As someone who grew up in a conservative household in a deep red state, I think that part of it is that a lot of people are letting Lizard Brain dictate their response to transgender people.

Let me give you a personal example. A while back, I went to a social dance, and there was a trans woman there. Before the dance starts proper, the couple that runs it will teach a dance lesson, and we rotate partners while that’s going on. Eventually, I was rotated into being her partner. For some background, she was obviously early on in her transition; she still looked like a dude in a dress, she didn’t quite have the appearance down yet. But she gets huge props for not only having the bravery to go out as herself, but doing it in fucking Arkansas.

So I rotate over to her, and it dawns on me that she’s trans. In my head, Lizard Brain immediately starts screaming. “WHAT THE FUCK IS THIS?! THIS PERSON IS OBVIOUSLY A DUDE IN A DRESS, HE MUST BE UP TO SOMETHING IF HE’S DRESSING AS SOMETHING DIFFERENT THAN WHAT HE IS! RABBLERABBLERABBLERABBLERABBLE”

Keep in mind, where I grew up, you just didn’t see trans people, and even now, it still tickles that primal part of my brain that was trained to be uncomfortable around people who aren’t white and straight.

The difference between me and many of the people I grew up around is that I recognize that it’s happening and try to tone Lizard Brain out when it starts screaming. A lot of other people listen to it and don’t care that the person that it’s screaming about is exactly that: a person.

Bitch, I don’t give a shit about “winning”. I will show up for my shift, I’ll give 100% while I’m there, but at 5:00 PM sharp, I’m out the door.

Life’s too short to spend it slaving away for some rich fucker.

I just want a hug. More than anything else, I just want someone outside of my family to find me desirable and want to spend their time with me.

The sex can come later. I don’t even really want the sex. It’s that physical intimacy that I want. Someone who will just give me hugs without me worring about whether or not I’m making them uncomfortable.

Matthew 7:15-20

15 Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.

16 Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles?

17 Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit.

18 A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit.

19 Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire.

20 Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.

WHEN YOU HAD SIX BOWLS FOR BREAKFAST BUT ONLY ONE WAS CEREAL

I just hope and pray that when Gabe Newell decides to retire, he hands the reins for Valve off to someone like-minded.

A huge part of the reason PC gamers have it so good is because GabeN refuses to sell Valve (and by extension, Steam) and also wants to deliver the best product possible. He’s content with merely making lots of money, instead of trying to squeeze every last cent out of Steam at the storefronts expense.

The question before SCOTUS boils down to: “Is it against the First Amendment for the government to inform social media platforms that a post/account violates that platform’s TOS?”

The Biden administration is explicitly NOT ordering these platforms to take down posts, but reporting them to mods, like any other user can.

I did. It seems your definition of “contemporary” is different from mine.

Whatever. No point in arguing with the atheist circlejerk; it’s sad how the good points you have get ruined by your inability to do research and understand context.

“Contemporary” is the period of time where there would be people living who had experienced these events, even if the historian him/herself hadn’t lived to see them.

So…yes, still contemporary.

I can lead a horse to water, but I can’t make it drink.

The sources that do exist were shortly after Jesus’ life, and they were not only consistent with each other, but from radically different sources, including Roman, Jewish, Christian, and even Muslim sources. It’s pretty simple to check the sources against one another and see what lines up.

Scholars generally agree that someone named Jesus of Nazareth existed in Palestine in the 1st century AD. Is Jesus the Son of God? Depends on who you ask, but to say that he didn’t exist at all is being willfully ignorant.

Here.

…He did exist, there are actual historical records. The question is whether or not Jesus was divine and performing miracles.

Removed by mod

Wars and rumors of wars.

I feel like that even if you don’t believe in the apocalypse, we’re living in the end times.

Deprogramming them is going to be a decades-long process, and it can only begin when we break the far-right’s media machine. Cable news and political talk radio is the cancer that is killing this country, and cutting it out is a tall order. But it must be done; it’s going to take a long time to rehabilitate those who have been consuming the brain poison for 30+ years.

That’s just kicking the can down the road.

Sure, he might keep his Speaker job for now, but he’ll get primaried the instant he’s up for reelection.

He’s damned if he does, and damned even quicker if he doesn’t. And even if he cuts a deal with Democrats, GOP crazies will just spend all of their time forcing new votes for Speaker.

In my experience, people who make a big deal out of their philanthropy are typically doing it to compensate for some other moral deficiency.

What really started to bother me was when he started to make a game out of his giveaways, like “Last person to stop touching the Lamborghini gets to keep it!” and things like that. It just feels wrong, and I can’t quite explain why.

I hope I’m wrong, and so far there is no evidence he’s a secret dickhead, but something about him seems off.

As an Arkansan, I can assure you that anything with Tom Cotton’s name on it is 100% undiluted evil and should be acted against with extreme prejudice.