Tech obsessions and cat identities

[nett]

I think sums up the attitude of some recent posts.

[nett]

I have a hard time getting particularly concerned about any of it. As long as you are meeting your other adult responsibilities I don’t think it matters all that much how you spend your free time and what kind of imaginary worlds you might enjoy living in. That comes with living in a free society and a society wealthy enough for people to have elaborate hobbies. I like building boats and sailing. And I read a LOT of books about sailing, ocean exploration, and marine science. My wife likes building model villages and creates the most elaborate Christmas village displays every year. And I have a brother who has spent all his spare time over the past two years carefully restoring a 40 year old traditional British motorsailer that was brought around from the North Sea to Alaska. And another brother who spends most of his spare time playing the banjo in various bluegrass bands.

If some kids or adults like dressing up as cats I find myself utterly unconcerned. There are so many actual human pathologies to be more concerned about from substance abuse, sexual addictions and infidelity, abusive relationships and abusive parents, toxic abusive bosses, criminals, deliberately homeless, mentally ill, etc, etc etc.

Like a good liberal, You fail to see a person as a whole. People are just composed of discrete blocks, and what they think, or what they do in their free time doesn't matter, "As long as you are meeting your other adult responsibilities". Which is absurd, because someone who is so psychologically unwell, that they actually think they are a cat, is obviously going to have issues with adult responsibilities.

The Christian truth is that what you do in secret absolutely will affect your whole life.

Please remove infidelity from your list of real problems. Maybe you missed your last liberal think download, but infidelity is a right, and should be celebrated. Why are you such a prude?

[ohio jones]

Some people create elaborate online worlds and personas in multi-player games like

MennoNet.

[Ken]

I have a hard time getting particularly concerned about any of it. As long as you are meeting your other adult responsibilities I don’t think it matters all that much how you spend your free time and what kind of imaginary worlds you might enjoy living in. That comes with living in a free society and a society wealthy enough for people to have elaborate hobbies. I like building boats and sailing. And I read a LOT of books about sailing, ocean exploration, and marine science. My wife likes building model villages and creates the most elaborate Christmas village displays every year. And I have a brother who has spent all his spare time over the past two years carefully restoring a 40 year old traditional British motorsailer that was brought around from the North Sea to Alaska. And another brother who spends most of his spare time playing the banjo in various bluegrass bands.

If some kids or adults like dressing up as cats I find myself utterly unconcerned. There are so many actual human pathologies to be more concerned about from substance abuse, sexual addictions and infidelity, abusive relationships and abusive parents, toxic abusive bosses, criminals, deliberately homeless, mentally ill, etc, etc etc.

Like a good liberal, You fail to see a person as a whole. People are just composed of discrete blocks, and what they think, or what they do in their free time doesn't matter, "As long as you are meeting your other adult responsibilities". Which is absurd, because someone who is so psychologically unwell, that they actually think they are a cat, is obviously going to have issues with adult responsibilities.

The Christian truth is that what you do in secret absolutely will affect your whole life.

Please remove infidelity from your list of real problems. Maybe you missed your last liberal think download, but infidelity is a right, and should be celebrated. Why are you such a prude?

Fine. So feel free to explain to us how someone dressing up like cats is categorically different from someone who spends every weekend dressing up like a Confederate general and marching around Civil War battlefields carrying a musket and saber. Or, for that matter, someone who dresses up like a 1920s train engineer complete with hat and spends all their spare time building a picture perfect 1920s model railroad and then driving trains around.

[nett]

I have a hard time getting particularly concerned about any of it. As long as you are meeting your other adult responsibilities I don’t think it matters all that much how you spend your free time and what kind of imaginary worlds you might enjoy living in. That comes with living in a free society and a society wealthy enough for people to have elaborate hobbies. I like building boats and sailing. And I read a LOT of books about sailing, ocean exploration, and marine science. My wife likes building model villages and creates the most elaborate Christmas village displays every year. And I have a brother who has spent all his spare time over the past two years carefully restoring a 40 year old traditional British motorsailer that was brought around from the North Sea to Alaska. And another brother who spends most of his spare time playing the banjo in various bluegrass bands.

If some kids or adults like dressing up as cats I find myself utterly unconcerned. There are so many actual human pathologies to be more concerned about from substance abuse, sexual addictions and infidelity, abusive relationships and abusive parents, toxic abusive bosses, criminals, deliberately homeless, mentally ill, etc, etc etc.

Like a good liberal, You fail to see a person as a whole. People are just composed of discrete blocks, and what they think, or what they do in their free time doesn't matter, "As long as you are meeting your other adult responsibilities". Which is absurd, because someone who is so psychologically unwell, that they actually think they are a cat, is obviously going to have issues with adult responsibilities.

The Christian truth is that what you do in secret absolutely will affect your whole life.

Please remove infidelity from your list of real problems. Maybe you missed your last liberal think download, but infidelity is a right, and should be celebrated. Why are you such a prude?

Fine. So feel free to explain to us how someone dressing up like cats is categorically different from someone who spends every weekend dressing up like a Confederate general and marching around Civil War battlefields carrying a musket and saber. Or, for that matter, someone who dresses up like a 1920s train engineer complete with hat and spends all their spare time building a picture perfect 1920s model railroad and then driving trains around.

Two of those things are re-enactments of human history. They are also just re-enactments. I've never heard of someone identifying as a civil war general, or 1920s engineers in daily life.

The other is a person who actually believes they are a different species, and expects society to treat them as such.

I think you're being intentionally obtuse in order to make liberal idealogical sounds more palatable. So I'm going to take the same tactic from the opposite side.

Can you explain to me how encouraging mentally ill people to live in a fantasy land is helpful for them or society?

[Josh]

In my church conference, dressing up for war enactments is not considered something a Christian should do. Without judging those who are without, we feel we should be our true selves, not actors and actresses.

[Ken]

Like a good liberal, You fail to see a person as a whole. People are just composed of discrete blocks, and what they think, or what they do in their free time doesn't matter, "As long as you are meeting your other adult responsibilities". Which is absurd, because someone who is so psychologically unwell, that they actually think they are a cat, is obviously going to have issues with adult responsibilities.

The Christian truth is that what you do in secret absolutely will affect your whole life.

Please remove infidelity from your list of real problems. Maybe you missed your last liberal think download, but infidelity is a right, and should be celebrated. Why are you such a prude?

Fine. So feel free to explain to us how someone dressing up like cats is categorically different from someone who spends every weekend dressing up like a Confederate general and marching around Civil War battlefields carrying a musket and saber. Or, for that matter, someone who dresses up like a 1920s train engineer complete with hat and spends all their spare time building a picture perfect 1920s model railroad and then driving trains around.

Two of those things are re-enactments of human history. They are also just re-enactments. I've never heard of someone identifying as a civil war general, or 1920s engineers in daily life.

The other is a person who actually believes they are a different species, and expects society to treat them as such.

I think you're being intentionally obtuse in order to make liberal idealogical sounds more palatable. So I'm going to take the same tactic from the opposite side.

Can you explain to me how encouraging mentally ill people to live in a fantasy land is helpful for them or society?

I haven't ever heard of anyone who actually BELIEVES they are a cat. That is just delusional like someone who believes they are Napoleon or Hitler or Jesus Christ. I have heard of people who are into dressing like cats and doing role-play and that sort of thing. Which is what I assume you are talking about.

[nett]

Fine. So feel free to explain to us how someone dressing up like cats is categorically different from someone who spends every weekend dressing up like a Confederate general and marching around Civil War battlefields carrying a musket and saber. Or, for that matter, someone who dresses up like a 1920s train engineer complete with hat and spends all their spare time building a picture perfect 1920s model railroad and then driving trains around.

Two of those things are re-enactments of human history. They are also just re-enactments. I've never heard of someone identifying as a civil war general, or 1920s engineers in daily life.

The other is a person who actually believes they are a different species, and expects society to treat them as such.

I think you're being intentionally obtuse in order to make liberal idealogical sounds more palatable. So I'm going to take the same tactic from the opposite side.

Can you explain to me how encouraging mentally ill people to live in a fantasy land is helpful for them or society?

I haven't ever heard of anyone who actually BELIEVES they are a cat. That is just delusional like someone who believes they are Napoleon or Hitler or Jesus Christ. I have heard of people who are into dressing like cats and doing role-play and that sort of thing. Which is what I assume you are talking about.

Have you heard of men who BELIEVE they are women, or vice versa?

[Neto]

Fine. So feel free to explain to us how someone dressing up like cats is categorically different from someone who spends every weekend dressing up like a Confederate general and marching around Civil War battlefields carrying a musket and saber. Or, for that matter, someone who dresses up like a 1920s train engineer complete with hat and spends all their spare time building a picture perfect 1920s model railroad and then driving trains around.

Two of those things are re-enactments of human history. They are also just re-enactments. I've never heard of someone identifying as a civil war general, or 1920s engineers in daily life.

The other is a person who actually believes they are a different species, and expects society to treat them as such.

I think you're being intentionally obtuse in order to make liberal idealogical sounds more palatable. So I'm going to take the same tactic from the opposite side.

Can you explain to me how encouraging mentally ill people to live in a fantasy land is helpful for them or society?

I haven't ever heard of anyone who actually BELIEVES they are a cat. That is just delusional like someone who believes they are Napoleon or Hitler or Jesus Christ. I have heard of people who are into dressing like cats and doing role-play and that sort of thing. Which is what I assume you are talking about.

The person I mentioned believes it enough that she changed her name. Legally. That is not the same as role playing.

[Ken]

Two of those things are re-enactments of human history. They are also just re-enactments. I've never heard of someone identifying as a civil war general, or 1920s engineers in daily life.

The other is a person who actually believes they are a different species, and expects society to treat them as such.

I think you're being intentionally obtuse in order to make liberal idealogical sounds more palatable. So I'm going to take the same tactic from the opposite side.

Can you explain to me how encouraging mentally ill people to live in a fantasy land is helpful for them or society?

I haven't ever heard of anyone who actually BELIEVES they are a cat. That is just delusional like someone who believes they are Napoleon or Hitler or Jesus Christ. I have heard of people who are into dressing like cats and doing role-play and that sort of thing. Which is what I assume you are talking about.

The person I mentioned believes it enough that she changed her name. Legally. That is not the same as role playing.

Obviously she doesn't really believe she actually is a cat because cat's don't file legal papers with the local county clerk and file name change motions. Our two cats don't even know what a county clerk is. Cat's don't actually have names. People give them names but cat's don't give themselves names. And they don't speak English. She just wants to change her name and is taking the role playing to a higher level than most. People change their names all the time for all kinds of stupid reasons. Of all the stupid and inane things people do with their lives this one seems pretty tame (pun intended).