Atheism

[morgentaler]

plus rep for that~~~that's my first proclaimed rep in riu land!

Someone gave you rep for leaving?
I can totally see that.

 

[shnkrmn]

I tried to but apparently I'd repped her recently for some other memorable post. Ah well.

She has a life you know.

 

[growwwww]

You guys are too much.
Discussing is not the same as childish name calling back and forth and assuming a stance taken for the purpose of discord......as Morgen posed it, SCHISM.

To be honest u are just giving the most back and forth arguments its irratating reading it

peace

 

[CrackerJax]

I have a checkmate.

Of course....

 

[Katatawnic]

Someone gave you rep for leaving?
I can totally see that.

I tried to but apparently I'd repped her recently for some other memorable post. Ah well.

She has a life you know.

That's funny right there... I don't care who you are!

 

[Stoney McFried]

I like the word cunt.

 

[OregonMeds]

I'd like to clarify-it is not "my" little experience with a teen. It was my friend.

I'll be fair and tell you that you are understandably not following that my response was ENTIRELY relevant. You can't see that because you did not follow this other said thread, ok?

.....no flimsy opinion.........
My friend was not a lesbian, nor was she bi. Does that truly seem impossible to you?

In any event, it is just the way it is. She had less self-esteem than just about any I have encountered.

No need to be defensive.

LOL, HAHAHAHA.....if I had just known there were so many gay/bi sexual people posting on this thread, I would HAVE been SO much more careful with my response.

But as chance had it, I was falling asleep and my response TO Morgen (AGAIN, in response to ANOTHER THREAD/ANOTHER TOPIC) would be utilized to show my "supposed" lack of understanding.

Please save the "it has nothing to do with Daddy molested me, etc."
It is SO not necessary. My father didn't molest my brother either.

Save those comments for a homophobic. This really is SILLY.

Ignorance and homophobia are so closely related and so equally dangerous to us all and our future that you'll have to excuse me if it's hard to tell the difference from this side.

It was your words that caused the problem regardless of if you had malice behind it the end result is identical.

It's not about mine or anyone elses sensitivity on the subject, only your own insensitivity and thougtlessness. I just had to call you on it because you earned it. Also I do believe you can probably see the error in your thinking here and maybe that will translate to opening your mind that you are also just as wrong and stubborn in your opinions on everything else you and the rest of us don't agree on.

You look at everything from too narrow a view and don't seem to think outside yourself or at a minimum because of many things you say you come across quite thoughtless.

 

[Katatawnic]

Ignorance and homophobia are so closely related and so equally dangerous to us all and our future that you'll have to excuse me if it's hard to tell the difference from this side.

It was your words that caused the problem regardless of if you had malice behind it the end result is identical.

It's not about mine or anyone elses sensitivity on the subject, only your own insensitivity and thougtlessness. I just had to call you on it because you earned it. Also I do believe you can probably see the error in your thinking here and maybe that will translate to opening your mind that you are also just as wrong and stubborn in your opinions on everything else you and the rest of us don't agree on.

You look at everything from too narrow a view and don't seem to think outside yourself or at a minimum because of many things you say you come across quite thoughtless.

Couldn't agree more.

I like the word cunt.

Taboo For Who?

Swearing is becoming more accepted in our society, but many people still consider ‘cunt’ taboo. Why is this? It’s time we got over such silly squeamishness, Kate Allen argues.

Most women accept that they have a cunt. As a descriptive word, it is becoming re-established, echoing its origins as the proper term for ‘lady’s bits’ in Old and Middle England. It first appeared in the English language a good 1500 years ago, and was regularly used in texts such as Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales. So why do so many people consider it taboo or shocking?

‘Cunt’ fell out of usage for several centuries, and was not a commonly used word at the beginning of the 20th century. But by the 30s it was an insult for women in American English. It picked up further currency as the straightforward term for the female genitals with the release of DH Lawrence’s Lady Chatterley’s Lover - it was the inclusion of the word cunt more than the word fuck which was responsible for most of the controversy around its publication. In the last 30 years there has been a substantial change of meaning in the way the word is used - it’s now seen as an insult, in many people’s eyes the worst term of abuse. But why is being called a ‘cunt’ so objectionable?

When used as a swearword, ‘cunt’ seems to convey profoundly misogynist connotations - that the ‘nastiest’ ‘dirtiest’ word someone could come up with was the word for a woman’s vagina shows a deep fear of women’s sexuality, argue those who object to its use.

But really ‘cunt’ is no different to ‘dick’ or ‘prick’ its taboo comes simply from its origin as a ‘naughty’ sex-related word. Opposing the use of ‘cunt’ is itself sexist, because it grants more respected status to a woman’s genitals than to a man’s. The extra level of offensiveness that many people perceive the word to carry implies a squeamishness about women’s bits - this attitude is in itself sexist or even misogynist! We’re beginning to get over that squeamishness, reverting the word back to its original meaning and reclaiming it as a descriptive term. This is a positive action, removing its negative connotations. Stage show The Vagina Monologues popularised this and more power to anyone supporting it.

A word is only offensive because of the meaning we give it - if we refuse to see ‘cunt’ as an insult, or a derogatory term, its use cannot be objectionable to us. But can we as women be comfortable with our cunts if we also use the term as a swearword or term of abuse? It certainly seems a little schizophrenic to both celebrate the word and use it negatively. Again, we should look at the dual use of words for men’s genitalia. A guy won’t object if you refer to his ‘dick’ during sex play - yet he’ll react in anger when he’s called it in the street. Context is everything - to describe a penis as a dick is a statement of fact; to describe an entire human being as a dick is derogatory simply because it implies there is nothing more than that to them as a person. Why can’t the same analysis apply to ‘cunt’?

Perhaps the difference lies in which gender uses the word - women rarely call each other ‘dicks’ men on the other hand consider ‘cunt’ the greatest slur on their person. This say the word’s opponents, is sure evidence of misogyny - men are afraid of cunts; they menace each other with the threat of being compared to one.

In a liberated world, with both sexes truly equal, perhaps this would not matter. Until then however, in a world where women are still oppressed and continue to fight against that, this imbalance in status surely has some relevance to what words we consider ‘bad’?

Does that mean men can’t use the word ‘cunt’ in an abusive way - that it should be reserved for women’s use? Not necessarily. After all, if men can use it in a descriptive way, why not the other way too? The distinction seems facile. And distinguishing who can use a word on the basis of their sex seems unnecessarily discriminatory and separatist. Are you more offended when a man uses ‘cunt’ as a term of abuse than when a woman does? Should you be? And does that mean a woman using ‘dick’ as an insult is necessarily more offensive than a man using it? To be honest I don’t know what the answer is. But I’d be interested to hear what you think.

Comment on this article

 

[afrawfraw]

To be religious just means you sought sanctity and found it in something, right?

 

[afrawfraw]

Apparently because I believe gay rights I'm probably a gay man.
Since I believe in the rights of transgender people I must be transgender.
And since I believe that the sun is a ball of hydrogen gas engaged in a prolonged nuclear reaction, I must be a ball of hydrogen gas engaged in a prolonged nuclear reaction. Now how can I use that to power my car.

I believe you all should give your harvests to AFRAWFRAW! I really do...

So we find comfort in fact, and others in faith...As long as we can smoke together...

 

[Katatawnic]

To be religious just means you sought sanctity and found it in something, right?

Perhaps that's why I never needed religion... I found my sanctity early on via singing & performing. CJ and I were just discussing following one's passion, and how "blessed" I was by being able to do so with my career until my body gave out. I can't perform on stage anymore, but I still sing constantly, and play guitar when the arthritis allows my fingers to do so. I'm also blessed to have a 20 yr. old son who shares my passion, is a tremendously talented musician (guitar, keys, drums, harp; you name it! lol), and loves to sit and jam with Mom often. Music is my therapy. I can take all of my stress and put it up into the music. Life's B.S. may still be there, but for me music so easily relieves the stress that comes with it.

 

[afrawfraw]

"A Bard and a Brew will greet a pirate at any watering hole worth it's brass." - Pirate saying

 

[afrawfraw]

Perhaps that's why I never needed religion... I found my sanctity early on via singing & performing. CJ and I were just discussing following one's passion, and how "blessed" I was by being able to do so with my career until my body gave out. I can't perform on stage anymore, but I still sing constantly, and play guitar when the arthritis allows my fingers to do so. I'm also blessed to have a 20 yr. old son who shares my passion, is a tremendously talented musician (guitar, keys, drums, harp; you name it! lol), and loves to sit and jam with Mom often. Music is my therapy. I can take all of my stress and put it up into the music. Life's B.S. may still be there, but for me music so easily relieves the stress that comes with it.

Religion fills a lot of needs just like your music...My sanctity lies in science. Facts are reliable and only change through progress. So I have an open mind, but realize that OUR science is being discovered by HUMANS, who are flawed by nature.

 

[Dr. Greenhorn]

Religion fills a lot of needs just like your music...My sanctity lies in science. Facts are reliable and only change through progress. So I have an open mind, but realize that OUR science is being discovered by HUMANS, who are flawed by nature.

Good thought

 

[Katatawnic]

Religion fills a lot of needs just like your music...My sanctity lies in science. Facts are reliable and only change through progress. So I have an open mind, but realize that OUR science is being discovered by HUMANS, who are flawed by nature.

ITA with this. However, upon speaking of finding personal sanctity, my thoughts went straight to emotional ("spiritual") comfort. After all, my opinion (and that of many others) is that the fulfillment religion provides most (all?) believers when all is said and done is emotional.

 

[Katatawnic]

After thought... One of the things I love about music is that, as emotionally provoking as it is, it still has to follow mathematical rules or it is horrendous. You can bend the rules slightly, but even then only if it's done "right" per se; I sometimes think of it a bit analogous to changing not the numbers in an equation, but only the order in which the numbers are processed. (Well, kinda sorta, anyhow. I'm tired & high, and can't articulate well today. So sue me! lol) Music is the one thing I've known in this world to be so sheerly emotional and yet simultaneously so damn logical.

 

[afrawfraw]

ITA? Forgive me...I don't know this one.

 

[shnkrmn]

In that Amount??

 

[shnkrmn]

noooo, in total agreement. It's a new one to me too!

 

[Katatawnic]

I Totally Agree.