How much physical affection?

[Shining One]

Anyone from those cultures who can confirm that this behaviour is supposedly normal?

A Brazilian woman at my gym says it's not normal for a woman to sit on a man's lap during church or while eating. She followed up by asking if I have a daddy/daughter fetish. I probably should have explained why I was asking the question before I asked it.

[CautiouslyOptimistic]

A Brazilian woman at my gym says it's not normal for a woman to sit on a man's lap during church or while eating. She followed up by asking if I have a daddy/daughter fetish. I probably should have explained why I was asking the question before I asked it.

 

:lmao::lmao:

[Els]

A Brazilian woman at my gym says it's not normal for a woman to sit on a man's lap during church or while eating. She followed up by asking if I have a daddy/daughter fetish. I probably should have explained why I was asking the question before I asked it.

 

 

Lost opportunity, dude!! :lmao:

[schlumpy]

Major,

 

I'm curious as to how self sufficient your group is. If you were shut-off from the outside world by a zombie apocalypse could you survive on what you have stored or could grow? I'm not interested in the armory but I am interested in whether your group has esential survival skills such as blacksmith, carpentry, medical, metal working, animal husbandry, a good water source, stored food such as freeze dried, leather tanning, etc......

 

If it was a nuclear war do you have a shelter or defensible compound that you could wait out the worst of the radiation? Do you have a ready supply of potassium iodide to protect people from radioactive iodine in the fallout. Do you have a library compiled with books that can help you restore some level of civilization?

 

Or will you just put yourself in God's hands and hope for the best which is pretty much what my plan is.

[major_merrick]

Schlumpy, we are committed to self sufficiency. Both for quality of life and for survival. Our view of survival isn't so much to "hole up" and hide as it is to not be victims, not be part of a crisis, and then to spread the word and help others.

 

My family is basically self-sufficient, except for comfort/luxury items and what we trade with friends and neighbors. We've got our own electricity, water, heat, and air conditioning. Garden, orchard, and some livestock. We store some food, but in a way that would have looked pretty normal to people 100 years ago. We dry, can, freeze, pickle, etc. We don't just do it to survive, we do it to avoid the chemicals and preservatives in modern food and water. It is also a way to save money. Since we don't spend much on groceries, that money gets saved. That's very important with so many people in the house! There's also taste - because stuff made at home just seems better! Our kids grow up stronger and healthier for it.

 

Yeah, we could survive radiation for a while, and our house's lower level (where my bedroom is) doubles as a very lavish fallout/bomb shelter. Our walls are thick and relatively bulletproof. But that really isn't the point of what we're doing and we don't think about it much. It blends into the infrastructure, so it isn't like we're living behind razor wire like some kind of prison.

 

Our community has people with many different skills. My mother-in-law is a doctor. My husband has lots of experience in construction, metal work, and electrical stuff. Other members of our community are in farming, plumbing, retail, transport - pretty much a cross-section of occupations. What we can't do in our own home we trade with others. While many of us work in the outside economy, we have an internal economy that we can rely on almost completely if necessary, and that could provide the foundation of a thriving local economy if something crazy happens.

 

We believe that God will provide for us, but we also believe that part of God's provision is that He gave us our skills, our resources, and our friends and neighbors. That got put to a (small) test last year when a tornado struck our area. Our property was damaged, but our nearest neighbors were wiped out, and what the tornado didn't get the fire afterwards destroyed. Afterwards, they lived in our home and ate with us for a while and we helped them rebuild. If something bigger happens, we'll try to do the same thing locally. Although our faith may seem strange to some, we aren't so strange as to seem like a threat to the "normal" folks around us. We also aren't the only community in our county with this lifestyle, and we are networked with other communities of faith that are similar to ours.

 

 

 

I think it comes down to having a more relationship-oriented understanding of God and the world around us. Life isn't about acquiring things or having success, although those things are nice and helpful. Life is about relating to family, friends, neighbors, and God. All the defenses and stored food in the world won't save you if a crisis happens. Relationships will, and they will make bad times more bearable. And if the worst happens, you go to heaven and continue your life with all the people you care about.

[Amethyst68]

Another question I'm afraid, what would happen if one of the women in the family wanted to bring another man into the mix?

[major_merrick]

Not going to happen. That would be adultery. Biblical polygamy = one man, multiple women. Not the other way around. My GF#1 (physically female) is gender-fluid and sometimes identifies as my boyfriend. That's about as close as it is going to get, and we keep that little piece of information at home.

[schlumpy]

I think it comes down to having a more relationship-oriented understanding of God and the world around us. Life isn't about acquiring things or having success, although those things are nice and helpful. Life is about relating to family, friends, neighbors, and God. All the defenses and stored food in the world won't save you if a crisis happens. Relationships will, and they will make bad times more bearable. And if the worst happens, you go to heaven and continue your life with all the people you care about.

 

I'm impressed. You are much better prepared then I would have thought. I agree with your supposition that relationships are what matter over preparations but consider that without the survival that those preparations represent there will be no family and friends to network with.

 

Very good job - congratulations.

[Gaeta]

It's a proven fact now that people that are touched suffers less from depression, anxiety and illnesses of all kind. Touch is essential for development of babies/children.

 

My bf and I touch as much as we can. We hug and kiss morning and night, we hold hands, sit tight against each other, sleep in each other's arms. In all my relationships it's the only one that 'touch' lasted through the years. My 2 previous long term relationships the 'touch' dropped a great deal after the honeymoon phase.

 

Couples that touch a lot usually fight less. Years ago a couple therapist had suggested my ex and I hold hands to solve arguments. It's difficult to be mad at someone when you touch.

 

 

.

[major_merrick]

Gaeta, you bring up a good point. Touching is a key aspect of conflict resolution. I've been with GF#1 for several years, and I can't remember fighting with her. For one thing, she's just too cute. She looks at me with her innocent little face and I pretty much give in. But when we've had tense moments, usually she moves in to hug or cuddle. In the past with my husband when we were first dating (and young) I was kind of the girlfriend from hell. I still can be irritable and argumentative. When I get that way, he will hug me or scoop me up in his lap. I think for most guys, when a woman is pitching a fit and screaming is the last time they'd want to try to be affectionate. But it definitely works. I calm down once pleasant physical contact is made. My husband jokes that I'm not fully domesticated yet, but he's worn my feral edges off enough that I'm handleable.

[CautiouslyOptimistic]

I'm impressed. You are much better prepared then I would have thought.

 

Seriously! I can see the cooling towers of the nuclear power plant from my house and have never once gone to pick up the iodine pills when they are giving them out (bi-annually, I think).

[major_merrick]

Not to digress into the nuclear thing, but when F**ushima Daichi happened my husband and some friends wore dosimeters for weeks. In the central US, they were getting doses equivalent to the max allowed for nuclear power plant workers and they were taking the iodine pills. Radiation is no joke. I can't imagine living close to a nuclear plant.

 

If you want to survive, don't make it an obsession like those wierd prepper people on TV. It has to be a semi-normal lifestyle that you do because you like it. And the people around you have to like it too, otherwise what's the point?

 

 

***Edit to add...wow. Apparently Loveshack's word filters want to automatically censor the name of a prefecture of Japan. And I didn't even misplace a "c" in the word either.

Edited October 23, 2019 by major_merrick

[BettyDraper]

Not going to happen. That would be adultery. Biblical polygamy = one man, multiple women. Not the other way around. My GF#1 (physically female) is gender-fluid and sometimes identifies as my boyfriend. That's about as close as it is going to get, and we keep that little piece of information at home.

 

How does your family reconcile gender fluidity with your religious beliefs?

 

What is your religion referred to?

[BettyDraper]

IPretty much any other time or place, heck yeah. We never do anything sexual in front of other people, but holding hands, closed-mouth kisses, long hugs, holding each other, arms around each other, etc., and sitting on his lap occasionally (when I was thinner, anyway, now I'm self conscious about it)... if people don't want to see it, they can look away. It's not a public display of sexuality, it's a public display of affection, and I see nothing wrong with that.

 

I agree that PDA is not inappropriate to a point. What you're describing doesn't seem strange at all. There is a huge difference between PDA and sexual touching.

Edited October 23, 2019 by a LoveShack.org Moderator
quote edited

[schlumpy]

Seriously! I can see the cooling towers of the nuclear power plant from my house and have never once gone to pick up the iodine pills when they are giving them out (bi-annually, I think).

 

I'm a hundred percent for nuclear power. It has a good safety record when in the hands of responsible people. The closest one to me in at lake Erie. In my area there is a military supply depot and two airbases within 60 miles. If there was a nuclear war, I very much doubt I would need the bucket of freeze dried food I store in the basement.

 

I'm not a prepper but I do admire people that are self reliant. About ten years ago a hurricane remnant swept the area and my power was down for six days. I found my camping equipment and food storage quite convenient.

 

Having some food stored for emergency seemed like a sensible thing to do.

[major_merrick]

How does your family reconcile gender fluidity with your religious beliefs?

 

What is your religion referred to?

The gender issue has been interesting, especially for GF#1 because she converted before I did. Basically, the idea is that although she was born a girl, the messed up state of the world (original sin) affected her body in a way that she can't control. While that doesn't permit her to modify her body (no sex changes allowed,) she has more flexibility in her social role. She's torn between the religious expectation of a woman to be a wife and mother vs. her physical/sexual inability to do so. Our community accepts her the way she is, and acknowledges that she has some special struggles in life. And while she's not married to my husband she's acknowledged to be under his care. Beyond that, the details stay within our family.

 

At this point, I'd say that GF#2 is GF#1's primary partner. They go everywhere together, and are more affectionate than even me and my husband. After they go to the gym they massage each other, lay in each other's arms, and they talk constantly. I rarely see one without the other anymore, although they will engage separately with their other partners. Super cute.

 

Our faith doesn't have an official name beyond Christianity, but the people are referred to as "Followers of the Path." I know that when the property was purchased for our temple, a non-profit 501c3 was set up. But even our temple doesn't have a sign on it identifying us.

 

 

 

I'm not a prepper but I do admire people that are self reliant. About ten years ago a hurricane remnant swept the area and my power was down for six days. I found my camping equipment and food storage quite convenient.

For most families, six days without power would be a disaster. When the tornado came through here, some people were without power for 2 or 3 days. They were complaining that they lost all their refrigerated foods. We have our own power. Solar, batteries, wind, and generators. Being prepared means that what is a catastrophe to some people becomes a bump in the road for us. When you make it part of your daily life, life goes on almost seamlessly.

[pepperbird]

T

I know that when the property was purchased for our temple, a non-profit 501c3 was set up. But even our temple doesn't have a sign on it identifying us.

 

For most families, six days without power would be a disaster. When the tornado came through here, some people were without power for 2 or 3 days. They were complaining that they lost all their refrigerated foods. We have our own power. Solar, batteries, wind, and generators. Being prepared means that what is a catastrophe to some people becomes a bump in the road for us. When you make it part of your daily life, life goes on almost seamlessly.

 

 

Your religious group applied for tax exempt status?

 

I know you won't appreciate this view but to be honest, to me, no religion/ religious group should receive this "perk".

[major_merrick]

Yep. Tax exempt, just like any church, mosque, temple, or other religious center. Before we had our temple, there wasn't a need for it. We just met in people's houses and barns. But it defrays the cost of property tax. Even though that tax is minimal, why deal with it?

 

In my view, property tax and income tax should be totally abolished for everybody. There are ways for this nation to exist simply on trade tariffs, corporate taxes, and sales taxes. A private person or a non-profit organization ought to be able to have physical existence without paying rent to the government every year.