Would you go to dinner???

[Talk2BigSteve]

I just got home and checked the mail and I got a letter from Southwestern Assemblies of God University.

BACKGROUND: I went to SAGU for 2 years to try to straighten myself out. It didn't work, I am more gay now than before I went there. TOTAL COST FOR 2 YEARS: $20K+
****************

THE LETTER:

Dear Mr. Steven X. XXXXXX

The Mississippi District Council is right around the corner, and it is a great opportunity for you to connect with alumni and friends and let us know what you are doing these day. It is always a you to find out about the lives and successes of alumni from Southwestern Assemblies of God University.

If you enjoy good food, fellowship and fun, please accept my invitation to join your fellow allumni for a complimentary meal at Logan's Roadhouse at 9:00 p.m. on Wednesday, May 4.

An abundance of door prizes will be provided to those who attend. So don't miss the opportunity to win free stuff. The evening will not be the same without you.

Sincerely,

Tim Taborsky
Vice President for University Advancement

*************

I love the line, The evening will not be the same without you. That is for damn sure. /images/graemlins/grin.gif

So Should I Go????

Big Steve /images/graemlins/cool.gif

[shant]

You should go and get completely sh!t-faced.

[tbach24]

I'm sorry Steve, I can't read your posts without cracking up. All I can think about is the "Living, Learning, Laughing" thingy.

[JaBlue]

why WOULDNT you go? Even if you get persecuted for being gay.. its free food and party favors!

[partygirluk]

Ask them if you are allowed to bring your partner. If they say yes, turn up and show them just how successful they were.

[WDC]

Go and give everyone a big kiss.

[Talk2BigSteve]

What this????

Labeling, labializing, lacing, lacerating, lacking, lacquering, lactating, lagging, laicizing, lambasting, lamenting, landing, languishing, lapping, lapsing, larding, lasing, lashing, lasting, latching, lauding, laughing, launching, laundering, lavishing, laying, leading, leaking, leaning, leaping, learning, leasing, leaving, legalizing, legislating, legitimating, legitimatizing, legitimizing, lending, lengthening, letting, leveling, leveraging, levitating, liaising, libeling, liberalizing, liberating, licking, lifting, lighting, liking, likening, limbering, limiting, limping, lining, lingering, linking, liquating, liquefying, liquidating, lisping, listing, listening, literalizing, lithographing, litigating, littering, living, lixiviating, loading, loafing, loaning, loathing, lobotomizing, localizing, locating, locking, lodging, logging, loitering, lollygagging, longing, looking, loosing, loosening, lopping, losing, loudening, loving, lowering, lubricating, lumbering, lumping, lunching, lurching, lurking, lusting, lynching, and lyophilizing.


Big Steve /images/graemlins/cool.gif

[FishBurger]

I'd ask for a refund.

[Talk2BigSteve]

[ QUOTE ]
Ask them if you are allowed to bring your partner. If they say yes, turn up and show them just how successful they were.

[/ QUOTE ]

Why ask them if I am allowed to bring a partner??? These are christians...It it easier to ask forgiveness than permission!!!

Big Steve

[bernie]

[ QUOTE ]
The evening will not be the same without you.


[/ QUOTE ]

I think you might be reading too much into it.

It's just a typical form letter.

b

[Yobz]

I can't believe you went to a religious university just to straighten yourself...if your gay, then be proud of it, forget the haters, don't listen to them.

Go and have a gay old time... /images/graemlins/wink.gif

[Skipbidder]

I wouldn't want to go to this. Why seek out people who are likely to not accept you? If you go and make an ass out of yourself, you are just going to reinforce their ideas. If you go and are very polite and bite your tongue when people say stupid [censored], you aren't really going to change anyone's mind but are going to be miserable. Is it really worth it just for some free grub? If there are folks from the school that you liked but fell out of contact with, you might consider contacting them on the side.

[WEASEL45]

Go if its free booze and dinner

[partygirluk]

These guys are Nazis. Don't go unless you do so with the intention of annoying them. Don't let them think that you enjoyed your experience.

Hard to believe that "straightening out" still occurs in the developed world /images/graemlins/frown.gif

[tbach24]

[ QUOTE ]
What this????

Labeling, labializing, lacing, lacerating, lacking, lacquering, lactating, lagging, laicizing, lambasting, lamenting, landing, languishing, lapping, lapsing, larding, lasing, lashing, lasting, latching, lauding, laughing, launching, laundering, lavishing, laying, leading, leaking, leaning, leaping, learning, leasing, leaving, legalizing, legislating, legitimating, legitimatizing, legitimizing, lending, lengthening, letting, leveling, leveraging, levitating, liaising, libeling, liberalizing, liberating, licking, lifting, lighting, liking, likening, limbering, limiting, limping, lining, lingering, linking, liquating, liquefying, liquidating, lisping, listing, listening, literalizing, lithographing, litigating, littering, living, lixiviating, loading, loafing, loaning, loathing, lobotomizing, localizing, locating, locking, lodging, logging, loitering, lollygagging, longing, looking, loosing, loosening, lopping, losing, loudening, loving, lowering, lubricating, lumbering, lumping, lunching, lurching, lurking, lusting, lynching, and lyophilizing.


Big Steve /images/graemlins/cool.gif

[/ QUOTE ]

Took me about 5 minutes to read and I'm probably going to get twice that in laughter /images/graemlins/grin.gif

[M2d]

Go. then, if you don't win the grand prize (or the prize you want...gilded bible?) complain loudly about discrimination. Tell the dean that the only reason you showed up was because you had a crush on him. Tell the alumni committee that you were straight when you first enrolled, but that they "turned" you.

[Asufiji2004]

[ QUOTE ]
These guys are Nazis. Don't go unless you do so with the intention of annoying them. Don't let them think that you enjoyed your experience.

Hard to believe that "straightening out" still occurs in the developed world /images/graemlins/frown.gif

[/ QUOTE ]

Explain how these guys are Nazis? Because their take on homosexuality differs from yours? Remember he PAID to go there for 2 years. All they did was perform a service for someone who saught help. Big Steve acting xtra gay for them really won't accomplish much.

[Dead]

Yeah, really.

And Partygirl fancies himself some kind of a Nazi expert. I thought. Using the word in that context is pretty stupid.

[The Goober]

Here's my take. You should absolutely go, and you should definately bring a date. If you have your choice of who to bring (i.e. you aren't seeing anyone seriously right now) then you should bring a guy who has a lot of patience and is articulate. Don't be combative or try to make a big scene, but make it clear that the guy you are bringing is your date, not a friend.

The thing is, the people that run this ridiculous college aren't going to change their mind no matter what you do. When they see you with your arm around another man, all they are going to see is a wicked abomination against nature and it won't matter whether you are successful and happy or a homeless drug addict (or really, when they see two men together, their buried homosexual desires will flare up and their brain will go into panic mode). I think the real point is the other alumni who will be there. Chances are very good that most of them are repressed and living miserable lives pretending to be someone that they're not. After years of brainwashing they've probably started to believe the fundamentalists who describe all gay men as depraved degenerates, and they probably hate themselves as a result. If they see you there with your boyfriend, and see that you are a normal, happy adult leading a fulfulling life (yes, yes, they may even you see you living, learning, and laughing) - you could plant some seeds of doubt.

So I think that is the real reason you should go - to try and reach out to some of the other alums and show them that they do have a choice.

[OtisTheMarsupial]

Don't just go, bring a date!

[jakethebake]

[ QUOTE ]
Don't just go, bring a date!

[/ QUOTE ]

Brilliant!

[Duke]

Well, were any of the guys there cute?

~D

[gamblore99]

I'm confused, is this just a religous university you went to in order to straighten yourself out? From some of the readers posts it sounds like it was a university for all gays trying to become straight.

Anyway, I say go if there are people you like and want to talk to. You don't even have to mention you are gay (you don't have to hide it either). I would not go just to say "I am gay and you are all small minded fools". This is a gathering with the intention of a good time. Doing the above will just ruin the evening, and probably won't change their opinions of homosexuality. I imagine you would feel worse too, after being insulted by the entire crowd...

tell us what you do, and if you go, tell us what happens.

[Talk2BigSteve]

[ QUOTE ]
I'm confused, is this just a religous university you went to in order to straighten yourself out? From some of the readers posts it sounds like it was a university for all gays trying to become straight.

Anyway, I say go if there are people you like and want to talk to. You don't even have to mention you are gay (you don't have to hide it either). I would not go just to say "I am gay and you are all small minded fools". This is a gathering with the intention of a good time. Doing the above will just ruin the evening, and probably won't change their opinions of homosexuality. I imagine you would feel worse too, after being insulted by the entire crowd...

tell us what you do, and if you go, tell us what happens.

[/ QUOTE ]

Just a Religious University, but the Assemblies of God, are pew jumping, tounge talking, swinging from the chandelier, kind of pentacostals. I live in the south and growing up in the teenage years you get invited to Wednesday Night Youth Groups. It was here where I began to question things about religion and maybe I am wrong, yadda yadda yadda. I did learn one thing from my time SAGU though, and that is there may be a God, but I think he would be disgusted with the way mainstream America has turned it into a tax exempt business/social organization with a political agenda.

I will let everyone know what happens, I just finished talking with my friend Jason. He is the perfect person to take to something like this,IMHO. He wants to go, he actually went to a Baptist Church growing up and when his parents found out he was gay, they sent him to a "Deprogramming House" where he actually went through shock treatments to turn him straight /images/graemlins/confused.gif, he is still gay, but now he is gay and taking Wellbutrin XL so he can make it through the days still living in the south.

Big Steve /images/graemlins/cool.gif

[Blarg]

Because of the part you put in bold, I think the Vice-President is hitting on you. Slip your hand into his when the moment is right, and give him a big smile. It may well be an unforgettable evening for the both of you.

[shadow29]

Go, get sht-faced, hit on all the guys there, and then stand up on the table, take a big swig and proclaim your homosexuality. Be proud!

Bring a date, too.

[Talk2BigSteve]

We, Jason and I, had a blast at the reunion, there were about 30 people there that I knew including my old dorm pastor. He knew about the situation with my partner when I lived in Dallas and was extremely kind to me, and happy that I am happy "regardless of where I stand in God's eyes." yadda yadda yadda.

I was NOT the only person who showed up that was gay /images/graemlins/shocked.gif LOL. We ordered the Most expensive thing on the menu. I cracked some inappropriate jokes, nothing to filthy, and commented harshly when someone said something nice about republicans. I also won a door prize of a Daily Devotional book /images/graemlins/confused.gif I will put it right next to my Tarot cards for future reference.

After dinner was over and we all started to leave, Jason, Micheal(the other gay guy), our waiter Daniel, and I all left together to go out in Jackson for the night, I did not get home until about 4:30 this morning.

It was fun, I saw some people I have not seen in about 8 years. Heard about some that did not show because they have nothing to do with the church anymore. I love how chistians gossip...."Did you here about so and so, well he is doing such and such, and let his wife for so and so, I just wanted you to know so you can pray for him."

Big Steve /images/graemlins/cool.gif

[Blarg]

Glad you had fun.