Is that the one Jesus gave Chas?

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He thought ending slavery was worth dying for, I guess.

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Reality is your friend, not your enemy. -- Seacrest

A true hero.

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During what time period? Are you referring to the time around when we fought the Revolutionary War?

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You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!

Dude was a domestic terrorist. You can agree with his tactics and opinions if you want, but to claim he was following god's word is ridiculous.

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I'm talking about today. List all the free countries today that were not overwhelmingly "Christian" at some point in the past century.

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Reality is your friend, not your enemy. -- Seacrest

To be fair, most terrorists today are following their god's word, so, maybe he was interpreting his god's word was to blow shit up.

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I'm saying the human movement toward civil rights & liberty on earth was heavily influenced by Christian thought. I'm not defending him nor I defending the KKK who used "Christian" themes as well.

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Reality is your friend, not your enemy. -- Seacrest

You are right, but it's also important to note that Christianity plays a crucial role in the formation of the KKK and the ascent of other white supremacist ideologies.

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If you are talking about today then why did you mention the founding fathers?

You don't really want to mention today though. Most of the modern day "freedom" has come with huge declines in religious participation in those countries.

It is safe to say that the Christian religion existed in parallel with most of the advances in freedom over history but in the past few decades the biggest obstacles to increased freedom have come from religion.

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You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!

Yeah, I would say religion in the United States is what is currently suppressing MANY people's freedoms and liberties.

I'm pretty sure the federal government wouldn't give a shit about abortions or gay marriage if the religious types weren't involved.

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Rick Hahn is the best GM in baseball.

sure if you define freedom as having abortions. then I agree.

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Reality is your friend, not your enemy. -- Seacrest

Well, no one should be able to determine what an individual can do with their own body.

That includes the government.

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One man's domestic terrorist is another man's freedom fighter.

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Which body are you talking about? People would care about abortions even in the absence of religion. I don't have a strong opinion on gay rights but I'm starting to as their rights are intensifying? I don't know if that's the best way to say it but I don't agree with some of the things they are demanding. My disagreement does not stem from religion nor does it come from a place of hatred.

What are they demanding?

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You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!

There's more than one body there though, isn't there? Liberals find it tough to argue with me on abortion because they usually have never discussed it with someone who isn't coming at it from a religious perspective. The way the law is now I couldn't possibly find much fault with a woman that gives birth and tosses the baby in a garbage can considering she could have had a "doctor" do it for her a few hours earlier.

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Freedom is our Strength.

The issue is that there is a scientifically provable time in which a future baby cannot survive without one single individual. That scenario does not exist with your point about either a few hours earlier or a few hours later.

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You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!

I'm an atheist. Like I said, I don't have a religious perspective on it. I've swatted many flies in my lifetime. I've also eaten many pork chops. It would be pretty disingenuous for me to rail on against the killing of a sentient being with less intelligence than a pig. On the other hand, humanity has to mean something. I think the wanton destruction of pre-born humans decreases the value of all of our lives.

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Freedom is our Strength.

The way I'm looking at it, the idea that the government can mandate what a woman is allowed to do with her body is wrong, IMO. The concept of abortion, to me, is a personal choice. If a woman and the father in question have determined that is the only way, they have to be the ones to live with themselves. In a situation of a sexual assault, or if the mother's health is in danger, and we are talking early on in the pregnancy here, then a decision needs to be made. The way a "late term abortion" was laid out during the debates was complete BS. Most "late term abortions" are due to medical complications. Think of it this way. You are at 32 weeks, and you go in for a checkup. The doctor determines that there is no heartbeat. A "late term abortion" is a procedure to remove a dead fetus from you. Should you have to carry that to term? My wife had a friend that they were able to determine that the baby had no developed brain at like 28 or 32 weeks (I can't remember what she told me). The baby was not viable outside the womb. She carried the baby to term, because she is a devout pro-lifer, but that was a personal choice. Should the government been able to determine that she was required to do that?

As far as gay marriage goes, I have no issue with that. If they are committing themselves the same way a heterosexual marriage is committed, why should they not enjoy the same government benefits of it.

When it comes to the trans bathroom thing, I have a problem with this whole "gender identity" thing. Go through the process, then you can use whatever bathroom your plumbing allows.

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I don't want to be in a bathroom with Parker Molloy, mostly because she is crazy. The demand of acceptance and understanding on their end should be just as great as they expect of me. If I'm not being outwardly rude or trying my best to understand their journey (when I don't), the other side should be patient with me on mine.

I think gay couples should have rights like any other couple as far as medical, financial, and legal situations go. I not completely on board with gay couples having kids. I think it's a difficult issue to sort out. Age, not religion, is the factor that is most prevalant indicating support of gay marriage.

Secular humanism, especially in modern times, came from the Enlightenment, which was about casting aside religious beliefs in favor of reason. Christianity is a fable based upon the idea that there is something better after we die and that human sacrifice if the ultimate expression of love.

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Why are only 14 percent of black CPS 11th-graders proficient in English?

See, the wanton destruction just "because" to me, as a personal choice, is wrong. Abortion should not be birth control. But, to some it is. My only argument is that those that want to choose that are making a personal decision, not one I agree with, but not one I think that the government should be able to decide for them, either.

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You sound like one of those Christian wackos to me.

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Reality is your friend, not your enemy. -- Seacrest

He has zero say in the matter. There has never been one court ruling forcing a woman to keep a baby so the father can go it alone.

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Elections have consequences.

The father has no say.



I thought Clinton handled that question well. And I'm sure she had the right numbers and it was something she was not lying about. But that being the case, why not limit abortions to a certain gestation period? There is no getting around the fact that "danger to the mother's health" is very broad and ambiguous.

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Freedom is our Strength.

Obviously, I have my opinion on it. I probably shouldn't have used a charged phrase like "wanton destruction". I actually went back and edited "children" to "humans" in order to be more neutral.

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Freedom is our Strength.

I don't think you can deny the 15-22 year old, somebody that abuses drugs/alcohol, or somebody in a terrible or nonexistent relationship that she has changed and most likely ruined her life and the life of somebody she can't care for, doesn't know, and doesn't want. The world is fucked up. No sense in fucking up yourself or the world more.

If I had gotten pregnant at 16, there was no way I'd go home and tell my dad. I'd sooner have run away or killed myself.

The bathroom situation is somewhat understandable though my opinion is that it really makes no difference to anyone but the ones who are banned from going to the bathroom they identify with.

The rest of the rights they want are just what any other person wants. I don't see how you can be against gay people having/adopting kids with so many single parent households that do just fine.

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You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!

lot of falsities here. The Enligtenment did not cast aside Christian morals/ethics, it cast aside the fanciful "magical" thoughts in Christianity. Today we see Christian morals as just "common sense" that anyone could have thought up on their own.

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Reality is your friend, not your enemy. -- Seacrest