Whousedline04

I think that if the government tries to ban offensive words, they will find themselves in a neverending battle. Especially in a situation like this where they're banning them due to the connotation behind them. A word is only a word, it's the meaning behind it which causes people distress and hurt. If you want people to stop treating others in this way, you have to change the culture, not their language.

As far as why I'm not doing something, that's where my political science degree comes in. I want to go to law school in order to put myself in a position where I can help more on a business side of things. And yes, I knew I'd receive a lot of flack for my statement. But my main point is, that often times college students are underestimated by adults. It's ridiculous how little respect we receive sometimes. Granted there are times that we do things that should earn us absolutely zero respect, but give us some credit sometimes. As far as me not knowing you, you don't know me either. So, what gives anyone the right to assume that because I'm a college student that I don't have life experience or a well-rounded worldview.

Sorry I disappeared again, I've been busy doing other things, so I suppose this leaves me with the task of making up some ground. First of all, it deeply angers me that you should look down upon me shearly because of the fact that I'm a college student. I'll be honest with you good sir, there are many college students I know that are greater men than you could ever aspire to be. Now, onto this topic of Africa that you seemed to care so little about. You say that it's not our problem, but rather that of the U.N. Well, how about we have the standing army of the United Nations go fight the war. Oh, but there's not one. In order for the United Nations to do something, countries like the U.S. have to make a decison. Being one of the members of the security council it is one of our major responsibilities to make those kinds of decisions. Also, relating to that, are you a supporter of the war in Iraq? Because if you are, it seems to me that that's a very similar issue, only the problems in Iraq were never as severe as they are in Africa. Now, as for that ridiculous study. First of all, I believe that when I first spoke of the study I said that I hadn't done a lot of the research on it not that I hadn't read it. Second of all, I understand that he's an accredited individual, but accredited individuals make mistakes as well. Look into a lot of studies whether they be political, psychological, or physical, you'll find a lot of false ones. For instance, much credit is given to Sigmund Freud for many of his studies in psychology, but if you read into it, a lot of it doesn't make sense at all. Now, as for me not being open to other ideas. I really am open to new ideas or other perspectives, the problem is, I haven't seen one that really makes any sense yet. Every time I see your point and I see where you're going with it, it just doesn't add up to me. Also, on behalf of Baylor, in your post concerning the SBTC you make it sound as though Baylor is struggling to get students. Well, currently our enrollment is at an all-time high while our acceptance rate has dropped from 81% to 43% in 2 years. The last freshman class to come into Baylor had the highest cumulative GPA and median SAT in the history of our institution. So, needless to say, Baylor isn't struggling to get kids to come.

Herein lies the difficulty in you calling me "judgemental." Possibly you haven't picked up on the fact that I'm what some might call a "sarcastic person." Me calling overweight people "s.o.b.'s" was not so much a stab at overweight people, but more of an overexaggerated way of proving a very simple point. As far as me calling the study bogus, has anyone said one single thing to respond to my very legitimate questions? Not that I've been reading. None of you have fully answered a single question that I have raised. You've only accused me of putting some "liberal" spin on it. And, Baylor is not a liberal university. I hear things in class, I research them later, I read various sources and from there develop my opinions. From what I can tell, most of you have a very narrow-minded view of things. So what if I'm not a college graduate, how long has it been since you graduated and learned something new? Was that back when Trigonometry was a new concept? Pardon my abrasive personality, but I don't take kindly to people who don't respect other points of view. Now, before you say it. Yes, maybe you will accuse me of doing the same, but as far as I'm concerned, I'm only trying to present another point of view. All of the things that I've heard from all of you is the same old one-sided thought. I personally pride myself in developing my opinions based on multiple ideas and personal convictions. My biggest argument with the conservative side is their idea of trying to fix people from the outside-in. I believe I've said this before. I also have a problem with the conservative side because in my opinion they take on issues that are not issues at all. Honestly, homosexuality or abortion are not the biggest issues occuring on this planet. And contrary to popular belief, neither is Iraq. The entire continent of Africa is in shambles with mass genocide happening every day. Is this something that you see on the news every day? Not at all. Is this something that Republicans(and also Democrats) talk about every day? Rarely. But oftentimes the people talking about those real issues are liberals. George W. Bush finally referred to the mass killings in the Darfur region as genocide about 2 months ago. That was one of the first times he's even addressed the issue when hundreds of thousands have died already, and millions are displaced. Here's where I'm about to get abrasive. For all of you: Get out of your small-minded, morally focused little worlds, and look at the world around you. The death's of hundred's of thousands are far more important to me than the sexual orientation of a few. Sorry if I come across as "trying to save the world," I guess that's just what happens when you actually care about something.

Well, I appreciate your declaration that I "bugged out" and was therefore declared the "loser." But, the reason for me having to disappear for a few days was a family funeral, though I appreciate you asking. As for the "t-shirt" that you received, the reason I was saying that this gave me some credibility was because I spend all of my time studying the current issues. You on the otherhand probably work a job doing something else and then come home to your Fox News Channel and hear what they and only they have to say about the "issues" going on in the world. And yes, I do appreciate the comment about us "all falling short of the glory of God." I agree fully with this statement, but way to totally cop out and give absolutely no answer to the question at hand. But if I remember correctly, the question is whether one could be a liberal and a Christian, and the answer originally given was no. My original post was based on the idea that it was equally possible to be a Christian and a liberal and that it is ridiculous to make such a rash judgement. And I'm sorry Superscot, but the only thing I've seen you contribute to this conversation since I joined was a bogus study and your elation at receiving a "t-shirt."

After reading through the article, yes it is interesting. However, it still proves nothing, I searched some more to try to find the methodology behind what he said and I couldn't find anything. When performing a study like that, there needes to be a narrowing of terms. For instance, he never defines the term "religious." Also, he uses the terms "conservative," "moderate," and "liberal" too broadly. Those terms are very subjective and not easy to pin on someone. For instance, you call me a liberal, I call myself a moderate, but to a lot of people in the north east, I would probably be a conservative. He also never shows how he gets the numbers that he does. Does he take a total sum of everyone's giving? Does he do it per household? Does he do it by dollar amounts or by percentages? Does he fairly compare the two sides, for instance, is the "conservative side" making a higher income than the "liberal side." Overall, in my opinion Brooks has undertaken a study that is very hard to prove and very hard to make exact. Though I can believe that religious people give more than non-religious, my difficulty comes when trying to categorize people so easily into conservative and liberal.

They are not wild accusations...the only thing I said I hadn't studied was the survey. And I'm sure I read just as much as superscot had, because I read all of what he posted. As far as everything else, I have studied everything else a fair amount. In fact, I'm a Political Science major at Baylor University going into a final semester. So, needless to say, I've read a bit about the issues, voting patterns, beliefs, etc. My biggest problem with the Brooks study was that superscot was trying to make assumptions about the conservatives being more giving when the correlation that Brooks made was a very loose one. He was very unclear about many of his facts and methodology. To be honest, I used to be a hardcore conservative, but as I learned more about the facts and read more in depth into political ideologies, I became more liberal. And as far as Jesus' teachings and my "leaving parts out." Here is my belief, plain and simple, don't put the cart before the horse. We as people are not fully capable of solving our own problems with sin. So, you need to preach love before you preach repentance. If people become serious about their relationship with Christ, everything else will fall into place. I just feel as though many Christians have it all backwards.

I don't understand how I made "wild accusations," I brought up legitimate points. Statistics say whatever you want them to. Broadly saying that "religious people" give more money, so therefore it must be conservatives because everybody knows that most religious people are conservative, is stupid.

So you're angry about your tax dollars going to homosexuals. What about all of your tax dollars that have gone to Saddam Hussein, Osama Bin Laden, Augusto Pinochet, and various other dictators in the past. How often do you hear people complaining about that? What about the companies that you're giving good money to when in turn they run companies in foreign countries that nearly torture children and give them pennies a day? Maybe you should start looking into things that are a bit more of a problem then same sex marriages. Also, I'm not trying to condemn people of sin with my gluttony statement. I'm trying to point out that, most people would consider all sins to be equal. So, if all sins are equal then wouldn't gluttony be just as bad as homosexuality?

Also, question superscot...According to this little survey thing you posted, it says that religious people give 25% more than non-religious people. Now, here's my problem. Obviously I haven't delved into this person's methodology, but just by their simple description, it seems weak. They even said themselves that it really didn't have that much to do with politics, more to do with religion. There are a lot of religions out there, I mean, what is their definition of a house of worship. Does this include scientologists? Also does this include Catholics who vote fairly heavy to the liberal side. Or does it also include Jews who vote VERY much to the democratic ticket? What about African-Americans who tend to vote fairly liberal? Personally, your little study seems like weak sauce. And, no one has tackled my statement that gluttony is a sin, it seems that you must just love ignoring it.

You're right, not everyone should have to adhere to my belief system, but should everyone have to adhere to yours? Homosexuals being allowed to follow their feelings isn't intruding on your personal life. You telling them that what they're doing is illegal is intruding into theirs. Now, just because I believe that they should have rights, doesn't mean I agree with what they do. I agree with the fact that homosexuality is a sin, but I also agree with seperation between church and state. Basically, what I'm saying is, you can't try to hold people to morals that they don't believe in. Now, before you say anything because I know this is the next argument. "But what if somebody believes that murder is ok, does that mean that they shouldn't be held accountable for it?" Murder affects more than just the person who commits it. Honestly, homosexuality is a decision to be made between the person and their partner.

Alright, I'll be honest, I just read the title and opening comment of this topic because I didn't feel like sifting through 6 pages of replies. So, therefore, I hope that I don't repeat things that have already been said. As to the question, "Can a Christian be a liberal?" To be honest, that downright angers me. Personally I find it hard to believe that a Christian can be a hardcore conservative. The liberal perspective may not always line up with certain morals that far right wing conservatives support, such as anti-abortion, anti-homosexuality, etc. Well, as to that, here's a clue, all of you absurdly over-weight s.o.b.'s need to go on a diet, because you're sinning. Gluttony is mentioned just as many times in the Bible as homosexuality. Now back to how liberals fit into this. Liberals oftentimes support far more social programs than Republicans, basically a way to help people. Republicans are too concerned with big business to stop and make sure the poor and elderly have the prescription drugs that they need at a cost that they can afford. Needless to say, Jesus spent a lot of time speaking about helping others and loving others. So, for once, why don't you far right wing Christians try looking at the overall message of the Bible. Stop pulling out certain verses that prove a VERY minute point when you're missing the overall message. If you were to had to summarize the Bible to a person in 3 minutes would you be telling them about the love of Jesus Christ, or telling them all of the things they shouldn't be doing? Hopefully I was clear and concise with my point, and hopefully you all see where I'm coming from.

one terrible line from a movie was in Spiderman 2 when Kirsten Dunst says, "Go get em tiger"

the movie itself wasn't that great, but like it did pretty good on surprising the audience and making them jump(at least it made me jump). But that's about the extent of it.

I like this one from "Screaming Infidelities" by Dashboard Confessional, esp. the last part... Well as for now I'm gonna hear the saddest songs And sit alone and wonder How you're making out but as for me, I wish that I was anywhere, with anyone Making out.