The Political Thread

[Roger Godpleton]

tl;dr

[Definitely Not Mister Pops]

Why's everyone being reasonable? This is the fuckin Politics thread!

M.

Agreed

I disagree with Gay Marriage because I believe it's a conspiracy cooked up by Divorce Lawyers trying to expand their market and line their pockets. Gruddamn Lawyers.

I think that's fairly unreasonable. Not as unreasonable as citing the centuries old ramblings of a bunch of middle eastern goat-farmers in an effort not to sound bigotted, but fairly unreasonable nonetheless

[The Prodigal]

Why's everyone being reasonable? This is the fuckin Politics thread!

M.

Agreed

I disagree with Gay Marriage because I believe it's a conspiracy cooked up by Divorce Lawyers trying to expand their market and line their pockets. Gruddamn Lawyers.

I think that's fairly unreasonable. Not as unreasonable as citing the centuries old ramblings of a bunch of middle eastern goat-farmers in an effort not to sound bigotted, but fairly unreasonable nonetheless

I have read the last para a few times and am still unreasonably confused by the unreasonable amount of negatives in it.

[Definitely Not Mister Pops]

Taking me too seriously would be a completely unreasonable thing to do. Gay Marriage seems to me like a complete non-issue that a few nut-jobs have hi-jacked. Some straight people have already cheapened the institution in much worse ways. There's a breed of celebrity that appears to think marriages are a self-promotional media circuses.

[Roger Godpleton]

LIKE YOUR'RE MOM

[Frank]

I agree. A bad system doesn't automatically make the people within it bad too. The knowledge of right and wrong is within us all and most of us want to do what's right whenever we can. I think that 'do unto others as you would have others do unto you' should be the whole of the Bible.

Amen to that, Shark. As I said previously, I don't think there's any meaningful distinction between ideologies such as Christianity or Capitalism; they're just attempts to understand the world we live in. As soon as people start treating the tenets of those ideologies as more important than individual freedoms, or substitute adherence to their strictures for independent thought, they become problematic.

Michael Sandel's new book looks at how, for example, seeing profit as an end in itself and treating everything as a commodity ultimately leads to you fucking an eight year old prostitute up the arse- since the transaction of cash legitimates any behaviour.

(T)he Greeks themselves are blamed for not paying off their basically unpayable debts - debts upayable because of ever increasing interest ... As more and more money is created out of nothing and lent at interest the amount of debt, which also accrues intrest on itself, inevitably skyrockets ... Just as you are at the core of your faith, you are also the core of your economy. All wealth comes from you - not from your gold or land but from the work you do or the skills you sell. If all money, then, is based on the work we do - how can we justify being charged to use it?

I'm with Tyler Durden, and the ultimate aim of Project Mayhem, with regard to the insane, byzantine system of credit, credit default swaps, and securitised assets.

[Beaky Smoochies]

So you agree with this then?
Lev. 20:13:
"If a man also lie with mankind, as he lies with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination: they shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be upon them."

I was going to let this go, but have to reply just once more - this has become a theological thread - and then I'm done, so listen up children, just one more time;

It's not that I agree or disagree with that regulation, it simply doesn't apply to now or to me as a Gentile, it was EXCLUSIVELY for the Israelites in the wilderness in advance of the Messiah, after which the Mosaic Law effectively became null and void because grace replaced legalism.  And when Jesus referred to "every jot and tittle" being fulfilled, He didn't mean the legal regulations, but rather the fruition of the Father's plan for salvation and the eventual new Heaven and Earth.  And how do I know these things, Joe, because it's in the Bible, if you choose not to believe it, fine, but I for one do, that's where we differ...

No thanks God!

That is a remark so monumentally stupid, arrogant, and foolishly reckless, I genuinely fear for the day when you're going to have give account to God for that remark, and believe me, you won't cop an attitude then, not trying to sound confrontational, just looking out for you dude, I would sincerely hope you take that one back...

There, now I'm done.

[Professor Bear]

I disagree with gay marriage because those poor people have suffered enough already.

As for the Bible and its attitude to gayness, you have to take a personal accounting on that score: the book of Job is essentially the Bible telling you that God will piss over your life if you don't take control of it for yourself.  Believe or not, but at the end of the day the Bible is telling you that you don't get to abdicate personal responsibility - it's practically laughing at the stupidity of those who do so, equating Eden/paradise with ignorance and self-awareness with hell because of the massive responsibility that comes with having to make and answer for your own decisions and actions, and even if that account isn't given to God, you'll be hard pressed to find anyone in this life or the next who'll take a kind view of "well, basically, I made the lives of others worse."

Christianity is based on not being a cock.  Take that much from it and you - and it - are doing just fine.

[Frank]

Christianity is based on not being a cock.  Take that much from it and you - and it - are doing just fine

The essence of every faith, from Islam to Buddhism, and the quick summary of their holy scriptures, is as dumb and platitudinous- and valid- as Bill and Ted's injunction to be excellent to each other.

Similarly, the belief systems founded by Karl Marx, Adam Smith and Thomas Jefferson, and the holy texts on which they were based, offered new ways of understanding the world and for guiding the disciple's actions in that world to ensure the best outcome.

It's only when zealots begin priveleging close reading of the footnotes and asides contained within those sacred documents, diregarding the chapter headings ('DON'T BE A DICK' in 24pt sans serif uppercase Helvetica Bold), that they lose sight of the founding principles and guiding motives of their faiths and their founders.

[Modern Panther]

Hmmm...so jot and tittle didn't mean every jot and tittle.  Just some of the jots and a few of the tittles.  In fact, just the jots and tittles which don't inconvenience us in our everyday lives, unless we happen to be in a minority.

I fear for the day when fearfull bigots get to heaven and realise that God is a eight limbed, three hundred tonne marsupial.  Its what I believe, which makes it a  valid argument.

[SmallBlueThing]

I sincerely believe that i wish they would sort out the mobile version of this forum, so people that i have ignored in the full version stay ignored when viewing on my phone. Otherwise i am continually shown utter bollocks like beaky smoochies response there. It doesnt offend me, it jyst makes me weep for the mental health of the world.

SBT

[JOE SOAP]

No thanks God!

That is a remark so monumentally stupid, arrogant, and foolishly reckless, I genuinely fear for the day when you're going to have give account to God for that remark, and believe me, you won't cop an attitude then, not trying to sound confrontational, just looking out for you dude, I would sincerely hope you take that one back...

There, now I'm done.

I just hope for your own sake that your God ain't as petty as you make him out to be. If we're judged on what we post on this forum, all of us are damned!

[Mikey]

That is a remark so monumentally stupid, arrogant, and foolishly reckless, I genuinely fear for the day when you're going to have give account to God for that remark, and believe me, you won't cop an attitude then, not trying to sound confrontational, just looking out for you dude, I would sincerely hope you take that one back...

There, now I'm done.

You see, I'd say your presumption that there is a god and that the one you believe in is the right one, is an arrogant assumption, perhaps even stupid and foolish. Such as the one where you assert that your god will ask for account for comments on a message board and that you think he'll find all people wanting. I thought one of the things about yer god is that no one knows how it thinks or indeed it's motivations, so you're speaking from your or your church's interpretation of your holy text, which may or may not have been accurately translated over the years. Other Christians have different interpretations, other religions hold different texts as holy - is it all right or all wrong?

M.

[JamesC]

That is a remark so monumentally stupid, arrogant, and foolishly reckless, I genuinely fear for the day when you're going to have give account to God for that remark, and believe me, you won't cop an attitude then, not trying to sound confrontational, just looking out for you dude, I would sincerely hope you take that one back...

There, now I'm done.
[/quote]




If your god really does exist then he'll probably be too busy judging people who stone to death rape victims in the name of a false prophet, or gays that got married. I reckon I'll slip in under the radar.

[Eric Plumrose]

It's not that I agree or disagree with that regulation, it simply doesn't apply to now or to me as a Gentile, it was EXCLUSIVELY for the Israelites in the wilderness in advance of the Messiah, after which the Mosaic Law effectively became null and void because grace replaced legalism.  And when Jesus referred to "every jot and tittle" being fulfilled, He didn't mean the legal regulations, but rather the fruition of the Father's plan for salvation and the eventual new Heaven and Earth.  And how do I know these things, Joe, because it's in the Bible, if you choose not to believe it, fine, but I for one do, that's where we differ...

Except Jesus didn't fulfil the prerequisites of being the Jewish Messiah set down in the Tanakh. The Hebrew scriptures make it pretty clear the main players are killed only because they've found God's disfavour; which, I presume, is the reason why the death of Jesus is therefore justified by Original Sin. The Jewish Messiah, however, is supposed to be a sinner, albeit a righteous one. And, as a righteous sinner, he is required by Mosaic Law to make bull sacrifices on an annual basis as expiation for his sins. Jesus being born without sin and to a virgin was unnecessary. The Immaculate Conception, that Mary was also born without sin, even more so.

I genuinely fear for the day when you're going to have give account to God for that remark

For your sake, I hope the god you yourself answer to isn't Vishnu. Or Zeus. Or Atum or . . .