In public, how often do you talk about religion, politics, etc.?

Because people who believe in make believe cloud dwellers rarely bring a balanced argument to the table.

 

It did. He said it was his duty to get people onto the right path. That happened less than a month ago.

Mind you, I was mainly listening and not nearly as confrontational as I am on here.

 

Ok so for you, race is relevant in the context you described.

So what about the last question I asked?

 

What do you mean by "race is relevant"? Don't try to twist my words - yeah, race is relevant, because if a black person says they are fans of the KKK, it adds another dimension of absurdity to something that is absurd in the first place (being a fan of the KKK).

It would be like a woman saying she is a fan of how women are treated in Saudi Arabia.

 

Since the 80s, our system has been a "socialize the losses, privatize the gains" sort of invisible hand. Only it hasn't been invisible - a quick scan of the horizon is usually enough to identify the guilty parties.

 

lol why are you being paranoid? I said race is relevant in the context you described.

Still no answer to the second question.

Is your race and nationality relevant when you direct your hate towards a single religion?

 

I don't direct any hate towards any religion. I criticize the worldwide manifestations of a totalitarian ideology, and thereby, the elements of the ideology itself which I see as a partial root cause for these manifestations.

Are my race and nationality relevant for that? Not much, I would think, because I do not criticize a race or nationality. I criticize an ideology and those who follow it with a fanatical, totalitarian approach.

The background of the taxi drivers is relevant - again - only because I have made the experience that their statements are no outliers, but are somewhat representative of views of people who adhere to the same ideology - as your posts here confirm. Anecdotal evidence only, however, confirmed e.g. by Pew attitude surveys.

Given the history of the country I grew up in, perhaps my nationality would be relevant if I was bashing Judaism?

 

I don't enjoy talking politics any longer. I used to a ton. It's just ridiculously polarized and personal. Friends who've known me for years always try to engage me on politics because they know I was very interested at one time...I try to get out of those conversations and talk more about what I'd call, "real life." I talked a ton about politics here...I pretty much avoid it except for the occasional post.

I enjoy talking about God. I enjoy talking about religion as a subject of history or study. I'm not interested in driving people away by talking about either, though. I love talking about experiences or stories where I see people's lives improved in some way.

And I'm not interested in throwing the yoke of trying to live like Jesus, and all that comes with, on to people who aren't interested in trying to live like Jesus. I feel that in doing so, I'm actually living out trying to live like Jesus. I can quote scripture for you to support that position if you'd like

The liger is pretty much my favorite animal.

 

I think that is wise.

 

Ligers? What about..

 

Agreed. I don't talk about it at all anymore, just have to make my smartass comments in here on occasion. And that's just more my venting if something at work is pissing me off for some reason and my buddy's not in his office.

I don't discuss it much in my personal life either for the same reasons, aside from the occasional shared article on Facebook. We are all so similar in most aspects. We work hard, love our family and friends, watch tv, exercise, watch sports, cook good food, read good books, see good movies, etc. so why let a bunch of people who are only looking out for themselves under the disguise of working for our conutry cause friction between us. Especially when that's what they want us all to do so we can be distracted by petty things while they rob us blind, economically and otherwise.

I like turtles.

 

Talk about politics way too much after a few beers. Always a terrible idea.

 

What they want us all to do is sit down, shut up, stay home, and be apathetic. And when I say 'they' I mean Republicans. That's why every time you hear about a voter-suppression effort, overt or covert, it is led by a Republican.

It used to be a virtue in this country to listen to contrary beliefs but to stand firm on your beliefs and to "discuss and debate" them. In fact, it's been a virtue going all the way back to the Greeks, upon whose society our ideas of democracy are based.

The public debate is critical. When we abdicate political discussion to the media and the politicians we abdicate two things (which are really the same thing):

- the power of the individual
- the very true notion that all politics are local

We also abdicate the opportunity to have influence on people we actually know.

This notion that politics is an impolite area of discussion is a relatively new one, one that became largely popularized by the nationwide cynicism caused by the Vietnam war and Watergate.

When you give in to that, when you accept the premise that politics is an impolite area of discussion (so much so that you avoid it), you help not only the bad guys but all incumbents. You give up your greatest power as a citizen of the USA, our freedom to speak out against our government and its policies without fear of reprisal. This is what the people in charge want you to do -- to believe one person can't make a difference. To believe it is out of your hands so why risk a skirmish with a loved one. There are ways to disagree without being disagreeable. Though I do not do that here as often as I'd like, I discuss politics as much as any other topic with my friends (of whichever political persuasion) and I do so politely and with close and open-minded listening to their views.

And then I come here when it just gets too much and unload on a bunch of strangers. When I speak with people IRL, my Republican father or a taxi driver with whom I disagree, I am more polite. Since this place has been designated by the moderators as a poo pen, I use it that way; as an opportunity to vent.

But I will never give up the only political power I have in this country (which I'd like to mention again I only have because I have the good fortune of living in this country) in favor of politeness, contemporary conventional wisdom be damned.

When I and a friend or family member is inevitably interrupted during a conversation regarding politics with something like "come on guys, do we need to talk politics" the response comes from us both "don't worry about it" and, more importantly, "Yes. Yes, we do."

Remind me again why the only topics important enough to each of us that they make us speak with passion or raise our voices are the topics we are meant to avoid.

I also like turtles.

 

Life's too short, Batman, is the way I'm looking at it right now. I'm jaded as hell with the political process and I don't see that changing anytime soon. Kudos to the Republicans for succeeding in what they've set out to do and a big middle finger to the Democrats for basically being Republicans and not fighting for anything. They all suck.

 

Just about never. I used to, but not anymore.

In college I was the VP of the atheist organization and we had 4 debates with various religious groups. I was always in the debate. We had between 100-350 people show up to these debates, and no matter how big the crowd was we at the debate table were always the only non-religious people in the auditorium.

This religious stuff led me to philosophy which led me to economics which led me to politics. After hitting the matter hard for a few years, I came down as a firm libertarian. Before this I was a liberal.

Now I ask you, which do you think got me more **** while living in East Texas: being an atheist or being a libertarian?

It was being a libertarian and it's not even close. Tell people you're an atheist and they either don't give a **** or they try to convert you. Tell people that you don't like democracy or any form of welfare, or that you don't support any of the wars, or that killing because your gov't told you to is no more heroic than killing to join a gang, or that you don't pledge allegiance to a piece of cloth, or that you don't vote... and watch them go berserk.

 

I know it. Everyone knows it. Hell the American people glorified it right up until the latest bubble pop.

Yet now that there's crises with the uncertainties it carries, people are attempting to rally around institutions (private or public*) under the assumption that it'll provide stability or security without owning up to the sacrifices or consequences it entails. People already feel the wake of the burst is consequence enough, yet don't want to realize the insane and unlikely meteoric recovery rates it'd take to get the economy back to late 90s levels.

It's like waking up from a bad party next to a big mistake and doubling down on the shots to make her look like a supermodel again.

And she's pregnant.

And you're too deluded to do anything about it.



*In the case of TeaBag/Occupy it was rallying against one institution with the implicit assumption they'd rather have the "lesser evil" resolve the problem.

 

I have a few coworkers who like to talk politics. We generally can find consensus but one is very party line Democrat and the other is a little more left but also naive and really thought Obama would be purer than snow and a bit of a savior. I generally argue things I don't really believe with her because it is more interesting. She gets heated but none of it is in a angry or mean way, I just counter things she says and she responds.

I prefer talking to people with different views but like Max has said, it is harder and harder to talk civilly or without people getting angry or resorted to hyperbolic nonsense. I am not passionate enough to try to "help" anyone I think is ignorant or misguided or just plain stupid so if I pick up on any of that, I just disengage. I either want a challenge or a learning opportunity or I don't want anything.

Religion is similar. I like to talk to really strong believers (whatever religion) who don't want to convert or condemn but want to talk about history or personal stories or beliefs. Again, seem harder to find these days. With some extended family I could never be honest about my beliefs because then that would dominate my relationship with them - they would become obsessed with helping or converting or preaching to me (or my favorite - that I don't really believe what I am saying...that it is impossible or something). So I don't talk religion with extended family and the general public.

Maybe I am too disconnected with people? Most of my good friends no longer live near me so I really only have one non-wife friend with whom I could probably discuss anything and enjoy our depth. Otherwise, most disappoint.

 

About 90% of the people I talk to don't believe in God and so I talk alot about Jesus.

In public

often