https://www.newsweek.com/2018/12/21/evangelicals-republicans-trump-millenials-1255745.html (https://www.newsweek.com/2018/12/21/evangelicals-republicans-trump-millenials-1255745.html)
QuoteSince the 1970s, white evangelicals have formed the backbone of the Republican base. But as younger members reject the vitriolic partisanship of the Trump era and leave the church, that base is getting smaller and older. The numbers are stark: Twenty years ago, just 46 percent of white evangelical Protestants were older than 50; now, 62 percent are above 50. The median age of white evangelicals is 55. Only 10 percent of Americans under 30 identify as white evangelicals. The exodus of youth is so swift that demographers now predict that evangelicals will likely cease being a major political force in presidential elections by 2024.
The sooner we toss that ancient piece of shit in the trash and start facing modern realities the better off we'll be. We just have to hope it won't be too late.
Quote from: Minimalist on December 14, 2018, 12:04:31 PM
https://www.newsweek.com/2018/12/21/evangelicals-republicans-trump-millenials-1255745.html (https://www.newsweek.com/2018/12/21/evangelicals-republicans-trump-millenials-1255745.html)
The sooner we toss that ancient piece of shit in the trash and start facing modern realities the better off we'll be. We just have to hope it won't be too late.
So are you Vulcan or Cardasian?
I am an ATHEIST. I will have no gods before me!
BWAHAHA!
I'm hoping that the internet will help to educate people, though I know that can be a two-way street. Just as much BS can be found on the net as real facts, but maybe the facts will eventually win out. I expect that the evangelicals won't go away without putting up a fight. If they can make it so the laws are all on their side they may be able to turn America into a theocracy. I know that's what they'd love to see, and there are still too many very influential Christians who will try to make it so.
Quote from: Unbeliever on December 14, 2018, 01:13:35 PM
I'm hoping that the internet will help to educate people, though I know that can be a two-way street. Just as much BS can be found on the net as real facts, but maybe the facts will eventually win out. I expect that the evangelicals won't go away without putting up a fight. If they can make it so the laws are all on their side they may be able to turn America into a theocracy. I know that's what they'd love to see, and there are still too many very influential Christians who will try to make it so.
Evangelicals ... around for 2000 years now, not counting the Buddhists. I wouldn't hold my breath for your progress. People don't wise up, until it is too late, when they are at the Last Judgement (of Osiris).
Quote from: Minimalist on December 14, 2018, 12:04:31 PM
https://www.newsweek.com/2018/12/21/evangelicals-republicans-trump-millenials-1255745.html (https://www.newsweek.com/2018/12/21/evangelicals-republicans-trump-millenials-1255745.html)
The sooner we toss that ancient piece of shit in the trash and start facing modern realities the better off we'll be. We just have to hope it won't be too late.
Sometimes the only solution to difficult politics is just to let the old idiots die off.
And quite frankly, one of MY goals is to not be one of those old idiots...
Quote from: Cavebear on December 21, 2018, 09:15:56 AM
Sometimes the only solution to difficult politics is just to let the old idiots die off.
And quite frankly, one of MY goals is to not be one of those old idiots...
So that is why the D-Congress is going to chose the oldest reps to lead?
Quote from: Baruch on December 21, 2018, 12:36:46 PM
So that is why the D-Congress is going to chose the oldest reps to lead?
Ageist! The correct term for a Democratic leader of "some years" is "experienced".
Quote from: Cavebear on December 21, 2018, 02:23:16 PM
Ageist! The correct term for a Democratic leader of "some years" is "experienced".
Best American political leaders are like McCain ... so old they are dead. Sorry you loved him. Did he reciprocate?
Quote from: Baruch on December 21, 2018, 07:13:10 PM
Best American political leaders are like McCain ... so old they are dead. Sorry you loved him. Did he reciprocate?
My views on McCain are complicated. I didn't admire him BECAUSE he was a POW of great personal integrity. There were others like him who we don't remember (sadly). I admired him because of who he became. I didn't usually agree with his political views, but I knew he wasn't saying things just to get votes or support in Congress.
He was that rare person who comes around in a generation and who defines honesty, honor, and service to nation. He drove me crazy sometimes, but I always respected him.
Who will be the next "John McCain"?
John Glenn was the pre-McCain. I can admire him, if not agree with him. McCain tended to be a ... all thumbs kind of guy.
I don't know if this is of much interest, I haven't been able to finish reading it yet. I already see things I don't agree with, like atheists having a faith position, a religion. I'm curious to see what y'all think of it.
America’s New Religions (http://nymag.com/intelligencer/2018/12/andrew-sullivan-americas-new-religions.html)
Quote from: Baruch on December 14, 2018, 12:31:05 PM
So are you Vulcan or Cardasian?
Ok, call me strange, and I will probably regret this, but what do either the Vulcan's or the Cardassians have to do with this?
McCain was a warmonger. He never saw an international issue that he didn't think we should drop bombs on.
Quote from: Unbeliever on December 26, 2018, 05:34:19 PM
I don't know if this is of much interest, I haven't been able to finish reading it yet. I already see things I don't agree with, like atheists having a faith position, a religion. I'm curious to see what y'all think of it.
America’s New Religions (http://nymag.com/intelligencer/2018/12/andrew-sullivan-americas-new-religions.html)
Confabulating theology with ideology. Both are different flavors of crazy, even if ideology isn't a religion or vice versa.
Also the article is nostalgia for an world that never existed ... like all nostalgia, is it crap. The Britain/US was crap 50 years ago, and still is.
And BTW, on the terms used in the article, the New Religion was going strong on college campuses 50 years ago. Nothing new about it.
Quote from: _Xenu_ on December 26, 2018, 05:56:52 PM
Ok, call me strange, and I will probably regret this, but what do either the Vulcan's or the Cardassians have to do with this?
That is the point of the OP? A subculture of humanity doesn't like X.
Vulcan - logic is everything, emotions are verboten
Cardassians - accounting is everything, if it isn't a number, it doesn't count
So yes, if you are a hammer, then everything is a nail. People adopt some extreme corner of personality spectrum (this is what psychopathy is) and make it their go-to. Completely unbalanced ... partisan even.
Quote from: Minimalist on December 26, 2018, 06:49:45 PM
McCain was a warmonger. He never saw an international issue that he didn't think we should drop bombs on.
I think you might be confusing his national security and defense concerns with aggressive war. McCain once said "War is wretched beyond description, and only a fool or a fraud could sentimentalize its cruel reality". That doesn't sound like someone who thought bombs were the best solution to all conflicts.
Quote from: Cavebear on December 29, 2018, 12:57:04 AM
I think you might be confusing his national security and defense concerns with aggressive war. McCain once said "War is wretched beyond description, and only a fool or a fraud could sentimentalize its cruel reality". That doesn't sound like someone who thought bombs were the best solution to all conflicts.
America has been a screaming aggressor from the beginning (depending on which part of the world conquest front we put into play).
Quote from: Baruch on December 29, 2018, 01:00:15 AM
America has been a screaming aggressor from the beginning (depending on which part of the world conquest front we put into play).
Right. Fought to be a freed British colony, fought a 2nd war to STAY free. Stayed out of European warfare for a fully century, helped the Brits and French in 1918 when there was no real threat to us, and the same in WWII in Europe.
And let's consider WWII. We were attacked by the Japanese. And if that had been our only concern, we woud have crushed them in just a couple years.
But Britain and France called for help. We helped. We divided our strength across 2 oceans. That made it harder to fight the Japanese, but we helped in Europe.
We broke the German codes; we provided soldiers, research and equipment, etc. We did everything an ally could ask. And we were't in any real danger ourselves from Germany. We did it because it seemed "right".
So you want to criticize us, Baruch? Screw you... Sit in the world of self-hate you live in, despising everything around you, even those who try to help. Stew in your own juices...
Quote from: Unbeliever on December 26, 2018, 05:34:19 PM
I don't know if this is of much interest, I haven't been able to finish reading it yet. I already see things I don't agree with, like atheists having a faith position, a religion. I'm curious to see what y'all think of it.
America’s New Religions (http://nymag.com/intelligencer/2018/12/andrew-sullivan-americas-new-religions.html)
If religion is just a search for meaning then I understand his point but religion is more than that. I agree with Baruch that Andrew Sullivan uses nostalgia as a touchstone and nostalgia is an illusion. Sullivan is constantly trying to make sense of life, he looks to Christianity for answers and he loves politics so it makes sense he tries to bring all these things together. I empathize with Sullivan, I can agree with some of his points but I don't find this analysis very useful.
Quote from: GSOgymrat on December 29, 2018, 02:13:22 AM
If religion is just a search for meaning then I understand his point but religion is more than that. I agree with Baruch that Andrew Sullivan uses nostalgia as a touchstone and nostalgia is an illusion. Sullivan is constantly trying to make sense of life, he looks to Christianity for answers and he loves politics so it makes sense he tries to bring all these things together. I empathize with Sullivan, I can agree with some of his points but I don't find this analysis very useful.
OK, a quick summary. You can be Nazi and atheist. You can be Communist and atheist. You can be Capitalist and atheist. You can be a NRA nut and theist. You can ve a birth-control or opponent and be atheist.
This stuff of assuming that we atheists are "anything in particular" is just a bunch of nonsense and I'm tired of it. I'm an atheist and I happen to be pretty much slightly left of democracy-center with a view toward future tendencies for general social education, general social support for health care, and protecting people in their old age.
But that's not what makes me an atheist. I could the be total opposite of all that and still be an atheist. I'm an atheist because the concept of a deity running the universe just doesn't make any sense to me and I really don't care what anyone else says about that!
I'm an atheist because the concept of a deity is stupid. OK?
Now can we just get on with discussions about the real world?
Quote from: Cavebear on December 29, 2018, 01:36:25 AM
Right. Fought to be a freed British colony, fought a 2nd war to STAY free. Stayed out of European warfare for a fully century, helped the Brits and French in 1918 when there was no real threat to us, and the same in WWII in Europe.
And let's consider WWII. We were attacked by the Japanese. And if that had been our only concern, we woud have crushed them in just a couple years.
But Britain and France called for help. We helped. We divided our strength across 2 oceans. That made it harder to fight the Japanese, but we helped in Europe.
We broke the German codes; we provided soldiers, research and equipment, etc. We did everything an ally could ask. And we were't in any real danger ourselves from Germany. We did it because it seemed "right".
So you want to criticize us, Baruch? Screw you... Sit in the world of self-hate you live in, despising everything around you, even those who try to help. Stew in your own juices...
0. kill British (twice) = we won't share with them or let them boss us around
1. kill Native Americans = we want their shit
2. kill Mexicans = we want their shit
3. kill each other (takes two aggressors) = can't have two serial killers in the same house, unless one is boss over the other
4. kill Spaniards = we want their shit
5. kill Filipinos = we don't want them to be free, just slaves
6. kill Cubans = we don't want them to be free, just slaves
7. kill Latin Americans = we don't want them to be free, just slaves
8. kill Germans = came in at the 9th inning, gave a good drunk punch, and took all the credit
9. kill a lot more people over the last 100 years = more of the same
American pacifism at its fines ;-). I don't disapprove, I just can't help but laugh at people's jingo delusions. I might as well claim that on the basis of my sex and skin color and citizenship ... that I can do no wrong. Shiranu is the monk wanna-be, a puritan, who wants pacifism enforced by what? Not my POV.
This has nothing to do with particular BS rationalizations, at the time, or after the fact, of how US = good guys. I approve of violence. This one is for you:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CCA6uxQE-bw
General Patton was good at BS (he was in charge of Army training). He even thought he could BS Eisenhower. A successful general has to control narrative ... among other things. Speaking of BS, in this reconstructed scene from multiple quotes on multiple occasions, on this occasion he had 3 stars, not 4. This movie was put out to justify the Vietnam War, just like Green Berets with John Wayne.
But you have to be smart if you get into a fight, you have to know in advance that you have good odds of winning, and then carry that out to the end. That stopped with the Vietnam War, our first war of choice ... and as it continues in Syria (unless we can support Trump to pull out).
http://www.airforcemag.com/Features/Pages/2018/February%202018/US-Strikes-Syrian-Pro-Regime-After-Attack-on-US-Forces-Allied-Fighters.aspx
The target was the Russian equivalent of Blackwater ... we killed 200 of Putin's buddies. This was in retaliation for the US and British special forces slaughtered by the Syrians not long before, when they were caught in a collapsing terrorist support situation.
Quote from: Minimalist on December 14, 2018, 12:04:31 PM
https://www.newsweek.com/2018/12/21/evangelicals-republicans-trump-millenials-1255745.html (https://www.newsweek.com/2018/12/21/evangelicals-republicans-trump-millenials-1255745.html)
The sooner we toss that ancient piece of shit in the trash and start facing modern realities the better off we'll be. We just have to hope it won't be too late.
One can only hope those crazies will start to die off soon. And as I seem to be one of them demographically, and know those idiots (but not ideologically among them), the faster the better...
Another example of effective military BS ...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m4O3RKOVFMQ
Here's what I think of evangelicals:
Fuck the fuckers!
Always fucking up shit -
me, myself and I.