All-purpose news and politics thread: Two Steps Beyond!

[Jeff Brady]

Ha. Doesn't surprise me.

In all honesty, a lot of the last couple of pages could have been avoided if Raptor was either given a polite thank you or just ignored. Viciously attacking him for saying God bless does not help the atheist cause.

That was not a vicious attack. That was a logical demolition of his argument.

[JCAll]

I honestly think it deserves wider recognition.

Here's what we have to do. We all write letter and mail them in to FOX News pretending to be old middle class white people who are absolutely outraged, OUTRAGED I SAY, over this blog our grandchildren showed up on the tumblr. If we get enough write ins, we might get him a spot on TV during a slow news day.

[macattack]

That was not a vicious attack. That was a logical demolition of his argument.

Really. I read what most of you said to him and it boiled down to "GTFO".

The funny thing about faith is that is difficult to prove or disprove. It largely boils down to choice. Do you believe, or don't? I'm not the most devout person either (I identify as a Christian deist due to my frustrations with church practice) but I find my existence far lonelier without God so I choose to believe.

[Jeff Brady]

Really. I read what most of you said to him and it boiled down to "GTFO".

I'm happy for his participation. We've conversed before. I asked for God to leave the conversation. Dassit.

The funny thing about faith is that is difficult to prove or disprove.

You can't prove a negative.

I don't care who believes in what, so long as you do no harm to others, and keep it to yourself unless asked.

[JCAll]

I'm literally NEVER going to stop trying to inject God into every part of my life, my opinions, my decision making, etc. And by doing so, I'm trying to lift up and glorify to those around me, because I know that it will work for others if they're doing it right.

And good on you for that.

But remember, it's an all to common occurrence today to see people use religion to tear people down instead of building people up. Religion can be a motivational force, it gives some people a reason to get out of bed and do good things. But too often you see situations where someone will say "You're hurting me, please stop" only to get the reply "I can't stop, God told me to". And these people are doing it wrong. They're not just hurting themselves and those around them, but damaging their faith. People have been leaving religion by the droves and becoming increasingly distrustful of religion in general. This is by no means a new thing, but has been greatly magnified by the rise of the information age.

I'm not referring You specifically, of course.

[InformationGeek]

http://www.rawstory.com/2015/05/teen...gions-decline/

Teens are fleeing religion like never before: Massive new study exposes religion’s decline

Yeah, that sounds about. I think I'm only one of my family's younger generation that still considers himself religious in some way, so I do notice it is declining in some fashion (if only a bit through personal experience).


Also, moving away from religious discussions (I'll remain quiet on that subject unless the majority want me to talk), here's an update for you worstblogger. One of your Republicans of Day, Matt Bevin, has now got the GOP nomination for Kentucky Governor. You mentioned it in your post about him jumping into the ring, so let's see how this all turns out.


And like us, another Walker Watch update. Walky boy said he is planning on signing a 20 week abortion bill that has no exemption for rape or incest. Uuuuuuuuuggggggggghhhhhhh.......

[Raptor13]

And good on you for that.

But remember, it's an all to common occurrence today to see people use religion to tear people down instead of building people up. Religion can be a motivational force, it gives some people a reason to get out of bed and do good things. But too often you see situations where someone will say "You're hurting me, please stop" only to get the reply "I can't stop, God told me to". And these people are doing it wrong. They're not just hurting themselves and those around them, but damaging their faith. People have been leaving religion by the droves and becoming increasingly distrustful of religion in general. This is by no means a new thing, but has been greatly magnified by the rise of the information age.

I'm not referring You specifically, of course.

Oh don't misunderstand, I very much agree. That's why I stand so firmly in what I do, to try and differentiate. Some of them are used for awful, selfish actions that are incredibly against biblical teachings. As you pointed out, with the Information Age, I cannot possibly refute or support every one of them (heck, even before the Information Age that would have been impossible). And such things are damaging, so when I see them, often I'll try to refute them when they are against biblical teaching. That's how I try and design my conduct.

Thank you for pointing that out though, because it is a real problem.

To other comments- yea, the number is going down. That's a problem, why I'm working on it by trying to show the reality of the Way, as opposed to the bad examples.

And thank you macattack, but overall I don't really need a thank you. Sure I would appreciate it on occasion, but that's not what I'm looking for. I've conversed with Jeff before, and I just keep praying for him anyways

[Jeff Brady]

I've conversed with Jeff before, and I just keep praying for him anyways

And that's funny!

[WestPhillyPunisher]

Saw this today on tumblr:



The first comment was, "both parties are NOT the same".

And yeah, I'm not seeing a real similarity there.

Looking over that picture with a critical eye, I can safely safely that with the possible exception of returning veterans, people who vote Republican are like Mikey from those old Life cereal commercials....they hate everything!

[bert]

so, it's seeming more and more, that the Money Hastert lied to the FBI about, and just got him arrested?

was to cover up an ongoing relationship he had with a young, male, wrestler, back when he was coaching.

Not Surprised ONE IOTA.

and of course, Hastert has a long anti-gay voting history.

http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/...dicted-n366276


http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefi...conduct-report

[Malvolio]

so, it's seeming more and more, that the Money Hastert lied to the FBI about, and just got him arrested?

was to cover up an ongoing relationship he had with a young, male, wrestler, back when he was coaching.

Not Surprised ONE IOTA.

and of course, Hastert has a long anti-gay voting history.

http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/...dicted-n366276


http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefi...conduct-report

Seems like we have the plot for a sequel: Foxcatcher II.

[PwrdOn]

And good on you for that.

But remember, it's an all to common occurrence today to see people use religion to tear people down instead of building people up. Religion can be a motivational force, it gives some people a reason to get out of bed and do good things. But too often you see situations where someone will say "You're hurting me, please stop" only to get the reply "I can't stop, God told me to". And these people are doing it wrong. They're not just hurting themselves and those around them, but damaging their faith. People have been leaving religion by the droves and becoming increasingly distrustful of religion in general. This is by no means a new thing, but has been greatly magnified by the rise of the information age.

I'm not referring You specifically, of course.

If you look at the course of human history, people who are genuinely religious have always been a small minority. For most people it's just something to pay lip service to for the sake of community and tradition, with the convenient side effect of excluding those you don't want to be associated with, because after all your identity is always going to be defined in opposition to some other group of people. And because religious doctrines are typically pretty nebulously defined, you can use faith to justify just about any kind of action good or bad. All of those kings and priests shouting "convert or die" are secretly wishing at some level that most of their enemies are going to pick "die" to make it easier to take their stuff. It's kind of the great conundrum of human nature that we all want to fit in and stand out at the same time, religion has been one institution that facilitated that but these days there is a lot more that fits the bill without imposing nearly as heavy a burden, so it's no wonder that people are abandoning it.

[Malvolio]

I'm familiar with both the expression and the psychology behind it. It still doesn't work. If it did, the incarceration and murder rates of innocent black people would be far lower.



And that number is going down.



Imperialism of all forms is evil. "Here's our food, isn't Jesus great? Now, learn about how your bodies are sinful, and how to hate yourself."



If they're God's blessings, let him do it. He doesn't need you for that.

To quote Edith Bunker: "He's God. You ain't."

I really am tired of hearing from God's middle-men. I haven't had a personal bad experience with organized religion. I've just seen how it's done so much more harm than good throughout human history. So I consider myself a Jewish Deist. I believe in God, but not in all the rules and hierarchy built up around Him.

The other day there were some Jehovah's Witnesses going around my neighborhood. They didn't knock on my door, but if they had, I was in just the mood to lay the verbal Smackdown on them. Oh, I would refrain from vulgarity, but I would ask pointed questions about their faith.

So, to Raptor 13, if you're telling someone the "Good news," and they tell you to stop, it's rude and disrespectful to continue. Even if disrespect is not your intent, if you continue after they've asked you to stop, then you are in the wrong.

[heretic]

Rich 'Starbursts' Lowry, sinking to another fresh low for him...



Hogwash.

It's different in context.

http://www.politico.com/magazine/sto...ng-118348.html

His comments are about the perceived ineffectiveness of progressives, and ways to save more black lives.

The idea that the people complaining about Racism, Police Brutality, et. al., are indifferent to the deaths of Black People at the hands of Black People is an very widespread one.

However it is wholly dependent on missing the amount of time the supposed "Race Baiters" from Farrakhan to Obama spend on hammering the "Go to School", "Take care of your kids", "Get an Honest Job", etc. Drums. In my more cynical moods I wonder if ignoring such is intentional rather than cluelessness.

[heretic]

Even more ironic that a guy who hangs out with anti-Islamic hate group leader like Pamela Geller's impulse to silence women he doesn't like is to adopt a tactic straight out of the Taliban playbook.

Not really, when you consider the people who freak out the most over "Teh Mooslims" are the ones that seem to have the most in common with the worst lunatics among them.