NationStates Jolt Archive

With the elections drawing closer, it is undeniable that there is a lot of bad feelings and resentment between the different political orientations in the forum. People view each other as unreasonable. I'm out to change that.

In this topic, I would like people to explain what they believe, and if they feel like syaing so, why they believe it. The twist is that you are not allowed to debate the political beliefs of others. If people understand the stances of others, they are less likely to resort to anger. It'll make things more civil around here.

I'll go first.
BELIEF: I am against abortion because I believe it is murder.
REASONING: I have seen nothing that says a fetus is not human, the termination of a human is called murder, so I think the same term applies to the termination of a fetus.
BELIEF: I think Affirmative Action should be discontinued.
REASONING: No, I'm not saying that to be racist. I say it because I think AA causes racism. Regardless of what the policy says, the way it is interpreted by the public is an unfair advantage given to minorities specifically for being minorities. That makes people have bad opinions of minorities, and leads to racism.
BELIEF: I am for the development of alternate fuels, specifically hydrogen fuel cells.
REASONING: We need to end our dependence on foreign oil, because some of the money we send over there does wind up in the hands of terrorist. Hydrogen fuel cells seem the most feasable. Besides, search "Oil Crash" on Google. Oil demand is expected to exceed supply by 2009.
BELIEF: I am not for Big Business and think we ought to do something about corporate corruption, but I don't go as far as saying we should end capitalism.
REASONING: My father was laid off from his manufacturing job, and it was the closest my family ever came to breaking up. It turns out that at the same time my father was laid off, the corporate bigwigs bought a company jet.
BELIEF: I am against same-sex marraige.
REASONING: It will be forced on the church eventually if legalized. If gay marraige is legalized and a homosexual couple is not allowed to marry at a church, they will file a discrimination suit and win and things will go downhill from there.

I might add more later. I think you get the general idea.

It would take a multi-volumed book to explain all my beliefs on everything, but here is a small sampler of what I believe in.

BELIEF: I am an atheist
REASONING: 1) I either don't have much of a spiritual side, or I haven't gotten in touch with it yet. 2) I believe a lot of mainstream religion is focussed on the negative (such as, if you do this, you go to hell) and humongous orthodoxies lose touch (almost immediately, in fact) with the original theories and philosophies on which the religion was founded. 3) Many wars have been fought over religion. Although there have been many good things that have come out of religion as well. 4) The inherent literalism and fundamentalism of the 20th century that has corrupted mainstream religion is infuriating to me. The concept of allegory and metaphor is lost upon these literalists, who believe that everything in their religious texts happened exactly as mentioned.

BELIEF: I am for same-sex marriage.
REASONING: I can see no logical argument for why this should not be allowed. It will not detract from heterosexual marriage; on the contrary, it is almost a conservative policy in giving homosexual partners the same responsibilities and burdens that are already heaped on heterosexual couples. There is no reason why two loving people cannot enjoy the same rights as two others, simply on the basis of sexual orientation.

I have a lot more to say, but much less time to say it, so I'll leave it at that for now. I might add more later.

good luck with this thread reynes!

ill model my list after yours as way of showing how things can be argued without denigrating someone elses views

belief: i am pro-choice
reason: because abortion is a personal tragedy that can only be decided by a woman, preferably in consultation with her family, doctor, and spiritual advisors.

belief: i am for a limited amount of affirmative action
reason: because there are still some racist attitudes in the world that need balancing out. without mandates, people have a natural preference for people just like themselves.

belief: i am for the development of alternative fuels, especially hydrogen fuel cells
reason: i hope one day to have my own solar/wind drive "filling station" for my hydrogen-fueled car!

belief: i am a capitalist
reason: i feel that, while regulations are needed to avoid disasters like ENRON, the free flow of money, like the free flow of ideas, is good for everyone.

belief: same sex marriage should be legal AND encouraged.
reason: marriage lends stability to gay families.

belief: no church should ever be forced to accept same sex marriage
reason: churches are none of the governments business.

With the elections drawing closer, it is undeniable that there is a lot of bad feelings and resentment between the different political orientations in the forum. People view each other as unreasonable. I'm out to change that.

In this topic, I would like people to explain what they believe, and if they feel like syaing so, why they believe it. The twist is that you are not allowed to debate the political beliefs of others. If people understand the stances of others, they are less likely to resort to anger. It'll make things more civil around here.

I'll go first.
BELIEF: I am against abortion because I believe it is murder.
REASONING: I have seen nothing that says a fetus is not human, the termination of a human is called murder, so I think the same term applies to the termination of a fetus.
BELIEF: I think Affirmative Action should be discontinued.
REASONING: No, I'm not saying that to be racist. I say it because I think AA causes racism. Regardless of what the policy says, the way it is interpreted by the public is an unfair advantage given to minorities specifically for being minorities. That makes people have bad opinions of minorities, and leads to racism.
BELIEF: I am for the development of alternate fuels, specifically hydrogen fuel cells.
REASONING: We need to end our dependence on foreign oil, because some of the money we send over there does wind up in the hands of terrorist. Hydrogen fuel cells seem the most feasable. Besides, search "Oil Crash" on Google. Oil demand is expected to exceed supply by 2009.
BELIEF: I am not for Big Business and think we ought to do something about corporate corruption, but I don't go as far as saying we should end capitalism.
REASONING: My father was laid off from his manufacturing job, and it was the closest my family ever came to breaking up. It turns out that at the same time my father was laid off, the corporate bigwigs bought a company jet.
BELIEF: I am against same-sex marraige.
REASONING: It will be forced on the church eventually if legalized. If gay marraige is legalized and a homosexual couple is not allowed to marry at a church, they will file a discrimination suit and win and things will go downhill from there.

I might add more later. I think you get the general idea.I agree with all your beliefes except for gay marriage cause I dont give a shit about the church and secondly gays cant file dicrimination against churchs cause churchs are private cult and are legally allowed to dicriminate and on abortion I dont think its murder cause its not murder until the soul enters the body first and Im sure the soul wont enter until the doctors done cleaning up the fetus and all

Hmm, okay, let's try this.

Belief: I am against violence in all forms.
Reasoning: It is two fold (actually more, but I'll break it into two general categories). Rationally, it is a rejection of the very faculty that elevates us above common animals and nullifies every advancement we have made throughout the course of our history as a species. Spiritually, all life is sacred, if for no other reason than by cosmic chance it is here right now and once it is gone it will never be repeated. As humans, we have the added gift of awareness, so we know we are here now and what an amazing thing that is. Because of this awareness, however, we must also take responsibility for protecting the preciousness of life and any act to willfully harm another is a direct attack against the thing that makes us human, for lack of a better word, our souls.

Belief: I am pro-capitalism within reason.
Reasoning: While capitalism is not a perfect method, it seems to be the most enduring and offer the possibility of the most benefits. However, as human nature can easily succumb to greed, there must be protections and assurances that a certain basic level of support is available to all and that corporations do not place undue burdon or threat upon individual liberty and happiness.

Belief: I am pro-life, but see no point in "covering up" the problem by removing a woman's right to choose.
Reasoning: Abortion is not an easy choice and, regardless of one's stance, there is much grey area. To pass a law will not remove the reasons women feel their only option is to have an abortion, hence it will not stop abortion. There is also no point in demonizing a woman who has had one because the same faculty which I use to arrive at my pro-life stance is the same faculty that she used to make her decision and in order to be allowed my conclusions, I must allow her to reach hers. Most importantly, though, it just seems cruel.

Belief: I am pro-equal rights.
Reasoning: I believe that, in order for any of us to make a claim to any sort of personal right, we must extend that same claim to all, regardless of gender, race, religion or sexual orientation. As Thomas Jefferson said, the majority will surely rule, but it must rule responsibily and the rights of the minority must be protected until they are commonly accepted and seen to be inalienable, even if this does require the passage of laws specifically designed to protect these rights. As no good argument has been offered against same-sex marriage, at least to my belief, I equate it on par with mixed-race marriage: there may be difficulties, but not because of an inherant problem with the situation, but instead from outside prejudices which must be overcome through education and perserverence.

Belief: I am pro-education.
Reasoning: In order for our democracy to work, we must be an informed citizenry. It is our responsibility to seek out information on our government and it is the duty of our government to provide that information to us as well as institutions to help spread that information. An ignorant populace is an easily controlled populace and an easily controlled populace is the death of America.

Belief: I am pro-America.
Reasoning: We're not perfect, but we're no worse than any other country throughout history that has wielded an amazing amount of power in a vaccum. The only difference is we're televised and we're relatively new on the scene. Thus, every mistake we make, while having been made before, is instantly evident to the entire world and everyone feels justified in attacking it, even though it is the height of hypocracy to do so. However, this does not excuse us from responsibility for our mistakes and we must endeavor to make as few of them as possible and learn from the mistakes of other countries in order to avoid them. When we do not do this, the world is justified to point this out, as we wield so much power that our smallest decisions send massive shock waves around the globe. They do not have the right, though, to minimize their own transgressions. We are the children of a unique vision in this world. This gives us power, but must be tempered with responsibility.

Belief: I am pro-globalization.
Reasoning: The fundamental strength of America comes from it's diversity. No matter what the situation, we have someone who can handle the job. This is true globally. Other cultures should be respected and positive synergies formed through exchange of knowledge and viewpoints. We are now, more than ever, a global species and to not acknowledge this is to willfully live with your head in the sand. However, to embrace our differences on a global scale can lead to a forging of a great species and an enhanced society where all benefit and none are left in the cold.

Belief: I am pro-spirituality.
Reasoning: One of the seemingly fundamental traits of humanity is it's need for belief. If not in a God, then in itself. This means something. The fact that this trait is found in every culture in every area of the world, the sheer ubiquitousness of this need is compelling regardless of it's source. People must develop their spirituality through whatever channels speak to them and people must also allow others the same latitude. Theists and athiests can live together peacefully if they want to, but only if they give each other permission to explore the depths and needs of their personal belief individually, without judgement or persecution.

I like this idea Reynes. I'm going to stick to one belief, but go on a bit I think.

BELIEF: I believe the US is in grave danger of becoming a totalitarian regime, and yet is also at the moment of its greatest potential in terms of openness and activism.

REASONS: It's not the big things that Bush and his administration has done that make me worry for the future of the country--Iraq and all the sundry bullshit that goes along with it is a big enough deal that the majority of the country, according to recent polls, thinks it was a mistake and that the administration deliberately deceived the public in order to get support for the action.

It's the small things that worry me. The willingness of political operatives to out a deep-cover CIA agent in order to revenge themselves upon a diplomat who didn't parrot the party line, the attempted appointment of extremists as judges they know will never pass just to give the incumbent another issue with which to deflect criticism, the doublespeak of government programs and initiatives that involve the health and quality of life for the weakest among us, the open pandering to the worst side of people in order to get them to vote against their own self-interest in order to promote hateful agendas--these are the things that worry me, that keep me awake at night.

The reason these things worry me so much is because they're the things you miss unless you're paying close attention, and in order to pay close attention, you have to have time, because the corporate news media, ever in search of greater profits, doesn't make it easy on you to find out what's happening in the nation, and in the world.

This is a news media that spends day after day and hour after hour on a murder trial in Modesto, California--one that involves no celebrities, and no real sensation. There are similarly gruesome murders committed veery single day that never receive one-thousandth the attention Laci Petersen's case has. This is a news media that breaks in to regularly scheduled programming to tell us that Jennifer Lopez has just dumped Ben Affleck. And most people in the country eat it up.

So a complacent media combined with perhaps the most secretive administration in history, Nixon's included (unless it involves an apparent misdeed by a political opponent), leaves us with a woefully uninformed populace that could conceivably re-elect the most incompetent and dishonest administration of the last hundred years, an administration that has already moved to strip citizens of their civil rights while simultaneously turning the keys of the treasury over to corporate America.

And yet I have hope that we are again on the cusp of greatness, thanks to this marvel of global communication, the internet.

This is the printing press of our time, an invention that, since it has matured, has potentially swung the balance of power from the elite to the masses. It is the greatest organizing tool of all time, and activists figured out how to use it first. As a result, we feel empowered again. No longer do we have to rely on television or print to break a story. No longer do we have to rely on corporate media to get the word out about wrongdoing that the big boys would rather keep quiet.

And most importantly, no longer do we have to rely on our leaders to organize us to action. We have become our own leaders now. We have the initiative. We determine the time and the place of the battles we wish to wage. Suddenly, those little things that 10 years ago we might never have heard about until historians exposed the wrongdoings to light of day are being spread across the world faster than spin doctors can apply bandages.

There will no doubt be attempts to co-opt this situation; they may not be able to put the djinni back in the bottle, but they can attempt to become the djinni's master. I have hope, though, that so many people--young people especially, who have been ignored and overlooked and are now the masters of this technology--like this feeling of empowerment and will slap the hands of those who attempt to take their power away.

BELIEF: I am for same-sex marrige
REASONS: No reason they shouldn't be allowed to get married. Or at least, none that haven't been disproven. If two consenting adults love each other, they should be able to get married.

BELIEF: I am pro-capitalist but anti-big buisness.
REASONS: Sorry, but I just have a lot of problems trusting big buisnesses. A lot of problems trusting big buisnesses. It has nothing to do with ENRON, though that's an excellent example on why. I'm simply against corporate greed entirely.

BELIEF: I abhor MTV and my generation
REASONS: This has very little to do with anything, but I'm saying it anyways :p. My generation is shit. I'm 18 years old and I can't STAND my peers. They're immature fools who want to through away all responsibility and do whatever gives them their personal and selfish satisfaction and pleasure. I hope they all rot.

But why MTV? Because I believe MTV is a VERY good example of what the media has done. MTV shows that life should be nothing more then constant partying, that it's cool to go sport fucking with or without protection, that it's impossible to overdose, and that only good looking people are worth anything. I would love to punch the CEO of MTV in the face, then kick him while he's down.

BELIEF: I am against war, but recognize that, at times, it is neccisary in this world. However, Iraq is not one of these neccisary ones.
REASONS: The USA is not the world's police man. "Saddam is a bastard" isn't reason enough to go to war with him, because there's a whole lot of other bastards out there, and we arn't even blinking towards them. Oh, and for you idiots out there who STILL don't get it? THERE WERE NO WMDS. THERE WERE NO AL-QUEDA CONNECTIONS.

BELIEF: I am pro-choice but anti-abortion
REASONS: I personally am against abortion. If I knew someone who was having an abortion, I'd do what I could to convince them otherwise. However, in the end, it's not my decision-it's theirs.

BELIEF: Ashcroft scares the living hell out of me, and I don't like him
REASONS: Look, Ashcroft lost to a dead man. The ballot had these choices: "Ashcroft" and "Dead Guy." "Sorry John, but the dead guy scares me less then you do."

BELIEF: I'm pro-American, despite what some may say
REASONS: Look, the country is awesome. It's just our leader that sucks.

BELIEF: I'm pro-spirituality, but anti-organized religions
REASONS: I was a christian for most of my life, until I opened my eyes, and forced myself to look at everything I supposedly believed. I was sick of being in constant denial, so I left the religion behind, and never looked behind ONCE. However, I still believe in a divine being or diety, and I most definatly believe in spirituality. More then anything else, I believe in everyone having their individual spirituality.

BELIEF: I am pro-education
REASONS: I've been through both public and private schools, and what I've learned in both is this: both can equally suck and rule, but it ALL depends on the teachers. Look, I don't care how nice a school's sports program is (honestly, I'd love to dismantle them entirely), it's the teachers that make or break a school.

bee-to-the-ump