What's wrong with the world and America

[Mysteroo]

I enjoy your style; you're well thought-out and you can make a decent and well-reasoned point. If only there were more people like you and less of the people who just tell me "U r goin 2 hell 4 this".

Thanks, :)
Most of the time when I get into these conversations online there's a handful of people that just want to turn a friendly debate into a hostile argument and just start throwing insults at me, so it's nice to seem another person who wants to have a good conversation. lol

[Ad Bot]

[YourBuddyBill]

Thanks, :)
Most of the time when I get into these conversations online there's a handful of people that just want to turn a friendly debate into a hostile argument and just start throwing insults at me, so it's nice to seem another person who wants to have a good conversation. lol

Indeed, that's another problem, people who have nothing to back up their points often seem to just hurl insults instead.

What's wrong with the world, mama
People livin' like they ain't got no mamas
I think the whole world addicted to the drama
Only attracted to things that'll bring you trauma
-snip-

Well quoted.

[Nickelob Ultra]

the major problem in america is the completely useless political system we have here.  even as a representative democracy we're doing horrible because all we have is the really stuffty republican party and the equally really stuffty democratic party.  call me a stupid edgy kid for being so hipster and hating mainstream politics, but i still think it's unfair that we have only two parties representing all of america and they are the only ones who get any form of attention in the media.  speaking of the media, the fact that we have politically-biased media again further ruins any chance of outside parties receiving attention.

moving on from the media, the united states needs to maintain an absolute separation of church and state.  as a nation of immigrants, this is the best option as there are outlying religions in america that will not agree with any form of government action that is supported by, caused by or in favor of any religious sect.  feel free to practice your religion as defined in the constitution, but it cannot be in politics.

furthermore, there needs to be an absolute wall between corporations and government.  big corporations receive too much love from congress.  some of our members in congress are complete bum-licking morons too, which is why we see people like todd akin making comments like "women can just shut down pregnancies in legitimate rape" and people like lamar smith who just blindly push for loosely-worded bills that favor copyright-enforcing-happy corporations (note: the problem is not that i am in favor of piracy more so that the bill can allow for really stupid cases of "copyright", i.e. uploading a home video with music on it and getting it taken down).

[YourBuddyBill]

the major problem in america is the completely useless political system we have here.  even as a representative democracy we're doing horrible because all we have is the really stuffty republican party and the equally really stuffty democratic party.  call me a stupid edgy kid for being so hipster and hating mainstream politics, but i still think it's unfair that we have only two parties representing all of america and they are the only ones who get any form of attention in the media.  speaking of the media, the fact that we have politically-biased media again further ruins any chance of outside parties receiving attention.

moving on from the media, the united states needs to maintain an absolute separation of church and state.  as a nation of immigrants, this is the best option as there are outlying religions in america that will not agree with any form of government action that is supported by, caused by or in favor of any religious sect.  feel free to practice your religion as defined in the constitution, but it cannot be in politics.

furthermore, there needs to be an absolute wall between corporations and government.  big corporations receive too much love from congress.  some of our members in congress are complete bum-licking morons too, which is why we see people like todd akin making comments like "women can just shut down pregnancies in legitimate rape" and people like lamar smith who just blindly push for loosely-worded bills that favor copyright-enforcing-happy corporations (note: the problem is not that i am in favor of piracy more so that the bill can allow for really stupid cases of "copyright", i.e. uploading a home video with music on it and getting it taken down).

Agreed in that we need to remove the party system
Agreed
Agreed

[Axolotl2]

The fact that the government thinks atrazine is safe, but that atrazine actually reduces sperm count.

[Electrk]

All of the above except love

[Nickelob Ultra]

Agreed in that we need to remove the party system
Agreed
Agreed

for clarification, the fact that we have political parties isn't the problem, it's that we have just two gigantic super-inflated political parties that support extremely contrasting ideas, both sides of which are very detrimental to the country and possibly the world.

“A democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government. It can only exist until the voters discover that they can vote themselves largesse from the public treasury. From that moment on, the majority always votes for the candidates promising the most benefits from the public treasury with the result that a democracy always collapses over loose fiscal policy, always followed by a dictatorship. The average age of the world's greatest civilizations has been 200 years.”

- Alexis de Tocqueville, not really an important quote but just something to think about.

[Chrono]

oh hey an interesting post...

oh wait

Lord Tony: Didn't see this one coming, did you?

PFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFTTTTTTTTTHAHA HAHAHAHAHA



Wooow. No one actually believed he was one, and he's not the reason people don't like Bronies.

The rest of it was pretty nice though.

[Socrates]

Heads up, huge wall of text incoming.
3. Organized Religion:
You knew we were getting to it. I'd like to point out how ridiculous our current organized religion is. Who is to say who's a prophet and who's not? Who is to say who goes to heaven and who goes to hell? Honestly. Wanna know something? Christmas isn't even about the birth of Jesus. If you look at the descriptions in the Bible, it evidences an Autumn time of the year, as opposed to winter. So why December 25? It's because when the church was going around "absorbing" other groups, they decided that the Winter Solstice Festival (I'm pretty sure it's the Feast of Stephen) needed to be removed from people's minds, and so they "moved" Christmas to smack on top of it, so it would "replace" the Winter Solstice festival. Therefore, Religion = Politics. Remember back in the middle ages, when the Roman Catholic church was selling people tickets to heaven? And remember just now when a suspiciously high percentage of Roman Catholic priests are suspected or confirmed child molesters?
My friend goes to a bad Catholic school. She was repeatedly physically assaulted by other students. Administration didn't do a damn thing. Not to mention she's got a "Morals" class, and the teacher is an starfish. So much for morals.

Who is to say who's a prophet and who's not?

Is everyone a prophet? Should we believe that Joe found a talking turtle that only talks to him and tells him to follow a strict set of rules set forth by turtle? We choose who we believe in and who we don't believe in. If you believe that Joe's talking turtle is divine, then you're more then welcome to go follow him.

Who is to say who goes to heaven and who goes to hell?

First off, the church has never stated who is granted passage into heaven.
Saints are people who we believe are in heaven.
The church has never stated that someone is truly in hell (Besides Satan and demons who follow him)
For instance, we don't say Riddler is in hell because we don't know if he truly is.

Honestly. Wanna know something? Christmas isn't even about the birth of Jesus. If you look at the descriptions in the Bible, it evidences an Autumn time of the year, as opposed to winter. So why December 25? It's because when the church was going around "absorbing" other groups, they decided that the Winter Solstice Festival (I'm pretty sure it's the Feast of Stephen) needed to be removed from people's minds, and so they "moved" Christmas to smack on top of it, so it would "replace" the Winter Solstice festival.

1. It's about Jesus, even though it might not be the exact date.
2. About "absorbing" other groups. It's called Conversion, and it's a change in character, form, or function. (Dictionary.com) The missionaries of the time were trying to convert the masses in many different ways. One of these ways was to bring some of their own culture into the church's culture (Without overtaking). It's similar to England's formation and the English Language. In history, back before England was much of anything, it was constantly invaded. Every time it was invaded, the invaders would leave their culture behind. This eventually mixed into the English Culture.

Back to the church and culture from other religions. Putting up the Christmas tree is a pagan ritual, and must have been included whilst the missionaries were teaching about Jesus.

Therefore, Religion = Politics.

I'll take from Therefore...ages, first because after ages goes into another point.

Let's take a look at the culture of the time, and better yet, let's take on the role of a peasant farmer.
For you whole life, the most you've known about the world is the field you work in and a few miles around. You serve your king, who is lives in the castle up on the hill. You're illiterate, and have never read a book, but you're bright none the less. You look at the mountains and remember that there is a great man who lives in lands you've never been to.

You only know from what your local priest has told you, and he has told you many stories about this man. He is powerful, amazing with his power, and can see everything that is happening around the world. He created the world and has the power to destroy it and remake it again. To him, we are small, weak, and should be nothing to him. With that thought, many men come to fear him, but the priest tells them that he is not what you think he is. He tells you that he is a forgiving man, and you should embrace him rather than flee from him. He is loving, and knows more about you then you know about him.

Many people of that time knew very little of the world, and were scared of the world around them, but they knew that with God, they could find their way.

Remember back in the middle ages, when the Roman Catholic church was selling people tickets to heaven? And remember just now when a suspiciously high percentage of Roman Catholic priests are suspected or confirmed child molesters?
My friend goes to a bad Catholic school. She was repeatedly physically assaulted by other students. Administration didn't do a damn thing. Not to mention she's got a "Morals" class, and the teacher is an starfish. So much for morals.

First off, sorry about your friend.

With the indulgences. Yes, they were around. Are they around any more? No. They were banned and are no longer made/sold. Was it a bad move? Yes. Was it the Church's fault? You can point out a few ways, yes. Was it God's fault? No, It wasn't.

Here, you are blaming some people for why Organized Religion is wrong.

Take a group of 100 people.
Now take 1 person out, and find out his IQ.
Okay, it's 80. Not that good.
Should we now say that the rest of the group has 80 IQ?
I would think you said no to that last question.

Today, and throughout history, groups of people are blamed for the acts of one person (or a small group of people). It's wrong yes, but will it be fixed? Probably not.

Now here's the church response to this
"The doctrine of the infallibility of ecumenical councils states that solemn definitions of ecumenical councils, approved by the pope, which concern faith or morals, and to which the whole Church must adhere are infallible" (Wiki)

This is pretty much saying that what the church teaches is infallible (Roman Catholic Church . immune from fallacy or liability to error in expounding matters of faith or morals by virtue of the promise made by Christ to the Church.)

You blame the church for people, but you forget what the church teaches in the end.

It teaches about God.

In all honesty, that's what we are trying to learn more about.

God.
I might be making a major topic on God related arguments in the future.

More reading on Infallibility - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Papal_infallibility

[Socrates]

BTW think before voting Organized Religion for why the world is so messed up the way it is.

[Harm94]

I may not be a genius or prophet, but I can safely say the all problems in the poll will get worse overtime.

[Dodger]

Wait so the OP attacks Catholicism as a whole because of what his friend told him about one school yet defends Muslims from terrorist stereotypes?

A wise man once said, "Do not judge the many by the actions of the few."

You're using your assertions pretty haphazardly OP

[Socrates]

Wait so the OP attacks Catholicism as a whole because of what his friend told him about one school yet defends Muslims from terrorist stereotypes?

You're using your assertions pretty haphazardly OP

Kindly like what I said.

I just want to see what OP says.

[Jaxx]

did nobody notice that first image was 100% tongue-in-cheek

[YourBuddyBill]

for clarification, the fact that we have political parties isn't the problem, it's that we have just two gigantic super-inflated political parties that support extremely contrasting ideas, both sides of which are very detrimental to the country and possibly the world.
- Alexis de Tocqueville, not really an important quote but just something to think about.

That's more what I was aiming for, yes, apologies for the lack of clarification.

Wooow. No one actually believed he was one, and he's not the reason people don't like Bronies.

The rest of it was pretty nice though.

I have found people who hate Bronies because of people who did what Lord Tony did. And I have also found people who thought all bronies were like Lord Tony and wouldn't listen otherwise.

Is everyone a prophet? Should we believe that Joe found a talking turtle that only talks to him and tells him to follow a strict set of rules set forth by turtle? We choose who we believe in and who we don't believe in. If you believe that Joe's talking turtle is divine, then you're more then welcome to go follow him.
First off, the church has never stated who is granted passage into heaven.
Saints are people who we believe are in heaven.
The church has never stated that someone is truly in hell (Besides Satan and demons who follow him)
For instance, we don't say Riddler is in hell because we don't know if he truly is.

Thanks for the clarification, it appeared to me that the church did more often claim such things. Good to know that sort of thing isn't so common.

1. It's about Jesus, even though it might not be the exact date.
2. About "absorbing" other groups. It's called Conversion, and it's a change in character, form, or function. (Dictionary.com) The missionaries of the time were trying to convert the masses in many different ways. One of these ways was to bring some of their own culture into the church's culture (Without overtaking). It's similar to England's formation and the English Language. In history, back before England was much of anything, it was constantly invaded. Every time it was invaded, the invaders would leave their culture behind. This eventually mixed into the English Culture.

Despite this, it seems somewhat hypocritical to me to change one's own dogma to convince others to join in a half-hearted experience. My friend Casey said that he didn't want people to tell him they were Christian when they didn't REALLY believe.

Let's take a look at the culture of the time, and better yet, let's take on the role of a peasant farmer.
For you whole life, the most you've known about the world is the field you work in and a few miles around. You serve your king, who is lives in the castle up on the hill. You're illiterate, and have never read a book, but you're bright none the less. You look at the mountains and remember that there is a great man who lives in lands you've never been to.

You only know from what your local priest has told you, and he has told you many stories about this man. He is powerful, amazing with his power, and can see everything that is happening around the world. He created the world and has the power to destroy it and remake it again. To him, we are small, weak, and should be nothing to him. With that thought, many men come to fear him, but the priest tells them that he is not what you think he is. He tells you that he is a forgiving man, and you should embrace him rather than flee from him. He is loving, and knows more about you then you know about him.

Many people of that time knew very little of the world, and were scared of the world around them, but they knew that with God, they could find their way.

Good point.

First off, sorry about your friend.

With the indulgences. Yes, they were around. Are they around any more? No. They were banned and are no longer made/sold. Was it a bad move? Yes. Was it the Church's fault? You can point out a few ways, yes. Was it God's fault? No, It wasn't.

Here, you are blaming some people for why Organized Religion is wrong.

Take a group of 100 people.
Now take 1 person out, and find out his IQ.
Okay, it's 80. Not that good.
Should we now say that the rest of the group has 80 IQ?
I would think you said no to that last question.

Today, and throughout history, groups of people are blamed for the acts of one person (or a small group of people). It's wrong yes, but will it be fixed? Probably not.

Now here's the church response to this
"The doctrine of the infallibility of ecumenical councils states that solemn definitions of ecumenical councils, approved by the pope, which concern faith or morals, and to which the whole Church must adhere are infallible" (Wiki)

This is pretty much saying that what the church teaches is infallible (Roman Catholic Church . immune from fallacy or liability to error in expounding matters of faith or morals by virtue of the promise made by Christ to the Church.)

You blame the church for people, but you forget what the church teaches in the end.

It teaches about God.

In all honesty, that's what we are trying to learn more about.

God.

I did take it a little far there; apologies. I suppose there is a level of media bias involved here as well; I haven't seen many good things written about the catholic priests, and indeed, I should have looked up some actual numbers instead of pulling them out of my ass. Despite this, I still feel that organized religions wield too much political power, and close the minds of the people to new ideas. Take the gay marriage issue; the hyper-conservative religious types are trying to shove their own beliefs down everyone else's throat. There was a scare campaign here where I live, in which they claimed that it "threatens our rights" to legalize gay marriage. Honestly, what the heck? Religion is all well and good, just please, keep an open mind.
I have found that when I did go to church, it did not make much sense to me; people singing words whose meanings are lost to time, and standing by those words when they know not what they mean. Believe what you will believe, but make sure you know WHY you believe it. Part of what I have against organized religion is that people join in just because "other people do it", or because "it's what my parents taught me". "Why would God give us a brain if he didn't want us to use it?" -unknown

Wait so the OP attacks Catholicism as a whole because of what his friend told him about one school yet defends Muslims from terrorist stereotypes?

You're using your assertions pretty haphazardly OP

It's been a long day, and I spent an hour typing that thing up. In hindsight, I ought to have gone back and double-proofed it at the end. I am not attacking Catholicism as a whole, I am attacking the idea of people doing without thinking, and I should have communicated that more clearly. Things like "joining the crowd" and "childhood indoctrination", THOSE are what I am attacking, as well as citing what happens when someone higher up in organized religion becomes corrupt (though the same could be said of the government, it's harder to deal with that).

I hope this clarifies things.