How are we different ?

rbtvgo said:
Why can't we think and act like we need each other all the time.
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Because of our culture in the US. That male-dominated culture would not see thinking we need each other as manly until a person was old enough to be wise. The US culture Is based on extreme hardship, early deaths, and male domination. More Spartan than Athenian, until rather recently. We are at a crossroads and today we will know which road our new President will take us down.
 

This is not a male dominated culture. Sorry. Maybe it once was, but not anymore. Quit frankly I have no problem with it. They can pull a trigger just like I can. Granted they work harder then we do to make that fact known. I don't worry about my hair or nails and if I had to I would be late for work:) They do. How they do it I have no idea.....but they do.
Good for them, yet that does not relocate us to servitude. There are many things that a woman would have trouble with and without us they would be in deep doodoo.
So, bottom line is.... we need each other. The two shall become one, as the Bible says.
That aside, we also need the balance of understanding the world around us. Men are colder than women. "kill them all, let God sort it out" yet woman offer a perspective that reflects a more humane view of events. "these are people, just like you and I". So we stop and reflect. Therein lays the balance between men and women. We need each other. period.
 

OK when you are talking more narrowly about we men needing women at our most basic level of needs, I can emphatically agree without at least the possibility of women, my own and many other men's lives would not have enough meaning to be worthwhile. For instance some monk in a monastery or life sentence prisoner in some copper mine. This person hopelessly loves that this existence I have experienced included loving women.
 
In the situation you describe....the differences between people would give them a better chance of survival. Individual skills would soon become evident and people would quickly find a role in the community. It would also show up weaknesses. There are always those who prefer to be dependant on others instead of doing things for themselves. They would quickly learn to pull their weight!
 
rbtvgo said:
Suppose we were all on airline going somewhere, maybe west. we crash and the closes land is an uninhabited island. How long would it take before all the differences disappeared and we all worked together ???? This is one thing that sticks in the mind of people who served their country. There was a monument in their lives when all that matter was the person next to them. They never forget that.
So how are we different? and how are we the same?
rbtvgo
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I am a Vietnam Veteran. I was 19 years old as nearly all of us were. I came from near a city but not from one. My school was racially integrated but my neighbourhood .... not so much. In any case, rock & pop music was mixed but when I entered the Army I noticed racial gravitation.

I tried to befriend the guys who were darker than me. I was accepted but not fully. It ended up being three distinct groups: White - Black - Mixed. The Indians, Hawaiians, and Hispanics (except for Puerto Ricans whose nationality often created their own click) fell into the white group. I considered myself belonging to the mixed group. I knew who was white and who was black but I also knew who came from what state so there wasn't really as much significance with racial distinctions as there was from who was a city boy and who was a country boy. That's just the way it is. Pooling resources on a deserted island would eventually make all distinctions irrelevant.
 
When I was a young woman looking for a job I basically had two choices: Go west to NYC or go east to the atomic laboratory. I landed a better job at the lab and I am so thankful. I worked with people from all over the world and began to realize how much we had in common.
 
Vida May said:
Because of our culture in the US. That male-dominated culture would not see thinking we need each other as manly until a person was old enough to be wise. The US culture Is based on extreme hardship, early deaths, and male domination. More Spartan than Athenian, until rather recently. We are at a crossroads and today we will know which road our new President will take us down.
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I don't know where to begin with this one. Misandry is not a virtue.
 
This is getting way too complicated. There are differences to be sure. The difference between men and woman is more of a cultural issue. So be it. Each culture can sort out the problems and concerns as time goes on.
I am saying that you put 250 people of mixed genders and cultures on a plane and it crashes on a desert island it doesn't take very long before the need to survive and rely on one another becomes the priority.
So why is it so hard to reach the conclusion of our need for one another in every day life???????????
Politics be damned. They create the issues, they point out how we are superior to everyone else. They point out our need to fight for our beliefs. They tell us what is right and wrong................and yet their agenda is self serving. Not for your benefit or mine.....but theirs.

Put 250 people on a plane of mixed genders and cultures and it crashes. All you have I each other...................................... Politics be damned.
Think about it.
 
dilettante said:
I don't know where to begin with this one. Misandry is not a virtue.
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I suppose if one does not consider cultural reality, the context of that person's mind can see misandry instead of all the things dealing with culture that we could talk about. I was speaking of culture after watching a documentary about cultural differences, and not all cultures are make dominated and aggressive.

Patriarchy is a gendered structure in which the most powerful men of society impose their will on others. Patriarchy is linked to other axes of oppression to produce scattered experiences of power and inequality for different men and women in distinct national contexts. Masculine hegemons codify patriarchy in legal systems that underpin culture-making institutions such as the family, schools, religion, the media, the medical establishment, and the workplace. Male dominance shapes and orders lives and bodies. As such, women and men who do not neatly fit into the heterosexual gender binary are rejected and “corrected” through physical, structural, and institutional violence. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi...structure,women in distinct national contexts.
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Does anyone want to argue Christianity is not patriarchal? Does anyone want to consider our brutal history? Without the ability to see the bigger picture, how can we make good decisions?

"How are we different" is a very broad subject, we have cultural differences, physical differences, and intellectual age differences. Today the world is very unstable and perhaps understanding our differences can give us hope for a better future.
 
rbtvgo said:
This is not a male dominated culture. Sorry. Maybe it once was, but not anymore. Quit frankly I have no problem with it. They can pull a trigger just like I can. Granted they work harder then we do to make that fact known. I don't worry about my hair or nails and if I had to I would be late for work:) They do. How they do it I have no idea.....but they do.
Good for them, yet that does not relocate us to servitude. There are many things that a woman would have trouble with and without us they would be in deep doodoo.
So, bottom line is.... we need each other. The two shall become one, as the Bible says.
That aside, we also need the balance of understanding the world around us. Men are colder than women. "kill them all, let God sort it out" yet woman offer a perspective that reflects a more humane view of events. "these are people, just like you and I". So we stop and reflect. Therein lays the balance between men and women. We need each other. period.
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Do you want to argue Christianity is not patriarchal or that it has not been the dominating factor of US culture? "The two should become as one" and the head of the household is the man, and his wife will obey. There are matriarchal cultures where ownership of property gives women power and women are denied power in a patriarchy.

Yes, Cherokee women inherited property from their mothers in a matrilineal kinship system:



  • Property ownership
    Cherokee women owned the houses where their extended families lived, including bark summer houses, winter houses, corn cribs, and storage sheds.



  • Inheritance
    Daughters inherited property from their mothers, and this wealth passed down through generations.



  • Land ownership
    Cherokee women also communally owned agricultural lands with other women.






  • Social role
    Cherokee women played a vital role in keeping the tribe fed and alive through their cultivation skills, conservation, and economy. They also had a say in political affairs and were considered equals to men in all aspects of Cherokee society.
    indian tribe names - Google Search
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  • I am sorry if I am offending people but what do the people here know about the differences? In a world that is becoming increasingly threatening perhaps we should know about our differences and why the US once loved for defending people around the world, is now gaining enemies. Like Socrates of Athens questioned why Athens lost the war with Sparta, I am questioning what went wrong.
    I don't hate men who were exploited as soldiers, or cheap labor, and forced to risk their lives to defend our national interest and support their families. Our past was brutal and the reasoning from that past may still be a problem.

 
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Here is a summary of "Lord of the Flies". A horrific story of boys trying to survive on an island and how they slip into killing some of the boys.
https://www.sparknotes.com/lit/flies/summary/

It reminds me of the clicks in high school where some students expected others to follow a leader and like or dislike different people depending on the leader's decisions. It also reminds me of the chickens' pecking order. I grew up in LA so I also think of gangs and criminal behavior as a way of gaining status. When I try to understand human behavior, I look to the animals, not the Bible. I think a scientific understanding of human behavior is important to our decisions regarding human behavior.
 
HermitHogan said:
... or it can make us even more cynical.
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Being cynical is not a virtue. We once believed "virtue" was synonymous with "strength" and we used literature to teach children the virtues. I think a correct understanding of democracy is to understand what virtues and morals have to do with democracy, liberty, and strong economy, etc..

My school teacher Grandmother had three values...
1. We respect everyone because we are respectful people. It does not matter who the other person is, the mayor or a bum. It is our character and virtues that matter.

2. We protect the dignity of others.

3. We do everything with integrity.

I can handle those rules better than the mandate that I love everyone. I suspect the mandate to love everyone opens the door for bigotry. Love is an emotion and emotions change and change. A code of behavior does not change.
 
Vida May said:
I suppose if one does not consider cultural reality, the context of that person's mind can see misandry instead of all the things dealing with culture that we could talk about. I was speaking of culture after watching a documentary about cultural differences, and not all cultures are make dominated and aggressive.



Does anyone want to argue Christianity is not patriarchal? Does anyone want to consider our brutal history? Without the ability to see the bigger picture, how can we make good decisions?

"How are we different" is a very broad subject, we have cultural differences, physical differences, and intellectual age differences. Today the world is very unstable and perhaps understanding our differences can give us hope for a better future.
Click to expand...
Yeah, we are different....yet we are not. We all want the same things from our lives. Work hard, make money, provide for our family. Be respected for our endeavors by our community and our family. Yet, do we demand more? This is where we get into the ME frame of mind. Do you expect to be honored because of your efforts...................................or do you provide because it is the right thing to do??
Expecting to be honored is not sacrificial, it is self centered.
Providing for those you love is giving and the Lord sees the different.
You do because it is right or you do because you want payback????

On another note, the bible was a book of infinite knowledge and practical guidance for living one's life. The ten commandments , go beyond cultural differences. They apply to all cultures. They are fair, practical, easily understood and .........................RIGHT!

We are sad the same, we smile the same, we worry the same, we rejoice the same, we love the same, we are angry at injustice the same, we want justice the same and we want to be heard the same.

There was a poster up on the wall, when I came to Vietnam. Red letters, maybe 24x36. I quote: "SUPPOSE THEY GAVE A WAR AND NOBODY CAME". Suppose, I didn't show. Suppose none of us showed.I suspect that unless the warring leaders wanted to get in the ring and settle it that the answer would never appear.

We are the same...................................Don't let the BS confuse you

We need each other and that will prevail in all circumstances.
 
rbtvgo said:
Yeah, we are different....yet we are not. We all want the same things from our lives. Work hard, make money, provide for our family. Be respected for our endeavors by our community and our family. Yet, do we demand more? This is where we get into the ME frame of mind. Do you expect to be honored because of your efforts...................................or do you provide because it is the right thing to do??
Expecting to be honored is not sacrificial, it is self centered.
Providing for those you love is giving and the Lord sees the different.
You do because it is right or you do because you want payback????

On another note, the bible was a book of infinite knowledge and practical guidance for living one's life. The ten commandments , go beyond cultural differences. They apply to all cultures. They are fair, practical, easily understood and .........................RIGHT!

We are sad the same, we smile the same, we worry the same, we rejoice the same, we love the same, we are angry at injustice the same, we want justice the same and we want to be heard the same.

There was a poster up on the wall, when I came to Vietnam. Red letters, maybe 24x36. I quote: "SUPPOSE THEY GAVE A WAR AND NOBODY CAME". Suppose, I didn't show. Suppose none of us showed.I suspect that unless the warring leaders wanted to get in the ring and settle it that the answer would never appear.

We are the same...................................Don't let the BS confuse you

We need each other and that will prevail in all circumstances.
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Do you think people who believe in God are different than those who don't? I think the Bible teaches us about this.?
 
rbtvgo said:
Yeah, we are different....yet we are not. We all want the same things from our lives. Work hard, make money, provide for our family. Be respected for our endeavors by our community and our family. Yet, do we demand more? This is where we get into the ME frame of mind. Do you expect to be honored because of your efforts...................................or do you provide because it is the right thing to do??
Expecting to be honored is not sacrificial, it is self centered.
Providing for those you love is giving and the Lord sees the different.
You do because it is right or you do because you want payback????

On another note, the bible was a book of infinite knowledge and practical guidance for living one's life. The ten commandments , go beyond cultural differences. They apply to all cultures. They are fair, practical, easily understood and .........................RIGHT!

We are sad the same, we smile the same, we worry the same, we rejoice the same, we love the same, we are angry at injustice the same, we want justice the same and we want to be heard the same.

There was a poster up on the wall, when I came to Vietnam. Red letters, maybe 24x36. I quote: "SUPPOSE THEY GAVE A WAR AND NOBODY CAME". Suppose, I didn't show. Suppose none of us showed.I suspect that unless the warring leaders wanted to get in the ring and settle it that the answer would never appear.

We are the same...................................Don't let the BS confuse you

We need each other and that will prevail in all circumstances.
Click to expand...
Some of us don't believe in the supernatural.
 
How are we different? Some of us want to be uncommitted to others and others think our commitments are important. Some of us want to be feminine and others want to be masculine and what we want to be may or may not agree with our gender. Many want a stimulating life and others may want peace and good organization. Some want to be leaders and others want to be followers. Some want to be on stage and others like to be backstage. Some are the first to volunteer for wars. Others refuse to go to war. There are many, many ways to be different. Which ones are important? How do we determine what is right?

I think the goal of the OP is to kindle kindness and acceptance, but I am not sure about the boundaries of tolerance or the depth of thought.
 
rbtvgo said:
Expecting to be honored is not sacrificial, it is self centered.
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I know William Shatner, Star Trek Kirk, spoke against honor but I think in the context of life, honor is very important. This is one of the clashes between Christians and pagans. To be the hero or one of the sheep.

To do the honorable thing is to do the right thing. Doing wrong is dishonorable and we should care! Expecting to be honored can motivate a person to sacrifice him/herself. This honor is not just about oneself but also the family, the tribe, the nation. Wanting honor is intrinsic to doing the right thing.
https://www.google.com/search?sca_e...2ahUKEwiqv5Xa7dSJAxX_FzQIHYO7INcQ9OUBegQIKxAD
 
Standard interpretations of Aristotle’s Nichomachean Ethics usually maintain that Aristotle (384-322 B.C.E.) emphasizes the role of habit in conduct. It is commonly thought that virtues, according to Aristotle, are habits and that the good life is a life of mindless routine.
Aristotle: Ethics | Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy
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That is what several Eastern philosophers said and it is agreeable with what the education expert, John Dewey, said. When we develop good habits we free our minds for higher-order thinking. Our freedom to pursue happiness does not mean indulging in frivolous pleasures but seeking knowledge that is intrinsic to a high quality of life. This is refined and civil. Something for a civilization to aspire to, beginning with the education of the young.
 
rbtvgo said:
the bible was a book of infinite knowledge
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In which book is the medical information that would have given us a longer life expectancy long, long ago and prevented the witch hunts?

Is there a book in the bible that explains math as we understand it today?

How do you justify claiming the book gave us infinite knowledge?
 
You have your ire up.....good.
Yes to all your question. the Bible explains all. You have not read it. Don't quote me Lord of the Flies or any other book for that matter. All were produced by the creation, not the creator.

Who created you? where did you come from? Before you could speak someone nursed you, brought you up. Before you knew ANYTHING!

Now you want to debate logic. The meaning of life, why God allows horrific things to happen. Why life is so unfair.
Read the Bible. Don't debate every issue you have a problem with....just read it.

I am not going to debate you on why life is gruel or unfair. I am not going to debate about the things that don't make sense to you or me for that matter. There are things that I question yet I know, believe, and never doubt that God is there and he has my back. I served in Vietnam so I know what that means.
Don't have the answers you are looking for but I suspect that if you do take the time to read the Bible you will be surprised.

Have a good evening
 
rbtvgo said:
Men are colder than women. "kill them all, let God sort it out" yet woman offer a perspective that reflects a more humane view of events.
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Not in every case. Remember the interview with Madeline Albright:

"We have heard that half a million [Iraqi] children have died. I mean, that is more children than died in Hiroshima," Stahl said. "And, you know, is the price worth it?" "I think that is a very hard choice," Albright answered, "but the price, we think, the price is worth it."

Watch: Madeleine Albright Saying Iran Children Deaths 'Worth It' Resurfaces


I could list several women, not only Elizabeth Báthory, who are much worse than men.
 

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