The Compleat Heretic's Guestbook Archive:
Volume 20 (2 Aug 2006 - 13 Oct 2006)

This page was last modified on 7 August 2014.

Comments:
First of all, let me say that I'm pleased to see some honest freethinking and heterodoxy going on in the world today, and for that I applaud you. I entirely agree with your positions on God (that is, there being none) and on abortion; I support the armed services, but I hope we can stabilize Iraq soon, and you've almost convinced me on capital punishment.

But on homosexuality, I just don't see where you're coming from. What was so horrible about two young men lying in bed together "contented" during your days in the Army? Were they hurting anyone? Sure, it's technically against the rules... but do you have any evidence that these men were not otherwise fine soldiers?

Yes, by the way, I'm queer (bisexual to be precise, on the klein scale a 3-erotic 5-romantic 4-platonic). I assume you're not, which is fine.

But I must ask you: what exactly do you advocate for someone like me? If I fall in love with a man, just forget about it, and wait until I meet a woman instead? And what about people far gayer than I who may never feel attracted to anyone of the opposite sex? Are they to remain celibate and sexually frustrated for their whole lives?

You seem to imply that homosexuality is something we can just snap out of, that every morning I make the decision to be bisexual, and I wouldn't have to make it. But I don't! Near as I can tell, I've always been this way and always will, whether I like it or not (and because of people like you, I often don't like it at all!).

Could I avoid particular sexual contacts? Sure. As a matter of fact, I have---I'm in college and I remain nullimital. My own goal is to find an emotionally and romantically fulfilling monogamous relationship (and I cannot say right now with whom that will be, nor what gender). If you were advocating this, I would wholeheartedly support you; sex should be honest, loving, caring. But why pick on homosexuals instead of abusers, players, pederasts and rapists? Why hate *sex* when you can hate *violence*? Why fight *love* when you can fight *hate*?

I don't get it. I try to be a good person, and even someone who prides himself on his freethinking still hates me for something totally outside my control.

Webmaster's Response:
My access logs show that Mr. Julius spent just under ten minutes (obviously far less time than is needed for proper comprehension) on three of my homosexuality-related pages: Traditional values come out on campus, Transcript of official statement of 7 August 1987, and The Military's Ban Against Homosexuals Should Remain. This brief and superficial exposure to my experience with and views on "gay issues" led him into a diatribe which clearly indicates that he gained no understanding of the what and the why of my positions and made no real attempt to gain such. Worse, the majority of his rant deals with issues I haven't addressed on my site. Worst of all, he mistakes my opposition to the normalization of homosexuality for a hatred of homosexuals in general and of himself personally.

The material on my site regarding issues of homosexuality is rather limited and quite focused and should be considered in that context. Unfortunately, Mr. Julius, like many before him, has failed to do this and has interpreted me in such a way as to conform to his preconceived notions of "homophobia." I readily acknowledge that I am partly to blame for this as I have provided mere snapshots of both my positions and my evolution from "ally" to "homophobe" over the past 25 or 30 years. I've long recognized the need to document both in more detail as many find them counterintuitive. Even so, an objective reading of what I have written over the years clearly indicates a continuing rational examination of the subject, and not simply "fear" and "hatred" of an entire self-identified class of people.

From his web site, I gather that Mr. Julius is a rather bright, eighteen-year-old freshman at the University of Michigan. From my own experience, I realize that he is coming to terms with himself as an adult and as a human being-- just as I did seemingly so very long ago. I can appreciate his confusion towards himself-- and me. I can tolerate his youthful ignorance of himself-- and me. Given enough time and the proper effort, perhaps he too will discover the good and the bad of the unique, extraordinary human being that he is-- and learn to love himself all the same. When he does, he will understand that what others think of him is an expression of who and what they are and not of who and what he is. Furthermore, he will understand that there are as many ways of being human as there are human beings, none of which excludes any other, least of all his own. Then he can and will add his "I am!" to the great human chorus. He will be.

This much I have learned.

-- The Compleat Heretic

Comments:
I READ AN ARTICLE ABOUT PARENTS FILMING THEIR OWN CHILDREN IN AN ARTICLE, ABOUT A BILL BEFORE CONGRESS. AS A DISABLED FIRE FIGHTER I WAS LOOKING FOR A WAY TO HELP PEOPLE. STILL HAVE A HARD TIME WITH THE REALITY THAT PARENTS WOULD ALLOW AND FILM THEIR OWN INFANTS, TODDLERS IN SEXUAL SITUATIONS. SICK SICK SICK.
SINCERLY GUS SOLA
66 YR OLD FIRE FIGHTER WHO HAS NEVER SMOKED EXCEPT ON JOB HA HA OR DRANK ALCOHOL. OR DONE DRUGS. I NEVER REALIZED WHAT SICK PEOPLE WE HAVE OUT THERE AS PARENTS

Comments:
I liked everything except the whole ban on homosexuals... I think that anyone who engages in sexual activities should be suspended but gays shouldn't be singled out there; Of course, If no one makes sexual moves, then it wouldn't matter (since no one would know).

Comments:
I just read your article about growing up and seeing the Apollo moon landing back in 1969 and I was suitably impressed. It appears that your article was written & posted to your website sometime in 1999 however I have just viewed it (October 2006) as a result of a search on Google for articles and video footage of the event.

I was 10 years old when Neil Armstrong & Buzz Aldrin walked on the moon. It was around 2pm in the afternoon in our part of the world and we were in school.

We all listened to the event on the radio via the school PA system in our classrooms. But saw the event on the evening news that night. I started a scrap book and collected every newspaper and magazine article written and still have it today. I've shown it to my children over the years but it doesn't seem to have as much impact as it did on me when the event occured. I've been a big fan of the space program ever since and have a number of books and DVD's on the subject and in particular, on the Apollo program.

I'm a member of the New Zealand Spaceflight Association and the Mars Society.

Best Regards,
Gordon Sutherland

Webmaster's Response:
I'm glad you enjoyed my old column, "First moon landing in 1969 marked an entire generation." I usually take the opportunity to reread it myself when I receive commentary such as yours. For all the time that has passed since I wrote it and for all the times I have read it, I never tire of it and always marvel at its vitality. Your response to the Apollo program as an adult confirms the premise of my column. Perhaps our enthusiasm will percolate into the generations which follow us, and my closing will not become empty rhetoric.

-- The Compleat Heretic

Comments:
Quite a refreshing site you have...

Webmaster's Response:
Hmm, I often get that response to my work with the Atheist and Agnostic Pro-Life League, my ill-maintained site devoted to the "nontheistic and nonreligious opposition to the life-denying horror of abortion, because life is all there is and all that matters, and abortion destroys the life of an innocent human being." I'm gratified that the site continues to be visited in spite of my neglect. Maybe I should make a point of rectifying the situation...

-- The Compleat Heretic

Comments:
Well, Matt, I was fully prepared to give you a 'here we go again' with the weather down here. Alas, the hurricane gawds have forsaken me. I was SO ready for a blowout hurricane party this year and I'm feeling hoodwinked.

Anyway, my latest annoyance for you might even entertain you momentarily. Firearms question: I've been eyeballing the Hi-Point carbines, available in 9mm and .40 S&W. What, precisely, is the point of a 9mm rifle other than building entry with full auto? The reviews state that the carbine does 1" groups at 50 yards, but a wimpy round point-blank is still wimpy at 50 yards, no? What, I wonder, is the appeal of these well-selling short rifles?

Webmaster's Response:
Carbines fill a functional gap between pistols and rifles and are necessarily a compromise of those weapons. While carbines lose both the compactness of handguns and the range and power of rifles, they gain from the fusion of other strengths. The use of pistol cartridges allows for a smaller, lighter, handier weapon and the ability to carry larger quantities of ammunition into combat. The longer barrel and rifle form increases accuracy and maximizes the efficiency of the available powder charge, albeit over shorter ranges. In close-quarters combat (say up to 100 yards) in heavy-cover environments (such as urban areas) where a pistol is too little weapon and a rifle is too much, carbines come into their own and perform the function of all firearms: effectively delivering lead onto the enemy.

-- The Compleat Heretic

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I found your site trying to find the "put childish things behind me" quote from the bible. The quote popped into my head today when I thought of "The Wizard of OZ" as being a good argument for atheism.

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Comments:
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Comments:
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Comments:
Thank you for the opportunity to visit your site and sign your guest book. Good luck in college.

For other entries:

Proceed to Guestbook Archives: Volume 19.

Proceed to Guestbook Archives: Volume 21.

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