we're on youtube!

http://youtube.com/watch?v=6tiMBq0eelI

Last week bore the tragic deaths of three students at my school. A fire killed April Englund, Amanda Rief, and Scott Hams as they slept. This horrible accident sent shockwaves of grief through our school. But what happened afterwards was beyond shocking.


            This morning at 7:45 the right wing religious hate group of the Westburo Baptist Church came to picket on our campus. They stood on the corner with evil smiles as they held signs preaching "God Hates Fags" and "God Hates America". One even depicted a burning house with "Gods Wrath" written in bold. They took up their position as more than 300 of us students stood in defense of the grieving families. We carried signs bearing the names of our lost friends and shouted “Go home, no one here wants your hate”. We woke up early and braved the chilly winds to show our solidarity with each other. We resisted their bigotry and hatred by waving signs of peace and hope, some even got creative. A friend of mine who stood just behind the picketing church and held a sign with a downward arrow “We Are Idiots”.
    As the police kept order we rushed in around them, completely surrounding them for several minutes. The hateful signs of the picketers couldn’t be seen by on looking cameras because of the mass of students. We chanted “go home, go home, go home” and at 8:05 am they did. As they walked to their cars near one of our dorms a student blared music out his window, music to the tune of “God Bless America”.  Unfortunately for one of our families they left to Minnesota to picket the funeral of April Englund.  All of our hopes and support go out to the families of these innocent students especially those who must bear the indignity of this religious bigotry.

We, the students of the University Wisconsin Stout, ask for your support.




http://www.godhatesfags.com/schedule.html
http://www.uwstout.edu/deaths/remember/index.shtml

Las Vegas society apears to be doing just fine, well in fact

I completely agree, well said!

We'd need to learn more about this case before we can place blame. However it does appear at first glance that their religious beliefs got in the way of a very real and very treatable disease. Something I would define as neglect.

Perrin has it just right

If you seriously believe that men in Western society do not care about the civil rights of women then you are completely wrong. It took a while for them to get sufferage and they still don't have equal pay but men DO care. To say otherwise is purly sexist



many women willingly choose such a life and achieve success

Firstly this proves that you can say whatever you want as long as you can get yourself named a pastor.


Secondly, I find little fault in any of the critisisms he had of the U.S. We do have a long history of systematic repression of blacks and it still occurs today. We have been state sponsors of terror in many parts of the world and it was only a matter of time until our enemies were able to strike back. His rhetoric is meant to be enflamatory and was intended for a black audience.


Don't also forget that this was Barack Obama's preacher, NOT Barack Obama. If you have issue with his preacher then take that up with Rev. Wright. Obama responded openly in a spirit that Christians should understand. His preacher was a religious leader and a loving person that helped him find his way in life. But Wright's political opionions are his own, not representative of Obama.

Or maybe they are just conoseurs of rare and interesting meat 

Since we're now talking about underage sexual conduct it should be OBVIOUS that unless you are 18 you should not, lawfully, be looking at porn. From a realistic standpoint it is impossible to prevent this through legal enforcement without infringing on the rights of others. In this particular case it is the parents responsibility to regulate the access their children have to materials like these. If you catch your 13 year old watching porn, take away his internet or monitor it! 


Either way watching or partaking in sexual conduct which is consentual is NOT immoral. No matter which case you are talking about both individuals are willing exchanging something of value. Prostitution and porn are creations of the human mind, both have existed from the start of civilization. Some of the earliest books in midevil Europe were pornographic in nature, describing positions and fantasies. And what about the Kama Sutra? Is this a book of moral bankrupcy or an expression of artistic value and human emotion?

ohh noo! A generation that is not shamefull of sex. What will we ever do!

The more I think about it the more I understand how logical religion is...


Not that religious claims are correct, not that God exists, not that religion is a "good" thing, but it is logical that religion exists and evolves.

We are a species that is curious and intelligent(for the most part), we seek answers to question that we do not know and we have a mind that is efficient at survival. In our intellectual infanty our ancestors didn't know the stars were enormous masses of burning nuclear fire, nor did we know that disease was caused by microscopic organisms. The minds of our ancestors attempted to find answers to questions which were beyond their understanding and they created stories, myths and religion to create a world that made sense, a world that helped them to survive. Religion is a logical outcome in a species that has consciousness and curiosity.

But just as religion had evolved to help formulate our understanding of the world it is evolving now. Our understanding of the stars and bacteria begin to peel back the superstition of ancient history and we have new ways to think about the world. We have harnessed nuclear fire and we have vaccines against bacteria. And just as we can vaccinate against harmfull viruses we should now vaccinate ourselves and our society from the harmfull ideas within religion.

Think of religion as a vital part of our ecosystem that has been around for millenia, like the misquito. The misquito feeds off our bodies, generally leaving only small marks but feeding other parts of the world that need food for survival. However religions often carry harmfull ideas that can infect our minds and take control of us. We need to oppose these ideas wherever they exist. We must do it rationally, with emotion and with care. Not all religions are equal in their benifits and detriments but they are a natural part of all culture. And as a part of our cultural ecosystem the good ideas must evolve and the bad ideas must be vaccinated against.

I agree that we shouldn't care who we offend, I was just attempting to explain why Scientology has laws against it in Germany. Precisly because Germany has a harsh history when it comes to dangerous belief systems.

First off I don't believe aliens have actually found or interacted with us.

but...

Lets suppose the crackpot theries about "greys', UFO's, Roswell and so on were confirmed. Lets make a leap of faith and asume that the technology boom after WWII are because of reverse engineered UFO tech. And then lets say it became revealed to the world masses that aliens really do exist. Lets say... they made an apperance at the next presidential inaguration. What would be the effect on the world? How would people change how we see the world, the universe, and each other?

well then lets form a hypothesis that we can analyze. What would you propose is the problem in Palestine?