Yeah keep it simple, GAY has three letters 
But whatever, I'm just saying a pet dislike of mine.
But whatever, I'm just saying a pet dislike of mine.
Strangest Rejections....
- Thread starter Tribble puncher
- Start date
I'm not painting anyone with anything. I'm not talking about hunters or scientists. I'm talking about Phil Robertson and Carl Sagan. One is an ignorant, bigoted throwback and the other is an intelligent, enlightened romantic. Is one lifestyle superior to the other or does it not matter?
Well, there you go then. What's the problem?
Humanity being defined by the Arts & Sciences makes me full of myself? I'm not getting the cause and effect there. I'm also not getting where you get all the stuff about contributions to society and so forth. Look around you. You exist in the context of a civilization. That's because of the Arts & Sciences. If we weren't defined by the Arts & Sciences, we'd be living like chimps or turtles or wombats or whatever.
Yes, it is.
I got rejected once by a super-short girl (5'1) who said she only dated guys over 6 feet tall. Now, I sit in a wheelchair, so pretty much everyone is going to be taller than me. But when I stand, I'm 5'7.
"It just looks weird if the guy is shorter than the girl," she said.
And I've noticed this to be a trend with more women than I originally thought possible. They are fixated on height and how it LOOKS to other people. Not just young women, either. It's the stupidest thing ever, if you ask me.
"It just looks weird if the guy is shorter than the girl," she said.
And I've noticed this to be a trend with more women than I originally thought possible. They are fixated on height and how it LOOKS to other people. Not just young women, either. It's the stupidest thing ever, if you ask me.
(shrugs) I know a woman who officially converted to Christianity...specifically Roman Catholicism...because her husband had been married previously and if she went to church with him she didn't want to get any looks.
Granted I guess I have a different upbringing, but asking me to change my religion for you is pretty much going to kill things right there.
And I have to admit I wasn't too thrilled with her both for wanting to do that in the first place and for effectively lying about her religious beliefs subsequently. If she'd genuinely accepted RC tenets I could at least have respected that aspect of the situation.
Granted I guess I have a different upbringing, but asking me to change my religion for you is pretty much going to kill things right there.
And I have to admit I wasn't too thrilled with her both for wanting to do that in the first place and for effectively lying about her religious beliefs subsequently. If she'd genuinely accepted RC tenets I could at least have respected that aspect of the situation.
Are there any words that don't sound either too clinical or that carry so much emotional and cultural baggage, though?Yeah keep it simple, GAY has three letters
But whatever, I'm just saying a pet dislike of mine.
I'm reminded of an episode of Three's Company where one of the characters nastily informs Jack's mother that he's gay (he really wasn't, but was pretending to be, so he could keep living with Janet and Chrissy). Jack's mom said, "I knew that!" When asked in disbelief, "You did?" she replied sweetly, "Jack always was a happy little boy."
Does anyone ever use this word in its former meanings of "happy" or "fun"?
That's odd... my anthropology instructor in college never said our ancestors came down from the trees because they wanted to paint or do basket weaving...
That seems a bit extreme. Why not just find a different church if she didn't want to get any "looks"? But yes, if you really love someone you'll accept them as they are, and not make changing something so basic to their worldview a condition of marriage.
Small town, probably only one church to choose from unless they wanted to significantly impact their driving time.
To be clear, I don't think she was asked to do so, I think she did it on her own.
If I thought he'd put her up to it my opinion of him would have taken a serious hit.
To be clear, I don't think she was asked to do so, I think she did it on her own.
If I thought he'd put her up to it my opinion of him would have taken a serious hit.
Well, if it was her choice, that's well and good then. I do think it's unfortunate that she felt she had to make the choice to compromise herself, though.
One thing I discovered in college was that when one person in the relationship is majoring in physical/cultural anthropology and the other person becomes "born again" and soon his conversation becomes All About The Bible, the relationship ceases to go anywhere positive. At one point, he got mad when I corrected him about some quote or other, and he said, "If you know so much about this, why don't you believe it?!"
Well, I've studied a lot about other cultures' religions in various anthropology and history courses, and I don't believe them, either.
One thing I discovered in college was that when one person in the relationship is majoring in physical/cultural anthropology and the other person becomes "born again" and soon his conversation becomes All About The Bible, the relationship ceases to go anywhere positive. At one point, he got mad when I corrected him about some quote or other, and he said, "If you know so much about this, why don't you believe it?!"
Well, I've studied a lot about other cultures' religions in various anthropology and history courses, and I don't believe them, either.
I sometimes wonder how much of a role Trek may have played in making me an Agnostic, but regardless, I'm happy to stay that way, and after having grown up gay in the '90s I'll be damned if other peoples' potential disapproval is going to be enough to make me adopt a religion, especially one I'd only be paying lip service to.
Sounds like me. While I might be more drawn to Eastern ways of thought because of my studies as opposed to Western religious thought, I still view all faiths through the lens of anthropology and distill it into "the basic human need to explain things they can't explain." But that doesn't make it true.
Studying ancient Rome and the Early/High Middle Ages in college was the final nail in the Christianity coffin for me. I know too much about its development through the ages to take it seriously anymore.
That being said, I know that the vast majority of people are still religious, so odds are I will run into women who are religious when I'm dating. If she's Christian, it depends on HOW Christian she is. I have a gay best friend, so militant Christians are a no-no. Ditto for the ones who are bent on converting. And so are Mormons. A quarter of my family is Mormon and I briefly dated a Mormon girl who was hell-bent on me converting, despite me saying I would never do it in a million years.
Hindus and Buddhists are generally okay. Pretty chill and accepting. And I'm generally fine with simple, spiritual people that keep their faith to themselves and don't force it on me.
Same with me, as far as the Middle Ages is concerned. I read a book about the Inquisition and that, coupled with all the atrocities committed during the reign of Bloody Mary, made me think that it's quite a hypocritical way of controlling people.Studying ancient Rome and the Early/High Middle Ages in college was the final nail in the Christianity coffin for me. I know too much about its development through the ages to take it seriously anymore.
Which era of Rome did you mean? I have to admit, I'm only really familiar with the first century, the Caesars in particular (I got hooked on I, Claudius and then went on to do my own research and finally took a college course in which the instructor was upfront in admitting he was more familiar with Greek history than Roman - at one point telling the class that Tiberius was married to Livia... who just happened to be his mother!).
I took 2 Rome classes if I remember correctly. One went up to AD 180 and the other went to AD 500 (and transitioned into the Early Middle Ages class). The second one covered the Christianization of Rome under Constantine and the professor went from there and shot off into the early church. She wasn't religious but she wanted to give us a good background. Early Middle Ages covered more ground, and High Middle Ages of course covered the Crusades and various crazy Popes.Same with me, as far as the Middle Ages is concerned. I read a book about the Inquisition and that, coupled with all the atrocities committed during the reign of Bloody Mary, made me think that it's quite a hypocritical way of controlling people.Studying ancient Rome and the Early/High Middle Ages in college was the final nail in the Christianity coffin for me. I know too much about its development through the ages to take it seriously anymore.
Which era of Rome did you mean? I have to admit, I'm only really familiar with the first century, the Caesars in particular (I got hooked on I, Claudius and then went on to do my own research and finally took a college course in which the instructor was upfront in admitting he was more familiar with Greek history than Roman - at one point telling the class that Tiberius was married to Livia... who just happened to be his mother!).
Sounds interesting.I took 2 Rome classes if I remember correctly. One went up to AD 180 and the other went to AD 500 (and transitioned into the Early Middle Ages class). The second one covered the Christianization of Rome under Constantine and the professor went from there and shot off into the early church. She wasn't religious but she wanted to give us a good background. Early Middle Ages covered more ground, and High Middle Ages of course covered the Crusades and various crazy Popes.Same with me, as far as the Middle Ages is concerned. I read a book about the Inquisition and that, coupled with all the atrocities committed during the reign of Bloody Mary, made me think that it's quite a hypocritical way of controlling people.Studying ancient Rome and the Early/High Middle Ages in college was the final nail in the Christianity coffin for me. I know too much about its development through the ages to take it seriously anymore.
Which era of Rome did you mean? I have to admit, I'm only really familiar with the first century, the Caesars in particular (I got hooked on I, Claudius and then went on to do my own research and finally took a college course in which the instructor was upfront in admitting he was more familiar with Greek history than Roman - at one point telling the class that Tiberius was married to Livia... who just happened to be his mother!).
I took a class that was supposed to be about the early Middle Ages, but the instructor got sidetracked into Indian religion, and the closest he ever got to talking about the Middle Ages was the chain across the Bosphorus during one of the invasions of Constantinople.One thing about the Greek/Roman class: at the beginning of the class the instructor made it clear that he was not going to give his own opinions on any of the religion-related material. He was also upfront that when it came time to discuss the Crucifixion, he was aware that some people in the class would be uncomfortable, or want to argue. He gave us the plain historical events, and never broke his word at all about inserting his own opinions into the lectures. Still, a couple of people stomped out in a huff one day. The two of us there who had mentioned being atheists just sat there and soaked in all the information. It was a really fun class.
Unfortunately, the other history instructor wasn't as good at keeping his personal biases out of his lectures. When it came time for us to do the course evaluation, he received a very poor one.
I remember my anthropology class as a freshman. When we got to discussing early human/ape things, there were 3 Christian students who actually asked to be excused. I couldn't believe it. I don't know why they were even taking the class in the first place. They never came back so I guess they dropped it.
From what I've seen over the years, some students consider introductory anthropology to be an "easy credit" course - a way of fulfilling a credit slot without having to do endless essays or math. Of course they don't realize that there's an incredible amount of material to cover, no matter if it's physical or cultural anthropology.
Did you ever have total strangers berating you for studying anthropology? That happened to me while waiting for the bus after class one day. People just get chatting at bus stops, and this woman asked what my major was. I told her, and she acted like I'd said, "My major is murdering and eating babies." She told me I would go to hell for studying this stuff and that I "should think about it."
I told her I did think about it - which was why I chose it as my major.
So some people get rejected as possible romantic partners for various stupid reasons, and some people get rejected because their worldviews are incompatible.
I live in a bible belt region of Canada, and I remember one bizarre SCA meeting when I was first introduced to someone who did end up becoming a friend for some years. The first thing she said to me was, "Which church do you go to?"
"I don't go to church," I told her.
She was Extremely Surprised. "Well! That's okay... I guess," she said in an unhappy voice.
I very carefully did not say the first thing that popped into my mind: "Well, thank you for your GRACIOUS PERMISSION for me to not go to church!" It was years later when I told her flat-out that I'm atheist.
Her reaction to that: "No. You're pagan." She'd rather I worship something - anything at all - rather than nothing.
Did you ever have total strangers berating you for studying anthropology? That happened to me while waiting for the bus after class one day. People just get chatting at bus stops, and this woman asked what my major was. I told her, and she acted like I'd said, "My major is murdering and eating babies." She told me I would go to hell for studying this stuff and that I "should think about it."
I told her I did think about it - which was why I chose it as my major.
So some people get rejected as possible romantic partners for various stupid reasons, and some people get rejected because their worldviews are incompatible.
I live in a bible belt region of Canada, and I remember one bizarre SCA meeting when I was first introduced to someone who did end up becoming a friend for some years. The first thing she said to me was, "Which church do you go to?"
"I don't go to church," I told her.
She was Extremely Surprised. "Well! That's okay... I guess," she said in an unhappy voice.
I very carefully did not say the first thing that popped into my mind: "Well, thank you for your GRACIOUS PERMISSION for me to not go to church!" It was years later when I told her flat-out that I'm atheist.
Her reaction to that: "No. You're pagan." She'd rather I worship something - anything at all - rather than nothing.
I know many people like this, they are deeply disturbed by the information that you don't get up early on Sunday and spend two hours at a meeting. You could be a complete asshole but if you just do that one thing they are relieved.
There were a few of those people, but I learned to avoid them. I know that college is supposed to be the first real exposure most people have to the diversity that is life -- even if it is mostly a fishbowl itself -- but since I'm a handicapped guy, I've always been a target for the religious types. The ones that pass out leaflets and stuff. They always used to come up to me and ask me if I felt blessed, etc. I got adept at ignoring them but I never outright told them I didn't subscribe to Christianity unless I was cornered or they asked me to come to a function. I got plenty of "You just have to keep praying that God will cure you!" stuff, and it wasn't worth my time to explain that cerebral palsy has no cure and therapy and exercise do much more than prayer ever could. They are ignorant but....they mean well, y'know?
Early on in college I DID go to a Christian group for a couple of weeks because a really cute girl in my English class asked me to go with her. They had a guest speaker one day who was a missionary, and he was talking about converting Muslims in the Middle East, tribes in Africa, etc. I raised my hand and said "But you worship the same god as Muslims." He said "No we most certainly do NOT! Jesus Christ is NOT Allah!" and everyone clapped (this was 2003-2004 at the height of the Iraq War, so that may have had something to do with it). He went on talking about how churches in the Holy Land had become mosques during the crusades and needed to become churches again, and my eyes just glazed over. I told my cute friend I had to leave, knowing right then I would never have enough in common with her for a romantic relationship. It wasn't worth it to argue with this speaker about how he was covering the same old ground as the crazy Crusades-era Popes and I knew it was best to just leave it alone.
I also had a friend who was a really kind, gentle, good-hearted guy who believed completely and honestly that the Earth was only 5000 years old and dinosaurs walked with humans. He believed this with all his heart and never argued about it. I didn't try to convince him. And he didn't try to convince or convert me.
But the only times that really annoyed me were when Christian friends would see me reading books for my Buddhism classes and start talking about Buddhism like they knew fuck all about it. Same with Hinduism. They belittle people and culture and reduce it to "right vs wrong" based on what ONE book written in ONE part of the world says about EVERY OTHER belief system. And that's when I have to take a stand against them.
But in any case, we've gone off the reservation here. This has little to do with dating and rejections.
Early on in college I DID go to a Christian group for a couple of weeks because a really cute girl in my English class asked me to go with her. They had a guest speaker one day who was a missionary, and he was talking about converting Muslims in the Middle East, tribes in Africa, etc. I raised my hand and said "But you worship the same god as Muslims." He said "No we most certainly do NOT! Jesus Christ is NOT Allah!" and everyone clapped (this was 2003-2004 at the height of the Iraq War, so that may have had something to do with it). He went on talking about how churches in the Holy Land had become mosques during the crusades and needed to become churches again, and my eyes just glazed over. I told my cute friend I had to leave, knowing right then I would never have enough in common with her for a romantic relationship. It wasn't worth it to argue with this speaker about how he was covering the same old ground as the crazy Crusades-era Popes and I knew it was best to just leave it alone.
I also had a friend who was a really kind, gentle, good-hearted guy who believed completely and honestly that the Earth was only 5000 years old and dinosaurs walked with humans. He believed this with all his heart and never argued about it. I didn't try to convince him. And he didn't try to convince or convert me.
But the only times that really annoyed me were when Christian friends would see me reading books for my Buddhism classes and start talking about Buddhism like they knew fuck all about it. Same with Hinduism. They belittle people and culture and reduce it to "right vs wrong" based on what ONE book written in ONE part of the world says about EVERY OTHER belief system. And that's when I have to take a stand against them.
But in any case, we've gone off the reservation here. This has little to do with dating and rejections.
I'm Catholic and if I were to try to marry a Jewish Woman, let's say, they would not give me shit about it, but it would be suggested to us that she convert, or at least, our Children be raised Catholic. It used to be you couldn't marry anything BUT Catholic, but the Church soon found out about the Power of Love, so it learned to be "tolerant," when there was lost revenue.
Personally, I know we can't help who we fall in love with, so it's God's Will, in my view. I also know that it's the mandate of the Church to convert non-believers, especially those "in need." It's just the way it rolls, been that way for 2 millenia, now. I don't argue it. I do know that other Christian denomiations, though, are much more fanatical about trying to convert people than the Catholic Church. I never did care for that "hard sell," myself.
Personally, I know we can't help who we fall in love with, so it's God's Will, in my view. I also know that it's the mandate of the Church to convert non-believers, especially those "in need." It's just the way it rolls, been that way for 2 millenia, now. I don't argue it. I do know that other Christian denomiations, though, are much more fanatical about trying to convert people than the Catholic Church. I never did care for that "hard sell," myself.
As long as you don't cut off bodyparts of your children for reasons of religious idiocy, it's okay.
