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Izzy

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    SOCIAL GROUP: Atheists, agnostics, free-thinkers, non-believers

    in The Chat Board

    Posted

     

    THE CHILD CATCHERS: Rescue, Trafficking, and the New Gospel of Adoption by Kathryn Joyce (Publ.: Apr. 2013

    Christian adoption activists have added moral weight to a multibillion dollar adoption industry intent on increasing the supply of adoptable children, both at home and overseas. This is a shocking exposé of what the adoption industry has become and how it got there, told through deep investigative reporting and the heartbreaking stories of individuals who found that their own, and their children's, well-being was ultimately irrelevant in a market driven by profit and now, pulpit command.

     

    Enjoy!

     

    This one looks interesting. It had never occurred to me that adoption was looked at as another way to evangelize children. If you're fostering and adopting you're going to have quite a few children pass through your care. What better way to indoctrinate children who may never hear about Jeebus? Makes sense.

    SOCIAL GROUP: Atheists, agnostics, free-thinkers, non-believers

    in The Chat Board

    Posted

     

     

    Somewhat surprisingly, the LDS seem to be softening their stand on homosexuality:

     

    http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/guest-voices/post/with-new-latter-day-saint-web-site-a-gay-mormon-moment/2012/12/11/045d0354-438e-11e2-9648-a2c323a991d6_blog.html

     

    If they can get the Mormons on board, I'm pretty sure BSA will change its policy because of the number of large, corporate donors they've lost over the issue. It's not great that it took Intel and UPS hitting them in their pocketbook to get them to react, but I do think they will update their policy.

     

    I hope so. I can see Mormon support for letting each BSA group decide whether they let in gays but not a universal no discrimination rule that applies to all BSA groups.

    SOCIAL GROUP: Atheists, agnostics, free-thinkers, non-believers

    in The Chat Board

    Posted

     

     

     

    I googled it. What a crock! I just went shopping for a troop and NONE of the them were sponsored by an SBC church. 0 out of about 10 troops in a heavily Baptist area. It looks like they have their own scout-like organization so what business is it of theirs what BSA decides?!? And what right do they have to dictate to other denominations that do sponsor troops and aren't homophobic what they should support. I'm sorry, this really ticks me off.

     

    Here's a breakdown of the religious organizations associated with BSA and number of members. Most of those organizations are anti-gay which makes me think BSA is going to back down.

     

    http://www.scouting.org/About/FactSheets/operating_orgs.aspx

     

     

    SOCIAL GROUP: Atheists, agnostics, free-thinkers, non-believers

    in The Chat Board

    Posted

    Crying - that's something I do when I'm sick or overtired. Then I have no control and will cry with the best of them.

     

    This thread is going at warp speed, but someone, somewhere on here said something that reminded me of my mom's bible thumping neighbors, and I just have to share this story. My mom is open-minded, she was raised Xtian, but she's not any more. I'd call her agnostic, I think. Anyway, she's an artist, a metal sculptor, and one Sunday after she moved into her new house, she was out in her backyard (in the South) painting one of her pieces. Her neighbors came out after church and asked what she was doing, so she told them. Neighbor shot my mom the stink eye, said, "I'm a firm believer in paint on Sunday, peel on Monday," turned her back and stomped off. They didn't speak again for years, because my mom works on Sundays either at home or art shows and it offends the neighbors. ...Recently, same neighbors had family over on a Sunday - to build a new shed! On Sunday night, my mom was trying desperately to find a friend to get out there in the dark with her and *take down that shed*!!! I couldn't believe it, my 70 something mom was determined to do this - it was hysterical. :)

     

    LMAO!! Churches were throwing a fit when one of the Christian book stores decided to open on Sundays. They sure aren't lacking business though!!

    International weight comparisons

    in The Chat Board

    Posted

    According to that I am below average (which is correct) and 85% of women around the world, in my age range, have a higher BMI. I'm most like women from Ethiopia. For some reason I find that very funny.

     

    I got Ethiopia too. I thought it was funny because I do not think of myself as too skinny at all. Weird.

    SOCIAL GROUP: Atheists, agnostics, free-thinkers, non-believers

    in The Chat Board

    Posted

     

     

    Yes! OF COURSE, I miss my grandparents. I think it's sad that most of my children didn't get to meet a few of them. But I didn't cry about them being gone. One of my grandfathers died when I was five. We were incredibly close and my parents decided that I shouldn't go to the burial - only the wake and funeral. Why? Because some dipshit psychologist agreed with my parents that I was flawed somehow since I hadn't yet cried. He'd had two massive heart attacks and a stroke - within a week. He was never going to come home from the hospital. I knew that. Why would I have been sad for him when he'd finally been released from all that pain?? At my grandmother's funeral, I was the only one there not sobbing incessantly. I was so happy for her, actually. She had been in so much pain, and honestly she checked out months beforehand. Some family members accused me of all sorts of hurtful things since it was noticeable that I wasn't crying.

     

    This is what upsets me about people saying someone didn't react appropriately to a death. I don't think there is one way to react. My boyfriend died when I was 19. It was the most horrible pain I've ever been through in my life. I sobbed all day and night. I ended up totaling my car because I probably shouldn't have been driving. But I did not cry at his funeral. All of his friends were there and we hung out after the funeral. It made me feel close to him. I guess if you only saw me that day you'd think I wasn't mourning but I was.

    SOCIAL GROUP: Atheists, agnostics, free-thinkers, non-believers

    in The Chat Board

    Posted

     

     

    I'm the same - to a degree. There are some emotions that seem..."useless", to me, at times. The house fire you mention. I'd be the same way. "Get off your asses, people. There's stuff to do here!". AFTERwards I'm sure I'd feel awful for someone's loss. (And so you know that I'm not a total monster, I will bawl at certain scenes in Hotel Rwanda.) I don't seem to hold back with emotions like happiness, though. For some reason, laughing and smiling doesn't seem "useless" to me. I can wash dishes through laughing. I can savor a moment while hugging someone. Hmm. This is hard to explain. I guess I compartmentalize some emotions? I save them for when I feel like it's a good time to have them.

     

    Laughing is a whole different story for me. I LOVE to laugh. I married DH because he was so dang funny. We are that family of 6 in Walmart running each other over with carts and laughing hysterically. Pranks are a daily occurrence around here. :D

    SOCIAL GROUP: Atheists, agnostics, free-thinkers, non-believers

    in The Chat Board

    Posted

    Is anyone out there emotionally controlled? I don't allow myself to cry very much. I think the last time i cried was like 3 1/2 years ago when I had an all out brawl with my mom and before that...2005? I think when I had a miscarriage. I hate crying and avoid it at all costs. Is it just me? I remember when my friend's house burned down everyone sat around crying and I was like WTF? Let's get the show on the road people. Life is waiting and no one died so all will be fine.

     

     

    I am. I simply do not cry except when pregnant and then it's over the dumbest things. That's when I know I'm pregnant! To me, crying is like praying. It shows you care or gives you a moment to think about yourself and sometimes makes you feel better. But it doesn't solve the problem. :D

    SOCIAL GROUP: Atheists, agnostics, free-thinkers, non-believers

    in The Chat Board

    Posted

    I thought this was interesting. I'm pondering it.

     

    "Across the three studies presented here, distinct profiles of emotion processing emerged for individuals who self-identified with religion versus atheism. Specifically, compared to reli- giously identified individuals, atheists reported less intense positive emotions associated with a recalled love experience (Study 1), less sadness in immediate response to reading about a tragic news event (Study 2), and less vivid episodic memories of emotion-laden positive and negative events (Study 3). At the same time, atheists also reported greater general facility with respect to focusing on, identifying, and describing their own emotions (Study 3). Stated in reverse, religiously identified individuals reported more vivid, emotion-laden memories and more intense “online†emotional experiences, but they also reported greater global difficulty with respect to differentiating their emotions compared to atheists. Self-identified agnostic/no religion individuals appeared to be genuinely in between: Across studies, they were different from atheists, different from religious individuals, or different from neither."

     

    Christopher T. Burris, Raluca Petrican.The International Journal for the Psychology of Religion, 21:183–197, 2011, p. 193

     

    Wow, that describes me perfectly. I'm a very rational person and stop to think about what I'm feeling before I display emotion. My emotions also aren't as deep as some other people. Instead of reacting, my mind immediately tries to figure out the steps to fix or help the problem. I'm the thinker and DH is the feeler of the family. :) That might explain why he has difficulty letting go of religion. He doesn't much believe it anymore but still uses it as a crutch. I can also spot BS from miles away, but at the same time I'm not cynical.

     

    I wish we could do a poll inside this thread.

    SOCIAL GROUP: Atheists, agnostics, free-thinkers, non-believers

    in The Chat Board

    Posted

     

     

     

    THAT'S why I got it!!! A couple of my more radical feminist friends had read it so I thought, "M'kay. I'll give it a whirl."

     

    And that your Honor, is how I found out I'll forever be a Second Wave feminist.

     

    It's called, Wetlands. I had to go on amazon and search my least favorite word to find it again. Trust me. The description of the book - which WILL make you nauseaous enough - does not do the book justice. It's worse. A million times worse.

     

    It's the only time in my life I've actually actually just thrown a book away. I tossed it literally in with the cat litter and some junk mail with my name on it. I was afraid if I recycled it, that some poor soul would pull it out of the bin just to take a look.

     

    I once bet a group of women even younger than myself that I'd pay $100 to anyone who could finish the book without throwing up. No one took me up on it.

     

    And I've never looked at public toilet seats the same way again. I have to be in danger of something exploding before I'll use a public restroom.

     

    There's no way I'd make it through the book. And why would anyone want to?? I have to say I'm intrigued now and I'm going to peek at it on Amazon. It is NOT going on my Amazon list though!!

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