NationStates Jolt Archive

Americans are a nation of moral hypocrites. 70% of Americans, according to a recent New York Times-CBS News poll, believe that mass culture is responsible for debasing our moral values.

What does this mean? That while watching shows like Desperate Housewives we simultaneously complain that Hollywood and the entertainment industry are debasing our moral values. Even in "moral majority" red states sex and violence sells.

Great commentary by Robert Sheer of the LA Times:

The Invisible Hand Holds the Remote

http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/la-oe-scheer30nov30,1,7025110.column?coll=la-util-op-ed

"So if you're upset with what's on the boob tube tonight, just ask yourself: What would Jesus watch?"

Americans are a nation of moral hypocrites. 70% of Americans, according to a recent New York Times-CBS News poll, believe that mass culture is responsible for debasing our moral values.

What does this mean? That while watching shows like Desperate Housewives we simultaneously complain that Hollywood and the entertainment industry are debasing our moral values. Even in "moral majority" red states sex and violence sells.

Great commentary by Robert Sheer of the LA Times:

The Invisible Hand Holds the Remote

http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/la-oe-scheer30nov30,1,7025110.column?coll=la-util-op-ed

"So if you're upset with what's on the boob tube tonight, just ask yourself: What would Jesus watch?"

Not just a nation … the world is full of the same ol same ol

as I ask again - what morals does the republican party have?



Oh right, I forgot, they don't.

They have religious Morals, and to 59 million Americans those are the best kind.

in a nation of 280 million.....

what a statement!

They have religious Morals, and to 59 million Americans those are the best kind.

Bullshit, they have no more religious morals than the democrats. The republicans just use them for political gain.

They have religious Morals, and to 59 million Americans those are the best kind.

Oh those. . . Intolerance of gays, hatred of other cultures, theocratic government views, intolerance of other religions.

I forgot about those moral. Sorry. Republicans do have morals.

Why does a question about the morals of the American nation as a whole quickly become 'Republicans have no morals'? Seems to say something about these boards, no?

And yes, Americans are hypocritical. Most people are. If you look at any nation on earth you'll find that there's a hypocrisy somewhere. North Korea, for example, the shining, communist peace commune taken advantage of by the evil Americans, but the people have no food and a massive conscription army.

Exactly! Who needs anything else when you've got a Republican with morals. After all,they have their morals, which OBVIOUSLY mean they know best and that we are IMMORAL and must follow their every word....

The preservation of culture the way G-d wanted it...

I'm sorry, but to me those are great Morals.

Just because your not religious does not mean that those morals are wrong.

Those morals are technically right, and until the majority says otherwise, they shall remain right in that country.

If your so inclined for Liberalism go to Scandanavia or Canada, or something.
-.-

Yes, and no Democrat has ever gone to a church during a campaign, to show solidarity with religious figures who might be politically beneficial. Never once did a Democratic presidential candidate speak at a black church. Nope. Never. Wouldn't catch them doing it.

And I guess the Democrats in my district who don't want my daughter to pray in public (silently, not in a group) and punish her in school for it aren't intolerant of religion. Nope. Not at all. Not in the slightest. Not while the same Democrats establish a prayer center in the school for Muslim children.

The California school district that forbids children to read items from the Founding Fathers (such as the Declaration of Independence) because they mention "God" aren't religiously intolerant, either.

The preservation of culture the way G-d wanted it...

I'm sorry, but to me those are great Morals.

Do you even know what that means?

Do you even know what that means?

Do i know what, what means? What morals are? or what?

in a nation of 280 million.....

what a statement!
You made an incorrect projection to population

Statistically you can only compare them to other sample categories
Then project the ratio (with a error specifically defined by z or t scores) to the population

There are issues with it being a non random sample … but that shouldn’t affect your confidence level significantly (close enough to random) and if you take a sample size of the size of the number of people that voted it is defiantly a fairly accurate projection (purely statistically)
In fact the sample size could have been about 10 k random and been a VERY accurate projection

Please don’t bastardize statistics to prove your view point

Don't forget, just because a nation has X-number of people, doesn't mean that X-number were of voting age. Y-number of people voted. Now, proportionately, you could only compare the Y-number of voters to each other based on how they voted.

Those morals are technically right, and until the majority says otherwise, they shall remain right in that country.
-.-

how does that work? since when is morality defined by "majority rules"? if 51% of the people in this nation believed that eating live babies was moral, would that make it moral? what the hell kind of a sheep are you, if you define morality based merely on what most people seem to think?

The preservation of culture the way G-d wanted it...

I'm sorry, but to me those are great Morals.

Just because your not religious does not mean that those morals are wrong.

Those morals are technically right, and until the majority says otherwise, they shall remain right in that country.

If your so inclined for Liberalism go to Scandanavia or Canada, or something.
-.-

I am getting sick of these arguments.

Apparently, the simplified story of all the pilgrims trying to escape religious persecution was lost on you in grade school.

You see, what they were trying to tell you with those stories is that this country was designed to be open to people of all beliefs, not just the majorities. They were trying to say that the only role government had was to ensure the safety and prosperity of its people. Anything else would not be allowed.

So when you say that the beliefs of the majority are what the nation must follow, you are spouting unAmerican gibberish. If you want a nation where the majority sets the moral and religious beliefs for a nation, I say you buy a great big chunk of desert in the middle east and start your own nation. They are very good at that sort of thing over there.

And when you become overly zeolous in your religious fervor and intolerance for our continuously growing society, we can come and bomb you and remove you from power.

The preservation of culture the way G-d wanted it...

I'm sorry, but to me those are great Morals.

Just because your not religious does not mean that those morals are wrong.

Those morals are technically right, and until the majority says otherwise, they shall remain right in that country.

If your so inclined for Liberalism go to Scandanavia or Canada, or something.
-.-


So I'm not intolerant or anything. I swear.


Okay, lets look at these morals closely shall we.

Intolerance of Gays: right off the bat, doesn't Jesus say love everyone. Do unto others as you would have them do on to, and so on and so forth. By hating gays, aren't you kinda going against Jesus? Second - if god didn't want homosexuality in the world, why does it occur in nature? Unless of course its natural and you're just wrong. But moving on - telling gays not to have sex. Here let me put it this way - you are free to love a girl and live with her but you can never ever have sex because thats a sin. That's what you're telling gays. Good job my friend.

Hatred of Other Cultures - again with the whole Jesus thing. Then again, do we hate others because we are afraid of them? Do you think that your intolerance of others will lead you to a better more secure life? Or will it breed the terrorism that we currently have? Lets think about that for a moment.

Theocratic Governmant - The constitution is kinda in the way of that. Whoops.

Intolerance of Other Religions - "I'm right you're wrong." Yeah, that'll get us somewhere fast. "Change your views to suit mine" - ummmm, no.

That's why any prayer except Muslim prayer is forbidden in the public schools in my county, and why they establish Muslim prayer rooms in every school (even though there are only a handful of Muslims).

Yes, that's "staying out" of the religion thing, alright. Good Democratic policy in my county.

That's why any prayer except Muslim prayer is forbidden in the public schools in my county, and why they establish Muslim prayer rooms in every school (even though there are only a handful of Muslims).

Yes, that's "staying out" of the religion thing, alright. Good Democratic policy in my county.
They're not promoting religion - they're allowing people to practice their own religion - Muslims need the prayer rooms to do that. Think through an argument first, will ya?

Yes, and no Democrat has ever gone to a church during a campaign, to show solidarity with religious figures who might be politically beneficial. Never once did a Democratic presidential candidate speak at a black church. Nope. Never. Wouldn't catch them doing it.


I'm sorry, but didn't John Kerry speak to a collection of Black Ministers? Didn't he worship in a Catholic Church? Or where you paying attention?

Your arguments make little sense...

YOu cannot change the thought of the majority... only thing you can do is either wait until there are enough people to provoke a reovlution to change it, or move to a country where whatever "morals" you want are already legalized.

And I guess the Democrats in my district who don't want my daughter to pray in public (silently, not in a group) and punish her in school for it aren't intolerant of religion. Nope. Not at all. Not in the slightest. Not while the same Democrats establish a prayer center in the school for Muslim children.

The California school district that forbids children to read items from the Founding Fathers (such as the Declaration of Independence) because they mention "God" aren't religiously intolerant, either.

Where are people forbidden to pray in public. They are granted freedom of religion and assembly.

Children can gather to pray before and after school, they can pray during school. The school cannot sanction it, however. Perhaps you could cite an example where the bounds were overstepped.

The very few people who were responsible for the debacle in California were idiots and in no way reflect the views of a vast majority of democrats.

Kerry will say whatever would get him elected....

Your arguments make little sense...

YOu cannot change the thought of the majority... only thing you can do is either wait until there are enough people to provoke a reovlution to change it, or move to a country where whatever "morals" you want are already legalized.

YOU CAN"T LEGISLATE MORALITY

thats what I'm saying

I don't want my morals legislated, I don't want your morals legislated. I want everyone to be free to have whatever morals they want to have. I can't believe how hard that is to understand.

The preservation of culture the way G-d wanted it...Who is G-d? Is your god so daft you're not allowed to write his name? I thought that was a Jewish thing?

Anyway - I prefer morals I though through myself rather than those handed me on a plate by someone who liked to be in control.

Kerry will say whatever would get him elected....
Same went for Bush.

Vittos, in Montgomery County, Maryland and Fairfax County, Virginia.

That's why any prayer except Muslim prayer is forbidden in the public schools in my county, and why they establish Muslim prayer rooms in every school (even though there are only a handful of Muslims).

Yes, that's "staying out" of the religion thing, alright. Good Democratic policy in my county.

That's not even close to true, and you damn well know it. So maybe your daughter's school has a Muslim prayer room. That doesn't mean that every single school in the entire country has a Muslim prayer room. Your school system just sucks. How about you get off your ass and do something about it, instead of bitching about it on an Internet forum?

Who is G-d? Is your god so daft you're not allowed to write his name? I thought that was a Jewish thing?

1. *looks at quote* hey look i'm jewish!
2. It's not that it's not allowed, it's out of respect, if for some reason someone were to print it out and then rip it up or something, it would be a form of blasphemy as you would be desecrating G-d's name. So i don't see what's so "Daft" as you put it.

Anyway - I prefer morals I though through myself rather than those handed me on a plate by someone who liked to be in control.

Most people do like morals yes...

Same went for Bush.

SO your telling me that he has changed his mind repeatedly, to whatever the majority wanted to hear...?

Vittos, in Montgomery County, Maryland and Fairfax County, Virginia.

Got a site for that info?

I'm talking about the two counties I have lived in. I've given genuine thought to moving.

And yes, prayer is forbidden in school. Expression of religion in school is forbidden. You can't hand out Christmas cards to like-minded students.

But, if you're Muslim, you can pray anytime you like in the special room reserved for that purpose.

But, if you're any other religion you don't have that freedom.

I am getting sick of these arguments.

Apparently, the simplified story of all the pilgrims trying to escape religious persecution was lost on you in grade school.

You see, what they were trying to tell you with those stories is that this country was designed to be open to people of all beliefs, not just the majorities. They were trying to say that the only role government had was to ensure the safety and prosperity of its people. Anything else would not be allowed.

I agree with the point you're trying to make here, but I have to point something out for the folks who may have missed this. America was peopled with people escaping religious persecution and criminals (initially). Those who were escaping persecution immediately turned around and did to others what they fled from to begin with. Think the Salem trials. Think of Merry Mount. Remember Endecott? Anyone here read Hawthorne? How about the American Indians? What of the massive attempt to a) irradicate them and b) convert them to Christianity? We're founded on the belief that people should be free to do what they want to religiously, but we, as a nation, have never seemed to act based on that belief.

2. It's not that it's not allowed, it's out of respect, if for some reason someone were to print it out and then rip it up or something, it would be a form of blasphemy as you would be desecrating G-d's name. So i don't see what's so "Daft" as you put it.
Yes, but equally, I can type God a thousand times, and then print it off and rip it up. Or I can just burn the Bible.

I think you've taken the word "desecrating" a bit too literally there.

Who is G-d? Is your god so daft you're not allowed to write his name? I thought that was a Jewish thing?

Anyway - I prefer morals I though through myself rather than those handed me on a plate by someone who liked to be in control.

Hmmm... careful. If you call someone's god daft because they wrote "G-d" and then say, "I thought that was a Jewish thing." You're actually pitching out a very subtle anti-semetic comment. (ie. You don't spell your god's name... maybe your god is daft. So, isn't that a Jewish thing to do? This implies that not spelling your god's name is daft. Therefore, Jews must be daft.) I hope you didn't mean it that way. But I feel we should be a little more careful in the future when discussing people's religions. There are a few areas where criticism may get you into bigger trouble than you'd like. 1) People's pets. 2) People's taste in music. 3) People's children. 4) People's religious beliefs.

I am currently very worried that Britain is rapidly becoming much like the US of America that you all are discribing. Where tolerance and diversity are placed higher on social checklist than morality, and the basis of this lack in morality (which in Britain was christianity) is being cancelled out by materialistic, hedontist societies. I have also observed that this is also the case in many of hte eastern countries, where Islam is going 2 major routes, in one hand the young musilms are verring away from the traditions of their faith, that of respect, morality and instead devoting their lives to that of the 'american' lifestyle, which is the biggest western influence in the east. the second route is to devote their lives back to their religion. now i am not saying these are the only two routes but instead the two most obvious routes that the youth are being led down. I find it upsetting to think that the cultures that worked so well previously cannot be continued because governments and minority groups feel they are not being included in this new wave of tolerance. this is not the end of what i feel but i feel i have said enough for people to comment on.

The preservation of culture the way G-d wanted it...


What the hell is G-d?

God?

God is an English word describing a diety or, if capitalized, the diety. It isn't a holy word or God's name.

It is Dios in Spanish, Gott in German, Allah in Arabic, Goddo in Japanese, and БОГ or БОЖЕСТВО in Russian.

None of them is a sacred word.