Uh oh, get ready to hear about Canada and Sweden. Or wait, is it Switzerland? One of those supposedly gun-clutching Sw- countries…
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Yeah I imagine Secretary Clinton is having a meeting right now on how not to make gun control an election issue.
Switzerland.
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There is a difference. Most fundamentalist Christians believe that homosexual acts are an “abomination”. An Islamic person will believe that the punishment for homosexual acts is death, although there is some debate about how they should be put to death. the vast majority of Christians and Muslims see these things as abstract concepts, and would be horrified at the idea of participating in such a thing, or permitting someone else to do them without trying to intervene. But it seems like it is easier to convince followers of Islam to cross that line to believe that they should actually administer the punishments that the Koran and Hadiths require. And it is particularly troubling to me that so many of the hard core Jihadis come from immigrant families of moderate Muslims.
Of course there are places like Uganda where anti-gay hysteria inspired by the teachings of US evangelicals has lead to at least some deaths. But in the Islamic world, there are a bunch of countries that still officially have barbaric medieval punishment for homosexuality. I personally find the Islamic views on homosexuality very confusing. They seem to hold pretty strong views that homosexuality is criminal, but have pretty relaxed views on the idea of sex with young boys. in the years I have spent in the Islamic world, I have seen it myself, but never have gotten any sort of explanation of it. I have gone so far as to try to respectfully ask an imam about that issue. The answer I got was that “the news media always lies, to make Islam look bad”.
I don’t think that it is helpful to pretend that the increase in terrorism across the world has nothing to do with Islam. It is possible to try to understand the motives of the Jihadis in relation to religion, and still understand that most people of any religion find violence abhorrent. And I think that the first step in solving problems is to develop a real understanding of what the problem actually is.
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Speaking of American Taliban and Y’all Qaeda, and, because of course he did:
Texas Lt. Governor Deletes ‘Reap What You Sow’ Bible Tweet After Orlando Mass Shooting
CBS/NY, June 12, 2016 5:16 PM
AUSTIN, Texas (AP/CBSNewYork)– Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick has deleted a tweet quoting the New Testament that he posted after the deadly Orlando nightclub shooting… The tweet was sent at around 7 a.m. and deleted four hours later.
Hours after the early Sunday morning shooting at a gay nightclub that left at least 50 people dead, Patrick sent a tweet from his personal account:”Do not be deceived. God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows.”…
Patrick is a staunch social conservative who opposes gay marriage and anti-gay discrimination protections.
( Texas Lt. Governor Deletes 'Reap What You Sow' Bible Tweet After Orlando Mass Shooting - CBS New York )
How disgusting. Apparently Texas’ Dan Patrick believes that people who try to seek a momentary escape from this bullshit world of ours by dancing at a club must be equivalent to mass-murderers who are worthy of death by massacre. That definitely sounds like something a middle-eastern ideological extremist would say, but then, I guess Texas is a bit like Saudi Arabia: a place in the desert, full of oil, and overflowing with aspirations for violent intolerance of difference. Remember, kids: US Religious Fundamentalism and Christianity are actually two mutually exclusive concepts, at least, if you’ve actually read and understood Christ’s own teachings.
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Right, the timing of this is so inconvenient! In fact, every time this happens, the timing is wrong. “Too Soon!”, we’re told, we can’t go making half cocked plans in the middle of an emotional moment.
Truth is, it’s never a convenient moment, and we’ll be given that excuse for as long as we continue to accept it. In the mean time, we can always go out and buy more guns.
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Brock didn’t rape 50 people in a couple of hours.
Although I bet he would have if he could.
We should definitely ban guns like this.
Also 3D printers that can print parts for guns like this.
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Actually I think having a president like Trump is the only way that meaningful gun control is going to be introduced in the US. You need a leader who doesn’t give two shits about his popularity or the popularity of his party. You need someone who can actually stand up and say fuck you all this is what I am doing.
Not feasible, for the same reason that a compiler cannot be written to exclude the creation of viruses.
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Derail time:
How the hell is a katana better than a shovel? A katana has a shorter reach, is a single use tool, has less mass, and will be more prone to getting stuck in tissue or bones. A long handled shovel with the edges sharpened is a much more practical weapon for any kind of apocalypse.
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Wrecking bar?
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Not just that, but also it takes years to master the use of a katana if you plan on not breaking it.
In the event of a zombie outbreak, I have zero interest in engaging in melee attacks. Give me a long pole, a crossbow, and a fatbike with a Rohloff rear hub.
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20 years ago.
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i think i’d need to see statistics that condoms encourage sex, though if they did i think that’d further support this analogy.
and really, that’s my point and the point of view i’m hoping you’ll consider.
neither condoms or guns are responsible for sex or violent acts. when sex happens: condoms decrease stds and unwanted pregnancy. when violent acts happen ( or suicidal ideation) guns increase death.
that’s why some people, including myself, think of this as a public health isssue and it’s why it makes sense the cdc would want to look at this: guns statistically increase bad outcomes. that is why we can say “guns kill people” - because having a gun ups the ante. it amplifies violence.
side note: there was nothing wrong with trying alcohol and drug prohibition. we learned from it. contrariwise, weve tried the free flow of guns: it’s made people’s lives worse - other countries don’t have this issue - let’s learn from this, and change.
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The problem is that you cannot uninvent guns. The people who want them, and are willing to break the law to get them, will always be able to do so. The talk about 3d printed gun parts is mostly just noise and static. It is a lot easier to make a high quality gun with conventional machine tools than it is to figure out a way to 3d print the parts. In the era that I grew up in, it was not considered particularly controversial for teenagers to make a gun, just to see if we could do it. We even made our own powder. Other kids fooled around with rocketry. But the main point is, these are mostly 18th and 19th century technologies. And during WW2, there was a big push on all sides to develop very simple and reliable weapons, which could be manufactured by partisans in their homes or in countries with shattered infrastructure. those designs are still out there, and have been further simplified and improved. It is worth looking at some of the things being manufactured covertly for gangs and terrorists where guns are unavailable to the public-
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Doesn’t Obama basically say that as the prez, he can’t do much about it because his hands are tied by Congress?
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700+ people went to Florida blood banks. Some were turned away because they were completly full. Food vendors gave out food and ice for some comfort in the heat.
When we hurt, we help.
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Yes but real change has to start at the top, and the president, as I understand it does have executive powers. For me, as an outsider, the only thing which will change the current situation is a bunch of lawmakers, including the president being willing to throw away their careers by going against the will of their constituents.
