Political: Holy SHIT!!

[hkellick]

Holy SHIT.

John Kerry was on FIRE yesterday.

I wish I'd been able to see the speech last night (we did tape. We'll try to watch tonight), but just reading the text of his speech.. holy shit.

Words can not convey how... proud I am that we have a democrat that I can stand behind. Up to this point, I've disliked Kerry because I felt that his politics were as dirty as Bush's. I felt he was too busy playing point-counterpoint against Bush and his cronies.

Dude. Just reading the text of his speech...

As a Democrat, I am now ready to vote for John Kerry. Not because he's not Bush, but because he's John Kerry.

....
I think this may be the last time I use this particular icon. It's time for a new more appropriate one, I suspect.
Just not going to try and get it whilst at work.

Comments

[dustkitten.livejournal.com]

Usually, you're so literal that when you say Kristen didn't get into something or John Kerry was on fire..

Yeah.

:P

-A-

[lite.livejournal.com]

I'm not exactly certain how to take that. I can certainly be very literal, but I have to admit I have doubts I'm always so literal that you should take it to mean that Kristen really didn't get into the concert or that John Kerry really was ablaze.
*shrug*

[dustkitten.livejournal.com]

Well, it added to it that 1. you were talking about Kristen's backpack or something not being allowed, and 2. there are a lot of psychos out there, especially right now. One girl told Bun that he's going to hell if he doesn't vote for Bush, because that's what her pastor told the congregation.

-A-

[phoenixsong]

Eeek.

[lite.livejournal.com]

Democracy at work :p

This is why Church and State need to be seperated :P

[dustkitten.livejournal.com]

Hmm..I believe that in many ways, Church and State ARE separated..and in some ways they are not. Unfortunately for this country, a lot of examples are harmful ones: a President who believes he is speaking for a 'Christian' nation, or a school that won't let religious groups meet in their building.

However, I don't see why a community (a congregation, a political party, etc) should not be united in their vote if that's what they choose.

Of course, I don't think God's about to send anyone to Hell for their vote, and that anyone who says this to people they know they have influence over is abusing their power in a sick, sick way.

But I think most importantly, I would never ask a politician to separate himself from God (in any way, even publically) just to further his career. And I don't think a truly religious person would, or need to--the same way I feel that religious people can make up a government but that government does not necessarily have run religiously.

-A-

[kareila]

What about politicians who publicly embrace God in order to win the Christian vote? That seems more likely in this day and age.

These are the most harmful examples I see of the church informing government policy:

- withholding funding for stem cell research
- advocating a Constitutional amendment barring full marriage rights from homosexual couples
- reluctance to provide "real" sex ed in high schools

[dustkitten.livejournal.com]

I'm think the "real" sex ed thing would be a problem even without the religious opposition. It's so much a taboo that no one is sure how they want it dealt with. Do I want my kid to one day put a condom on a banana in a school classroom? Would I have done that?

When you personalize it, it's just as much a gray area without religion as it is with.

-A-

[lite.livejournal.com]

I guess this goes back to a point I was trying to make wednesday.

You need to teach kids about sex. If they don't get the facts from you (the parents) or the schools, then they'll get them from their peers and chances are that the facts they'll get will NOT be the correct facts.

Until I was 15, I thought men could get pregnant. I don't remember who told me that, but i really believed it.

Someone needs to explain to kids the actual basics.. and, frankly, Alana, if Tash can't come to you about it, who SHOULD she be coming to?

[dustkitten.livejournal.com]

Someone needs to explain to kids the actual basics.. and, frankly, Alana, if Tash can't come to you about it, who SHOULD she be coming to?

Mmm. Those sure are yummy words you put in my mouth.

At any point in my post, did I say I wasn't going to teach Tash about sex? Hell, from what you posted, she already knows more at six than you did when you were 15. Here is what I said (just a little recap):

Do I want my kid to one day put a condom on a banana in a school classroom?

I was speaking about being a parent and being unsure of where I want SCHOOL SEX EDUCATION to draw the line, not myself.

-A-

[lite.livejournal.com]

I apologize if I put words in your mouth. I was on a roll *self-depecriative*.

I like what my school did for Sex Ed. I think it was certainly the best a school district could and should offer.
We not only learned the name of the various bits, but we learned about V. D.s and Birth Control as well (which, to this day, seems o be the truth and not some of the horror stories Kristen has like 'Don't use condoms because they won't stop you from getting diseases.'

I think that as far as honest education goes, that's about the best we can and should expect from our schools.

Feel free to try and explain why kids should say no and should wait. But arm them with the knowledge to protect themselves if they don't. (and chances are, they won't.)

[dustkitten.livejournal.com]

Condoms won't stop you from getting certain diseases, that's true enough. I don't remember which ones, though. I'm sure a quick Internet search will pull up what's what, but um..my brain no work.

-A-

[lite.livejournal.com]

A virus is, in general, larger than the holes between the molecules within a condom. A condom may not be able to protect you against ALL diseases, but it does protect you against most.

[dustkitten.livejournal.com]

Yes, but I'm saying that STDs are not just about condoms. Oral sex is a fabulous way to get an STD. How many people actually use a condom during oral sex, altho we were taught to in school?

-A-

[lite.livejournal.com]

I don't believe Church and State are seperate enough.
A community should be allowed to be united if they so choose. But there's a strong difference between "We, the National Organization of Women believe that the best candidate for president is XXXX" and "My pastor told me that I'm going to hell if I don't vote for XXXX".
One is an INFORMED decision. The other is not.

Listen, give me an intelligent convservative who can point and counterpoint me on why Bush SHOULD be President and I'll accept that. But show me the average voter that's just "falling in line" and I can not and will not believe that is acceptable.

And I can and will expect a politician to seperate himself from God. (In terms of public policy and doing his job as President.) You know why? Because a man's relationship with his God is personal, but his relationship with the country is not and should not be. Every president ever elected (including your friend, Bill Clinton) was in some way a religious man. But that faith has not, before George Bush, dictated how the man ran the country. He decided based on informed decisions from a panel of trusted advisors, not from a book at least 2,000 years old.

I'm not saying we need to vote for atheists and agnostics only. I'm not saying religious men have no place in government. What I'm saying is that a man's religion should be seperate from a man's politics.

That is how Church and State should be kept seperate. Religion has no place in politics. And politics has no place in religion.

[dustkitten.livejournal.com]

If a man determines his morals through a religion, then there's no way he can just shove that aside to make a choice. However, there's a difference between saying, "I believe in family values because of the #th Commandment" and saying "WE should believe in family values because of the #th Commandment." And even if those words don't come to the forefront, they are still the MOTIVATION for his actions.

I hope to God that your comment about Clinton was sarcasm, because I'd rather sacrifice him to feminazis than politely shake his hand.

-A-

[lite.livejournal.com]

You probably can't seperate the man from his religion and some of his morals might very well come from a good religious youth/educations/whichever. I'm not arguing that point at all.

I'm trying to find the right words to explain how I feel religion should have no part in politics.

Maybe what I mean to be saying is that no background of any sort.. whether it be ethnic or sex or race or religion should dominate the county the way I feel George Bush has done and that others like him have done.

Religion != Politics. We are not a theocracy. We are a republic. For the people, by the people. Christianity has it's agenda. America has it's own agenda. I'm not sure the two meet. I'm not sure the truly could ever meet. When our founders wrote the constitution, they knew this and specifically tried to ban religion from wiggling it's way into politics.

I'm trying to do better, but I'm failing here. But I'll stand by my opinion that religion has no place in politics. Our founders knew it and I believe it to be so as well.

[dawnstar.livejournal.com]

I'll confess, I thought you meant it literally about Kristen as well, and had to read the sentence a couple of times to figure out what you actually meant.

The Kerry thing, I thought at /first/ that you meant it literally, but as soon as I read the rest of the post, I got it. (Mostly it was just the BIG GIANT LETTERS that called my attention to the word fire before I had the context to go with it.)

[coderlemming.livejournal.com]

Can you link us to the text (and/or a video) of the speech?

And btw, I did a double-take as well, thinking John Kerry had actually caught fire. The way you phrased things, it seemed like it could have been a "HOLY SHIT! BAD THINGS JUST HAPPENED!" post :)

Repeat after me: WashingtonPost.com is your friend. s:)

[phoenixsong]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/shoulders/dnc_fullschedule.html

[kareila]

iTunes will have all the DNC speeches available for free download soon. They've got the first 2 days' worth now.

[lite.livejournal.com]

*loveloveloveloves iTunes* :D

[chrissmari.livejournal.com]

:O

[lite.livejournal.com]

?