Should Ginsburg and Kagan withdraw?

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ChickenSoup
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Yeah, the American media is shameful and woefully sensationalist.

Crime has been declining for a while now, but you would never guess that I'd you only watch TV. Violent crime is down half of what it was twenty years ago (according to FBI statistics). The world will never be perfect, but recent trends have not been for the worse.
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Bruce_Campbell
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Sstavix, I don't want to sound disrespectful to your personal beliefs, but I think you're underestimating yourself, bro. Maybe there are some people who need to believe that God watching them to be moral, but I don't think you're one of them; I think you're good because you're a good person.

I heard a pretty good analogy on a podcast this morning (it was Dogma Debate, if anyone's interested) about the argument that without God life loses all meaning, yadda yadda yadda... Imagine you're at a football game, and you win a chance to kick a field goal from the ten yard line. If you make the field goal, you win $10,000 dollars. Now, imagine you have thirty chances to kick the field goal. Now, imagine you have just one chance. Wouldn't you take that first kick a lot more seriously if you knew you'd most likely never have another chance to kick the field goal? That's kind of what life is like for me now that I'm not a believer anymore. If anything, it makes me want to try harder. It makes time with loved ones more precious. It makes it a lot easier to accept and move past things that I can't change. And it just makes life better. Like ArchAngel, I'm tired of the cynical, defeatist idea that everyone just sucks and there's nothing we can do about it.

Back to the gay marriage topic...

Is there any reason to abolish civil marriage aside from the fact that some religious people don't want it extended to same sex couples? That seems kind of petty to me.
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Sstavix
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ArchAngel wrote: Sstavix, I'm very seriously challenging you to challenge these biases and preconceptions. It doesn't work either as a value or truth proposition.
I know. It's one of my (many) failings, and I really need help with working on that.
Bruce_Campbell wrote: I think you're good because you're a good person.
It means a lot that you think that. Sometimes I have trouble feeling that way. Thank you. :)
Bruce_Campbell wrote: Like ArchAngel, I'm tired of the cynical, defeatist idea that everyone just sucks and there's nothing we can do about it.
That is how I feel right now. But I have a tendency to get into self-loathing, cynical depressions, and I'm clearly in one of those phases right now. You see....

(click the spoiler tag if you want to hear my whiny past)
Spoiler:
Here I am, 41 years old, and I feel like nothing in my life is as it should be. I see and hear all these tales of other people doing quite well for themselves (not just the news - my friends and family, too), and I feel happy for them... but I feel like I made a mistake somewhere in my past. Somewhere I just messed up. I don't know where, or why, but I clearly took the wrong path, and I have no idea where to go to make it right. I've been feeling like I'm in a boat without an oar for a few years now, and I have no idea where to go or what to do. But there's no one else to help me or give me direction. In fact, it seems like most people I know are just in it for themselves. Everyone will backstab and betray you eventually, so you can't really trust anyone. It feels like even God has abandoned me sometimes.

None of my dreams as a child have come true, and at my age, I don't think they ever will. I'll never be a voice actor, I'll never become a well-known author, I'll never be a game designer (I can't barely understand HTML code, let alone anything more complex like C+). I feel like my fate is just to plod along and take things day by day until this pathetic existence finally comes to an end.

I think another part of my feelings lately have been due to this time of year. See, 12 years ago, on Valentine's day, my firstborn son was stillborn. To add insult to injury, that's also my parent's wedding anniversary. So I feel like I've let them down by making their happy memories punctuated by sadness with the loss of their first grandchild. And I don't think I've ever really gotten over the loss of my son either, although having three other kids has helped, even if they can be brats at times.

Sometimes I am so disgusted with feeling like a constant failure that I just want to end it. Fortunately, I have my wonderful wife to help me make it through the dark times. Without her, I probably wouldn't be here today.

So yes, I do struggle with depression. I'm wrestling with it right now. I should be feeling better by the end of February, but until then, please pray for me.

Thanks for reading this far and tolerating my self-loathing attitude. It means a lot that I can open up with you guys here. :)
Bruce_Campbell wrote:Is there any reason to abolish civil marriage aside from the fact that some religious people don't want it extended to same sex couples? That seems kind of petty to me.
It seems odd to me that some people would want to go through the hassle of marriage just because of tradition. And I don't think anyone is talking about banning marriage outside of religious institutions - they're just not fond of the idea of giving government the authority to recognize it. So if other companies or institutions wanted to perform marriage ceremonies, I wouldn't have a problem with it. After all, you can get married by Elvis or Darth Vader if you want to have a ceremony you and your guests will really remember!
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ChickenSoup
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Hey, man, I read through everything in the spoiler tag and I just want you to know that you're not alone. That's been a struggle for me in the last year or so as my workload exponentially increased. We're all in this together, brother. :)
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Bruce_Campbell
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*Sstavix's spoiler tag*
Brother, thanks for opening up to us. Seriously, I've struggled with depression and self-loathing myself most of my life, and I've also been through the ringer lately (lately meaning almost nonstop for the past four years). I was diagnosed with PTSD even, and went through about a year when I thought about killing myself just about every day, and at my worst was staging ways to go through with it.

I don't want to sound like an armchair psychologist, but what you're feeling is normal and understandable, and certainly nothing to beat yourself up over. I know from experience that is easier said that done, because when you're depressed it's easy to lose the ability to think positively about yourself. It's so easy to see yourself in the worst light, and feel like a burden to your friends and family. Please don't be so hard on yourself. Life is too short to go around hating yourself. I've really just started learning to like myself over the past year or so, and it's made a real difference in the quality of my life, and how I treat others. Have you ever thought about talking to a therapist? It's something that has really helped me start to get over my depression.

Whatever the case, if you ever feel like you want to vent, please don't hesitate to open up again. I'm not kidding when I say you're a good person, and bear in mind that I am someone who very strongly disagrees with your politics. ;)
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SStavix,

I'll be praying for you and I wouldn't close the door on some of those nevers, that's an awfully strong word ;) I'll try my best not to let you down.
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