Prove there's a god.

[Al Garcia]

River Tam wrote:

<quoted text>
If that's your thing. I'm half white. Can I come?

O_o

[Hidingfromyou]

waaasssuuup wrote:

the diversity among people groups in the sense of foods, arts, cultures and appearances, of course, is a very beautiful thing and even nature proclaims this in all it's various splendors.

Yes! If you truly believed that, you and I would not have a problem.

however, political correctness is the religion of the world which demands conformity and does not allow for my point of view.

Your point of view has always been that the rest of us has to be like you. We have to give up our beliefs and adopt yours. Notice you did not have "religious diversity" above. You have previous claimed that all non-Christians are worshiping devils. That's so arrogant on your part it's hateful. You are, without knowing anything about them, without experiencing their religions, belief systems or families, calling them misguided devil worshipers - agents of your religion's Satan, the evil one.

Sorry, baby, but you can't get any more hateful than that.

true Christians stand-out as the 'specled birds' of society which will not bow the knee to conventional wisdom/PCism and that's why you have a problem with me:)

No, not at all. I have no problem whatsoever with Christians exploring their spirituality through their belief system, forms of prayer and ritual.

I have a problem with you demanding that everyone be like you. You claim that everyone else, everyone not like you, is worshiping false gods - demons even.

Tell me you don't believe that. Tell me you accept other people's religions and religious beliefs and you and I do not have issues.

I also have problems with some Christians proclaiming that they understand science better than scientists, that they know history better than historians, archaeology better than archaeologists. That's simple dishonesty and insecurity. I can't respect religious beliefs that are based on dishonesty. If you are one who requires it for your belief system, it's a pity.

Oh, and I won't accept that one religion has a monopoly on morality. Our civil society's morality comes from the enlightenment. Not from any one religion's moral system.

[River Tam]

Al Garcia wrote:

<quoted text>
Of course I brought up the "Christian angle" that's kind of what this thread is. The discussion of God and our beliefs. The point wasn't a Christian argument so much as an argument regarding personal beliefs and on pushing those beliefs on others. I know I'm walking on dangerous ground here because that's what Christians have been accused of yet you have agreed that its ok to push their belief that public nudity is ok on others.
Look, I don't mind nudity. I just don't want someone showing their wrinkly ass wiener in my child's face or mine or pushing that on me or my family. I should have that right to make that decision for my family not have it be forced on me by some exhibitionist.
Also, its not a gay issue either just because its in Frisco. It's simply a common sense issue. Period.

That's the problem Al. In Frisco, it is a gay thing. The only problem they were having was in the Castro District. Those people are only doing it for the shock value. They are pushing an agenda and that agenda causes problems for me. People see that and they attribute that behaviour to all gay people. If they think they are helping equal rights for homosexuals, they are wrong.

[OCB]

KittenKoder wrote:

<quoted text>
Sorry, hard to tell without looking like a stalker and my memory sucks. ;)
Actually, it was stated correctly. Treat language is aimed solely at "kissing butt," as some people put it. The language itself, not the intent or purpose of the treaty, aims to reach common ground, and that's really all. If they were signing with an alien species who wanted to start a war with us, they'd offer praise to their higher technology and knowledge and avoid any mention of a god delusion in there. Currently it is common practice to include an aside assertion that we have a strong christian influence in our country, to appease the natives of the other countries, though this will change soon and is slowly changing already. One of the conspiracy theories was that Obama was "anti-christian" for doing just that.
Today nations are more interested in technological advances, well, any nations we need to sign treaties with. Thus the wording tends to aim at showing some understanding of that technology, even though our government knows less about the internet than a five year old. Mentions of religion are fading quickly from the treaties with developed nations.

I disagree regarding the Treaty of Tripoli.

It was not a lie; it was an affirmation, a confirmation and perhaps a reminder as well as to what this country was founded upon and what this country was NOT founded upon was Christianity or any other religion.

[Happy Lesbo]

River Tam wrote:

<quoted text>
Can I come?

.. yes, I'm very considerate of my partner's needs ..

[Aerobatty]

boooots wrote:

<quoted text>
"The 18 injured people included nine firefighters, four Columbia Gas of Massachusetts employees and two police officers, Sarno said." None killed and none of the injured had anything to do with the strip club other than they were trying to protect people due to a gas leak.
Better get your stories straight, buster, before posting your scum here. What kind of low life bottom feeder wishes that some people died in an accident?

You could hear that from my house.

[Hidingfromyou]

waaasssuuup wrote:

<quoted text>
it's all good! i like the debate and i can appreciate you no matter who you are or what you do.
do you recall that i emphatically apologized to you for being rude and short in the pm's?:)

I don't actually remember you being rude at all in the pm's. It was just that we couldn't pull away from the religious discussion and I don't think it's worthwhile doing that in pm's when we do it here. I just don't have the time to spend on each person who wants to raise a private point with me that we are quite capable of raising on the threads. I'm sorry if that's selfish.

If you remember being rude, and apologized, you're forgiven and everything's forgotten. I honestly don't recall our pm's going that way at all. It's hard for me to imagine most people here being rude on a personal level. Yes, some of the posters are totally fcuked up. But I think, and would like to think, most people would be pretty decent to have a beer with in real life.

[River Tam]

Happy Lesbo wrote:

<quoted text>
.. what makes you think I have that much power? Nobody takes instructions from me ..

I do

;-p

[Hidingfromyou]

Al Garcia wrote:

<quoted text>
Of course I brought up the "Christian angle" that's kind of what this thread is. The discussion of God and our beliefs. The point wasn't a Christian argument so much as an argument regarding personal beliefs and on pushing those beliefs on others. I know I'm walking on dangerous ground here because that's what Christians have been accused of yet you have agreed that its ok to push their belief that public nudity is ok on others.
Look, I don't mind nudity. I just don't want someone showing their wrinkly ass wiener in my child's face or mine or pushing that on me or my family. I should have that right to make that decision for my family not have it be forced on me by some exhibitionist.
Also, its not a gay issue either just because its in Frisco. It's simply a common sense issue. Period.

You are not listening. The issue that Catcher and I were discussing was in the papers as a San Francisco issue that involved naked, gay men. That's how the newspapers explained it. I was, for the record, making fun of the newspaper.

I didn't accuse you of positioning nudity as a gay thing.

I didn't say you had to accept some naked person. I didn't claim that your children had to be up close and personal to some naked stranger.

I didn't raise any Christian issues whatsoever.

So would you kindly stop raising straw men arguments and telling me I made them?

[OCB]

KittenKoder wrote:

<quoted text>
Not entirely accurate, it has not really increased, much like how we now see more cases of Asperger's in children, we are just more aware of it and the damage it causes. The targets have also shifted, based on what the teachers are willing to defend. Bullies find the most exposed and weakest of their numbers to bully, weak includes how much protection the target can get from the authority figures. The bully learns that behavior from their parents.

Kitten, it HAS increased and cyber bullying is on the rise more than any other form of bullying. In addition, unlike when I was in school, kids who are gay are now openly revealing that which is increasing bullying.

Also, I think how much more materialistic we've become as a society also has led to an increase of children being bullied by other children.

If a kid doesn't have a cell phone, or the newest cell phone available, or an iPod or an iPad, etc. they become prime targets to be bullied.

I'm not saying bullying hasn't always existed; it has, but it has also gotten worse in recent years.

"Bullying is becoming more and more frequent among today's youth in locations like school and online, according to recent bullying statistics. There are different types of bullying of which bullying statistics reveal almost half of all students have experienced.

Unfortunately, recent bullying statistics show that bullying is on the rise among young adults, teens and children. The rise in these bullying statistics is likely due to a fairly recent form of bullying seen in recent years called cyber bullying. This type of bullying has gotten immense media attention over the past few years sighting instances of cyber bullying pushed too far, and in many cases leading to cases of teen suicide or death. Many bullying statistics and studies have found that physical assaults have been replaced with constant cyber assaults in the form of bashing, rumors and other hazing content targeted at a single student or group of students.

As these bullying statistics indicate, bullying is just getting worse in American schools. Many studies have shown that increasing domestic violence at home are leading to an increase in bullying online and at school."

http://www.bullyingstatistics.org/content/bul...

[KittenKoder]

OCB wrote:

<quoted text>I disagree regarding the Treaty of Tripoli.
It was not a lie; it was an affirmation, a confirmation and perhaps a reminder as well as to what this country was founded upon and what this country was NOT founded upon was Christianity or any other religion.

I did not say it was a lie, it's just that treaty language means little to us, it's meant to form bonds not to define those involved. When I state I am German, is that a lie because I was born in the USA?

[Hidingfromyou]

OCB wrote:

<quoted text>How long ago was that? Bullying today has reached epidemic proportions and in large part due to the internet.
When I was in school- that was from about 1960 until I graduated from high school in 1971, bullying was indeed the exception to the rule.

Different geographic locations experience different levels of bullying, just like different historical periods do.

It's a good thing that awareness is being raised now.

[Hidingfromyou]

Al Garcia wrote:

My apologies Hiding if I seem a bit on edge. The coffee has not hit my nervous system yet and I tend to be cranky until it does.

No worries.

Someone get this man an IV!!!

[nanoanomaly]

Hidingfromyou wrote:

<quoted text>
Uh, no kidding Nano. No one was saying that people's genitals should be in your child's face. Really, if you have to leap to exaggeration, you don't have a point.
You were claiming that nudists are disrespectful to children and apparently your argument rests on the strange assumption that nudists want their genitals in your child's face.
Yes, children need to be looked after. Yes, their voices should be heard. What grosses children out? I don't know. I'm staying in Hong Kong right now with children who find pooh really funny and try to rub snot on people. No, I don't want to rip off my pants and drag their faces into my genitals. That's pretty twisted for you to think that, Nano. I also don't want them to be ashamed of their bodies, but I'd very much like them to be ashamed to wipe their snot on other people at this point.
I'm also not going to run around naked in front of them - I really, really don't want to. Nothing about public nakedness interests me. I simply find it disturbing the level of discussion here - you, claiming that nudists are about putting their genitals in kids faces, others wanting to send nudists to the Emergency Room at the hospital, and others claiming genitals are disgusting.

The tone of your earlier post suggested that you thought everyone should run around naked in public. Considering how many people there are in the world that means that most children would have a considerable amount of crotches invading their personal space, from walking in the mall to standing in line at the checkout at every store they enter. I never mentioned nudists, as in nudist camps, jackass. I'm not the one here who brought up the subject of public nudity. Can the self righteous bs.

[OCB]

KittenKoder wrote:

<quoted text>
I did not say it was a lie, it's just that treaty language means little to us, it's meant to form bonds not to define those involved. When I state I am German, is that a lie because I was born in the USA?

Point is, the Treaty was NOT lip service. I don't see that you are of German heritage having anything to do with the purpose of the Treaty of Tripoli. And the Treaty most certainly was meant to define those involved; those being the people and government of the USA not having been founded as a Christian nation.

Is it a lie that you state you were German despite having been born in the USA?

I wouldn't classify that as a lie, but those who are born in the USA are automatically citizens of the USA and therefore, their nationality is American.

I've gone around and around on this with RR- I maintain that because our ancestors all come from someplace else, there is no such thing as a 100% American, but I would still say because you were born here, you are an American with German heritage and ancestry.

When asked my nationality, I always say "American" because despite my ancestry having its roots in Europe and Russia, I was born here.

So I would no more deny that by birthright, I AM an American any more than I would deny my heritage or ancestry.

[OCB]

Hidingfromyou wrote:

<quoted text>
Different geographic locations experience different levels of bullying, just like different historical periods do.
It's a good thing that awareness is being raised now.

And the reason that awareness is being raised NOW is due to the dramatic increase in bullying- with much of that due to the internet.

[OCB]

Hidingfromyou wrote:

<quoted text>
Different geographic locations experience different levels of bullying, just like different historical periods do.
It's a good thing that awareness is being raised now.

I also meant to add that adults bullying adults has increased dramatically and also due to the internet....

I'm sure I'm not alone when I say that I would NEVER say to someone's face much of what I say to people on this thread just as I am sure that most others on this thread would NEVER say to someone's face what they say here.

The anonymity of the internet makes for the perfect recipe for people to bully others and definitely when it comes to kids.

[Hidingfromyou]

nanoanomaly wrote:

<quoted text>The tone of your earlier post suggested that you thought everyone should run around naked in public. Considering how many people there are in the world that means that most children would have a considerable amount of crotches invading their personal space, from walking in the mall to standing in line at the checkout at every store they enter. I never mentioned nudists, as in nudist camps, jackass. I'm not the one here who brought up the subject of public nudity. Can the self righteous bs.

Either you didn't read my posts on the subject - I quite clearly wrote that I didn't want to see naked men in public - or you have active projection issues going on.

But you like to exaggerate other people's points, as you do above, so perhaps that's where your confusion arises.

Probably a bit of all three. If you had bothered to read them, you'd have understood I was discussing a recent bylaw change by San Francisco and why they did it, not advocating enforced public nudity everywhere, as you stupidly claim.

[Hidingfromyou]

OCB wrote:

And the reason that awareness is being raised NOW is due to the dramatic increase in bullying- with much of that due to the internet.

Well, that's good then. Thanks, Internet! It only sucks that it has taken this long.

[Captain Karma]

True That!