Comments for ZackFord Blogs

Comment on Queer and Queerer Ep. 62 – African-Americans and Latinos Can Be Gay, Too? by Joseph

Joseph — Tue, 29 May 2012 00:26:58 +0000

I think burritos are somewhat phallic. They are long, so thick. You just have to take the matter into your own hands. : )

Comment on What Disney Taught Me About Gender Roles by Anne

Anne — Tue, 22 May 2012 19:32:44 +0000

I need to point out that Snow White(1937), and Cinderella (1950) and Sleeping Beauty (1959) were made back during the time that woman’s role was to cook/clean/get married/have kids. I mean just look at Peter Pan the entire story is about “mothering”

Comment on The Brilliance of Bill Hader’s Stefon Character by George

George — Tue, 22 May 2012 06:56:44 +0000

OMG, i know a gay, black, albino with vision problems(for real) and he laughs hysterically every time Stephon is on.

Comment on Queer and Queerer Ep. 60 – Marriage, Marriage Everywhere, But Not A Right To Claim by Karen

Karen — Mon, 14 May 2012 18:26:51 +0000

Hi guys, just want to say thank you for starting the podcasts again, I love them and tell all my friends about them. I like the weekly podcasts Peterson, but understand if its too much. i learn so much from you guys about queer theory, debating, how to think critically-better than any lecture. So keep up the good work-if poss could we have more women’s stuff on the podcast-I identify as queer & not a lesbian. Could you put some links on here to queer sites please, I’m thinking of traveling to the US ( West) and would like to hook up with like minded people over there. I’ve just gotten into Buddhism. Oh, & I’m an artist too. Big love Karen xx

Comment on Halloween Special: Catholic Materials for Young Adults by Ben

Ben — Thu, 10 May 2012 15:19:45 +0000

This joke is really expensive.
Allison the historical Jesus is not really that big and so nobody can eat him for 2000yrs. The bible say the resurected christ is a life giving spirit so he can continue giving himself (his life) to all because he is the source of overabundant spiritual life. I doubt if you will understanding everything i just explained, but this is what catholics believe.

Comment on Why Do I Often Write Against Catholicism? The Catholics Make Me! by Ben

Ben — Thu, 10 May 2012 14:36:57 +0000

Anastasia i church hasnt really change but people have. Few teach that gay people show be respected, others omit it, while have their own story, i dont think it has anything to do with pope Benedict, he condemns gay marriage because he believes that the bible and 2000yrs of tradition discribes marriage as a union for man and woman, he holds that gay should be respected and there have been letter to make sure they are respected im not sure if everybody follow the letters.
Bluffy you made your point abusing children and covering it is wrong, but i cant find any catholic research that say condom spread disease (did u make that up?) everybody know that it is not 100% reliable, and nobody is saying a woman should sacrifice her life all the church is saying is that a woman should respect life not kill it and alway remember that you came from that cluster of cell. And lastly what is the use of religion of she doesnt tell humanity about a better way?

Comment on Why Do I Often Write Against Catholicism? The Catholics Make Me! by Ben

Ben — Thu, 10 May 2012 14:12:27 +0000

I didnt watch the video but from your article, the idea presented is not catholic. Yeah i would discriminate against evil and what is wrong, but a human according to catholic theology cant be intrinsically evil, so I cant discriminate a human beign, i must respect and love him simply because he is human. But on the other hand according to catholic theology the act(deeds) of humans may be evil and the catholic church clasify homosexual sexual activity as sinful, please note that been a homosexual is not sinful but have homosexual ‘sex’ is sinfull just as stealing is sinful. So the church teaches that homosexual should aviod those sexual activities. Besides nothing stop a homosexual from been a practicing catholic.
I hope this clarify some things.

Comment on Queer and Queerer Ep. 59 – Learn To Ignore The Bullshit by Johan Lundgren

Johan Lundgren — Sat, 05 May 2012 03:21:04 +0000

Hey there guys, I think it’s great you’ve given this another go. These religious discussions are interesting. It would be fun with more of those, covering hbt-positive perspectives too, so that gay ppl in your crazy society can be a bit inspired to start preaching that word too.

Comment on The Brilliance of Bill Hader’s Stefon Character by Big Leo goes back to school « Rhymes with Safari

Big Leo goes back to school « Rhymes with Safari — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 18:22:30 +0000

[...] to as “Leo N.” Probably because we remember him as the roly poly baby we nicknamed Puerto Screechin because he cried his head off from his little laundry room prison. And we’d call “Leo! [...]

Comment on Ithacan Reports: More than 60 pianos vandalized in Whalen School of Music by ann

ann — Wed, 11 Apr 2012 12:55:39 +0000

how have you protected your pianos since? we’ve just been given two great new pianos for our college and are afraid vandals will wreck them within a month. is there a cage you know of that wd help protect these instruments?
please advise.
best,
ann

Comment on Topsy Turvy World: My Ongoing Dialogue with Peter LaBarbera by How To Promote Civility in Online Exchanges « Nancy Blue The Happy Writer

How To Promote Civility in Online Exchanges « Nancy Blue The Happy Writer — Sat, 07 Apr 2012 09:46:56 +0000

[...] Topsy Turvy World: My Ongoing Dialogue with Peter LaBarbera … (zackfordblogs.com) Share this:FacebookTwitterPrintEmailDigg [...]

Comment on A Reminder of Why The Catholic Church Sucks by Michele

Michele — Sat, 24 Mar 2012 14:08:54 +0000

I need to vent because I am enraged with Father Jim of St. Augustine’s Church in Troy, NY. I was at my mothers since last Friday and observed my mother closely. I extended my stay because I was concerned for her health. I made an appointment with her new doctor I just changed for her. On Friday morning I looked through the papers in the house to locate the Power of Attorney to show the doctor for medical reasons and came across a Will my mother has designed a few years back. It says that Father Jim is her proxy and also she is leaving a 5 generation home to St Augustine’s church and ALL her assets. I was in such shock when I saw this I went down to her doctor and spoke to him only about her health. He said my mother NEEDS to stop drinking, she has medical issues that must be addressed. I am now back downstate and have not been able to stop thinking about this. I confronted my mother but she eludes the conversation with other things.
I am disgusted with the Catholic Church more so than ever because Father Jim is fully aware of this and he allowed my mother to make such a erratic decision KNOWING my mother has a daughter, grand daughter and grand children. WHO does this???? My mother has been giving the church a lot of money through the years, and now this? I had left a few voice messages with Father Jim PRIOR to me knowing about the Will out of concern for my mother and he NEVER or has yet to return my calls. I am just venting but also I am enraged with this man and his church. I was raised in a Catholic school in this church, growing up in a strict Catholic family. I am the only living child, my mother is DEMONIC!

Comment on An Atheist Who Loves Gospel Music by cande_gl

cande_gl — Fri, 16 Mar 2012 11:49:06 +0000

I am an atheist as well and i love gospel music, i love it so much that i can listen to nothing else but gospel music for days in a row. it just sound so good, and as a musician myself I appreciate the feelings, passion and the energy the gospel singers put in their songs! but just because i love the music it does not mean i believe what the songs are saying

Comment on I Think ManRoulette Saved My Soul by Hi

Hi — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 01:59:29 +0000

there’s plenty of LGBT muslims… who cares what other people think they are not living your life. Go search! and find your truth and sometimes you have to be lost before you are found. Good luck and blessings on your journey.

Comment on What Disney Taught Me About Gender Roles by MAry

MAry — Mon, 20 Feb 2012 23:30:40 +0000

Lima Syndrome…beauty and the beast. (:

Comment on What Disney Taught Me About Gender Roles by Yumpo

Yumpo — Sat, 18 Feb 2012 22:52:04 +0000

@Caitlin I watched from some documentary that even though Disney owns Pixar, Pixar apparently do their story independently. The only thing Disney does is reject or accept the works Pixar submits. So it’s basically just Disney-trademarked-sponsored and as far as I recall, they don’t touch Pixar works. That’s why X9 and Zackford said they preferred Pixar because they make their own story without Disney having a hand on it. Though that’s how I remember it. I could be wrong.

Documentary: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1059955/
-It’s available in Netflix if you have an account- XDD

Comment on What Disney Taught Me About Gender Roles by Jay

Jay — Sun, 05 Feb 2012 04:50:22 +0000

princess and the frog? Pocahontas?

Comment on What Disney Taught Me About Gender Roles by Caitlin

Caitlin — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 07:09:41 +0000

First of all, Disney owns Pixar. They are the same thing. So any thing Pixar makes is Disney-made.
Second of all, I love Disney. I love the songs and the characters and the stories and the magic. I have always loved Disney. Never have I ever noticed any of the negative things you guys have pointed out until the last few years when everyone decided to jump on the Disney-hating bandwagon.
I never hear people up-in-arms about Kesha’s “Get Sleazy” Tour, or the guys on Jersey Shore wanting to find girls who are “down to fuck” or that models weight 23% less than the average woman or that all of Rihanna’s songs are about how she likes rough sex and most (definitely not all) rap music played on the radio are about strippers and weed.
There are SO many more important things that are fed to kids and teens every day, all the time and are so much more detramental to how they view themselves and their worth.
Disney is about magic, about dreams coming true. I think every girl should marry a prince, no girl deserves to be stuck with anything less than someone who adores her. I know what you’re going to say, “But they only love them for their beauty!” Yes, this is true, but I understood, even from a young age, that beauty is not what counts, it’s what’s on the inside. That is a value that should be tought by parents, not movies.
Also, I would also like to point out that none of these princesses got their princes because they were slutty or easy or hooked up with every guy in the kindom or wore tons of whoreish make-up. None of them obsessed about their beauty or tried to be beautiful. I think society made beauty being skinny and provactative and trashy and Disney made beauty something that resonated from the characters’ kind, gentle personalities.
Also, these movies were made in the freaking 1950s, 60s, and 70s. EVERYTHING was sexist and objecitfying to women back then, not just Disney. And these movies weren’t made for that purpose or as some kind of propoganda.
I’m so glad you said Mulan is a princess. She has and always will be my role model. My children will watch that movie. She is such a strong, powerful, independent, smart, woman in a time period and place where behavior like hers was punishable by death.
Of all the little girls I have ever known and of all my femals friends, not one of them has ever said that these princesses taught them to be submissive, to wait around for their prince, or that beauty is the key to everything. Not one. And these girls are different weights, heights, races, and backgrounds, What we got from these movies was that magic can exist in the real world for anybody and that dreams to come true. So while your points are valid and true, that’s not what any girl I know ever got out of a Disney movie. Why souldn’t every girl consider herself a princess? I believe that is what Disney is out to teach, every girl is a princess.

Comment on Why Higher Education Should NOT Promote "Spirituality" or "Spiritual Development" by cait

cait — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 20:36:32 +0000

dear Zack ford,
what you follow is what you follow and while i dont mean to preach or push beliefs on you i personally agree with spirituality in schools and for higher education choices if you do not believe in or follow these teachings then dont take the class or worry about others who do we all have our thoughts and beliefs this is what makes life and the people around us interesting, i was glad to find your blog it let me see that you have a strong opinion just as i but almost opposite of mine. I follow no religion but have a strong spirituality. Part of my spirituality is based on the thought that we all and everything is one , now i could say its by the soul and spirit that we are connected as one but i dont know for sure these things are real. What makes me trust so much in what i believe is that you and i have something in common and it is the strong opinion and drive for what we believe and want and these are qualities that unit the living beings in this world. So why not let those who believe in spirituality learn about it and instead of thinking there shouldnt be schools for an education of this kind , and work to help those who believe as you do to earn an education of your kind. just a suggestion :) We all should have the option to earn in education in the fields we please.
i mean no offense by anything said above and hope it may change your view even if its a common understanding of what i say .
thanks for reading! – luna

Comment on Queer and Queerer Ep. 12 – That’s So Fat! Body Image and Metrosexuality by Irene

Irene — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 10:05:34 +0000

Always refesrhnig to hear a rational answer.

Comment on What Disney Taught Me About Gender Roles by Joseph

Joseph — Sat, 14 Jan 2012 09:29:22 +0000

What is with the “Disney Princesses are bad role models” crap? They’re fictional characters; they shouldn’t be role models. Go teach your kids ethics and morals or, at least, find a real role model they can look up to…or would that be way too difficult for parents? I guess shoving a kid in front of the TV is a lot easier than having to deal with them.

The statements are also exaggerations and even untrue for these characters. I’ll just use Ariel and Eric as examples:

* “It’s ok to abandon your family” – Her father was a racist asshole who nuked her belongings. I don’t think he’s a bad character; in fact, I think he’s one of the most interesting characters in a Disney film, but he did push Ariel to the edge. It’s not like she intended to leave her family forever either.
* “drastically change your body” – Does anyone expect a mermaid to just drag herself everywhere? A mermaid becoming a human, so she can walk on land, is in no way comparable to plastic surgery. Don’t even try to pull that one off…
* “and give up your strongest talent” – She never seemed particularly happy being forced to sing. Just because her greatest known talent was singing doesn’t mean she had to become a singer. She was far more interested being an “archaeologist/anthropologist” anyway.
* “Once he sees your pretty face, only a witch’s spell could draw his eyes away from you” – At their first meeting, when Ariel is a human, Eric is only drawn to her because she looks like the girl who saved his life. The second he finds out she can’t speak, and thus not the girl he wants to find, he loses interest but does grow to love Ariel as he realizes that waiting for the mystery girl just isn’t going to work.

Now for Eric: “Women have nothing important to say.” OK, this right here proves that whoever made this has not watched the film. The fact that Ariel can’t speak is the main reason Eric doesn’t instantly fall for her. He believes that she isn’t the girl who saved his life and, like I mentioned earlier, he grows fond of Ariel because waiting for the mystery girl is a waste of time when there’s this really great girl living in his castle.

These films have flaws, like any other film, and you can freely criticize them for those flaws. Just don’t make up crap so you can complain about Disney and our “poor, helpless children.” It makes you sound like one of those religious fanatics who will criticize anything by saying “What about the children?!”

Comment on The Lesson We Didn’t Learn From 9/11 by Piet

Piet — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 14:41:40 +0000

Dear Mr.

To promote skepticism/critical thinking I wrote some questions for the Christian believer. . Are you able to put the link to these questions at your blog.

Thank you very much,

Piet – Rotterdam – Netherlands.

The original questions

http://www.freethinker.nl/forum/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=8382
The translation
http://www.freethinker.nl/forum/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=10033

Comment on A Reminder of Why The Catholic Church Sucks by Debbie

Debbie — Fri, 16 Dec 2011 14:07:27 +0000

My brother-in-law, who is Catholic, recently asked me to be his son’s godmother. I told him that I would be delighted. The priest at his church told him that I could not, because I am not Catholic. My husband and son are Catholic. My son attends a Catholic school. Our hard-earned money goes into the church coffers every Sunday. I suppose that he thinks the priest in Churchill that was recently arrested for viewing child pornography on his computer, in the church, would be a better godparent? In my eyes, this man has done nothing but attempt to drive a wedge into our family. My sister, who is also non-Catholic, is my son’s godmother. Should I send this priest the definition of the word “arbitrary?”

Comment on What Disney Taught Me About Gender Roles by claire

claire — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 06:10:47 +0000

hi guys i’m doing a research project in how disney movies reinforce negative gender and racial stereotypes and would love to hear you feedback and if you had time if you could fill out my survey i would so appreciate it
thanks
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/viewform?formkey=dHlvcHR6ODFQWkVuZVJOVi1tdHlla3c6MQ

Comment on I Don't Want You To Pray For Me by D. Rushton

D. Rushton — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 06:54:06 +0000

Zack;
Let’s call a “Spade-A-Spade”! Pray is nothing more than “Christain Masturbation”. And when they have a ‘Pray Meeting”, that is “MUTUAL-CHRISTAIN-MASTURBATION”! And when they say: “I’ll pray for you.”, say: “Jerk-Off for yourself. Don’t jerk yourself off on my account!”. And to be NASTY!…. Add: “I forgive you for you are PROGRAMED, and FAIL to use your BRAIN!”.