Dorkington

I'm avoiding previous posts in this, and will only read one that directly quotes me... I saw season one, loved it... haven't tried season two yet... how is it? (without spoilers)

Does the baker refuse to make cakes for all marriages? Or just this specific marriage? Why did the baker refuse to make a cake for this marriage? What made this marriage unique to the baker?

Traditions change over time.

Thanks for your input.

Wonder what the statistics of women teachers raping students vs men teachers raping students are in recent years... seems to be more reports of women teachers committing the crime lately.

AFAIK there is no organization or widely followed Atheist text that suggests violence, nor is there any larger trend of Atheism based attacks. If there is, then I'm plenty ready to accept that I am wrong. FWIW, I'm Agnostic, personally.

The baker was not getting married, the baker runs a cake making business, they were asked to make a cake, not participate in, or perform a ceremony. The baker denied service based on the sexual orientation of their customers, which as far as I understand, is illegal based on the Civil Rights Act. If they weren't a business serving the public, but rather a religious non profit that only made cakes for their church, then that'd be different. I understand both sides of the situation, and it's a slippery slope either way. I support the Civil Rights Act, in the end, though. If a place of business generally serves the public, then they shouldn't be allowed to deny service on race, religion, sexual orientation, disability or otherwise.

Generally if you're running a business, you shouldn't deny service based on race, religion, or sexual orientation, imo.

Two consenting adults joining in a government sponsored contract? Or a non consenting child female being given over to a land owner in exchange for some cows? Edit: This is fun http://www.livescience.com/37777-history-of-marriage.html

What's the definition of a "traditional marriage"?

I've seen both Catholic and Atheist mentioned... but lets say for the discussion, he was Atheist. What Atheist texts are there that say certain people should be attacked/killed for non Atheist approved views/actions?

I misspelled my name and it failed me.

A little of both wouldn't hurt, but really this would just turn to stabbings or something similar without guns. Even me, an "anti gun nut", realizes that gun laws do little if there's ready availability and demand (the bad sort).

Because people like to fight over their god, or like to commit acts (small and large) of hate against those who don't act in accordance to their own specific belief. It's not just car bombs and beheadings. Even small things like following a gay couple and calling them names, because (a version of) their bible says that gays are bad.

If you do a google search for "religious texts advocating violence" you'll have an answer... but basically the Abrahamic religions tend to be pretty violent in their texts. I don't know much about Eastern religions though. Just because I think we'd be more peaceful without religion does not mean I think religion is the single cause of all violence. It's difficult to defend my opinions when they are often misinterpreted.

This is why I need to stay out of PPP.

I say one crime is indicative of a larger problem, you tell me one crime isn't enough to tell us, then I pointed to the larger rate.... you win. I got nothing.

Also, let's take this.... depends on the texts, but a lot of them are very violent towards people who don't subscribe to the same belief system, or towards those who don't follow the exact letters in the text. On top of that, you have people who interpret them in various nasty ways, to further their own gains. That being said, if a religion truly is promoting love, peace, equality, and generally being good to your neighbors no matter your differences, then awesome, I'm all for it. But more often than not, it seems the major religions are too busy promoting exclusion and violence towards those who are different. So if our murder rate is higher than another developed country's, and it's not a gun/weapon problem, and it's not a culture problem, then what is it?

The weekly shootings/murders in various cities are indeed a big problem. Gangs, the failed drug war, the easy availability of guns, the general culture of violence in the US all attribute to those, and things like the mass murders mentioned above. Just because we're getting more tolerant of each other, generally speaking, doesn't mean there aren't serious issues in the US still. If that makes me a bigot, then so be it.

And both are a part of a larger culture of violence and guns in the US as a whole.

I don't even know how to react to you. Bravo.

I'm not at all a soccer fan, and even I know what they did was impressive... damned good work!

Even at my drunkest, I stay away from handling fireworks

It does if that person is born from a certain culture... and he most certainly was. Thankfully that sort of extreme racism is on the decline (imo).