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Since conservatives tend to be labeled traditionalists and liberals tend to be labled progessives, I've often wondered what do conservatives see in traditional values.
I mean what does that even mean "I have traditional values". Does that mean you want to go back to a time when blacks had to drink from separate fountains...or further back to when they were slaves. To a time when women couldn't vote? A time when the average worker made pennies on the dollar? I know the obvious answer...traditional family values but what about all these other controversies throughout the years.
Was Martin Luther King a traditionalist? How about Lincoln or even the founding fathers? I think their ideas were radically progressive for their respective times.
Our country has become what it is today because of liberal, progressive social ideas. So what say you conservatives? Why do you believe traditional values are best for this country when this is a historically failed viewpoint?
How about asking the opposite instead.... If you love your country why change it? What do you think you are changing it to? Do you even know is are we just changing for change. Conserving onto the past or to traditional values does not mean you want to conserve everything from that time. We conserve the constitution to the best of our ability. Do you think progressives want to change that or conserve it?
.....which makes the Bible or any other so-called sacred book worthless, as far as them being used as a basis for social policy or for anything for that matter. If you can quote the Bible to argue for anything, while using the same Bible to argue against it, why are we even wasting our time with this book? Why Barack Obama took his oath on this piece of garbage is beyond me.
Hey now, slow you roll...that doesn't make it worthless. You can use the same argument for the Constitution (just look at how abortion somehow became a "right")....does that make the Constitution worthless, too?
Our country was founded on Judeo-Christian ideals and most American identify themselves as Christian. That's why Obama was sworn in on the Bible.
Not a decent definition of Liberalism at all. The appropriate turn-around would be "Liberalism is marked by reverence for the individual - in that every individual is valued equally. There is no 'ruling class' that is worth reverence."
Start with that. No doubt you could do the same thing.
You could just say communism but that's not really a "new" thing that will rile the camp. Now change the name of it to liberalism and you'll have a whole band of torch/pitchfork bearers.
5. Political Correctness - I want to get rid of this totally. Why should I worry all day long about using the wrong label that "might" offend someone? I'm white, my kids are mixed, my wife is asian, my neighbors are black, my other neighbors are hispanic. These are labels that help us identify things. If a person is a midget, I should call them a midget. If they are in a wheelchair, they are handicapped. We spend way to much time trying to make everyone feel better by using fancy words when we should spend more time trying to teach everyone that there is nothing WRONG with certain labels. Things like Asian-American, African-American, etc. are pointless and harmful. And while I'm at it, I recently met a nice guy from South Africa who moved here. He is white, and recently became a citizen, so is he white? Or African-American? Folks who moved from Asia to here are called Asian-American but my friend from the military Hunter was born and raised in New York city and he gets to be called African-American? Find a system that works and stick with it, oh wait, we had one already!
Well that is enough ranting for me today, I'm sure you all have things you want to say by now, have at it.
Do you think it's OK to call people with Down Syndrome "Mongolian Idiots"? That was the term, not too many decades ago. I don't have a problem with labeling as long as the words are neutral.
Do you think it's OK to call people with Down Syndrome "Mongolian Idiots"? That was the term, not too many decades ago. I don't have a problem with labeling as long as the words are neutral.
I've said it before and I'll say it again...I can show you in the Constitution where I have a right to free speech. Can you show me where you have the right not to have your feelings hurt?
Do you think it's OK to call people with Down Syndrome "Mongolian Idiots"? That was the term, not too many decades ago. I don't have a problem with labeling as long as the words are neutral.
At one time that was the neutral term for the condition. Constantly changing the words you use to describe a condition might make hyper-sensitive people feel better, but it does nothing to change the condition.
The thing is, you are reversing the cause and the effect. "Idiot" became a generalized epithet for a reason: namely, that a very low IQ, whether from Down's Syndrome or any other cause, is a bad thing. As long as the condition remains bad, it will give rise to epithets. The epithets will adapt to whatever new, "neutral" name you select for an underlying bad thing. Don't believe me? In 1994 Al Gore was criticized for making a crack about "the extreme right [wing], the extra-chromosome right." Changing the name from "Mongolian Idiots" obviously didn't reduce its value as an epithet for people who want to use epithets.
At one time that was the neutral term for the condition. Constantly changing the words you use to describe a condition might make hyper-sensitive people feel better, but it does nothing to change the condition.
The thing is, you are reversing the cause and the effect. "Idiot" became a generalized epithet for a reason: namely, that a very low IQ, whether from Down's Syndrome or any other cause, is a bad thing. As long as the condition remains bad, it will give rise to epithets. The epithets will adapt to whatever new, "neutral" name you select for an underlying bad thing. Don't believe me? In 1994 Al Gore was criticized for making a crack about "the extreme right [wing], the extra-chromosome right." Changing the name from "Mongolian Idiots" obviously didn't reduce its value as an epithet for people who want to use epithets.
Well, he should have been criticized for that! I am aware of how "idiot" became a generalized term; however, it's a little harder to generalize "Down Syndrome" to something else. Likewise, I hate the use of "retarded" to mean anything one dislikes, thinks is ridiculous, etc.
Well, he should have been criticized for that! I am aware of how "idiot" became a generalized term; however, it's a little harder to generalize "Down Syndrome" to something else. Likewise, I hate the use of "retarded" to mean anything one dislikes, thinks is ridiculous, etc.
And I hate it that your feelings get hurt by that, but again, show me where your feelings are protected by the Constitution.
The problem, the reason that we have so many things like segregation(de-jure or de-facto), homophobia, sexism, etc. is that people don't take the time to evaluate whether or not traditions are really worth keeping. A tradition shouldn't be kept just because it's a tradition, but it should be kept if it continues to serve some practical reason. If it doesn't, you end up with nothing more than ridiculous taboos and dogma.
The problem, the reason that we have so many things like segregation(de-jure or de-facto), homophobia, sexism, etc. is that people don't take the time to evaluate whether or not traditions are really worth keeping. A tradition shouldn't be kept just because it's a tradition, but it should be kept if it continues to serve some practical reason. If it doesn't, you end up with nothing more than ridiculous taboos and dogma.
And don't be so open minded that your brain falls out, either.
There should be good reason for ditching tradition.
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