[quote]Al Shades wrote:
It never occured to you to illustrate the context of that quote, did it?[/quote]
Do you really need me to illustrate anything, princess? Don’t be a pussy. How hard is that to understand? You want to hold on to fear, be my guest. I’m not scared. Gramps was right.
[quote]lothario1132 wrote:
Maybe I do need brain surgery. I just can’t be scared of The Man running my life when it’s so obvious to me that as an American, I have the power to guide my own destiny.
You wrote: What the hell is that supposed to mean? “As an American”? So, as an Iraqi, you would not have the power to guide your own destiny? Why not, and how can you know for sure? This brings us full circle, right back to the notion of American “greatness” that you keep trumpeting but are unable to substantiate. [/quote]
There’s plenty of folks all over the world who don’t have access to decent drinking water. Maybe when you stop whining about how bad everything is in my country, and see what advantages you really do have here, you will understand just how lucky you are to live here. In MY country. I call it that because you don’t consider yourself an American, right? I wouldn’t want to call it OUR country, because that would offend your delicate sensibilities. You rebel teenager you.
I don’t think in the full realm of the issues that “religion” or lack there of plays a true essential role into the goodness or badness of a person, I think it affects the more fickel outer shell of what we dictate or set as a transparent moral system in conversation and debate with others. I haven’t seen religion to strengthen a person who is essential not pure. I also agree that simply stating you are atheist for some sort of “cool factor” is lame.
In example, a lot of the atypical right wing Christian fellow T-men we have here, can in one hand preach about goodness, and morality, but at the same time have a knack for creating threads such as “Would you bang a Porn Star, if you were in a relationship? Would you marry a Stripper”. Makes you think?
[quote]yustas wrote:
ZEB wrote:
Help me out on this guys. Are you a liberal non-Christian?
No.
I’m anti-over simplification, which seems like one when I see “labels” all around me.
Liberal, Conservative, Christian, left, right, Muslim, Communist, etc are all labels that seem to dumb us all down. Whatever happened to the facts?
I think that there’s no such thing as a Liberal or a Christian or what have you. If I tell you that I’m a Liberal Christian Jew from California (which I’m not, except the California part) would that really give you a true inside into who I’m and what I’m all about? Or would it give you a preconceived label?
Rant over
-Yustas[/quote]
Are you kidding? Not labeling people would be too weird, then we would have to actually listen to what they say before passing judgement! That is too scary of an idea to ever pursue!
[quote]milhouse472 wrote:
Shades,
I believe your logic is flawed. You neglect to consider the wealth of wisdom which has been a result of your “evil” religion. Your thinking is simply dualistic. You seem to think that if religion is flawed, then nothing good can be taken from it. That is juvenile. An intelligent person, as I would assume you are, would realize “The raft is not the shore”, to quote the famous Buddhist monk Thich Naht Hahn. Meaning, yes…religion is not the end or absolute truth, however, it allows us to make a path to this “ultimate reality”.
You should not discount religion so quickly, but allow yourself to learn from the teachers it has produced. I tend to think the Buddha, Jesus, Mohammed, etc. were very wise men. Also, when you study the mystics of the aforementioned religions, you find an odd thing, many are saying very similar things. So, do yourself a favor. Adhere to your “reality” and “relationship” ideas, and don’t be so quick to destroy another man’s path to God or whatever he calls the ultimate reality. [/quote]
I believe this may be the most profound thing I have ever read on this site, that did not apply to training.
I think there are many on the left who do not believe in God. Hence, when we get a President who is not ashamed to voice his belief in a higher power he is attacked as wanting “religious law” to prevail.
I also think if it were a democratic President who was openly Christian there would not be this heated opposition to his religious beliefs.
[quote]ZEB wrote:
I think there are many on the left who do not believe in God. Hence, when we get a President who is not ashamed to voice his belief in a higher power he is attacked as wanting “religious law” to prevail.
I also think if it were a democratic President who was openly Christian there would not be this heated opposition to his religious beliefs.[/quote]
This is partly true, but a Democratic president wouldn’t endorse faith based programs (Christian based programs) the way Mr. Bush does. Not that you’re wrong, but it is different, so I respectfully disagree.
I also have a prediction about this trend of conservatives becoming more religiously outspoken and that is that the more they do this the more they will push their republican moderates toward a more liberal view. Needles to say this will, if it happens, mark the end of a Republican dominance that some people have predicted may last a very long time. I’m a Republican so I hope this doesn’t happen, but I do prefer a divided government, so my hope is that the next president is a Democrat, yet we keep a Republican dominated Congress.
[quote]ZEB wrote:
I think there are many on the left who do not believe in God. Hence, when we get a President who is not ashamed to voice his belief in a higher power he is attacked as wanting “religious law” to prevail.
I also think if it were a democratic President who was openly Christian there would not be this heated opposition to his religious beliefs.[/quote]
[quote]Roark wrote:
ZEB wrote:
I think there are many on the left who do not believe in God. Hence, when we get a President who is not ashamed to voice his belief in a higher power he is attacked as wanting “religious law” to prevail.
I also think if it were a democratic President who was openly Christian there would not be this heated opposition to his religious beliefs.
This is partly true, but a Democratic president wouldn’t endorse faith based programs (Christian based programs) the way Mr. Bush does. Not that you’re wrong, but it is different, so I respectfully disagree.
I also have a prediction about this trend of conservatives becoming more religiously outspoken and that is that the more they do this the more they will push their republican moderates toward a more liberal view. Needles to say this will, if it happens, mark the end of a Republican dominance that some people have predicted may last a very long time. I’m a Republican so I hope this doesn’t happen, but I do prefer a divided government, so my hope is that the next president is a Democrat, yet we keep a Republican dominated Congress.
[/quote]
Where in the world did you ever get the idea that there is no separation of church and state under President Bush? You have to stop listening to your liberal friends.
[quote]rainjack wrote:
ZEB wrote:
I think there are many on the left who do not believe in God. Hence, when we get a President who is not ashamed to voice his belief in a higher power he is attacked as wanting “religious law” to prevail.
I also think if it were a democratic President who was openly Christian there would not be this heated opposition to his religious beliefs.
Does anyone remember Jimmy Carter? [/quote]
True rainjack, but that was 1976 just prior to the rise of the hate filled left within the democratic party. It is that wing of the party that will ensure many more republican victories. Most people, who are pretty much middle of the road politically are alientated by the seething hate coming from the left.
[quote]Roark wrote:
wufwugy wrote:
Al Shades wrote:
I believe that God exists and I see him every day in the mirror.
could you expound, please?
He’s a humanist. Nothing wrong with that. It’s just as right as any other belief.
[/quote]
that’s not expounding. that’s saying the same thing differently.
