Hor,

"I thought that was your eternal moral and spiritual struggle."

I've never said that. I'm actually at peace with that part of myself. There are, however, a lot of gay people who do live with that kind of struggle. I just never really have.

What I did struggle with when I was younger was reconciling having both gay and straight feelings.

People tend to reduce it to, "If you like guys, you're gay," as though there can't be anything more complicated than that.

I've come to a truce with it.

Snoofy,

#65
So...which way to turn the thread?

1. Christians forcing their beliefs.
2. Abortion rights.
3. Using the mail. Someone is bound to segue to ballots.

Jump on Snoofy.

He's trying to derail.

So what about that Todd Blanche?

You think he'll make it through the whole season?

Redial,

Refer to post #12

Zed introduced Islam being a threat to Western society.

Refer to post #28

Truthhurts introduced even more stuff off the topic of the thread.

Don't continue to blame me for this.

I've said before, I respond to off topics and generally not the one to bring it up...sometimes I do but usually it's not me.

Time for shopping...not here again.

Redial,

Ok...say something about Todd Blanche instead of whining.

No one stopped you.

Truth,

"inalienable right to the healthcare they choose?"

No one has an inalienable right to whatever healthcare they choose.

We've had enough time now to see that people's decisions can be influenced by changing social values, cultural pressures, and the people around them. That is one reason I think potentially irreversible medical decisions deserve more serious and careful scrutiny.

As far as the military goes, I agree with the current decision. Transgender service can involve medical treatment, ongoing care, and accommodations that can raise legitimate questions about military readiness and deployment requirements.

Gay service members generally require no special medical accommodations simply because they are gay.

So trying to frame the transgender military issue as simply another version of gay rights is bogus. The two situations are not the same.

Some people are just so dishonest.

They take one sentence out of context and totally change the meaning by dropping the rest of the thought.

Then they respond to that.

Donner,

"Because "American Culture" is a diverse and changing mix of customs"

Use your damn head for a second.

The topic was Islam's religious rituals that are disruptive, and NOT what their menu consists of.

I also addressed the possibility of people who are willing to make accommodations in the US for their worship using our religious freedom laws that demand it, only to later discover they have gained political influence and actually hate your values and go on a crusade to teach Islam in schools.

Then you might say, "No...that could never happen...but if it did, at least they aren't those awful hateful Christians."

Truth,

I'm not ignoring you now but I have stuff I need to get done today.

Truth,

I consider myself a Christian, and I thought reversing Roe v. Wade was a mistake.

I believe women should be allowed to make that decision for themselves and live with the consequences.

Ultimately, they are the ones who have to live with that choice for the rest of their lives, and I believe they will answer for it before God on Judgment Day.

Truth,

"And again, again, a good person would recognize their deficiency and err on the side of kindness."

In your own post, you're talking about minors, which I already addressed as a separate issue, and transition-related care, which is also another separate issue.

There is a great deal that should be discussed before people decide to make serious, irreversible changes to their bodies. Is that really what they need, and are they making that decision free from political or social influence from others?

My point was that, aside from those specific issues, trans adults are not being denied the same basic healthcare available to everyone else.

As far as erring on the side of kindness, that is exactly what people who urge caution believe they are doing. Kindness doesn't necessarily mean affirming every decision without question, particularly when the consequences may be permanent for the rest of their lives and some people later come to regret decisions they made earlier.