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[Iduno]

You'll find bad people everywhere. Thats not exactly the same as, say, hanging people from cranes for suspected homosexuality

Ah yes, in the same way that the US doesn't have a problem with systematic racism, because there are only sometimes lynch mobs.

[ChairmanPoo]

You'll find bad people everywhere. Thats not exactly the same as, say, hanging people from cranes for suspected homosexuality

Ah yes, in the same way that the US doesn't have a problem with systematic racism, because there are only sometimes lynch mobs.

You can´t be this thick. Seriously. Stop and think, if only for a minute.  The UK is a country in which same-sex marriage is legal. We´re talking about political asylum for people who would get prison or corporal punishment in their home countries if their sexual orientation became known, and that if they were lucky. Are you seriously saying that you don´t see a point in those people seeking political asylum in the UK because they might meet someone homophobic that might say something nasty to them?

[EuchreJack]

You'll find bad people everywhere. Thats not exactly the same as, say, hanging people from cranes for suspected homosexuality

Ah yes, in the same way that the US doesn't have a problem with systematic racism, because there are only sometimes lynch mobs.

You can´t be this thick. Seriously. Stop and think, if only for a minute.  The UK is a country in which same-sex marriage is legal. We´re talking about political asylum for people who would get prison or corporal punishment in their home countries if their sexual orientation became known, and that if they were lucky. Are you seriously saying that you don´t see a point in those people seeking political asylum in the UK because they might meet someone homophobic that might say something nasty to them?

Plus, the British Parliament is notorious for spending money on absolute garbage (insert obligatory BBC joke here).  Just because they spend money on something doesn't mean it reflects the government's position on anything, just that some notorious group funded a couple Parliamentarians.  See also: US and Pork Barrel/Special Interests.

Also: This is a serious question, so just look up "does the UK offer asylum for x" instead of assuming this or that.  It should be a rather straightforward thing.

EDIT: While its not, sorry.  The real question isn't "does the country", since both the UK and US recognize LGBT asylum claims "on the books", but rather "does the current administration push to accept or decline applicants claiming those issues".  There is some critique on the Trump administration, but there is a basic chart for all immigration issues in the US:
Democrats = Green for go immigration
Republicans = Red for stop immigration (and it appears to be worse among the LGBT community)

[Rolan7]

You'll find bad people everywhere. Thats not exactly the same as, say, hanging people from cranes for suspected homosexuality

Ah yes, in the same way that the US doesn't have a problem with systematic racism, because there are only sometimes lynch mobs.

You can´t be this thick. Seriously. Stop and think, if only for a minute.  The UK is a country in which same-sex marriage is legal. We´re talking about political asylum for people who would get prison or corporal punishment in their home countries if their sexual orientation became known, and that if they were lucky. Are you seriously saying that you don´t see a point in those people seeking political asylum in the UK because they might meet someone homophobic that might say something nasty to them?

The UK has active running policies against trans people, due to the culture there being unusually intolerant to them/us.

There are differences between the government denying life-saving medical care or allowing gangs to throw people off roofs.  But neither is "grey", just degrees of vile.  Both are government policies enacted, deliberately, to harm people.

But reality sucks and so yes - the UK is more passive with it's lethal aggression.  "Cleaner to just cut off their lifelines", I imagine, and it gives them plausible deniability.  So much more civilized, and they still get to cry crocodile tears about the Islamic nations being barbaric to their very same victims.

[hector13]

That’s what you get with a conservative government for over a decade.

[Vector]

The UK isn't like say, Uganda or Russia, in terms of its anti-LGBT policies, but it's in a fairly similar place to most of the US (look the other way as violence is happening).

[EuchreJack]

Anyone want to chime in with a "my country is LGBT friendly"? Otherwise I think we're in a Grass is Greener on the Other Side scenario.

[lemon10]

I'm writing some stuff for an Islam-related class, and I'm writing about how parents should spend more time with their kids, so that they're more comfortable with telling their parents about their problems and such. Normally, I'd write that without any issue.

Right now, though, I'm feeling some incredibly strong cognitive dissonance. Like, this particular version of Islam outright says that LGBT stuff is not at all acceptable, and when I'm writing the above, I'm just so deeply uncomfortable with it. Like, realizing that one is LGBT is part of the problems a kid (teenager, I suppose) might face, and when I'm basically saying that these fundamentalist parents should know about that, I'm... it's not right. It's not gonna lead to a happier and healthier life, which I thought is the nominal goal of religion. It's gonna lead to suppression of identity. It's going to lead to years of isolation and pain.

The nominal goal of most religions isn't to make you happier while alive, its to ensure you have a good afterlife and thus don't get tortured for all eternity after you die. Note that in the grand scheme of things this would count as making you happier.

So even if your religion makes you absolutely miserable in this lifetime, as long as it decreases your chances of going to hell basically any sacrifice is worth it. Of course, this only matters if you assume the religion is true and correct, otherwise some of its precepts just make people unhappy for no good reason.

The same is true for both Buddhism and Hinduism although obviously to far lesser degrees as if you mess up you reincarnate and can try again.

[methylatedspirit]

But if every religion says the same thing, yet also prescribes mutually-incompatible doctrines to prevent being tortured, then the premise is absurd. Instead of it being a binary choice, it ends up being a choice between possibly thousands of possible religions, and there is simply no way to determine which one is true before dying. I could pull up a list of religions, pick one at random, and I'd have an equally-good chance of going to heaven (or equivalent) on all possible choices. That is, assuming there is an afterlife.

I may as well do nothing. The chances of me being right are tiny, and I only get one chance. I could make up my own religion with no rules, no story and an unconditional "you go to heaven" clause, and that could be right for all I know.

Edit: "proscribe" means "to forbid", "prescribe" means to "state authoritatively certain rules". I got got by near-homonyms.

[lemon10]

The idea of picking a religion to worship to avoid the possibility of eternal damnation is known as Pascal's Wager. On the face of it the argument is fairly sound, as even if the chance of god existing is small the fact that you being wrong is equal to literally infinite torture makes picking worship the mathematically logical choice.

However as you pointed out there is an obvious weakness in the argument; that being that there is more than a single god to worship. Not only are there thousands of often contradictory religions, but you can also theorize an infinite amount of other religions with gods that actively don't want you to worship them or any other god that would balance out ones that would like worship.

Because of the whole "there is more than 1 religion" thing choosing to worship a god to avoid hell if you don't actually believe in the religion in the first place is pretty silly as you yourself pointed out.
---
Of course, the above only applies if you don't believe in the religion already.
If you do believe in it then of course you believe in its version of the afterlife and logically you would apply its precepts to your behavior and the behavior of your children in order to minimize the chances of all of you going to hell.

[scriver]

It's better to chose one of the "you only get to heaven if you're with us" religions though, because if say Greek or Norse is true you go to hell regardless, and you can combine a virtuous Christian or Muslim life with living a virtuous Buddhist and Hinduist life to get a chance of a good reincarnation there if they are true. But if Christianity or Islam is right you only go to heaven if you profess the correct faith (I mean, afaik of course) so you can game the chances of getting into heaven by joining one of them

[Egan_BW]

That's just the ones people happen to believe in or know about, though. That accounts for an infinitely tiny fraction of the possibilities!

[EuchreJack]

The first precept of faith, as far as I understand, is that GOD is GOOD.

Modern international law and standards say that Torture is BAD.

Ergo, any religion that has to threaten its followers with torture is FAKE, because GOD is GOOD and Torture is BAD.

Or, any God who's gonna torture you if you don't believe isn't worth believing.  Hell, therefore, is mostly a farce.

Mostly, because consider the following: You're dead, your spirit floating around.  Now that you're dead, you can now know that God exists, and is even greater and nicer and better than our stupid monkey brains could ever know.  But you didn't believe in God, so you don't get to play with God in the afterlife.  You know God exists, but are eternally kept away from God.

I believe in a multifaceted God.  Just like there are many kinds of people, there should also be many kinds of God, so that each person can worship the version of God with which they are most compatible.  This allows a lot.

[Yoink]

Speaking of people disappearing, does anyone happen to know if Yoink (and Reelya for that matter) are doing okay?

I remember Yoink mentioning he was starting dating a bit before he disappeared, so maybe that worked out? Don't know for sure, though.

Yoink would tell us. Pals before gals.

   
I'm all good! Well, I mean, things aren't perfect, but they never are. Slightly different problems on a very different day and all that.   
Not sure exactly what prompted me to stop coming 'round these parts (I guess the fact that I do most of my internet shit via phone these days and am too lazy to reset my forgotten password has a lot to do with it), but I've taken my shitposting habits elsewhere for the most part.   

It's certainly not a relationship that's to blame, haha - a romantic relationship did, in fact, happen, but it's over now; me having managed to extricate myself from it gracefully and with a minimum of damage to the mutual social relationships both parties shared. Booyah. Am I a social butterfly or what!?   
Besides, I can safely say that relationships don't seem to have much effect on the amount of time I waste on the interweb each day. I certainly can't imagine myself leaving an online community because of one. That'd be a bit weird.   
I do appreciate the concern (?) anyway. Hope you guys are doing well. I doubt I'll stick around but it has been interesting to check in.   

And I do have plenty of gal pals, just FYI. Well, inasmuch as I have pals of any gender, considering how thoroughly coronavirus thrashed my social life and slow it has been to recover. "Mates before dates" is a good one for the most part, but if our ship was sinking far out on the ocean and I was forced to choose between dragging a friend's unconscious body from the shark-infested waters or rescuing the jumbo-sized tub of dates (the dried fruit) I bought from Costco for the voyage, well... let's just try not to ever find ourselves in that situation, hmm? >.>;   

As for Reelya I've no idea, all I can say is I had nothing to do with it. Honest.       

[Vector]

Glad you're OK, really sorry that you're gone. Hope to see you around again if you ever feel like it.

---

Woke up feeling sick this morning, almost passed out. Like, I literally fell/maneuvered myself onto the floor and just kind of hung out there a ... bit ... at 4 AM. I don't think it's food poisoning because I'm slowly eating a husk of rye bread and feeling better, but in the bathroom I looked pretty white.

(I'm taking iron pills, which could be part of the problem. Didn't take them with food before bed yesterday).

I can't go back to having housemates soon enough. That will happen 3 months from now at the latest.