Mockingbird

Douva!! Not only am I impressed, I think I'm in love. Be still my heart!

Not yet, but I think it's ready to be put down.

That church and the whole Phelps clan needs to be committed. Maybe they're... [bleep] Every time I hear about them "protesting" on the supposed grounds that God WANTS them to do that, I wanna' puke. Go, Patriot Guard!

You are a wise man. For me, most of it boiled down to the argument about the nature of FAITH; that is, is it simplistic, or is it based on evidence? We never did reach a point of agreement. Other than that, in my estimation, Billvon summed it up pretty nicely. Actually, the only concept we really agreed about was what a great thread it was. I'm not sure if it will live in infamy, or be extolled. Kept us busy at any rate... Blue skies & happy jitters ~Mockingbird "Why is there something rather than nothing?"

No that is the Book of Genesis... a WHOLE LOT of begatting going on there. THAT was funny

That is about the coolest thing I've ever heard! Not that I'd want to actually have it happen to me. But it would sure make a cool dream... maybe if I think about it hard enough before falling asleep I can make myself dream it tonight... Personally, I classify dreams that involve me getting the sh!t kicked out of me by large hailstones while unable to get away from them as "nightmares". Blues, Dave Ya' know, I think I must've quit reading after the word "power"! I could just see myself being lifted up 20,000 ft. in a cloud!! You're right tho', the hailstones like missiles part doesn't sound so hot. By the way, I DIDN'T dream about it last night. DARN.

That is about the coolest thing I've ever heard! Not that I'd want to actually have it happen to me. But it would sure make a cool dream... maybe if I think about it hard enough before falling asleep I can make myself dream it tonight... Blue skies & happy jitters ~Mockingbird "Why is there something rather than nothing?"

I can identify! Yeah, I stumbled across those animations a while back too and found them helpful for having some idea of what I'd be doing at a certain level BEFORE I actually got to the dz. I hated not knowing what the maneuvers would look like until 15 minutes before the actual jump. Elsinore did a great job on them, eh. Blue skies & happy jitters ~Mockingbird "Why is there something rather than nothing?"

Fantastic! Congrats on getting your own rig!!!! root-beer-toast Blue skies & happy jitters ~Mockingbird "Why is there something rather than nothing?"

That's pretty funny coming from one who is so generous with the irrelevant one-liners! I'll play along, tho'. You mentioned my childhood experience, and I replied. Sorry to have wasted your time. Can't deny being an "unusual" child. Perhaps for you I must clarify that although I didn't think of my parents "having sex" in graphic detail, I did consider that their sleeping together, kissing, and cuddling had something to do with loving one another as husband and wife, and was somehow related to "sex." *********** Sorry, had this reply typed out but had overlooked the "Post Reply" button. Anywho, this is it for me on this particular thread. See ya' at the next controversy.

No, that they are comparable is propaganda. Now, the conversation from here usually goes something like this: You: Why Me: because race is something inherited. You: So is homosexuality. Me: No it isn't. You: A person's race is unchangeable; so is a person's homosexuality. Me: Then why do ex-homosexuals exist? You: Those people weren't really homosexual----- or something like this. Right? There doesn't seem to be much point to my participation in this discussion. As long as you and others are gay, you will be in favor of same-sex marriage, and will have some heterosexual support. And I assure you that I will always be in favor of opposite-sex only marriage and against all deviations, including polygamy, same-family marriages, man and animal marriages, polyamorous marriages, etc. I'll duck out now since I've given my point of view, much more than I intended. RL, VERCETTI, BILLVON, KEITH... sorry if I don't respond further. If you replied to a post of mine in the last few minutes, I'll read it, but I don't want to spend any more time on it. For me, its an irresolvable issue. I'll express my opinions at the ballot box.

True. A racial-issue marriage and a sexual preference/orientation-issue marriage are not comparable.

You're welcome. I'm happy about the family I grew up in. It wasn't perfect-- none are-- but I can't feel sorry for myself, claim victimhood and blame my background for the problems I have. IOW, I consider myself extremely blessed. But then I have to look at others who didn't have the advantages of a happy childhood that I had and I truly admire them for overcoming the obstacles that I didn't have to overcome. Most of them are better people than I am. I think that God is gracious to ALL of us in some way or another--- in giving us the grace to overcome or in giving us the grace of a happy childhood. Oh really? That's funny, 'cos I thought it did at the time. Oh well. I'm wrong again. What an ignorant child I was.

Don't you dare malign the 50s! As for parents being like Ward and June Cleaver.... UGH. Gag me, why don't you? Now, Alex and Donna Stone--- that's another story! Thinking back to my childhood tho', I do think that there were similarities between the 50s TV families with actual 1950s families. Granted, no houses were EVER that clean, and no mealtimes were EVER that peaceful, nor did mothers EVER have so much free time. But, still, there were plenty of similarities. But the point of this is that the structure you were pointing out (M/F/C) has always been prevalent... as is the preference for this prevalent family unit, as can be seen when it's put up for a vote on state ballots.

The words "fairness" and "taxes" are incongruent.

And I'm sorry you feel that you should.

Are you speaking for all children? I cared. I cared when my father slept in the spare bedroom for a while. A dysfunctional family is never good, even if the parents are hetero. Many kids survive this type of family and are really great people, tho', contributing much to society and being wonderful parents themselves. It's likely true as well that some great people will survive a same-sex marriage "family." "Survivors" exist in great numbers and come from every possible background because of their inherent strength and the lovingkindness of God.

Perhaps "gay parents have existed throughout history"--- you'd have to provide a source in order for the statement (because it is implying something rather extreme) to carry much weight-- but the percentage was too small to have much of a generalized effect one way or another.

In the same way that you find my statements outrageous. Sorry, I try NOT to take anything for granted. We all know how difficult it can be to communicate effectively without the benefit of hearing inflection, seeing a facial expression, and being able to interrupt for clarification. So I have to do the best I can at comprehending what you intend to say by reading exactly what you write. I know I have the same problem, so we just have to do the best we can to clarify.

The reaction is mutual.

Yeah, but they don't adopt kids and ask to be considered a legitimate family and use my tax dollars.

Good for you, Vercetti; it's great to see you finally adopting a common-sense hermeneutic instead of reading isolated verses and using them to create, or affirm existing, misinterpretations.

Sure there were extended families... grandparents or aunts, uncles, cousins, whatever living under the same roof. But I basically disagree with your assertiion that actual families have never been solely a mother, father, and a child. Go check out a genealogy site, Vercetti.

I would hope so. The ideal family consists of a wife and a husband, living in fidelity and peace with one another. If you want to expand the concept, a loving wife and husband who are blessed with children is ideal.