The one where me and my dad actually argue about "butch" hair

Now don't get me wrong, I love my dad to death, he is and always will be my best friend but it boggles my mind how two people so different can love each other so much. My dad is extreeeeeeeemely conservative in his religious beliefs and when we talk we often get into "discussions" about our various beliefs. Mind you, this man taught me the ropes of religion, he is the one I went to church with and he is the one who helped me with my Bible studies etc. When you're young you're sort of just learning the basics but when you're older you start to get into heated debates and touchy issues and as you can imagine my church as well as my father frowns upon homosexuality (quite difficult for a child who is being raised by a mother who happens to be homosexual) anyways blah blah blah a lot of confusion blah blah blah... Suffice it to say that I came out of all this with my own set of beliefs that is quite different from my dad's in many areas. Last night I figured I'd strike a chord if I told my dad I started to read Sylvia Brown's soul searching series (or whatever its called) and as soon as the words escaped my lips BINGO! DISCUSSION TIME Somehow last nights topic turned out to not be about Sylvia Brown and her theories but about homosexuality and I kid you not these words escaped the lips of my father, one of the (otherwise) smartest men I know.

Dad: "Nicole, have you ever seen a lesbian couple walking down the street? Why does one of them usually have butch hair??? Because one is trying to be the man!"

Me: "Dad what about straight people who have 'butch' hair? Or what if both of them have 'butch' hair?"

Dad: "Well straight people shouldn't have butch hair, there's a difference between butch and short. And if both of the lesbian's have 'butch' hair it means they're battling over who is the man!"

Blink...........Blink, Blink, Blink

It amazes me that he just asserts these things with so much certainty and he is convinced that he is 100% right. I asked him how he could back that up and his answer was that "it's just common sense" although there are verses about hair in the Bible nothing specifically mentioning this. WOW!

I am just floored sometimes by the way people, even the smartest of them, can be told things and they just continue to believe it because that's just "how it is" and never take the time to stop and think things through for themselves. Yes I grew up extreeemely religious and today I still consider myself religious (though I have slipped away quite a bit, I'm working on that though). However, I don't believe religion or God is about bringing people down, judging people, or acting like you're better than someone else just because of your beliefs. I believe that religion should be a personal challenge to better yourself each and every day.

And all that being said I should start my own church hahahaha anyways that's my message for the day, so there!!!! :)