Website owner: James Miller
On strait-laced, puritanical, bigoted, intolerant people
I just read an article in which a young fellow was described as very conservative and strait-laced. I decided to look up the definition of “strait-laced” on the internet. I knew what the word meant, knew it was a derogatory term, and was curious to see what I would find. What I found was the following:
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Strait-laced. 1. Having old-fashioned and unchanging morals, especially relating to sexual matters. 2. If you describe someone as strait-laced, you disapprove of them because they have very strict views about what kind of behavior is moral or acceptable. [disapproval] He was criticized for being boring, strait-laced and narrow-minded. 3. Excessively strict in conduct or morality; puritanical; prudish: strait-laced censors.
Synonyms. Rigid, bigoted, intolerant, conservative, narrow-minded, dogmatic, puritanical, square, prissy, prosaic, solemn, sober, prudish, proper, prim, priggish.
Prissy. 1. Very prim or precise; fussy 2. If you say that someone is prissy, you are critical of them because they are very easily shocked by anything vulgar or bad. [informal, disapproval] I grew to dislike the people from my background – they were uptight and prissy. 3. A prissy person likes things to be neat and tidy, and expects people to follow the rules and be extremely polite. If your prissy cousin invites you to a tea party, you'd better arrive on time and wear your white gloves.
Puritanical. 1. Very strict in moral or religious matters, often excessively so; rigidly austere.
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I guess after reading this, I know how the vast majority of people that I have known over the years (students in high school, students in college, people I worked with over the years), have viewed me and felt about me. So what do I have to say about that? Well, you can’t be liked by everyone. If you are going to go God’s way, if you are going to be a Christian (a true Christian), you can expect to be disliked (and hated) by a whole lot of people. You can’t expect to be a friend of God and also of the world. The crowd does not like the upright, godly man. That is a fact. He is not their kind, not one of them. Birds of a feather flock together. Birds of different feather flock separately. If you can’t take the scorn and dislike of the crowd, you had best forget about following God. Just follow Satan and take the consequences.
There have been a few people that I have known in the past that liked me. Not very many, just several. And there have been a whole lot of people who didn’t like me, some who just detested me. There can be many reasons why a person may dislike another, and usually I have not known why a particular person disliked me, but my religiousness probably had something to do with it in a lot of cases.
John 15:19 If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you. Words of Jesus
Romans 12:2 And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.
James 4:4 Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.
I John 2:15 Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.
Titus 2:12 Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world;
Much in this world is a matter of viewpoint. The follower of God has one viewpoint. The follower of Satan has a very different viewpoint.
There is a huge amount of hatred for Christians (true Christians) in the West. It reveals itself in different ways. One way is some public rant against intolerance and bigotry by some well known liberal as carried by the mass media. From the context one knows who the target of the rant is. It is the Christian.
Mar 2018
Jesus Christ and His Teachings
Way of enlightenment, wisdom, and understanding
America, a corrupt, depraved, shameless country
On integrity and the lack of it
The test of a person's Christianity is what he is
Ninety five percent of the problems that most people have come from personal foolishness
Liberalism, socialism and the modern welfare state
The desire to harm, a motivation for conduct
On Self-sufficient Country Living, Homesteading
Topically Arranged Proverbs, Precepts, Quotations. Common Sayings. Poor Richard's Almanac.
Theory on the Formation of Character
People are like radio tuners --- they pick out and listen to one wavelength and ignore the rest
Cause of Character Traits --- According to Aristotle
We are what we eat --- living under the discipline of a diet
Avoiding problems and trouble in life
Role of habit in formation of character
Personal attributes of the true Christian
What determines a person's character?
Love of God and love of virtue are closely united
Intellectual disparities among people and the power in good habits
Tools of Satan. Tactics and Tricks used by the Devil.
The Natural Way -- The Unnatural Way
Wisdom, Reason and Virtue are closely related
Knowledge is one thing, wisdom is another
My views on Christianity in America
The most important thing in life is understanding
We are all examples --- for good or for bad
Television --- spiritual poison
The Prime Mover that decides "What We Are"
Where do our outlooks, attitudes and values come from?
Sin is serious business. The punishment for it is real. Hell is real.
Self-imposed discipline and regimentation
Achieving happiness in life --- a matter of the right strategies
Self-control, self-restraint, self-discipline basic to so much in life