Apple CEO Tim Cook Publicly Comes Out as Gay in Letter Declaring Support for Equality

[RebornProphet]

Shameful stuff from a Russian politician:

TIM COOK SHOULD BE BANNED FROM THE COUNTY AFTER COMING OUT.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/p...-country-after-coming-out-as-gay-9829670.html

How backwards can people get?

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I am sexually immoral with myself in private regularly. Sometimes twice a day. It's nothing to be ashamed about.

A chug a day keeps the stress away.

 

[mudslag]

Here is the full text:
7 “Do not judge, or you too will be judged. 2 For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. 3 “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye?

I'm glad you listed all three verses mudslag. Note that this is a caution: if you judge, you will be held to the same standard. See verse 3? Is it forbidding you from helping your brother? No. It is telling us to fix our problems so that we will be able to help one another. In practice we all have sins in our lives that we must work on. Be careful of reading the Scriptures uncritically.

Jesus also said in Matthew 28:19ff
19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.

So here I am teaching you to obey Christ: sin no more.

The message is clear, dont judge. You can help someone without judging them. If someone doesn't want your help, then so be it. What you get out of that scripture is different then what I get out, again another example of a subjective view of scripture. If someone doesn't want your teaching, you have no place to force it on anyone.

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I'm sure many sociopaths would disagree (which is part of what makes them that by our definition).



You're applying your moral standard to them. Why do you think you or anyone else has that authority?


Why should a given moral be adhered to? Who should decide which we should follow?

We have the authority if they try to hurt someone, if not, then they are left to themselves. Society has agreed to that, if you have an issue with that social view, you're free to start a campaign against those views. You prob wont change much but you're more then welcome to try.

 

[brianvictor7]

1. Yet again it has to be pointed out to you that sexual immorality is subjective. What you deem immoral does not make it the same for the next person.

So?

2. STD/AIDS affect everyone, not just homosexuals. It's also far more controllable today then it was 20 yrs ago. It's not destroying any where near as many lives as it did 20 yrs ago.

This is not comforting for those who fall under the heading of "[no] where near as many lives as 20 yrs ago."

3. Sleeping around is another subjective view when it comes to the moral view. If you don't like sleeping around, dont do it, but your view stops with you.
So you are saying it is right for the promiscuous to subject the rest of society to a statistically measurable increase in risk for venereal diseases? How convenient for them. How tragic for the people they infect. Sounds like the definition of selfish behavior to me.

4. Sexually doing what people please is far from limited to the homosexual community.

I thought that was the point I made when I defined Sexual Immorality as sex outside of heterosexual marriage. That includes fornicators and adulterers.

5. Any view of sexual immorality from the bible is for those that live by the bible and even among those people it will still be a small percentage that truly follow that line of thinking. Shockingly there are a few billion people on this planet that don't live by the bible. It's not your place to push people to follow that view.

Salvation is not by survey.

6. You might also find this shocking, you can live a promiscuous lifestyle and remain STD free. Education and proper protection can keep you disease free. You don't have to break up someone's home or life and still be sexually free to do as you please. You live a very sheltered sad world if you truly believe the nonsense you just posted.

You can reduce your risk of STDs with protection. You will never eliminate it and I do not accept that it is right to lose even one life to such selfishness. Neither does Scripture.

 

[peterdevries]

How do some of you people sleep at night? You're pathetic.

Ignorance is bliss

 

[brianvictor7]

The message is clear, don't judge. You can help someone without judging them. If someone doesn't want your help, then so be it. What you get out of that scripture is different then what I get out, again another example of a subjective view of scripture. If someone doesn't want your teaching, you have no place to force it on anyone.

As a matter of fact, Jesus told his disciples to shake the dust off their feet when they encountered a town that would not receive His teaching. I believe we have reached that point here, sadly.

We have the authority if they try to hurt someone, if not, then they are left to themselves. Society has agreed to that, if you have an issue with that social view, you're free to start a campaign against those views. You prob wont change much but you're more then welcome to try.

And if some sociopath usurps that authority, like in North Korea, by what authority will you then object?

 

[peterdevries]

Over 2,300 posts ... and I bet if all the hypocritical, moronic, hateful ... and overall disheartening comments were removed, it would probably be less than 100. It is heartbreaking to see how low some of you people can be ... and the fact that you are okay with this. There really are no words to describe how vile you appear from the outside looking in ... but you should really be ashamed of yourselves. It is none of your business how other people live their lives as long as it isn't harming anyone else. That is a universal truth. Seriously ... find something better to do with your lives than making other people's lives miserable. I don't know what kind of upbringing you had ... but something went severely wrong down the road to "adulthood." You guys have a lot of learning and growing to do ... and I fear you may never change because you have utterly convinced yourselves that your hatefulness is somehow God's calling. It isn't, I assure you. Your actions are a disgrace to humankind ... and I truly hope that someday you guys can find it within yourselves to see that what you're doing causes more harm than good ... and that you will be humbled ... and you will change. But I really don't see that happening. I'm not even angry at you guys ... I'm just saddened ... truly ... that people can be this blind.

I quoted this so people could read it again. Well said.

 

[\-V-/]

As a matter of fact, Jesus told his disciples to shake the dust off their feet when they encountered a town that would not receive His teaching. I believe we have reached that point here, sadly.

That isn't the point we've reached. The point here is that your head has reached a distance so far up your nether region that there's no hope of ever dislodging it now. And the problem is that you're incapable of humility ... or seeing fault in anything you say ... which makes debating anything with you futile. Go find another place to spread your hatred.

 

[brianvictor7]

That isn't the point we've reached. The point here is that your head has reached a distance so far up your nether region that there's no hope of ever dislodging it now.

And on that mature note, we end our discussion. God bless.

 

[\-V-/]

And on that mature note, we end our discussion. God bless.

From the lack of maturity you have so eloquently displayed in the forums thus far, you don't get to have any authority over what may or may not be deemed "mature." Also, there is nothing "blessed" about all the venom you have spit in this thread ... and you are a glaring contradiction to the teachings of your Christ. I'll leave you with a blunt, but suitable image:

 

[dec.]

"Why can't you just keep it to yourself?" This is what I have been asking for the all sexually immoral people to at least have the decency to do, but they are without shame.

Well stop asking yourself - the simple answer is that they just don't share the same "god" as you do. And you will need to live with it. You don't seriously expect everyone else to live by whatever "god" you were told to 'believe" in? (maybe you've even chosen that "god" voluntarily, doesn't make a difference contextually) .

You said, "Stop judging others because of your own personal "belief"" I am curious as to why you feel privileged to do something while forbidding me to do it? When you say, "I stand to my point that I find your conclusions disgusting, misanthropic and detached from reality." are you judging me by your personal belief?

I don't have a "personal belief", there's no room or need for any "belief system" in my life. I know that people like you have a hard time understanding that, I don't expect you to respect it or anything, but it also doesn't matter, I don't need your understanding. What YOU need to understand is that your personal "belief" and opinion has zero relevance when it comes to the lives of others and the laws that affect them.

Yes, feel free to complain about "immoral people" , but really, what exactly do you expect? People change their lives because you personally think that there's some "god" out there who is unhappy about the lives that those people live? Get real.

You tell me to "Love and accept everyone " Why can't you love and accept me for believing what I believe?

Do you see the inherent incoherence of your arguments?

I have no issues with your "belief" at all, as long as it was chosen voluntarily and not imposed on you while you were a kid , such a "belief" is a plain joke and doesn't deserve the slightest respect whatsoever, so I'll assume that you picked your "god" at a mature age?

Why would I need to "love" you? I don't know you. I like people in general, but throwing around the term "Love" in that sense is extremely questionable... especially as you seem to be judging them more than loving them. I might not love everyone but I also don't judge them.

 

[flat five]

quote=#selfie
I can tell brianvictor7 (for instance) that I love my best friend and list many examples of why I'm attracted to him and he(bv7) will be ok with it.

I can then add that we also like to get naked together and he(the antigay) will not be ok with it.

it's the homosexual act, in particular, which upsets these people.. it's not the relationship between a man and man

Sorry, but that is either a misconstruing of what I said or what I expressed originally wasn't put sufficiently. Temptations are not good things. They are also not sinful to experience, only to indulge them is wrong.

oh, right.. that's what i meant by the parenthesized for instance after your name.

i haven't actually read your posts.. i was on a phone when i posted that (notice the capitalized "I"s ) and i just scrolled up the thread to find the person who was quoting the bible in the discussion to know which name to put in the parenthesis.

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that fact that your response says i misconstrued or didn't understand to an exact degree what you said-- is particularly telling.

i don't have to read what you said.. i also don't have to read what the atheists are saying.. i had this conversation for a month a few years back.. i already know both sides and how it's going to end up.

the basics boil down to (ie- the sitcom version):
christians-- bible quotes
atheists-- "you have to prove god exists.. you don't have to prove god doesn't exist" (subsequently rambling on forever in attempt to disprove god to the theist)

 

[mudslag]

This is not comforting for those who fall under the heading of "[no] where near as many lives as 20 yrs ago."


You can reduce your risk of STDs with protection. You will never eliminate it and I do not accept that it is right to lose even one life to such selfishness. Neither does Scripture.

In the era preceding ARVs, 1988–1995, 78 percent of the deaths were caused by AIDS, a figure that fell to 15 percent in the period spanning 2005 and 2010. At its peak in 1992, AIDS-related mortality reached a rate of 11 per 100 person-years and then plummeted to 0.144 by 2006.

So?

I thought that was the point I made when I defined Sexual Immorality as sex outside of heterosexual marriage. That includes fornicators and adulterers.

The point being that people have the Right to be promiscuous if they want to. You ranting about sexual immorality as if everyone here should be concerned. Clearly that's not the case.

And if some sociopath usurps that authority, like in North Korea, by what authority will you then object?

Dealing with a single person is far different then dealing with a sovereign nation. You really should understand that.

 

[bandrews]

And we are now back to the 'bible is subjective'. There is a reason there are so many different religious sects out there, because everyone's interpretation of the scripture is subjective. No one can prove the other wrong because of that very subjective view.




something something Matthew 7:1-3 something something





That seems a bit delusional in thinking.

Didn't you get the memo? Apparently all the Christians, Muslims, Jews, Buddhists, Hindus, Sihks and a bunch of other religions got together and decided to call a truce and agree that they're all right.

If all civilisations developed independently across the world believing in the same God, it might have some legs but the fact that every civilisation came up with different ways to explain away weather, sickness and death be it polytheism or monotheism, makes it impossible for me to take any religion as fact. Certain "moral codes" are no brainers and not exclusive to any one religion. Other rules set out in both the OT and Koran such as circumcision and not eating pork were ways to deal with hygiene issues in a time before refrigeration and sanitation. The fact that Christianity is so prevalent in the mid west and south of America means nothing to people in the Middle East who believe Islam is the one true religion (despite, essentially believing in the same God and sharing much of the Old Testament) - and it didn't "grow" there. It was put there, not by God but by man in the same way European Christians wiped out ancient South American religions with war and disease. But I'm sure God sanctioned that.

One way to see "who is right" would be if a group of children could be raised in complete isolation from religion and see if they, as a group develop beliefs that match any existing religion. My guess is they won't.

Religion is only passed along by word of mouth and through scripture. Even converts don't suddenly become religious through divine intervention without some knowledge of that religion. It all comes from human influence.

 

[cjmillsnun]

So glad I live in the UK.

We have homophobia here too. Look at the compromises to allow Gay marriage.

 

[pooleman]

How does that cost effect you? Are you asked to foot the bill???

It bothers me just on principle.

 

[cjmillsnun]

//My BOLD
I disagree with the sentiment that it's "sad". I think it's great! The more people see and understand that LGBTQ folks exist, are successful, aren't threatening others way of life, and are happy being who they are...the sooner they (we) will experience inherent equality.

I used to think it doesn't matter that I was Bi and it's no one's business but my own. But after a while I realized I was being selfish. I was only concerned at protecting myself from other people's thoughts about it rather than helping change people's thoughts.

Remember all, in many states it is perfectly legal to fire me because of the simple fact that I am attracted to women AND to men.

No it is sad. It's sad that we haven't moved to the stage where people can accept other people that are different. I think that was the point.

I don't care that you're bi, I don't care that Tim Cook is gay. What I care about is that you're human beings and have the right to live your life the way you want, as long as you don't cause harm to others.

Unfortunately there are many others who don't share my view.

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No it's not. Skin color is preset and an obvious fact. This is a mindset and some mindsets can be detrimental.

Really? You think some people choose to be gay? You and others like you are the reason this is news, the reason Tim has chosen to set this example.

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Can't wait for when this type of thing isn't news. Who cares what someone else's sexual preference is. The sooner we can stop talking about others sexual preferences and the color of skin, the better we'll be.

Agreed. But that'll only happen when human beings learn much more tolerance and acceptance.

 

[CB1234]

Some of the hate spewed and closed mindedness shown on here in name of religion is astounding. It makes Taliban/Al Qaida seem liberal....

Just unbelievable....

 

[cjmillsnun]

"science" has been a messed up place when mixed with political issues.

So being gay is a political issue now???

Really???

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Because in the UK gay people have more rights than straight people (eg they get preference when it comes to fostering and adoption just to fulfil a political agenda).

No they don't get any kind of preference. They get equality.

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Yes I say promote the heck out of marriage and family.

So you're willing to promote the straight agenda but if someone wants to come out as gay, then they're promoting the gay agenda which you don't need.

That sir, is the very definition of a hypocrite.

 

[cjmillsnun]

The problem with gay people in the US is they usually, even if they didn't start out that way, usually end up, maybe through influence of friends, end up subscribing to all this righteous left wing political crap, and then trying to shovel it on everything they touch. We've seen ample evidence of this at apple over the last year. I don't want ANY political crap, left or right or center supported with the money I give to a company. I want better devices and more R&D. I want Tim Cook to step down and turn the reins of the company to someone who loves and lives and breaths tech, and tech only.

Well guess what? Steve Jobs didn't love and live and breathe tech and tech only.

He had a wife, and children, and I'm sure they came before his job in his thinking.

So unless you want a computer running Apple, you aren't going to get your wish. Every human being has a life outside their job. Where that life is seen different to the norm, they get discrimination and hate. All Tim has done is to state who he is, in the hope that others are not afraid to be who they are.

 

[cjmillsnun]

You live in that world, people are trying to change that.

And I for one hope they succeed in that change and that we live in a world of equality.

 

[rdowns]

How backwards can people get?

Have you read the thread?

 

[Lictor]

You can come up with "morals" from anything you like. The questions is why should anyone follow them?

Because, as human being, we have capacities in common. For instance, we are social animal - from our birth we have a desire to belong. Likewise, our brains are wired for empathy, thanks to mirror neurons.
We don't need "god" to build a moral ground, we have that ability inside ourselves.

You example, "I dont want to be hurt by someone so I shouldn't hurt someone else' could very easily be countered by a sociopath with, "I don't want to be hurt by someone so I should hurt him first."

That's the problem with christian moral: it's an external force. As a result, you can only conceive moral as a constraint put unto yourself by a higher being. Normal people do not want to hurt others, because they feel empathy and that they will feel the other person's pain.
Sociopath are sociopath. A lot of serial killers had christian upbringing - if you were in a catholic country, you would know how much this religion is fascinated with death, torture and morbid imagery (who but a potential serial killer would boil saints to embed their bones in various objects?). It didn't prevent them from hurting others and "god" certainly didn't step in to prevent that.

Who is going to be the referee? And why should said referee be in charge in the first place? There is always someone with a bigger stick, except God (if he exists).

Who would pick as a referee a guy who has not bothered showing in the field for than 2000 years? I would pick a policeman and a judge other a god...

 

[matttye]

Two gay people in a loving, committed relationship is a contradiction in terms. If they are in it, it is not loving. It isn't what was intended for human sexuality. But you are right to say that in and of itself it has far fewer immediate and visible consequences than prostitution, but both fall short of the mark of what is right.

I'm astounded by your ignorance and it makes me feel so sad that people could hold such blatantly ridiculous viewpoints.

 

[RebornProphet]

Have you read the thread?

Yes. While cringing at the levels of hate and downright Bible bashing nonsense.

 

[.Andy]

It isn't what was intended for human sexuality.

As per the bible the original intent of god was for adam to be completely alone in the world with his penis. A plight many modern day bible scholars can relate to.