dunno if someone posted this but: today's edition of the Minneapolis Star tribune newspaper summarizes the prince interview, and references prince.org when indicating that the fanbase isn't happy about prince's (alleged) comments

XxAxX said:

and where is the poll about it?

i wonder how they get those stats

I understand your points, just as you say you understand mine. There is still no answer to how we as a people, can so strongly believe one minute that God says something is wrong or right only to change it at a later date...as norms start to change.

It's MORE then just "being good to eachother", it's about being "good to ourselves" and that’s something we do by being the individuals we AND God put ourselves here to be.

And WHO do you think created this fault filled nature??

You really don't think that there are small minded people out there, the ones who blindly follow whatever Prince does that wont take what he is saying (if he actually said it) as the gospel so to speak?? And it does affect the lives of people when you have someone especially someone in the public eye saying that they think something is wrong or right. How would you feel if it was turned around and it was something besides being gay? How about...if he were a white artist who was talking this same kind of thing about non-whites?? Some people are smart enough to make up their own minds and then you have others that will follow suite because as you said....they make a person into an idol.

Part of the challenge we face in the world today is that so many people already have their minds made up about everything. About politics, about religion, about economics, about life itself. They feel that they have all the answers, and there is nothing further to question. There is merely to implement the answers, to insist on the answers, to stick to the answers no matter what.

Yet this is dogma, and dogma is killing us. Our refusal to look for new answers-or to even consider the possibility that new answers might exist-at a time when it is clear to all of us that the old answers are no longer working, is bringing an end to the experience of life on this planet as we have known it.

Of course it does not have to be like this. And it will not be, so long as people at least have the courage to ask, "Might there be another way?"
There are other ways to live our lives, other ways to interact together, other ways to resolve our differences, to deal with our major conflicts, and to reach decisions affecting the huge collective that we call Humanity.

DesireeNevermind said:

That was lovely but also a little fluffy.

I don't hold god accountable for anything. Its a made-up concept. I think its time we stopped respecting people with imaginary friends. Why do you live your live wishing to be a slave? Suffering to the whims of a celestial dictator who creates you sick and commands you to be well. If you believe god made man, you have to dive through all these intellectual hoops for the world to make sense to you. If you think man made god then none of this is a problem. It really saddens me that people subjegate themselves this way..still, I know that until we overcome our fear of death...religion will, sadly, always be with us to comfort the weak-minded.

[img]

Err...Is this same New Yorker that published this kind picture of your leader and his wife, note the flag in the fire WTF? sorry i'm a brit so could of got this wrong but if its right..

S%&*T Fu&K Them Prince, I'd say..

Prince needs to sack his PR people don't they read ?

well, this settles one long-standing debate anyway

LondonStyle said:

about that cover - when i first saw it i was really confused and offended, though upon reading the editor's explanation of why it was chosen, i get it. the image was supposed to be a parody of right-wing paranoia, and all the fear-mongering images of obama created by extreme conservatives. okay, fine. point taken. but that little bit of information isn't conveyed anywhere on the cover, so at the very least i still think it was an act of poor judgment on the new yorker's part, even if it's nice to know that they think so much of their readers that they believe we can read their minds when they publish a batshit cover like the obama one.

even though i think they really struck out with that decision, i still have a lot of admiration and respect for the writing in the new yorker, and i believe they crank out responsible work.

Anxiety said:

Yeah sure you do...all i know is i was dancing next to 3 black guy's , 2 white women, a couple of Gay guy's from france, old women, 1 young girl at the 02 last year..guess what they where singing...

I just can't believe all the things people say (Controversy)
Am I black or white? Am I straight or gay? (Controversy)
Do I believe in God? Do I believe in me? Yeah (Controversy)

pald1 said:

Um...that made little sense j/k but yeah

I'm not a slave to anything or any being. I don't suffer anybody's whims except my own which can be stressful enuf. The world makes plenty sense to me as painful and beautiful as it is at times. Yes I believe in God, a higher power, the almighty scientist/chemist, or whatever u wanna call him. Sorry but the universe is too vast and magnificent for me to not appreciate it and believe that it has purpose and design. I dunno how u dirt nappers can think so little of the existence of a virus to the existitence of mass galaxies. That's right, talking about those of you who don't believe in God or your own bountiful energy. Nothing from nothing leaves nothing as the saying goes.
Plus, there is a difference between beliveing in God and believing in religion. I will be the first to agree that religion is mostly made up by man, but then so is medicine and mathematics. We create things to help find answers and manage our lives thus begetting many different ways to worship, calculate the #337 and treat a common cold. Some things are proven to one's satisfaction and others aren't, but it does not lessen the degree of probability. I believe in God and hold God accountable for the beginning and the end. Everything in between is mayhem, chance, luck and opportunity. Yes I believe the rainbow is god's promise that he will never again destroy the earth by water. Rainbow's only come with water/rainfall...that's just awesome to me. Recreate a rainbow in a labaratory and I still chalk it up to God. God is awesome. Let us

Anxiety said:

Just because YOU didn't get it, doesn't mean it was poor judgement to use it. If one is familiar with the magazine, its satirical take on right-wing values was quite well put I thought.

Not to single you out but I think this is part of the problem too. People who don't get something suddenly have an opinion about how bad it is.

Believers feel that God has a plan for them. Therefore, what they think and feel must be valid because, after all, they have divine permission right? How can they be wrong? Of course, this is the first fatal mistake. Still, at least you know where u stand with these people. The worst are the 'enlightened religious types' who still have to tell you that they don't like something but love it anyway! I don't even know what this means. Ultimately, you need to keep your thinly-diguised bigotry to yourself and let good people--those you have nothing to do with you--live how they want to.

pald1 said:

you are aware, of course, that this cover caused a huge amount of flak due to lots of regular new yorker readers who didn't "get it". i'm not speaking in a vacuum here.

and i DO get it now. what i'm saying is, the message of that image wasn't self-sufficiently obvious at first glance. not to me, not to a lot of people.

put down your saber, i'm not saying the new yorker is disreputable. i'm just trying to put one bad judgment by the magazine into perspective. i think someone would be hard pressed to compile a whole list of grievances against the new yorker's professionalism.

Chaos and Disorder.

DesireeNevermind said:

It's funny because, today, most Christians shy away from all the silliness you mentioned above. Still, misguided as you are, I believe you when you say you believe. Look, as long as you play with your toys in your own home I don't mind what you believe...but, please, just don't try to teach it unsuspecting children ok?

Anxiety said:

That's not true at all. While I agree there was controversy..it stemmed from other media outlets...not, New Yorker readers. But you are right in saying that a debate on the journalistic methods of The New Yorker is quite silly.

pald1 said:

did you read the letters column in the subsequent issue, or the statements released by the editor? i guess after reading those things, my view is skewed differently than yours. ah well. where were we? carrot soup?

Graycap23 said:

Emancipation

Anxiety said:

While there were letters to the editor (would you expect there to be none?), they were a tiny fraction of total subscribers. They also published letters in defence of the magazine's decision

pald1 said:

sorry hon but the majority of the world sides with me in terms of believeing in a creator or higher power. you are in the minority so you play with YOUR toys in your own home. and i say we both watch out for the fanatical lawnmowers on both sides. I will keep the stone throwers away from your window and you keep the pseudo intellectual drug indused shock therapy government goons away from my front door. yes, your kind is a tad weirder but hey, ur in the minority so I'm not fearful at all. However, at some point ppl gotta learn to agree to disagree. ya dig?

just some typo edits, no worries
[Edited 11/18/08 11:44am]

pald1 said:

So sad...no wonder these kids are so messed up.

prime said:

I thought you had decided you'd had enough?

LondonStyle said:

After reading the org today one would like to declear the word of the day as "bigotry", as it is always inclusive

DesireeNevermind said:

Like being in the majority was ever an argument for its validity? If you're going to argue a point, please treat me with respect by allowing me to argue against a coherent point. Ok, hon?

pald1 said:

ok, well, i never saw any polls that solidly justify either of our arguments, and i guess it's a discussion best saved for another thread in another forum anyway. i see your perspective.

LondonStyle said:

The New Yorker did the cover to sell magazines and to create controversy.

Purplestar88 said:

I laughed after I got over being mad and wanting to burn their magazine

pald1 said:

Even though i agree that there is a creator, I agree that being in the majority shouldn't be an agrumant for validity, but isn't it?? Isn't that why we vote, so the majority rules in dictating what is "right" and "wrong" to the rest of us?

So this guy here is against gay people?????





It´s ridiculous!!!!!

Even our MJ isn´t so crazy....

Parker777 said:

pretty much! my marjority rules point to pald was simply addressing his comment about what gets taught to our children. that's where this whole thing really heats up now that i think about it. the whole gay thing, marriage thing, drug thing, god or no god thing, educational program thing, it all can and often does boil down to what gets taught to our children. with that said, the majority ends up ruling most of the time. the few times they lose, it still ends up having to do with kids. e.g. making sure little girls grow up to have the right to vote and control their reproductive choices or say, keeping marijuana illegal.

Parker777 said:

A better analogy for you to make would be totalitariansm...where no-one has a say in majority rule. You answered your own question with the notion of being dictated to. We do not live under a dictatorship in which we are forced to believe that certain things are right and wrong. Ours is a democracy in majority decides which candidate is best suited to run the country...not moral values We base our decisions on their attitudes towards the economy, healthcare, foreign policy. The "Right" and "Wrong" of it all is less important here because other issues, like a womans right to choose or stem-cell research continue to rage on no matter who is in power. If a ruler's ability to govern becomes unpopular, and the democracy is worse off for it, then another person will be voted in (Bush to Obama is a classic case in point).

monk76 said:

oh puleese, like all them hard core rockers e.g. KISS, MOTLEY CRUE, POISON and GWAR don't look as made up or more so than Prince. Men of fame and high stature been wearing makeup and draggy clothes longer than women have so that argument don't hold even a drop of water. Now if he were a school teacher or a plumber...then yeah, he got a problem