Sam Carter/Amanda Tapping Discussion/Appreciation

[majorsal]

does anyone think amanda's going to return to acting? i miss seeing her on screen...

[AmberLM]

does anyone think amanda's going to return to acting? i miss seeing her on screen...

I sure hope so!

[brendini]

does anyone think amanda's going to return to acting? i miss seeing her on screen...

I think it's just a matter of the right character/script coming up. Can't wait for something to come up, though!

[iiradned]

A couple of (I think) funny tweets from Amanda, didn't know she's a Pastafarian.

Dear @SAmandaMagnus: @SandraRankin_UK my sisters of the colander. We are not alone. xo http://pic.twitter.com/p0XyRlUgWV

Nothing but colanders and a smile. RT @SAmandaMagnus: @murrinholi @SandraRankin_UK What else did you think I was wearing ? LOLOL

[AmberLM]

A couple of (I think) funny tweets from Amanda, didn't know she's a Pastafarian.

I remember she once was asked about her religious beliefs at an American con and she looked a bit awkward and said she said something quite diplomatic like "I don't subscribe to any religion as such, I'm more along the lines of Buddhist philosophy of do good and promote peace" or something along those lines. I remember Michael agreeing with her and then changing the subject.

Religion, particularly as a public figure in the US, I think is a difficult question, especially in the public eye. I, myself, find 'coming out' as an atheist quite intimidating in certain states I've visited because the overwhelming consensus seems to be that if you're a religion other than Christian, that's bad. But if you don't believe in God at all, that's worse than being a terrorist. I was once told by a woman from Florida (worryingly she was a teacher) that "unless a person believes in God they cannot possibly have any morals or a good approach to life". I'm pretty sure that's not the message that Jesus would have spread since Christianity is based on teachings of acceptance and kindness!

There's also a lot of global fear of atheists. Yes, it was a sign of change when Obama was elected and it would be nice to see Hillary Clinton run for office. But I think the ultimate sign of equality will be the day a non-religious person is elected as US President. Sadly I don't see it happening.

[fems]

I remember she once was asked about her religious beliefs at an American con and she looked a bit awkward and said she said something quite diplomatic like "I don't subscribe to any religion as such, I'm more along the lines of Buddhist philosophy of do good and promote peace" or something along those lines. I remember Michael agreeing with her and then changing the subject.

Religion, particularly as a public figure in the US, I think is a difficult question, especially in the public eye. I, myself, find 'coming out' as an atheist quite intimidating in certain states I've visited because the overwhelming consensus seems to be that if you're a religion other than Christian, that's bad. But if you don't believe in God at all, that's worse than being a terrorist. I was once told by a woman from Florida (worryingly she was a teacher) that "unless a person believes in God they cannot possibly have any morals or a good approach to life". I'm pretty sure that's not the message that Jesus would have spread since Christianity is based on teachings of acceptance and kindness!

There's also a lot of global fear of atheists. Yes, it was a sign of change when Obama was elected and it would be nice to see Hillary Clinton run for office. But I think the ultimate sign of equality will be the day a non-religious person is elected as US President. Sadly I don't see it happening.

Yeah, religion seems to be a big deal in the US. Around here it's usually the other way around: "Really, you go to church?" or "You're religious... Huh. Does that mean you go to church (or whichever) every Sunday too?". And in some cases the latter is accompanied by a smirk...

[Skydiver]

What I tend to find (yes, I am very cynical) the louder a person proclaims their religion....the less they live it.

amongst some there tends to be this 'let me loudly proclaim this faith or that faith...and yeah, let's hope it distracts you from the fact that I cheat on my wife, steal my neighbor's paper and cover my own mistakes by lying about my coworkers'

I know I've probably run into a few bad apples, but all too often, I see folks announcing their religion as if its existence is an automatic justification for their actions 'I'm a ______ you can trust me'. Sorry, no, my trust isn't going to be based on what church you go to, it's going to be based on how you act and what you do.

My POV probably isn't helped by the fact that I live in the same town as a certain well known religious hate group so I see a lot of people using religion to justify hate and intolerance and rudeness and horrible behavior. I see religion being used as a good excuse to pick on or discriminate against others.

Which isn't what it was meant to be (at least not in my definition of religion. In my 'perfect world' a religion is a positive force, a belief system to carry a person through trying times, or to comfort them in times of trial. Meant to be a source of strength and comfort.) To me, people that use it as a means to discriminate against or as a reason to hate others....they're using it wrong. they're hiding their hate behind 'religion' because it's a good excuse.

A person should be judged on how they act and what they do, not the symbols on the walls of the buildings they choose to worship in....or the fact that they don't worship in any building or don't worship at all.

[Chelle DB]

A couple of (I think) funny tweets from Amanda, didn't know she's a Pastafarian.

I'm pretty sure Lorna and co are very happy with those tweets. They had photo ops with Amanda wearing colanders on their heads. Then this guy in Vancouver wanted to wear a colander on his head for his drivers license picture.
Amanda put the two together and made some of her fans very happy.
I love that she did this. When she can put a smile of randomness on someone's face - that's awesome.

Edit: should probably mention that the guy in Vancouver has nothing to do with Lorna and co - only their want to wear colanders on their heads.

[AmberLM]

Yeah, religion seems to be a big deal in the US. Around here it's usually the other way around: "Really, you go to church?" or "You're religious... Huh. Does that mean you go to church (or whichever) every Sunday too?". And in some cases the latter is accompanied by a smirk...

It's the same here (sort of). When I went to Germany with my dance team, my flatmate decided to go to the Church for Mass and everyone was a bit surprised. Her Dad is a Minister though so she had an exceptionally religious upbringing.

As much as people don't go to church much here, it's still classed as a bit weird if you're Caucasian and don't want to get married in a church/have a Christian service in wherever you do get married, baptise your kids etc. Down the road I think it'll be a huge source of problems between myself and my in-laws as I don't even want to get married or have kids and my bf is an only child whose cousins have all recently got married and his mum is starting to drop hints.

The last family wedding we went to on his side, the Minister started the service with "marriage is the union between a man and a woman"... his tone and pause afterwards implied that he was making a statement about the issue of gay marriage which I found quite offensive at a wedding. Especially as, if I ever did change my mind, there would be several of my married gay friends in attendance at my wedding. TBH the Minister was kind of an ass anyway, he was quite rude to a few people during the speeches and had an air of moral superiority about him which made a few people uncomfortable.

I can't say I've had many good experiences with religion overall myself. The Methodist church I went to as a kid was cliquey, gossipy and exclusive, my Dad's Catholic childhood priest (whom my Nanna believed in so stubbornly and followed blindly) was found to be one of the criminal ones and many of my female Muslim friends from school were treated appallingly by their male relatives simply for being born female then forced into unwanted arranged marriages whilst being monitored every second of the day. My mixed race Christian friend was also told by the Christian Union at my university "erm, don't you want to join the Muslim society?" at the Freshers' fair because he's not white and my secular school was constantly having to deal with disagreements and spats between Jewish and Muslim students over protests about the Israeli/Palestinian conflicts when one or the other group would try to get the student body to pick a side and boycott something.

Personally, I'd prefer it if people just learned to agree the basic philosophies that killing is bad, everyone should be treated equally and no one is morally superior because they believe in a particular God/superpower/sky fairies/the Loch Ness monster. The problem with that is that people in positions of power and authority would lose that power so I don't see it ever happening.

[Skydiver]

And losing power is one reason I think so many politicians invoke 'god bless' or similar comments. They may or may not hold the belief, however if they invoke the words then they appeal or think they can appeal to the religious folks.

FOr some it's a true belief, for others, just a buzz word they say to appeal to a segment of the population.

I think how they treat women is also some of my issues with the various religions. Many seem to hold females as lesser, subservient, less of a person than the males.

Just because I lack the Y chromosome doesn't mean I'm a leser form of life.

[AmberLM]

And losing power is one reason I think so many politicians invoke 'god bless' or similar comments. They may or may not hold the belief, however if they invoke the words then they appeal or think they can appeal to the religious folks.

FOr some it's a true belief, for others, just a buzz word they say to appeal to a segment of the population.

I think how they treat women is also some of my issues with the various religions. Many seem to hold females as lesser, subservient, less of a person than the males.

Just because I lack the Y chromosome doesn't mean I'm a leser form of life.

Aye, indeed.

Biologically speaking, having a Y chromosome is a genetic weakness as there is a higher risk of potentially fatal genetic diseases. Just FYI

[brendini]

And, just to confuse things more, there are people who don't discuss their own religious beliefs because they don't want to offend anyone, or even because they may be afraid to lose followers/fans.

Lorna was definitely getting a kick out of Amanda's tweet. I love that Amanda does stuff like that. She's not the only one who does it, but that doesn't make it any less special. I'll never forget her taking the time to try to make my tough day better a couple of years ago.

[iiradned]

Both Teryl and CJ have done the Ice Bucket Challenge, has anyone challenged Amanda to do it yet?

[Chelle DB]

I haven't challenged her but I assume to do that I have to do it first...I'm not sure that doing that in the middle of winter is such a wise thing.
We could tweet her...it's worth a try.

[majorsal]

I haven't challenged her but I assume to do that I have to do it first...I'm not sure that doing that in the middle of winter is such a wise thing.
We could tweet her...it's worth a try.

someone on twitter has commented to her about the challenge. we'll see if she takes it.