How to tell you're a Conservative....

[Big Dick McGee]

I'm not religious either. I believe in God, of course, but I don't subscribe to any particular dogma, nor do I actively practice any specific religion.

Try harder, you exclusionist bastard.

 

[Friday]

So many posts, so little time.

Okay, first off...it might have thrown some of you when 6 mentioned PBM when referring to my posts. Surprise...I'm PBM. I wasn't keeping it a secret, I just felt like switching up usernames. I think 6 misses my old moniker. That's sweet.

Second...

If a teenaged girl gets pregnant, by law she is emancipated and no longer the financial responsibility of her parents, as it should be. If you're so big bad and grown up that you can have sex then you can suffer the big bad grown up consequences.

That aside, there is a sure fire way to not find yourself "suddenly pregnant" and that would be to not have sex. I am, however, a realist and if the girl's just gotta 'cause all the really cool kids are doin' it then hows about using one of the fifteen bajillion forms of birth control available today?

In a perfect world, teenagers would be equipped with the built-in adult ability for decision making and coping skills involved to navigate life successfully. The reality is, they are not. They are dependent on family guidance for such things. At times, families fall short of instilling the inner tools needed to make the right choices.

Therefore, when the wrong choices are made, and the teen finds herself in need, it is the christian thing to do to help in any way one can.

 

[Friday]

Next...

As I've said before, coming to a conclusion and then expressing your feelings about it is fine. Basing a conclusion on your feelings is unwise, because you will always base your conclusion on what feels good, and not all conclusions are going to make you feel good.

No, not all conclusions will make you feel good. Sometimes a conclusion elicits a bad feeling. One does have to decide which is the best solution, and accept the negative if that's what it takes.

Such as?

Providing for yourself, family, neighbors, community, etc.

Relationship issues

Human Rights Issues, etc

That's the old Golden Mean, and although I've explained it before, I'll explain it again -- 1 + 1 = 2, no matter how much it might feel good to think that 1 + 2 = 1.

Sometimes 1+2 has to equal 1, for the sake of the feeling human in all of us.

 

[Friday]

I typed in a long reply for 6, but I timed out and lost it all.

It'll have to wait until later...

 

[Number_6]

I love it how understanding the religious right are these days.

Yeah, that's three people who aren't religious, Red.

Why don't you go back to what you know--conning people out of money.

 

[Number_6]

Sometimes 1+2 has to equal 1, for the sake of the feeling human in all of us.

Now that just sounds stupid. Incredibly stupid.

You need a reality check, big time.

 

[Friday]

Hmm. Sounds like a lot of these people needed to practice safe sex or abstinence, and their problems would be nonexistent.

Just because you want to take responsibility for problems that other people have gotten themselves into doesn't mean everyone does. The sooner you understand that, the sooner you'll be able to deal a bit better with the real world.

Just because people make the wrong choices means we should turn our back on them? Is that the human thing to do?

And you don't ask the difficult questions. You just emote, and think that if we all hold hands and emote, everything will be hunky-dory.

The 60s are over. Try and grasp that. Over. The social experiment failed. Time to move on, ask new questions, come up with new solutions.

Think back to the last time you hepled someone in need. Were your motivations logical in nature, or emotional? The fact of the matter is, most people need strong emotion to get off their ass and do something. Strong emotion is a precursor to positive action and change.

But PBM wants to treat the entire human race as if they were students in her mentally disabled classes--all in need of her tender loving care.

I think it makes her feel better about herself when she is feeling so deeply for the poor and downtrodden.

It has nothing to do with feeling better about myself, and everything to do with this:

The Bible...Matthew, Chapter 22, verses 36-40:

36 Master, which is the great commandment in the law?

37 Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.

38 This is the first and great commandment.

39 And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.

40 On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.

 

[Friday]

Now that just sounds stupid. Incredibly stupid.

You need a reality check, big time.

No, dammit, I don't.

Emotions aren't always logical, therefore cannot be compared to a logical equation.

 

[Laker_Girl]

So many posts, so little time.

Okay, first off...it might have thrown some of you when 6 mentioned PBM when referring to my posts. Surprise...I'm PBM. I wasn't keeping it a secret, I just felt like switching up usernames. I think 6 misses my old moniker. That's sweet.

Second...


In a perfect world, teenagers would be equipped with the built-in adult ability for decision making and coping skills involved to navigate life successfully. The reality is, they are not. They are dependent on family guidance for such things. At times, families fall short of instilling the inner tools needed to make the right choices.

Therefore, when the wrong choices are made, and the teen finds herself in need, it is the christian thing to do to help in any way one can.

Christian, capital "C".

You are correct, teenagers are not equipped to handle adult situations and I can't remember the last time anyone advised children to have sex. Therefore if you think you're mature enough to have sex, unprotected sex at that, then you'd better think about whether or not you're mature enough to carry and raise a baby, if you so choose. You'd better think about whether or not you're mature enough to go through an abortion or adoption and you'd better think about whether or not you're mature enough to cope and care for any nasty diseases that you contract. You're acting as though teenage sex and the consequences are two seperate things.

 

[Friday]

Christian, capital "C".

You are correct, teenagers are not equipped to handle adult situations and I can't remember the last time anyone advised children to have sex. Therefore if you think you're mature enough to have sex, unprotected sex at that, then you'd better think about whether or not you're mature enough to carry and raise a baby, if you so choose. You'd better think about whether or not you're mature enough to go through an abortion or adoption and you'd better think about whether or not you're mature enough to cope and care for any nasty diseases that you contract. You're acting as though teenage sex and the consequences are two seperate things.

No, they are not separate issues.

However, the reality of the situation is that a girl whose family has not equipped her with the necessary tools for life is not going to ponder the consequences when in the situation. Hormones will take over.

In that case, the girl will need resources to cope with the consequences, if there are any. I believe it is society's responsibility to give a hands up to our more impoverished members.

 

[Red Whacker]

Yeah, that's three people who aren't religious, Red.

Why don't you go back to what you know--conning people out of money.

Yes, three people who shouldn't feel identified by my remark.

Which makes me wonder why your response was so emotional.

 

[Laker_Girl]

No, they are not separate issues.

However, the reality of the situation is that a girl whose family has not equipped her with the necessary tools for life is not going to ponder the consequences when in the situation. Hormones will take over.

In that case, the girl will need resources to cope with the consequences, if there are any. I believe it is society's responsibility to give a hands up to our more impoverished members.

Sounds like a whole lot of not taking personal responsibility to me. I guess that shouldn't surprise me, you are a liberal after all. Nothing is anyone's fault, right? We're all just victims, right?

I disagree. Like my father says, "There are no victims, only volunteers."

 

[Big Dick McGee]

I love people like PBM. Nobody should take personal responsibility for their actions, yet no woman should be a victim, either. Classic lefty "logic".

 

[Number_6]

"Love your neighbor as yourself."

Okay--well, I wouldn't want my neighbor to bail my ass out every time I made a "human" mistake, because that means I'd never learn the consequences of mistakes and how not to make them.

So if my neighbor truly loves me, he's probably going to want me to learn from my mistakes.

But that's something a ridculously over-emotional, 60s lefty is never going to understand.

 

[The Question]

Next...

No, not all conclusions will make you feel good. Sometimes a conclusion elicits a bad feeling. One does have to decide which is the best solution, and accept the negative if that's what it takes.

Which is why it's best to reach conclusions by proper application of logic. That way, your feelings are justified.

Providing for yourself, family, neighbors, community, etc.

Relationship issues

Human Rights Issues, etc

Logic is best suited to handle these issues, as well -- because they are, in fact, very pragmatic issues. Each has at its core the very pragmatic concern of mutual cooperation and contribution. Mutual cooperation and contribution, by the way, benefits every individual member of any of the relationships above -- pair bond, nuclear family, extended family, community, society and species. Although emotion is the perceived motivator, it is merely an internally generated positive incentive which reinforces a logical solution to a pragmatic problem.

Sometimes 1+2 has to equal 1, for the sake of the feeling human in all of us.

I cannot more strongly disagree. One can proceed from error only to error. If "1 + 1 = 2" does not satisfy your definition of what it means to "feel human," then your perception of what it is to "feel human" must be redefined. You may even discover, after so doing, that both your reasoning and you feelings will be a hundredfold better than they were before.

 

[WordInterrupted]

"Love your neighbor as yourself."

Okay--well, I wouldn't want my neighbor to bail my ass out every time I made a "human" mistake, because that means I'd never learn the consequences of mistakes and how not to make them.

So if my neighbor truly loves me, he's probably going to want me to learn from my mistakes.

But that's something a ridculously over-emotional, 60s lefty is never going to understand.

Are you arguing that people will, in the end, be better off if they don't recieve any help from their friends, neighbors or government when they come on hard times?

 

[The Question]

^^Doesn't look that way to me. Looks to me like he's arguing that people grow and gain strength through error as well as trial.

Or, as Soichiro Honda said, "Success is only achieved through repeated failure and introspection." The more the consequences of failure are dampened, the less incentive there is for introspection, and the lesser the odds of future success.

 

[WordInterrupted]

Doesn't look that way to me. Looks to me like he's arguing that people grow and gain strength through error as well as trial.

You're just restating what I said in different terms. Why don't you let Number 6 speak for himself?

 

[Mandi]

Hey Wordin!

 

[Number_6]

Are you arguing that people will, in the end, be better off if they don't recieve any help from their friends, neighbors or government when they come on hard times?

It depends on the situation. But, in general, I think that when people make the sorts of mistakes that they really should know better than to make, like getting pregnant at 15, a lesson needs to be learned. The lesson might be one that comes at an emotional price, like living with having had an abortion (which I am not arguing against--but we should acknowledge that abortions come with an emotional cost), or a financial price, like having to actually make do for yourself if you choose to have a child at so young an age. I do not see society as being responsible for the care of said child, and from what I have seen, when we offer to take care of one, a second and third often follow. No lesson is learned, and we are asked to take responsibility for another person's repeated mistakes. Because if you take away the consequences too often, then people become accustomed to doing whatever they want, without worrying about who it might hurt (including themselves).

I'm not saying to let people die as a result of their own irresponsibility, but suffering through a little hardship is part of life.

Obviously, this is more complicated than this short post allows, and I would appreciate it, Wordin, if you would try not to reduce me to a stereotype of a conservative in your reply and attribute to me arguments I have not made.