Bowing Out of Debate

From: LX-i (lxi0007_at_netscape.net)
Date: 11/24/04 

Date: Tue, 23 Nov 2004 22:02:38 -0600

Good evening.

I know that I've actively participated in the religious/political debate
that's been going on in here - in fact, I'm probably responsible for
prolonging some of it. Right now I have 312 unread messages in this
newsgroup, and if I take the time to reply to each one that was directed
to me, I'll never catch up. Add onto that my upcoming trip away from
here, and you see how my time is quickly evaporating.

This pains me to have to do, because I truly do enjoy discussing and
debating. When I first got into computers, back in the FidoNet days,
I'd download my BlueWave packet, type replies and new messages for
hours, then upload/download and do it again. I guess another reason I
enjoy it is that I was raised a very strict Christian, rebelled against
that and questioned a lot of it, but found that a lot of it was true. A
lot of folks can't prove their beliefs through reasoning. While not all
beliefs can be "proven" per se, I still enjoy looking for secular proofs
of my beliefs. That's not outlandish, when you consider Psalm 19:1a -
"The heavens declare the glory of God."

What I say in this message, combined with what I've already said, should
give you all you'd like to know about me and my beliefs. As more than
one person has said, this type of debate is unlikely to change anyone's
mind. While I believe in the fundamentals of Christianity, and
currently attend a Southern Baptist church, I don't consider myself a
"fundie" in the sense that some use it. I don't think I get a better
house in Heaven if I convince three of you to come over to my side. :)
  It's not my place to judge a person - that's God's job; and, I'd like
to think that I do a pretty good job of separating acts from the person.

Finally, when I refer to "laws" or "governments", I'm talking about the
USA, which is where I live. The principles are the same, but I have no
voice to lobby for my feelings on another sovereign nation. With that
being said...

1. I am a free market capitalist. I believe in the power of
competition to foster growth and innovation, while reducing the price of
goods and services. I believe that the more government controls a
process, the more they suffocate it. Why should I not be allowed to
work in an unsafe environment if they compensate me adequately?

2. I believe that a flat tax is the only fair way of financing
government. With graduated tax rates, success is punished, and growth
is stifled. By removing the myriad deductions, loopholes, and other
ways of getting out of taxes, the tax code is simpler, and everyone
knows what to expect. This is the true way to eliminate the "marriage
penalty" - there then becomes no difference in filing singly or jointly.

3. I believe that Christianity cannot be legislated into anyone. While
we can make laws based on Christian principles, I would advocate that
only in cases where life is in danger. Hence, I'm for laws against
DUI/DWI, murder, "assisted suicide", and the like, and I hope I will
live to see the day that the unborn have those same rights. (More on
that in a bit...)

However, I am opposed to laws such as those against a particular sexual
act, or "blue laws" (Sunday-only laws, most often used to prohibit
alcohol sales or regulate business hours). The former is none of the
state's business, and the latter is just hypocritical. If alcohol is
wrong on Sunday, it's wrong the rest of the week too - so, if it's sold
Monday-Saturday, why not Sunday?

4. I believe that unborn children are just that - children. Having
brought two into this world, and a third on the way, there is no way
anyone with a shred of feeling can look into the womb, with today's
technology, and say that it's just an unviable tissue mass. Today, we
have much more information on abortion than we did in 1973 when Roe v.
Wade was handed down. In the thirty years hence, we've seen an entire
generation snuffed out, we've seen both the physical and emotional scars
that abortion causes, and we have the technology to know that, before
most women even know they're pregnant, their baby's heart is beating.
It is only a matter of time until Roe v. Wade is overturned, and
abortion is ruled to be the murder it is.

I'm all for choice, but the time for "choice" is when engaging in the
behavior that can result in a child. Once another life is in the mix,
the choice has already been made.

5. Along those lines, I believe that actions have consequences.
Today's victim mentality, where people are afraid to take responsibility
for their own actions or their own position in life, is robbing us of
our resolve. People who sue McDonald's for serving hot coffee or
serving fattening foods are idiots. Accidents happen - if you spill
coffee on yourself at home, are you going to sue the Mr. Coffee folks?
Often, this mindset is much more subtle, but a wonderful thing happens
when you take responsibility and ownership of your life. *You* can work
to change it, instead of crying to a lawyer or the government to make it
all better.

6. I believe homosexuality is a sin. I also believe a lot of other
things are sin - lying, cheating, anger, murder. I call it the way the
Bible calls it. Should there be a law against homosexuality? No.
Should we restructure our legal system to give these types of
relationships moral equivalence with traditional relationships? No.
This is the only "hands-off" stance that a government can take without
taking sides.

7. I believe that we are all born sinners, and only through faith in
Jesus Christ can we hope to attain Heaven. The freedom that comes from
this belief is that I don't have to worry about who's a sinner and who
isn't - we all are! I'm sure we could all relate several stories from
our childhood about disobedience. As I said earlier, I don't look at
Bill Klein any differently after his message last week than I did before
(although I'm now praying that his medicine continues to help, and that
his health does not decline). It can't be put much simpler than Depeche
Mode put it - "people are people." We all have value to God, and each
of you has value to me.

8. I believe that my beliefs are mine. I'm sure I'm not the only one
who holds them, but I also realize that I cannot make anyone else assume
them. I *can* state what they are, and why I believe the way I do, but
it's up to the individual to evaluate what I say and see if it makes sense.

9. I believe each of you should have a Happy Thanksgiving! :)

Feel free to comment on any of the above, but don't be surprised or
offended if I don't reply (if it looks like I'd be drawn back into
debate, I probably won't). 

-- 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~   /   \  /         ~        Live from Montgomery, AL!       ~
~  /     \/       o  ~                                        ~
~ /      /\   -   |  ~          LXi0007@Netscape.net          ~
~ _____ /  \      |  ~ http://www.knology.net/~mopsmom/daniel ~
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
~         I do not read e-mail at the above address           ~
~    Please see website if you wish to contact me privately   ~
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
~ GEEKCODE 3.12 GCS/IT d s-:+ a C++ L++ E--- W++ N++ o? K- w$ ~
~ !O M-- V PS+ PE++ Y? !PGP t+ 5? X+ R* tv b+ DI++ D+ G- e    ~
~ h---- r+++ z++++                                            ~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Relevant Pages

  • Re: How does Re-Creation work?
    ... Those same Writings in which we can say "God says so" also tell us that we must put the Revealed Word of God into action in our lives otherwise it is a belief and I agree we don't need more beliefs or more words that end with words. ... It is possible that at that time a religionist already knew of it, accepted it but called it the Holy Spirit. ... We say that all we can do with science is to deal with the physical effects, conditions, etc. but yet we also discover these natural laws which were hidden from us by our lack of knowledge. ...
    (soc.religion.bahai)
  • Re: Homeowners insurance house inspections
    ... take the personal responsibility to not drink and drive. ... legislate morality and you can't legislate responsibility any more ... ?How many laws ... secondhand smoke and the bad health effects from it. ...
    (alt.home.repair)
  • Re: Low-carb ketogenic dieting ==> Acetone breath.
    ... Many thanks, much praise, and all the glory to GOD for HIS ... and I know the Phelps family ... and their laws and murder or kill someone and break those same laws. ... a christian to condemn is to be transgress. ...
    (sci.med.cardiology)
  • Re: MS in Creationism
    ... ::: That's not exactly true when you take into account laws which have ... ::: been passed to force people to adhere to Christian beliefs. ... They will send their children to school with religious ... Here in Ontario there are two totally separate school systems. ...
    (rec.bicycles.tech)
  • Re: Personal safety laws
    ... >>> Out in California, some years back, a sixteen year old driver killed ... It is only possible to pass laws which concern the ... >>>> in which it is the responsibility of every individual to secure their ... I am a huge supporter of better licensing standards. ...
    (talk.politics.libertarian)