Yes. Populism is not a healthy way to run a country and does not end well. Lacking an overarching philosophy or set principles, it collapses into one of personality of the head populist as we have witnessed over the last several years with trump and the Republican Party
Tilly, in all fairness there was plenty enough known about trump in 2016 - that he was a liar and cheater who stiffed small contractors, who had defrauded investors and customers to disqualify him. I knew him to be a man of low morals, low integrity, and lacking honor.
FWIW, I don't know what your intentions are here, but to dehumanize an entire group of people as if they are not people is dangerous. The Nazis denied Jews were people for example, and we know what happened there. Democrats deny the unborn are people and we know what has happened and continues to happen there. People who deny other people are people treat those people like trash, and I mean that quite literally in the case of abortion doctors and the unborn and Nazis and the Jews. Nazis stacked bodies up like they were trash to be taken away to the landfill, and abortion doctors have thrown unborn babies, both alive and dead, into the medical waste bin after an abortion. Acknowledging people's humanity is extremely important. When we don't acknowledge people's humanity, we can become monsters who treat people like trash.
But he favored the government making private medical decisions decisions for women. So some here liked that.
Bill Clinton originated the statement on abortion during his 1992 campaign and repeated it multiple times during his campaign. Hillary resurrected it during her 2008 campaign.
Baby is not the correct term. The term for a potential human in womb is fetus. Fetuses are not people. They are potential people. Worry about the living. When no children are hungry or abused we can start worrying about the pre born.
Interestingly, the Oxford definition of "born" is to "come into existence as a result of birth." So "unborn" is an interesting term.
Well after reading this thread it is my OPINION that this country has jumped the shark most of you will understand that comment, I have concluded that criminals accusing criminals of wrong doing is the norm now in this country. If we took the same standard of law and applied it to every politician equally It is my opinion that ALL politicians are guilty of selling this country out for personal gain. Wether its McConals Chinese ties, to Biden Ukraine connections, To Harris blowing her way into office, Clintons paying Hush money to Paula Jones, Tara Ried, Trumps business dealings when he was not in government, Senators sleeping with Chinese spies all is ok as long as you can direct hate to a group or person all is fair? They have all become compromised they no longer support the average Joe American citizen, they support whatever the narrative at the moment is or whatever brings them personal gain. The media is just as corrupt as they are more "opinion" than facts. they sew hate and just as all passive aggressive behavior they act innocent. We are taxed to the hilt, the government mismanagement of the tax dollars should land them all in prison. Trump is just an avenue for sewing more division that has caused an entire section of the country to be vilified for believing in a candidate who many think will change all this. But it is impossible the road ahead is already laid out the corse has been set and we can sit here and pretend we are free. We are not and never will be again. Unfortunately whatever side of the aisle you are on D or R or independent we are all on the same ship and it's taking on water and sinking fast I just feel sorry for my grandkids they are on there way in I'm on my way out.
I'll refrain from responding to @danmanne65 to avoid derailing the thread. The point I made stands even if we table that aspect of the argument. Denying the personhood of someone should not happen on either side of the political spectrum, though. It is very dangerous. If you want a different example, Middle Eastern Muslims are raised every single day being taught that Jews are the descendants of apes and pigs. That is not a fact the post-colonial narrative would ever highlight as being relevant to the historical dynamics in the Middle East, but it absolutely is. It demonstrates the denial of personhood of a group of people is always the first step that allows a culture to be pulled into the vortex of societal mass murder. We can agree to disagree for the sake of keeping the thread on topic on whether or not that vortex has opened and exists in our country. However, I think we can agree that any attempt to say that a subset of human beings are not people should be rigorously opposed. Muslim Clerics - Jews Are the Descendants of Apes, Pigs, And Other Animals
Thanks for not derailing. And I agree that it's not right to deny the personhood of an entire group of people. Trump otoh . . . Speaking of people being descendants of pigs . . .
They can change the username, but they can't change the posting style or hide the totally twisted concepts.
I have a hard time piling on someone like Trump. I agree that he certainly has shown to be an immoral man in many respects, which should be baked into our voting decisions, but to me I can't pile on. And I really do think the degree to which a person piles on is very revealing about the spiritual state of a person. Think about this. "The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost." Who said that? That was the apostle Paul. He considered his own sin to be second to no one else's sin. Jesus even talked about the man who has a beam of wood in his own eye, and he wants to take the speck out of his brother's eye. I don't think the take away here is Trump's problems amount to a little speck. That is not the point. The point Jesus was driving at is our moral criticisms of others are often done with total spiritual blindness regarding our own massive moral and spiritual failings before God. There is a sad and deeply powerful spiritual blindness that has overtaken most people. They have no idea how heinous and terrible their own sin is before a holy God, and it is in this state of blindness that we are most likely to criticize others. When we are really honest with ourselves and God...the sin that dwells in us is heinous and terrible. It is ugly. It is no small matter. Absent any kind of savior it means we too have a date with The Judge that will be catastrophic if we are given a just sentence for our sin. There is no person we can point to and make any comparisons to justify ourselves to say well I'm not as bad as them. That is like felon pointing at the felon in the cell sitting next to him saying, "Well I'm not as bad as him." Then he rakes him over the coals for the felony he committed. There is something wrong with that picture. A huge part of the process of becoming a true Christian is moving from this state of spiritual blindness towards a state of humble acknowledgement of sin. A humble felon is not a felon sitting in his prison cell raking the felon in the adjacent cell over the coals for being a terrible person. There is something deeply wrong with that picture, and it is instructive. The humble felon is the one who is filled with grief, remorse, and even tears for what he has done. This grief and remorse does not mean he denies the person in the cell next to him is also a felon, but it is not something that is important for him to dwell on. His focus is on his own transgressions. Christianity teaches that a perfect God, took on human flesh, and he was killed in the most cruel way possible for us to have any hope of salvation. That is a demonstration of how we should evaluate our own sinful lives and what we deserve apart from the grace of God. Back to the felon analogy...when the sinner has grieved and pleaded with The gracious Judge for mercy and pardon, he will go out into the world and he will speak against sin not because of self-righteousness. He will speak against sin because he has seen sin in himself for what it is and he knows how terrible it really is. That does not mean that he shouts his sin from the rooftops, but he does not want sin to overtake anyone in the way that it overtook him. He is opposed to sin on principle because of it is terrible and heinous, not because of self-righteousness. So, I don't pile on Trump because I don't think it is right. I think any person who looks down their nose at Trump as a morally inferior being in comparison to themselves needs to look at Jesus crucified on the cross and reevaluate themselves. The crucifixion of Christ is an indictment on our own sin, and what we deserve because of our sin. Someone who deserves that has no reason to gloat over the moral failures of another person. If Jesus had to be crucified for your sins, then you have no reason to boast at all. What you do have reason to do is preach the gospel, so that others might obtain the same salvation. It is a good thing when people have the scales of spiritual blindness lifted from their eyes so that they can see their own sin. It is a good thing when people have restraint in piling on others because they know the cross of Christ indicts their sin as much their neighbor's sin. I don't think Trump is a Christian, but I don't hate him. I hope he obtains salvation just like I hope you do.
FWIW, I messaged admins about this. They knew. I had valid reasons for changing my username. We were trying to figure out a technical issue. I actually was considering leaving the forum for a little bit. I did enjoy going under the radar for a while, though.
