outsiderlookingin

Hope everyone had an amazing Pesach! Now back to business:

@RebbitzenGoldenpickanicerscreenname: That’s unsettling.

@LittleFroggie:
Did he state what the reason was? I’m wondering if he approaches it from a different angle. I’ll need to go back and learn. And again, why would you be “trying out” someone who is your friend?

Regarding the gay person, I apologize. There was a point I meant to elaborate on but forgot to: The Torah says “A man who lies with a man in the way he lies with a woman…” indicating action. If a man lies with another man in that way he has, in fact, committed a sin and an immoral act. However, if he did not do such an action but just has the desires of a gay man (and doesn’t act on them) I don’t see that as a problem. Unless of course, one holds that simply existing and being gay is a sin.

@shopping613: Let me give you an example: I have a friend who is female and not observant. She is planning on pursuing the same degree in engineering as I am. Additionally, we both compete in similar robotics leagues among other similarities. As such, our conversations mostly focus on those things and our lives, but nothing really beyond that. The fact that she’s female and non-observant doesn’t really play into our friendship. So to answer your questions, It isn’t GOING anywhere, because that isn’t the type of friendship it is.

@sygalochochma: I am actually in talks with some rabbis I’m close with on this issue.

@avram in MD: For this exact reason. There are a lot of things I’ve been brought up with under the guise of Orthodox that I’ve found differ from the greater Orthodox community and I’d like some answers.

@Sam Klein: I think the key is respect. Just because I hang out with these people doesn’t mean I am automatically them. We have our views and we respect each other’s views. For instance, if my friend is a conservative Jew, I still respect him and his customs even if my personal custom is different. A person is not defined by their religion or lack thereof and defining a person only based on religion is a terrible trait. Just because someone is different than you does NOT automatically make them evil. Nor does it automatically mean you will become them. Furthermore, what defines a “tzadik?” If a person is a good person but not Jewish, why should they not be considered “good?” Lastly, I never said they were only alchoholics. I have a diverse range of friends and while some may fall into that category many of my friends are not. We are all intellectually respectful of each other and we have similar interests (robotics, world, technology, music, etc) and our religious or sexual differences do not make us different PEOPLE.

@Joseph: What I said above still stands. These people aren’t automatically crazy just because they are of a different religion, gender, or orientation. And I do see the results of interacting with the opposite gender. I understand that they are people that have ideas as well and not just as tempting things until marriage. It means that I no longer look at a woman and immediately have Teivas because I’m used to it and i don’t see every single woman as tempting.