Apr 14
Lymis commented on SL Letter of the Day: Sisters & Slaves.
I agree with @13. There's no indication that the couple has ever "done BDSM" in front of anyone else, or that, as @15 claims, that it's "presumably" to set the stage for doing so.
I also agree, that if so, they need to knock it off - but that doesn't include things like a discreet collar or the slave doing things like getting drinks or holding doors - those are normal behaviors and unremarkable fashion accessories in other settings. It's only if the behavior is overt.
It's no different than if the sister brought a Muslim boyfriend or husband over - the difference between knowing he's Muslim and having him prostrate himself to perform Muslim prayers in the living room in front of people who would object.
They have no obligation to keep the nature of their relationship a secret, but they have an obligation to behave appropriately in someone else's home.
But as someone who is active in the BDSM scene, I can assure you that assuming that it's a given that the couple behaves inappropriately and the sister couldn't possibly be squicked out "just knowing" the nature of things isn't always the right first answer - especially if this letter is from a more conservative part of the country.
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I also agree, that if so, they need to knock it off - but that doesn't include things like a discreet collar or the slave doing things like getting drinks or holding doors - those are normal behaviors and unremarkable fashion accessories in other settings. It's only if the behavior is overt.
It's no different than if the sister brought a Muslim boyfriend or husband over - the difference between knowing he's Muslim and having him prostrate himself to perform Muslim prayers in the living room in front of people who would object.
They have no obligation to keep the nature of their relationship a secret, but they have an obligation to behave appropriately in someone else's home.
But as someone who is active in the BDSM scene, I can assure you that assuming that it's a given that the couple behaves inappropriately and the sister couldn't possibly be squicked out "just knowing" the nature of things isn't always the right first answer - especially if this letter is from a more conservative part of the country.
Apr 14
Lymis commented on Slog Bible Study: Exodus 25:15.
God intends the Polish Men's Gymnastics team to have a permanent place in the Olympics.
Apr 11
Lymis commented on Gay Couple Makes Florist Choose Between Supporting Gay Rights or Getting Sued.
@70
Yes, it is the Montgomery bus, and yes, it is the Greensboro lunch counter.
Black people could ride the buses as long as they sat in the right seats and gave them up to the better people if they were asked to. Black people could just go to a restaurant that served their kind - it's not like they couldn't get food, and why would they want to eat somewhere that didn't want to serve them in the first place?
Yes, flowers are, in the grand scheme of things, far more trivial than food or transportation, but that isn't the point. The important point is that it wouldn't stop at flowers, and it wouldn't stop at weddings. If you can refuse to provide a service to someone because you disapprove of what they do when they aren't in your store, then you can refuse them medical care, you can refuse them food, you can refuse them housing. You can refuse to let them adopt the children that the state is paying you to place with qualified parents. You can refuse to provide artificial insemination, or legal services. You can refuse to issue a marriage license and make them drive to the next county.
The florist is doing this because she thinks she can get away with it because the law doesn't apply to her. If she does get away with it, all it will prove is that she was right. And if you think it will simply end with Washington State florists considering serving gay weddings to be optional, you haven't been paying any attention.
Yes, if I knew a florist was a homophobe, I'd shop elsewhere. But that doesn't mean I should be forced to.
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Yes, it is the Montgomery bus, and yes, it is the Greensboro lunch counter.
Black people could ride the buses as long as they sat in the right seats and gave them up to the better people if they were asked to. Black people could just go to a restaurant that served their kind - it's not like they couldn't get food, and why would they want to eat somewhere that didn't want to serve them in the first place?
Yes, flowers are, in the grand scheme of things, far more trivial than food or transportation, but that isn't the point. The important point is that it wouldn't stop at flowers, and it wouldn't stop at weddings. If you can refuse to provide a service to someone because you disapprove of what they do when they aren't in your store, then you can refuse them medical care, you can refuse them food, you can refuse them housing. You can refuse to let them adopt the children that the state is paying you to place with qualified parents. You can refuse to provide artificial insemination, or legal services. You can refuse to issue a marriage license and make them drive to the next county.
The florist is doing this because she thinks she can get away with it because the law doesn't apply to her. If she does get away with it, all it will prove is that she was right. And if you think it will simply end with Washington State florists considering serving gay weddings to be optional, you haven't been paying any attention.
Yes, if I knew a florist was a homophobe, I'd shop elsewhere. But that doesn't mean I should be forced to.
Apr 10
Lymis commented on Gay Couple Makes Florist Choose Between Supporting Gay Rights or Getting Sued.
"Gay Couple Makes Florist Choose Between Supporting Gay Rights or Getting Sued"
Wrong way to frame this. REALLY wrong way to frame this.
She has already committed a violation of the anti-discrimination law that subjects her to legal action. She broke the law and illegally discriminated against the couple. They have every legal right to redress.
They are giving her options on how that could happen.
Your framing of this makes it sound like some sort of protection racket - give our cause money or we'll sue you.
This is more like settling out of court instead of pressing charges against someone who assaulted you.
Selling flowers is no more an expression of free speech than choosing who to allow in your publicly open store is an expression of your freedom of association.
And yes, this is exactly the same as if she had said she wouldn't sell flowers to a black couple because they're black.
So what, black people can always go to the next florist, or the florist or restaurants in "their part of town" or in the next town over where "those sorts of people" can shop without associating with decent white Christian folks.
We've been through this before, and we didn't accept it then. We shouldn't accept it now. She's wrong.
More...
Wrong way to frame this. REALLY wrong way to frame this.
She has already committed a violation of the anti-discrimination law that subjects her to legal action. She broke the law and illegally discriminated against the couple. They have every legal right to redress.
They are giving her options on how that could happen.
Your framing of this makes it sound like some sort of protection racket - give our cause money or we'll sue you.
This is more like settling out of court instead of pressing charges against someone who assaulted you.
Selling flowers is no more an expression of free speech than choosing who to allow in your publicly open store is an expression of your freedom of association.
And yes, this is exactly the same as if she had said she wouldn't sell flowers to a black couple because they're black.
So what, black people can always go to the next florist, or the florist or restaurants in "their part of town" or in the next town over where "those sorts of people" can shop without associating with decent white Christian folks.
We've been through this before, and we didn't accept it then. We shouldn't accept it now. She's wrong.
Mar 22
Lymis commented on The Friday Morning News.
@3
That's an unfair question. Most things Christians do these days have nothing to do with Jesus Christ, either, at least if you listen to the people who claim to speak for all Christians.
That's an unfair question. Most things Christians do these days have nothing to do with Jesus Christ, either, at least if you listen to the people who claim to speak for all Christians.
Mar 22
Lymis commented on Donny & Marie & Steely Dan.
Cool. Isn't that the nice lady who faints when she dances?
Mar 21
Lymis commented on Young, Conservative, and Opposed to Gay Marriage.
Yet another moron who argues as though same-sex marriage is replacing opposite-sex marriage.
Whether or not there are any valid arguments against same-sex marriage, the idea that it is somehow an attack on opposite-sex marriage is not one of them.
It is an attack on the idea that a narrowly interpreted form of bad Christian theology gets to define civil law in a secular society.
The biggest howler in the article is the claim that if gay marriage is allowed, straight people might start having relationships that aren't monogamous, sexually exclusive, or permanent.
What planet do these people live on?
Whether or not there are any valid arguments against same-sex marriage, the idea that it is somehow an attack on opposite-sex marriage is not one of them.
It is an attack on the idea that a narrowly interpreted form of bad Christian theology gets to define civil law in a secular society.
The biggest howler in the article is the claim that if gay marriage is allowed, straight people might start having relationships that aren't monogamous, sexually exclusive, or permanent.
What planet do these people live on?
Mar 21
Lymis commented on The Most Ridiculous, Useless Kitchen Gadget Ever Invented.
@15
As pointless as it seems to be to buy a NEW Rollie, even the mere concept of buying a used one makes me feel ill.
As pointless as it seems to be to buy a NEW Rollie, even the mere concept of buying a used one makes me feel ill.
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Why would you get sick of it? If you don't like it, don't watch. If you don't go to these movies, you can do something else you're not sick of, and if you are in a group that's discussing it, change the subject or walk away.
That's been my approach to professional football since the mid 1970's. I'm not sick of it at all, because I don't care to let it impact my life.
In fact, I've found I can usually shut down any such discussion with "Football? Is that with the pointy brown ball, or with the bouncy round orange one?"
It can NOT be that hard to come up with a similar conversation ender for Star Wars.
It's not like there won't be other movies to watch. If you like that sort of thing.