Posted on 04/01/2005 9:51:33 PM PST by Bob J
I did not mean to suggest that the topic you were discussing is unimportant. I find it fascinating myself - but deism is not always biblical and sometimes in contravention - Jefferson wrote a deist "bible," for example. But there, you see I'm wandering off topic myself...
"It's a pitiful state to be in when one believes that any type of document trumps the bible."
What if you've never read the Bible? I think it's a pitiful state when people think the Bible should trump the freedom of the people or the person.
BTW, how do you estimate all the men who wrote as well as signed our founding docuemnts informed themselves about right and wrong?
I had a temper tantrum once, and left... and then came back, and ate the crow. lol
18,428
Read my post below yours.
The basic rules of human civilization are universal and listed in practically every religion in the world. They also happen to be in the Bible.
Should we reject them for that reason?
Your post and subsequent thread is falling apart.
No,indeed, and that was far worse than the Elian dustup was.
I think the recent issue has totally splintered the site, and it should be interesting to see whether people coalesce once again against the common foe. I've stayed almost completely off all the Shiavo threads because tempers are just too hot, and there's no possible way two people on a thread that see the issue different can politely disagree. At least, I haven't seen that anywhere. BTW, us old guys should, in my opinion, get a small benefit of the doubt, especially ones from 2000 or older ;)
Sorry I'm a bit testy. Or short of sleep!
Little jeremiah's better half is sleeping peacefully while I hunch over the computer unable to tear myself away.
I put a link to this thread over on Poobah's opus, I figured if a few read Bob J's words it'd do some good.
Nighty night, all!
Perhaps, but the doctors and the judges showed their collective cowardess, by the method they chose, ie. starvation/dehydration. If they were so confident in the rightness of their decisions and actions, why did they not use a lethal injection, which, in my opinion would have been more humane?
Let's not get started. It's over, but then again, it's just getting started.
you are 18428
It can't be all textbook.
This is the lab work.
Not really. Actually fairly polite give and take, back and forth.
Just 'cause we're not holding hands and playing ring around the rosie.
Are you an L&H fan?
Thanks to both.
What's the current member count? Just curious.
I was still a lurker during the Elien days, but it was fairly simple. It was a matter of priorities. Everyone pretty much agreed that provided he was fit, a child belonged with his father. Everyone pretty much agreed that a child was better off in Florida than in Cuba. Unfortunately, that's where the rubber met the road. Those who gave the higher priority to keeping a boy with his father were excoriated by those who believed it was best he stay in America, even if it meant he would never see his father again. The latter in turn called the former every name in the book. It was pure ugliness.
I don't see how anyone could be a conservative and not value life. To me that is part of the definition of a conservative.
I'm not meaning to single out anyone in particular, but this is a very good example of part of what has been happening for the past few weeks and what is so detrimental for the forum. It seems that the Schiavo tragedy has brought out a lot of polarizing approaches and behaviors in FReepers. And I'm talking about FReepers who are on both sides of this issue. On any given day & at any given moment, people seem to be slipping into a momentary lapse in good judgment, overcome with emotion and displaying a dichotomous "all or nothing" behavior that's contributing to the chaos. And to make it worse, some people are highly sensitive about it. Many of the people posting on the Terri threads are slipping into this 'absolutes' mindset, seemingly unable to understand nor accept any other viewpoint but their own. It doesn't matter who started it; it just is.
FR is not a place where a person is going to be happy if he cannot tolerate other people's points of view and have a rational, intelligent discourse, especially when discussing something as polarizing as end-of-life issues. When speaking about viewpoints and opinions, there are no 'absolutes' at FR (other than "What the owner says, goes."). FReepers come from all sorts of backgrounds and have all different kinds of opinions and viewpoints. Yet we all fall under the big "conservative" tent.
Again, I'm not saying the alleged "kill Terri" crowd is innocent in this thing, by any means. Obviously, they are highly p.o.'d and some really cruel and hurtful comments have been made. I've tried to stay more or less neutral on this thing, hoping I could try to inject a little levity or balance into the conversation whenever I saw an opportunity. But just yesterday, this was the defensive response from someone:
My comments:
I may post a thread later that says I fed my cat tonight. Someone will ask me if my cat is named Terri.
LOL!
I was thinking about this today and I think I figured it all out. There are many people here who have been following Terri for years. Those Shiavo threads have been around for what seems like forever. And all those people are heavily invested emotionally in her, much more so than for those of us who just started paying attention to it in the last 2 weeks. In other words, they're grieving. And don't laugh -- it's real. It's going to take a while for them to work through all the accompanying emotions, that's all.
I really wish everyone could stop expecting so much from the other side. And I mean both sides.
One side needs to stop expecting everyone else at FR to be grieving and boo-hooing like they are, and the other side needs to let the 1st side grieve without laughing at them in public and saying they're maniacal nutcases.
Dang, I should charge for this.
Someone's response:
"Those Shiavo threads have been around for what seems like forever. And all those people are heavily invested emotionally in her, much more so than for those of us who just started paying attention to it in the last 2 weeks."
Wow, you just started paying attention 2 weeks ago? I guess us Freepers that have paid attention to it for years(did you avoid the threads for years?) must be wack-jobs that are overzealous about the idea "right to life"
Here's a suggestion: if you avoided the issue for years, why don't you hold on to that trend and just leave us "heavily invested emotionally in her" Freepers alone? You won't have to insult us with your presumed indifference and hence don't have to wait until we can "stop expecting everyone else at FR to be grieving and boo-hooing like (we) are"
You are now officially, in regards to this issue and by your own declaration, the "other side". You should shudder when you realize the ideoligical company you share.
This person was so defensive, he automatically assumed I was saying something I was not saying. This is happening way too much on both sides.
Just like the Elian matter, it's getting old.
It's time for an amnesty.
(Again, I'm not trying to pick on anyone here. It's just that those 2 comments came within 6 replies of the thread being posted.)
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