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Here is my solution for America- no more muslims allowed- redirect them to other Islamic countries. Our President lets anyone in- regardless of criminal background, desire to destroy America, etc- how about SOME STANDARDS! I guess that's asking too much.
What if a war broke out in the USA and you would be forced to escape and apply successfully for refugee status to whatever country you want to move to but get denied to move to that country because of you being a Christian (i'm sure you are an Evangelical of some kind for some reason)? Wouldn't you feel discriminated against despite being a law abiding man?
No, several atheists or agnoticists are culturally Christian even if they don't realize, most of them celebrate Christmas, Easter, ecc. without even realizing it.
Celebrating Christmas is hardly a culturally Christian act at this point. It's done around the world, even among some Muslims and Jews.
The loss in Europe is with the cultural traditions. I don't care about the actual belief per se, but the loss of cultural traditions (sacrificing something for Lent, respecting Sunday as a day of rest, attending religious observances, baptizing children) has created a cultural void. Atheism and Agnosticism cannot fill that void, because they aren't belief systems. Islam is filling the void, and over time, will become the predominant belief system.
But this actually underestimates the problem, because something like 35%-40% of births are to immigrants or first generation Germans (when they are only 15% of the overall population). When you do the math the non-German population will dominate Germany within two generations, even if the borders were closed.
One of the primary reasons is that people see no point in having children, in part because there is no longer cultural weight placed on continuing the family line and imparting cultural traditions to the next generation. It's an empty life without respect for heritage.
OMG - if I actually knew anyone who thought this way, I'd set them straight in a New York minute.
I think most folks know that Europeans are mutts just like most of the rest of us. Over the eras, Europe has been invaded and conquered and "seeded" by one wave of victors after another. Anyone who doesn't know that definitely slept through World History 101.
Kathryn, there may not be that many, but I think they all post in C-D forums
And why, once again, we'll either have to ignore what's happening or go bail their @#$% out again.
Let's get real about this: The U.S., nor the Soviet Union or whomever, isn't in the business of bailing anyone's rump out of anything if it is not in their interest to do so.
Celebrating Christmas is hardly a culturally Christian act at this point. It's done around the world, even among some Muslims and Jews.
The loss in Europe is with the cultural traditions. I don't care about the actual belief per se, but the loss of cultural traditions (sacrificing something for Lent, respecting Sunday as a day of rest, attending religious observances, baptizing children) has created a cultural void. Atheism and Agnosticism cannot fill that void, because they aren't belief systems. Islam is filling the void, and over time, will become the predominant belief system.
But this actually underestimates the problem, because something like 35%-40% of births are to immigrants or first generation Germans (when they are only 15% of the overall population). When you do the math the non-German population will dominate Germany within two generations, even if the borders were closed.
One of the primary reasons is that people see no point in having children, in part because there is no longer cultural weight placed on continuing the family line and imparting cultural traditions to the next generation. It's an empty life without respect for heritage.
Wait, i don't know anyone who sacrifies something for Lent (didn't even think it was a tradition, actually it isn't here), who regularly attends church, ecc. From what you said, i get that you simply fear this process of secularization then but it's only brought positives into our society such as (almost, for the meanwhile) gender equality, tolerance towards diversity (when it comes to sexual orientation, culture, skin colour, ecc.), more openmindedness, ecc.
I guess you are one of those who would have fought against abortion, divorce, gender equality just because it would break Christian tradition that have been there for centuries........................................
The most reasonable Christian traditions (cribs, processions, singing of certain hymns, attending church on Christmas Eve) are still alive and kicking because they have been turned into cultural traditions but the dark side of religion is being slowly being kicked into oblivion which is right where it belongs
As a European who now lives in the US I find the premise of the OP comical also. Americans barely even acknowledge Europe apart from a place to get good food (certain countries at least) or a destination for a vacation. That's about it. Europe doesn't even register for most. On the other hand, European media has always been replete with stories about America this, America that.
As an American living in Europe for more than sixteen years, I would guess that the media being "replete" with stories about the U.S. probably depends upon which country you live in. The Brit media does, indeed, seem to be truly "replete" with such stories.
But I have lived in Portugal and Cyprus, and spent a good deal of time in Ireland....and their media were not serving up a big portion of American news. As I have said over and over in these discussions, I have rarely heard my friends and neighbors in European countries discussing the U.S. America is the various Disney amusement parks, it is New York City...maybe SoCal, maybe the Grand Canyon. And it is a major world power that thunders and barks as distant background noise.
The day-to-day lack of interest is probably pretty equal on both sides of the Atlantic most of the time.
As a fellow european I get annoyed by these comments as well, but not particularly because they come from the mouth of Americans. I get annoyed because I generally don't agree with these as I'm in favour of (controlled) immigration.
I don't comment on various problems specific of the USA because I don't see why I should know better than they do. That said it is true there have been lots of these threads on this board and they reflect a general misunderstanding of the european context (which is understandable) and they can get old after a while.
I don't go on the America forum so maybe there are europeans opening every two days a topic about gun violence, lack of universal healthcare or the flood of south Americans illegally entering the country ?
You mean like the BBC or Al Jazeera for instance? It may surprise you but many, many Americans get their news from both those very common sources.
Hell, I don't even have to check out CNN or Fox or MSNBC for US national news - all I have to do is read the BBC news - it covers US news extensively.
Those are two, but no, many Americans do NOT get their news from those. There is a whole contingent of rednecks who think Al Jazeera is "Islamist ISIS propaganda." Add in those who don't watch or read news at all (including a certain former President who was very proud of the fact that he didn't read the news and consequently won the admiration of enough similarly ignorant people that he served a second term), or don't have cable, or don't spend a lot of time seeking out sources. Heaven help us, if they did, Drumpf would have been laughed off the stage when he announced his candidacy!
Quote:
Originally Posted by BigCityDreamer
90% of "political" discussions on social media are fluff. The same is true of discussion forums like here on city data. Some people like to gossip and rant on and on and on about things which they are clueless about and which often don't even exist. Politics is basically the new Hollywood gossip.
So, I'm not counting that.
You must have a lot of vapid people on your friends lists. I've seen some deep, if heated, thinking, critique, and commentary from mine, often placed in historical or philosophical context. In fact, I found it sufficiently tedious that I couldn't so much as make an off-the-cuff remark or a joke without a few chiming in with their theories and postulations, not just on politics, but on everything from yoga to food to work, that I have pretty much stopped using Facebook entirely.
Wait, i don't know anyone who sacrifies something for Lent (didn't even think it was a tradition, actually it isn't here), who regularly attends church, ecc. From what you said, i get that you simply fear this process of secularization then but it's only brought positives into our society such as (almost, for the meanwhile) gender equality, tolerance towards diversity (when it comes to sexual orientation, culture, skin colour, ecc.), more openmindedness, ecc.
It has nothing to do with "secularization". You are completely confusing culture and belief.
And I also don't believe you live in Italy, a hugely culturally Catholic country, and have never heard of Lent or attending church. That's absurd. Even in countries with tiny observant populations, people have heard of these things.
Quote:
Originally Posted by improb
I guess you are one of those who would have fought against abortion, divorce, gender equality just because it would break Christian tradition that have been there for centuries........................................
This has absolutely nothing to do with anything. You, again, are confusing faith and culture, and now are confusing edicts from Rome with the cultural beliefs of peoples.
Religious Catholics in the U.S. are actually politically much more liberal than the U.S. population at large. Has nothing to do with whether or not they are observing Lent or baptizing their children. And the U.S. Catholic population is still very observant, and growing.
What if a war broke out in the USA and you would be forced to escape and apply successfully for refugee status to whatever country you want to move to but get denied to move to that country because of you being a Christian (i'm sure you are an Evangelical of some kind for some reason)? Wouldn't you feel discriminated against despite being a law abiding man?
So you are using reverse logic in order to justify allowing people into our country who want to destroy us! As for this happening to Christians, it will one day. Please explain to me why the other Islamic countries don't "welcome" their brothers from Syria? Or, why don't they help re-settle the Palestinians?
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Add in those who don't watch or read news at all (including a certain former President who was very proud of the fact that he didn't read the news and consequently won the admiration of enough similarly ignorant people that he served a second term), or don't have cable, or don't spend a lot of time seeking out sources. Heaven help us, if they did, Drumpf would have been laughed off the stage when he announced his candidacy! 
