[Creed of Heresy]

Okay, everyone, this is gonna be a long one, but before you read a part that might chap your ass and decide to hit the end button to immediately rail against me for that point, instead stop and read the rest of the post, chances are that will be addressed.

Versus, lemme quote your original message.

This is a special kind of douche bag. The one that says being white isn't much of a thing, that thinks he doesn't have strait privilege because he said LGBT are people too once, and that volunteers at a fucking rcc and can still say "Look woman, at least you're not an athiest."

You put words into my mouth, and jumped to wild conclusions. Do tell me; when did I say being white "isn't that much of a thing?" When did I say I don't benefit much from being straight just because I support LGBTs? I said "it kind of gets muddied up," which is to say that while I have the privileges legally, from time to time that does still catch me some flak socially. I dunno how the fuck you jumped from "it gets kind of muddied" to "I don't benefit much." And as far as the RCC volunteering goes? It's not just women who get *****, and when DID I say "look, woman, at least you're not an atheist" wherein the context you seem to be implying is that I would do so is to someone who just got sexually assaulted? I volunteer at an RCC, and yet for some reason I seem to be under the weird misconception that it's not only women who get sexually assaulted! I wonder why that might be? Maybe it's because I've dealt with OTHER CIRCUMSTANCES, TOO? Maybe not every person to call in is a woman! Maybe they're children! Or teenagers! Maybe it's adults...and maybe all of those age groups tend to also be of all genderal groups, too! Unthinkable, isn't it? Thing is, the guys who come in are the ones who are most desperate to be assured that their names and identities won't be released and that I will not go to the cops or anyone else with the details. Why don't you hear about guys being *****, and why wouldn't they want anyone to know, and why wouldn't they want to pursue prosecution? Think about it for a few minutes and you might get an idea of the reason for it.

Undeniably, however, women are the higher end of the balance who call or walk in. I am not stating that the realities of the situation are, well, not reality. I AM, however, pointing out that any claim of absolutes is not true, that there are always exceptions or aberrations, or misconceptions. As I've already admitted, I myself am guilty of making misconceptions, I do it all the time, but I try to correct myself. I even caught myself on this one and genuinely expressed that I wish I could edit what I said out of my original post because I realize how and why it was wrong. But your response is to desperately latch on to whatever thing I say and to blow every bit of it wildly out of proportion and context, and to say "I don't think I would want to [accept your apology]." Speaks volumes about who you are. Rather than being able to be the bigger man and accept the apology, remain calm, and continue to point out the fallacies in what I am saying or ask for clarification if something seems contradictory, you instead let your own emotions take total control over you and resort to ad hominems and false attributions. You stooped to my level. Why would you want to do that?

Originally Posted by Murder.Of.Crows

Oh, I meant that your apologies suck. You say the words and then totally disregard any lessons to be learned from it. You complain about the discrimination of being Atheist, yet disregard anyone elses problems as being as legit. Or, in most cases worst. Look, I'm an Athiest, i get it, people do indeed act at times violent torwards you, simply for a dissagreament in religion. But, I'm also bi and transsexual and present myself as female, even though I am still pre-op and have strong male physical attributes.

I complained about being discriminated as an atheist because I misunderstood what Versus had said. He asked if I were gay or an ethnic minority, and I took to thinking he was implying I did not know what being discriminated against was like. I have not disregarded anyone's problems as being as legit, and if it has seemed as such then clearly I am doing a terrible job of trying to properly explain what I mean. The entire point of my post was to show that I hate people who make assumptions of others based on a single detail gleaned from them. Clothing is one way, yes, but there are other things, single little things, that others learn about others and instantly jump to conclusions as to who they are. Being gay or a woman or an atheist, or any combination of that group? There's tons of people who form all sorts of bullshit conclusions about you before they learn anything else about you.

I won't lie, I actually had a huge set of misconceptions about transgenders and transsexuals throughout my entire life. I thought they were mentally or emotionally deficient. This changed only two years, when I met a couple of them on another forum I frequent. I had never really had a chance to talk to any kinds of trans individuals before that. All that I had known about them had come from the biased opinions of others that I had simply taken to meaning to be true. I came to realize within a short time that there was nothing wrong with them. They were just people who didn't feel comfortable with the bodies they'd been given.

I can't say for your expietence, because I'm not you, but being Atheist doesn't even register on the amount of shit I get for myself. Right now, I'm actually pretty lucky, because I have the capability of being in the closet with evething that I am. I get to hide to stay safe, which a lot of people don't get.

You are correct here, too. And I understand, now, I DID make it out like being an atheist is the worst thing there is erroneously.

The more you buck social norms and what society thinks is "good" or "right," even if what you are doing is harmless to others, and does nothing to affect their lives, the more hatred and bigotry people will pile upon you.

I used to be one of those people. That cancerous aspect of my personality and who I am still hasn't been fully cut away, and it clearly shows from time to time. I am trying to be accepting, to be empathetic. I just spent a very long time fighting tooth and nail just to survive and get from one day to the next that for the longest time I never really considered the plights of others. I always thought the subjective cruelty others suffered was inferior to my own. It was only after I was able to start living my life on my own terms that I began to understand that there are a lot of other forms of cruelty and they're all damaging in their own way, and for different reasons.

I've been trying to learn that, and understand it, over the last seven years. For the rest of the time of my life, I didn't endure physical, mental, and emotional abuse, or sexual violation, or deprivation of sustenance, social interaction, and activity because I was one thing or another, I just simply did. Not all at once, but in bursts, lengths of time that could be as short as a few weeks, or as long as years. Some of it endured until I hit 18 and got out of foster care. But I've been trying to understand what it's also been like for others who have had their own experiences of hell at the hands of others.

So, yes. I made a miscalculation in my comparison. It was fallacious, and I apologize for that, too.

You're white, a gender congruent m ale, and straight. That is all the privilege in the world. Complain as much as you want about your hardships, it's okay. But, under no circumstances can you compare yourself, and think you have it harder, to those who don't get to even pass as the majority. Their hardships are something you can never understand, and they have to live with those hardships everyday of their lives. You only have to deal with your hardships when they get brought up. Which, still sucks, I know.

Eh, I haven't really seen any benefits from those privileges, but then I've never really been in a position where I could.

Or maybe I have, and I just don't realize it. Certainly a possibility.