Debating is Fun... Showing 1,351-1,400 of 1,623

[tesni]

Baxter wrote: "T e s n i wrote: "Baxter wrote: "I dunno, man. I'm pretty sure ice cream is just as important as them gay rights and junk."

The sexual and social liberation of millions of people=/= ice cream.
I..."

Evidently, then, I am very outdated, and must catch up with the progress that is being made in the ice cream world.

[Jayda]

ICE CREAM!!!!!!!!

Sorry... that's my favorite dessert. :)

[Brigid ✩, No tears in the writer, no tears in the reader.]

T e s n i wrote: "Baxter wrote: "I dunno, man. I'm pretty sure ice cream is just as important as them gay rights and junk."

The sexual and social liberation of millions of people=/= ice cream.
I do rather love Ben..."

Ben & Jerry's is the best. Have you ever been to the factory? It's pretty awesooome.

[Isaac]

ICE CREAM :D

[tesni]

Holden wrote: "T e s n i wrote: "Jayda wrote: "Lav [and I still count the minutes] wrote: "I'm not sure if this has already been discussed but I'm wondering what everyone's thoughts on the Westboro Baptist Churc..."

I AM IN FACT ON MY LAPTOP RIGHT NOW. Thank you for prompting me.

[tesni]

Brigid *Flying Kick-a-pow!* wrote: "T e s n i wrote: "Baxter wrote: "I dunno, man. I'm pretty sure ice cream is just as important as them gay rights and junk."

The sexual and social liberation of millions of people=/= ice cream.
I..."

Alas, I haven't. Google Maps tells me the only factory is in Vermont, and I've never been.
*adds Ben & Jerry's factory to list of places to go on the road trip to the States she constantly plans and thinks about, but will probably never happen*

[tesni]

Emily [Phasers set on stun.] wrote: "I know it's weak. I didn't know how to sum it up."

It works fine in the sense of, you know, your relationship with your friend, nay, it works very well. Just in a broader sense, I mean. You/your friend would not be executed in some countries for the fact she likes different ice cream.

[Elliott]

I freaking love Ben and Jerry's.
One of my characters works there. xD

[Isaac]

Holden wrote: "That would be a really awful country to live in."

*ideas for if I become a dictator*

[Elliott]

*grins*
I'm writing another Ben and Jerry's scene right now. :D
Although it's not quite like the last one...

[tesni]

Jayda wrote: "Lav [and I still count the minutes] wrote: "I'm not sure if this has already been discussed but I'm wondering what everyone's thoughts on the Westboro Baptist Church are. (The church in Topeka that..."

I understand your point, I see what you're saying, and I agree with a lot of it. Nevertheless, some thoughts on things I disagreed with-


I don't think any group of people, despite race, religion, sexuality, etc, is going to be free of people attacking them for something.
That doesn't make it okay, nor does it mean that we should just resign ourselves to that fact and stop making an effort to try and prevent it.

But just because they're being attacked like many, many other groups of people are being attacked it doesn't make them "special" or anything.
As Brigid/Holden/anyone else I missed has said, I suppose it's because in a lot of countries in the Western world, such as the US and Britain, the LGBTQ community is currently the most repressed, the most deprived of so many heterosexual/cisgendered privileges that should not be the privileges they are now, but rights no-one should be denied.

Honestly, the whole gay thing is driving me nuts lately.
Hmmm. Not sure what I ought to say, or rather, how to phrase it. It’s not the fact that it's driving you nuts that I dislike, I don't mind if you disagree with it, and I won't try to change your mind. It's more like the way you dismiss the fact that a group of people, such a large group of people that is deprived of so many things, you refer to it and their desire for equality merely as "the whole gay thing."

But they shouldn't be so sensitive. You have to grow thick skin. You have to deal with life.
One: This totally contradicts what you said earlier in the post about not having one attitude towards a group of people, only in the opposite context.
Two: sucking it up and getting used to life will not do anything, no progress will be made. Our society, at the moment, is not half as liberated towards queer relationships and marriage as it ought to be, and not speaking up will just reinforce hetero-and-cisnormative assumptions and give identifying on the LGBTQ spectrum negative connotations.

But in a free country you have to deal with being made fun of.
There is a big difference between "being made fun of" and the fact that, for instance, the rates for drug and alcohol abuse, as well as the suicide rate, are much higher among LGBTQ teenagers, and the fact that the global life expectancy of a trans* man or woman is just twenty-three years old.

Also, in a later post you said “But they must realize that if there is a God, and sex before marriage, or acting upon homosexuality is a sin, then they will have to deal with the consequences.”
What do you define as acting upon homosexuality? Just curious, is all. Like, I have some friends who believe that homosexual relationships are only sinful if there’s sex involved, and they have no problem with same-sex relationships that are purely romantic.

[Jayda]

T e s n i wrote: "Jayda wrote: "Lav [and I still count the minutes] wrote: "I'm not sure if this has already been discussed but I'm wondering what everyone's thoughts on the Westboro Baptist Church are. (The church ..."

I addressed most of the things you said in post 1582 if you haven't read that one already.

[Isaac]

*sigh* The matter of the fact is, God said that homosexuality is wrong. You do not have romantic relationships with the same sex. Don't keep asking why. That's just how Christianity goes.

[Brigid ✩, No tears in the writer, no tears in the reader.]

Emily [Phasers set on stun.] wrote: "*sigh* The matter of the fact is, God said that homosexuality is wrong. You do not have romantic relationships with the same sex. Don't keep asking why. That's just how Christianity goes."

And maybe there is no God, so it doesn't matter. I know to you, that belief may not be possible. But to other people, that might not be the case ... so I'm just saying, that's not a very strong argument.

[Elliott]

The whole POINT of America was the separation of church and state.

[Jayda]

Actually, I've studied documents and journals from the Founding Fathers and their reasoning for separation of church and state was to keep the government out of the churches - not to keep the churches out of the government.

[Elliott]

That makes absolutely no sense to me. If the church is in the government... then the government would be in the church as well.

[Jayda]

What they meant by the government staying out of the churches was that they don't control who goes to church where, there isn't an "official" church, they don't control what the churches do/practice (except of course for illegal things) etc. The Founding Fathers were God-fearing men and they said that this country couldn't be well-run without the same morals that religion had, and without a God-fearing government.

[Baxter, butts butts butts]

Holden wrote: "(This leads into one of my pet peeves, if people want to debate it: should the US motto be "In God We Trust", and should the Pledge of Allegience mention that we are "One nation under God"? I think it's ridiculous, a blalant disregard for previous centuries of Supreme Court cases and a slap in the face to the irrelgious people of the United States.)
"

Centuries is a big word for that, I think. Separation of church and state wasn't something the supreme court really dealt with or anybody even cared about until like, the 1930s or so.

[Jayda]

Aleph wrote: "Sorry- but not questoning things god says seems a little naiive to me. Believing what your told- just because the person telling you is your creator? You wouldn't advise a child to believe and list..."

Well, considering if there is a God that He is a perfect being, and lying is a sin, then He would be all-honest. He can't bend and break His own rules. He would then cease to be God if He did that.

[Elliott]

Jayda wrote: "Aleph wrote: "Sorry- but not questoning things god says seems a little naiive to me. Believing what your told- just because the person telling you is your creator? You wouldn't advise a child to be..."

I think that doubting what God says (if you're a Christian and believe in him, obviously) is a perfectly normal part of being a Christian, especially a Christian teenager.

I have SO many doubts. It's crazy. I don't even know where I'm going right now with religion.

But at the end of the day it's just left up to faith, I guess. If you have faith that he is right, then you'll follow his laws no matter what. Because you love him and he loves you.

(This is all assuming you're a Christian, so obviously this doesn't apply to people who aren't.)

[Brigid ✩, No tears in the writer, no tears in the reader.]

Aleph wrote: "You know there is a whole group for debating? Some of you should join it. I recognise some of you from there already, but if you haven't already joined/heard of it it's called 'debate of all sorts'."

Oh yeah. I need to check that group again. I had to stop checking it for a while because um ... certain people in it were pissing me off. But, I should get back it at some point. >_<

[Brigid ✩, No tears in the writer, no tears in the reader.]

Jayda wrote: "What they meant by the government staying out of the churches was that they don't control who goes to church where, there isn't an "official" church, they don't control what the churches do/practic..."

The religion of the Founding Fathers is pretty irrelevant to how the government should be run. It would be hypocritical to give everyone freedom of religion and then make the government completely ruled by Christianity. The fact that the country was formed based upon Christian morals is not necessarily a bad thing––because yes, there are good morals that come from Christianity. But that doesn't mean that everything from the Bible has to be forced upon the country.

[Jayda]

Lav [lately I've been feeling] wrote: "Jayda wrote: "Aleph wrote: "Sorry- but not questoning things god says seems a little naiive to me. Believing what your told- just because the person telling you is your creator? You wouldn't advise..."

Ooh yeah, trust me, I know haha. At one point I was basically an atheist going through the motions of a Christian because I didn't have faith and I didn't know. So I went around and studied and visited a lot of different religions and made my decision. That's including non-Christian religions, too.

I'm at the point in my life where I sometimes have doubts, as is normal, but I'm still doing what I know God would want me to do - praying, reading my scriptures, fasting, going to Church, living the teachings of Christ, etc - and soon enough those doubts go away. All I know is that I'd rather live a good life in the ways of Christ and die and there be no God, then to live otherwise and find that there is a God. And I think my lifestyle is nothing to be frowned upon.

[Elliott]

*nods* That's good. <3

[Jayda]

Brigid *Flying Kick-a-pow!* wrote: "Jayda wrote: "What they meant by the government staying out of the churches was that they don't control who goes to church where, there isn't an "official" church, they don't control what the churc..."

I'll come up with a response to this tomorrow when I'm not on skype haha

[Shreya=Drastically Random. Find the emoticon.]

Lav [lately I've been feeling] wrote: "Jayda wrote: "Aleph wrote: "Sorry- but not questoning things god says seems a little naiive to me. Believing what your told- just because the person telling you is your creator? You wouldn't advise..."

It could apply to non-Christians. Some of the most important parts of the foundation of other religions have come from questioning God.

[Brigid ✩, No tears in the writer, no tears in the reader.]

Jayda wrote: "Brigid *Flying Kick-a-pow!* wrote: "Jayda wrote: "What they meant by the government staying out of the churches was that they don't control who goes to church where, there isn't an "official" churc..."

Haha, okay. :)

[Annemarie, hi]

Here's a topic, what do y'all think of the republican candidates?

[Jayda]

I hate Republicans. And I hate Democrats. Sooooo... I don't know :(

My favorite was Bachmann but she's gone. Now it's Santorum, I think. I disagree with his stance on abortion entirely and ahhh! I'm too libertarian to fully agree with any of these candidates.

I have a hard time with candidates :( I don't really like any of them, because both parties are awful and corrupt.

[Jayda]

Brigid *Flying Kick-a-pow!* wrote: "Jayda wrote: "Brigid *Flying Kick-a-pow!* wrote: "Jayda wrote: "What they meant by the government staying out of the churches was that they don't control who goes to church where, there isn't an "o..."

I swear. I'll get back to you :P I've been way busy and I'm about to hang with my dad. So either really soon, or sometime next week. But I promise I will :)

[Baxter, butts butts butts]

Jayda wrote: "I hate Republicans. And I hate Democrats. Sooooo... I don't know :(

My favorite was Bachmann but she's gone. Now it's Santorum, I think. I disagree with his stance on abortion entirely and ahhh! I..."

Join the glorious third party rebellion. Your life improves drastically when you do.

[Elliott]

I don't know enough about any of the candidates to have a real opinion. (Except for Rick Perry because he's all over tumblr and he seems like a real jerk.)

[Brigid ✩, No tears in the writer, no tears in the reader.]

Annie (Juliet) wrote: "Here's a topic, what do y'all think of the republican candidates?"

They all piss me off, pretty much. That is, I have heard them all say things that infuriated me. So, yeah. Probably Rick Perry and Michele Bachmann are/were the worst... or at least, I heard the most bad things come out of their mouths. Probably Ron Paul will be the one running. Or maybe Mitt Romney. And well, yeah. I really don't care, since I disagree with Republicans on big issues, so. It doesn't make much of a difference to me. I'll be voting to re-elect Obama. (Oh gosh, I actually get to vote. 'Tis so exciting.)

[Elliott]

I think I like Mitt Romney the best. From what I've heard my parents say.

I don't agree with a lot of the things Obama has done (based on the limited information I know about polotics)... but he did bring the troops back which I like a lot.

If I could vote... I wouldn't. xD I'm too ignorant.

[Brigid ✩, No tears in the writer, no tears in the reader.]

Lav [lately I've been feeling] wrote: "I think I like Mitt Romney the best. From what I've heard my parents say.

I don't agree with a lot of the things Obama has done (based on the limited information I know about polotics)... but he ..."

Well, I agree with what he's done so far. I think he could do a lot more if he was elected again... at least, that's what I'm hoping. I get kind of annoyed with people who won't give him a chance just because he didn't magically fix the country. That is, not just people who disagree with him, but the people who agree with him but are angry because he hasn't changed everything instantly. It's like, the country was pretty screwed over when he was elected, and he's doing his best. It can't all be fixed that easily...

But anyway. I for one am happy about the changes made to health care. Like, now I can stay on my family's health plan for a few more years, and that will be tremendously helpful. Also, obviously, I'm very glad the war is over and that the troops are coming home. I think everyone can agree about that one.

Err yeah. I mean, I'm no expert on politics but I think I know enough to feel comfortable about casting my vote. :]

[Elliott]

*nods* That's good.

HAVE FUN VOTING! :D

[Brigid ✩, No tears in the writer, no tears in the reader.]

THANKS! Although, it will not be for quite a while...

[Elliott]

Yeah, that's true. But when you do. xD

[Brigid ✩, No tears in the writer, no tears in the reader.]

Haha, well thank you. ;)

[Elliott]

Kansas is a mostly Republican state so when we did mock elections at my school, like... 2 people voted for Obama. It was very awkward. I voted for my teacher, Mr. Vollmer. :3

[Brigid ✩, No tears in the writer, no tears in the reader.]

Haha, we used to do those at my high school. And it was the same thing (only the opposite situation) because the school was like 99.99999% Democrats. So like, they'd announce who won the mock election and it'd be like, "Woo. What a surprise." XD

[Elliott]

That's really funny. xD

[Brigid ✩, No tears in the writer, no tears in the reader.]

Yuuup. :P

That reminds me of a funny story. So, my sophomore Spanish teacher was a hardcore Republican. And he worshipped Ronald Reagan. It was kind of creepy. But he was a cool guy anyway. SOOOO yeah. Before the election happened we all got into some political debate with where it was all of us against him (which happened kind of a lot...) and he was like, "There's probably some closet Republican in this class who just isn't saying anything because they feel intimidated! Now, I want you all to write down on a scrap of paper who you would vote for if you could vote in this election." So then we all did, and they all said Obama except for one. And he was like, "SEE?! Someone in this class is a Republican and they're just too scared to say so!" Buuut then later some kid admitted he only put it in as a joke. So yeah. THE END. XD

[Elliott]

POOR GUY! He just wanted someone to agree with him and then that kid got his hopes all up and... *empathetic sniffle* ... he just got them crushed. xD

[Brigid ✩, No tears in the writer, no tears in the reader.]

Lav [lately I've been feeling] wrote: "POOR GUY! He just wanted someone to agree with him and then that kid got his hopes all up and... *empathetic sniffle* ... he just got them crushed. xD"

Hahaha he was okay with it. I mean, he was used to us all disagreeing with him. :P

[Elliott]

Ah, yeah, that makes sense. A couple of my teachers hates to be disagreed with and it's very frustrating for me because I argue a looot.

[Baxter, butts butts butts]

Me, I'm leaning right now towards voting for Peta Lindsay. I like her style. And the PSL is pretty neat so, it all works out.

[Isaac]

Brigid *Flying Kick-a-pow!* wrote: "Yuuup. :P

That reminds me of a funny story. So, my sophomore Spanish teacher was a hardcore Republican. And he worshipped Ronald Reagan. It was kind of creepy. But he was a cool guy anyway. SOOOO ..."

*random thought time*

Mm'kay, so my family and I are Republicans. And my dad has done a pretty good job passing down the conservative veiws to me.

So anyways, we were having a debate in my history class last year over whether or not it would be okay to give every dollar available to one church that burned down to rebuild it, etc. Or something like that. I don't really remember. It was basically just giving money to anybody who asked without taking out loans and stuff.

Anways, I was against it. Only a few people were on my side. Unfortunately, I could only debate once, and since I was the only person who was absolutely, positively, 100% certain on my thoughts, I couldn't debate again when another stupid answer from the other side came. And all the people on my side were basically asking me what to say but never got it right.

So in the end, our teacher told us which side was what political government. When he told us that my side was the Republican side, you should've seen those kids run from the Democrat side. Only one person stayed, and the only reason she did was because that's what she believed, unlike the other stupid kids who just did it because their parents were Republican.



I don't know why I shared that. I just wanted too. I guess it was because I thought it was funny how I was probably the only person who acutally the the Republican beliefs. XP

[Acacia]

Holden, where did you live in Massachusetts?

I don't know who I agree with most out of the Republican candidates. I pretty much agree with what Holden said, except I'm not able to vote. :P