Bishop Barron on "Bully"

[@dawnviolet9720]

I was bullied for 8 years as a young kid, and what shocked me most was not the people bullying me but the unwillingness of my peers to stop it!

[@tomsaltsman]

I was bullied as a ten-year old boy not by other boys, but by a group of girls! Yes, girls! They turned the whole school against me because I wore the old raggedy, hand-me-down clothes my mother gave me. Even my best friend avoided me all together and started to wear the latest fashions. He was afraid to even look at me. The massive rejection hurt me badly at the time but it taught me something about human nature: namely, how shallow, spineless, and easily manipulated people can be. So I took that lemon and made lemonade. I soon wore the latest fashions--against my mother's strident objections--looked smart, cool, and stylish. I eventually got myself elected student body president in junior high school. Then the girls got jealous of my popularity and called me, "conceited." They started to chase me down the halls to go out with me. I was good looking. I even had to beat off some boys. After that, I gave up on society and its stupid values and became a Christian. Now I try to win those silly, shallow people to Christ. Now when men or women chase me when I'm all dressed up--looking good and feeling gorgeous--I just act dumb.

[@danielf950]

I'm glad you were able to get through that by turning the situation around and eventually becoming a Christian, Mr. Saltsman. God bless.

[@BellaRose0119]

Hi. I’m a little girl. I went on KZbin and I was going to watch another video but then I pressed a video of you that said “Bishop Barron on Anne Rice.” But right before I got out I got an attention from the video that in my heart said I should stay and watch this. So from now on I’m gonna watch you every single day. Thank you ❤️❤️❤️❤️

[@billybagbom]

You are amazing. A person of intelligence and sensitivity, as well as courage and virtue (yes, a person of faith, hope and love). God bless you for glorifying His Name!

[@CarcharodonMeg]

This is one of your best commentaries yet, Father. Absolutely essential to understanding some of the most basic difficulties of this deeply flawed society.

[@mptierney87]

Thanks, Father. I went to an all boys, Catholic school, and watching you speak on these rights of passage is bringing back some wonderful memories. I think every boy should read the Nick Adams stories by Hemingway.

[@rooforlife]

From the bible~ Eph4: 29 No foul word should ever cross your lips; let your words be for the improvement of others, as occasion offers, and do good to your listeners; Eph 4:32"And be kind, compassionate, forgiving one another as God has forgiven you in Christ" Col3:8 But now you must put them all away: anger, fury, malice, slander, and obscene language out of your mouths

[@mattmaes]

My brother had rocks thrown at him on the playground. He ran away and was pursued. A teacher saw the entire incident and everyone got thrown in detention for fighting. This is just a light example of what happens daily in schoolyards and hallways everywhere. Hoping for even more success for this movie.

[@deathdrill72]

Thanks again for another wonderful review. I appreciate you taking time to make these..

[@Cristinact]

Great. Clear and enlightening, as usual. Mind you, Father, this is the first time I've ever watched one of your videos in which (because of the nature of the topic) you do not start with an intellectual approach. Even your attitude and body language were different. And they've got to be: what a sad case this was. In the trailer (I have not watched the film yet) there's this moment in which the boy is crying. It made me think that our Merciful Jesus and His Mother were certainly there, with him.

[@trishknaut1031]

Bravo Bishop Barron! In my understanding from my experience of being bullied most of my life and asking God why, I believe the answer is that He wants us to love our enemies because the bullies have been broken down from sin from being tempted by the devil to feel unloved and so in my attempt to be obedient to Love My Enemy I would demonstrate his Agape unconditional love there by him revealing himself to that bully who is suffering from the powers of Darkness just as I have also being a victim of the father of lies that I have been tempted to believe. the good God brings out of it is that I have more compassion and so can hopefully Comfort others as I have been comforted to draw the bullies closer to Jesus and into the kingdom into the church into the family of God!

[@larattacattolica2351]

I was bullied for years and I couldn`t watch this movie, it triggered me so much. But I like your review. True words! All your videos are great. :) Blessings from Germany!

[@wilhufftarkin8543]

Man sieht nicht viele Deutsche unter Bischof Barrons Videos. ;)

[@redbaron998]

I agree with you Father, as a High School teacher I see alot of young men (and women to but it seems more apparent to me in the males) of a lack of ambition and lack of desire for real success in life. Male mentorship, espically in the middle school age rande) seems to be a very beneficial program in my experince.

[@Nzie]

Yes, I wonder about this too. I was thinking and remembered as a teacher at an after school program with jr high girls. There were a couple kids who didn't fit in as well, and while there wasn't out and out bullying, I didn't care for it. So I talked with them in pairs and said I expected better and that they needed to work with anyone, not be unkind, etc. It seemed to work, and I think it was because they valued their relationship with me. There is some truth to we girls being relational.

[@PoetlaureateNFDL]

This is a very interesting and courageous movie I think. I once had a boss who was a horrible bully. I tried to look at the glass "half-full" by seeing what I could learn from him, even though he presented his ideas in extremely inappropriate ways. There is always a positive way to look at things, a positive slant to take with us as a life learning tool.

[@dynamic9016]

Really appreciate this video.

[@josephanastasi7840]

I almost always some critique of Father Barron's opinion, but this clip he is right on and very insightful.

[@wcstorm11]

Your videos are incredible, thanks!

[@DustyAndPistolPete]

Bullies nowadays are just upholding the values instilled into them by our society,difference is to be punished, kindness is to be hated, meekness is seen as a threat to the self-indulgent mentality.There is nothing more masculine than standing up to bullying either for yourself or for others.Society spends too much time apologising for the bullies and suggesting that they have some socio-economic reasons for doing so and therefore it is excusable.Bullying is never excusable.Good video Father.

[@carlalies3971]

My daughter was slightly behind her peers in learning and followed an Individual educational plan. Unbeknownst to me, she was picked on at the Catholic school for it. Other students were throwing food at her at the lunch tables. It became so bad that she began checking herself into “detention” during her lunches, to avoid the abuse. Years later, her Confirmation program had a Make-up session, which involved all the kids being asked to wear jeans, for something which involved “food throwing.” I walked my daughter into that session, where I observed her breaking down, starting to panic and cry. She left our parish that night, permanently. She did finish her Confirmation program elsewhere, but is a weak participant in her faith practices, at best. I can’t say I blame her, and hope that she receives therapy for he trauma, and returns to her Catholic faith.

[@BloggerMusicMan]

I find your analysis very enriching and convincing. I just have one question though. Do you think that boys with single mothers are particularly disadvantaged because they don't have a mature male role model in the house?

[@CDNVeteran97]

I also was bullied in Grade school cause I didn't speak very good English (Raised speaking Hungarian at home) plus I had red hair. Learned to keep to myself, had some good friends then. Now, I'm a Cdn. Veteran and still keep to myself (suffering from PTSD). Work alone and pretty much alone. My spouse is busy with her daughters (2nd. marriage) and my adult children touch base whenever they feel like it. I look forward to when HE will be taking me HOME. Don't like the way this world is going

[@anindependentsort]

Fr. Barron, once again you make many good points. And, as a mother of three boys, I agree that there is a huge problem with the way we bring boys to manhood. However, I also agree with DJDizzy113 about bullying by girls. Growing up, I found the girls to be more vicious than the boys. Too often those in authority wash their hands. A first step would be banning a bully from the school bus. Once the parents find their lives inconvenienced by their child's behavior, they will put a stop to it.

[@CoryTheRaven]

I believe that we are all called to the callings to which God has called us. As I told you before, I am a Lutheran and therefore I wholeheartedly reject the fiction that some jobs are inherently holier than others. Any honest labour done well is a service to God. If someone is called to lifelong absintence for God, great. Good for them. Let them be abstinent for God. Not all of us are,..

[@keith4276]

I was bullied as a child. My single mother introduced me to a karate instructor who taught me discipline and character. Without that influence, I doubt I would have dedicated my life to the service of others.

[@TheRemainingFaithful]

I was bullied when I was a kid. Teachers did nothing about and when I retaliated (though I realize now I shouldn't have) I was the one in trouble. The kids got off scott-free. I think you are right about this Father. Kids resort to bullying due to lack of role model. But it could also be due to the wrong role model. Kids these days idolize music groups, video games and tv shows that promote violence, sex, drugs and rebellion against religion and authority. These can also influence bullying.

[@billybagbom]

Great comment! Thank you for this insight, too.

[@rooforlife]

I was bullied at the Catholic schools I went to up to 8th grade. Only one teacher did anything about it even though a few other teachers knew about it. I have known other kids that have been called names by Catholics or other Christians.Ive taught my kids that calling other names and/or physically hurting is not the Christian thing to do.

[@KarenReadsTwilight]

Father, I'd like to hear what you have to say about Melancholia by Lars von Trier. I deeply enjoyed that movie, as I think it had something very interesting to point out about chronic depression - and besides that, it was absolutely beautiful.

[@billybagbom]

Great comment! Thank you for this insight.

[@mZaoa]

Just a thought: see Blessed John Paul II's theology of the body. Fr Barron refers to it a lot in his videos.

[@CoryTheRaven]

Cute point about the Protestant vs. Catholic versions of the 10 COmmandments, but my point stands. I think both issues were discussed in one of Fr. Barron's videos about Catholic businesses being made to follow the laws regarding the medical coverage given to employees. He got very "nobody puts baby in a corner" about it, all the while treating women's bodies like a public commodity up for consensus decision-making. Looking it up would require more time and interest than I have right now.

[@Naturalhit]

Home schooling to avoid bullies, Karate for self defense, Art Lessons for creativity and self confidence would help.

[@BCSWowbagger]

"Nope. You are wrong." Well, I'm convinced. Let's slow-clap for a brilliant argument!

[@EDL070207]

A broken sense of what a family is must contribute to this problem. I wonder what % of jails house men from broken homes of some sort.

[@WorkingCatholic]

"Every verse in the Bible that they say condemns homosexuality has been gravely mistranslated " Please provide your translation of Rom 1:27, 1 Cor 6:9, 1 Tim 1:9-10, Lv 20:13, and Lv 18:22

[@BloggerMusicMan]

I agree that Emile is a book that is in many ways ahead of its time. It's still very readable, and it's often insightful insight into children and human nature is suited as much for parenting as it is for education generally. Although it's racism shows it's humanity, as even as brilliant a thinker as Rousseau was still a product of his time.

[@billybagbom]

On the other hand, you also have a good point.

[@CoryTheRaven]

Perhaps a not reading of what I wrote; repeating here: There are lots of complex reasons why divorce is so pervasive in our society.

[@CoryTheRaven]

"So, based on this libertarian, moral relativist philosophy I could do whatever I want, so long as it doesn't harm another" Yes, exactly. You can. That is even advocated in Scripture when Paul said that for the believer all things are lawful that are not harmful. He only restricted that, voluntarily, with certain social responsibilities where our exercise of freedom might cause another to stumble...

[@CoryTheRaven]

Theoretically, a post getting identified as "spam" is a way to filter out pointless commenting, trolling, swearing, etc. In practice, it's a way for people to punish views they disagree with instead of address them.

[@KarenReadsTwilight]

That's a good way to put it. I was sort of separating "natural" (ie, was meant to be there as a part of God's design) from the "unnatural" effects of sin, but from your point of view it makes sense.

[@fybn025]

Fantastic review!

[@CoryTheRaven]

I think the argument from natural law is practically indefensible whether we're talking about what happens in "nature" (as some abstract idea of the wilderness) or "human nature". It's still trying to derive oughts from is's, which involves making value judgements that obfuscate the fact that EVERYTHING that happens is by definition natural.

[@mattmaes]

Fr. Baron could you add a link to your "Why Gender Matters" video commentary? I can't seem to find it on KZbin. Thanks.

[@cherylseybert5669]

Hi 🙋‍♀️ this is a very nice 👍🏻 you have to be there by the time of your school 🏫

[@b4u334]

You should write on the specific toxic cultures of all-boys schools and the great disservice done to these boys if they're not mentored correctly and the enabling of bullies when those in authority don't stem the political-atmosphere of bullying correctly. I went to an all-boys school and had a great year and the next was the complete opposite as staff and students all turned over. A good culture shouldn't always be teetering on the balance.

[@catherinecrawford3058]

Oh good grief. As a girl I was bullied by both genders. The girls were downright vicious.

[@ptucker48]

The Knights of Columbus have a branch know as the Colombian Squires. However I don't know if many still exist.

[@CoryTheRaven]

Translation: "You know where this problem of beating up people who are different from us starts? With people who are different from us!" Instead of trying to lay the blame at the feet of those dirty "other people", trying laying it at the feet of a culture that is so adept at alienating "other people" that the other people fought back with their theoretical discourses. Those discourses are not the cause of the problem. They are the response to it.

[@CoryTheRaven]

"and as I said, not to be embraced as a virtue as many liberals demand..." I've never seen ANYONE insist that homosexuality is a virtue. This is where you are either trying to cloud the issue or have allowed yourself to be clouded. To acknowledge the right of homosexuals to consensual practice in a free, multicultural society IS NOT THE SAME THING AS SAYING YOU HAVE TO BE GAY. Where you err is that you are applying an ethnocentric moral vision to a multicultural moral situation...

[@billybagbom]

What is "spam"? I thought it had something to do with illegitimate commercial enterprise on the internet. Why are so many entries on KZbin regarded as "spam" when they have no perceptible commercial value? Inquiring minds want to know.

[@anonymouse7153]

When everyone wants so desperately to be accepted, it's easy to make common ground by having a common victim. A kid can literally turn into a punching bag, because he's dehumanized and transformed from a fellow peer into nothing more than the butt of the joke. Kids need more self-confidence. Then they wouldn't feel the need to have to bring someone else down to feel accepted, could find their voice in speaking up for others, and the strength to stand up for themselves.

[@MatyldaJola]

How can bully get a proper male mentor, since very often bullying is caused by lack of good parenting? Bullying is not exclusive to kids, it happens to adults at work and sadly... in some family environments as well. Those patterns don't come from nothing... Very often bullies are bullied by parents and family members. They just copy what they see around. I think ..to certain extend... athletic disciplines can help... (self defense) ...home schooling is sometimes the answer as well.

[@AntonDeWit]

For some reason a Johnny Cash song, Don't take your guns to town, came to my mind: "He drank his first strong liquor then to calm his shaking hand And tried to tell himself at last he had become a man A dusty cowpoke at his side began to laugh him down And he heard again his mothers words: Don't take your guns to town son" A young man in an unfocused attempt to grow up. With, as far as we know, only a mother to give him good advice... Poor Billy Joe never had a male role model.

[@Resource777]

this is really good. tks Fr. :)

[@Fibonaccisghost]

You should watch a Canadian movie just released, "Monsieur Lazhar" about an Algerian man who starts a grade school teaching job in a faculty of mostly women. They clash throughout the movie and in it, there's an obvious lack of male leadership.

[@billybagbom]

Seriously, I agree with your statements about the responsibility and importance of women in the character formation of the young people of our culture. But you really should be aware that more women are involved with some of the garbage you are lamenting than you might realize. Not only in it's production, mind you, but also in its consumption.

[@CoryTheRaven]

"Well, I'm convinced. Let's slow-clap for a brilliant argument!" It has nothing to do with an argument. If he said the sun revolved around the earth, I would tell him he is wrong. That is not an argument. That is a statement of fact.

[@jessewallace12able]

Very good.

[@CoryTheRaven]

Yes, the unjust treatment of women was the point, not that women are inherently more nurturing and gracious and kindly than men.

[@CoryTheRaven]

Exactly. It's very easy for us to fall into various and sundry different forms of idolatry: to rely on anything but God, His grace and His instruction for our lives. The solution to bullying - done by both boys and girls as part of the ingrained human capacity for cruelty towards those most different from ourselves - is not to invent new tribal gender rituals. It's to teach them to be halfways-decent followers of Christ.

[@shedininja001]

Well thought out, a few things, I agree that boys (and) girls nead to have guidance towards mature behavor, tolerance, and so on. This also covers acceptance of being homosexual, or `odd' in other ways. The bully is someone or someones who do not know how to cope. The victom is the one without the ablity to defend or deflect these attacks - not that they should have to. Bottom line, socity is broken, beound time to be changed.

[@KarenReadsTwilight]

Great thoughts, Fr, but the way you explained the natural energies of boys being transformed into violence makes it seem as if this is a natural process and not, as I've often thought of it, the particular work of sin upon male character.

[@cittiavaticano]

The idea of a 'man' shifts to culture, what needs to happen is to teach children to respect others' differences and to live the gospel, without respect and understanding there is no loving or living the gospel.

[@farvision]

There are some dishonest people (children) who flag some comments as spam as a way of expressing that they really dislike something much more than the down thumb. They don't realize that they are being dishonest.

[@de0den]

Wow, do I find this interesting. I am an old man. I was more the boy bullied than the bullier. (But it seemed less of a problem back then than now, apparently.) I am wondering if those like me also lack the male initiation referenced here. I hope I can stay focused enough to read Leonard Sax's book.

[@CoryTheRaven]

"when having sex--without intending pregnancy-- is privatized between two, love not radiating beyond this?" I'm sorry, but when did sex become a public commodity?! You are absolutely, 100% damn right that my having sex is privatised between myself and my wife.

[@CoryTheRaven]

Well, as I noted before, I'm a Lutheran, so I have a strong skepticism of the amount of knowledge of God that can be derived from "nature" (not to mention a skepticism over the idea of free will). I would have to read up more on it, but it sounds to me like you're conflating natural law with Divine revelation. How can one presume to know that the filter you're using to decide what is right and what is wrong is itself correct?

[@magicsXfive]

The solution is still the same, young girls need positive female role models to teach them how to be respectable, productive, kindhearted women.

[@WillStrop2008]

Some of this argument *does* apply to girls too, *albeit* to a lesser extent. About traditional societies: All those examples derive their Initiation rituals from Prehistoric humanity. Think of early humans, going all the way back Homo habilis c. 2.6 million BC. Young males would have had a test of manhood, which, to a tribal council hundreds of thousands of years ago, or even million years ago, carried legal implications. When a young man passed his test, it meant he was no longer a minor. The reason we see fewer rituals for young females--fewer today, that is, in Prehistory there would have been zero--is because they had another method. When a young woman was fully regular, that meant, again from the standpoint of a tribal council hundreds of thousands or even millions of years ago, that she was no longer a minor. No test was necessary for girls, because nature had already given it. Anyway, hardship does build character, especially when it is at the beginning of a new journey. This is why Societies have what is known as Pledging.

[@CoryTheRaven]

No, you don't understand what I meant. What I meant is that YOU are projecting YOUR selfishness onto everybody else. You are trying to accuse me of self-indulgence because I have sex without chance of procreation, which totally ignores the self-giving, unifying aspect of sex. If YOU are selfish when having sex, if YOU are not self-giving, if YOU are self-indulgent, that is YOUR problem. You, TheAgapeLatte. I am not that way. Do not project your personality flaws onto me.

[@CoryTheRaven]

Maybe he is, maybe he isn't. The fact that he spoke approvingly of exclusionistic tribal societies and of Joseph Campbell makes me question, and I know I've disagreed with him before on issues that could be interpreted tribalistically (eg: his apparent view that women's sexuality is public property whereas the RCC ought to be immune to any outside scrutiny, such as government employment regulations). Suffice it to say that he's a priest and his loyalty lies with institutionalism.

[@efa0tz]

Wish my dad saw this 30 years ago.

[@CoryTheRaven]

"I consider this to be immoral be all means b/c sexual intercourse must have the procreative element, not simply the self-indulgence of pleasure, killing millions of live sperm cells just to get a kick out of a man" Well this is where you and I have to disagree as a Lutheran to a Catholic. Sex does not require a procreative element to be legitimized. Period. This business of killing millions of sperm doesn't even make sense. That happens ANYWAYS during heterosexual intercourse.

[@CoryTheRaven]

"I witnessed the whole phenomena while growing up..." And how long ago was that? What *I* have experienced as a male under 35 is that women by-in-large like the same games as men. The only difference is that they aren't as keen on sports games, and even that isn't a universal rule. As I said, and keep saying, you are wrong. Your point of view is out of touch with reality.

[@CoryTheRaven]

"you're accusing me of being self-righteous in promoting chastity/virginity as virtues" No, I'm accusing you of steadfastly assessing the world from your own limited point of view and outright refusing to even acknowledge facts that contradict you. You feel called to be a virgin for Christ. Good! Fine! You go and do that. BUT STOP DEMONIZING EVERYBODY WHO IS NOT LIKE YOU! Christianity isn't a contest.

[@CoryTheRaven]

"But, to remove the procreative aspect is not to engage in self-indulgence?" Correct, it is not. It is only self-indulgent if you are only in it for yourself. But if you are only in it for yourself, that is YOUR problem. If your emphasis is on what you get out of sex rather than what you give to your partner, that is YOUR misuse of sex, not anybody else's. For me this isn't even an issue of homosexula couples. This is an issue of sterile heterosexual couples. You villify them.

[@CoryTheRaven]

Being mentored by a PERSON, no. I'll go one step further and say that I much prefer the mentorship model of Confirmation to the sitting in a class and memorizing things model. Where I feel that Fr. Barron erred is on the assertion that we need to better emulate exclusionistic tribal societies. Sorry, but school is ALREADY an exclusionistic tribal society. That's why bullying happens, and its only relatively recently that we've begun to consider that a problem...

[@CoryTheRaven]

...If I'm getting riled up, I apologise, but I was bullied myself and what I see out of this video is yet more adult mollification of the bullies. You try to wrap it up as a sympathetic solution to bullying, but your solution is to further solidify the system that begets bullying. We don't need tribalistic gender rituals. We need to teach kids that BEATING UP ON PEOPLE DIFFERENT FROM YOU IS AN OFFENSE TO GOD. But hey, I see that this comment section has already started in with exactly that.

[@CoryTheRaven]

"And, well, consider mass poverty and war in "nature"; "IT HAPPENS" to use your relativist language...just because it is, doesn't mean that it should be (take that as a moral absolute)" THIS IS WHAT I SAID. The fundamental flaw of a moral philosophy derived from natural theology is that what happens in nature cannot be taken as a rule of what ought to happen. This is why YOUR argument was flawed. You were trying to argue that homosexuality not occuring in nature was evidence of it being wrong

[@BrendanBeckett]

What it means to be a man is whatever we make it - biology certainly plays a part in that but these are mostly social constructions, so why not construct them in the way we want them to be?

[@CoryTheRaven]

"that a partner merely exists for the sake of fulfilling my desires, and that there is no "transcendent third"--a greater good between us-- other than the satisfaction of pleasure" That can be a problem, but it is not an INHERENT problem. Obviously YOU have a problem with thinking of sex as anything other than dirty self-gratification of lust. But that is YOU. the rest of us aren't as emotionally damaged as you are. We actually have healthy relationships.

[@CoryTheRaven]

"Look at it from this perspective: am I in any way being selfish in pouring my thoughts out openly to the public..." Yes, you are, because you also refuse to listen. You do a great job of pontificating but you have yet to take seriously anything I tell you when I'm speaking from my own experience. I don't mind or care that you don't accept my arguments, but when I TELL you factual things like "girls like violent video games too", you just ignore it. You only seem to want to listen to yourself.

[@CoryTheRaven]

... If YOU feel called to lifelong virginity, then go with my blessing. But don't taint it with using your lifelong virginity as a cynical tool for feeling holier than the rest of us. Without love and without humility, your virginity means NOTHING. The moment you start bragging about it, the moment you start trying to make other people feel inferior, you have received your reward, and traded in your Heavenly one for it.

[@CoryTheRaven]

...What you ascribe to a lack of manliness isn't exclusive to men. Extended adolescence is a common thing now amongst men and women and has more to do with the economic necessity of a university education and the fact that we live for significantly longer. We aren't bearing children and fighting wars at 14 or 16 anymore, only to die at 50 or 60...

[@CoryTheRaven]

"Now, if women are so addicted to porn, why aren't they paying men for the sex, the trend clearly the other way around???" Because men have to. "Now, listen to the conversations that women have about men; you find that kind of lustful talk?" I'm the only male in my entire department at work, and the answer is yes. I'm actually pretty sure they even tone it down because they know I'm Christian.

[@CoryTheRaven]

"And, why are males so addicted to violent video games, women smart enough to stay away...?" You don't get it: this is not true. I am TELLING you, as a male under 35 who has grown up in the generation with the greatest amount of gender equality ever seen in human history, what you say is simply not true. The majority of women I know are into video games and are into the exact same ones as men: World of Warcraft, Call of Duty, Assassins Creed, you name it.

[@rooforlife]

cont... Col3:12 Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, heartfelt compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience John 13:34 I give you a new commandment: love one another. As I have loved you, so you should love one another. MT 22: 37-39 Jesus said to him, 'You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. 38 This is the greatest and the first commandment. 39 The second resembles it: You must love your neighbor as yourself.

[@CoryTheRaven]

So much for you takiing that quote seriously. Luther quotes Augustine saying that a martyr gets 100-fold fruits. That's a 40-fold difference from what you're striving for. So strive further. Take that quote seriously, stop wasting your vital fluids, and go be a martyr.

[@CoryTheRaven]

So what?!? One example does not make the case that women are inherently more compassionate and justice oriented as a gender.

[@CoryTheRaven]

1) It was a ridiculous question because it ignored that prostitution is a particular cultural phenomenon and does not actually reflect on the ability of both men and women to find sexual partners. 2) "you don't find that kind of wild stupidity in the women's dorms..." Yes you do.

[@CoryTheRaven]

...In Jewish law, a woman can commit adultery, because she is the property of the man. In fact, adultery is one of the most serious offenses - punihsable by death, as we saw in the Gospels - because it calls into question the paternity of any children she might have. In a patriarchal society, that is a pretty big deal...

[@CoryTheRaven]

...So when Jesus said that a man can commit adultery AT ALL, He was radically asserting that men have moral and legal obligations to women... That the same rules apply to them as apply to women. He even went further and said that not only can men commit adultery, but they can even do it in their hearts. Jesus was redressing an injustice forced upon women, not commenting on how men are somehow inherently more dirty dogs than women.

[@themilitanttemplar]

We need more commentaries about men being men. The MAN is disappearing and oaf's are on the rise.

[@CoryTheRaven]

"Let's leave it to this; I prefer talking about global war and poverty.." No, if you're going to talk about it, talk about it. Don't bugger off and pretend you're above it just because you have an indeffensible argument. That homosexuality is a statistically smaller sexual orinetation than heterosexuality is irrelevant, forming no basis for our ethical thought one way or another. I would agree that eros reaches its greatest culmination in marriage, which is why I am pro-gay-marriage.

[@Riofriosful]

Formational, maybe; but not vocational. When he talks about good male role model, I think that ideally that would be the father in a family. But fathers are never perfect, and that is where other good male role models come in. For me, the latter have been relatives, youth ministers, priests, and to some extent, friends.

[@CoryTheRaven]

...A good philosopher to read about stages of development is Ken Wilber... Much better than that hyackneyed Joseph Campbell at any rate, who tends to paint too rosy a picture of tribal societies and the "hero's journey". What you omitted - which is why your talk doesn't help the bullied - is that alienating the outsider is a key part of tribal societies. It's so fundamental to what is WRONG with humanity that God came down Himself, as a human, to tell us to knock it off...

[@CoryTheRaven]

Sorry, Gandhi was wrong too. I've known too many actual men and actual women to be suckered into belief that women have some kind of inherent nurturing spirit that men lack, or that men have some kind of greater inherent capacity for violence than do women. As for the question of who was more nurturing to Christ, fine. John was there too. And Joseph of Arimathea.

[@deanage69]

Deliverance? Really?