NickolasJames8

Congratulations Steve...... The site looks nice too. I like the Pink Ribbon.

Thanks dude

After my dad and stepmom's wedding, my dad gave a toast and named all of the people in our family that were there, then he said he felt like the richest man in America to love so many people. To me, that sums up the meaning of true wealth. It doesn't have much to do with how much chedder you stack.

I listened to the audio of this story on Awesome Dude and realized that the main character in the story and I shared more in common than just a first name. So, once I was finished with it, I got down to business and followed the same path as the main character in the story Thanks Camy

I didn't read people's reactions in your thread the same way you do. Not leaving oneself consumed by hatred doesn't mean that you have to stand patiently that these conservative/ bigots/ whatever-you-deem-good-to-label-them-as' hearts change. I don't rejoice over anybody's death (plus I doubt dying of a heart attack at 73 is a sure sign of God's hand punishing the wicked), but standing up to them and having an in the face approach don't mean you let yourself being eaten by hatred. And trying to exist on a higher moral plane as those you disagree with is a noble ambition, but that leaves room for humor (I'm thinking of James' Teletubbies joke) and detachment. If in the end, once we die too, we may have made a few changes so the world is a better place FOR ALL, I think it will have been worth it. (Yeah, I was a boy scout and church-goer; it leaves some imprint ...) I think that this was one of the best replies in this entire thread. I definitely agree with your assertion that standing up to hate and having an in the face approach doesn't mean that someone's consumed with hatred, but in my opinion, it's almost impossible to say that anyone rejoicing in Falwell's passing was standing up to him. As Eric so eloquently stated in an earlier post, he's not here. He's dead, so the point is moot. But, we're still here, and there are those who judge our every action. Not that I think other people's opinion of us should be the impetus behind doing the right thing. We should always strive for that standard, because as you said, we have a roll in making this a better place for ALL. I agree with almost everything you had to say here, but there's a couple things I'd like to address. I think it's natural for me to look at everything from a traditional Christian point of view, but I'd like to think that in this case, I'm looking at it from a human point of view. I mean, yes, while I believe that God's will reigns in every aspect of our lives, I hope that our nature as human beings and the inevitability of our own death would make us think a lot deeper about the sanctity of anyone's life and what it means when life comes to an end. When Saddam was executed in December, I was shaken up for him and for his family. At the same time, I was (and still am) disgusted by the hundreds of thousands that he ordered killed, but a life is still a life. Once you're born, your life is what it is, and I find it hard to cope with the shallow attitude that some display at the end of someone elses life. The other thing I wanted to say was that your point about some people being predisposed to hate is a good one. I really think that a lot of people have a natural tendacy to hate and show scorn for things they don't understand, and it only takes a little bit of affirmation from someone like Falwell to help nurture that hatred. Not absolutely certain that I agree with this. The fact that we would be innately evil or good... Nah. Being brought up in a rhetoric of hatred helps a lot to become hateful. We all have to make choices at some point. OK, I'll come down from the pulpit now. I agree 100% with your point that arguing/fighting brings improvements.....that's one of the reasons I made this thread. No matter what side of this issue people come away from this on, we're all better off for having this conversation. Maybe in that respect, Jerry Falwell had a positive impact on the group of gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgendered and straight people that make up the Gay Authors Community

Chapters 15, 16 and 17 are now up.

I see what you're saying, Krista, but the same people act disgusted when someone like Fred Phelps and his family do it. How can they expect to be taken seriously when they say Phelps and his group are evil if they've done the exact same thing? I don't see it as being preachy...I see it as being realistic. I think lowly of Fred Phelps for what he does, I thought lowly of Falwell's opinions and I don't think Pat Robertson has admirable views of gays and womens rights, but that's where it stops. When we start doing the things we demonize others for, it makes us just as bad, and I'm not giving a free pass to anyone who does it, friend or not.

That might be what people are saying, but if you read other blog entries, that sentiment has been eclipsed by vile hate speech expressing joy at his passing. Not only have some people on this website wished him dead, but they also wished Pat Robertson dead. I'll happily send you the link to prove my point. I agree with that statement, but they still gloated about a mans death. All you had to do was ignore him. I mean, everyone already knew all about him and the crazy things he said. No one in the media took him seriously anymore. Did you still take him seriously? I don't deny that he said awful things about a lot of people, but that doesn't mean we have to lower ourselves to his level. That's exactly what a lot of people did. If that's how you feel, then that's fine. I think it's healthier to forgive someone than it is to hold in to the bitterness forever, but that's a personal choice. I can definitely see how that would help a lot of members of this site, though. The thing that gets me is that we're talking about a man who isn't living anymore. He died. He stopped breathing. How can anyone take enjoyment in knowing that his life ended? We're all living, breathing people. It's nonsensical that people on this board or anywhere in our society can be so hatefilled and angry that they'd celebrate the end of another man's life. I'm definitely more dissapointed in some than others, but in the end, I guess we all have to live with ourselves and our actions.

But we have to ask ourselves how all of that hatred does anything for us, besides, as you say, consume us. I'm sorry to sound like the bad guy here, but if I want to hold guys like Robertson, Falwell and Fred Phelps accountable for their actions, don't I have the obligation to exist on a high plane than they do? So far, all I've seen out of people in this community is the same kind of behavior they love to bitch about when they see it on display from the radical right. That makes it really hard for me to take anything they say seriously, and it really makes me wonder what's really in people's hearts.

I'm glad you didn't get fired Did you ever find your other table??

You know, there are some really nice Goat recipes in the Domoholics forum.

Chapters Eleven through Fourteen are now posted.

Europe had made the mistake of mixing religion and politics since the first city states. The Protestant VS Catholic scrimmages in Central Europe dominated that continents history for centuries. When they had a war, it was a real hate-fest: the First War, the Second war, the Third War, the St. Bartholomew's Day Massacre, the Fourth through the Eighth Wars, the Thirty Years War, the Hundred Years War and so on. Only in recent decades have we seen an easing of tensions in Northern Ireland which is a relic of those long, sorry conflicts. Some scholars say that Islam mixes some of the worst aspects of religion and politics into the cultist, xenophobic, militant mess that tolerates no rivals from Algeria to the Philippines. One of the reasons that America works is that religion and politics have been fundamentally disconnected and that the power of goverenment can not be used to oppress nonbelievers or infidels (in theory). Seperation of church and state has been one of the prime factors that has lead to the long term stability and prosperity that the United States has enjoyed. Almost everywhere else in the world different religious factions constantly struggle for economic, military and cultural dominance. Nowhere else in the world is this better illustrated by the current situation in Iraq. In the absence of a strong, central power like Saddam who killed thousands to keep order, Iraq has decendended into anarchy with fighting along religious (Sunni, Shia) and ethnic (Kurdish) lines with a dozen smaller factions that go with the flow. Starting during the Industrial revolution, the Western Democracies (or countries that were headed that way) have all followed the lead of the US and have become more and more tolerant of minority religions. Religious tolerance has become a cornerstone of democracy and a hallmark of an advanced and prosperous culture. In the 1980s when Falwell and his followers began to make noises about making America "a Christian Nation" again, educated people everywhere saw this as populust pablum and potentially a huge step backwards. The United States has never been a Christian nation. In fact, unless we bastardize the constution (which seems to be fashionable), the United States was specifically designed from the very beginning NOT to be a Christian nation. Good thing we aren't a Democracy. We'd be under the law of the Holy Bible by now if we were I don't mind living by those laws in my personal life, but I'd never want to impose them on others.

Wow Kitty You are a very clever person !. I quite agree with you about the reasons you evoke. Through the forums and the stories of GA, I learnt to better understand and appreciate the feelings of my friends in USA. My comment was just the expression of my amazement. Its funny that I found the same religiosity and sentimentality in a lot of the stories, for instance how DK describe the life of Davey as the son of a preacher in DO. And as a liberal Jew, who had to fight against the jewish fondamentalists in his early life (I married a christian !) not to talk about homophobia, I always appreciate your wise way to answer my often aggressive comments. As a liberal Christian (Baptist no less) I know I'm going to be in for a long hard fight, too. :2hands:

I wonder what our world would be like if there was no religion. A lot of people say it would be a better place for us all, but I definitely don't agree with that. I call myself a Christian, and I know that there's people all over the world who feel like Christianity is evil. There's a lot of Christians who call Islam the evil religion. Personally, I don't think Islam is evil, and I certainly don't think that Christianity is evil by any means. I do agree that there are evil Christians and evil Muslims, or at least evil people who claim to be those things. I also think there are a lot of people in our government who feed off of religious groups and feed them a lot of BS in return. I'd definitely like to see religion and government seperated completely, but as long as there's a Christian voter base, politicians on both sides are going to cater to them and impose values on others that might not have those same beliefs.

Salut Fran

Yes, exactly! Of course he and his family couldn't care less what a bunch of gays think, in the same way that I couldn't care less what a bunch of socially conservative, fundamentalists think. To me their whole view on life is so alien, and disagreeable that frankly their opinion just doesn't matter. And I have no doubt that they feel the same about us. I'd also like to point out that I think it's a bit unlikely that they're even recieving a very notable amount of flax (and as I said the opinions of those saying it shouldn't matter to them in the first place). I would think that their congregation is flocking around them and offering plenty of support, and that the majority of detractors are being tasteful and keeping their mouths shut. Besides, lets face it for all their frequent cries of being persecuted the conservative, Christian movement is alot larger, stronger, and more cohesive than the gay community. Exactly again! Regardless of whether or not I agree with the criticism or the way it's vented, and for the record I definitely disagree with the majority of the criticism I've read on here and similar sources, I definitely think that it comes with the territory plain and simple. If you're going to be a very public, very adament extremist of any kind you're GOING to recieve harsh, often inaccurate criticism, and while I think it's unfair and tasteless, and won't be doing it myself, I definitely think that comes with the game. SO: -I don't think he was "evil" -I think he meant well and did some "good" -I strongly disagreed with his social stances -I'm glad his threat is gone -I do think it's tasteless to rejoice and won't be doing it myself -I don't think our opinions do, or should, matter to him (if he were still alive) or his family -I think it's perfectly acceptable and expectable that some people WILL be harsh, mean, and tasteless given the extreme and public nature of his character. Just my long-winded opinion Take care and have a great day all, Kevin P.S. I really respected the way you presented your opinions, Nick. I thought it was extremely sensible, and very kind and compassionate. It's a great pity that others aren't as thoughtful and caring. I can understand why they'd feel that way, Kevin, but it really brings down the entire gay community when someone acts that way. That's my opinion, anyway

James, I'm sure that this post was made in a moment of poor judgement, so I'll overlook it and look for something more intellegent from you down the list from here.

You say that people get what they deserve, and I can see your point, but let's look ahead... When it's time for one of the people who are at this moment openly spewing hatred and celebrating the death of another human being, will they deserve the same thing? If someone celebrates their death, will it be okay because they did it when Falwell died? We can't expect what we aren't willing to give up.

Chapters One Through Ten of What's The Difference Between Me and You?, Book 1 have been reposted. In the coming days, I'll have several more chapters back up. As it stands now, there are 33 complete chapters, but that might change as the rewrite winds down and the new chapters I've written are added. Once this rewrite is finished and all of the chapters are posted, I'll be starting Book II of the story.

I don't thnk sympathy is necesarry either, unless someone actually feels it. I just don't want to see people lowering themselves to the level of gloating and cheering for his death, because that also gives him what he would have wanted.

I completely agree with you - but nor should it be implied that his death is a cause for mourning. I feel sympathy for his family, but nothing more than that. I think it's a cause for mourning for his family and friends. Unfortunately, they have to see the ugly side of people who have no respect for what they're going through right now

It's that time again So, I know it's been forever since I've updated, but now there's good news.......no, I didn't save a bunch of money on my car insurance by switching to Geico. I've been steadily working on the rewrite of What's The Difference, and I officially sent in chapters one through ten tonight. Hopefully it'll be back up soon, and I can start adding chapters as I get them finished. I haven't lost my inspiration to write Staking My Claim or time In A Bottle. I just stopped for a couple weeks to let things calm down around here before I get moving on them again. I want to do the best job I can on each chapter, and I don't think it would be fair of me to turn something in that I didn't have time to devote all of my attention to. That said, I should have something for The Great Talonrider!!!! shortly from both stories. So that's all folks. Thanks for reading and I promise to make the next chapters I post of TIAB and SMC worth the wait.

I agree with your last statement to a degree....if that's how someone feels, then fine. But it's tasteless to gloat over his death....the original point of my blog entry