Originally Posted By Dr Hans Reinhardt "what the hell is friendster?" Are you serious CC, or are you just trying to be cute?
Originally Posted By Kar2oonMan (cue black & white, grainy MovieTone News footage, read with that famous newsreel enthusiasm): It's 2002, and America is on line, and how! But not JUST America Online. A whole new generation is discovering that the Information Superhighway leads to a familiar destination: Socializing. And the hot spot for these circuitry socialites is Friendster. Friendster is a prodigy, but hopes to avoid Prodigy's fate. There's no way to know if this upstart startup is the Next Big Thing or a dead end, but as they said in grandpa's day, "Stay Tuned!"
Originally Posted By CuriouserConstance I don't need to try to be cute, Hans. I'm serious! What is it?
Originally Posted By Dr Hans Reinhardt It was one of the original social networking sites that started maybe 10 years ago.... long before Myspace or Facebook. Now it's a social gaming site, but
Originally Posted By ecdc <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/01/18/robert-bentley-alabama-christians_n_810401.html" target="_blank">http://www.huffingtonpost.com/...401.html</a> The governor of Alabama said those who aren't Christian are not is "brothers and sisters" but that he'd sure like them to be. I think this is what a lot of us non-believers are concerned about. I know that moderate or liberal Christians don't think like this and I know there's millions of you out there. But when atheists like Richard Dawkins or Christopher Hitchens or whoever critique religion, this is precisely what they're talking about (and much worse). Concerns with the beliefs and attitudes of millions of Americans who think like this. This guy isn't some nobody on the street; he's the governor of a state in this country, a representative of all people. These religious fundamentalists permeate our culture, often in high places. One of them was the President, for crying out loud. There's legitimate concerns about these people, and complaints about being lumped in with these people frankly strikes me as similar to Sarah Palin's defense of herself after the Tucson shooting. Is the focus on denouncing extremism and working for a better culture, or is it on "Hey, don't blame me for this joker!"
Originally Posted By mawnck >>Is the focus on denouncing extremism and working for a better culture, or is it on "Hey, don't blame me for this joker!"<< Oh thanks a heap ... now I feel bad for Winky. A little. A teeny weeny little. But I don't get where you get this "focus" thing from. The videos you posted did not say anything about extremism or idiot governors. They were a blanket condemnation of all of us. But yeah, I definitely facepalmed when I read about that chowderhead governor. Just for the record, his "not my brothers and sisters" comment is a blatant contradiction of a basic tenet of Christianity. I doubt you'll find many churches - fundamentalists included - who would agree with that statement.
Originally Posted By Kar2oonMan >>There's legitimate concerns about these people<< Absolutely. If this is how he feels, he really has no understanding of the separation of church and state and ought to step down (or be removed). >>and complaints about being lumped in with these people frankly strikes me as similar to Sarah Palin's defense of herself after the Tucson shooting<< But that's two separate topics. 1. People who overstep the bounds of religion (Alabama gov.), or people who make nutty science claims and base it on their religion (O'Reilly). 2. Lumping anyone with religious faith in with those mentioned in #1 even when they disagree with those actions.
Originally Posted By Dr Hans Reinhardt I often wonder where the liberal Christian activists are that disagree with conservative politics. They certainly aren't very vocal.
Originally Posted By Kar2oonMan >>I often wonder where the liberal Christian activists are that disagree with conservative politics. They certainly aren't very vocal.<< One of them is the current President of the United States.
Originally Posted By Kar2oonMan Chris Matthews is vocal and a Christian and always speaks up about this sort of thing.
Originally Posted By ecdc >>One of them is the current President of the United States.<< I agree they exist, but the perception is that their liberalism is in spite of their Christianity, not because of it. Just like conservatives control the discourse on what it means to be a patriot, they also seem to largely control the discourse on what it means to be a Christian.
Originally Posted By Kar2oonMan >> they also seem to largely control the discourse on what it means to be a Christian.<< My guess is because many of them wear their religion on their sleeve (even while supporting things that fly in the face of Christ's message) and are more comfortable intermingling politics and religion than many on the left are comfortable with.
Originally Posted By SingleParkPassholder After 270-some posts it occurs to me science can't explain Bill O'Reilly, either.
Originally Posted By Dabob2 <Just like conservatives control the discourse on what it means to be a patriot, they also seem to largely control the discourse on what it means to be a Christian> But I reject the latter--just as we both reject the former, right?
Originally Posted By Mr X ***My guess is because many of them wear their religion on their sleeve (even while supporting things that fly in the face...*** Excellent point, and it pertains just as well to their attitude towards "Patriotism" (which means, for them, whatever happens to be convenient at the time whether it's anti-freedoms, bashing other nations, fearmongering, etc., etc...).
Originally Posted By mawnck >>the perception is that their liberalism is in spite of their Christianity, not because of it.<< THE perception, or YOUR perception? It's not like mainstream churches get shown on the television all that much. It's hard to shout down the likes of Bill O'Reilly when the television audience finds him interesting and you boring. Just consider that, statistically speaking, a majority of the sensible people you see on TV are also Christians, and just aren't identified as such.
Originally Posted By ecdc >>But I reject the latter--just as we both reject the former, right?<< Well, sure. I reject the reality of it, but not the perception. And just like I think Democrats have failed to make the case that being liberal is patriotic, thoughtful believers have failed to make the case that being liberal is Christian.
