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Sheesh! I’ve tangled with you before on these Giuliani threads, narses. Go back and read.

For the edification of those who might not know:

I was baptized and raised a Catholic. Since the Catholic church is a business, and not a religion, and full of s*it to boot, I guess I am a ‘lapsed’ Catholic. However, the Christian philosophy is all well and fine, I just hate it when those who claim they live by it never seem to remeber “let he who is without sin cast the first stone”, and then try to explain that way with gibberish about ‘repentance’.

I don’t think Christ was saying anything about repentence, he was talking about being a hypocrite, in this regard.

As for guns, I live in NYC (born and raised), own four guns (including long arms) and Rudy and his Gestapo never came to my front door seeking to take them from me. What happened in this city was that the requirements for renewing applications was changed (by the City Council and State Legislature, you know, the elected bodies that make the laws? The Mayor of NYC doesn’t make the law, he’s an administrator charged with enforcing it), and continue to change, and many folks failed to keep up with the new regulations. Therefore, their gun permits were revoked and their weapoons classed “illegal”. If I recally, narses, you once cited the story of “Pharmboy” as an example of Rudy’s “gun grabbing” and it turned out that teh reason he lost his permit was because he failed to learn that the city wa sno longer accepting mail-in applications.

People who are too lazy to leanrn the law, and too lazy to do what is necessary to comply with it, don’t deserve guns, and are probably being kept alive by mechanical means.

Abortion; why it is still necessary, int he 21st century, to have make arguments AGAINST infanticide, is beyond me. However, the issue is not one of morality for many people, but rather convenience and avoidance of responsibility. People who think this way are by definition, incapable of being moral. However, the solution to this problem is not a constitutional manuever or the writing of draconian laws; it is a cultural effort aimed at instilling a sense of respnisbility in people. This is where the various churches are most effective, not in the legislative process. We have a separation of church and state in this country for a reason: so that membership in a specific faith or congregation is not one (or perhaps the sole) qualification for public office.

Republican government only has the ability to affect people’s lives at the margins. Cultural institutions have a much greater effect, when they are focused on doing what they do best -— which is winning hearts and minds one at atime -— rather than artificially skewing the electoral process.

Gay rights: I don;t care if anyone is gay. I don’t care to know about it, either, and I certainly don’t want anyone discriminated against because of it. The arguments surrounding gay marriage have all been covered by existing law and cultural norms; if you wish to live together, go ahead. If you want your lover to inherit your property, write a will. If you wish to leave instructions for who is allowed to see you in a hospital or make medical decisions on your behalf, write a living will. The motiviations behind the push for Gay Marriage have nohing to do with good government or the betterment of society; they are matters of emotional degree, and simple economics.

Having said that, the answer is “no”, only because 10,000 years of human experience says so.

I don’t disagree with most of the “social conservative” agenda, narses, I only disagree with your heavy-handed and hypocritical activities on it’s behalf.