posted
It is hard for me not to talk politics with my friends...since 2 of them have major political jobs....but I actually don't talk about politics hardly ever with anybody...but just recently this whole election has me wondering what is going to be the fate of our country...and it is starting to scare me.
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posted
I base my political views on Oprah because everyone knows her word is it.........
Posts: 3845 | From: Norf Karolina | Registered: Dec 2004 | Site Updates: 0
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I think both tickets are incredibly lame. I refuse to vote for either Obama or McCain because of how pathetic they are. People are too easily distracted by all the silly partisan arguments between the Democrats and Republicans and seem to forget that they are both big government, globalist, rewrite-the-Constitution-whenever-it-suits-us parties. On the political spectrum, they're like two hairs apart. I'll get excited when someone's actually invested in de-federalizing the government, permanently eliminating the federal income tax, cutting the federal budget by about 80%, curbing our rampant inflation and debt, and repairing our crumbling infrastructure instead of trying to buy votes with an endless series of entitlements and social programs. Both Obama and McCain lack any kind of executive experience either in the public or private sector. They're legislators; all they know how to do is spend other people's money and create more government (and Obama barely even has that experience).
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quote:Originally posted by MotleyRulz: The world would be a better place if religion and politics were not mixed.
I don't buy that. I don't think you should base policy on your religious beliefs, but our Judeo-Christian values are fundamental moral centers in our society. If you believe in nothing, than anything goes. Why respect personal property or other people's rights? Just out of fear of legal reprobation? Nazi Germany and Soviet Russia tried to replace God with state and look at what happened there: they got the end justifies the means. Basically, both extremes - pigheaded religious zealot and atheistic we-make-our-own-rules type - are scary alternatives. My ideal is an open-minded, rational person with a strong moral center derived from basic Golden-rule religious values and a belief that there is a power higher than themselves.
quote:Originally posted by MotleyRulz: Ane let's be honest while one's own religion is a personal choice, wonder how many politicans actually follow their religion versus simply publically professing it in an effort to gain votes?
I agree. The vast majority of our politicians don't believe half the stuff that comes out of their mouths. They're just liars using issues to manipulate people and win votes. They're just pandering.
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80'sRocked Play it Loud, Play it Proud
Member # 6979
quote:Originally posted by journey: My ideal is an open-minded, rational person with a strong moral center derived from basic Golden-rule religious values and a belief that there is a power higher than themselves.
Maybe I should give it a shot. Posts: 3614 | From: Caught Somewhere in Time.... | Registered: May 2008 | Site Updates: 101
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It's not believing in nothing. It is possible to have a society where one respects others without religion. Religion doesn't make the person ethical or moral as you can look at various leaders over thousands of years and debunk that. I'm not necessarily saying atheistic principles just someone who makes decisons for the better of the people not waiting for a sign or an answer from a being upstairs.......
Posts: 3845 | From: Norf Karolina | Registered: Dec 2004 | Site Updates: 0
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If you don't believe in a power higher than man, and you think there's nothing beyond this life then there's really nothing underpining your morals. If you play it out to its logical conclusion, then it means there's really no right or wrong just arbitrary rules and mores imposed by society. I'm afraid of any leader who thinks that there's no one above them that they need to answer to, and that includes self-righteous religious types that believe they have some direct pipeline to God and get to speak on his behalf. Unfortunately as a species, we tend to be highly contradictory and self-rationalizing in the practice of our own values and ethical codes. That's why we can write "all men are created equal under God" while still practicing slavery and denying women equal rights.
[ 09. September 2008, 03:50: Message edited by: journey ]
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That's hogwash. Contrary to your opinion, there are people out there who don't believe in a higher power who are extremely moral and ethical I.E., there are still some good in some folks.......
Posts: 3845 | From: Norf Karolina | Registered: Dec 2004 | Site Updates: 0
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I never said that in order to be moral, you have to be a person of faith. I was saying that the morals we all just accept as logical and "right", for the most part, originated from religion in the first place. In our society, traditionally, that's been a Judeo-Christian foundation, but in others it's Islam, Hindu, Buddhist, etc. I'm not advocating a particular world religious view or even that people must believe in God in order to be righteous. I'm talking about social foundations. If you purge such a traditionally important one completely out of government, then what do we replace it with? The almighty state? Science? Because there are major problems with those configurations too.
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Journey-I understand what your saying...I am not religious in any way...so I do not ever tell anyone how they should believe. I think that people who have total faith in a "higher power" do find that to be comforting...and I have always envied people who have complete and total faith in that.
But, I have always lived my life by the "do unto others rule"...and I feel that if everyone ...wether they claim to be religious or not...if they practiced that daily, and were just nicer to each other...then the world we be a much better place. I think that's pretty much what both you and Motley are saying too.
I do think that there are a ton of religious people, who are complete hypocrites...so I would rather not say I believe in anything than to say I believe in something-but don't practice it by the way that I live. So-I actually agree with Motley on something-I think.....
I feel that the world itself is what people should focus on...I feel like if people made more of an effort to protect it...to save endangered animals, to stop the pollution...then that's what "God" would want. I think it is great that now people are looking in to going "green" as a way to live their lives. So, I do think people are slowly coming around to looking at the world, and not just themselves.
But...I really fear for the future of our planet and for the next generations of people...people are becoming so crazy and mean and violent...and the kids already are growing up without being able to play outside...and I think what's going to happen with their kids...the one thing about Hillary Clinton, that even my son was for and liked was that she was really going to crack down on the video game rating system and put a hault to some of the stuff with that.
I just see so much happening on TV today that should never have been allowed to be even put on TV...and nobody stops it.
Like...with the daughter of Sarah Palin being pregnant....and Jamie Lynn Spears ...where is the "morality" issue in that whole thing? I can't say that I was perfect and that I didn't make mistakes...but even when I was in high school, and other girls in my school were pregnant at a young age-nobody ever thought of that as a blessing...nobody thought that was a great thing to be happening. And the more time that goes by...the more educated people should be about birth control...and diseases...and how to prevent that kind of stuff...so there's no excuse but total laziness for those things to happen. So...wether that should even be a topic or not in an election....it just adds to what is going on with people's lives today.
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I agree with you that we are facing a profound moral decay in our society. And I hope that no one misunderstood what I was trying to say. I am not for government legislating morality or for theocracy. Quite the contrary, I am a huge proponent of less government intrusion into people's lives. I think they grossly overstep their bounds and have created a paternalistic state where they lord over us like parents to little kids. My point was merely that our moral fabric - the basic 'do unto others' and 'live the honorable life' codes of conduct that most us take for granted as being absolutely "right" - was derived from religious-based teachings in the first place. So I don't see faith as being the problem in this equation. If more people had it - instead of just professing it meaninglessly, or reading it selectively - then maybe we'd all be better off. Look at it this way: people say we went to war in Iraq because of Bush's ignorant religious crusade, but actually if he followed the tenets of his faith explicitly, there would have been no justification for a pre-emptive war.
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Bush and ignorance hmmmmmmmm I think your on to something lol..........
Posts: 3845 | From: Norf Karolina | Registered: Dec 2004 | Site Updates: 0
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How can anybody believe in the Bible and the 10 Commandments...and then go to war... Isn't one of the top 10....Thou shall not kill.
How can you send someone off to war to kill someone they don't even know...and tell them they must break one of the 10 commandments...and then say it is justified. There is no justifying killing. Who determines who's lives are allowed to be taken, and what makes women and childrens lives more sacred than a man's? A life is a life, and every person only gets 1...so no one's life should ever be taken by anybody-ever.
If everyone out there...no matter what their religious beliefs were...belived in THOU SHALL NOT KILL...we wouldn't be in this whole mess.
If people quit killing each other...then we wouldn't have any problems.
How can any religion say they believe in God, and yet go to war?
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The Ten Commandments are always associated with religion so good luck with that. I believe in war if it's absolutely necessary (this one now isn't IMO). If they are gonna try and get us, I'd rather the armed forces get them first........
Posts: 3845 | From: Norf Karolina | Registered: Dec 2004 | Site Updates: 0
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pettyfan
Livin' next door to the Klopeks
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posted
quote:Originally posted by MotleyRulz: The Ten Commandments are always associated with religion so good luck with that. I believe in war if it's absolutely necessary (this one now isn't IMO). If they are gonna try and get us, I'd rather the armed forces get them first........
I believe in war if necessary, too. I don't believe in war just to be fighting and killing each other, but if there's a threat to me and my family, yeah, I want it dealt with.
Posts: 2902 | From: Home Sweet Home | Registered: Jan 2004 | Site Updates: 0
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i'm sorry but i do not mix well with manic preachers or bible huggers.
i personally don't need for someone to tell me that i should believe in jesus christ...or else i will burn in hell..i will believe in what i want and that's something that is private.
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heck no sam. i'm not a mccain supporter and i definitely would not even consider palin as a hopeful for national politics. *shakes head*
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Is Palin for the "Bridge To Nowhere" today? I think it changes daily. I would have no problem with a woman VP or even as President but the key is an experienced, comparable one. There's no way in hell I'd vote for McCain. He's like an older, more conservative Bush if that's possible who turns a blind eye to the economy as well as other things. The only thing I respect about McCain is that he's actually been in combat and was a POW..........
Posts: 3845 | From: Norf Karolina | Registered: Dec 2004 | Site Updates: 0
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I feel that the United States...gets involved in everyone else's business and forgets about what's happening here.
That's pretty much how the rest of the world sees America too.
I'm very interested in the U.S election, I've always been fascinated by American culture and studied American history and culture in high school. This election is going to have a huge impact on what direction the world will take in the next few years. I'm hoping that Obama will get up and win, coz I know he'll be able to work well with our Labour government. Our previous conservative govt was very much in Bush's pocket and it's been a real setback for our nation.
Posts: 3839 | From: Wangaratta, Vic, Australia | Registered: Jun 2004 | Site Updates: 0
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I've honestly never been less interested in an election in my life.
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