G'day from Melbourne

[Charbuque]

Hi, all
Chris from Melbourne here.
Potted History - Brought up in the Salvation Army - churchgoing 5 times a week. Started to figure it out to be a crock by the time I was 18 and left home - but it isn't easy to divorce yourself from the dogma you've been brought up in. I reckon it took another 5 years to be able to sit back from it all and realise the bizarre nature of the beliefs. The myths you are surrounded by become the backdrop to your world and everything else is seen in that context. I try and bear that in mind whenever I'm having a crack at prompting someone else to think for themselves :)

Anyway - now I am rambling. Emigrated to Australia from Scotland 3 years ago. Loving it. Good weather, great coffee, friendly people, footy. Hang on - maybe there is a god ;)

[davo]

Great to meet you, the most important thing of course, is when you say footy, do you mean aussie rules or soccer? ;)

[boxsey]

Welcome!!!

[Fiery]

Great to meet you, the most important thing of course, is when you say footy, do you mean aussie rules or soccer? ;)

Now there's a loaded question. By not giving your own answer Charbuque is held hostage to the possibility of offending you.

Welcome Charbuque, my apologies if I guess the gender wrong, sometimes I wish they'd code us pink or blue. But I'll be damned if I want to run around wearing pink. *shudders* anyway.

Church 5 days a week. OMFG!!! Did you enjoy it or find it intolerably boring? Although at 5 times a week, maybe you just got used to it???? :)

[Vonnie]

Hi Charbuque!

Vonnie

[Duffy]

Hi Charbuque, I always thought of the Salvos as harmless tamborine wackers. Happy to be enlightened, welcome.:)

[davo]

Now there's a loaded question. By not giving your own answer Charbuque is held hostage to the possibility of offending you.


If I got 'offended' over someone stating their preference of sport, now that would be silly ;)

But yes ... I definitely did load the question ;)

out of interest, I don't really follow 'the footy' ;)

Hope that helps in your answer Charbuque :D

hehe

[davo]

Hi Charbuque, I always thought of the Salvos as harmless tamborine wackers. Happy to be enlightened, welcome.:)

There is the usual religious child fiddling claims, in Australia there was something about the possibility of up to 500 claimants, which the church denies (http://www.salvationarmy.org.au/media/statements/2006_child_abuse.asp), some other stuff over seas ..

2001 having Karl Rove look at exempting them from the from laws banning discrimination against gays during hiring ref:
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2001/07/10/politics/main300601.shtml

2004 threatening to pull services out of New York if they were if the city enacted legislation requiring firms to offer health benefits to the partners of gay staffers . ref : http://www.chicagopride.com/news/article.cfm/ArticleID/1824489 also in

would be interested in other stuff, but, although they do some great work, the main thing I worry about is the power that comes about in such a hierarchical structured religious group (that in their 'Articles of War' they swear to follow what their bosses tell them) given their size and funding, .

[Roger]

Hi ...

[Charbuque]

Church 5 days a week. OMFG!!! Did you enjoy it or find it intolerably boring? Although at 5 times a week, maybe you just got used to it???? :)

Hi, Fiery - It's worse than that - I used to go out and about on Sundays encouraging other people to get bored as well. Still - I did get to learn to play the trumpet, so it's not all bad. Actually, thinking about my trumpet playing - it probably is all bad.

As for the chromatic gender question

Genderly (that's not a word is it) Blue, and politically, Pink. Personally I like Orange and Black but I can't seem to find the right political party or sexual proclivity to match.

Davo - Soccer bores me more than Church - I have been assimilated by the AFL, but I only get to attend service once a week, and even then I get half the year off. :)