Dare To Ask Talk And News About Our Differences
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I’ve always thought it was strange as well. African-American makes it sound like blacks are recent immigrants who are somewhat less than ‘real’ Americans. I know that I would be offended to be called a ‘European-American’. I am American and have no ties to any other continent or country.
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Name : H., Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Gay, Race : white Southerner, Religion : Methodist, Age : 25, City : Washington, State : DC, Country : United States, Occupation : statistician, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Upper middle class,Most people are taught to fear and dislike difference. People tend to believe their own ways and their own ‘people’ are somehow better than others. The solution to this is to work towards making people respect and celebrate difference. No religion is inferior to any other, unless it teaches its followers to judge others. The only religions that should be criticized are those that play to ignorance and bigotry against people due their race, religion, sexual orientation, sex, etc. We gradually need to achieve a society where all families, groups, and individuals are treated equally.
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Name : H., Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Gay, Race : white Southerner, Religion : Methodist, Age : 25, City : Washington, State : DC, Country : United States, Occupation : statistician, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Upper middle class,The British settlement of the South from 1607 – 1700 was overwhelmingly English, particularly from the southeast and north of England to Virginia and the Carolinas. After 1700 huge numbers of Scotch-Irish, Scottish, and Irish Protestants arrived in Piedmont Virginia and North Carolina (and later Tennessee) and their descendants are found throughout the South. Many Welsh settled in South Carolina as well during the 1700s. Other major European sources of white Southern ancestry were Germany, France, Spain, Ireland, Holland, and others.
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Name : H., Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Gay, Race : white Southerner, Religion : Methodist, Age : 25, City : Washington, State : DC, Country : United States, Occupation : statistician, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Upper middle class,When Americans think of Canada (which is rare) we tend to think of bad weather, a small, homogeneous population, a boring history, and a culture lacking in distinctiveness and vitality. We also assume that Canadians are just like us and that Canada is essentially the 51st state. While this view is partly true, it does not tell the whole story. Quebec provides an element of ethnic and linguistic diversity to the nation, as does recent Asian and other immigration. Canada also sees itself as more of a salad bowl of mixed groups than an American melting pot of people assimilating into a new culture. Perhaps most notably, Canada’s culture and legal system are much more advanced and civilized in terms of civil liberties, human rights, and morality. Witness the progress towards legal recognition of same-sex marriages and other families and the ease with which openly gay service members and boy scouts are accepted and integrated. America is much more abusive towards our minorities and, despite our individualist rhetoric, we do not always support freedom and equality. We could learn a lot about improving our quality of life from Canada.
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Name : H., Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Gay, Race : white Southerner, Religion : Methodist, Age : 25, City : Washington, State : DC, Country : United States, Occupation : statistician, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Upper middle class,Though Kansas is not culturally Southern, many of the early settlers of the state were white and black Southerners and a large percentage of Kansans are descended from Southerners. As you may recall, most settlers to Kansas passed through Missouri which was a slave state and a Border State (with both Northern and Southern characteristics). The Kansas-Nebraska Act stated that the residents of Kansas and other new western territories could decide for themselves whether to make the state a free or slave state. So, both Southerners (sometimes including slaves) and abolitionist Yankees settled the state and battled each other for territory, leading to the designation “Bloody Kansas” in the 1850’s.
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Name : H., Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Gay, Race : white Southerner, Religion : Methodist, Age : 25, City : Washington, State : DC, Country : United States, Occupation : statistician, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Upper middle class,People’s religious beliefs tend to inevitably influence their views on politics and public policy. Most Americans are Christian and tend to elect those who at least espouse some Christian faith. However, I think most Americans revere religious freedom and the separation of church and state. Religious affiliation should not and will not remain a precursor for any public office. Keep in mind, Zac, that the most vocal groups currently claiming to be Christian are groups that actually go against the essential Christian tenets of love for and generosity toward all people and the requirement to refrain from judging others. These groups, the so-called religious right, use the holy name of Christ to justify their extremely un-Christian agendas and prejudices (e.g. sexism, racism, homophobia). As a native of the Florida Panhandle, I can definitely empathize if you are discouraged by the lack of open political diversity in our overwhelmingly conservative, Christian region.
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Name : H., Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Gay, Race : white Southerner, Religion : Methodist, Age : 25, City : Washington, State : DC, Country : United States, Occupation : statistician, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Upper middle class,Here’s the address of a web page I made for a demography project on North Carolina last year: http://www.georgetown.edu/users/stackhoh/demography/test.htm
It includes some basic information and a number of good links to demographic and other information on the state. North Carolina is a beautiful state and, needless to say, much more diverse in almost all ways than relatively homogeneous New England. The site includes some information on the nativity, race, regional culture, and ethnicity of North Carolina’s residents.
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Name : H., Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Gay, Race : white Southerner, Religion : Methodist, Age : 25, City : Washington, State : DC, Country : United States, Occupation : statistician, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Upper middle class,Whether you’re talking about ‘legal marriage’ (an arrangement conferring certain financial privileges based on a short ceremony that usually does not last a lifetime) or ‘actual’ marriage (being monogamously committed to, in love with, cohabiting with, and mutually dependent on another individual), marriage is not for everyone. Many people are happier staying single or having multiple intimate relationships in their lifetimes. Absolutely, no couple or individual should have a kid unless they can provide their child with the emotional, financial, and other resources to make him or her have a great life. While the majority of people probably are meant for the bond of finding, commiting to, and living with a soulmate, having children should only happen after strong consideration. Legal marriage in our society is virtually totally meaningless in our society since many millions of people who are actually married are classified as unmarried partners and millions of couples that are legally married really aren’t committed to each other. Only in relatively rare circumstances should an individual raise a child without a partner.
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Name : H., Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Gay, Race : white Southerner, Religion : Methodist, Age : 25, City : Washington, State : DC, Country : United States, Occupation : statistician, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Upper middle class,While I can’t imagine anyone being rude enough to ‘sexually proposition’ someone they don’t know while they’re with someone else, I definite have the problem of women almost constantly flirting with and hitting on me, both when I’m with my boyfriend and when I’m alone. When someone (male or female – the gender doesn’t matter) hits on your boyfriend (or you or anyone who isn’t interested in the person flirting w/them)should just say, ‘I’m flattered but I’m dating someone and I’m not interested.’ As for your reaction, your jealousy should be unnecessary if you trust your boyfriend (And even if you don’t trust him, if he’s exclusively heterosexual, you should only worry about women).
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Name : H., Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Gay, Race : white Southerner, Religion : Methodist, Age : 25, City : Washington, State : DC, Country : United States, Occupation : statistician, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Upper middle class,There are some gay men who don’t engage in intercourse at all and some who only penetrate; however, as a previous respondent said, this is often due to fear. They would enjoy it if they tried it. It should be noted that straight men can enjoy (and have phenomenal orgasms – either in conjunction with or independent of penile stimulation) stimulation of the anus, rectum and prostate. Women can use their fingers and tongues to stimulate their male lovers. Many straight men (and gay men, for that matter) miss out on this incredible form of sex, which in some ways is an even more direct route to the center of physical male sexuality than stimulation of the penis. Gay men do have the advantage of being able to have an incredibly wide variety of sex, but so do straights.
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Name : H., Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Gay, Race : white Southerner, Religion : Methodist, Age : 25, City : Washington, State : DC, Country : United States, Occupation : statistician, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Upper middle class,Despite our many problems, America still offers far more socioeconomic opportunity and political freedom than anywhere in the developing (third) world. Our economy is also stronger than most other parts of the developed world (look at the high unemployment in much of the European union) and we are far more welcoming to immigrants than places like Japan, Germany, etc. There’s also the American ideal that our ancestors have followed for four centuries – fleeing oppression for opportunity and throwing off the shackles of the Old World. Admittedly, the current rate of immigration seems too high to sustain for long and may reduce the quality of life here if it continues.
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Name : H., Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Gay, Race : white Southerner, Religion : Methodist, Age : 25, City : Washington, State : DC, Country : United States, Occupation : statistician, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Upper middle class,Race is a social construct that only has meaning based on individual perceptions. Historically (in America but not in Latin America, South Africa and many other multiracial regions) anyone with one black ancestor was supposed to be considered black. The majority of Americans have ancestors of multiple races. After the 2000 Census, for the first time, the federal government and other data collecters, disseminaters and users will have a new racial standard. There will be six single races: White, black, Asian, Indian, Islander and some other race. However, respondents will also be able to select multiple races for the first time (meaning there will be a total of about 63 racial categories possible). By the way, Hispanic (like Anglo, Francophone or Slavic) is not a race but an ethno-linguistic group (ethnicity). Hispanic technically means simply “Spanish-speaking.” Some Hispanics are white (most Argentines and Spaniards), some are black (most Dominicans and Cubans), some are Indians (most Bolivians and Guatemalans), many are mestizo (mixed white and Indian and including most Mexicans) and some are Asian (including the president of Peru).
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Name : H., Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Gay, Race : white Southerner, Religion : Methodist, Age : 25, City : Washington, State : DC, Country : United States, Occupation : statistician, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Upper middle class,Actually, one percent is almost certainly too low but no one has particularly valid statistics to go on due largely to the continued social stigma of homosexuality and bisexuality. There are few people who are equally bi relative to those who are mostly straight or mostly gay, but there are huge numbers of people who are somewhat bi. Most reliable studies have shown that about 25% (often a much higher number) of men have had sex w/ a man at least once. However, that’s a measure of behavior (independent of attraction [the most common definition of orientation] or identity).
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Name : H., Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Gay, Race : white Southerner, Religion : Methodist, Age : 25, City : Washington, State : DC, Country : United States, Occupation : statistician, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Upper middle class,Unlike the Roman Catholic Church, or any human, or any other organization (which are all subject to the sins of our anti-Christian prejudices), God does not discriminate based on race, sex, sexual orientation or any other God-given characteristic. Indeed, Christ’s life exemplified the central values of our religion: Love, generosity and non-judgmentalism. Certain denominations (though far from reaching a Christian ideal) tend to be better at this than others. Try Methodism, Episcopalianism, Presbyterianism or, of course, the Metropolitan Community Church rather than the less God-oriented denominations of Baptist, Catholicism and Mormonism. Also, many individual congregations do remember God’s teachings and try to welcome all people. In Portland, try Dignity; the Roman Catholic Gays and Lesbians University Park United Methodist Church Reconciling Congregation, which celebrates the gifts of bisexual, gay, lesbian, straight and transgendered people; or First United Methodist.
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Name : H., Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Gay, Race : white Southerner, Religion : Methodist, Age : 25, City : Washington, State : DC, Country : United States, Occupation : statistician, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Upper middle class,I have to echo the previous respondent who said we should look to God and not the human institution that is the church. People who go to church often forget to humble themselves before God and to remember Jesus’ central teachings: Generosity and love rather than judgment toward all. I have many friends who have been turned off to religion because so many people act against God’s will and try to use His name to justify their human prejudices. Perfect examples of groups exhibiting this tendency are the Ku Klux Klan and Family Research Council, which promote racism, sexism, and homophobia while claiming to be Christian groups. There are many congregations that do a better job of being true Christians in a meaningful sense, and if you look you will find a congregation that, though not perfect, is right for you. Find such a place and you can contribute the gift of music in a place that is a light unto the world, its members and its community.
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Name : H., Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Gay, Race : white Southerner, Religion : Methodist, Age : 25, City : Washington, State : DC, Country : United States, Occupation : statistician, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Upper middle class,
