The Faith and Values Forum Interviews

[sboyajian]

Gotcha....I keep hearing things Obama has been saying lately and am just dumbfounded....I don't really like Mc?Cain and woulda preffered a few other guys in the Republican Party to run.....but Obama is just....I dunno....did he really say the solution to our energy crisis is to air up our tires more???

Part of what he said to solve the crisis was this.. but not the whole thing.

Many cars are underinflated and are losing about 2 - 3 mpg due to it. Over the course of a year times how many cars are underinflated.. we'd save millions of gallons a year..

It wouldn't solve it.. but it would be a starting point that doesn't cost us anything to solve.

[DenButsu]

did he really say the solution to our energy crisis is to air up our tires more???

No, of course not.

Sorry to break the news to you, DS, but you've just been suckered by the right wing misinformation machine.

Here's a hint:

THEY LIE ABOUT OBAMA. ALL THE TIME.

The very fact that you believe that nonsense - and you're a smart, well-educated guy - chalk one victory up for their deliberate propagation of ignorance and deceit.


How do you feel, being lied to like that, btw?

[DenButsu]

Now I have been out of the loop on everything the past month as ive been out of town doing numerous things that have allowed me no access to computers or TV....so help me out on this Den....what exactly was the context of the "Above my pay raise" comment?? Was he talking about a newborn babies right to live?? Like....an already out-of-the-womb baby??? That is what I was told but the way you responded gives me the impression it was something different....

As was pointed out before, the question was when does life begin, and that was Obama's answer. (Which, by the way, should really be seen in its entirety).

Right wing blogs have been whining and moaning about the "pay scale" comment because they say "nobody is above the president's pay scale". But really, that's just a red herring, because it's absolutely obvious that what Obama meant when he said that was...

I AM NOT GOD, SO I"M NOT QUALIFIED TO ANSWER THAT QUESTION.


McCain supporters like to argue that he's not really equal to Bush, but he looks a lot like him these days. When you don't know, give a simplistic answer with confidence.

What do you do about evil?

"Destroy it."

Okay, so WTF does that mean? Is that part of your policy? Is that on the Republican platform?

"And I, John McCain, in my first term as president, will destroy all evil."

Cool. Thanks, man. Looking forward to that world.

[Raidaz4Life]

As was pointed out before, the question was when does life begin, and that was Obama's answer. (Which, by the way, should really be seen in its entirety).

Right wing blogs have been whining and moaning about the "pay scale" comment because they say "nobody is above the president's pay scale". But really, that's just a red herring, because it's absolutely obvious that what Obama meant when he said that was...

I AM NOT GOD, SO I"M NOT QUALIFIED TO ANSWER THAT QUESTION.


McCain supporters like to argue that he's not really equal to Bush, but he looks a lot like him these days. When you don't know, give a simplistic answer with confidence.

What do you do about evil?

"Destroy it."

Okay, so WTF does that mean? Is that part of your policy? Is that on the Republican platform?

"And I, John McCain, in my first term as president, will destroy all evil."

Cool. Thanks, man. Looking forward to that world.

you're right because obviously we need to reason with evil and negotiate with it. Maybe then Evil will be nice and leave everyone alone

[DenButsu]

you're right because obviously we need to reason with evil and negotiate with it. Maybe then Evil will be nice and leave everyone alone

Oh, did he? Did Obama really say that?

Lacking real issues, they resort to lies.

^That shoud be the singular message that Obama drums out for the rest of the campaign.

"John McCain is LYING TO YOU"

[blenderboy5]

Why would you assume that the question can be boiled down to such a simple black/white, yes/no duality? Moral dilemmas regarding choices about who lives and who dies are ALWAYS complicated.

Case in point: The vast majority of pro-lifers support execution. (Proving the whole "pro-life" moniker false, btw, but that's a different discussion). Furthermore, nearly all of them have a religious (and usually Christian) moral basis for holding their anti-abortion beliefs. In a nutshell, "Thou shalt not kill". Yet, clearly, their moral ambiguity is just as great as any pro-choicer who opposes the death penalty.

Not exactly. A lot of people who oppose crushing the skulls of American infants (or, in Liberal, "allowing a woman to practice the right to choose") for religious reasons are also against the death penalty. And not just for the reason you mentioned ("thou shall not kill"). By executing a prisoner who has not confessed to his crimes and repented, you are sending him straight to Hell. For real. Because he has not found god (as cheesy as those "but i found god" 11th hour bull **** excuses are of course). In addition, there's the whole hate the sin not the sinner, loving and forgiving, etc.

Finally, Obama's answer was nuanced, yes. But it was an incredibly bad answer. If you (you generally, not a specific person but I suppose in this case Obama) support partial birth abortion, fine. I personally don't understand how you can support it, but whatever. That's your opinion. But maybe tone it down a bit? Don't run around voting to kill babies who survive botched abortions. Don't say banning partial birth abortion is unconstitutional (which it isn't; citing the 1st and 14th amendment as justification for brain mushing should be unconstitutional). Basically, most Americans hate partial birth abortion. While many eat up the whole rape, incest, inconvenience, lack of money excuses (and yes some are valid) as justification for abortion, people get squeamish when they hear how a partial birth abortion is performed. So my advice to Obama: stay away from abortion. In fact, from now on follow the rest of your party and stay away from God and moral issues. Go back to *****ing about Iraq and being wrong on the surge. At least people respect you for it.

[DenButsu]

In fact, from now on follow the rest of your party and stay away from God and moral issues.

And there it is, folks:

The elitism of the Republican party.

The very false notion that only the right has legitimate claim to the domain of religion and morality.

Well, you know what? **** that! No you don't!

Just because they pompously believe that I'm going to hell because I don't believe in their god, that doesn't endow them with ownership over jack squat. As a RATIONAL THINKER who is free FROM religion, I have just as much credibility in the moral and ethical spheres as anybody who believes in (imo) fairly tales that were written hundreds of years ago.


Compassionate conservatism: Opposing the death penatly because they don't wanna send those criminals to hell. "For real".

Awww, ain't that cute?


Perhaps if we could keep these debates focused on the REAL impacts of decisions in THIS world (and not some fantasy afterlife world) we could actually have a more rational, reasonable discussion about everything.

[Raidaz4Life]

Oh, did he? Did Obama really say that?

Lacking real issues, they resort to lies.

^That shoud be the singular message that Obama drums out for the rest of the campaign.

"John McCain is LYING TO YOU"

uhhh yeah did you not hear his theory about dealing with Iran?

[papipapsmanny]

aww the good old moral and religious issue that have no bearing on the quality of life i have, yet people like to make them the biggest issue

Homosexuality, abortion, capital punishment?????????

everyone will have different beliefs no reason to force it upon everyone else

regardless these issue have no bearing on the economy, military, or quality of your life. This is why our country is going downhill, the president isnt a shrink or religious leader, he is a commander and chief i want him to build a strong economy, a mighty military, and whatever it take to get more money in my wallet, and i want him to let me have the abilty to choose what i think is morally right and wrong and share my opinions with others, not force them upon anyone

[DenButsu]

uhhh yeah did you not hear his theory about dealing with Iran?

So, you're saying that your interpretation of "Destroy evil" is "bomb, bomb Iran".

[b1e9a8r5s]

aww the good old moral and religious issue that have no bearing on the quality of life i have, yet people like to make them the biggest issue

Homosexuality, abortion, capital punishment?????????

everyone will have different beliefs no reason to force it upon everyone else

regardless these issue have no bearing on the economy, military, or quality of your life. This is why our country is going downhill, the president isnt a shrink or religious leader, he is a commander and chief i want him to build a strong economy, a mighty military, and whatever it take to get more money in my wallet, and i want him to let me have the abilty to choose what i think is morally right and wrong and share my opinions with others, not force them upon anyone

The issues of homosexuality, abortion and capital punishment have an effect on our society, no matter which side of the issue your on, and therefore do effect all of our lives. If you want to say that banning gay marriage promotes hate and intolerance, well thats effecting how our society operates does it not? Or allowing abortions would lead to increased crime rates or more drug problems or over populating. Whatever it is, it is an issue. I understand that people get touchy when they are told what to do in moral terms, but these are legal issues even when you take the morality out of them.

[blenderboy5]

And there it is, folks:

The elitism of the Republican party.

The very false notion that only the right has legitimate claim to the domain of religion and morality.

Well, you know what? **** that! No you don't!

Are you going to sit here and defend the morality of partial birth abortions? If Obama supports drilling in a child's skull over drilling in Alaska, maybe he should stick to talking about the economy and Iraq. What's crazy about that.

Just because they pompously believe that I'm going to hell because I don't believe in their god, that doesn't endow them with ownership over jack squat. As a RATIONAL THINKER who is free FROM religion, I have just as much credibility in the moral and ethical spheres as anybody who believes in (imo) fairly tales that were written hundreds of years ago.

Maybe you could not trivialize and mock the believes of Christianity for a moment? Thanks. Especially when you demonstrated a hilarious knee jerk reaction to any mention of a higher being.

Compassionate conservatism: Opposing the death penatly because they don't wanna send those criminals to hell. "For real".

There are many Christians who oppose the death penalty. And there are a large number of those christianswho oppose executing criminals who haven't repented because they are dying with sin.

Is it really hard to understand? Posters on here will defend Islam until they're blue in the face every time a raped woman is punished for having sex but you can't at least pretend to understand christianity?

Perhaps if we could keep these debates focused on the REAL impacts of decisions in THIS world (and not some fantasy afterlife world) we could actually have a more rational, reasonable discussion about everything.

Delivering babies and then killing them does have an impact on this world. Not as important as, say, posting porn on the virgin mary or covering christian symbols in elephant **** mind you. But pretty important.