Archbishop of Dublin Diarmuid Martin cautioned Catholics against homophobia in a series of interviews this week, warning that such behavior is an insult to God. “God never created anybody that he doesn’t love,” Martin said.
“Anybody who doesn’t show love towards gay and lesbian people is insulting God. They are not just homophobic if they do that — they are actually Godophobic because God loves every one of those people,” he said.
In a radio interview about Ireland’s upcoming referendum on same-sex marriage, the archbishop said that the country’s gay community “has suffered enormously” due to the culture of homophobia.
“Anyone who grew up in Ireland would have told jokes that were pointed at the gay community… it is part of the culture we grew up in, but we have to grow out of it.” The country’s anti-LGBT culture has been in the news over the past few weeks after a prominent activist delivered a damning speech about homophobia and an openly gay member of the Irish Parliament revealed he had been harassed, spit at, and even beaten because of his sexuality.
Martin responded thoughtfully when asked if the Catholic Church was a homophobic institution. “People in the Catholic Church may be homophobic. Certainly the teachings of the Catholic Church could be used by some people in a homophobic way, and we have to be very careful that that isn’t done.” He added that it was equally important not to demonize the church, which opposes the legalization same-sex marriage in Ireland. “Just because a person isn’t in favor of gay marriage doesn’t mean that one is homophobic — let’s be very clear on that.”
His words came as Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni signed a new law Monday that imposes tough penalties for homosexual acts, a move that drew condemnation from around the world and which could jeopardize Uganda’s relationship with the Obama administration and Western donors.
Homosexuality is already illegal in Uganda, but the new legislation threatens to usher in a new era of harsh justice for offenders and could lead to widespread oppression against gays and lesbians, human rights activists say. The legislation imposes a 14-year prison sentence for first-time offenders and life sentences for repeat offenders found guilty of “aggravated homosexuality.”
It is now against the law in Uganda to not report gay people to the authorities
Bryan Patterson's Faithworks 
I really wish people who say they’re living for Jesus and have captive audiences would tell the complete truth when it comes to “about” God and quit being afraid of offending one group or another- that’s just part of living a life for Christ.You take up the cross and deny yourself Mark:8:34 Our acceptance with God isn’t based on the amount of “good” works or how holy we are. And absolutely we should never except someones sin and be around them ignoring it because “it’s their right” No person has the right to push their sin on others and bully them into having to accept it and change the law because its “so unfair I can’t have same sex, sex.” Grow up- You can’t be a mindful sinner and expect God to be like “ohh sure come on in I’ll make an exception for you because your selfishness was too great to correct.” A double minded man is unstable in all his ways.James 1:8 True Christians don’t hate we pray and hope and lead by example-No one can tell anyone that they can’t NOT like something–especially when that’s exactly what their doing back!
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Thanks for the comment Miss Hannah. I think this is more about showing love and respect for others who are different to us. Everyone deserves respect. I think you’d agree that the laws just signed in Uganda are disgraceful. From Senegal to Zimbabwe, gays have been detained, attacked by police, tortured and even killed. They have been denied access to health care. In some nations, their graves have been desecrated. I wouldn’t think any loving Christian would agree with this.
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I’m not starting a we’re more persecuted contest but the Obama administration is the chief facilitator of Christian persecution outside the US. In 2013 Open Doors group documented more than 2200 christian (the most persecuted group in the world) martyrs but the numbers now are over 8,000 more than double than 2012. Every day out in the open Christians are murdered.The Muslim Brotherhood whom Obama supports and funds as “freedom Fighters” bombed more than 80 churches including orphanages. 1,000s of Christian have been massacred by militant groups and mob violence, forced to convert or die, shops and homes destroyed children burned within them. We know about persecution Millions of Christians are feeling the violence of it–and it is being aided by our OWN GOVERNMENT! WE wish it on no one. Now where’s the speeches by Priests and so on about how atrocious this is and condemns the Obama Administration their part in all of it -? And every group who is fighting for what ever they’re pushing for on the rest of the world to accept them…. HAS TO KNOW that where anti Christianity elements come into power anti american forces come to power-so lets take care of the most pressing in need groups first that can actually do good in the world for everyone else. Its a choice that comes down to continuing these independent me me me fights and while your doing that- let someone like the Muslim Brotherhood rule these major countries where millions from many countries are already heavily influenced to hate and do wish for ALL AMERICANS DEATH which good luck trying to get them to listen and be kind to you or stop accusing and support these Christians where the whole world and every kind of group will fair far better compassion.
Thank you for letting me comment.
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It is not right to persecute anyone.
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Absolutely agree-shouldn’t be hostile toward anyone
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As much as I believe that the homosexual lifestyle is utterly wrong, there is a point that has been missed here. Jesus Christ has made it clear that His kingdom is not of this world, otherwise His servant would fight for it (John 18:36). And Paul made it clear that “our warfare is not against flesh and blood” (eph. 6:12). In another place, Paul tells us to take the whole armour of God and proceeds to list the items that compose this armour. Only one of them is a physical item. So what does this mean? Namely that the concept of separation between church and state is biblical. Therefore if the Ugandan government has enacted these laws at the behest of Christians, or in the name of Christ then the so called Christians who make and condone such laws are fake.
If however the Ugandans have made these laws from motives unrelated to Christianity, then Christians who uphold them are wrong as well. Paul, when encountering disgusting sexual perversions in the Corinthian Church rebuked and if the Corinthians would repent, then all was well. But if the Corinthians would not repent, the counsel was to excommunicate (1 Corinthians 5:11). But notice what Paul said next with reference to those who were outsiders:
“12 What business is it of mine to judge those outside the church? Are you not to judge those inside? 13 God will judge those outside. “Expel the wicked man from among you.”
Once again Paul emphasizes the point that what is outside the church stays outside the church. The only time that the Bible ever gives permission to do something against homosexuality is when they seek church membership (and that is repentance) or when they seek to introduce homosexual lifestyle and practices within the Christian church itself, as a legitimate practice.
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South African Christian Desmond Tutu warned that Uganda’s controversial anti-gay law recalled sinister attempts by the Nazi and apartheid regimes.
The Anglican cleric said he was “very disheartened” to learn of the bill and urged President Yoweri Museveni instead to clamp down on rape, child abuse and the sex trade.
“There is no scientific basis or genetic rationale for love… There is no scientific justification for prejudice and discrimination, ever. And nor is there any moral justification.
“Nazi Germany and apartheid South Africa, among others, attest to these facts.”
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Must be tough to stay a Christian if you can make a wrong judgement and you suddenly find you are a fake Christian.
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What on earth is the “homosexual lifestyle” ?
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BUT, do they allow pornography in Uganda?
Have a listen to 4 minutes of Ted Bundy’s last interview and tell me if what he said doesn’t freak you out. I’ve had nightmares ever since watching it. And after you have watched it, tell us again which country is morally superior to the other…..God help us!
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1, “Given Uganda’s homophobia, why does it lead the way in Googling gay porn? ” Bryan Patterson’s Faithworks Posted on January 13, 2014
2. The video is a self serving serial killer telling us all it wasn’t his fault it was what that the nasty pornography did to him. Why on earth would that be believable ?
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If you think there is nothing wrong with pornography then you really need to do some study, and while you’re at it, listen to what the wives of porn-addicted husbands have to say about their marriages.
And talk about hypocrisy. So these African countries have laws against homosexuals and yet even Africans in their little grass huts have TV’s and watch porn!
It’s time we cleaned up our own backyards….and I am not talking about making laws against homosexuality but rather, putting a stop to the production of violent, obscene and depraved material that fuels the lustful, insatiable appetites of men….and women! And which has the potential of snaring and damning our precious children. It’s wrong, wrong, wrong to have this filth freely available on the net! Don’t you realise that it’s a lethal drug?
And don’t believe Ted Bundy. That’s your prerogative.
Is he saying that his addiction of violent porn is responsible for what he did? I didn’t think so. But he is saying that it fuelled the lust inside of him…..just like it does for countless others, only he just happened to be the devil incarnate!
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I need to do some study? What would you suggest a couple of hundred people with a mix of genders and relationship types in randomised blind longitudinal study? Or should I just review the existing literature?
Tell me how much study did you do on Ted Bundy before you decided he was telling the truth or was in anyways believable in that video above?
Or are you just another “doom and gloom” type of Christian telling us that we’re all damned?
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Bubba, your no.1 point is spot on. Gay porn is attractive to Ugandans simply because it’s forbidden.
No.2 point also. It may become a habit to watch these, encouraging a lifestyle, I don’t know. But unless there is masochism, sadism, the lust for power over another, then it isn’t encouraging cruelty, rape, or murder.
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Yes, Monica. I think you’re right. Pornography is much more dangerous than it is realised or advertised at the moment. It changes people.
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I have heard of men who have moved from normal pornography into child pornography as they were bored of the former. It is like this twisted evil lust is unquenchable.
Like those serial murderers who start off killing the local pets.
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It’s a sickness of the spirit.
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“I have heard of men …..”
I’ve heard all kinds of things. A big chunk of em just weren’t true.
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Christ followers should remember the New Testament account of the woman caught in the act of adultery.
“If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her,” Jesus told those who were about to stone the woman. Everyone left without tossing one stone.
Jesus intervened on behalf of the woman, was He wrong?
Clearly, , He did not believe adultery was proper. But He signaled a new way of dealing with sin, one which emphasizes mercy and freedom, rather than coercion and death.
Killing gays or those suspected of being gay or those who know gays cannot create a righteous people, and in fact may further a self-righteous people. One may disapprove of homosexuality, and still treat homosexuals as you would want to be treated. Who among us could stand if our private sins were judged in such a manner as the Anti-Homosexuality Bill ?
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Pastor Don
Jesus intervened on behalf of the woman.
1) But notice that it was the woman caught in the adultery – where was the man/woman she committed adultery with? The Law of Moses was explicit that it was both parties that needed to be brought to trial. In this case Jesus would have had to let the woman go on the grounds of a mis-trial. The law of moses had not been followed honestly. And Jesus knew that.
2) Jesus let the woman go but then said “go and sin no more”. He did not emphasize freedom to continue in the old way. But what the homosexuals are emphasizing is legitimacy in continuing their lifestyle whilst still being accepted in good standing church membership. And this is one of the reasons why many Christians have become homophobic.
You cannot use this example to defend tolerance for the homosexual lifestyle!
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Christians should NEVER be homophobic…As Desmond Tutu says, if you’re homophobic you’re also God-ophobic.
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That depends on the definition of homophobic doesn’t it. If you read the Bible as it reads, it does appear to be homophobic to anyone who condones the homosexual lifestyle, and/or endeavours to promote it within the Christian Church.
In fact by the time you reach the book of revelation it is God (not the government, not the church, and certainly not Davinci) who will be responsible for killing the homosexuals. As Christians we can only rebuke help and exhort people to repent and accept conversion.
This issue is interesting however! As Christians we ought to obey God rather than man. So a true Christian in Uganda would be placed in a position of defying the government on this law. Simply because as part of preaching the gospel, we would come in contact with homosexuals who are open to the idea of repentance and conversion. If we are to help them, then we would have to oppose the government.
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But Jesus didn’t refer to the laws of Moses. He made quite a point of asking the accusers to look at their own state.
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Strewth,
Jesus did refer to the law of moses when he asked the woman if there anyone condemning her (John 8:10). This was in accordance with the Old Testament law that one could not be convicted except if there were two or three witnesses (see Deuteronomy 19:15). The whole incident was brought to Jesus’ attention because the Pharisees were trying to entrap Him over whether He respected the Law of Moses or not, but when you actually look at cases of adultery in the Law of Moses and how they were applying it, you find that the adulterer (who was just as guilty) was not there to be stoned with her. So they weren’t truly applying the law of Moses in convicting the woman correctly, but they wanted Jesus to render a judgment anyway. The question is why did Jesus then ask her whether anyone condemned her? Because there might have been a case against her by people who did apply the law of Moses correctly. But her answer was that there weren’t such witnesses.
Nevertheless, she did commit adultery and Jesus did forgive her.
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Well said.
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Actually this encounter is not found in the New Testament manuscripts stored in the National Archive in Albania . It was added into the gospel of John after these manuscripts. Some Christian scholars believe it to be a fabrication.
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“Saint Augustine” tells us that one of the reasons for not including this incident in the copies of the Bible of his time was because this incident could be misinterpreted to condone adultery. If you think this is an unlikely scenario, read again what Pastor Don said. He virtually used this incident in defense of the homosexual lifestyle (same problem that people in Augustine’s time had).
There are ten other reasons why this story is not a forgery. The one given above is one. Just because it was not in the manuscripts you talk about, doesn’t prove anything. The incident was known as part of the oral tradition which ran parallel with the written word. The same scholars who believe this incident was a forgery discount the oral tradition as unreliable, because today we do not exercise our mind as people used to do before they had recording equipment. In fact we know that the Jews especially, could perform great feats of memorisation, as could other ancient peoples up and including the middle ages. What we know about these feats of memorisation is that great stress was placed on memorising accurately the material in question.
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Davinci.Hassan,
Why do you continue to bear false witness? Pastor Don was not defending any lifestyle. He made that pretty clear. Your own homophobia – God-ophobia some would say – is distorting what others say. It’s time you applied the principles you demand of others to yourself.
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Uhum ,(clearing throat)…..
New Vision—Uganda’s Leading Daily Newspaper—Publish Date: Feb 24, 2014:
“MANY African countries, with the notable exception of South Africa, have laws that outlaw homosexuality.
According to a report by Amnesty International, homosexuality is illegal in 38 out of 54 countries on the continent.
UGANDA: Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni signed into law a controversial bill that establishes life terms in prison for repeat homosexuals despite pressure from Western partners.
The law also outlaws the promotion of homosexuality and requires people to denounce gays.
NIGERIA: A law that took effect in January provides for jail terms of up to 14 years for gay couples who live together and 10 years for public displays of affection between gays. Homosexuality also carries the death sentence in northern states where Islamic law runs parallel to the state and federal justice systems, though the punishment is rarely, if ever, applied.
CAMEROON: Homosexual relations can be punished with up to five years in prison.
GAMBIA: Homosexuality is punishable by up to 14 years’ imprisonment.
ZAMBIA: Same-sex relationships have been banned since British colonial rule, and a sodomy conviction carries a 14-year prison sentence.
SENEGAL: Anyone convicted of an “improper or unnatural act with a person of the same sex” faces up to five years in jail.
TUNISIA: Sodomy between consenting adults is punishable by up to three years in prison.
MOROCCO: Homosexuality is punishable by six months to three years in prison, but is tolerated in practice provided practitioners do not flaunt their sexual orientation.
ALGERIA: Anyone charged with a homosexual act faces up to two years in prison, but people are rarely prosecuted.
In several countries homosexuality is a taboo subject, but with certain zones of tolerance:
ZIMBABWE: President Robert Mugabe is known for saying that gays and lesbians are “worse than pigs and dogs”. However, the group Gays and Lesbians is authorised.
MALAWI: In November 2012 President Joyce Banda suspended sodomy laws until they are debated by parliament. Under the country’s penal code, men can be sentenced to up to 14 years and women to five years for homosexuality.”
But do they ban pornography too? 😉
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SOUTH SUDAN, on becoming independent in 2008, criminalized consensual same-sex conduct for women and men with up to 10 years’ imprisonment.
BURUNDI: Criminalized same-sex conduct for men and women in 2009 by revising the criminal code to outlaw ‘sexual relations with someone of the same sex’. In 2011 and 2012,
LIBERIA: In 2012 a bill was introduced to toughen penalties for same-sex conduct. And
MAURITANIA retains the death penalty for same-sex conduct.
SOMALIA (southern region), also retains the death penalty for same-sex conduct.
THE LIST OF COUNTRIES IN AFRICA WHERE THERE ARE ANTI- HOMOSEXUALITY LAWS IN PLACE:
1 Algeria
2 Angola
3 Benin
4 Botswana
5 Burundi
6 Cameroon
7 Comoros
8 Egypt
9 Eritrea
10 Ethiopia
11 Gambia
12 Ghana
13 Guinea
14 Kenya
15 Lesotho
16 Liberia
17 Libya
18 Malawi (enforcement of law suspended)
19 Mauritania
20 Mauritius
21 Morocco
22 Mozambique
23 Namibia
24 Nigeria
25 Sao Tome
26 Senegal
27 Seychelles
28 Sierra Leone
29 Somalia
30 South Sudan
31 Sudan
32 Swaziland
33 Tanzania
34 Togo
35 Tunisia
36 Uganda
37 Zambia
38 Zimbabwe
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Discrimination on the basis of sexuality. Who could possibly condone it.
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I see no reason to condemn a country for having anti-gay laws. But the new legislation in Uganda goes beyond reason with harsh justice for offenders. A 14-year prison sentence for first-time offenders and life sentences for repeat offenders found guilty of “aggravated homosexuality.”? And it’s now against the law in Uganda to not report gay people to the authorities.
Personally, I believe God is happy with homosexuality, as His decree to be fruitful and populate the Earth has well and truly been fulfilled. But a country should be allowed it’s own conscience. Let’s hope their conscience will be on more pressing matters such as violence, rape, child abuse and the sex trade.
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What about the gay couples who are hiring women to give birth to their children?
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What about them Kathleen? Is your issue that they are gay or that the woman gets paid? Or do you have special insight on the divine view of surrogacy?
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Well obviously they can’t have kids themselves. Much like infertile straight couples. That really only leaves surrogacy or adoption if they want to be parents.
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Gay couples can do as they please, just don’t drag children into it.
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Dom, I doubt my gay friend’s daughter feels like she has been “dragged” into anything.
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my concern is infant trafficking
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“Gay couples can do as they please”
Then they can become parents. End of story.
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“I see no reason to condemn a country for having anti-gay laws. ”
What about anti-black laws or anti-jew laws or anti-women laws ?
I see no reason for a country to enact anti-gay laws.
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You are right, Bubba. But how recently did we, of the ‘supposedly’ advanced western society, have laws discriminating against these people?
Give these countries time. It takes time for the psyche of a nation to change. Not something that can be brought about by bullying, which drives minds into a more entrenched position.
We can only show example, and that will only be followed if we are looked on as worthy in other respects – which I fear we are not. We still have a long way to go to put our own house in order.
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You made the point that the world would reduce in population because of gay couples – but many gay couples are just using surrogacy to create families, therefore the population control doesn’t happen.
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I’m interested in that, Kathleen, as I thought it would be a minority looking for surregacy, and that minority limiting their family size. Are there some statistics you’ve found?
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Capitalism and Loneliness: Why Pornography Is a Multibillion-Dollar Industry
Pornography is prevalent, profitable and expanding. The heterosexual Internet pornography industry has exploited heterosexual men’s loneliness and contributed to changing the face of the most intimate connections.
In a study conducted by one of this article’s co-authors, Tess Fraad Wolff, 48 heterosexual women of four different races and socioeconomic groups, ranging in age from 22-40 years old were interviewed. She asked questions that concerned women’s emotional and sexual experiences during the dating process. An overwhelming majority, 46 of the 48 women interviewed, responded with (4) “Men introduce sex and sexually related material into conversations instantly and inappropriately, yet many cannot perform.” This may relate to an issue that powerfully impacts relationships and illustrates a profound connection between capitalism and loneliness. It is the mainstreaming of heterosexual pornography.
The Impact of Pornography
Pornography precedes capitalism. However, capitalists have now marketed pornography on a whole new level. Pornography has now become a pastime for billions of men and an addiction for millions. Forty million adults in the United States regularly visit pornography sites. Of those 40 million, 87 percent are men.
Capitalism and Pornography
The explosion of heterosexual Internet pornography in the early 90s yielded huge profits. Pornography is a capitalist dream machine. The industry has larger revenues than Microsoft, Google, Amazon, eBay, Yahoo, Apple and Netflix combined. By 2006, worldwide pornography revenues ballooned to $97.06 billion.
Because of pornography’s extreme profitability, its producers strive to capture a greater market share. They produce more violent pornography with ever younger women and more degrading and assaultive acts. Capitalism values profit above all, thus de-prioritizing consideration for equal rights, morality or damage to personal relationships.
How do the mainstreaming of pornography and the increasing numbers of viewers and addicts affect relationships?
Sexual connection can motivate people to find and maintain relationships. Heterosexual Internet pornography has dramatically altered images of sexuality. Heterosexual US men are experiencing increasing difficulty performing sexually, from maintaining erections, to focusing on partners during sex, to having orgasms at all. Many men have grown so accustomed to the breakneck pace with which pornography offers hundreds of images that they can no longer maintain arousal or concentration during the comparatively slow interactive process of actual sex. Additionally, many viewers have unconsciously associated anonymity with arousal, resulting in a failure to either engage in or appreciate the intimacy that often accompanies real sex. Men in record numbers report being unable to complete sexual acts that involve another live person. A recent University of Kansas study found that 25 percent of college-age men said they’d faked orgasms with women because they could not have orgasms without pornography.
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Capitalists and governments are not interested in what is best for people only to make money and stay in power.
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So how do they make money again ?
And how does a democratically elected government best stay in power ?
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Here am I having equated capitalism with free enterprise! Thinking the only viable alternative is socialism. How wrong could I be!
I now know that capitalism gives special government-supported benefits to capital and those with capital (wealthy individuals, families and business entities).
This is the opposite of socialism, which promotes special government-supported benefits to those without capital—the proletariat, as Karl Marx put it.
In contrast to both capitalism and socialism, free enterprise establishes good laws and government policies that treat the rich, middle and poor the same.
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Quoting
http://oliverdemille.com/2011/10/capitalism-free-enterprise/
Put succinctly:
In socialism the government ignores, downplays and literally abuses prosperity and freedom to the point that both are lost for nearly everyone.
Under capitalism, the laws promote the wealth and license of a few above the freedom and prosperity of all, with the cultural result of valuing attainment of wealth above almost everything—including virtue, compassion, and the liberty of all.
In free enterprise, the laws treat everyone the same, thereby incentivizing freedom, prosperity and enterprise (as long as such enterprise doesn’t violate the inalienable rights of others). The application of this model is rare in human history, but the results when it has been applied are nothing less than spectacular (see Ancient Israel, Athens, the vales period of Switzerland, the Saracens, the Anglo-Saxons, and the United States—which by 1944 had 6% of the world’s population and produced over half of its goods and services).
The lesson?
Freedom works.
Enterprise works.
And the outcome when the two are combined is breathtaking.
We are capable of so much more than we’ve accomplished so far, and free enterprise is the most powerful economic system yet to be tried by mankind.
Isn’t it time for an end to the outdated debate about socialism versus capitalism and a national return to the free enterprise system which made America great?
During its first century-and-a-half of application, free enterprise brought us major wealth, a standard of living for most citizens that rivals or surpasses the lifestyles of history’s royals, world power, major technological and medical advancements, and the end of slavery.
It also brought the repudiation of racism, male dominance, religious persecution and a host of other ills that have existed for millennia.
With all these areas of progress, imagine what we could do if we re-adopted the free enterprise values and culture in our time.
Laws that give special benefits to wealth and capital while withholding such opportunities from the rest can never bring the progress, advances, freedom and prosperity that free enterprise will.
It’s time for a change, and the first step is for all of us to start using the phrase “free enterprise” a lot more.
We need to study it, think about it, discuss and debate its various applications, and make it a household topic rather than an obscure economic reference.
http://oliverdemille.com/2011/10/capitalism-free-enterprise/
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“government policies that treat the rich, middle and poor the same”
Are they the same ? And if not wouldn’t treating them the same be inequitable ?
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“In contrast to both capitalism and socialism, free enterprise …”
Hmmm seems that dictionary might (ironically) be causing us trouble again.
free enterprise
noun
1. an economic and political doctrine holding that a capitalist economy can regulate itself in a freely competitive market through the relationship of supply and demand with a minimum of governmental intervention and regulation.
2. the practice of free enterprise in an economy, or the right to practice it
Or we could consult a thesaurus instead to find tat free enterprise and capitalism as synonymous,
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Am I still wrong? So must these people be.
http://www.henrymakow.com/capitalism_is_not_free_enterpr.html
where they equate free enterprise with a fair market (rather than a free market) system, of small business operators, rather than big business, let alone multinationals, which is, to them, capitalism – or if you prefer, monopoly capitalism.
Also http://www.dailykos.com/story/2013/09/01/1234954/-America-s-form-of-capitalism-kills-free-enterprise-and-democracy
where “Many believe that capitalism is synonymous with free enterprise and democracy. Capitalism is neither free enterprise nor democracy. After all, China is now a capitalist country. No one believes that China is a democratic country. This conflation has allowed all attempts to attenuate the deficiencies of capitalism to be construed as that grand evil, “socialism” or communism. Americans would do well to understand the differences and how they affect their everyday lives.
Under a poor unfettered capitalist structure the only thing that matters is growth, the real appreciation of capital. The shareholders of companies want the highest return on their investment. The managers of their monies effect whatever necessary actions to achieve this. If the American worker becomes too expensive, they present a false narrative stating that free trade lifts all workers. They then “invest” in politicians forcing them to pass free trade agreements like NAFTA and TPP. If a profitable patent is about to expire, they get it extended by all means necessary. If an allowable level of pollution affects the bottom line, they get the law changed. If a pipeline or transmission line needs to be built, use eminent domain to usurp the rights of the property owner. You get the picture.
Free enterprise would have all play under the same market rules of supply and demand. Corporations would have no advantages over the small businesses they have today. In a real free enterprise system a corporation could not have exclusivity in a cable, or some utility market. In a real free enterprise system a corporation could not prevent a city or private entity from building out free Wi-Fi.”
And http://www.thespiritualun.org/MomandPop.htm
where “FREE ENTERPRISE is NOT a synonym of capitalism, it is CAPITALISM’S DIRECT OPPOSITE. Capitalism is designed to use capital as a means to bring all industry, all business and mainly, ALL PROFIT to larger and larger corporation headquarters (ergo fewer and fewer alike corporations as only so much “growth” can be absorbed), almost always situated in big cities. Thus capitalism drains the countryside of the necessary medium to do business as well as it steals local business by tactics such as selling at a loss until the small retailer is forced to close. ”
Google ‘capitalism v, free enterprise’ and you’ll find many more.
But let’s, for the sake of peace, replace the term ‘capitalism’ with ‘monopoly capitalism’. Or replace ‘free enterprise’ with ‘fair enterprise’.
🙂
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Why Is Pornography Addictive?
The act of watching pornography involves bonding between the brain and the pornographic images and acts depicted. This neural bonding process entails the immediate mental imitation that occurs when people watch representations of any behavior, particularly behavior that possesses arousing qualities. The chemicals released from the firing of neurotransmitters create pleasurable sensations. Viewers want to get more of these sensations. Viewers are all potential addicts because they can not only achieve orgasm with pornography, but potentially develop a neurological attachment to it. They often do not realize the ways in which their relationships with pornography have begun to replace those with one another.
Many men reject actual sex in favor of the synthetic version even when they have partners with whom the opportunities for sex are present. They turn off to the connectedness and intimacy that actual sex can offer. They retreat into pornography to escape from the challenge of changed and challenging relationships with women. Many avoid even trying to form a relationship in favor of a seemingly safe, isolated, anonymous bond with artificial images on computer screens. Although the fraction of women who view and are addicted to pornography mainly do not cite decreased desire to experience real sex with partners, they do share inabilities to masturbate or orgasm without pornography or pornographic images. Initially, larger numbers of women reported feeling perpetually upset and sexually rejected by their male partners. Men, too, have now grown disturbed by their increasing sexual dysfunction and reliance on pornography.
Immersion in pornography is both a cause and a result of the bleak loneliness of trying to relate in a profit-driven America with an altered gender landscape. Pornography provides a lucrative market that sells its wares to mask heterosexual men’s fear of changed gender expectations. The way in which capitalism and loneliness feed one another is present as rising numbers of men and women forego countless opportunities for intimacy in favor of the experience of sitting alone with manufactured, profit-driven images that often contain polarizing and divisive messages about gender relationships and sexuality. They select solitary, purchased experiences over mutual ones – even in sexual acts that are, by their very nature and description, about merging, physically, psychologically, symbolically and perhaps spiritually.
We must now face the eerie trumping of profit over shared experience. Capitalism has polluted the experience of reciprocal connection in our very bedrooms and bodies. The failure of capitalism to provide sufficient jobs, possibilities for prosperity, decent wages and social services has led masses to grab at lonely pseudosolutions that ultimately worsen the quality of life. Pornography is one of them.
http://www.truth-out.org/opinion/item/5791:capitalism-and-loneliness-why-pornography-is-a-multibilliondollar-industry
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US Christian Right Behind Anti-Gay Law Passed in Uganda
Tuesday, 25 February 2014 11:05
http://www.truth-out.org/news/item/22101-us-christian-right-behind-anti-gay-law-passed-in-uganda
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Some related news
http://christiannews.net/2014/01/02/mennonite-church-usa-ordains-first-openly-homosexual-pastor/
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I consider the Mennonite Church to be a cult Dom.
I wouldn’t take anything they do in the name of Christianity seriously. And I happen to personally know two religious Mennonites—both of whom I consider to be corrupt as hell!
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Apologies to Dom and the Mennonite Church.
I am mixing my churches up.
NO , I do not know any Mennonites personally and especially any who I consider corrupt. And I read their Statement of Faith and from that I would say they are certainly fully Christian and NOT a cult. Apologies, I was mistaken.
And even so, I should not let the questionable actions of a few in leadership define the Church as a whole. When any Christian – or person purporting to be one – openly and blatantly acts in a manner that defies God’s standards or defiles his name and brings him into disrepute, God will judge that sin accordingly. So it’s not my place to judge and hold a grudge….and obviously I have been. So sorry.
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No worries. I don’t know any either.
Here is an interesting group of Mennonites. Touring around Bethlehem
http://www.mennoniteusa.org/2014/02/26/israel-palestine-learning-tour-travelogue/
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I wanted to comment, but after reading all of this philosophy I feel truly humbled.
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This design is steller! You most certainly know how to keep a
reader entertained. Between your wit and your videos, I was almost
moved to start my own blog (well, almost…HaHa!) Fantastic job.
I really loved what you had to say, and more than that, how you presented it.
Too cool!
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