When did I convert?

[smaranam]

If you can access the first main website above (Vishnusahasranama.org), it has the PDF as well as the video embedded to play.

Namaste

[charlebs]

I'm doing my best currently, otherwise I just reach for pipetabacco constantly

thanks for the attention!

[smaranam]

ShyAm is already working on you, glad to hear that... although it should be no surprise.

[BryonMorrigan]

I don't know if this is a case of scientific illiteracy. Speaking as someone who is scientifically minded (well OK...on paper anyway), I don't personally buy into this idea that being gay or transgendered is normal. Personally I think it's just what happens when people have too much time on their hands. I always see people saying that this stuff is scientifically shown to be normal, but rarely have I been pointed to a paper detailing a conclusive study. And even when I am, it's usually shown to me by someone who doesn't know how to read papers, and the study doesn't draw the conclusions that they claim it does. Given the availability of PubMed, you wouldn't think it'd be that hard, but this is a whole other topic...

I don't know that I'd even classify it as a "normal/abnormal" issue.

Look at it this way: If someone is born with only one hand, it is not really "normal," but neither should he/she be treated poorly because of it. That person will certainly face many obstacles in society, and in some cases, even be met with scorn (especially if the missing hand forces the person to eat only with their left one).

Do we treat the one-handed person as a pariah? Do we make him/her wear a fake hand and pretend to have one? Do we deny him/her civil rights?

And what if the person was born with two hands...but lost one as a child due to a careless accident or fate? Do we treat him/her differently? What does it matter?

Yes, I realize that I am comparing homosexuality with a medical handicap, which is likely to be viewed as offensive by some, but I do it only in the interest of making such issues more broadly understood. You don't have to "glorify" the issue to merely act with compassion.

[sanjaya]

I don't know that I'd even classify it as a "normal/abnormal" issue.

Look at it this way: If someone is born with only one hand, it is not really "normal," but neither should he/she be treated poorly because of it. That person will certainly face many obstacles in society, and in some cases, even be met with scorn (especially if the missing hand forces the person to eat only with their left one).

Do we treat the one-handed person as a pariah? Do we make him/her wear a fake hand and pretend to have one? Do we deny him/her civil rights?

And what if the person was born with two hands...but lost one as a child due to a careless accident or fate? Do we treat him/her differently? What does it matter?

Yes, I realize that I am comparing homosexuality with a medical handicap, which is likely to be viewed as offensive by some, but I do it only in the interest of making such issues more broadly understood. You don't have to "glorify" the issue to merely act with compassion.

Some might find it offensive, but I don't. I agree that being gay is somewhat like a mental handicap. It's not something upon which we should discriminate against others or treat them poorly. But it is something to be cured. We don't go around glorifying the status of having one hand. It's a bad thing, and we try to help people live with these handicaps and overcome them if possible. Likewise I see homosexuality as something that should be overcome rather than embraced.

[Adhvagat]

Some might find it offensive, but I don't. I agree that being gay is somewhat like a mental handicap. It's not something upon which we should discriminate against others or treat them poorly. But it is something to be cured. We don't go around glorifying the status of having one hand. It's a bad thing, and we try to help people live with these handicaps and overcome them if possible. Likewise I see homosexuality as something that should be overcome rather than embraced.

Could you explain why it's a handicap? Because a gay couple will not have children?

Do we need more people on this planet right now?

[BryonMorrigan]

Some might find it offensive, but I don't. I agree that being gay is somewhat like a mental handicap. It's not something upon which we should discriminate against others or treat them poorly. But it is something to be cured. We don't go around glorifying the status of having one hand. It's a bad thing, and we try to help people live with these handicaps and overcome them if possible. Likewise I see homosexuality as something that should be overcome rather than embraced.

Again, going with the "handicap" analogy...why do we (as in people who are not directly affected) need to "cure" them? Some deaf people become extremely offended when people talk about "curing" them. They've learned to live with their issue, and are quite happy. I just don't see why I should give a damn about what they do, so long as they are happy and not doing anything harmful to anyone else.

I mean, I personally think that Christianity is far more "harmful" than homosexuality, and I don't think we should be "encouraging" it...but I don't advocate that Christians should not be able to have equal rights, nor do I seek out Christians to "cure" of their religion. If someone is Christian and wants to change, fine. But if they don't, what matter is it to me what a Christian does in the comfort of his own home?

[astrostudent]

Sexual orientation is never a handicap. It's what you are. People are born gay or straight or bi. Nobody is better than the other. We're all people.

Again, I honestly don't see how sexual orientation could be likened to a handicap or any kind of abnormality. Such homophobic tendencies have no place in a civilized world.

[Alise]

Namaste,

And what about Cerebral Palsy? It's a condition, not a disease... It can't be cured but person can learn to live with! I could have surgeries that would make appear that I don't have it but I'd still have it.
In same way look at sexual orientation & each person can decide how to live... One might pretend that his sexual orientation is not different or be open about it.

In the end it doesn't make you who are. You are soul not your body, mind or emotions, isn't that so?

Just wanted to tell you how I feel about this.

Have a wonderful day,
~Alice

[BryonMorrigan]

Sexual orientation is never a handicap. It's what you are. People are born gay or straight or bi. Nobody is better than the other. We're all people.

Again, I honestly don't see how sexual orientation could be likened to a handicap or any kind of abnormality. Such homophobic tendencies have no place in a civilized world.

I'm just trying to use an example that other people can understand. I'm actually extremely in favor of gay rights.