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Re: Supreme Court Decisions
Old 07-21-2006, 10:40 PM   #12
Xantar
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Default Re: Supreme Court Decisions

Ok, I'm sorry about that. I really am. It's just that I see people who I know are true idiots saying a lot of the same things you do, so I guess I'm used to conflating anyone with that opinion into the same box. It was wrong of me.

Still, I have to say that part of the problem I had with your post was that you kept saying things like, "Lebanon has also attacked from the areas that Israel gave back." It made it sound like you thought Lebanon and Hezbollah are the same thing, and although the two are interlinked, I really do think they are separate entities with different interests in mind. Lebanon may not like Israel that much, but I think they are at least realistic (or scared) enough not to act too belligerently towards Israel. And then when you say things like, "the complete subjugation of one people by another," I'm not sure what I'm supposed to think that means except some kind of rule by one over another.

And although it may not look like it from my posts, I'm not convinced that Islam is a saintly peacenik religion without any violence in it. I just don't know enough about it one way or another, and I've heard convincing arguments both ways. I also believe, however, that money makes the world go round even more than Allah does. And if we managed to stabilize the Middle East and incorporate its immigrants into our countries in such a way that they all grew affluent along with the rest of us capitalists, pretty soon they won't care whether or not our women are uncovered. And I don't think you accomplish such a thing by being scared of Muslims and bracing yourself for a cultural storm you think they're going to bring. Form a contingency plan if you really think you have to. But I still think that in the United States at least, a good old-fashioned American welcome complete with movies, cars and wealth will tame even the most belligerent groups over time. Europe is a different matter, and I think European racism (frankly, in a lot of ways they're more racist than Americans) is as much to blame as fundamentalist Islam. It's hard for Muslims to trust majority races when the very sight of their headgear causes them to lose their jobs.

By the way, I freely admit that I like to use precise language in these kinds of discussions. I'm uptight about these things. If I feel you aren't being precise enough with your terminology, I will call you out on it. And yes, I would like to try to put everything into an empirical formula as much as I can, and when I don't think I have enough information, I refuse to commit to what merely appears to have "the most evidence" at the time. This should not surprise you. And if you don't like talking to a stuck-up ass like me in a political debate, that's too bad because it seems I'm pretty much the only one who will ever respond to you. And I don't mince my words just because I think you might get offended.

I'm sure you can understand that.
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Last edited by Xantar : 07-21-2006 at 10:58 PM.
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