Apple has released a video on the company’s YouTube channel that highlights Apple employees’ participation in the San Francisco Pride Parade.
Apple’s video description reads:
On June 29, thousands of Apple employees and their families marched in the San Francisco Pride Parade.
They came from around the world — from cities as far as Munich, Paris, and Hong Kong — to celebrate Apple’s unwavering commitment to equality and diversity.
Because we believe that inclusion inspires innovation.
Direct link to video here.
Related articles:
Tim Cook, Apple employees march in LGBT Pride Parade in San Francisco – June 30, 2014
Apple inviting employees to march in annual San Francisco LGBT Pride Parade – May 7, 2014
Apple donates $100,000 to fight same-sex marriage ban in California (Proposition 8) – October 24, 2008
Appel?
It is in German.
English is actually a Germanic language, so it is fine. 🙂
Apfel :/
Yes, I forgot about the “f”, sorry.
Careful, MDN deletes posts that point out its lack of spelling and grammar checking. It seems to be a sore spot.
Support of human rights is a great thing. It is too bad that in so many parts of the world liberties and freedoms are not respected yet, and in some regions societies actually develop backwards. To be fair, even in USA it is not perfect, but still.
The thing that makes America so great is that, after 200 years, we still think we came make it better and we are probably right. Most of the challenges we face right now can be fixed next November. The problem is so many of us are OK with how we see what’s happening with our world we’re not motivated to go vote the bums out. We really need to start paying attention and be informed. And vote in every election. Once.
Back in my young and extremely stupid ” I hate America for this that and the other thing” days, my father told me if I hated it here so much to get out. He said, “I traveled quite a bit in the Army and you should know one thing… no matter where you go they have a word for ‘Nigger.’ Even most parts of Africa, you’re a black American? You’re a ‘Nigger.’ At least in America most people know it’s a vulgar word.”
I’d say there’s a good reason for that….
When you’re with the Flintstones
you’ll have a yabba dabba doo time.
A dabba doo time.
You’ll have a gay old time.
Disgusting.
Jobs first meeting an openly gay man.
http://www.towleroad.com/2011/10/jobsgay.html#ixzz1bhsonYrc
Yeah, it’s disgusting but people like you still get to vote.
it’s good to see the company proud of there LGBT employees. just one more reason for me to be a Mac attic
Not trying to be the spelling police, but… “proud of ‘their'” and “Mac ‘addict'”…
aren’t single quotes within a quote a major pain in the ass?
Not as much a pain in the ass as one who doesn’t proofread before hitting the post comment button. Hey, I’ve been there and hate that MDN’s commenting does not allow for edits.
They’re on my ‘gaydar’ screen.
I will never understand why someone’s sexual preferences are something to discuss at work.
Why do a few want to make the majority ponder on the importance of their turn-ons, whatever they may be?
Seriously, there is more that defines a person, unless that is the ONLY thing you live for….
If your spouce was terminally ill, would it be appropriate to tell your co-workers? How would you feel is someone told you that it wasn’t appropriate and to keep your sexual relationship to yourself?
If everyone kept their personal lives entirely out of the work environment then I’d agree with you. People don’t though. They talk about their spouses, their kids, all sorts of personal stuff. As such, a LGBT person doing exactly the same as everyone else is doing isn’t really something to complain about.
These two examples are NOT what I am talking about, but if that is how you view the world, then there is no way to explain it.
Then please try and enlighten us all as to what you are talking about, because the only mentions of sexuality I see in the office on a regular basis are straight guys talking about which woman they’d like to get it on with. Neither I nor any of my LGBT colleagues do anything similar, even though we’ll happily talk about family, partners, events, etc. if they come up in general conversation.
I am proud to know men who will put their penis into an anus.
Gross. This is what happens when an assqueer runs Apple
Yes, Mark S, because what could be more disgusting than a bunch of fully clothed people smiling and walking down the street.
i guarantee you tim cook wants a transgender weirdo on the board along with other fruits. This guy is going to ruin this company.
If this lifestyle is against what you believe in are you banned from working at apple?
Who knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them. Romans 1:32
Disgusting company and reprobate CEO. This is the sole reason why I am no longer a fan of mac. Those of you who love the queers are playing with fire.
Even as Sodom and Gomorrha, and the cities about them in like manner, giving themselves over to fornication, and going after strange flesh, are set forth for an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire. Jude 1:7
Killed any of your children lately, for talking back to you? (No doubt you know that is also part of the directions from “god”.)
no, but I wish your parents did.
Ah, the poison dripping botvijerk is (unfortunately) back… wishing me death merely for pointing out his nastiness.
Way to stay true to form, botvijerk.
why thank you, Little Cocoa Boy.
You just proved yourself to be a reprobate:
Wherefore I say unto you, All manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men: but the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost shall not be forgiven unto men. And whosoever speaketh a word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him: but whosoever speaketh against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world, neither in the world to come. Matthew 12:31-32
Blasphemy is a victimless crime.
Hey Jose: your Bible is BULLSHIT.
And a fool:
The tongue of the wise useth knowledge aright: but the mouth of fools poureth out foolishness. Proverbs 15:2
And lo he said unto thee ‘Shut the fuck up, you prick’. Me 8:22
lol, thank you Saint Muptard I.
Yeah Sure ok, I will shut up cause YOU say so and especially because you use vulgar words.
Well that’s OK, I’ll also shut up due to your judicious use of quotes from the Book of Jewish Fairy Tales.
Good riddance hate filled judgemental primate.
Another shitheel quoting Bible stories like they are supposed to mean something.
Judge not lest ye be judged.
Twist not Scripture, lest you be like Satan
“But he who is spiritual judges all things, yet he himself is rightly judged by no one.” (1 Corinthians 2:15)
“Do you not know that the saints will judge the world? And if the world will be judged by you, are you unworthy to judge the smallest matters?” (1 Cor 6:2)
“Do you not know that we shall judge angels? How much more, things that pertain to this life?” (1 Cor 6:3)
You are only EXACTLY how god made you. But if thou breakest the rules, thou shalt burn in hellfire, not for a trillion years, not for a trillion times a trillion year, but for ETERNITY.
But He loves you.
We are not EXACTLY how God made us. God made man upright but man sinned and fell from His original condition. That is why the world is so full of evil and pain and suffering. The “rules” are there to show us how far we have fallen and to show us what we should be like and to ultimately show us that in and of ourselves we can never return to that original state. The “rules” are there to point us to the one who is perfect who has never sinned and who lived a perfect life and died to redeem his people from their sins. He is love because He didn’t have to save any, we all should be destroyed. He is love because He sacrificed His Son so that some may once again be upright and perfect as He is.
“man” is exactly how god made us.
god is omniscient and omnipotent. We cannot have a capability that is not given to us by god. If we can sin, it is because god made us able to sin. We can only be and do what god made us to be and do. If we “choose” to sin, it is because god made us that way.
God is 100% powerful and is, therefore, 100% responsible for how the universe is. We have no more choice about what we do than a swallow has about how to flap its wing.
So then no one is responsible for their actions or what they believe so you might as well not waste your time trying to change what they believe. That is unless you can’t help it since God made you that way 😉
Any time you feel like trotting out your god to show us it actually exists would be great.
My book says my god exists.
And it’s the truth.
Because it’s written by god.
QED.
Ate any shellfish lately? Wear poly cotton blend?
There are so actively ignorant and stridently hypocritical as those who quote Bible verses to judge other people.
Civil law vs. ceremonial law vs. moral law.
Here’s a quick primer for those too lazy to actually study the BIble but apparently not too lazy to hurl insults.
Civil laws where specifically for how the Old Testament people of Israel were to live as a community.
Ceremonial laws were for how the Old Testament people of Israel were to worship and sacrifice to God.
Moral law flows directly from God’s character and is applicable to all peoples of all times
Wish I could purchase one of those tee shirts.
I am amazed that some many here are posting negative comments but I’m not surprised all of them are posting anonymously. Cowards.
It is great that Apple are supporting gay rights. Remember they were born and bred in California and freedom of choice in all areas is important.
Don’t also forget that Apple was also promoting itself there. That message of support will resonate well in the audience.
Idiot homophobes are idiots, no matter what operating system they run.
correction: homoemeticans..not fear of homosexuality, they just make some people vomit.
What makes you think that everyone would or should approve of such unnatural behavior?
Some very good reasons actually.
1- No one is asking you to do it.
2- they are not hurting anyone.
3- it feels right to them and presumably brings them joy. This coupled with points 1 & 2 should be all the reason a person needs to be happy for them and accepting of them.
If some employees marched in a Focus on the Family parade, would Apple post a video of that? Personally I don’t care either way except when things like this are highlighted (over and over) that have nothing to do with how a company operates. Just my worthless opinion.
If you support traditional, God endorsed marriage you ate likely to loose your job – just ask Firefox.
Seems so many here are brainwashed in the homosexual ’cause’. False notions of ‘being born that way’ and being ‘victimised’ and wanting ‘equal rights’ etc.
Truth is, that equal rights doesn’t equal redefining marriage that never included same sex, that a few being called names is not victimisation (that would look more like Christians being killed and tortured for their faith) and the fact that those who choose to practise homosexuality do so for their own reasons, they are not born that way. No one with experience or knowledge would claim otherwise.
But these things sell so well and the masses follow, taking up a cause with no knowledge of the facts.
God (the One who created us all and we all owe our lives to) condemns the practice if homosexuality. Plain and simple…or maybe not.
For those drawn to the lifestyle and ‘preference’, the guilt and shame you feel is likely nothing to do with those around you or the perceived attitudes / judgements of society at large – it’s more about the conscience your Creator put in you. It’s about sin, just like it is for the rest of us.
But here’s the thing…God doesn’t want to beat you or punish you, He longs to forgive. And He longs to reveal love in the areas you lack (and missed out on) that make these choices appealing.
He doesn’t view you any worse than any of the rest of us – but be honest, you, like the rest of us have sinned and will face His judgement. Any sin is enough to condemn you and the consequences are eternal.
But God so loves you that He allowed His only Son to die on your behalf, taking the punishment for your sins being killed in your place. Trusting in Jesus is the only way for any of us to be forgiven or experience (not just learn about) the love of Him who gave you life.
When you fully experience the love of God everything else pales into insignificance.
Apple’s quest to normalise this sin (or any other) will fail because it doesn’t matter how many ppl accept it, sin is against God and is wrong. Guilt helps us turn away and turn to Him for forgiveness.
God. Loves.
And furthermore…
She lusted after her lovers, whose genitals were like those of donkeys and whose emission was like that of horses. Ezekiel 23:20 NIV
Do not wear clothing woven of two kinds of material. Leviticus 19:19
Ye shall not round the corners of your heads. Leviticus 19:27
Thou shalt not boil a kid in its mother’s milk. Exodus 23:19
When a woman has a discharge, if her discharge in her body is blood, she shall continue in her menstrual impurity for seven days; and whoever touches her shall be unclean until evening. Everything also on which she lies during her menstrual impurity shall be unclean, and everything on which she sits shall be unclean. Leviticus 15: 19-20
When men fight with one another, and the wife of the one draws near to rescue her husband from the hand of him who is beating him, and puts out her hand and seizes him by the private parts, then you shall cut off her hand. Deuteronomy 25:11-12
Now therefore, kill every male among the little ones, and kill every woman who has known man intimately. But all the girls who have not known man intimately, spare for yourselves. Numbers 31:17-18
You may purchase male or female slaves from among the foreigners who live among you. You may also purchase the children of such resident foreigners, including those who have been born in your land. You may treat them as your property, passing them on to your children as a permanent inheritance. You may treat your slaves like this, but the people of Israel, your relatives, must never be treated this way. Leviticus 25:44-46 NLT
Slaves, obey your earthly masters with deep respect and fear. Serve them sincerely as you would serve Christ. Ephesians 6:5 NLT
If a man have a stubborn and rebellious son, which will not obey the voice of his father, or the voice of his mother, and that, when they have chastened him, will not hearken unto them: Then shall his father and his mother lay hold on him, and bring him out unto the elders of his city, and unto the gate of his place; And they shall say unto the elders of his city, This our son is stubborn and rebellious, he will not obey our voice; he is a glutton, and a drunkard. And all the men of his city shall stone him with stones, that he die. Deuteronomy 21:18-21
No one whose testicles are crushed or whose penis is cut off shall be admitted to the assembly of the LORD. Deuteronomy 23:1 NRSV
Whosoever … hath any blemish, let him not approach to offer the bread of his God. For whatsoever man he be that hath a blemish, he shall not approach: a blind man, or a lame, or he that hath a flat nose, or any thing superfluous, Or a man that is brokenfooted, or brokenhanded, Or crookback, or a dwarf, or that hath a blemish in his eye, or be scurvy, or scabbed, or hath his stones broken … He shall not go in unto the vail, nor come nigh unto the altar, because he hath a blemish; that he profane not my sanctuaries. Leviticus 21:17-23 KJV
Truly Wondrous and Just is the Love of thy Father Above.
Yes ‘John’ He is.
Interesting collection of verses that it seems you don’t understand…or maybe you do which is why you’re anonymously quoting out of context on purpose to mislead others?
Of course the ignorant will revel in it but for those who actually seek truth they will find it…and Him who Loves.
Of course you would know history that shows clearly the words of God in the Bible led to people working to abolish slaves, or that that boiling a kid in its mothers milk was a pagan practice, or that the assembly of Levites was priests or that the hygiene of the Israelites (to do with menstruation as well as other things) was thousands of years ahead of ‘modern’ standards, or…well you get the idea in every case, the rules God put in place are for a purpose to direct and nurture humanity, as opposed to the practises of the other nations at the time.
Just because you don’t understand the Bible and haven’t discovered the love of God doesn’t mean others can’t.
Oh here we go. The Bible is to be taken literally…
…right up to the point where the literal words are those of a tyrant or a madman and then they are allegory or require “interpretation”.
Keep fucking that chicken.
Thank you for illustrating a common mistake most have about the Bible. That mistake being application. You have posted several passages of Scripture as a means to make the point that God isn’t really loving or just or else why would He make such arbitrary laws and especially laws that exclude some from His worship. Furthermore you have attempted to show that since God has made some foolish laws then He is not to be trusted when making other more reasonable laws such as condemning murder or homosexuality.
Well let me just briefly say that application of God’s Word is of utmost importance. I would suggest that you do a study on the civil, ceremonial and moral law and how each applies to the people of Israel to which all of the civil and ceremonial laws were written and how each applies to the rest of mankind. If you do even a brief study on the issue you would see that it is foolish to equate civil laws against eating shellfish to moral laws against homosexuality. This is just a ruse by those who despise God and want to characterize His Word as outdated and unloving.
Either the Bible is the inerrant word of god – as huge numbers of people believe. Or it is not.
If it is the word of god, then you must stone your children for disobedience.
If it is not, then it is a document open to picking and choosing, interpretation and discussion. If that is so, that’s fine. Let’s discuss the bible, along with numerous other books that define ethical and moral codes.
However, what is NOT remotely logical is anything resembling, “We’ll pick the good bits, interpret the rest, and declare that our version of what the bible means is the word of god.”
I agree with everything you said except
“If it is the word of god, then you must stone your children for disobedience.”
That law in Deuteronomy was a civil law given to the people of Israel during a specific time in history. The Scriptures are both descriptive and prescriptive and just because something is written in the Bible doesn’t mean it applies in the same way to all people. Again this goes back to application, one must rightly apply the Scriptures.
“just because something is written in the Bible doesn’t mean it applies in the same way to all people.”
I would suggest that huge numbers of christians disagree with you.
“Again this goes back to application, one must rightly apply the Scriptures.”
And who gets to define “rightly”?
But besides rules, as such, the bible is full of horrible violence, portraying a god that I would call a small-minded, vindictive, psychopath. E.g.
• Forced friends and family to kill each other for dancing naked around Aaron’s golden calf?
• Burned Aaron’s sons to death for offering him strange fire?
• Burned complainers to death, forced the survivors to eat quail until it literally came out their noses, sent “fiery serpents” to bite people for complaining about the lack of food and water, and killed 14,700 for complaining about his killings?
• Buried alive those that opposed Moses (along with their families)?
• Burned 250 men to death for burning incense?
• Rewarded Phinehas for throwing a spear though the bellies of an inter-tribal couple while they were having sex?
He said: “just because something is written in the Bible doesn’t mean it applies in the same way to all people.”
You said: “I would suggest that huge numbers of Christians disagree with you.”
I say: It should be obvious that “Christians” don’t believe the whole Bible. They pick and choose just as most people do about what they want to believe. There are huge sections in the NT that even “Christians” ignore because they don’t know what it means. or don’t know how to apply it. They squabble over scripture based on another man’s interpretation. It’s quite endless and confusing.
God is jealous for His own glory and those that worship him in a way that he hasn’t prescribed were sometimes made an example of.
To add to your list.
Uzzah, who reached out and touched the ark and was struck dead
Ananias and Sapphira who lied and were struck dead
Right. Deuteronomy is only valid for a specific time, but homosexuality is *always* a sin.
Salad bar Christians.
Wrong, Deuteronomy is valid for all time but the ceremonial and civil laws prescribed in it were only valid for a specific people living in a specific context. All you have to do is read the Bible as you would any other book by interpreting it based on genre and context.
@TGABTG
I know the common response is to ask people to just read the Bible to come to the same understanding that you have, but in this case, discussing the laws prescribed in Deuteronomy, can you site where in the Bible God says they no longer apply for us? Or is it just in your head?
Hoffbegone,
Context is key. If you look at verse 1 of Deuteronomy it says “These are the words that Moses spoke to all Israel beyond the Jordan in the wilderness…” The book starts out by establishing who it pertains to. This book was the second giving of the law , which had already been given in Exodus and Leviticus, as a reminder to the nation of Israel before they were to enter the promise land. The context dictates that these laws were for the nation of Israel circa 1400BC.
So why do Christians in 2014 even care about Deuteronomy then? The Bible is a progressive revelation of God to His people and Romans 15:4 teaches us that the things written in former days were written for our instruction. So by reading Deuteronomy we see how God interacted with the Israelites during that time and we learn from it. We don’t apply it directly because it was never God the author’s intent that we do. Christians in 2014 are not to obey all that was asked of Israel of 1400. We are not to take ownership of the promised land, we are not forbidden to eat shellfish or wear mixed clothing etc.
Now briefly on the moral law, the 10 commandments. These laws are written on every man’s heart and conscience and are innate to humans because they flow directly from God’s character and God created us in His image. These laws apply to all men of all time. These laws applied before the nation of Israel was formed and still continue to this day. Scripture bears this out by reiterating the 10 commandments and in contrast abrogating the laws against the eating of unclean animals, specifically when God tells Peter that the eating of unclean animals is now okay in Acts 10.
There is a lot more to the whole story about physical types in the Old Testament are representatives of Spiritual types in the New Testament. For example the physical nation of Israel was foreshadowing the actual spiritual people that were to come aka all Christians of every tribe, tongue and nation but that is another conversation.
I find people using God to justify their hate is hilarious.
What about people who redefine disagreement to be hate? Are they hilarious too?
God. Murders.
Not that your gods are actually real, but maybe you should read that book instead of thumping it.
Let’s call them for what they are: homomaniacs loose on the street or “people gone wild”. Parade is just an excuse for weirdos to play around and garner attention for themselves.
So you’ve obviously never been to a Pride parade then.
No. But I have seen how they act in their parade. That it what video is for. Really, does anyone have to go to one to know what they are and what they do? +1 to the guy that said it spot on – DISGUSTING.
You have no idea what you’re talking about. 20,000 people can march in a Pride parade easily, mostly there to represent causes, charities, even sports teams.
The other stuff, that you call DISGUSTING, adds a bit of colour, yet is a tiny part of the whole. Mind you, if you feel like that I hope you never find yourself at a Mardi Gras. Those are FAR more raucous than any Pride parade. You’d probably explode from indignant outrage.
Well, I dont know where you live but it aint on this earth:
“Pride parades (also known as pride marches, pride events, and pride festivals) for the LGBT community are events celebrating lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) culture and pride. The events also at times serve as demonstrations for legal rights such as same-sex marriage. Most pride events occur annually, and many take place around June to commemorate the Stonewall riots, a pivotal moment in modern LGBT social movements.”
DISGUSTING
Also, no plans to ever go to Mardi Gras for the same reasons. And I am sure there are even worse places to be. So what is your point? To see who can tolerate the most debasing behavior? You win and good for you.
“Because we believe that inclusion inspires innovation”
Never heard Steve Jobs say he got his inspiration from including people that always said “yes”
– Free country, getting more free all the time despite what some people think.
– Government should serve its citizens black white gay straight christian muslim atheist.
– Two people if adult, law abiding, citizens should be able to pursue Life Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness. Gov’t should NOT get in the way of this nor allow other Citizens, even those that follow Allah or Jesus, to prevent this.
– I think its okay for Apple to support the inclusion of their employees. This is an interesting time. There have been gay citizens of the US as long as there has been a US of A. I am glad they are no longer openly persecuted sadly I am sure they will continue to be privately persecuted for sometime to come. Eventually we’ll all just be people.
no one is persecuting them, Tom.
Really? When I grew up I saw several gay kids threatened, physically assaulted (punched, shoved, etc) and sadly verbally abused and treated like shit. Continued when I was an Infantryman in the Army. Maybe I am more sensitive now because I was a good christian all american kid who just stood by and did NOTHING, looking back I can’t believe how little I did. Haunts me to this day – and it should. I won’t stand by again or any longer. No one is persecuting them? Talk to your kids. People in school are still pushing little “queers” into lockers, calling them sissy fags and generally going out of their way to make them feel like garbage. This shit has to STOP!
Does “free” include a baker being “free” to decide that he/she will not be a participant in a homosexual wedding?
Not if the law that was voted in by the community they live in says you may not discriminate based on race religion or sexual preference and offer services in that community.
I hope you are not suggesting that chaos or anarchy would be better. If you don’t like the laws change them or move to a community that shares you beliefs and has laws that allow discrimination against people that WANT TO GIVE YOU MONEY based on religious beliefs.
Don’t like this open view, one way or the other, that Apple has engaged in. This is destructive and reckless behavior from the worlds top corporate executive.
All these morons saying how they have stopped supporting Apple due to the public showing of the stances it has ALWAYS privately shown to their employees. Yet here they are on MacDailyNews posting their drivel. Yup. Way to go on showing the world that you have moved on from Apple.
I’m sure we could find similar professions of disgust and outrage at the times when women were agitating to be able to vote, when blacks agitated to be treated as equal members of society, and more.
Yup. Same ignorance and hatred on display, the only difference being that they now have a far more wide-spread platform to express their disgusting attitudes. Occasionally, MDN sees fit to delete the more noxious posts.
Far too “occasionally”.
I know right! Freedom of speech except for those who disagree with me! We can just marginalize them by calling them bigots and haters and we can get laws put in place that condemn their thoughts and opinions as hate speech. Tolerate everyone except the intolerant!
Never been more proud to be an Apple customer.
As an ally, it is amazing to see how far Pride has come from the beginnings. Pride comes from remembrance of the thuggish NYPD raid on a gay bar in a time when it was not hip, cool or fashionable to be GLBTQ and could land you in jail. It wasn’t joining a friendly party- it was standing up against the hate, the threats of violence and the discrimination and demanding a place at the table. Like many other groups throughout American history, they went out and claimed their rightful place long denied by the intolerant.
Pride is a very American story and like many great stories, it has spread around the world. One day even the conservatives will come out of the closet long enough to realize that if Jesus were in San Francisco on June 29, 2014, he would have been in the parade walking with everyone else. Take it from an agnostic.
Apple has a record of being a workplace friendly to GLBT people long before it was fashionable to do so or to say so. They also did not hide it from those who might not appreciate it. Good for all who participated.
Actually, if you knew Jesus, you would know that he associated with sinners who were humble and knew that they were in need of a physician and not with the proud and stiff necked people who thought they were fine. No, the Jesus of the Bible wouldn’t be walking in a Pride parade.
“Pride comes before destruction, and an arrogant spirit before a fall.”
“proud and stiff necked people who thought they were fine” — Please go and give that message to all the christian right-wingers who think their way is THE only way to live.
Quoting a bronze-age book, authored by many different people over a huge stretch of time, is not the answer to how to live or how humans can flourish. E.g. Batshit-Crazy Bachmann’s answer to the problems besetting the planet: “It doesn’t matter because Jesus will be back soon.”
As one comedian put it, “Yes he will. And, boy, is he going to be pissed off when he sees how you’ve messed up his house.”
The Middle East used to be, as I’m sure you know, an incredible area of learning. Societies stagnated utterly as religious fundamentalism took greater and greater hold. Now they blame the West, but it is their blind adherence to their book as the ultimate authority that has done it.
A similar phenomenon is seen today on a smaller scale in the US, where the most ignorant states are the most religious. The Vatican has its own observatory – world class. The peculiar brand of ignorant, anti-science fundamentalism that infects the US is unique among western nations and is profoundly dangerous.
I agree with you that there are proud and stiff-necked religious people as well. What it really comes down to as you have pointed out is ultimate authority. Who/what is our ultimate authority?
“Who/what is our ultimate authority?”
I would suggest there are three possible answers, each given by various groups of people:
1. The literal word of god, given in some book or oral tradition and to be obeyed precisely and literally.
Since there are hundreds, if not thousands, of possibilities, it’s a bit silly for each one to claim it’s The Truth and all others are lies, distortions or mistakes.
2. The word of god, to be interpreted and applied by human judgement.
In that case, I would suggest what is going on is that the authority is us. Interpretations of the bible have changed drastically through the ages and, I am VERY sure, will continue to change drastically. So #2 is ultimately and really the same as #3.
3. A continuing evolution of human society towards greater civilization through through discourse.
Humans know what makes life better for all of us. The trend over history is towards greater justice and benefits for all members of society. Humans’ desired to make that so is our ultimate authority. We don’t need a big, bad, nasty, violent sky-daddy to judge and horribly punish us to make progress on this.
You don’t believe in Odin, Zeus, Krishna, Amaterasu, Huitzilopochtli and a vast host of other gods. They say their gods are real because their book says so. I disagree. I don’t think that’s enough of a reason. And I just believe in one less than you.
I’ll never understand why religious people are so hateful…and always only towards the lgbt community. Especially since god probably doesn’t exist. So we have “adults” with an insane feverish belief in some god that never proves he exists demanding people to be homophobic. If being gay/lesbian etc is such a bad thing, then conjure up your god, demand that he shows his face right now, and set the record straight. Until then, It’s great seeing a company like Apple celebrating the diversity of its people, and sending a message of acceptance/inclusion. Tim Cook is a great CEO, and makes the company great in other ways than Steve, who knew what he was doing when he chose his successor.
Now look! I’m getting a little miffed here. I am the almighty God, to whom creating the whole universe was less effort than the single sneeze of a mouse. But even so:
– I am REALLY preoccupied with which bits of their bodies specific people touch against which bits of certain other people.
– Contrary to the Monty Python skit, I DO want lots of groveling.
– And, okay, okay, I have an inordinate love of beetles. I think I’ve created about 200,000 species at this point. Even for me, it’s hard to keep track. So what!? You got a problem with that?
1. Saying that something is against God’s law does not equal hatred. If I said you broke the law by running a red light does that mean I hate you?
2. Saying that homosexuality is against God’s law does not equal homophobia. If I said you broke the law by running a red light does that mean I’m afraid of red light runners?
3. God has set the record straight via the Scriptures which is His Word to us until He returns. He is God we don’t tell him what to do or demand that He show himself. He has revealed Himself through creation and through His Son and through His Word.
4. Tim Cook is a great CEO