So ... Obama vs Mitt Mormoney

I would neither. Scary bunch.

Ah, come on!
There's a wiki article on the "wipe Israel off" mistranslation.
But irrespective of that, why is it wrong to have talks with whatever country that you're concerned about? Are you going by McCain's reasoning offered in the 1st debate where he said that sitting down to talk with these nations is akin to legitimizing their actions/purposes? It's this kind of aggressive policy that's dangerous in today's world. By the same token, no country should sit down for talks with the US were McCain to become President. Why? Because McCain openly sang about bombing Iran.

If you have a problem with a nation then start with talks and then ramp it up if things don't improve. You accomplish nothing (except earn more hatred) by not talking. If you want to solve problems you don't start off by being aggressive.

That's what Chamberlain thought.
It's a lesson well taken to heart to this very day.

i thought Barr was the best out of what we have left, so I voted for him.

McCain and Obama do nothing for me. As soon as McCain picked a fundamentalist religious VP pick, I jumped off that ship.

I know what you're saying, and that would be the ideal thing...in an ideal world.
But I'm starting to come round to a way of thinking that there are whole social strata out there who are more than happy to employ the most brutal of means to get their way. And talking is just stalling for time.

I don't know.
Sometimes I despair that I seriously consider the fact that immediately bomb a country into oblivion is the better option.

I guess I take my lessons from the ancient Romans who did just that: pacify and incorporate those cultures that aren't too incompatible. Utterly annihilate the rest.

The problem is of course that the values I hold sacred, needing to be defended at all cost, are completely opposite to those considered sacrosanct by "the others" (whoever they turn out to be at any given time). Is life, liberty, freedom, emancipation, free will, free choice and equality indeed something to lay down your life, and indeed other people's lives for...or just another point of view?

I love America and my American friends but there are some things about that country that are truly mystifying. While there on my recent two-week trip I sat watching Sarah Palin on television, open-mouthed. At first I assumed it was a comedy impersonator but when it became clear it was the real thing I simply couldn't believe that such a person could achieve any kind of elected office, let alone be a realistic candidate for Vice President. Absolutely dumfounding.

Of course I don't know anything like as much as you guys who live there, but it seemed to me that you have two exceptionally weak candidates for President. One guy who's all style but no substance, and another guy who just attacks his opponent on idiotic grounds ("he supports terrorists!") and seems to have nothing much to say himself.

Something which just reinforced what a strange country it is was a conversation I heard while waiting for a bus at Disney World. Two guys were talking about the election and one said "Obama's never even served in the military and the guy thinks he could be President?" - that alone says I'll never be able to understand you!

Tell me about it. She's a creationist, says it all.

Sad thing is that many people share her views, apparently.

http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=34e_1224662447

I think that the problem isn't with religiona as is, but some people who believe TOO strongly. Myself I think that being religious and into scientific discoveries doesn't really contradict itself.

True.

NOT true.
Religion isn't a static entity: it is defined by the people who adhere it.
There isn't a religion IN THE WORLD that doesn't at the very least have some ambiguous statements that might be interpreted to oppress, destroy or hate.

(But of course being religious and being scientific isn't a contradictio in terminis, that's beyond a doubt.)

I don't think that any of the religions are even half way right, but that doesn't make me intolerant of them. I woulnd't mind voting for a christian or muslim if I agreed with the individual's politics (I have voted for both in the past).

I think the problem is with the abrahamic religions, the 'us vs. them'-ism that the scriptures are crammed with. For liberal believers these verses cause no problems, because they pick and choose the best bits anyway. But when people believe "too strongly"(as Pawel says), it can cause problems.

Peter

But that's merely a simple truth: "mèden agan" as was already written on the Oracle's temple. "Never too much".
Believing too strongly. Eating too much. Working too hard.
Whenever there is something considered "too" , it's automatically a bad (or at least not-good) thing.

The fact that they may have some proper things written down as well (and all religions do: the forgiveness preached in the Christian gospel is extremely powerful, as is the insistence in Islam on charity and social responsibility. And so on.) does not negate the fact that there is also a lot of material in there that is twisted, perverted and misinterpreted for selfish, powermongering and evil gain!

Picking and choosing means discarding the bits that are evil.
If these are NOT discarded (and they're NOT: these are still -sadly- indiviual choices), religion itself is rotten at the core.

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/fe … ;offset=11