I realize that this is certainly not a humorous subject, but Chris Rock makes a great point here!
tenyearsafter
JoinedPosts by tenyearsafter
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165
So an 8 year old is killed by a machine-gun and it's no ones fault?
by Simon ini think us gun laws are s-t-u-p-i-d ... and the legal system more so.
saw a very good suggestion yesterday though - force people who want to own a gun to require insurance (hey, you have to have it for a vehicle for gods sake).
single-shot hunting rifle?
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Can you recommend some movies/videos?
by OnTheWayOut inan ex-jw meetup group i attended just watchted worlds apart together and the host wants to do this type of thing more often.. i would love to see religulous, but the group would be divided on such a movie.. i suggested the documentary, jesus camp and september dawn.. do you have any suggestions i can pass along?.
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tenyearsafter
What is the purpose of showing these videos? Are you trying to show all religious belief in a negative light? Are you trying to find correlations to JW mindset?
I think "September Dawn" is interesting as a comparison to JW's..."Jesus Camp" is a bit on the fringe since it does not reflect mainstream evangelicals...kind of like saying Westboro Baptist Church is representative of Christianity.
I loved Robert Duvall in "The Apostle"...a great study of the struggle with faith and human weakness. A couple of other interesting movies that an ex-JW could relate to are "The Truman Show", "The Crucible", animated version of "Animal Farm", "Elmer Gantry"...to name a few. I realize these are more entertainment than documentary, but they definitely touch on how high control can affect thinking.
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So an 8 year old is killed by a machine-gun and it's no ones fault?
by Simon ini think us gun laws are s-t-u-p-i-d ... and the legal system more so.
saw a very good suggestion yesterday though - force people who want to own a gun to require insurance (hey, you have to have it for a vehicle for gods sake).
single-shot hunting rifle?
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tenyearsafter
Simon,
Unfortunately, you can have all the laws regarding guns you want, but as long as there are those who are either too stupid to adhere to the law or refuse to comply with the law, you will not prevent these senseless acts of violence, intentional or accidental, from occurring.
Not being familiar with Canadian law, I will assume from your post that the Canadian gun laws are much stricter than the U.S., yet Canada is no stranger to similar gun violence as seen in the U.S...again, I will assume at a lower rate, but there nonetheless.
Ultimately, it revolves around personal responsibility...until such time as people accept that responsibility, nothing will change.
TYA
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Westboro Baptist Church will picket funeral of "911 girl" killed in Arizona
by Gerard infuneral pickets to be met by 'angels'startclickprintexcludeendclickprintexcludehttp://www.cnn.com/2011/us/01/11/arizona.funeral.westboro/index.html by the cnn wire staff
january 11, 2011 9:04 a.m. esttucson, arizona (cnn) -- tucson just isn't that kind of town, says christin gilmer.. gilmer is referring to the actions of westboro baptist church of topeka, kansas, which has made its name protesting the funerals of people who died of aids, gay people, soldiers and even coretta scott king.. but when the church announced its intention to picket the funeral of a 9-year-old girl -- one of six people who died saturday during the attempted assassination of u.s. rep. gabrielle giffords -- gilmer and others put their feet down.. tucson is a "caring, loving, peaceful community," according to gilmer, who said two of the six people killed were friends.. "for something like this to happen in tucson was a really big shock to us all," she said.
"our nightmare happened when we saw westboro baptist church was going to picket the funerals.
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tenyearsafter
I have had the unfortunate task of dealing with this group on an official level. First off, regardless of what you think of religion, Christians, etc., don't confuse what this group does as typically Christian or "church-like". They are not affiliated with any denomination, despite the Baptist name, and their "membership" is limited.
The "church" makes a living off of suing local government and counter-protest groups that "violate" their right to free speech. Several members of WBC (of which the majority are Phelps family members) are attorneys. Having to deal with them was quite interesting...they turn the vitriol on and off like a light switch. Out of the spotlight and "off the clock" they are quite cooperative, but when they have an audience they become the verbal and visual offenders we have seen on television. They will sue counter-protestors for violating their rights and sue the local government and police for not protecting their right to protest.
To give them any recognition just fuels their further activities...if Arizona's enactment of the law keeping the protestors further away from funerals holds up to legal challenge, it will go a long way towards negating the shock value of these type of demonstrations.
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Was I threatened by a student?
by laverite inwell, the new semester has just started.
as some of you know, i'm a college professor.
i was in my large lecture course yesterday (a couple hundred students).
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tenyearsafter
Laverite...here is the definition of the crime of making terrorist threats...as you can see, it could easily fit this situation.
"Any person who willfully threatened to commit a crime that will result in death or great bodily injury to another person, with the specific intent that the statement is to be taken as a threat, even if there is no intent of actually carrying it out, which, on it's face and under the circumstances in which it is made is so unconditional and immediate that it causes the person to fear for their own safety or immediate family's safety."
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Was I threatened by a student?
by laverite inwell, the new semester has just started.
as some of you know, i'm a college professor.
i was in my large lecture course yesterday (a couple hundred students).
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tenyearsafter
Even if this was not a direct threat (though it certainly sounded like one), at the very least it is completely inappropriate behavior for a student in a learning environment. I believe it is sufficient to lead to his expulsion and ban from campus. I would definitely file a report with your campus police/security. His comments fall very close to being defined as a terrorist threat, which in California is a felony. I don't know what state you are in, but I would assume that most states laws would have a similar definition.
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Arizona Shooting
by free2beme ini think this is a very sad thing to happen in this country.
the fact though, that they say this person was doing it for political reasons and frustration.
is a sign of what this world has become in an internet society.
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tenyearsafter
Nicely distilled down Mary!
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Congresswoman Shot in Tucson
by leavingwt inseveral shot at tuscon grocery .
several people were shot saturday at a grocery store in tucson, arizona, a spokesman for the pima county sheriff's department said.. the shooting occurred at a safeway shortly after 10 a.m. mst, according to sheriff's spokesman deputy jason ogan.. a couple of victims with gunshot wounds have arrived at northwest medical center, according to spokesman richard parker.. "they've been coming in the last 10 minutes.
i'm not sure of the severity of their injuries," he said.. ogan said the motive for the shooting is unclear.. "we're just trying to sort this out right now," he said.. .
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tenyearsafter
Amen Sooner!
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442
Congresswoman Shot in Tucson
by leavingwt inseveral shot at tuscon grocery .
several people were shot saturday at a grocery store in tucson, arizona, a spokesman for the pima county sheriff's department said.. the shooting occurred at a safeway shortly after 10 a.m. mst, according to sheriff's spokesman deputy jason ogan.. a couple of victims with gunshot wounds have arrived at northwest medical center, according to spokesman richard parker.. "they've been coming in the last 10 minutes.
i'm not sure of the severity of their injuries," he said.. ogan said the motive for the shooting is unclear.. "we're just trying to sort this out right now," he said.. .
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tenyearsafter
Why does extending condolences equate with making a connection of culpability for the shooting???
This thread is ridiculous!
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Congresswoman Shot in Tucson
by leavingwt inseveral shot at tuscon grocery .
several people were shot saturday at a grocery store in tucson, arizona, a spokesman for the pima county sheriff's department said.. the shooting occurred at a safeway shortly after 10 a.m. mst, according to sheriff's spokesman deputy jason ogan.. a couple of victims with gunshot wounds have arrived at northwest medical center, according to spokesman richard parker.. "they've been coming in the last 10 minutes.
i'm not sure of the severity of their injuries," he said.. ogan said the motive for the shooting is unclear.. "we're just trying to sort this out right now," he said.. .
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tenyearsafter
Justitia Themis,
I am not trying to be obtuse...and I am not agreeing with The Palin tactic...what I am saying is that to say Ms. Palin or the "Right" are responsible for this is stretching credibility. What was done is inexcusable, and I wish the Congresswoman and other victims of this idiot my sympathy and best wishes for recovery.
I don't agree with your examples of Menachem Begin (I don't believe he was assasinated...you are probably thinking of Rabin) or Bhutto (her own rhetoric drew the ire of the radical Islamist who killed her).
Nonetheless, polarizing speech is never useful in trying to bring people together or "preach" a particular viewpoint. This should be a no-brainer for those of us who lived and participated in the "rhetoric" of the WTS to grasp!