So in other words Castro created a fully functionaly government which is currently minding it's own business and doesn't need America's help? Must be a ploy! They're probably harboring terrorists in real life! I think a pre-emptive strike is in order! Don't you?

Gary O

I would tend to agree... Chevez seems popular in Venezuala but Bush ain't helping our position much! They're both out to fucking make America look bad! I stand for everything America does (in more ways than one) and I find it sad that America's image is effectively being destroyed by the conservative right and people like Bush who make our enemies look right! It's a fucking shame! See ya on the other side! I mean.. in the kitchen!  

Gary O

 Are you kidding?! It is the American Christian Right that is the last great hope for a moral rule of law on planet earth. It will be the Christian Right that will be the 21st century Tours and Gates of Vienna against Mohammedan global rule and the maintenance of Liberty and Freedom.

 

Homosexuality and Left Wingers will drag the world into dhimmitude or death.

wow...  and i always thought pollution/our blind consumption of the Earth's resources would do that...  thanks for being the voice of reason

why do you see chavez as definitively anti-american, as opposed to simply PRO-VENEZUELAN??  who was it, btw, that bailed out boston's poor suburbs last year by selling them oil at half the price the states was offering it to them?  what is a stockpile for if not for times like that?  you are dependent upon perceived enemies to bring a sense of purpose into your life...  the crusades are over, my friend...  and they were as stupid and sadistic then as they are now...  america the great doesn't need enemies-- it needs friends!  when you call anyone/thing your enemy, you will not be open to learning from them/it...  friends aspire to understand each other...  chavez reads chomsky, do you think bush would ever in his life pick up a book by jose marti, or castro (yes, he's actuallly an excellent writer), or guevara?  hell no!  and what does that tell you about him?  he's got better things to do?  like what?  what is better than making friends/creating peace?  murder?  come on buddy, get your head out of the toilet...

hopefully you won't come to regret the fact that we're now buddies in the blogosphere...  variety is the spice of life...  peace, human   

that depends upon which news you watch (i'm afraid to ask you what you watch because i'm afraid i know the answer...)...  i thought chavez has been consistently relieving CORPORATIONS of rights they never deserved in the first place, not his people...  he did just get re-elected in an election as democratic as any in our hemisphere...  and maybe chavez is more concerned about the environment that is the true life-blood of his people, than an "economy" whose control is largely in the hands of wholly selfish wall street scrooges anyhow...  can all the money in the world buy back inimitable, invaluable ecosystems and species and "resources"?  hell no.  so what's more important?  the environment or the "economy"?  i didn't think you were a money-worshipping capitalist, but you have proven to be full of surprises, in spite of your archaic ideology...   

dude, what country did you grow up in?  no double-standards please

that's because you watch fox news, which bolsters any blind pride and patriotism that might be ebbing, which erases any conscientious objections a one such as yourself might have (by predicting them and countering them with petty pacifiers)...  there is no more obvious example of "instant gratification" than war/revenge.  think about it.

we're all romans

courage, fortitude, and DISCIPLINE...  those were the three official state virtues of rome...  how are we any different?  discipline is prized above virtue and decency, trust me (it's prized above trust too)...  discipline is the western world's number one-- the one thing that leaders would most like to pound into the minds and habits of the people...  but what kind of discipline is it?  it's that "follow the leader" type...  so, basically, what our leaders (via the education system and the economy) teach us is "obey our commands or face our wrath"...  "you're either with us, or you're with the terrorists"...  "you're either with jc, or you're with the devil"...  where is their room for improvement in such an ideology?

I agree with the "school" thing you mentioned. It is one of my pet peeves that Western Schools tend to teach moral relativity and secular humanism disdaining a Christian view point for a misinterpretation of the First Amendment (in America). I am guessing in other Western nations Freedom to practice Religion is Constitutional but if that practice offends the view points of others, then the practice is squelched in favor of the Secular Humanistic Collective.

 

When it comes to Christianity, I make a huge effort at seeing things in black or white. However I am a human living in temporal world subject to change until Christ comes. Thus I am subject to the effects of gray areas until the Full Redemption of the Parousia places me in the purity of the black or white view point.

 

I know you hate that but I am just expressing my view point. This is a view point incidently that I believe transcends the logic of human thinking and reaches for the Wisdom of God.

great, now you've gotten me arguing in favour of an aspect of our schools...  don't you think that a christian/muslim/whatever would stand to benefit from learning an alternative version of reality than what is taught in their religious writings?  wouldn't such a thing (asking questions) serve to solidify the faith of a believer (and weed out the half-assed believers)?  i guess either way it would force religion into playing a definitively divisive role in our societies (a role it has ALWAYS played)...  maybe kids should learn about all major religions in school (i am a strong believer, btw, in the notion that no children should be allowed to enter into any religion until they are young adults, and to some extent able to make their own decisions...  i realize, of course, that no religion holds its followers hostage, and that they're free to leave at any time (don't bother trashing islaam in this regard, btw, i've heard it), but come on, when something, ANYthing, is rammed down your throat from the instant you become able to process information, it is pretty bloody hard-- near impossible-- to free yourself from such "beliefs"...  sure, sure, you'll say that if a child dies before they can be baptized/indoctrinated, the "merciful" "wise" god you and yours worship would swiftly send them to hell to be tortured for eternity, and you couldn't take that chance with any child that you love, but come on-- is a god who would do such a thing worthy of worship?)...  anyhow, i feel pretty strongly that all religion should be banned from being taught in public elementary schools...  some science and philosophy never hurt anyone, but the education system's interpretation of the great unknowns and unseens should end there...  i have no fear in the god i believe in btw, and i'm pretty sure that it doesn't fear me in the least, and certainly not enough to ban me from its kingdom/dimensions, or anyone else for that matter...  and i certainly wouldn't fear jc come the "full redemption of the parousia" and whatnot, though i have cursed his name, mocked "his" church (i still maintain that if he ever returned he'd convert to buddhism and politely ask the pope to change the name of his namesake religion), and wished non-existence upon him many times over (just as i do with bush and co. (maybe bush thinks he's christ incarnate, btw...))...  now you disagree, and round and round we go...  cheers    

An old Roman Catholic maxim is, "Give us your children when they are young and they will Catholic when they are old."

 

It is a truism. Only an unbeliever would consider it "ramming down the throat." A Believer thinks of it as "Train up a child in the way he should go, And when he is old he will not depart from it." (Prov. 22:6 NKJV)

 

There is no more anything wrong with that then shoveling a (high) dose of secular humanism, indeed I would wager Western culture would be more peaceful for Christian teaching as opposed to Secular Humanistic relativity.

 

If you don't want to hear about the Mohammedan intolerance about freedom of religion, you should not have mentioned it.

 

In a Mohammedan culture there would be thought police. There would be NO philosophy or Science to make reasoned or choices of faith. This is why Mohammedan culture is still stuck in midieval in the Middle East.

dude, there is no gospel or constitution of "secular humanism" and there is no "secular humanist" agenda...  we lefties do not share some undivulged telepathic link, and we definitely don't share the same opinions...  i do not need to categorize myself or become a member of some imaginary tribe/cult/organization to give my life a sense of purpose...  and i guarantee you that most people who you would label as secular humanists (for your mental convenience and for no other reason, btw) would have no idea what the term means...  they would probably simply call themselves nice, or open-minded, or considerate, or humble, or realistic/pragmatic...  remember that categorizing people is of no benefit to anyone, yourself included...  it just leads you into pointless/useless assumptions that don't tell you anything about any INDIVIDUAL on earth...  if you do not see yourself as an individual, that's fine, i guess, but don't assume that everyone else has sold their soul to some arbitrary ideology that seemingly negates the individual mind in exchange for a collective one... (in a part of the response i wrote to you that was lost, i compared your outlook to that of a borg from star trek...  i felt and still feel that it's a partially apt comparison...  no offense though, you are free to think freely at any time you wish, and i respect that...)

"Secular Humanistic relativity"...  what is this?  is it synonymous with "science", or "reality" (or at least the pursuit thereof)?

the christian church is as much of a thought police-force as any other religion ("no they're not"  "yes they are" ad infinitum...)...  and the reason many middle easterners still live as people did in medieval times is because the west won't let them develop as the west did...  whatever they build up is bombed into dust in the name of god and freedom...  it is so barbaric, but you get charmed by the glitter and glamour of it all (war and religion i suppose)...  the thing about delusions is that they never feel like delusions...

Come on lebedev! You cannot think that the erosian of values is the result of random evolution. Wake up dude!

 

You because you are plugged into the agenda with agreement does not mean none exists.

 

The many agendas, I am part of the Christian Right agenda. It is not perfect, however it is WAY better than Secular Humanism.

 

The Christian thought police do not utilize violence to impose, rather the Christian thought police offer a choice in this plain of existence so that one can be one with God or roasting weanies in the next level.

 

Secular Humanist thought police will throw you in jail and fabricate a "hate crime" to eliminate free speech or freedom of religion.

"erosion of values"...  what are you talking about?  just because you don't read about prostitution and drug abuse and racism in your jane austen novels doesn't mean that the past was any more civilized than the present...  you romanticize the past because you associate with people you assume you would respect...  would you like to hearken back to the good old days of segregation or even slavery?  those were the days, blah blah blah...  blah blah blah

you are simply too afraid to stand alone...  i am afraid of many things, but standing alone with my principles is not one of them...  if others choose to stand with me, well, good for them, but i will not compromise any principle i've got in the name of brotherhood/a fear of loneliness...  be a man

Lebedev are you so caught up in your self-interest that you and the ilk of the Slanted Left are all against me as one little voice?

 

So that is so far from the truth! Christianity has accomplished a majority of States in America as defining marriage as a union between a male and female even as Left Courts wing courts have tried to with stand the move of Christian morality.

 

AND this happened right in the face of slanted Left Democrats re-took both Houses of Congress. BTW - most of the Democrats that are freshman came in as moderates reaching for traditional values, not the atheism of the Left.

 

Stand alone! NOT.

Good point that there was evil in the world before now, problem is that the evil now is eroding moral restraints that was common among the past, viz. respect. Secular Humanism has made it possible for violence in schools that was unprecedented in even the days of segregation. There were drugs and pornagraphy in the past, but not even close to todays levels of exploitation.

 

So let us get real when you compare today to the evils of yesteryear. It is much more heinous today.

BOO!

Can not bring yourself to an "Amen?"

LOL