The Mayor Speaks

Joel,

Why does it not surprise me that you would be comparing Democrats to Nazis?

This is one Christian who will proudly cast a vote for Kerry-Edwards.

Again I must state my observations of the one sided thought pattern here. I always see Democrats and liberals in conjunction with the notion of brainwashing and the arrogant assumption that most people are so gullible that they cannot make decisions for themselves without falling for the "evil, horrible lies" of the media. Give me a break. Of course tere exists bias in the media. But that bias is the same bias that might also protect people from what some might consider harmful to the people by the Bush administration. And it always comes down to Kerry vs. Bush. Do we reaize that there are more than two men who run this country? If thee weren't, it would be a dictatorship. The media is supposed to be a watchdog of government, so it keeps the gov. in check from having too much power. Of course there is bias, but if you felt that bias was towards Republicans you would be singng a different tune. Give me a beak. What is fair on one side is fair on the other. If you could stop being so bias and one-dimensional for a moment, you might see that there are two sides to all of this, instead of preaching how bad Democrats are. Have you ever considered the fact that YOU could be BRAINWASHED - since you are so ONE- SIDED? Sometimes you say such ARROGANT things that I wonder. How about enjoying a family vaction without finding reason in it to find fault with others who don't believe your way, especially an old woman. Perhaps you should try to enjoy life more, instead of thinking that Apocaplyse is around the corner if Kerry were to win. Oh, no - the country might not be ALL Christian and Republican and conform to your ways - Oh, no!! On no!!! Help!!There is diversity in the world. How horible!

Any truly Biblical Christian that votes for a candidate that supports abortion and endorses relationships that the Bible calls "sinful" (men together / women together) is either a confused Christian or not the real thing. Sorry, but the Bible is very clear on this.

C'mon Robert, my statements are no more "arrogant" than yours. The difference is that these are not my words. My beliefs come from the Scripture. You are entitled to not believe those same beliefs, but I am entitled to stand by them.

As for me being one-sided, you don't know my history. In my younger years (teen to early twenties), I was definitely considered a liberal in my thinking and actions. Been there. Done that. I've seen both sides and now I have chosen sides.

Joel T, my comparison to Nazis was the not that Democrats are lock-step jackboot thugs. The point was the propoganda campaigns they used to sway popular opinion is similar to the lies and deceit pouring forth from the Democratic leadership and the mainstream media. Nazis are an easy bunch to use because they are relatively recent in world history and most people understand what is meant when they are brought up.

I would like to point out that what I am saying is that everyone is entitled to a belief system - that is fine. I do not feel my statemets are arrogant because I am trying to look at ALL sides of a situation, and respect ALL viewpoints, including yours. You only seem to accept any statement tht is supported by the Bible or Christian faith. That is one reason I choose not to be religious - because many religions are very one-sided and UNREALISTIC. What I mean by that is that many religions tell what not to do without ever explaining WHY - and people that make mistakes are condemned for them. That is crap. People shold be understood, not dictated to. Take being geigh for example - it is so horrible by your ideals and so unBiblical, but did not the Jesus that I have heard of talk about LOVING ALL FELLOW MEN - that INCLUDES geighs. - It also means to love them, even if you do not necessarily agree with them. It does not mean "feel sorry for them" because they have strayed from God. Jesus talked about peace on earth and loving ALL men. I think Jesus Christ was a great man with great ideas who realy did love others, and since his time many have twisted what he stood for into their own interpretation. That is where my issues lie, in such areas as discrimination and widening a gap between people in this county based on religious reasons. Take religion out of things for a second to look at the people - people in this country and on this planet NEED EACH OTHER and we are destroying ourselves by fighting over petty differences. We shouldn't have to feel so seperated by religious differences. The reason I get irked by reading your comments sometimes is that it doesn't seem as if you see any of this - you would just rather widen that gap by talking about how horrible liberal ideas are. I don't know your history, but it seems to me like you might have been "saved" and then changed all your views on life. That is fine, if you still try to be understanding of WHY others feel the way they do. But sometimes it seems like that "saving" would be better classed as "brainwashing" because it only allows you to see the Bible as truth and NOTHING else as valid. That does not constitute an open mind to others and can promote persecution. By the way, was is not Christians who hated others persecuting their religion? Why are Christians (Some anyway) persecuting other's religions and lifestyles (ie - being geigh)?

Just for the record, I do not mean to seem harsh or insulting here - but just when I start to think of you as a compassionate human being you go and say something that seems very discriminatory and insulting to others - even seeming to imply an old woman was gullible and not smart enough to make her own decisions. But then when I try to make good, unbias points, you retort is only - I believe because "the Bible tells me to." Well, guess what ( since you referred to Nazis) many Nazis killed millions of Jews because "Hitler told them to." Just because the Bible says something DOES NOT make it absolutely unquestionable and DOES NOT always make it right. I think good Christians and good people SHOULD question the Bible, so that they are more intelligent and more versed in understanding other cultures. I think you are probably a great person, a great family man, and have many good qualities. But it seems to e you could be a better person if you always tried to have an OPEN MIND. Think about it - just because someone is not Christain DOES NOT mean they are bad people. GOOD PEOPLE COME IN ALL RELIGIONS AND LIFESTYLES!!!!! Why not be a GOOD PERSON instead of only being what the Bible wants?
Thanks for listening to my words of "wisdom" - I hope they did not seem too critical, but I think you would sound like a better person if you showed you could understand BOTH sides of a situation. Take care.

Robert,

I can't help but notice that liberals often will take a statement a conservative makes, isolate just one small part of that statement, and then try to stretch it into some completely unintended, broad generalization that goes way over to the extreme. For example, your last couple comments of your post. What you did there was you removed the context as to what Joel was trying to say in order to make way for what is a typical "liberal" generalization about conservatives. (By the way, I prefer the terms liberal and conservative rather than dem or rep) Joel never said, nor implied, that he stands against diversity in people...or that he expects a world entirely filled with like-thinking people. But he cares about our standards and he cares about what could prove to be a very dangerous future for our nation should we elect a weak and waivering president at this particular time in our history...with the current war on terror. I think Joel believes, as I do, that John Kerry would be weak on defense. That belief does not stem from some abstract hatred of Kerry. We believe this for a REASON: Kerry's voting record in the senate shows this to be true about him. He is weak on defense. So we have good reason to be concerned. Unlike the Bush-bashing crowd, we are not necessarily anti-Kerry. We just look at his record...we look at him, we listen to the words that come out of his mouth. We see how he has changed his position literally with the wind. Conservatives like to see a set of standards in their leaders. Standards that they will not waiver on whenever it suits them to waiver. We don't like wishy-washy leaders or wishy-washy people in general. We don't feel like we can trust people who change their tune all the time. That is what John Kerry does. Just embrace that simple truth about Kerry, Robert. Don't try to explain it or make excuses for it. Just embrace that as the truth about John Kerry.

Well said, macmusic.

I never said people are bad if they are not Christians.

As for ga ys, etc, it is no worse a sin than any other sin in God's eyes. He categorizes adultery, lying, drunkenness, and others in the same breath. People are free to make their choices, but when their choices affect me and my family, I am entitled to speak out.

Joel

again for the record - I am NOT necessarily a Kerry supporter. In fact, I don't really like him. But I don't like Bush either - and, I'm sorry, but Bush's ARROGANT attitude towards foreign policy ( such as not respcting or caring what other countries thought about going to war ) is going to get us in a lot of truble with other nations. In fact, it will probably widen the gap in culture understanding that has led to other nations hating us because of Amrica's "me,me, me" mentality and money hungry Capitalistic attitude that they go to such extreme as to attack us. They are not right for doing so, but we are also not right for acting as we do either (such as the horrible atrocities that people in the prison camps did to Muslim prisoners in the name of their country - Americans did this just recently. despite whether kerry is truthful about his experiences in Vietnam - American soldiers DID kill women and children there too during that war. ALL of it is wrong, and Bush might continue to breed hostility with other nations. Kerry s NO better, but unfortunately we don't have much of a choice because both men running for office are CORRUPT.
For the record - I DO NOT class myslef as either liberal OR conervative - so I am NOT generalizing like you say ALL liberals do ( oh, no - is that a GENERALIZATION about liberals I hear?)

I should probably make one final comment here so that my opinions are not misunderstood. I am not saying that I would vote for Kerry. But I am not voting for Bush either. At this point it really doesn't matter, because no matter who we get, the next 4 years will be difficult. (Whether you like to see it or not, the Bush admin. is also crooked). The outcome of the election will either be the lesser or greater of two evils. As far as the issues at stake - I have talked about why I believe that abortion shoul;d be a personal choice - not becasue I would encourage it, but because there is a larger picture out there to look at before it is abolished. At times in my life I would have liked to see alcohol illegal, becaused my father was an alcoholic and drinking ruined my life, but guess what - making alcohol illegal might make the problem worse. I had to learn that by living life and realizing that the important issue here is EDUCATING people on the dangers of things, not JUDGING their actions. I tried to make my Dad see reason for years and the law also tried to make him see reason (through stays in jail for DUI's) and guess what - it didn't work - HE STILL DRINKS! The reason I say this is that making something illegal DOES NOT MAKE IT GO AWAY - only EDUCATION about a PROBLEM can do that. So things like abortion and even prostitution ( yes, I said prostitution ) might be SAFER if they were legal, so they could be regulated for saftey so that girls wouldn't be in back alleys with coathangers or selling their bodies for crack. Eliminate the problem thinking and you might eliminate the problem. Still, I can see why abortion is such a touchy issue and agree with your right to disagree with it - but it is not YOUR body or YOUR choice to make. You or I don't ever have to do that, but some people may not have such an easy choice.
As for geighs, your viewpoints on geighs being wrong is nothing more than Biblical prejudice. You might as well take us back to the days when slavery existed and blacks were unequal The CIVIL RIGHTS of geighs should be the same as ANYBODY else. To say otherwise is nothing more than racism in another form. You yell about the sanctity of marriage - but news flash for you - the sanctity of marriage was RUINED long before geighs. STRAIGHT people ruined it - even as far back as people in Biblical times and kings selling their daughters into marriage for MONEY LAND AND POWER, not for LOVE. The sanctity of marriage was already ruined by the amount of abuse and control with some people that goes on within its confines. Even Christians have beaten and controlled their wives, you know. Geigh people will not ruin that. (BTW - geighs can NEVER get abortions, they can only adopt children - thought you would be happy for that)
Anyway, thanks for the rant space - just wanted to say that I actually do, like you, believe in a larger picture, a MUCH larger picture than what is here on earth. But unlike you, I see a picture in which ALL can be accepted for their differences and people are not kicked to the curb in the end because of their bedroom habits. I can imagine a geigh talking to God at heaven's gate and being cast out with God saying," Sorry, didn't you see the sign outside - "No F@Gs allowed." How horrible! And what a shame that so many good hearted people believe that rubbish!

Today George Bush endorsed civil unions for gays. All hope isn't lost!

Joel C. I agree with most of what you say here on your blog regarding politics. I am an 18 year old young man and a Bush-Cheney supporter... I think that's a pretty rare find.
I think it's extremely hypocritical for you liberals that comment on this blog to compare one-sidedness on somebody's personal website to a very obvious liberal bias in the mainstream media that is propped up and sustained by the taxpayers.
Why is it okay for the NY Times to run a story about missing weapons and continue to run with the story even after it's claims have been refuted by NBC? Why is it okay that after the NY Times ran this story, CBS News came out and fessed up that they also had the story but they were waiting to air it later in the week because it would be closer to the election. Folks, wise up. If you all you ever watch on TV is Ted Koppel and Dan Rather, it's no wonder you can't think objectively about anything Republican. The mainstream media leans so far to the left that sometimes I think Ted Kennedy would be a more fair broadcaster than some of these buffoons.

Welcome to my blog, Gary! You are indeed a rarity, and you give me hope for the next generation. Keep fighting the good fight. :-)