Arby’s. We have the meats!
(midwest.social)
liquorice
FunnyIf this is in Florida, around Tampa, I might have chatted with this person at one point a long time ago. Or another like him.
I'm from Québec and more than 20 years ago I was on IRC meeting people from other countries. At some point this guy from Florida started to chat in English with our group of people in our mainly French speaking channel. I continued to exchange in private messages because most people on the channel didn't speak English and found it annoying. I learned where he was from, but mostly that he was circumcised against his will when he was a baby, and that he was vehemently anti circumcision. To the point where he was pushing me and some other people from my channel to become militant ourselves in our province. He was saying that we should write to our representatives to ban circumcision and also have a constitution like they have in the US.
Circumcision was also sometimes practiced in Québec but it was (and still is AFAIK) much less frequent. So even if I was also circumcised when I was a baby, none of my friends were. I'm the exception. Nobody, even me, saw any reason to become militant about this. I tried to explain the differences between our systems, that our political system does not work the same way, and how I would personally not fancy any type of system like they have in the US anyway.
He was also very pro-gun. Another point on which we very much disagreed. He said that we should arm ourselves in case we needed to defend ourselves against the government. Again, I tried to explain the differences in our systems and how we do things differently but to no avail.
The weirdest part was that he knew about global warming/climate change, as his parents owned a house on an island in Tampa. He tried to convince his parents about this. And this was were we connected a bit more. He was very conservative, but aware of climate change.
But in the end, after chatting with him for multiple years, he ended up saying that I was anti-American when I tried to explain again why no, I would not promote US style "democracy" in Canada, and he stopped coming on our channel.
Came for the memes, stayed for the story.
To be honest it's probably borderline against the rules. I don't always read them before commenting.
I'm describing the political stance of someone I once talked to but I would understand why some might see this as political.
A lot of Americans are unfortunately like this, I included.
I'm against circumcision. I support LGBTQIA. I think America should scale the fuck back and stop being world police, and instead be world supporters. I hate school shootings and police over reach, and I support guns ownership to protect people of color/minorities from harm.
My paragraph right there will have a bunch of Americans going, "Yeah I agree with half of that" and the halves will change.
And often, a guy like him is who we need on specific issues.
Am I going to let him near my kids or hang out at a bar? Absolutely not. Will I support him in his protest against cutting little baby dicks? Absolutely.
Well, it's not the worst will to die on, a strange hill, yes, but not a bad one.
Based
Arby's should definitely sell their Horsey Sauce in stores. ChikFilA sells their dipping sauces.
Oh, I missed the blood on his crotch, he can speak from experience.
The fuck did Arby's do to you that you had to protest that outside their restaurant?
Do not answer that.
The icon looks like the hoody of a perfectly fine penis.
Sorry, but now you know what is in the beef n' cheddars.
Forbidden calamari...
but seriously, circumcision is an absolutely pointless stupid bullshit stone age "tradition" that should have gone away thousands of years ago. why the fuck is this shit still even a thing?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xx_ov2NiNo4
it is bullshit, and it should stop.
the invective I see people pour onto parents for this is wild to me. like somehow there should have been a revolution circa 1968 that stopped all circumcision and anyone who got snipped after was abused by their parents... not a choice I'd make, not a choice I need to make, but I know one guy who blames most of the problems in his life at step one, snip, and everything else hinged on that, convinced it robbed him of...?
everyone's living their own crazy lives.
like alot of whats wrong with the US, you can blame protestants for this one
While I tend to agree, it's ~~absolutely~~ mostly pointless.
I have an elderly friend that had to get a late circumcision around age 65 or so, as well as have a cyst removed from the head of his penis..
There are valid medical reasons, but tradition/religious reasons are indeed bullshit.
the difference is that your friend's situation was a medical treatment, and it was voluntary
making that sort of permanent decision for your newborn infant is what's bullshit
Agreed
I wonder if it's one of those things that became religious because of early medical or pseudo medical procedures.
It's like, the "no pork" or "no shellfish" in the Bible probably had a real event of rotten meat or common seafood allergies in a population. But, evolved into people stoning someone for mixing cotton and wool fabrics together.
I'm just bull shitting. But I like to think silly religious things actually had some initial reason in a population before they were just silly beliefs.
The "no men sleeping with men" part was obviously patriarchal constructs. But it would be funny if it was just some jealous leader that realized he was gay after getting married "if I can't suck other guys dick no one can! Thus sayeth the Lord!"
Best theory I've seen is undeveloped foreskin is a birth defect that is a lot more common with inbreeding. Ancient Egypt started doing circumcision in the upper class at a time when their royals were very inbred, so it's like how Europeans all started wearing wigs because France had a bald king.
Interesting. Thanks. It seems we're still doing this today as well with our ruling class and catering to their insecurities.
Nope. Most of those are just people projecting modern knowledge and beliefs onto people from thousands of years ago.
The origin of the pork taboo for example. We connect it to our current knowledge of trichinosis, but we know the actual reason from antiquity.
It has to do with ancient Judaism and a political dispute they had both internally and with the Babylonians. Essentially, the surviving faction of the conflict hated Babylon, and Babylon ate a lot of pork because pigs are easier to maintain in a more urbanized setting. So they had developed the belief that "fuck that, people who eat like those fuckers are also fuckers". They also decided to use the Babylonians gods as bad guy gods, and give them names like, roughly, the stinky poop god. Aka, baelzebub.
It's always risky to project modern beliefs and knowledge onto people from so long ago.
When you walk around the desert for 40 years, the last thing you want is your people eating shellfish they find laying around...
There's theories that the pork ban was because of having to feed them grains and so it's not efficient as humans could just eat grain directly. This applies in desert-y areas where pigs can't be scavengers
Circumcision in America also has more to do with quacks like Harvey Kellogg.
He's not the primary reason. There were groups of influential people in the late 19th century pushing wild ideas. However, circumcision wasn't as widespread until the early 20th century.
That's not that long ago, but long enough to fuck up generations of boys and force them to think it's normal to be mutilated.
I forgot about the Kellogg guy. But you're right. Unfortunately, I think the anti circumcision movement in the US is entirely captured by people that are more concerned with enforcing patriarchal constructs. They are unable to see circumcision as a negative result of patriarchal history that boys are hurt by and instead focus on it as "men having it worse" while ignoring the bigger picture.
What? I don't see that at all. Acknowledging a hypocrisy regarding genital mutilation attitudes doesn't diminish a recognition of the myriad inequities faced by women.
Are you disagreeing or are you asking for sources on the subject?
The "popular" MRA (mens rights activist) organizations use this very clearly barbaric practice as a pipeline. The people advocating against it in MRA are not pointing to the vast majority of feminist organizations that are against it. They are using it as a "wedge" issue and pretending that it is feminist themselves that are ignoring or even causing it.
Its similar to how many MRA people will say "woman need to be a part of the draft too". Instead of siding with the leftist and feminist organizations that want to abolish the draft altogether.
These organizations are rarely looking to improve mens rights; but pointing to issues like these as means to maintain patriarchal constructs. It is a means to keep men focused on the issues that impact them; but keep them from organizing or finding solidarity with the leftist movements that address others issues as well.
The vast majority of men are hurt in some way by the patriarchal structures of our society. But, instead of rightfully realizing that these issues are a RESULT of patriarchy they instead focus on them as a reason for why patriarchy doesn't exist.
It's because they think (maybe you included?) that patriarchy is just a measure of the "fairness" or "equality" between men and women. When it is not this at all. It is a interwoven with class structures, racial structures, and gender roles. "Intersectionality" if you will. The liberation from these structures would free men as well. But, the majority of them do not want to acknowledge the areas in their lives that they benefit from from patriarchy. They just want to maintain the status quo and remove or "make equal" a couple things that they don't like: parental rights, genital mutilation, the draft.
Which is why MRA groups are not taken seriously by the left. Not because the issues they have are not real. But because they do not acknowledge the issues of others within the same system that causes the MRA issues. It's not that leftist and feminist don't care about these issues. It's that these issues have been captured by the right to cause division.
It's very easy to look in your own bowl and see what is missing. But it's much more difficult to look in your neighbors bowl and see what you have that they do not. MRA movements are largely focused on what is missing from their bowl and in the extreme are looking to take from others bowls to fill theirs. "Women should be in the draft" is the obvious one. They want MORE class oppression as a means of "increasing equality". When we on the left realize that the draft is a result of class structures and not just patriarchy.
And, again, these groups don't actually want women in the draft. They just use this issue to capture men that feel powerless. Why do you think the right wing fascist want only men in the military? The military represents power. The draft for men and boys IS a structure of patriarchy that pulls in men with the promise of "power of women" and exploits the working class as labor for the war machine.
Disagreeing as well as asking for sources because I've truly never encountered anything about people being anti-circumcision that's felt anything beyond "that's a messed up thing to do to a baby".
Totally on board with the things you've said against mras, with the added note that they also make it harder for people to actually discuss real issues that do effect men in a way that isn't immediately assumed to be an angry wounded machismo thing. Patriarchy hurts men too, and men have some social issues that it can be helpful for them to seek support on, and the work of shitty mra groups framing that as so closely associated with antifeminism or misogyny actively hurts men by creating an association that caring about or having male specific issues makes someone a misogynistic ass by default.
Reasonable people are feminists, and don't get hung up on the origin of the word.
I purely mean I have literally never heard anyone blame feminism or any feminist group for circumcision. I think the closest I've heard is people arguing against individuals who're saying female circumcision is worse, and therefore we shouldn't dilute the conversation by bringing male circumcision up.
I like to think silly religious things actually had some initial reason
why?
Because a belief system that tells people to avoid doing certain things can actually be beneficial to the overall population.
Like not eating pork or shellfish. Not only is the allergy thing a potential factor in saving lives but if these meats aren't cooked properly they can straight up kill you.
Or things like banning homosexuality (I'm not homophobic by any means this is me trying to explain it in the basest way I can). If you're gay you're not gonna be having children of your own (most of the time, I know gay people who are closeted can and will have children to hide their sexuality) which could potentially end a bloodline which could end a population.
Not every part of a belief system is based on stuff like this but a lot of them are. They were used as a method of keeping the human population as strong as possible especially during times of crisis.
With all this said imho religion needs to die. We're no longer apes hiding in caves with no way of understanding what's happening around us. They were useful when humanity was in it's early stages of development but hold no value in the modern age
i mean you can tell everyone don't eat the poison mushrooms without making a whole fucking religion around that,,,but whatever\
yes, religion needs to die
I agree with you but with things like nuclear waste dump sites scientists have thought about creating a religious style belief system to prevent future generations from digging in those areas.
Unfortunately religions can span for millennia so a religion that includes staying away from dangerous radioactive waste is a potential way of keeping future humans from giving themselves/each other radiation poisoning/cancer.
The point being religions usually have good teachings that keep humans alive. They just get muddled by bullshit because people want control.
Having read Signs of Danger by Wyck and come across the "use religion as a tool" method, my conclusion was and still is, that it's not worth the cost. You don't need to use fairy tales or tales of the boogeymen because the target audience aren't fucking children.
Authoritative religiosity has killed, kills, and will continue to kill far more than a future unlucky tribe, scientist, or archaeologist digging up some nuclear waste because present society couldn't bury it deep enough or give a bigger fk to fund a generationally self-perpetuating warning system (because that'd actually give independent power to science and rationality instead of politicians).
yea fair enough. hail capitalism
Well, I think they came from some material event. "The water was making people sick so anyone that doesn't boil their water is an 'abomination' in the eyes of the Lord". That kind of reasoning.
Not that the entire premise was correct. But more that the conclusion was beneficial for the conditions of the time and was never revised based on new material circumstances. It became dogma instead.
I guess quoting me like that I do sound silly. But, I had hoped my comment in context implied what I meant.
I was also joking at the end about the homophobic shit if that wasn't obvious too.
if its for traditional or religious, yea its compeltely pointless. but it does have valid medical reasons for it, like constant balanitis , or rare form, hpv, and penile malignancy.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gCSWbTv3hng
Well, just like with bloodletting, there’s a limited medical use for it nowadays.
However , the simple traditional chop chopchopping still has biblical meaning.
i wasn't arguing that it didn't have "biblical meaning," i'm saying the "biblical meaning" is absolute fucking bullshit
and yes, it follows that i'm calling the bible bullshit, which it is
i wouldn't be mad about it if it weren't wrecking so many innocent lives
This procedure wrecking innocent lives or religion overall? This procedure by itself is not that bad. Makes life easier too. In my experience ofc. I am an atheist btw
This procedure by itself is not that bad
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/240804903_Lost_Boys_An_Estimate_of_US_Circumcision-Related_Infant_Deaths
how many deaths would it take for you to say it's bad?
In my experience ofc
if you were circumcised at birth, then how can you possibly know that it's "easier" being cut than not?
want to talk about any other topics you know nothing about?
edit:
Allen Ervin, born 1985, was in a coma for more than six years before he died. He had been on life support after his brain was damaged from oxygen deprivation during his circumcision. Demetrius Manker was born in 1993 and died soon thereafter from blood loss. The coroner’s examination found a large, gaping wound on the underside of the boy’s penis extending almost to the scrotum. The coroner listed cause of death as blood loss due to penile circumcision; however, there is no mention of further action being taken. A West Virginia child, whose name was withheld, was born in 1996 without incident and circumcised prior to hospital release. A few days later, the parents rushed him to the emergency room because he was having seizures and his penis had turned green in color. He died the next day from septicemia.
Because the penis is highly vascularized, blood-loss is a risk even for boys circumcised past the neonatal period. In 2008, a 6-week-old Native American, Eric Keefe, died from massive blood loss. Hospital officials claimed that his circumcision was not to blame, but instead faulted the parents because they had administered over-the-counter pain medication that, they also claimed, thinned his blood.
https://www.darboninstitute.org/circumcision_deaths_complications_usa
I don't even have a dick and I'm offended you would cut allusions to your favorite shitty book into someone else's penis without their consent. Do you not understand how profoundly fucking sick that is? Christianity is a disease.
Like if I knocked you out or found you passed out drunk then used a laser to burn the phrase 'mostly harmless' into your genitals in a way that would leave a life long scar, I'd get quite a kick out of it, and it has so many layers of meaning in reference to a shitty mess of a book I read a bunch as a kid. So it's fine to do. Honestly if we ever meet I'm doing this.
I don't think laser ablation counts as cavitation, don't push your fetish on others! /s
Real talk though, I do agree that any religion that requires the mutilation of any part of a child, let alone their genitals is ass backwards and shouldn't exist, failing that, should be entirely voluntary only performed after the child has grown into an adult that can make their own decisions
I have other kinks too, and ifthey can impose their cults; I can impose my kinks. I'll stop when they stop.
Hey as long as it's consensual then impose away.
Which I guess is the main point of issue for the rest of the world eh.
They don't ask consent for their cults. Why should I for my kinks?
Did I say I suggest I agree with the non-medical practice or with the bible? I do not.
Okay, but it would be really funny so I'm still gonna. Sorry. I gotta laugh about the lack of bodily autonomy, or I'm gonna cry. You understand.
Yes, completely. I find the practice awful, and the female version truly gruesome.
Circumcision predates the Bible by at least 6000 years. The earliest depictions of circumcision have been found in tribal rock art in africa dating back to around 8000-10000bc.
Hell, even Herodotus mentions that Egyptians had been practicing circumcision since before recorded history.
From what we can gather the cultural practice migrated with people in the great push out of africa.
Pro-dickchop lunatics always come with the most outrageous arguments to defend it. HURRr it’s more hygenic, ok better cut off my fucking eyelids because there’s crusty shit under em’ in the morning. HURRr you might get complications later in life, ok guess I’d better kill myself in case I die.
Please.
Am circumsized haven't washed my penis in years
::: spoiler Tap for spoiler /s :::
clicked on that spoiler expecting a nasty picture
I wholeheartedly believe that any parent that circumcised their kids should be charged with felony level child abuse.
You're mutilating an infant for aesthetical purposes.
If the idea of female genital mutilation sounds deplorable yet you don't mind circumcision you're fucked in the head and need put in a mental facility.
Not saying I agree with any unnecessary and involuntary surgery done to children, but conflating female genitalia mutilation with male circumcision is not the best way to make your point.
To people whose social norm already includes male circumcision it doesn't do anything but downplay how bad fgm really is. On just about every level fgm is more dangerous to perform and has significantly worse long-term outcomes.
They both suck, but fgm is objectively on an entirely different scale of harm.
It’s true that FGM is objectively worse, and I’ve seen people conflate the two while attempting to argue that circumcision is wrong. But it looks like the commenter above focused only on the moral inconsistency of cultural mores.
If by conflation you mean using the term genital mutilation for circumcision, unfortunately that’s hard to avoid in the context of ethics when they occupy the same categorical: “is the practice of pruning children’s genitals ~~without their consent~~ ok or not?”
E: redundancy
I agree.
It's batshit crazy that it's common practice
I mean, yes. But Arby's can't help.
arby's has a bad rap, likely because of internet chatter funded by competitors, but they were the first mainstream franchise to introduce the curly fry to the world. this may seem farfetched, but when those delightful arby's trademarked curly fries hit the street, you couldn't just go to the local supermarket and buy a bag of curly fries--it was arby's or nothing. and we loved those funky, spicy, intricately curled potatoes; we were as red with passion as the color of their always crispy exterior.
it became a tradition in my friend circle to indulge in this culinary experiment that would soon become one of the norms of american cuisine; we were pioneers as much as laura ingalls wilder was but our place in history has been paved over by applebees locations serving you inferior fries.
there was an arby's in my local mall right next to the arcade, and my friend and i would indulge in savory roast beef sandwiches and curly fries, always with a generous amount of horsey sauce for that extra kick you'd only find at arby's.
without arby's training a generation of young men/women to appreciate spice, you wouldn't have dozens of thai/mexican/halal joints in your area in 2026.
this is just something to think about--i'm not bragging or making a huge fuss.
a friend of mine worked at arby's for two years. his car became more and more pungent because he couldn't bring his work clothes inside (washed them monthly-ish at a laundromat) - his dogs would eat them, after a single shift running fryers and slicing meat, his clothes and shoes became revolting smelling temptations to the guy's dobies, so he'd leave everything in his car and run inside in boxers lol.
I really can't understand the hate Arby's gets. I unironically believe it's one of the best fast food places out there. Their roast beef is delicious, especially with their cheddar sauce, their BBQ sauce is one of the best (out of fast food ones, it doesn't stand up as well when you expand the comparison to all sauces out there), and their horsey sauce is great, too. And their seasoned curly fries taste great on their own and their shape makes them pick up dilling sauce very well.
Or maybe their Canadian locations that I've been to were just outliers and way better quality than their average?
US chains outside the US tend to be better because food regulations in general are better. rest of the world considers US meat unfit for human consumption
rest of the world considers US meat unfit for human consumption
That's... Not even remotely true. The US is one of the largest food and meat exporters in the world. There's a few notable cases of differing regulations resulting in trade issues but for the most part those are about local industry trade protection. Like, the US doesn't forbid washing poultry in the processing plant with a dilute bleach solution, and the EU says you can't do that. Ignoring that the US primarily uses other things, that the same substance is mandated for use by the EU for certain classes of seafood and vegetable, and that nearly every food service establishment on the planet uses it to clean nearly everything, where it's mandated for use by the EU, and documented as entirely harmless by their advisory health officials.
But it does result in the EU buying poultry for moderately higher prices from member nations.
Fast food is better outside the US because the chains are less established as options, so they need to try harder.
I order the Roast Beef sandwiches with a SLICE of Natural Cheddar, rather than the Cheddar Goo.
I'm totally addicted to the Horsey Sauce. Addicted.
Oh yeah, if I had a packet of it here right now I'd just eat it directly. Like they could have made a successful business out of just selling those two sauces I bet.
I mean, he's right.
Is there some context for those of us who didn't default to USA during the birthplace lottery that makes this a funny meme?
It's the juxtaposition with the Arby's in the background (a fast food chain) and their "we have the meats" motto.
The implication here being that the foreskins are the meats.
Ah "juxtaposition" a word I learned in English class I NEVER thought I'd see again...
The period pants were a bold choice
Somewhat common for people protesting circumcision. I remember a small group of people dressed similarly at my college a long time ago.
Thought this dude had a doug dimmidome hat for a hot second
Arby's is not the right venue for this protest.
May I suggest the Silent Hill 4 Wikia?
I should go get a meat mountain, hold the foreskin.
You're not tricking me into eating Rocky mountain oysters again.
So that's what goes on their roast beef sandwiches... 🤔
Based Arby's guy.
Wow, remember seeing these guys on Tosh.0 nearly 5ish years ago, surprised the movement is still going.
https://www.bloodstainedmen.com/
TIL Tosh.0 aired into 2020
People who get riled up over this are so fucking weird.
The people blanket downvoting everyone who isn't militant against circumcision: 🤡
OK I agree with the point he's making. But wow, THIS is the issue he's taking up?
As far as issues to take up, protecting millions of literal babies from getting painful, dangerous, and unnecessary cosmetic procedures is a pretty noble one in my book.
A lot better hobby than being dismissive on the internet
Everybody has their thing, including you. How would you like it if this guy was disparaging your favorite cause?
This is bad solidarity. Each of us takes up the issues that matter to us, and we support eachother's causes as we're able.
I'm glad people were more supportive than you when female genital mutilation was initially banned, and I hope the effort of people like this succeeds in banning male genital mutilation the same way.
Whatever issue you think should be fought, I hope it's progressive and good and you get the support you need to see it through.
OK, again not against it. I hope everyone feels good about their contributions.
Gotta believe in something. I'm just glad it's a good thing.
