Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Maybe that's the situation where you live. In other parts of the country, it's a different story.
Enlighten me... I live in the largest Muslim community in the U.S., used to attend a Mosque that was labeled one of the most radical by the FBI and have also lived in two other communities in the United States. One common element was that hardliners mostly focused on how they wanted or wished to Islamicize "back home", meaning the Middle East, Africa, South Asia... Their efforts towards the American community was simply light evangelism and protesting Israel.
Enlighten me... I live in the largest Muslim community in the U.S., used to attend a Mosque that was labeled one of the most radical by the FBI and have also lived in two other communities in the United States. One common element was that hardliners mostly focused on how they wanted or wished to Islamicize "back home", meaning the Middle East, Africa, South Asia... Their efforts towards the American community was simply light evangelism and protesting Israel.
We have 2 large mosques in the area. Plus our state delegate is republican and a Muslim.
well if thats true, we are already in the post America she is referencing.
Americas government is neither moral or respecting of individual rights and hasnt been for decades.
Exactly Frank. The only thing I hate more than a naive and hypocritical liberal, is a delusional conservative.
Not only do Conservatives not seem to realize that their country hasn't been a moral or free country in quite some time. They don't really even know what caused it to become this way. They like to rant about liberals, putting all the blame on liberals. Which might not be wrong, but how were they able to accomplish it? Why is it that everything that Conservatives have been complaining about for at least the last 60 years, has only gotten worse?
Conservatives by-and-large seem to have a really short attention spans. And they especially seem to be lacking the capacity for predicting future events. Or maybe they just don't care to take the time to think about them?
Even if a Conservative took the time to think about the future, what is his solution to the problem? "We just need to win the next election". To a Conservative, everything is about elections. They put full faith in the Democratic process, as if it were actually Democratic. As if elections in any way truly reflect the interests or will of the people.
They don't seem to realize that, while concerning yourself about current elections is important. What we all should be far more worried about, is future elections. And future elections will be shaped by a changing culture, and a changing demographic.
Thus the real question, "What changed our culture", or "What destroyed morality?". Conservatives like to point to the welfare state. Which also isn't wrong. But the greatest source of cultural change and immorality in this country, is the public-education system. And I don't simply mean the status-quo. I don't simply want to trash-talk the public-education system as it is. I mean, the very existence of our public school system can only produce greater and greater immorality in every subsequent year.
Why? Well first lets understand, if the Republicans have any intention to "keep the government small", it makes no sense to have your children taught these values by "the government". Basically, to believe that you can have the government teaching children that the government is bad, is completely delusional. That is like expecting that if Exxon ran the public school system, that they would accurately and fairly teach children the dangers of oil. And understanding this should explain why children almost invariably come out of the public-school system very liberal, and very pro-government.
Secondly, the public education system increasingly separates children from their families. Especially in the case where the mother works. Many kids rarely spend any time with any adult other than their teachers at school(and that is alongside 20+ other kids, with almost no one-on-one time).
Which is made worse by the fact that the public-education system is "age-segregated". Which means, not only will children not spend any time around adults. Their entire world consists basically of nothing more than people their own age. Their conceptualization of right and wrong, moral or immoral, comes only from people their own age. Thus, a ten year-old has learned how to behave in society, from other ten year-olds.
Which is why children tend to have beliefs and values which make absolutely no sense to an adult. In school, the "tough-guy" is popular. In fact, the people who act in the most morally reprehensible way, becomes "cool", he gets idolized. The thug becomes glorified, he becomes almost a hero. He is something to be emulated, to be desired.
Then they enter into the "real world". Where people are no longer age-segregated. Where being the tough-guy doesn't really matter. And these people are utter failures. And many times it takes a decade or longer before these people actually learn how to properly function in society. And that is only after spending time with people much older than them, usually at work. To give them proper perspective.
And while Conservatives are getting better about looking for alternatives to the public school system(IE school vouchers). The truth is, minus libertarians(who probably shouldn't be considered Conservatives?), Conservatives are nearly unanimously supportive of the public-education system. And they tend to look at people who homeschool their children as "suspect".
When in reality, homeschooled kids are almost invariably Conservative. And not just your run-of-the-mill Conservative. They are the real-deal. And if all children were homeschooled, who doesn't believe that the country would become more Conservative? What Conservative who spends more than five minutes thinking about the public-school system, doesn't come away from it, and declare openly that "The Public-school system is complete poison for the character of both boys and girls"?
Morality is dead, and Social-Conservatives killed it.
Let me also add one of my favorite quotes by John Adams
Quote:
"From all that I had read of history and government, of human life and manners, I had drawn this conclusion, that the manners of women were the most infallible barometer to ascertain the degree of morality and virtue in a nation. All that I have since read, and all the observations I have made in different nations, have confirmed me in this opinion. The manners of women are the surest criterion by which to determine whether a republican government is practicable in a nation or not. The Jews, the - Greeks, the Romans, the Dutch, all lost their public spirit, their republican principles and habits, and their republican forms of government, when they lost the modesty and domestic virtues of their women.
The foundations of national morality must be laid in private families. In vain are schools, academies, and universities, instituted, if loose principles and licentious habits are impressed upon children in their earliest years. The mothers are the earliest and most important instructors of youth. The vices and examples of the parents cannot be concealed from the children. How is it possible that children can have any just sense of the sacred obligations of morality or religion, if, from their earliest infancy, they learn that their mothers live in habitual infidelity to their fathers, and their fathers in as constant infidelity to their mothers? Besides, the catholic doctrine is, that the contract of marriage is not only a civil and moral engagement, but a sacrament; one of the most solemn vows and oaths of religious devotion. Can they then believe religion, and morality too, anything more than a veil, a cloak, a hypocritical pretext, for political purposes of decency and convenience?"
America is lost, and it has been lost. Maybe what replaces it will be worse. But it reminds me of an old joke.
It goes, "Lets pretend you were sunk neck-deep in spit, and someone threw crap at your face. Would you duck?".
America is definitely neck-deep in spit. And while ISIS seems to have bleeding diarrhea(I'm definitely ducking that). I'm not convinced that there isn't some crap out there that is preferable to having to continue ducking into America's lake of thick, nasty spit.
Except when it's a white kid shooting up a school or mall (Mentally ill) or US backed drones blasting villages from from the sky (combat or war zone) or Mexican cartels chopping off heads (gangs fighting over drugs and money) or black gangs shooting up inner city corners in drive-bys (again, gangs fighting over drug turf) or North Korean regime starving their own people (heresay) or African militias using child soldiers (again, wrong, but typically in a war zone) or on and on...
The world would be a more peaceful place without human beings, but that's not going to happen. But the history of the world is basically a history of violence.
Islam is backwards for the most part, but it's not going anywhere--and most of the people born into it can be devout or not really care and most are just trying to survive in the world, but their cultural sphere of the world isn't going anywhere. The Middle East basically needs a secular awakening to combat the Islamist re-awakening.
with all of my points in red, with the exception of the mentally ill going on a shooting spree, you're unlikely to encounter any of this violence if you're average joe. However, with the threat of islam, you could be running a marathon, flying to a business meeting, at work drawing cartoons, etc and end up being the victim of a muslim terrorist.
What? Just because you "Know Border Patrol agents" that means you think that the border is secure and locked down tight? That no OTMs manage to sneak into this country?
I step out onto the front porch and I look straight into Mexico. A few years back, I crossed the border twice daily when I was working in a twin plant in Mexico. I've lived on the border for 33 years. Twentyfive years ago, the border WAS a big problem. If you left things on your porch or in the front yard, they'd be gone in the morning and they'd show up in the flea markets across the river. That's all way in the past now. It's tightened up a lot since then.
Just because you've seen alarmist, sensationalized Fox News segments on "the porous border" you think anyone can waltz into the US loaded down with weapons and explosives?
I probably live closer to the US-Mexico border than anyone on CD. I know Border Patrol agents. I have no worries about terrorists sneaking across to blow me up at the shopping mall.
The reality is that the threat is greatly exaggerated by a news media that sensationalizes stories and cries "crisis" continually to push up their ratings.
It gets some folks' blood pressure all pumped up.
Not mine.
Well, we used to live in San Diego. My wife is a native San Diegan. She was the former store manager (G.M.) of the Fashion Valley Buffum's, the Grossmont Center Buffum's, and then the Lomas Santa Fe Buffum's. We lived in Mira Mesa, right next to Mira Mar.
I don't think the threat is exaggerated at all. I really don't think we take it seriously enough. Actually I think most of the media ignores it, rather than exaggerates it.
I wish I shared your confidence. I'm concerned. We know they are here. I think it's only a matter of time before we have another large scale attack on the order of 9/11.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Relax...
