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The fundies won't admit it publicly but amongst themselves they would blame all that on the higher percentage of people with more melanin in their skin in those states.
The fundies won't admit it publicly but amongst themselves they would blame all that on the higher percentage of people with more melanin in their skin in those states.
As someone who grew up in the Bible belt, I would say poverty is a prime reason for those social problems. Furthermore, more poverty means less tax revenue which means less amenities, programs and attractions that the state government can offer for the people. Which leads to poor bored teens getting into trouble or forming gangs and teen pregnancy. To add to the problem, it makes the states less desirable for big corporations to have headquarters here which limits job opportunity and growth.
It's just part of their pathetic tool belt. If all else fails, claim that we are racist which is incredibly offensive to a Bible believing Christian. One of the great joys of being a Christian is that I can have an instant bond with another believer of any race, culture or country. They are all my brothers and sisters in Christ.
But yes, we can all agree that the klan is horrible and no good. But it's interesting that you're all for free speech until it's something you disagree with. The point of the 1st Amendment is that even those you disagree with have a right to say what they want to say, or not say what you want them to say. Not so you can tell people what is right and wrong according to your whim.
It is, and that freedom goes both ways. You are trying to tell us homosexuals are abominations. You, yourself, have compared them to pedophiles on the closed thread. At first I thought it was Finn and Jeffie, but, no, it was YOU and Jeffie.
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--- the Supreme Court has gone so far as to uphold inflammatory speech of the most vile sort provided it does not meet two conditions: 1.) the advocacy is “directed to inciting or producing imminent lawless action,” and 2.) the advocacy is also “likely to incite or produce such action.” [[Source]; also see majority opinion in 1969 case Bradenburg v. Ohio upholding right of Ku Klux Klan leader to denigrate racial and religious minorities.]
The Supreme Court protects free speech to such a degree that the rest of the world, and even many Americans, consider it ridiculous. In Reno v. American Civil Liberties Union, it unanimously declared that Congress and the President had no authority to restrict Internet pornography as it was a form of personal expression protected by the Constitution. In ******** v. Free Speech Coalition, it struck down bans on virtual (computer generated) child pornography, arguing no one was harmed and it was personal expression.
In Citizens United v. FEC, it struck down bans on corporations spending money to influence elections, stating that doing so is a form of speech under the theory the constitution protects associations of individuals; that companies are merely collections of citizens working together, entitled to all of the rights of those citizens. In Snyder v. Phelps, it upheld the right of the Westboro Baptist Church to publicly demonstrate the funeral of an Iraqi war veteran, holding signs indicating God had delighted in his death at enemy hands, much to the distress of the soldier’s father, who couldn’t grieve in peace. He had to put his son in the ground while these monsters cheered and celebrated mere hundreds of feet from the casket. In Texas v. Johnson, the Supreme Court ruled that freedom of speech meant the freedom to desecrate or burn an American flag as an act of political protest.
Even our libel and slander laws are more liberal than those in Europe. In the United States, if you defame someone, truth is an affirmative defense even if your actions lead to their total financial ruin and destruction.
------- Free speech does not entitle you to be free from the consequences of your speech. It only provides a guarantee that, absent what the courts have called a “compelling governmental interest”, the government cannot restrict your ability to say it nor imprison you for it, no matter how unpopular, hateful, idiotic, or nonsensical it is.
That’s it. That is the extent of your right; a right that is far more expansive than almost all other nations on Earth. You can say whatever you want but everybody else – with very few exceptions, which are important nonetheless – can respond, in kind, even if their response is irrational, misguided, or ill-informed.
So say what you wish about homosexuals. We have a right to do the same. I've never complained once for being called a "liberal," "communist," "born of the Devil," or any of half dozen other epithets. Call me what you wish, but remember, it is a two-way street.
I love "truth is an affirmative defense" idea in the U.S. That's why I provide all the statistics about "Bible belt" states having higher crime rates, incarceration rates, teen pregnancy rates, poorer healthcare, and increased poverty. To my mind it is proof positive that God is not only repudiating your biblical stand about homosexuals, He is punishing the large group of racists and homophobes who operate in the Bible belt. You may question the connection, but remember, your fundamentalist leader, Jerry Falwell, blamed 9/11 on homosexuals.
As someone who grew up in the Bible belt, I would say poverty is a prime reason for those social problems. Furthermore, more poverty means less tax revenue which means less amenities, programs and attractions that the state government can offer for the people. Which leads to poor bored teens getting into trouble or forming gangs and teen pregnancy. To add to the problem, it makes the states less desirable for big corporations to have headquarters here which limits job opportunity and growth.
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Originally Posted by jeffbase40
It's just part of their pathetic tool belt. If all else fails, claim that we are racist which is incredibly offensive to a Bible believing Christian. One of the great joys of being a Christian is that I can have an instant bond with another believer of any race, culture or country. They are all my brothers and sisters in Christ.
Of course it is vile and bigoted and racist. If it has a place to stick, then it will stick. Denying it exists and exists close to home is worse than owning that it exists.
Answer this... what religious affiliation would the majority of white racists claim? I am from the bible belt as well and I know from where such mindsets come from. If none of you have it, all well and good. However, do you not think that we all have to atone for even the sins of the parts of the whole to which we belong?
It is, and that freedom goes both ways. You are trying to tell us homosexuals are abominations. You, yourself, have compared them to pedophiles on the closed thread. At first I thought it was Finn and Jeffie, but, no, it was YOU and Jeffie.
I don't believe I've ever said that they are "abominations" on this forum. Nor did I suggest that they are pedophiles. I've actually compared their struggles to those of adulterers, in addition to pedophiles. Do you realize that? Does it matter if you are truthful? is that a priority with you?
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So say what you wish about homosexuals. We have a right to do the same. I've never complained once for being called a "liberal," "communist," "born of the Devil," or any of half dozen other epithets. Call me what you wish, but remember, it is a two-way street.
No, thanks. I really don't care to call you any of those things. Nor do I wish to subvert anyone's rights.
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I love "truth is an affirmative defense" idea in the U.S. That's why I provide all the statistics about "Bible belt" states having higher crime rates, incarceration rates, teen pregnancy rates, poorer healthcare, and increased poverty. To my mind it is proof positive that God is not only repudiating your biblical stand about homosexuals, He is punishing the large group of racists and homophobes who operate in the Bible belt. You may question the connection, but remember, your fundamentalist leader, Jerry Falwell, blamed 9/11 on homosexuals.
It is a two way street.
Wow, Now you're backing up your hateful bigotry by telling me that God wants the South to be punished. You're disgusting.
As someone who grew up in the Bible belt, I would say poverty is a prime reason for those social problems. Furthermore, more poverty means less tax revenue which means less amenities, programs and attractions that the state government can offer for the people. Which leads to poor bored teens getting into trouble or forming gangs and teen pregnancy. To add to the problem, it makes the states less desirable for big corporations to have headquarters here which limits job opportunity and growth.
I grew up in the Bible Belt as well. All those horrible social conditions exist because state governments would rather spend money on court cases letting white evangelicals discriminate when and where they wish, and because they don't give a rat's ass about healthcare for poor people.
And evangelicals have a high percentage of the problems:
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With data aggregated at the state level, conservative religious beliefs strongly predict U.S. teen birth rates, in a relationship that does not appear to be the result of confounding by income or abortion rates. One possible explanation for this relationship is that teens in more religious communities may be less likely to use contraception.
Eighty percent of young evangelicals have engaged in premarital sex, according to a new video from the National Association of Evangelicals. and almost a third of evangelicals’ unplanned pregnancies end in <a planned "unpregnancy>.
It’s time to speak honestly about sex because abstinence campaigns and anti-"a" crusades often aren’t resonating in their own pews, evangelical leaders say.
Traditionalists continue to advocate abstinence until marriage and bans on "A". They’ve said an emphatic “no” to the practices that have made the new “blue” system workable.
Yet, paradoxically, as sociologist Brad Wilcox reports, evangelical Protestant teens have sex at slightly earlier ages on average than their nonevangelical peers (respectively, 16.38 years old versus 16.52 years old), evangelical Protestant couples are also slightly more likely to divorce than nonevangelical couples, and evangelical mothers are actually more likely to work full time outside the home than their nonevangelical peers.
The fact that traditional families are flailing often persuades them that a return to traditional values is that much more critical. In today’s world, however, almost all of the traditional nostrums have proved counterproductive.
None of the crap you teach WORKS, jeffie. And truth is an affirmative defense for calling Bible Belt states socially inept. And note, that with your obsession on "sexual sins" I confined my data to the sexual "sins" running rampant among conservative "christians."
Of course it is vile and bigoted and racist. If it has a place to stick, then it will stick. Denying it exists and exists close to home is worse than owning that it exists.
Answer this... what religious affiliation would the majority of white racists claim? I am from the bible belt as well and I know from where such mindsets come from. If none of you have it, all well and good. However, do you not think that we all have to atone for even the sins of the parts of the whole to which we belong?
Does standing in a garage make you a car? Why do you believe attending a church service makes one a Christian? Jesus said we'd know who is and isn't a Christian based on the fruit we produce, not what we claim.
The fundies won't admit it publicly but amongst themselves they would blame all that on the higher percentage of people with more melanin in their skin in those states.
You are projecting your own thoughts on others.
So you agree with Warden who seems to think that Christian churches are in charge of running those States and are to blame for their problems? Who do to you blame for issues in places where there are no churches?
I don't believe I've ever said that they are "abominations" on this forum. Nor did I suggest that they are pedophiles. I've actually compared their struggles to those of adulterers, in addition to pedophiles. Do you realize that? Does it matter if you are truthful? is that a priority with you?
No, thanks. I really don't care to call you any of those things. Nor do I wish to subvert anyone's rights.
Wow, Now you're backing up your hateful bigotry by telling me that God wants the South to be punished. You're disgusting.
Read the statistics. What facts have you got to disprove them. I've already provided nearly a dozen links to how the Bible Belt FAILS to uphold evangelical "values." Why is that BF? Why do you preach one thing, but your own people live a completely different story?
In fact, my view of punishment of the Bible Belt stats fits right in with someone I'm sure you praised when he came out with this:
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The Rev Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson set off a minor explosion of their own when they asserted on US television that an angry God had allowed the terrorists to succeed in their deadly mission because the United States had become a nation of abortion, homosexuality, secular schools and courts, and the American civil liberties union.
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---Mr Falwell's and Mr. Robertson's remarks were based in theology familiar to and accepted by many conservative evangelical Christians, who believe the Bible teaches that God withdraws protection from nations that violate his will.
Stop being a hypocrite and wake up to the failure of your religion where it is strongest to help its own people.
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