Dear ATSers,
Welcome back to the long interrupted "Impossible Thread" Series. This is an impossible thread because I hope everyone agrees with everything I say
here. (I'd put in a smiley, but, well, I don't need to talk about our smileys.)
Before we can even start a conversation, somethings have to be understood and accepted. Some basic things that make conversation possible. What I
want to do is put down some of the things I think are essential to a reasonable conversation. Some of the things are essential to any conversation,
some are essential to a conversation in a specific area. I suppose it's theoretically possible for someone to disagree with some of them, but it
will be like pulling a wheel-less wagon uphill to convince me.
Everybody here is a person, and a person is the most valuable and important thing on Earth. Only individuals are eternal. Countries, philosophies,
cultures, the earth itself, will eventually cease to exist. There is nothing more important, so treat everyone with the respect, dignity, and honor
due to an eternal being. Sometimes we'll fail. Emotions, ideologies, our own personal faults will get in the way. But if you are not working
towards seeing every single human as someone to be loved, you're basic attitude towards existence itself is all wrong, and even your communication
will be contaminated.
This is the Presidential Oath of Office:
I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my Ability,
preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.
Measured by this, our current President is one of the three worst presidents
in history. If you don't agree, your distorted view of political ideology in this country makes you a worthless guide through this subject
matter.
Everything that has gone wrong in the world in the last 70 years is not the fault of the Bilderbergers, The CIA, Corporations, Israel, Zionists,
Bankers, the Federal Reserve, or Aliens. And if you believe that all of them are to blame, working together, you'll need a complete reevaluation of
your thought processes.
If you tax something, you will get less of it, whether it's smoking, drinking, working, or saving.
I'd rather entrust the government of the United States to the first 400 people listed in the Boston telephone directory than to the faculty of
Harvard University.---William F. Buckley, Jr.
The State exists simply to promote and to protect the ordinary happiness of human beings in this life. A husband and wife chatting over a fire, a
couple of friends having a game of darts in a pub, a man reading a book in his own room or digging in his own garden — that is what the State is
there for. And unless they are helping to increase and prolong and protect such moments, all the laws, parliaments, armies, courts, police, economics,
etc., are simply a waste of time. ---C.S. Lewis
Thinking, I mean controlled, serious thinking in analysis, understanding and resolving one particular question is extraordinarily difficult. For many
people it is impossible, for all it is difficult. It is exceedingly rare to find some one who is capable of it for a continuous half hour. Be
tolerant.
If you believe there is scientific proof of the non-existence of God, please come back when you have a different subject to discuss.
Please, use the commonly accepted meanings for words. And try to speak clearly:
How do you know anything exists, existed, before mind? Is it your mind that tells you this? Or is it the illusion of a mindless universe that
leads you to think that way? - this too is a state of mind. An independent state of existence not based upon a defining mind is unknowable - without
an existent, logical and defining mind there is nothing - which is also a state of mind.
From Thomas Sowell:
What is ominous is the ease with which some people go from saying that they don't like something to saying that the government should forbid it.
When you go down that road, don't expect freedom to survive very long.
Socialism in general has a record of failure so blatant that only an
intellectual could ignore or evade it.
You will never understand bureaucracies until you understand that for bureaucrats procedure is
everything and outcomes are nothing.
If you are not prepared to use force to defend civilization, then be prepared to accept barbarism.
Tariffs that save jobs in the steel industry mean higher steel prices, which in turn means fewer sales of American steel products around the world
and losses of far more jobs than are saved.
If you have always believed that everyone should play by the same rules and be judged by the same
standards, that would have gotten you labeled a radical 60 years ago, a liberal 30 years ago and a racist today.
The next time some academics
tell you how important diversity is, ask how many Republicans there are in their sociology department.
In reviewing the people I admire, I notice that many of them are Black. Thomas Sowell, Walter Wiliams, Lionel Hampton, Dr. Ben Carson, Herman Cain,
Bill Cosby, Scott Joplin, W.C. Handy, Clarence Thomas, etc. I also notice that I didn't consider their color as I was learning to admire them. I
suspect many Americans see quality before they see color.
I am opposed to the idea of "African-Americans," "French-Canadians," "Mexican-Americans." Pick your country and stick to it. Until we think of
ourselves as "Americans,"
period, we're not sincere in our efforts to advance. ("Period" Copyright Barrack Obama.)
Something's wrong if this doesn't speak profoundly to you:
Correlation is not causation. You've heard it, but take the time to understand what it means. Spanked children may end up to be criminals more
often than un-spanked. That does not prove that spanking creates criminals. Children from families with a gay parent are more likely to grow up as
criminals, alcoholics, drug abusers, etc. That does not prove that a gay parent is the cause of the child's dysfunction. There are other factors in
play that were not studied, we don't know what they all are, and one of them or a combination might be the cause.
I will never forgive the homosexuals for destroying the word "gay" and the rainbow symbol. They used to be happy, appropriate things to be used at
certain times, now they've almost become "fighting words."
About fighting words. We know that there are words which, in the eyes of society, justify violent action on the part of Blacks, homosexuals, Muslims,
perhaps even women. Which words can be used against White males to earn societal approval of violence on their parts? Are White males expected to be
more able to control themselves than other groups? That's an insult to Blacks, Muslims, homosexuals, and women.
Anybody remember that the Hippocratic Oath, used since the 5th Century b.c., forbade doctors from aiding in an abortion? The new version is just 50
years old. Sudden new insight? Or political and social pressure?
With respect,
Charles1952