Welcome to Gaia! ::

This thread is for people who want to bring up issues that are important to them, and have an intellectual and informed discussion about said issues. Notice the Bold Words? These Issues, topics, and discussions are not to be scoffed at, as many of them (most likely) are very near-and-dear to certain people (abortion rights, American Foriegn Policies, Immigration laws, and Religion are some examples of the topics that can be discussed here).
This is just as important to me, if not more so, than "Da_Black_Knight School", so I will be enforcing the rules quite strictly. The rules to be obeyed are;
1- Respect the person posting the topic
2- No foul language, obscene topics, or innuendos (snide sexual remarks, puns, or jokes)
3- Only bring up an issue that you feel strongly about (you should be able to back it up, with evidence if possible)
4- Don't say anything to purposely get someone upset (this one should speak for itself)
5- Only quote one person at a time (no multi-quoting, they get far too hard to understand). Keep the quotes you're referencing to relevent.

**If you're posting a new topic, put a Red Bold Title at the top of the post.

I will report anyone breaking the rules, and I will delete any obscene, rude, unnecessary, or irrelevant posts. STAY ON TOPIC!
(I don't want to seem like the evil Crew member, but this is something that could very easily get out of hand. Let's give it an honest try, shall we?)

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I'd love to debate with you over this, but I know I am not well enought informed... ^^" I'll do what I can if you want to give it a shot. ???

Lets start with a bit of politics;
We all know that, for whatever reason, on whatever topic, President Bush really hasn't cut it this past year (or 4...). While the man means well (and who doesn't?) he's just a terrible public speaker, end of story.
Now, here's the thing; america has, until recently, been all-for a new "Female President" or a "Black President", or in general, a "Non-Majority President" (that is, NOT a rich white male over the age of 40).

But, now that we have ALL of those candidates on the board (Clinton and Obama, to be specific), America almost chickens out. Its like we want a woman president, but it can't be Hilary Clinton, and we want a black president, but Obama may not even be "black" in the sense we were thinking of, and he certainly doesn't represent the majority of blacks, as the average white american may imagine them.

(I have no cruel bias against women, blacks, or minorities at all; well-more than half of my friends are in the minorities, or are females. Heck, I have a ton of friends who are adults -- they make for great conversation, suprisingly. ^^ ) Come to think of it, I don't have a single "normal" friend... hm. Oh well. cool

Seeing as this is a debate, I will challenge you on your comments about blacks and women. dare I say that you probably have low self-esteem to say that your only place in life is to be at the kitchen. Shocking to know, men can cook too. Times have changed, and You may be suprised to know that not every society has believed in female inferiority (or a patriarchy, which means that men are always better than women).
I am doing a research paper in college right now (15/20 pages-- ouch!) that deals with being considered an equal in society, namely Ancient Sparta. the Spartans had unrivaled equality between their women and men, at least in greece. Native American Indian tribes typically were matriarchial, but here we're talking about Europe... Granted, the Spartans subjugated and enslaved all the people around them, assimilating them into their class known as "Helots" (sound familiar?). they then forced these people into servitude, but so did every other culture around them. In fact, I wouldn't be suprised if Every single culture had slaves at some time- just the spoils of war, right? (I don't really subscribe to that beliefe, though).
Sparta's breakthrough was that their women had free reign inside Sparta's technically patriarchal society... look up "Gorgo" for a kick, she was King Leonidas' queen, and on more than one occasion she altered the course of Spartan history for the better.
Anyway, I believe that since times have changed, gender should not play a difference. In fact, if either gender should be superior, it would be women: only you ladies out there can sustain and GROW an entire new life inside you! Men? heck, all we can sustain is an argument, and not very well at that! (haha... *sigh*). Clearly, women are given the knowledge of life and talents of God, where men can only give their two-cents and then hope to be useful for the next 15-20 years.
As for your comments about blacks, I think you may have offended more people than you know in saying that, and I wouldn't necessarily label that as Racist, but certainly not equality-heralding. Then again, everyone is entitled to their opinion, and this is all about the free flow of ideas.

Just don't try to impose your opinion on other people, okay? (...please?)
thanks.

PS, its not because Bush is old, in fact I think you have to be 40 yrs old just to be a candidate for president. It's just that he stinks at talking. Poor guy.
Regarding your comment about friends, though, I'd say you need to dis-associate yourelf who treats you negatively, as they certainly can't be considered "friends" if they do.

You should hear my thoughts about the Meaning of Life... but that's for another time. Patience is a virtue.

Ok, I don't know if I can jump in here and say anything, but I'm going to.
I have to say that I disagree that a woman's place is in the kitchen or raising the kids. I think that are more of a use to the world in it, not just raising the children. Look at how far ahead the US is in science and technology and everything, then look at how bad it is in the Afaganistan and in the Middle East. The difference? Women have rights and power in the US and don't just stay home and cook and clean. In the Middle East, women aren't allowed to do anything but cook and clean and, since most aren't allowed to work, their children are starving because their husbends are dead or off somewhere else because of war. I'll bet that if you ask those women if they wanted to be able to go out and work rather than stay home with the children, most of them would say yes. The only problem with people these days is that they take things for granted when there are others out there that don't get those same rights and privilages.

And as for hateing blacks just because you had a bad experiance with one is actually a very limited mind set. So you met one black that was mean and rude and thought she was better than everyone else. My father had to deal with worse than that. His father was murdered by a black, but that doesn't mean that all blacks are murders in my father's eyes. He wlecomes everyone, regardless of race, religion, or anything else. And think about it. Blacks went through centuries of slavery. If this gilr was the only black in your school, then I don't really blame her for being defensive. Did you ever take the time to try and got to know her? She might have actually been worth getting to know. A lot of mean people are only mean on the outside. Once you get to know them, they're great people. I know a lot of blacks, all of them fun and interesting in their own way. Now, don't get me wrong, there are some bad ones, like the one that shot my grandfather, but it's the same in any race: whites, hispanics, you name it and I garantee there are some who are good and some who aren't, but that doesn't make it right to hate them all. If everyone lived by "I had a bad experiance with that race, so I hate them all," no one would ever like any race, not even their own.

35, 40, what's the difference when there's plastic surgery? At least, that's what people these days seem to care about, appearances (and, thanks for the vote of confidence; sometimes I can be useful, too!). Did you know that, which presidential debate was it (the first one aired on TV) that the clean-shaven presidential candidate won out over the scruffy-looking one, even though "Shaggy" had better policies and was a bit older, more experienced, and better educated.
LOOKS MATTER, WHETHER YOU ADMIT (or know) IT OR NOT! Face it, if you're cleaned up, shaven, pimples-popped-and-covered-up and the whole deal, you WILL GET MORE RESPECT, end of story. I had really shaggy hair the other week, and got treated like crap by strangers; "Oh, freaking teenager. Get a life!". I got my hair cut the other day, and what do you know? "Excuse me, young man. Please move" versus "GET THE F*%@ OUTTA MY WAY!".

lml -_- lml ROCK ON, MARINES! NAVY! ARMY! AIR FORCE! COAST GUARD! BOOO! Down with manipulative politics and negatively-based statistics! "Yesterday, three soldiers were killed in Iraq..." Ya know what? THAT'S AMAZING! ONLY THREE!?!?! Jeez, what was it, 50 years ago that we were losing 500, 1,000, 10,000 a day to the same tactics that are at work in Iraq now? And what's the grand score to date? I don't have any sources in front of me now (its way too late at night) but haven't we only lost about 3,000-some-odd troops, in 4 years of brutal combat? what is it, 100's of thousands of insurgents are dead? That's pretty freaking impressive, by anyone's standards.

Call a group of people by what they call themselves; that way, they can't rightfully get mad when you say "Black" or "Colored", or anything like that.

True that genetically and evolutionarily, Men are stronger, faster, taller, and most importantly more aggressive than women (Blacks, being the "father" race, are more genetically pure than whites, and thus exibit these traits more; taller, faster, and better "endowed", to name a few). But women are more social, civil, restrained (at least, most of them. I know a few people who aren't, if you get my drift. "Ahem, *COUGH* MY SISTER! *COUGH!* Ahem, excuse me.") and more tolerant than men. Lets face it, If I ever had to crap out a watermelon, I'd probably die, but for women, that's basically the equivalent of what is expected (biologically) from that gender. And If I had to lug around a 20 pound sack of flesh for nine months, the only person I'd gain respect for would be my Chiropracter. You women are "ballsey", ya know that? In my opinion, women are the dominant race, but I can pwn you all in Halo 3, so I'll hold on to my little piece of "Terra-Firma", thankyou. ^^



NEW TOPIC: RELIGION
Add this bad-boy to the mix of discussions, the grand-daddy of all debates, wars, and general I-Hate-You fests. Is there a God? If so, what kind is He/She/It? Are we like Dr. Frankensteins creature, killing our creator? Are we to inherit the Creators gifts of life, with our advances in genetic modification and geene-splicing, stem cells, the whole biz? Why are so many killed in the name of religion?

also, ponder this quote by famous Impressionalist Artist Gogan; "To ask the question is to never find the answer". I'll give you a hint, it deals with philosophy.


Well, g'night all, I don't want to be too cranky or useless in the morning, so I'm going to "peace-out". THE MEEK SHALL INHERIT THE EARTH! WOOHOO! THAT MEANS ME!!!! (jk)

I still disagree with you on the skin color issue, Misty, but I'll leave it own. Everyone's entitled to their own opinions.

Religion. Wow. That's really a big one and I must say you have some guts to bring that up because who knows wherer that can lead. Where should I begin? Okay, I'll begin with my beliefs. I don't believe in a "God." I believe in two higher powers. Two. Not one. One's male and the other is female. You can't have one without the other. They complete each other, yada yada yada. Point is, there can't be one whole living thing without two parents to create it.

Personally, I don't really claim any religion. Since the dawn of time, all of them have been man-made, not created by a God or superior being. The Christian church (no offense to the Christians out there) is just filled with too many lies for me to feel comfortable following. I considered being Wiccan because they believe in the man and the woman. If you want to try to understand my religion, read The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown. Read the book. Don't just go and watch the movie.