I have no idea what happened, so I will stay neutral and withhold judgment until everything is made clear to me, if ever. That's what any outsider should do. I'm no believer in the infallibility of Zephos's or anyone else's judgment of character, but surely that is no reason to be convinced of the other party's innocence.

I have finally severed my last spiritual and intellectual tie with Buddhism.

Or speciesist construction.

@Prismeru:

Uh, Guy sticking out his tongue i guess?

Some feminist would say that's sexist because you assume an emoticon to be male by default. b:

Something not so pointless:
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How can you be frustrated by Bleach if you no longer expect anything good out of it?

This suffices to sum up my reaction to Bleach every week:

Instead of discussing Bleach every week, we can do something more interesting and productive, like reading and rereading Black Lagoon.:ninja:

It's like asking the question: "If two innocent strangers of the same sex, age and social standing are drowning and you can only save one, and one of them belongs to the same race as you, who is more likely to be saved by you?"

http://broadblogs.com/2010/11/04/men-aren%E2%80%99t-hard-wired-to-find-breasts-attractive/
@Taggerung:

How much of your physical attraction to someone else is your own thinking and not just what has been hammered into you obviously or subliminally?

As I mentioned before, I am of the opinion that physical attraction for the most part is not the product of "thinking", i.e. of deliberate, rational consideration. It is rather the product of a mixture of biological urges and cultural assimilation, i.e. of under-conscious processes.

@Foolio:

just become strong independent thinkers who are so confident in themselves that they don't need to look for guidance or advice anywhere! It's super easy and totally not arrogant! Pat on the back, problem solved!

Well, that's not really what I suggest though.
As human beings it's obvious that each of us will have our limitation, so advice and guidance are sometimes needed. However, it's important that we develop the ability to assess/evaluate/scrutinize those advice and guidance in a critical manner, instead of following them blindly. That's part of standing on our own two feet.

I also said that there is a fine line between reasonable respect and idolatry, and we have to do some tight rope walking. It's not easy, of course.

I don't know why you tend to interpret my post in the most negative way possible. :P Sarcasm is uncalled for.

–- Update From New Post Merge ---

Looking for an anchor and looking for advice are two different things, needless to say.

@Epoida:

so now who will I look up to?

No one. If I may suggest.
At any rate, I myself look up to no one.

It's in human nature to long to revere. To have someone to look up to gives us a sense of ground, a sense of direction, a standard, especially when we are not used to standing on our own two feet. So when an object of reverence loses its status as an object of reverence, we immediately want to find a substitute. Parental figures are often the earliest authority figures, that many still can't grow out of. This kind of attitude has several problems.

Firstly, it hinders independent thinking. This is rather obvious. Looking up too much to a person make us lose our ability to judge for ourselves. There is fine line between reasonable respect and idolatry, and we have to do some tight rope walking here.

Secondly, it prevents us from seeing a person as they really are. We easily project onto the person qualities that they don't have, qualities that we aspire to be. We are bound to be frustrated, sooner or later, when we find out more about the person. When this happen, we can lose our sense of balance, if it depends too much on this object of reverence.

The first step of the solution is, of course, to develop a strong independent thinking. A sign of maturity is when you no longer look for an anchor outside of yourself. Then after that, or in the process of doing so, you can start reasoning with your dad and reconciling with him, while preparing for the possibility that you have to maintain a definite distance from him.

Just my two cents. Hope things go well for you. Love ~

–- Update From New Post Merge ---

p/s: Family conflicts are almost always painful, and we should try our best to fix the crack, but there is only so much we can do, and the outcomes are not always most pleasant. Standing up to your dad is the right decision, and you may have to continue to do so in the future. But it's important also to try to understand him more, to find out what his problems are and see if they can, to some extent, be fixed in a joint effort, if some sense of responsibility and family love can be restored in him. In some case you have to take the initiative in reconciling with a soft approach. Allow him some chance to atone himself, if you will, while also preparing for the worst case scenario.

I'd like to help you more but my knowledge of the situation is limited. Hopefully I'm not sticking my nose in unnecessarily.