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Originally Posted by tomxtr
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Originally Posted by ninty
Fuck off. Don't tell me what I should or shouldn't do.
I went to a catholic school for 13 years. I went to a Roman Catholic Church for the first 17 or so years of my life. Because I base my beliefs of everything off scientific fact, God does not, nor ever did exist. Faith is irrevelant to me. What this has to do with trusting someone or a government is a non issue.
Democracy is built on the basis that the PEOPLE of the nation keep WATCH over the government. The people do not work for the government, the government works for the people. The people of the US trusted the government after 9/11. This has led to an illegitimate and illegal war that a minority of citizens support. This is wrong. In addition, the MEDIA is RESPONSIBLE to provide fair and accurate reporting on the government in the interests of the citizens of that country, not the government. This has not happened.
When a government doesn't respond to the wishes of the people, you no longer have a democracy. It is the RESPONSIBILITY of the citizens of a democratic country to watch over the government and see that they are making decisions based upon the BEST INTERESTS of the citizens of that country. That is why they are ELECTED.
When you trust governments, you end up with a dictatorship. When you watch a government and require them to make decisions in the best interest of the people, you have democracy. It is your democratic duty to scrutinize your government to make sure they are carrying out the wishes of the people who elected them. You tell the government what to do. Not the other way around.
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Not to get off topic, but how has science disproved the existence of God (I noticed you capitalized it, hedging your bet?). Just kidding, I respect, differing opinions. I, like you, am a product of Catholic schools and have doubted the existence of God. I think it shows a degree of intelligence on your part to question what you have been taught.
While faith may be irrelevant to you, I think that it is very relevant to a lot of people. Provided they are not Islamic extremists, what is wrong with people believing that they will go to hell if they don't behave. I don't trust human nature to be enough to keep people in line.
Back on topic, I don't believe it is the nation's best interest for its government to fully disclose all that it knows when it comes to national security matters. Perhaps there were bombs that brought the buildings down. If there were, my sense is the government knows that there were. I know, thank you captain obvious. There may be reasons why they have not disclosed this that relate to on-going investigations, etc. The nation's intelligence community took a real black eye for 9/11, I don't see why there would be any concerted effort to hide additional information just for the sake of saving face, if there was any to be saved.
As far as a democracy goes, you are correct. The catch, however, is that the US is really a republic and not a true democracy. In a true democracy Gore would have won the election with a majority of the popular votes, but because of the electorate, that didn't happen. Your point is taken, however.
The media in this country is nototiously slanted to the left, so you are correct where they are concerned. |
I didn't mean so much that science has found God not to exist for humanity, but rather for myself personally. It is impossible to prove or disprove the existence of God. I have no problems with anyone worshipping any God. I believe in freedom of Religion, so if anyone wants to go and pray, go right ahead. You won't have any objections from me, however, I have made up my own mind as to where I stand on the subject of God and would rather not have people tellimg me that i'm one way or anyother because I don't believe in God or don't pray.
Yes, I know the US is a Republic, but I used the word democacy just to describe the environment most western countries live in. Like you said though, point taken.
On the point of the media, I would have to disagree to a point, and hear me out on this one.
First off, let me say that I for one absolutley dispise prety much all cable news networks and have gone cold turkey with the news. I get all my info off the net and maybe some local news, but I don't even really watch that either. I think the media has done a horrible job representing both sides when were talking about left vs right. I think the media has to an extent grilled the right at times, as you would probably agree by more or less smearing the bus admn at times. However, I believe the media is complicit in not providing a lot of information that is deemed to be too controvertial or anti-american. I think there are a ton of stories that don't get airtime because people are concerned for their jobs which gets in the way of journalism. That's how I see it anyway.