy laws. What I am saying is that there is nothing so particularly special about homosexuality that it demands any sort of special consideration whatsoever from the remainder of society.

LG: You're right. I had forgotten to cover that point. The marriage benefit on auto insurance is a good example, too. Statistics show that men become safer drivers after they're married. If two single guys got the insurance break for marrying, then drag-raced their Mustangs home...well, auto insurance would soon be unaffordable by anyone, married or not.

JL: And if you were a teenage girl instead, you'd have probably still kicked his heterosexual a$$, right? :)--> That's why I said that the bad acts of individuals are as irrelevant as the good acts of individuals.

Sitcoms of the last ten years. They've done nothing but erode the family in America, mostly through their portrayal of American fathers as idiotic throwbacks.