Ive read up on this, and I can honestly say that America had just plain given up. They now just don't even care what other countries think of them anymore. They just jail anyone they feel like because it's funny. That's the impression I'm getting here.
Athiests don't believe in God or Satan.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atheism
So worshipping Satan doesn't make it an Athiest world. It makes it a Satanist world.
I haven't been around for a very long time. Why?
Is he usually like this? I've seen him make good, funny arguments before.
In a debate about beastiality, he put in
"Fvck like animals=okay. Fvck animals=not okay,"
That had me rolling on the floor. Plus, he must have at least a bit of debating skill.
Honestly, I am bitterly disappointed. I expected more from someone with almost 10000 points to their name.
Creating a childish thread like this and then typing with such immaturity that you mispelled several words to the point of incomprehension.
I cannot claim to know you personally, but you must be better than this. Please show it.
Honestly, who the hell cares?
Who the hell has time to care about whether or not the "two faggots next door" get married?
It's so frustrating that things like the African crises, Japanese tsunami relief, and the continuing crisis in Haiti all get brief media coverage before fading, and bullshit like this gets to live on.
Right now I feel like humanity is shackled. There are people out there who want to go out and help the world, to develop nations and create media that makes us question the foundations of humanity.
And we are shackled to the idiots who say "I think dem queers shouldn't marry,"
Please. Please, please, for the love of Christ and all his angels, let them marry. Let them do whatever they want and let's move onto things that actually matter.
Holy hellfire. This Dana garbage was going on from when I last came here almost a third of a year ago. What the hell did she do? Why is she worth the entire forum circlejerking about her? I did a debate on whether consensual pedophilia is wrong, and I didn't get this much hate. What'd she do?
It all comes down to what you, as part of the people, want tax money to go to.
Do you want your tax money to go towards a lethal injection for a serial killer?
Or do you want your money to go to giving him food, shelter, and any needed medication for the rest of his life?
Neither is really cheaper than the other. One costs more in the short term, but both will even out in the long run.
What is your choice?
"After thinking about this question and going through countless debates, this ultimately comes down to what you, as a person value more.
Do you value free will? Or do you value life? Not human life, just life.
You can guess which side I am on just by looking at my username."
This is something I posted on a similar debate. And my position has not changed.
Hey, no problem. I always love discussing these kinds of things.
Valuing life for what it is, while nice, isn't logical. Just saying "Life is valuable because it's life" is like saying "A raw diamond is beautiful because it's a diamond."(Raw diamond isn't very pretty. Looks like a chunk of glass" It's what you choose to do with that life, and who you effect in what way, that truly determines the value of life. It's not what it is, it's what it can become, and the fact that we can decide and control what we do is vital to shaping that life. Sure there are some things that are out of our control, as you said. But the fact that we have free will is whatbdifferentiates people like Adolf Hitler from people like Mother Teresa.
We are animals. But we do not act like animals. Those of us that do tend to become incarcerated. That's why it is debasing to most people to call them an animal: it shows they do not think, nor do they control their actions. But I digress, the animal comment is not supposed to be stand-alone, it's what comes after, which I will address.
"A significant factor in our behavior is genetics." You know that belief is incredibly insulting to most of us? That's something we say about horses or dogs. "Oh this dog has a good pedigree therefore he/she will be well-behaved." We aren't like that. What we are may be decided by which set of parents we came from. Who we are is decided by how we act. You say that it cheapens life if we deny the complex multitude of factors that make us who we are. Yet you are doing just that by saying we have little to no control over who we fall in love with, and indeed our very behavior.
And did you think of what you are saying? You are giving others, so many others, an excuse for being feral and socially unacceptable while belittling what great people have done. Frame it like this: "Hitler's Holocaust wasn't actually because of what one human did of his free will, his genetics played a significant factor." "Mother Teresa, she didn't actually help the poor because she decided to be a good person. A significant part of her saving all those people was just due to her genetics."
Of course it matters whether we choose our orientation!We have surgery now to change our physical appearance, we have therapy to shape our mental state. We even have surgery to change our genders! Why shouldn't we have something that can change our sexual orientation? If a gay person wants to be straight, or a straight person wants to be gay, or if either one of them wants to be bisexual, then why should they not be able to?
And I personally think that one would have a much more happy and fulfilling relationship if they choose who to be with. Or else it's only a step above arranged marriage.
The relationship between rape and murder is, in my mind, no different between cold-blooded torture and murder. Sure you can recover from torture. Sure you can go through therapy. Does that make it any less heinous than death?
It's not humanity level ratings. It's much more simple. A general rule of thumb: If a person acts like an animal, they deserve to be treated like an animal. Much simpler to remember than humanity levels.
No one will spend their time reminding a rape victim that what they went through is horrible, for much the same reason why they won't constantly remind John McCain of his injuries in Vietnam.
And, contrary to what you say, I think hearing the rapist has been executed wouldn't further traumatize the victim. Why would it? Wne they hear "The guy that raped you is six-feet under" their first reaction isn't going to be "what a horrible thing he/she did to me".
You fail to take into account that fact that we don't encounter rapists and assaulters (or whatever you want to call them), on a regular basis, but we sure as hell meet assholes on a regular basis.
Also, you fail to take into account the scale of the crimes. Calling the police because they are physically assaulting you, or sexually assaulting you is expected. Calling the police because someone is calling you names is going to get you in trouble, not the perpretrator.
And are you seriously suggesting that we arrest children for making fun of an unpopular kid? Because that happens in real life, and you can't report that to the police. Because if you do, that isn't going to make anything better. In fact, it's going to make you a laughing stock. You have to learn how to deal with those things while you're young.
Umm...I'm not actually sure how to respond to this.
If you don't find the idea that we cannot choose and control our attractions and emotions to be disturbing, you are indeed a unique individual.
It diminishes the joy or the value of life when you cannot choose your actions. Without free will, we are little more than animals, being trained to do tricks or slaughtered.
And the idea that the basic freedom of being able to choose who you fall for does not exist, that's what disturbs me. If being gay or being straight is truly something that we, as human beings, cannot choose, then I suggest we get surgery or therapy to remedy that ASAP.
I am not a vegetarian.
That being said, I have no problem with Vegans. You wanna eat everything but meat? Perfectly fine.
As long as meat-eaters don't discriminate against Vegans, and Vegans don't discriminate against meat-eaters.
So, in answer to the topic: No, Vegans are not foolish. Not my personal lifestyle choice, but not foolish.
I think it is a choice. Who really has the spare time to care? I don't know. But you choose who you fall in love with.
This isn't Twilight. There is no such thing as "impriniting". You choose who you fall in love with based on how good they look, what they have to offer you, how much you personally like them, etc. If you don't, that's what most people called arranged marriage.
I personally like women. I find them more attractive to me then other men. It's a personal opinion.
If other men like other men, who cares?
But robbing us of our free will through forcing us to fall in love with either men or women is an extremely disturbing thought to me.
No. No, no, and...no.
Just think, for one second, about what the real world is like and you'll have your answer why.
There are bullies out there. In the "grown-up", world, there are assholes who will push you around and insult you. One of them could be your boss. Kids need to learn how to deal with these morons now, not late.
After thinking about this question and going through countless debates, this ultimately comes down to what you, as a person value more.
Do you value free will? Or do you value life? Not human life, just life.
You can guess which side I am on just be looking at my username.
I am an athiest who thinks that I have the right to go around telling other people that their beliefs are wrong then tell them they are idiots when they try to fight back. I like to pretend I'm all tough on the internet while not actually doing anything except insulting religion. I blame religion for all human disasters and genocides. And I am totally morally justified in doing this.
Moral of the story: Strawmen don't help anyone.
A serial rapist has already proven himself to have no humanity left in him by willingly violating the bodies of multiple people. There are multiple interpertations of pedophile, and I have a debate on it, so I will decline extending judgement to them.
