karnoug

BRAVO!!!! Finally someone speaking out the voice of reason! How ironic that all the arguments are tearing down the true message of Christ! Do we truly think that Christ cares about Hnchak, Tashnag, etc? When growing up in Beirut we attended Orthodox Church (we are Orthodox), but when we went to Syria during the summers or to escape the war, we would stay with my Mother's family and attend Poghkagan church...It made absolutely no difference to us as long as we were worshipping the Lord. Not until recently did I come to realize that there are many Armenians out there who actually do care about what denomination, political party, or Gatoghigossaran a person belongs to. Shame on us, God shakes his head at our vainness. Instead of practicing love we are practicing discrimination...in God's House!!! what an oxymoron!

Actually, I wanted to point a mistake in your argument. The individual stores do not deal with the exporting country, therefore all they really do is go to the distributor and buy domestically. The distributor is the one who deals with the export/import process.

What I'd like to learn more about is the different Armenian sub-cultures. I used to think that if someone said they are Armenian I would automatically relate to them. Since re-kindling my relationship with the Armenian community, I have come to learn that this is far from reality. Depending on our geographical region, our cultures differ from one another significantly. I visited Armenia in 2005 for the first time in my life, and though I fell in love with the country, I could not relate to the people as intensely as I'd hoped. Besides language, which I actually overcame quickly, the vast differences in food, faith, marriage, faithfulness in marriage, male dominance and chauvinism, business ethics, etc. were profound. I am not judging, I am learning, and I would love to read some educated, informative feedback.

First, I'd like to comment on the size of our Armenian Gay community. Until I met some gay Armenians I had not realized what a big gay community we have! Some are flamboyant, some not so much, and some terrifyingly masculine. The saddest are the masculine ones, who must go through life pretending to be straight because they fear they will not be accepted by the community, and more importantly, by their families. What I most wanted to say is that getting to know members of the gay community, speaking with them about gay issues in the Armenian community, and finding out about the pressures this puts on them has made me both sympathetic and supportive for them. Being gay is hard enough in the American culture, imagine how much more difficult it is in the Armenian culture with all traditional value systems, beliefs, and presumptions. If a person is not gay, if being a homosexual is a choice, why in the world would these men and women choose a lifestyle that would alienate them from their family and community, make life that much harder and complicated??? I believe a person is born gay, it is not a choice (though I am not saying there are none who choose the lifestyle for whatever reasons they may have). So many of my friends have shared with me of when they were little boys in Lebanon, where they did not even know of homosexuality, and yet they found themselves hiding and secretely "checking out" other boys instead of girls... We are all God's creations, we are all created differently and put on this earth to learn and grow together, and to practice the love and tollerance that God has instilled in us. Much love & peace.

Anileve, I complete feel you! It just amazes me how short sighted some women can be. They are so afraid of being alone that they'd rather put up with losers and eat up their lies. My prayer for these girls is to see their worth and stop selling themselves short. But as you said, nothing makes a difference, they will do what they want at the end anyway... The sadest part is that they make the wrong decisions KNOWINGLY!

Just as a background, throughout history women have taken on the man's last name after marriage because women were viewed as "property", hence when they married they became the husband's property and took their name. Now, that being said, here's my view on this whole thing. It would be nice for the entire family to have the same last name to have an identifying factor for the whole. And it's a choice of which partner wants to change the last name. I think for women it is much easier to change their last name if they get married at a young age. However, if a woman is getting married later on in life, after working hard to establish herself, economically, socially, and both in her carreer and education, it will be difficult to change her name.

"the perpetrators".....I didn't read the word Turkey in there anywhere...humanity my ass, everyone is playing the game of politics. Note: Hi karnoug I placed your quote out of the first one.

MosJan, thank you so much for your share. I ended up hooked to all the Armenian clips on utube well past midnight las night! :-)

that was funny! thanks Arpa, yahnee jeeshd degheen er!

I just wanna say, MASHALLA you guys all impress me with your knowledge of the Armenian language. I'm impressed but saddened by the lack of knowledge on my part...

ok, but only because you said so

Pink Floyd Led Zeppelin Dave Matthews Band (not his solo stuff, and the old band stuff, not the newest crap) Can't go wrong with the Beattle and obviously the old Metallica

I don't think so gamavor. Maybe in the beginning with their ancestors they converted due to fear, but I believe the new generation feels and believes in Islam. It's just strange for me to see Muhammedian Armenians...

I'm not even gonna get into the origins of any of the dances/music, since I simply do not know. But I did want to comment on the Hamshen people...I saw an interview once with some of them, in their local environment...it provoked the strangest feelings in me. I mean, here are Armenians, speaking Armenian, knowing they are Armenian, knowing their history....and yet they are Muslim... darorinag...

shad shenorhagal em MosJan.

Years ago I used to work for a company whose headquarters were in Green Bay, WI. I asked some of the girls I would talk to on the phone on a daily basis what there was to do in WI...their answer.... "drink beer and have sex"....

you guys are funny...what a different scope of subjects!

please read the posts following that one to get a better prespective, insight, and explanation of my views and statements. thank you

Thank you Anahid for your response. Obviously I too am of the same sound of mind to preserve our heritage, culture, and nationality, otherwise I would not have made the choice that I made. Though to be completely honest both with you and with myself, the family and community pressures did play a variable role in my decision. Aside from that, I still do stand by my statement that our culture is racist. I am of course stereotyping, there are always exceptions. However, when there are no odars within earshot, or the Armenian spouses of an odar, our people speak crudely about them. The racist and demeaning words to describe Latinos, Asian, Blacks are freely expressed. I have had many conversations trying to drive my point accross to such persons. I've tried to explain that of all the people on this Earth, we Armenians should never forget where discrimination leads to; that we should never forget the pain and lasting scars such judgements cause other human beings, and ultimately how it deteriorates the soul of the racist himself.

Even though I love my culture and am very proud of it, we are however very racist. I am in hopes that this will change eventually. I met my soulmate 13 years ago in college, but he knew upfront that nothing would come of the relationship because of race. We remain to this day soulmates, though we are not together and we never see each other. It was my choice, yes, and I fully take responsibility for my choice; however, bottom line remains that I chose my family and culture over my soulmate.