There was someone in a thread here once who said when he was young he had severe depression and anger issues, and said he used to do stuff like that. He said it literally was that he was so unhappy that he hated seeing other people happy. He was embarrassed about it now, but couldn’t see past it at the time.

I think there are some downvote bots here like there was on Reddit. Not sure what the point is, but I’ve seen some communities where every post starts at negative 1, and others where every comment seems to get a downvote. Not sure what the reasoning is. I think some people just hate the idea of other people being happy.

Hi Emma! I’m not in that area or LGBTQ+, just an ally, and an old guy with paternal instincts, and I wanted to make sure that you stay safe. Lemmy seems much more progressive on average than most online spaces, but like anywhere there are predator types here too. Please make sure that any first meets you do are in public, safe spaces.

I hope you meet some great people that help you feel less isolated. Good luck!

I literally just stuck my foot out from the covers as I was clicking this link. And it didn’t even sink in that I had done that until I clicked “next.” When I realized, I had to come back and post this - you’re welcome.

Years ago I was walking through a park area of UC Berkeley while on vacation and this squirrel walked right in front of me and stood there, so I stopped and watched it. I realized I had some food in my backpack and there might be something squirrel-appropriate, so I very slowly took it off and opened it up, hoping the squirrel wouldn’t get scared and run away. I found something - like a grape or something, don’t remember what - and got it out to toss to the squirrel, but when he saw it he ran up my pants leg and stopped at about my waist. Scared the crap out of me. I held out the food and he took it with one hand, stuck it in his mouth, and ran away.

That’s when I learned that there are apparently tame squirrels all around Berkeley.

No, this is not the place for that. People come here to see cute things, not to see a wounded animal. I feel badly for you and your boy, but this is the wrong community.

Exactly

Transgender day of visibility has been March 31st for years, Biden didn’t co-opt Easter for trans people (not that I would care if he did).

Mine was curious enough that she licked the bubble, which popped in her face.

That’s funnier than the similar pic I took of ours a bunch of years ago.

I do think with most people who never develop that, it’s because that part was never exercised growing up. It’s like a muscle: if you don’t use it it won’t develop. There are probably people who have brain defects that are incapable of developing a moral compass, but it’s rare. That friend of mine is a really smart guy - aerospace software engineer - but for him, morality is 100% tired to the (strict) Christian religion he was raised with.

I agree, it’s scary. I attribute it to parents who tell their kids they shouldn’t do something “because God said so,” and never any other reason. They never try to reason out what’s moral or not, they just memorize the list.

I have a friend who’s the nicest guy ever. He’s also 6’5" and completely ripped. A lot of years ago, I was telling him about my transition from devout Catholic to atheist, and at one point I told him I realized if you could prove to me there was a god, I wouldn’t live my life differently than if you could prove there was; I have beliefs of what’s right and what’s wrong, and I try to behave accordingly, regardless of any deity. That confused him and I didn’t understand his confusion. I finally said, okay, if I proved to you there wasn’t a god, what would you go differently? He thought for a minute, then said, “Well, I might kill someone.”

There are few times in my life that I’ve been speechless, but that was one. I didn’t know how to move forward from there. I just hope his faith is never shaken.

Yep, true enough. The first part I don’t care to much about - if your club has rules you don’t like, leave the club. The second part is problematic because some clubs think even non-members should follow their rules.

Oh, completely agree. My statement was just trying to constrain how much we should care as a society. It shouldn’t mean more than that.

Okay, whatever.

Let’s say I create a club (I’m picturing Calvin’s “Girl Haters” club). I can make whatever rules I want for my club. I can define ceremonies and rituals, and I can kick anyone out who doesn’t follow my rules. What I can’t do is tell anyone else what they can do.

So the Pope can say whatever he wants about what it means to be Catholic, but only Catholics should care.