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.
Should Ginsburg and Kagan withdraw?
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1) This is a Christian site, respect our beliefs and we will respect yours.
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- ChickenSoup
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My name is ChickenSoup and I have several flavors in which you may be interested
- 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.
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.
A vegan atheist walks into a bar. Bartender says "Hey, are you a vegan atheist? Just kidding, you've mentioned it like eight times already."
- Sstavix
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I know. It's one of my (many) failings, and I really need help with working on that.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.
It means a lot that you think that. Sometimes I have trouble feeling that way. Thank you.Bruce_Campbell wrote: I think you're good because you're a good person.
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....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.
(click the spoiler tag if you want to hear my whiny past)
Spoiler:
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!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.
- 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.
My name is ChickenSoup and I have several flavors in which you may be interested
- Bruce_Campbell
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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.*Sstavix's spoiler tag*
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.
A vegan atheist walks into a bar. Bartender says "Hey, are you a vegan atheist? Just kidding, you've mentioned it like eight times already."
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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.
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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