It’s been kind of a slow news cycle, but leave it to Josie to heat things up and give me a couple of topics.
Oops! Wouldn’t You Know It!
This news cycle has been sooo slow. I so wrote a couple of fun pieces. Just as I’m about to record… BOOM! …. Robert Mueller has a surprise news conference. And, I was a little surprised, it was a doozy and has really put the Democrats in a corner. We are going to go over this in tomorrow’s post but it really hit me. I used to really like Robert Mueller. But, after that news conference, he’s kind of an ass. He got Jerry Nadler all hot and bothered. We’ll have fun with that tomorrow.
But it gets so much better. Some guy decided to set himself on fire right outside the White House. I’m not really ready to talk about this one because no one knows why he did this. They may never know because he’s in really bad shape. But I can reason that this was a guy suffering from Trump Derangement Syndrome. All I know is he’s crazy. Hopefully I’ll known more tomorrow.
The Real Lesson Here
Josie got into a debate, which turned into an argument, with her niece. Josie and her sister were talking about homosexuality. My fiance thinks that homosexuality is not natural nor are homosexuals born that way. Her niece believes that people, though they can become gay through trauma, can also be born that way.
They got into it so bad her niece had to walk away. I asked what had gotten her panties in a bunch (is that sexist?). She told me what they were talking about and I continued the debate. She gave me her opinions and I gave her mine. Both opinions were counter to each other. But I brought up facts, she brought up facts. It was a calm discussion until Josie came back in the room. And the arguing started again. This time, I had to debate with Josie, even though, for the most part, I agreed with her. It got a little crazy because I was debating two different points of view at the same time. Bother were right and both were wrong.
I’m pretty comfortable saying that I was able to be convincing in both debates. That’s what I want to talk about. Not about the “gay” thing because I don’t see it as something that is important. I want to talk about how to the debate and how to maintain a debate without flipping out and making someone run out of a room in tears.
First off, keep your temper in check. Debating can become a very emotional exercise. Get over that and check your feelings at the door. Be cool. Speak with an indoor voice and pace your words. In other words, think before saying something. When one speaks in a calm, steady tone, there is a tendency for the other person to also speak in that tone. Likewise, never get personal. I know I have won or lost a debate simply by who got personal first (I have been caught on the dark side before). When someone gets personal, the debate is over and I walk away. This will also keep you sane when debating on Twitter.
With the way one speaks being important, listening is more important. Allow the other person to finish his statement. And listen. People have a tendency to let someone talk but not listen to what he is saying. This is bad and a debate can just fall apart. There are nuggets of gold in what someone says. That gold might be in the form of a bad talking point that can be reasonably countered. It might be in the form that the person actually holding the same beliefs as you but isn’t wording it the same way. It might be in the form that one may actually learn something he didn’t know before. I have learned to repeat what a person says. I do this for two reasons: to confirm I understand what she is saying and to prove to that person that I have listened to what she has said. I don’t know from whom I’ve learned that but it works. I have gotten very good at debating simply because I have learned by losing debates and, sometimes, my mind is changed.
Next, know what you don’t know. Be prepared to hear something, no matter the subject, that you’ve never heard before. This is a good thing. If you don’t have an answer, tell the person that. Likewise, know your stuff. Don’t make things up. We have hundreds of years of history, millions of scientific case studies and millions of philosophical texts. If you don’t know something, say so and look it up. I do this all the time on Twitter. I will say something and look it up to make sure I know what I’m talking about. Then, I will paste the link. It makes your argument that much stronger. Don’t just spew garbage that sounds good but have absolutely no proof or reference.
Finally, do nor allow one’s faith or belief system infringe on the debate. If I’m debating an agnostic on abortion, I am not going to tell him that God says we shouldn’t abort babies. The debate will be over right then and there. I can debate abortion without mentioning my faith. I will only use reason, science and some philosophy (though that, too, borders on faith and/or belief). Faith does have absolute truths, but those truths are only for the faithful. Those who do not hold that faith will quickly reject those truths, even if they suspect they might be true.
Debating is fun and educational. It doesn’t have to be filled stress and consternation. One should be able to have a friendly debate anywhere. I reject those who say never to bring politics at family functions. I can and will usually have a positive experience, especially with those who passionately disagree with me.
Keeping Politics Out of the John
Two weeks ago, Josie’s daughter complained that a little boy from her class was allowed to use the bathroom she was in. He claimed he was a trans girl and he should be allowed to use the girl’s restroom. If you’re not sure what a “trans girl” it means he’s a boy who thinks he’s a girl (or so he says). Of course, being from California, California’s Gender Recognition Act (SB 179) was passed in 2017 and makes it that children who identify as the opposite sex cannot be forced out of their chosen restroom at public places. That includes public schools.
This drives me frigging crazy. In other words my future step daughter’s comfort is compromised because some sick (or perverted) little boy decides he wants to use the girl’s restroom. What’s worse? He still has a penis. We told her just to leave the restroom, wait for him to leave and I will teach her how to use a gun to protect herself from these sickos when she gets older.
The insanity continues.
Today, according the Daily Wire, the Supreme Court has decided not to hear the case of Doe v. Boyertown Area School District. In this case, the students of the Pennsylvania school district policy to fight the policy that would allow “trans” students to pick the restrooms and locker rooms of their gender preference. The students were represented by the Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF).
The Supreme Court said, via their blog:
Whether, given students’ constitutionally protected privacy interest in their partially clothed bodies, a public school has a compelling interest in authorizing students who believe themselves to be members of the opposite sex to use locker rooms and restrooms reserved exclusively for the opposite sex, and whether such a policy is narrowly tailored; and (2) whether the Boyertown policy constructively denies access to locker room and restroom facilities under Title IX “on the basis of sex.”
Basically, the Supreme Court believes that any ruling they would make would violate Title IX. Title IX is the 1972 law that bans discrimination based on sex. Jesus!
I’m pulling three things out of this. First, this is why the ignoring of science when it comes to sex is so dangerous and I refuse (well, except out of respect for someone I like) to accept a trans-whatever for anything but what they really are. If one has a penis, he’s a man. If one has a vagina, she’s a woman. That’s physical science. That’s how it works. If a man mutilates his penis and makes it look like a vagina, he’s still a man. That’s science, specifically, genetics. He still has the XY chromosomes and it can’t be changed. That can’t be changed. What if a woman mutilates her vagina to make it look like a penis? She’s still a woman with a mutilated vagina! She still has the XX chromosomes! And she can still get pregnant! A trans man getting pregnant doesn’t prove that men can get pregnant. It proves that trans men are actually women! So insane…
Sorry, went on a diatribe. The next thing is important. It’s the militancy of the LGBTQRXYWZ movement. See, several years ago, I was against gay marriage. Well, I still am but it’s not that big of a deal. Why did I change? I realized my issue was not with gay marriage but with the militancy of the LGBT (the Q came later). Leave me alone, I’ll leave you alone. The government should have nothing to do with marriage anyway. These people just needed not to try to convince me it’s OK and leave me be. They didn’t. They are now trying to change the definition of biology and they are attacking the institutions (like the church) that share my opinions and making the people I care about feel like outsiders in hopes that they will join their narrative.
No, no more. I’m going to stop supporting this garbage. Right now, the LGBTQ has declared war on family and religious values. They wanted a civil service at courthouse, I was fine with that. They are now trying to change me? Change how I think and believe? Make my family uncomfortable all for political correctness? Nope, not going to happen.
Finally the Supreme Court, what a bunch of cowards. You have three conservatives, two moderates and four left-wingers. Kavanaugh, who fought left-wing accusations, has yet to go against the left-wing. Very sad.
When absolute truth is accepted a hundred years from now, what are our kids going to think of us. Mine will know, because I am going to continually tell them. I suggest you start doing that with your kids too. Moderation is dead.
References:
https://www.dailywire.com/news/47736/supreme-court-dodges-case-involving-trans-students-hank-berrien
https://transgenderlawcenter.org/resources/id/ca-sb179
https://www.dailywire.com/news/47723/icymi-combat-vet-dan-crenshaws-must-read-memorial-amanda-prestigiacomo