TonioTimeDaily

TonioTimeDaily

By Antonio MyersSociety & Culture
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TonioTimeDaily episodes

  • Labeled unable to speak to now hosting a Podcast

    Antonio Myers was labeled as unable to speak as a child.  Some believed he was not going to be able to become verbal.  He is now hosting his own podcast.  This is him telling his story.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fBpPF6WSLGw

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    25 min
  • Healthy Sexuality
    "Healthy Sexual Expression

    Healthily expressing your sexuality should leave you feeling empowered and confident in yourself, your body, relationships, and your choices.

    There are many characteristics of a person with a healthy sexual expression that you can strive towards in your daily life.

    People with healthy sexualities exhibit the following characteristics:

    • Feel in control of your body, your urges, and your sexual expression
    • Communicate and interact with people of all genders in appropriate, healthy, and non-sexual ways
    • Actively listen and respect other people’s boundaries and understand that you deserve to be heard and have yours respected as well
    • Avoid any sort of exploitative relationships
    • Cultivate a nurturing and healthy relationship with yourself while still accepting help from others.
    • Develop an understanding of media on your thoughts, beliefs, values, and feelings towards relationships and sexuality.
    • Decide for yourself what is “right” and feel comfortable and safe acting on these values.
    • Understanding of Your Sexual Rights

      You, just like every other person on this planet, have sexual rights. It is your responsibility to understand them and set your boundaries.

      As a person, you have the right to:

      • Consent or withdraw consent at any time during an encounter with another person, sexually or otherwise
      • Feel safe negotiating and discussing all the aspects of a sexual encounter with your partner before engaging with them
      • Expect non-threatening and positive responses from others about your boundaries and expectations
      • Experience pleasure in whatever way that manifests for you
      • Healthy vs. Unhealthy Sexuality: Understanding the Difference

        You are probably running a mental checklist of all these aspects of you or a loved one who may exhibit a sense of healthy sexuality. Understanding what unhealthy sexuality looks like is just as crucial as understanding healthy sexuality as you’ll be able to spot warning signs.

        Signs of Unhealthy Sexuality:

        • Sexual activities are secretive, deceitful, exploitative, or hurtful
        • Physical intimacy is devoid of communication
        • If sex feels like an uncontrollable energy or an obligation
        • Benefits of sex only affect one person
        • Sex feels shameful, or like you are giving your power away to someone else
        • Your sexual life requires you to lead a double life to experience the pleasure you want."
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          16 min
        • Leaving religion behind and being Autistic: Join me in conversations with Antonio, Good conversation.. People only go to church out of traditional practice instead of knowledge.

          "Join me in conversation with Antonio Who is Autistic and has left religion behind, he now considers himself a circular humanist and promotes humanism through his podcast. He is also an author and a speaker. join us as we meet Antonio, he is a very likeable and interesting person." 

          https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YKTR1TmccWM (Link)

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          1 hr 30 min
        • 6 reasons religion may do more harm than good

          1.  Religion promotes tribalism. Infidel, heathen, heretic. Religion divides insiders from outsiders. Rather than assuming good intentions, adherents often are taught to treat outsiders with suspicion. “Be ye not unequally yoked with unbelievers,” says the Christian Bible. “They wish that you disbelieve as they disbelieve, and then you would be equal; therefore take not to yourselves friends of them,” says the Koran (Sura 4:91).

          At best, teachings like these discourage or even forbid the kinds of friendship and intermarriage that help clans and tribes become part of a larger whole. At worst, outsiders are seen as enemies of God and goodness, potential agents of Satan, lacking in morality and not to be trusted. Believers might huddle together, anticipating martyrdom. When simmering tensions erupt, societies fracture along sectarian fault lines.

          2. Religion anchors believers to the Iron Age. Concubines, magical incantations, chosen people, stonings . . . The Iron Age was a time of rampant superstition, ignorance, inequality, racism, misogyny, and violence. Slavery had God’s sanction. Women and children were literally possessions of men. Warlords practiced scorched earth warfare. Desperate people sacrificed animals, agricultural products, and enemy soldiers as burnt offerings intended to appease dangerous gods.

          Sacred texts including the Bible, Torah and Koran all preserve and protect fragments of Iron Age culture, putting a god’s name and endorsement on some of the very worst human impulses. Any believer looking to excuse his own temper, sense of superiority, warmongering, bigotry, or planetary destruction can find validation in writings that claim to be authored by God.

          Today, humanity’s moral consciousness is evolving, grounded in an ever deeper and broader understanding of the Golden Rule. But many conservative believers can’t move forward. They are anchored to the Iron Age. This pits them against change in a never-ending battle that consumes public energy and slows creative problem solving.

          3.  Religion makes a virtue out of faith. Trust and obey for there’s no other way to be happy in Jesus. So sing children in Sunday schools across America. The Lord works in mysterious ways, pastors tell believers who have been shaken by horrors like brain cancer or a tsunami. Faith is a virtue.

          As science eats away at territory once held by religion, traditional religious beliefs require greater and greater mental defenses against threatening information. To stay strong, religion trains believers to practice self-deception, shut out contradictory evidence, and trust authorities rather than their own capacity to think. This approach seeps into other parts of life. Government, in particular, becomes a fight between competing ideologies rather than a quest to figure out practical, evidence-based solutions that promote wellbeing.


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          11 min
        • The Top Ten Dangerous Beliefs

          "Restrictive, false and dangerous religious beliefs abound throughout the world, and dominate the mainstream teachings of organized religion. Religion has caused a lot of unnecessary pain to mankind, despite whatever truth and good intentions it has. Some of these dangerous religious beliefs fool you into thinking you can out-source your morality, ethics or spirituality to some external organization. Others prevent you from taking full responsibility for yourself and your actions, thus hindering you from stepping fully into your power. Still others goad you into a false sense of security where there is none. All of them limit you and the deeper realization of Who You Are. Additionally, all of them stem from the single fundamental delusion of separateness, i.e. that we are discrete and separate beings, that some people are better than others and that there is somewhere better you need to get to. An idea based on separateness leads to judgment and exclusion, and can never be as true and powerful as one based on connectedness. All of the following religious beliefs are disempowering obstacles in the way of true freedom.

          Believing Silly Things Can Lead to Dangerous Consequences

          You may think that believing silly things is harmless. They can be, but they can also have serious ramifications. Remember Voltaire’s quote in the image to the left: “those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities.” If you can convince people to follow you or your group, and that they will get rewarded in some way by doing this (e.g. get to Heaven, get fame, money, sex, knowledge or power, receive safety and security, etc.), you are well on your way to getting them to commit acts of unconsciousness. Next comes tests of loyalty: will they lie for you? Will they cover up for you? Will they cheat for you? Will they die or kill for you? Believing silly, foolish or absurd ideas can have horrible consequences. If you can’t tell truth from lies, you pave the way for corrupt people to seize power, manipulate you with deceptive propaganda and establish tyranny. How many people have murdered in the name of God or committed heinous crimes in the name of religion, all stemming from their dangerous religious beliefs?

          Dangerous Religious Beliefs #1: God is on My Side

          So many people get stumped on this one, and all sorts of horrendous division, judgement, condemnation, war and bloodshed has occurred over it. It takes on various forms: god is on my side (not yours); my god is better than your god; my god is the correct god (not yours); god will favor and reward me (not you), etc.

          So much of it stems from a false idea of what “God” is. Whatever you think God is, it’s important to realize that the “kingdom of God” or your own divinity is within you – not in buildings of wood and stone. Even Jesus confirmed this spiritual truth when he said (in various places in the Bible and in the missing Gospel of Thomas from the Nag Hammadi) that if you “split a piece of wood, and I am there. Lift a stone and you will find me.”

          Let’s reduce it to the basics. What is God? For most people, it’s their idea of the infinite being, the creator of all. Another way of saying this is that God = All That Is. If we literally insert the phrase “All That Is” into sentences that contain “God”, look at the results we get:

          God is on my side => All That Is is on my side

          How exactly can All That Is be on your side? How can All That Is have any sides? If it did have sides, how could it not be on all sides at the same time? After all, it includes everything."

          Link: "https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/top-ten-dangerous-beliefs-joseph-rinoza-plazo

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          23 min
        • Arrogance in the four walls called church
          1. Relationship conflict. Somebody got mad at somebody else, and one (or both) of them decided to find another church.
          2. Weak preaching. A congregation will put up with a lot of poor leadership, but many—especially young people—will not long sit under poor preaching.
          3. Authoritarian leadership. Some leaders do not permit opposing views, and they expect everyone to follow in line. In turn, some members simply don’t stay under that leadership style.
          4. Poor children’s or students’ programming. Even though it’s not good, it’s one thing for adults to have little opportunities for growth; it’s another matter completely when our church provides little for our children and young people.
          5. Neglected pastoral care. Right or wrong, some church members give their pastors only one shot at pastoral care. If the pastor somehow neglects a need, members start looking elsewhere.
          6. Personal sin. Sometimes it’s easier to leave a church than to sit under preaching that convicts week after week after week…which also means it’s apparently easier to leave than it is to repent.
          7. Burnout. Members who are really faithful to a local church at times overcommit themselves based on the needs of the church. Few people are willing to admit they’re just worn out, so some will simply leave instead.
          8. No connectedness. Lonely church members—regardless of whether they’re lonely because the church is unfriendly or because they choose not to get involved—don’t usually commit for the long haul in a church.
          9. Congregational strife. Even if you’re not in the middle of the battle, constant conflict wears out even the best church members.
          10. Theological disagreement. Sometimes this difference is over actual theological beliefs, and sometimes it’s over moral right and wrong.
          11. Political positions. Granted, this reason is often more apparent during campaign seasons, but it happens.
          12. Perceived irrelevance. Members who think the preaching and teaching do not speak to the reality of their day-to-day lives will often seek that kind of teaching elsewhere.

          13. These unresolved problems in the church are exactly why I left the church. 

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            14 min
          14. Why Is Abuse Rampant in the Church? 13 Critical Reasons Abuse Survivors Are Leaving the Church. Spiritual abuse includes twisting Scripture subtly to make it sound biblical.
            "5. The Church prioritizes reputation over doing what is right.

            One survivor shared that a church leader told her, “Don’t report your brother’s abuse. You’ll ruin the calling God has on his life.”

            The leader was more interested in the brother’s reputation than justice. We also see this in the myriad of recent sex abuse scandals in the church. It follows a sadly predictable pattern:

            Abuse - A cry of abuse is made by one or many.

            Denial - Church leadership presents this to the person in question, who then flatly denies it, calling it lies.

            Protection - Hoping to protect the reputation of the institution, the leadership publicly maligns the survivors and stands by the perpetrator, characterizing those who reported the abuse as agents of evil whose aim is to discredit the church.

            Proof - More people come forward with accusations until their sheer weight solidifies the veracity of the first people’s claims.

            Apology - The leadership (finally) issues a statement of apology after letting the perpetrator go.

            Damage - Those who made the outcry in the first place are left to deal with the public damage and lack of initial belief.

            Consequences - The church’s reputation is damaged anyway, and worse than anticipated."

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            54 min
          15. Why You Should Pay for Porn

            "But getting more quality porn out there means people have to be willing to pay for it. Taking care and diligence to pay performers, writers, and filmmakers fairly can cost more than less-ethical porn shoots and without the backing of traditional financial institutions to lean on, indie porn creators need their viewers to help foot the bill. Sites offering more diversity of content, from BDSM to reversal of gender roles—such as Pink Label, Bright Desire, Beautiful Agony, and Indie Porn Revolution—have charged for their content and remained popular, proving that diversity and production quality is something viewers will still pay for.

            Paying for porn is also important because sites that receive compensation are legally obligated to file a form under U.S. Code 2257, providing an age and legal name, which offers some accountability for the industry. When amateur porn is distributed, that accountability isn’t always clear. It’s also more difficult to tell which amateur videos were produced and distributed without the consent of all the featured performers. On some popular porn sites, you have to go to the original content creator’s website to find out if all participants are over the age of 18.

            That requires some work on the part of the consumer, whereas on sites such as O’actually, the print is big and available right under the video.

            “I think people are motivated by the assurance that this a safe and trusted site. I also think in general people are paying for curation,” Maloney says. “People know they’re not getting some obnoxious portal. It’s leaving them in the driver’s seat. I think people will pay for trusted content.”

            "With amateur porn, it’s getting especially difficult for consumers to know whether parties are consenting to the release of videos or whether participants are 18 or older. Users can upload their own content and sometimes websites advertise their sites as places where men who record intoxicated women or ex-girlfriends can post their videos. For example, Girls Gone Wild was hit with several lawsuits from women who were filmed without their consent, driving the infamous video company into bankruptcy.

            In addition to ensuring the ages and consent of performers, feminist porn creators also stress the need to pay their actors fairly. Sensory Fuse director Rutledge says she and her team have to get creative to keep costs low and still pay decent wages.

            “We pay the talent fair wages, rent a location in New Hampshire, take care of accommodations and meals, and basically try not to spend money on anything else, which leads to some very creative production techniques,” Rutledge says.

            Tobi Hill-Meyer, creator of the site Doing It Online, which focuses on films that capture trans people's sexual experiences, says some performers have offered to work for free—but she always turns them down. She accepts volunteers in other areas, such as small voice acting jobs and sometimes she hires assistants at a far-below-market rate of $50 for a shoot.

            “With sexual labor it’s important to be paid because it’s often a kind of labor that is undervalued,” says Hill-Meyer. “To accept free labor makes it a norm in the industry and I don’t want to encourage people to make those decisions when they otherwise would not do so.”

            Link: "https://www.bitchmedia.org/post/why-you-should-pay-for-porn-feminist-porn-report

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            18 min

          About TonioTimeDaily

          From the publisher's feed

          Autism is my super blessing! I'm a high-school valedictorian, college graduate, world traveler, disability advocate. I'm a Unitarian Universalist. I'm a Progressive Liberal. I'm about equal rights, human rights, civil & political rights, & economic, social, &cultural rights.