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It's not that I don't care, I retract that. It's just that it's not exactly high on my priority list. It's really not something I think about too much

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That sounds quite a bit like "I don't care." Past that bit of semantics though I really don't see this going anywhere - I'm very particular about using those words properly, you're colloquial, I've made my point, and it's clear where you stand in relation to it.

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If you're against hedonism, it's probably because you're not doing it right.

A word's meaning is defined by how people use it. No matter how many times you tell me something technically means something, it won't make it so.

Post edited at 9:36 am on Jan. 7, 2007 by Khadgar

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Long live love, and all her glory.

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A word's meaning is defined by how people use it. No matter how many times you tell me something technically means something, it won't make it so.

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I'm sorry, but I do believe that you've lost sight of my point. If you remember, that's exactly why I'm so uptight about using "religion" in a matter that does not cover "religion."

Some black people are thieves. We don't say "thieves" when we mean "black thieves." If we did, and it was understood as such, (just as religion is understood to mean "Abrahamic religions" in many contexts) people would start to get silly notions like all black people are thieves, black people are innately sinful, or religions all contain god(s) and dogma. My entire fight about the colloquial uses of religion revolves around the fact that a shortcut used by some changes the meanings of words and (more rapidly and noticeably) the connotations and associations behind words, something that creates a sub-society that is radically opposed to "religion," and immediately assumes that when I say that I'm religious/ belong to an organized religion that I:

• Believe in a god
  
• Believe that my religion is the only truth
  
• Believe that non-believers are in any way inferior to me
  
• Live by a dogmatic creed
  
• Have to accept what a bunch of random religious officials believe
  
• Have to accept what an religious official says under any circumstance
  
• Have conflicts with certain parts of politics
  
• Have a problem with "sexual deviances" such as a bunch of guys getting together for a mock gang-bang
  
• Am associated with a history of violence and/or oppression

Sorry if that got a little long or brining race into my example turned this into a bellow-the-belt shot, but the only thing that gets me more than misuse of "religion" is people not understanding why I make an issue of it.

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If you're against hedonism, it's probably because you're not doing it right.

I suppose you'd know best, but I can guess that this really aggravates you in part because it happens ALL THE TIME. Perhaps it's time to try a different strategy, when one isn't quite working, eh? Just a thought.

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Long live love, and all her glory.

I am religious. That's a massive part of who I am. When I say that I follow an organized religion, it's true. I'm not going to lie or step around the truth because other people won't understand it or are confused by it. I'm not going to stop using the word that correctly describes me and try to find some misleading euphemism to compensate for ignorance any more than Republicans are going to start making up a new name for their party to disassociate themselves from Bush's fiscal policies and expansion of the federal government's role in the lives of Americans.

Out of curiosity, what do you think I should say instead of "yes, I'm religious?"

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If you're against hedonism, it's probably because you're not doing it right.

And by the time I'm around to typing this, I've forgotten. Maybe someday. Oh well, it's just pointless off topic arguing.

Post edited at 8:19 pm on Jan. 10, 2007 by Khadgar

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Long live love, and all her glory.