Monthly Archives: February 2012
Our Talk With Ignorance
We apologize for any grammar issues or punctuation. This is a real conversation we had with someone on our comment board. Not edited nor changed in any way. We couldn’t prove ignorance or a general sense of the Republican mind set any better than this. Enjoy!
Him: Gays have all the rights they’re going to get. They do not deserve anything more than what WE already give them
Right Off A Cliff : does that give gays the right to determine what rights you deserve?
Him: Not at all. The gays have all the rights that are guaranteed under the Constitution. Anything else falls under the 10th Amendment and must be determined as a privilege given by the States/people. i.e. marriage and driving are privileges not rights.
Right Off A Cliff: That still does not give a state the right to violate the Constitution. The stance against same-sex marriage is religion based and the first part of the Bill of Rights states the freedom OF religion, which can also mean the freedom from religion.
As our country is not based on the Christian religion any laws put forth set upon them is a direct violation of this.
Right Off A Cliff: Oh, and until very recently federally they were denied the right to serve in our military, which is not a state issue.
Him: Actually not everyone who’s against gay marriage has a religious reason behind it. Also, there’s no violation of the 1st Amendment since the Federal Government isn’t attempting to establish a national religion. The states have the right to declare a State religion and many of them have. i.e. the Bible Belt.
The US is based on Christianity. Always has been. The Pilgrims were Christians, majority of the Founding Families were Christians, majority of Americans have been Christian until the 1980′s. (Give or take a handful of years). Many of our laws and moral fabric of America is based on the 10 commandments. i.e. Murder is illegal; Thou shalt not kill.
Also, many religions and cultures do not tolerate gays. Christians are just the ones who aren’t scared to voice their opinions on the matter. They’re also the ones who get demonized for practicing their 1st Amendment rights.
Him: I agree with DADT. It benefited the gays as well as the straights. It protected the gays from harassment. It didn’t keep them from serving. It just kept them quite about their sexuality. Which in many cultures, including the USA until this recent forced tolerance, is an abomination and goes against the norm.
Right Off A Cliff : you’re missing the point. A state can not violate federal laws. It can not legally pass a state religion and if it can it’s symbolic and can not be enforced upon its people. Just as say Texas can not declare Baptist its state religion than ban alcohol consumption. We don’t see where this is hard to understand.
No, it is not based on the Christian religion. The Treaty of Tripoli is a prime example to where our 2nd President of the United States, and a Founding Father, directly states “In no way is the United States of American founding on the Christian religion”. Just because the PEOPLE are doesn’t mean the government is.
Now you’re arguing what most humans see as decent. Murder is seen as wrong by nearly everyone regardless of if they have faith or not. And while some laws are based upon Christian (or other faiths ideas, since Muslims believe murder is bad as well are we based upon their faith as well?)
You’re reaching…badly. The one thing you fail to understand is reality. Numerous quotes from our Founding Fathers stating this nation is not based on the Christian religions and the VERY simple fact to understand that no state can pass laws that violate the federal Constitution or Bill of Rights.
Just as a state can’t ban abortion, that’s federally protected. It can’t require its citizens to be Baptist, that’s a violation. It can’t ban guns (if it’s a liberal state) that’s protected. Just because the 10th Amendment states that each state has certain rights does NOT mean that those states can violate the Constitution. Segregation taught us that.
It’s shocking how people like you can’t understand that.
By your “logic” a state can do anything they want. Well if that’s the case let’s go ahead here in Texas create a Texas section of the Baptist religion, pass a bunch of laws in its faith and force its citizens to follow them and they’ll be happy right?
Oh wait, they can’t…because states rights do NOT include the right to violate the Constitution.
Here’s a simple formula to understand:
Constitutionally and Federally protected rights > States rights
Not greater than or equal. Not less than. GREATER THAN. A state can pass whatever law it wants but if it violates our Constitution it isn’t legal.
Him: You’re missing the point that there is NO federal law being violated by any state. The state’s actually upholding the 10th Amendment which is a Constitutional law and those trump any federal law. The state religions aren’t forced on anyone and never would be since it’s Christianity. We don’t force conversations anymore. Unlike some religions, but a thread for a different time.
The People is the Government. That’s the greatness of living in a Republic. No matter how many times the founding fathers mentioned that. It doesn’t change the fact that when the majority of Americans are of a similar mindset, the Government is to uphold that mindset. The majority of Americans have been Christians since day one. We allow other religions to practice here as long as they do not attack our main religion. When Presidents spoke of God, it was understood they spoke of the Christian God.
You’re missing the point of the 10th Amendment. There are things that are protected, thank God for the Constitution, there are also things that are not spoken of in the Constitution. Those things fall to the people and the states to decide for their own state. A state can not do anything it wants, you’re completely missing what is being said. States and Americans are GREATER then the feds. The Feds work for us and do as we tell them. Never visa versa; that’s the greatness of the balancing act of sovereignty in the USA. Each legal American is Sovereign over both the States and the Feds. The States are equal to the Feds in power. Any power not already declared to the feds, falls to the states and people to decide and enforce. The Feds are Sovereign from any other nation and are to protect the States and people from invasion or attack of any form. WE are the Kings and Queens, not the Feds.
Right Off A Cliff : You just don’t get it. States rights are not limitless. They ARE violating federal laws. Just as during segregation states tried to argue they had states rights, same during the Civil War, but you can not have a state right that violates the Constitution.
Not allowing same-sex marriage is mostly a faith-based issue. Of course you can find people who don’t believe in God that are against it, we can find people with 6 toes, doesn’t mean that’s the norm.
And just because people share a similar faith does not mean the government is allowed to pass rules taken FROM that faith. Something again you don’t understand.
If it was “understood” why didn’t they just say “Christian God”? Why didn’t they just flat-out put “The United States of America, a Christian nation”? Seriously people like you have such a weak argument.
You assume what the Founding Fathers meant on religion, yet when it comes to the 2nd Amendment you assume they’d be ok with AK-47′s and automatic weapons when at the time of writing it…it’s probably safe to ASSUME they never imagined more than a single shot rifle and pistol. But hey, that would require too much logic right?
And again, ignore the documented quotes such as the Treaty of Tripoli that directly state “in on ways is the United States founding on the Christian religion” …said BY a Founding Father.
And while the fed may work for us WE can not violate federal laws.
Bottom line…the Constitution does not state..ANYWHERE we are based upon a Christian faith, you assume it, despite the fact there are quotes from the men who created the document stating we are not.
You miss the point that states have certain rights but those rights can not violate federally protected rights.
Him: Just as before the Civil war the States are being attacked and their sovereignty threatened. The states were not then and are not now violating any part of the Constitution.
You obviously know nothing of how our laws came to be. All of American laws have been influenced by Christianity.
I do trust that they would be okay with automatic weapons that’s why I plan on buying as many as possible. I already have a nice collection started of semi-autos. Just like any other part of the Bill of Rights, the second Amendment is limitless and inalienable.
Just because one founding father thought that way doesn’t mean he was in the majority. The majority of Americans have always been Christian. That’s why our laws are all based on Christian morals.
We can change those federal laws though. We can repeal those laws as well. Just because they’re federal laws does not mean that WE can not overturn them.
Right Off A Cliff : We’re done. You..just don’t get it. When we tell someone “here’s a quote directly from a Founding Father stating our country is in no way based on the Christian religion” and they continue to argue that point..you’re simply to dense to reach.
Oh so wait…when it comes to Christianity, which they never ONCE..not even once included a line that stated we are a Christian nation you ASSUME they meant that. But when it directly states something about guns, again you assume that they simply meant all guns, because by your logic if they wanted to limit certain guns they would have just said that…right?
And wow you really don’t get what a federal law is. The Constitution, a federal document supersedes ALL laws. Thank you though for this debate we can use it as a great example of the cult like mentality of some.
But we’re done…you’re too far gone to understand the basics, or the giant hypocrisy of your statements…such as why have the Constitution in the first place if the 10th Amendment means a state can do anything they want? People without any sense of logic are amazing.
What Might Each GOP Candidates Acceptance Speech Sound Like? Here’s Our Take
Our take on what the remaining 4 GOP candidates nomination acceptance speeches may sound like.
Mitt Romney
First I want to say that I proudly accept the Republican nomination for President of the United States. Me and my family are honored that Republican voters decided that despite my lack of personality I’m the man to take on President Obama this Fall.
Now I know you really had no other viable options, we’re just glad the option you didn’t really want to pick was Team Romney.
Now I know I haven’t been that great at getting through a simple interview without providing Democrats with a great political ad to slam me on, and I promise here today that I will continue to provide them plenty of ammunition to make me look like the out of touch 1%er that we all know that I am.
My record of creating jobs speaks for itself, just please don’t ask how many jobs we eliminated while I ran Bain Capital…completely ruins my talking point.
Recently I said I’m not concerned about the very poor, and I stand by that. I’m not. They’re probably too poor to make it to the voting booths anyway so they really don’t concern me. Who I am concerned about are people with televisions, internet access or the ability to use logic or reason. They’re going to be highly detrimental to our efforts convincing Americans that Obama somehow caused an economic crash nearly 2 years before he ever took office.
Some say I’m not in touch with the average American which is just absurd. Have you seen how many hands I’ve shaken? That, my friends, is a lot of touching.
I believe corporations are people. Sure they can violate laws, cheat taxes, cost millions of dollars, act unethical, and suffer no punishment by law for most, if any, of their criminal acts but that doesn’t mean they’re not people. I fully support a corporation’s right to marry, as long as it isn’t to a same-sex corporation.
Some say I flip flop on the issues, but they couldn’t be more wrong. Then again I may change my mind on that in a few minutes so I’ll get back to that.
There was a big issue with my tax returns. Worry not fellow Americans. You didn’t even see the worst of my returns. If you had seen the returns from 2006-2009, when our economy was headed for a crash, and saw how much money I made off of it, you’d really be upset.
I said I like the ability to fire people and it’s true. Our ability to fire people is what makes Americans great. Do you know how many middle class Americans you have to fire to make my millions? Heck my home in San Diego was paid for by a big layoff of middle class Americans just a few years ago. The view is phenomenal.
I know I may not be the most inspirational candidate out there. I know that if there were any credible options to run for the GOP nomination I wouldn’t be standing here now. I know that with every interview I give I prove nearly every American stereotype possible about the wealthy. I know that the more Americans get to know about me the less they like me. I know that there are rumors that some of you feel that I’m in fact a robot.
I know all of this, and still you voted for me. Crazy right? What else were you going to do, pick Newt Gingrich? We knew that wasn’t really going to happen.
So my fellow Americans I thank you from the deepest part of my pocketbooks. Without your lack of options for a Republican Presidential nomination I wouldn’t be here today.
Thank you!
Newt Gingrich:
Before I start, I will not be accepting any questions or comments from the socialist, freedom hating liberal media. I will not feed into gotcha questions that expose my past infidelity, unethical behavior and failures.
We’re not here for the truth, we’re here to celebrate our victory for America.
I want to start off by saying I will refuse to participate in any debate with a moderate from the liberal media. The last thing I want them to do is expose my character or past as it would be extremely damaging to my chances of beating Obama.
Have I had multiple affairs? Yes. But I did it for the love of my country. Did both of my ex wives have life threatening illnesses when I left them? Of course they did, it just showed how dedicated I was to the service to my country that I left women in poor health to make the sacrifice for this great nation.
Was I found guilty of ethics violations and removed as Speaker of the House by both Republicans and Democrats? Yes I was. But tell me who here among us has not had multiple affairs, been fined $300,000, and removed as Speaker of the House for ethics violations? It’s more common than you think, especially on the moon.
Some say I have a giant ego, but those people are idiots and can’t understand the vastness of my brain capacity. They simply lack the ability to discuss the issues at the same advanced level as myself.
I am a good moral Christian. I believe homosexuals threaten the sanctity of marriage. I will not allow that. No person who seeks destroys the sacred bond of marriage between a man and multiple women should have any right to legally marry.
I know some who supported Romney may not like the fact I won, to those I say, “Tough shit!” Do I look like a man who cares what you think of me? I’m too humble to worry about your opinion.
So, in closing I accept this nomination for Republican candidate for President and I promise to uphold and stand for the same ethical and moral behavior I have throughout my life.
Thank you.
Ron Paul:
Liberty! WOOOO
Legalize drugs! WOOO
War is bad! WOOO
Government is the devil! WOOO
I’m not a racist. Why aren’t there minorities in the crowd before us today? Ummm, I guess they couldn’t make it. And please pay no attention to those pointy hooded security gentleman behind the curtain….
Liberty! WOOOO
Thank you!
Rick Santorum:
I’m proud to accept this God-given nomination for the Republican Presidential candidate.
We’re going to keep this simple…gays are bad.
My first act as President will be to round-up all homosexuals and ship them somewhere else. I feel this action will instantly:
Balance our budget
Eliminate our deficits
Secure our borders
Eliminate divorce
End all murders
Wipe all STD’s from our existence
Solve our homeless problem
End alcoholism
End all global conflict
Learn the secret to traveling at the speed of light
Figure out who shot Kennedy
And solve the mystery of how much wood could a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood
Just to name a few of the instances that the elimination of homosexual will immediately fix.
To women out there, I represent you as well. I just don’t care about your rights. If you were raped, God meant for you to be raped. Don’t feel bad or like a victim. It’s a blessing. Heck, each day I hope every woman that goes out late at night might experience such a blessing. We pray for that blessing from God, and you should to.
In closing, I proudly accept the nomination from God for the GOP Presidential candidate…and homosexuals are bad, mmmmkay?Thank you!
Greed and Jesus: Republicans Just Don’t Get It
Cognitive dissonance is a person’s brain trying to decipher two contradicting realities. An example of this is often seen an abusive relationship. Where the man/woman obviously understands there’s abuse from their significant other, yet they love them anyway.
Often their brain will then develop excuses for such action. It’s their fault or the other person has just been under a lot of stress. The reality is their brain simply cannot accept two different realities that contradict, so it creates another.
This is never more prevalent than when it comes to Republicans and Christianity. The benchmark for which their entire political party is based yet they push policies that contradicts much of what Jesus taught.
Their entire economic policy states we need to give more to those that have in order for the rest of us to enjoy the windfall of their generosity through increases in revenue.
Let that sink in for a second.
An economic policy based upon this notion: “If we feed greed more it will then benefit the rest of society.” When has greed ever benefited a society?
So what does the Bible say about greed:
“He that loveth silver shall not be satisfied with silver; nor he that loveth abundance with increase: this is also vanity.” (Ecclesiastes 5:10) It becomes a driving obsession to acquire still more. Once the acquiring has happened, then comes the need to protect what has been acquired. This is selfishness and it is sin. (Ecclesiastes 4:8)
Once the greed-driven have acquired and protected, they begin to covet. They are not satisfied with all they have; their eye is on all that they don’t have. (Luke 12:15) This coveting begets more greed, the greed begets more selfishness, and the selfishness begets more coveting and so on to madness. “The sleep of a laboring man is sweet, whether he eat little or much: but the abundance of the rich will not suffer him to sleep.” (Ecclesiastes 5:12) By this point, there is no room left in for God. Money is now the master of the house. (Matthew 6:24)”
Seems pretty straight forward. Greed is perpetual. The more one has often the more they want. Isn’t that what we’ve seen in the last 30 years? Isn’t this what Trickle Down Economics has given us?
In the last 30 years the Top 1-5% has grown exponentially, never more so than in the last decade. Yet what has it brought us? Economic failure.
A group of millionaires crying out they need even more. Many of the same businesses that proved in the 90′s, with higher taxes, they could yield historic growth are now fighting a return to those very same tax levels. They now claim economic prosperity isn’t obtainable at those “job destroying” levels of taxation.
The fact is, they’re right. Their economic prosperity cannot be sustained at a higher level of taxation. The more we fed into this myth of Trickle Down Economics, the more lower taxes benefited them, the more they expect to expand their greedy nature. To raise their taxes would mean their giant profits would probably be taken down to just, well big profits.
This isn’t about these businesses making profits, they can easily do that, but they want larger profits. What they had in the 90′s is no longer good enough, they want more.
Of course it’s impossible to return to the very same tax rates that brought us the best economic growth in our history, because then their greed would have to return to a lower level, and as the Bible says, greed is perpetual and never ends. We gave them more and now their solution to fix our problems? You guessed it, they want even more!
Isn’t that exactly what the Bible warns will happen? Did we not have wealthy Americans in the 50′s, 60′s and 70′s?
The answer is yes, they just weren’t as wealthy. Trickle Down Economics was the catalyst for the acceptance of greed. It gave those with the most more and any mention of taking it back is met with a horrific depictions of economic Armageddon.
Does it make any sense? Why would we face economic disaster by returning to tax rates that had no problem making millions of Americans a lot of money?
The answer is simple, greed.
We’ve gave them access to reach levels of unheard wealth. We’ve allowed them to see year to year profit as insufficient; they want larger profits. Success for next year is based on beating the success of last. As the Bible says, it is perpetual…it’s never ending.
How does this make any sense? Jesus warned that money is the root of all evil. The Bible stats that greed leads to madness. Yet here we sit with one of the two most powerful political parties, in the strongest nation on earth, supporting an idea that we need to support greed or else face economic destruction.
And there you have it, cognitive dissonance. The reality is exactly what the Bible said would happen did happen. Yet their political ideology completely contradicts the realities we’ve seen and the Bible supports. They preach Christian values at the same time they advocate a policy that says giving into greed will benefit our society. The human brain simply can’t handle two conflicting realities, so it creates one of its own.
The more we allowed the wealthy to have, the more they asked us to give. We did this at the detriment of our economy. If Trickle Down Economics works, shouldn’t their success and our success mirror one another? As they gain, we gain. However, that isn’t what happened. The more they’ve gained, the more they wanted, and the more they took it from everyone else.
Think of a small 12 foot fishing boat. If weight is equally dispersed it’ll stay buoyant and afloat. But what if the weight shifts more forward or backwards, what happens? The boat becomes unstable. Now imagine if suddenly all the weight is shifted forward, what would happen? Simple…the boat will suffer suddenly instability, capsize then sink. As our nations’ wealth rushed to the Top 5% in the last decade, that’s exactly what happened, our boat capsized then sank.
Does this contradiction between faith and politically ideology suggest they believe Jesus supported greed? Seems like it. So far they believe him to have been a man who would have judged homosexuals, condemned women, and considered the poor as lazy people seeking a handout. So why not perpetuate the belief that he would have supported greed? Don’t let scripture in the Bible sway your views, it’s much easier to simply allow yourself to give into and concoct a delusional reality.
What Republicans have done is a complete distortion of the Christian faith. Their version if Jesus doesn’t even fit into the very nature of what he lived and died for.
Every economic stance they support benefits the wealthy. How does it make any sense to have a party that pushes themselves as the Christian majority, the party of values and decency, yet their entire economic stance contradicts what the Bible and Jesus says about the greed of man.
What Republicans claim to follow isn’t Christianity, and it sure isn’t Jesus. Christianity is a faith that states:
“For unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required”
Meaning those who have the means to make a difference, should, and should do so unselfishly.
Yet, to a Republican this is essentially socialism. It’s unfair.
But isn’t Christianity about giving, loving, and helping those who cannot help themselves?
These are the principles I live by as a Christian.
But I’m a Democrat. You know the party that lacks faith. Lacks morals. Envies the rich. You know all of that rhetoric the “good” Christian Republicans tell people we are, yet none of it is true.
Yet there they sit, a walking contradiction. A party who supports faith in God above anything and policies that favor greed over everything.
The Jesus I worship is a man who we should all strive to become. A man who didn’t judge. Who stood for those who couldn’t stand for themselves. Who never felt slighted or that life was unfair. Who was wary of people who spoke of God on their lips but lacked true faith in their hearts. A man who embraced everyone, even those who disagreed with him. A man who personified everything mankind should be.
Republicans well, who knows what man they worship. If the policies they support are reflective of the faith they follow it sure isn’t Christianity and that man sure wasn’t Jesus.