The New "Am I the Only One" Thread

Exactly. Not to mention the Holocaust. Not to mention all the other countries that get bombed in this world for that matter.

I'm personally more in the school of "this is the way the world ends: not with a bang, but a whimper."

Iran is not going to bomb Israel. Iran's leadership is smart enough to keep rigging elections in a Bizzarro world version of our 2000 and 2004 elections, they're also smart enough to manipulate the gears of war in their favor.

You see, no one in either Israel or Iran really wants war, except for their jackwagon leaders. Israel to shut up a bully, Iran to strengthen their leadership and standing in the part of the world that's been at war with each other over "religious" stupidity since the B.C. era.

Like I said, Iran's comments are trolling. While they talk a good game about striking first, they want Israel to make the first move because it fits in with their whole "We don' wanna share land.. WAAAAAAAAAAA!" anti-Israel propaganda machines. Even Israeli politicians are starting to hate their leader.

And here's why... It's not just our election season, it's both of there's too. Remember the 2004 election, when Bush got re-elected even though most of the country hated him? A lot of his reelection votes were fear crazed religious zealot votes that only picked him through their totally misguided God Fearing? That's EXACTLY the same thing that's happened in Iran. The older, bitter, God Fearing population votes for someone they don't really like, but feel religiously pressed to vote for them, while the younger, free thinkers who actually care about issues are silenced.

And while I don't want to go on a religious discussion, I find "God Fearing" a horrible approach to spirituality. That's not the love light and enlightenment religion is supposed to bring. That's inflicting totalitarianism on one's self.

But suffice to say, even if we don't have a world ending Nuclear Holocaust (remember, we want the skeptics to win the "end of the world in 2012" debate), we still would have to get involved... and we do NOT want another campaign in crazy world that costs billions of OUR tax money and the lives of our soldiers who have to protect us, not go on a defensive. The US HAS to stop going to the Middle East. Their leaders are warmongers and fearmongers that don't give a crap about the religiously controlled pawns that they brainwash to destroy us.

Oh... and we need to come up with something better than oil to confound them.

Well, that's really common here in the south... while I don't agree with that type of approach either, again, it's just how most come to it down here, because when it comes to your typical denominations, the two biggies down here are Southern Baptist, and Pentacostal, which both rely heavily on the old fire-and-brimstone screaming and yelling about Salvation and repenting, otherwise, you'll burn in **** for all eternity, etc. Interestingly, when I found out that Alice Cooper is actually a Christian, I read in an interview that he initially turned to Christ out of fear of God rather than love.

That's basically a dictator's best friend. All you have to do is claim religion (in Iran's case, Islam), and then a bunch of scared, easy to control pawns will cling onto you for fear that any progress and any shred of modern civilization is decadent and condemns you to the very same place the dictators belong in.

I absolutely hate the idea of "God's gonna condemn you into a pit of fire no matter what you do." That's a very dark age approach and it really must evolve into what religion is supposed to be, everyone being nice to each other, getting along, respecting each other and helping them out. Not this insane to the letter crap, and definitely not the footnotes and asides like ancient law at the time the letters to whomever was written.

Internationally, a lot of politicians and dictators play off these pawns. Imagine the nastiest things atheists say about every religion... that's the same thing said politicians/dictators say behind their backs. They're nothing but votes/soldiers for them. We get our morals from the least moral people in the world.

Luckily, the younger generation is smartening up, and looking into the positive things religion has to offer... even (GASP) voting on politicians based on the issues that are more important than some gobbledegook from Levitican law. Feeding the hungry, helping the homeless, healing the sick. That's what Christianity is. Not some "Do what I say or you'll burn in a pit" fear and control.

Another thing too is, and not to revive old debates, a lot of them are really big hypocrites as well, especially conservative politicians. Especially when it comes to homosexuality: there are a lot of Biblical principles that tell us that we're supposed to love thy neighbor, do unto others as you have them do unto you, it is not our place to be judgemental, and what do these conservatives and politicians do in their spare time? Bashing homosexuals for being gay. Right their, they're breaking three major Christian principles (one of which is an actual Commandment), and I notice they never belittle anyone else, just the gays... it's that kind of "showmanship" that actually turns people away from God, because they feel if loving God means I have to hate this group of people for who they are then I want no part of it (I understand Anne Hathaway renounced Christianity because her brother is gay). It gets so ridiculous too, like when you pointed out holier-than-thou Michelle Bachmann basically dictated little kids "shouldn't watch The Lion King because the music was written by a gay man." They spout on and on about homosexuality being a sin because it says so in the Bible, but you know what other things are sinful in the Bible as well? Lying, cheating, stealing, killing, among other things, but do you see people being bashed for, say, lying about their taxes? For sleeping around with as many women as they can? For robbing banks or cleaning out a family's home? For murdering someone for apparently no reason? Nope. Just about the only thing that falls into that department is when the same politicians are caught cheating on their wives, THEN they get bashed too, but for all other sins considered, people who commit those sins are treated lightly compared to how unjustly homosexuals are treated because of who they are. God loves homosexuals just as much as He loves heterosexuals, likewise, God loves the irreligious just as much as He loves the religious... and we ALL have to own up to all the responisibilities of our lives when we have to face Him when our time is up.

I could go on about the whole debate about how it's just all about some dopey Levitican law (that we break every day by wearing poly cotton blend t-shirts) written a great gazillion years ago, and it was basically included in the bible for historical reasons... but I won't. So I'm going to add this.

Is anyone surprised that Kirk Cameron said what he said about gays? I'm sure as fragging not. That would be like asking someone who loves ice cream if they love ice cream.

Now I don't want to be the guy who just posts random Cracked articles on here, and it's the best way to waste your free time on the internet since Youtube... but his holier than thou Flanders style finger waving started up whn he was doing Growing Pains Scroll down to that specific section, and mind the language.

Yeah... class act, he is. At least he's a Flandersy Jimminy Cricket wanna be and not some hedonistic hypocrite that basically breaks every commandment in the book.

Yeah, that kind of brings to mind Agnes Moorehead; everybody knew she was a devout Christian (I believe her father was a minister), and yet she Endora on Bewitched, a show I'm sure a number of people would chastise for promoting black magic and Satanism and such (like how a number of people did when Harry Potter first came out), but she was a lot more professional than Kirk Cameron was... I mean that right there is a prime example of being a real religious fanatic. and as someone once said, there's actually a big difference between being a spiritual person and a religious person.

I'm sorry, I'm a Christian and all but this fear of so-called "black magic" is pure superstitious nonsense.

Amen. I think the fire and brimstone stuff is just some people's way of hoping there's "justice" in the universe. Of course, they always make sure to say they're not the ones who will be burning.

Tell that to the Wiccans, lol. Speaking of which, my Marine cousin said during his basic training at boot camp in Parris Island, they actually have places of worship for a lot of different religions, including Wiccans, which the older folks in the family (our parents and such) found to be odd... it freaked my mom's best friend out to think some people out there protecting our country are "witches".

Then of course, I have a friend in Vancouver who practices just the opposite, what she refers to as "white magic", which is supposedly a form of spiritual healing.

Well there's a difference between Wiccans and Christians thinking they have to fear "Satan's power."

The Wiccan belief is about about nature and spiritual healing and protection. People who claim to be wiccan and practice "black magic" are full of quadrupedal fertilizer. And if someone does use "magic" to do harm to others, harm will come to the person who did it. In other words, Karma.

And Wiccans are not at all witches. Wiccans do not really believe in magic in the literal sense.

Also Bewitched was an amazingly funny, imaginative show. Growing Pains SUCKED.

But ya gotta give Kirk credit. For all his religious zealotry, at least he wasn't yet another kid actor that fell off the wagon and screwed themselves royally after the show wrapped.

Still... censoring your own show. I wonder why they didn't just write the character off and replace him with someone even more doe eyed.

I have had opportunity to study both Wicca and some of the Neo-pagan beliefs and honestly, guys, there isn't a whole lotta difference between what they believe and what people supposedly following a Christ are taught: the Golden Rule and the Threefold Law are the SAME THING STATED SLIGHTLY DIFFERENTLY. While I personally don't fully agree with ANY religion, I think discrimination on the basis of pure prejudice, instead of civil disagreement based on actual reason and a study of beliefs not your own, is patently outrageous...and when I am elected King I will personally outlaw it!
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Am I the only one who's really worried about the outcome of the election this year? I mean it's already the election year, it's only eight months away, and we STILL don't know who any of the other Democratic candidates are! The Republicans started way too early with their campaigns, and they're taking their ever-lovin' time to finish, and all we know about the other party is Obama is running again. I mean last time, we knew who all of the candidates were like over a year beforehand, but now here we are running out of time, and I'd like to know who my other choices are before I make a decision.

Because he's not getting challenged. That's as simple as that. Even if he was, the Dem candidates would probably have candidates that are incredibly weak that wouldn't be a match anyway. Remember who we had besides Obama last time? Sex fiend John Edwards and Hillary "No way are we going to elect another" Clinton "to the White House." Seriously, had Hillary run, we would have been entering the fourth year of a McCain/ (Herman) Cain political cycle, and we'd probably be in the Iranian, North Korean, and Lybian quagmires right now. That's how important it was for Obama to win the Dem nominee last time.

That said, it doesn't need to take a rocket scientist to figure out Romney's going to win the nomination. Think about the right's candidates... Thurston Howell III, the bad guy from V for Vendetta, albino Jabba the Hutt, and Ron Paul... who, while I can't agree with some of his politics, neither do the Neo-Cons in the establishment ("Isolationism?!?! WHAT? How can we fail at strengthening the PR of our nation and secretly profiteering off of it without a completely useless quagmire in a crazy part of the world we'll only make crazier?") Basically people who'd only win (except Ron Paul, who the internet loves and who true conservatives should vote for ideally) if they manage to bring up long lost and long forgotten social issues that only crazy people over the age of 50 care about. That's THE only reason we have the right randomly drudging up quarter of a century old debates about contraception. Because not even a sane person that makes below a certain income can continuously swallow the pro-wealthy overlord rhetoric ("Tax cuts are the only way big industries that already have insanely tax cuts that didn't create jobs with said tax cuts before to create jobs." and "you workers should dang well be grateful for our capitalistic society to pay you a fraction of your worth until we find out Chinese slave laborers will work for even less that, and take your jobs joyfully across the world, sailing our ship in a river of your own tears.")....

This country is in the grips of the BIGGEST case of Stockholm syndrome I've ever seen. The corporate/political forces are coming together at an alarming rate. Now I'm starting to think the story of Wall*E being written by Andrew Stanton is just a front. The script was based on a true story that was sent in time to warn humanity! It starts out with tax cuts, subsidies, deregulation... then before you know it, humanity is fat and boneless and forced to live in a space worthy shopping mall.

Which is a disturbing pattern. Not about Obama specifically. But we've had two different Bush's, relatively close together. We had two terms of Clinton and we almost had yet another Clinton in the White House. And now we might get two terms of Obama. We turning into a dynasty where the same small groups of people just keep getting the job over and over.

Yeah... but at least let Obama give the Democrats one good long more ride before the party sinks into the sunset.

I know you're not a believer in lesser of two evils, but you got basically a children's movie villain look a like out of touch plutocrat who's like a younger version of Monty Burns basically running against him,... someone who abandoned the state of Massachusetts when there wasn't a camera to get a publicity photo or a soap box to spew rhetoric from around... someone who basically won the office of governor from the votes of the well to do suburbanites who drove not made in America SUV's with "support our troops" bumper stickers from Taiwan, filled with a tank of Saudi Oil, who spent most of the time out of state to run for party nominee in 2008 basically telling every red state about how much of a cross appeal he had winning in such a moonbat state of hippies that force people to marry gay men and film pornography of it to make up their share of taxes.

Even if I was one of the ill informed people that still thinks Obama is a socialist, I'd rather have him in the office than some guy who spent his entire governing career tossing poorly done tax cuts and budget slashes (that we're still reelling from, and make no mistake, Deval Patrick in his second term has done a LOT of good, but still not enough), all the while bad mouthing us to other states.

And the scary thing is, he's the least scary of the Republican contenders. Though, like I said, Ron Paul's isolationism (the only thing libertarian I'll listen to) would make him the only candidate left or right that I can trust to not bungle up and get us a war in Iran. Heck, I bet he'd pull the troops home from Afghanistan the second he'd get into office. But the Neo-Cons don't like that, so he's out.

I mean I can support not rushing into wars again, definitely. But then at the same time it feels like Ron Paul's a bit too naive about foreign policy, lol.

There's a lot about Libertarianism I'm no fan of. It's essentially the extreme opposite of Communism (and basically, I can see where that bullcrap "Obama is a socialist" meme came from)... all about equality and helping others...the word "community" is more or less in "communism."

Libertarianism is all about self rights and not helping others out at the risk of spending their money on foolish things like Fire Departments and schools. They are VERY politically backward in that's what the policies supposedly were back in the early 1800's after the US started up. It's a very anti-social, very selfish political system...I bet grouches vote Libertarian so the government doesn't come and take their trash. Not to mention a LOT of paranoia runs rampant in extreme members.

A LOT of conservatives during the Bush administration turned to Libertarianism. That's how the REAL Tea Party movement started... before the Koch Brothers and Fox News took advantage of it and turned it into a "Obama is teh commie" movement we know and loathe today. But when it was about Bush, Isolationism was the selling point.

But much like Communism, that method of government they want is so incredibly idealized that it couldn't possibly work, and even if it did, very corporate forces would take such advantage of it, it becomes something much more sinister.

Still, the right is oh so aroused at the chance at another war, the Dems not so much, but will wind up bumbling in if Israel's Prime Minister pulls his best "You don't love me unless you buy me this Transformer" petulant child act. Ron Paul, as naive as he is, is Isolationist enough to ignore that clear and obvious trap Iran's idiot dictator has set for us. The key is they want the US or Israel to make the first move. The shooting rampage of that soldier in Afghanistan is proof they know what they're doing. A war will only strengthen the image of the wrong people at this point. Even if there's no threat of Nuclear Holocaust, that's a risk that's too dangerous to take.

Of course, if Iran attacks Israel first, the young people in Iran will try to fight against their leader that they hate so much.

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I wish we DID have real socialism here.

The biggest loser isn't a show, it's the voters...and the students, current previous and future, who suck up the pap of misinformation constantly fed to them by all forms of media (yeah, Oprah Book Club, I'm lookin' at you too).

Bread (if you can buy it), circuses (if you have cable), and expansion of the empire...WHAT nation are we in again?
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