Political Ethics for Taoists and Buddhists

[Jetsun]

All I know is that it is much easier to meditate when you are not in survival type fight or flight consiousness and those around you aren't in that consciousness either, which means ideally society provides decent levels of healthcare and safety nets so that even if things go really wrong you don't have to worry that it may lead to your death. It's all about Maslows Hierarchy if you want as many people to reach the top you need to do all you can to help get the foundations solid. Fear breeds fear so all weapons like guns should be banned, there should be severe restriction on advertising and there should be laws about advertising junk food similar to the warnings you get on cigarette packs.

[joeblast]

What you have shown in your posts is a Tea Party mentality,...which encourages a Christocratic agenda for America, as already proven during the past two years through over 40,000 new, mostly Tea Party inspired, laws that intrude upon Americans. But of course, you don't want to hear that.

 

Your Tea Party has no intention of fixing the Fed,...they merely want to Christianize it further. Actually, you don't seem to have a clue about the US monetary system,...other than Tea Party talking points.

Try this for a progessive understanding:

 

Second,...your view regarding the cancer of religion upon America is sad. Nearly all America's problems are related to the illegal government endorsements of the Christian meme by the deluded majority. Nothing is more immediate for the health and well being of America than ceasing of the Tax free-ride, despotism, morality, Christian Justice System, and tyranny enjoyed by the Christian majority.

 

You want to build a beautiful vision for America males upon a canvas of decaying Christian dung,...it cannot be done. Talk about wasting your time,...that's all you're doing. The ONLY way to get America in Order, is to take America back from the Christians who have be underminding it since the 1950's.

 

The McCarthy Era never ended,...it just got worse.

 

You say you want honest politicians,...how is that going occur as long as those who get voted in put their faith-based agendas before their Oath to the Constitution?

 

The facts of your posts not only show that you are dishonest in your views, but that you don't have a clue about the insideous problems facing America.

 

Very few Americans have any sense of its Founding,...or the Founding Fathers. Their view of history is a revisionist one, that promotes the Judeo-Christian religion.

 

You spew that I've made no specific mention of how to fix things,...which means you're fully in denial, and/or fully dishonest.

 

If I wasn't forced, against my will, to pay taxes to subsidize the Christian meme,...things would be different. If I wasn't forced to be represented by those who put their faith-based agendas before their Oath to uphold the Constitution,....things would be different. If I wasn't forced to live under intrusive Tea Party laws that only fully serve white Judeo-Christian males,....things would be different.

 

I want my America back from today's revisionist Judeo-Christian fascists. I think it's time to honor the Founding Father's and their contributions.

 

It's time a statue of the Father of the American Revolution and person who coined the term United States of America be dedicated in Wash, DC. "Washington's sword would have been yielded in vain had it not been supported by the pen of Paine" James Monroe

 

In the meantime, may the words of Thomas Jefferson hurry up in their fulfillment:

"The day will come when the mystical generation of Jesus, by the Supreme Being as his father, in the womb of a virgin, will be classed with the fable of the generation of Minerva in the brain of Jupiter." -- Thomas Jefferson, Jefferson's Works, Vol. IV, p.365, Randolph's ed.

 

"Mr. Lincoln was not a Christian." Mary Todd Lincoln

 

"Religious factions will go on imposing their will on others unless the decent people connected to them recognize that religion has no place in public policy." Barry Goldwater

So if we just went and killed all of the christians, the US would have no more problems, is basically what you're asserting. All of our problems stem from the juxtaposition of christianity with the government. You sir, are delusional, and I will not be replying again to the drivel, for there is nothing to be gained by your pointing it out, much less anything to be gained by anyone replying. Hopefully some day you let go of all your drummed up anger at religion, it is as if you were a molested altar boy or something and now have a chip on your shoulder that you're trying to fill with vitriol, and you're left wondering why trying to solve hate with hate is not producing anything constructive in the least. Good day.

 

All I know is that it is much easier to meditate when you are not in survival type fight or flight consiousness and those around you aren't in that consciousness either, which means ideally society provides decent levels of healthcare and safety nets so that even if things go really wrong you don't have to worry that it may lead to your death. It's all about Maslows Hierarchy if you want as many people to reach the top you need to do all you can to help get the foundations solid. Fear breeds fear so all weapons like guns should be banned, there should be severe restriction on advertising and there should be laws about advertising junk food similar to the warnings you get on cigarette packs.

Like I mentioned before, "society" does not have the means to sustain such elevated levels of welfare for very long - it may look like we can afford the moon and stars but that is not the case, even fairytale fiat must have its rubber meet the road eventually and there's quite a disparity. Ban guns and then only the criminals will have them (including government) so that isnt going to solve a damned thing except for the problems of criminals needing someone defenseless to pick on. Fix the junk food problem with science and education and "breed it out," so to speak, with statistically relevant empirical data, and not weak statistical correlations that border on pseudoscience.

[Informer]

go ahead and put all sorts of words in my mouth

 

When someone does that it is called a strawman:

 

A straw man is a type of argument and is an informal fallacy based on misrepresentation of an opponent's position.[1] To "attack a straw man" is to create the illusion of having refuted a proposition by replacing it with a superficially similar yet unequivalent proposition (the "straw man"), and refuting it, without ever having actually refuted the original position.[1][2]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Straw_man

 

[Vmarco]

[Vmarco]

Like I mentioned before, "society" does not have the means to sustain such elevated levels of welfare for very long -

 

 

I agree. Corporate Welfare and the subsidizing of the Judeo-Christian meme through tax-exemptions must be eliminated.

 

There can be tax-exemptions for educational organizations,...but they must have some sense of honesty. If someone over 18 years of age wants to engage in the delusion of their choice, like the Judeo-Christian meme, it shouldn't be paid for out of my taxes.

 

http://www.christianitymeme.org/

Edited May 30, 2012 by Vmarco

[ralis]

This is where the conservative Tea Bagger Republicans are leading their 'ship of fools'. For anyone who calls themselves a Taoist, and supports the right wing of the Republican party is not a Taoist.

 

Ten Commandments’ Judge Roy Moore: Secularism leads to Sharia law

 

 

Former Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore (Campaign Advertisement)

Topics: Judge Roy Moore ♦ Roy Moore

 

 

The man who is likely to be Alabama’s next chief justice is warning that secular government will lead to Islamic law in the United States.

 

In an interview with conservative talk show host Steve Deace last week, Roy Moore opined that “a government that is denying God” was also allowing Sharia law to take hold.

 

The Republican candidate explained that he had no regrets after the Alabama Court of the Judiciary was forced to strip him of the chief justice title in 2003 because he rejected a federal court order to remove his Ten Commandments monument from the state courthouse.

 

“I firmly believe that only God can heal our land and he is waiting for the American people to wake up to what’s going on around them about a government that is denying God and in doing so is bent on taking away those rights and liberties and freedoms given to us by God, in contradiction to the very organic law from which we are based,” Moore explained on Friday. “I never regretted what I did, I did exactly what I knew I was to do and that is to stand firm and not let some federal judge tell me to remove a monument, which he had no right to do anyway.”

 

“What they fear most is my acknowledgment of the sovereignty of God,” he continued, adding that the federal judge had “violated not only our Constitution but the case law of the United States Supreme Court which says our religious freedom comes from God, and if it doesn’t come from God people have to realize we will lose it and that is happening in our country today with Sharia law and the allowance of religious practices for other groups but not Christians.”

 

Earlier this year, Moore overwhelmingly won the GOP nomination in a bid to take back the title of chief justice. The Republican Party has pledged to give him its full support.

 

“The Alabama Republican Party stands firmly behind Judge Roy Moore to serve as the next Chief Justice of the Alabama Supreme Court,” Alabama Republican Party Chairman Bill Armistead said earlier this month. “Judge Moore embodies the conservative values and beliefs of the citizens of our state and the Republican Party in Alabama stands behind him 100 percent.”

 

In recent months, Moore and his Foundation for Moral Law have been fighting to allow the small town Sylvania to use a Bible verse on their welcome signs.

 

“The Freedom from Religion Foundation has an agenda to remove any acknowledgement of God or religion from the public square and are trying to bully towns like Sylvania with threatening letters that grossly misrepresent the Constitution,” Moore told the Times-Journal. “Sylvania refuses to be bullied by the anti-religious sentiment of the FFRF. The First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution stands for freedom of religion, not freedom from religion, and we look forward to representing Sylvania in this important matter.”

 

The Anniston Star Editorial Board has argued that a candidate for chief justice of the Alabama Supreme Court should not “promote his own particular brand of religion and tie it to questionable constitutional interpretations.”

 

"One can — and should — question the propriety of an Alabama chief justice GOP nominee heading a foundation dedicated to a constitutional position on which he might one day have to rule,” the editorial board wrote. “Here is a prime example of the sort of controversy on which a chief justice should avoid taking a public stand.”

 

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2012/05/29/ten-commandments-judge-roy-moore-secularism-leads-to-sharia-law/

Edited May 30, 2012 by ralis

[chi 2012]

Roy Moore?? I knew I heard that name before.

 

[Jetsun]

Like I mentioned before, "society" does not have the means to sustain such elevated levels of welfare for very long - it may look like we can afford the moon and stars but that is not the case, even fairytale fiat must have its rubber meet the road eventually and there's quite a disparity.

 

I guess it depends on where you live, most of the major industrialised nations do have the capacity to provide healthcare and certain levels of welfare which helps to create a more compassionate and calm peaceful society. Long term we shall have to see if it sustainable, it has been so far, but all things collapse in the end but that doesn't mean we shouldn't try to make things as good as we can in the mean time.

[Brian]

I guess it depends on where you live, most of the major industrialised nations do have the capacity to provide healthcare and certain levels of welfare which helps to create a more compassionate and calm peaceful society. Long term we shall have to see if it sustainable, it has been so far, but all things collapse in the end but that doesn't mean we shouldn't try to make things as good as we can in the mean time.

 

The point is a matter of scope -- our reach must not exceed our grasp. A carefully considered and honestly funded "social safety-net" is very different than a welfare state that promises free stuff for everyone.

 

The city nearest me has started inviting homeless people from across the nation to come to enjoy the "free" services and is now offering "free" laptops to them (because free desktops are inconvenient!) Some people se problems looming and some don't...

Edited May 30, 2012 by A Seeker

[ralis]

I guess it depends on where you live, most of the major industrialised nations do have the capacity to provide healthcare and certain levels of welfare which helps to create a more compassionate and calm peaceful society. Long term we shall have to see if it sustainable, it has been so far, but all things collapse in the end but that doesn't mean we shouldn't try to make things as good as we can in the mean time.

 

I agree. Joe and his Tea Bagger movement are adherents to Social Darwinism where only the wealthiest and strong are given the privilege of living well. Tough luck for anyone not fitting their world view. Their ideology is thinly disguised neo-feudalism or neo-medievalism.

 

The study of the Tao naturally leads one to understand that the way of nature is one of cooperation and not opposition. Joe adheres to the latter belief system.

 

 

Chris Hedges on the Corporate Neofeudalism

 

http://benatlas.com/2010/12/chris-hedges-on-the-corporate-neofeudalism/

 

“The creation of a permanent, insecure and frightened underclass is the most effective weapon to thwart rebellion and resistance as our economy worsens. Huge pools of unemployed and underemployed blunt labor organizing, since any job, no matter how menial, is zealously coveted. As state and federal social welfare programs, especially in education, are gutted, we create a wider and wider gulf between the resources available to the tiny elite and the deprivation and suffering visited on our permanent underclass. Access to education, for example, is now largely defined by class. The middle class, taking on huge debt, desperately flees to private institutions to make sure their children have a chance to enter the managerial ranks of the corporate elite. And this is the idea. Public education, which, when it functions, gives opportunities to all citizens, hinders a system of corporate neofeudalism. Corporations are advancing, with Barack Obama’s assistance, charter schools and educational services that are stripped down and designed to train classes for their appropriate vocations, which, if you’re poor means a future in the service sector. The eradication of teachers’ unions, under way in states such as New Jersey, is a vital component in the dismantling of public education. Corporations know that good systems of public education are a hindrance to a rigid caste system. In corporate America everyone will be kept in his or her place.

 

The beating down of workers, exacerbated by the prospect that unemployment benefits will not be renewed for millions of Americans and that public sector unions will soon be broken, has transformed those in the working class from full members of society, able to participate in its debates, the economy and governance, into terrified people in fragmented pools preoccupied with the struggle of private existence. Those who are economically broken usually cease to be concerned with civic virtues. They will, history has demonstrated, serve any system, no matter how evil, and do anything for a salary, job security and the protection of their families.

 

There will be sectors of the society that, as the situation worsens, attempt to rebel. But the state can rely on a huge number of people who, for work and meager benefits, will transform themselves into willing executioners. The reconfiguration of American society into a corporate oligarchy is conditioning tens of millions not only to passively accept state and corporate crimes, but to actively participate in the mechanisms that ensure their own enslavement.”

Edited May 30, 2012 by ralis

[Brian]

Y'all do understand that the term "Tea Bagger" is intended to offend, right? Not that I have a dog in that fight as I was never a member of the Tea Bag Party (or movement or whatever) and I believe the movement got highjacked early on by political players with the hidden agenda of defanging the movement by making it about more about social issues than about governmental reform. Regardless, I think it is in extremely poor taste to use that term in reference to another Tao Bum.

[ralis]

Y'all do understand that the term "Tea Bagger" is intended to offend, right? Not that I have a dog in that fight as I was never a member of the Tea Bag Party (or movement or whatever) and I believe the movement got highjacked early on by political players with the hidden agenda of defanging the movement by making it about more about social issues than about governmental reform. Regardless, I think it is in extremely poor taste to use that term in reference to another Tao Bum.

 

I believe Fox News started that when they suggested that Tea Party members send tea bags to their representatives.

 

 

 

Example of hate speech coming from the Tea Party.

 

Edited May 30, 2012 by ralis

[ralis]

edit

Edited May 30, 2012 by ralis

[Brian]

My mother taught me that you can't justify bad behavior by pointing to other examples of bad bahavior. Guess thta's just me, though.

[ralis]

My mother taught me that you can't justify bad behavior by pointing to other examples of bad bahavior. Guess thta's just me, though.

 

Reasonable persons are just supposed to stand back and do nothing? Enable abusive behavior? I think not!! Have you read any history? Did you bother to read my post? http://www.thetaobums.com/index.php?/topic/23628-political-ethics-for-taoists-and-buddhists/page__view__findpost__p__341701

 

For a better understanding as to how some here believe and behave, then read a few of the posts in this thread I started.

 

http://www.thetaobums.com/index.php?/topic/22668-right-wing-war-against-pro-choice/

Edited May 30, 2012 by ralis

[zerostao]

in the valley of the shadow

its just you, alabama, and me

majordomo billy bojangles

sit and have a drink of tea with me

reserve me a table for three

 

"For anyone who calls themselves a Taoist, and supports the right wing of the Republican party is not a Taoist. "

:lol:

is someone who supports the left wing agenda a taoist?

are you a taoist ralis? (i thought it was thelerner who decided who is or who is not a taoist?)(inside joke)

taoist and politics mix or do not mix?

some say anarchists are taoist? the taoist who votes is not the true taoist?

i dont reckon it matters about ones politics if one is taoist or not.

there is more than one view.

believing your own perspective is the only correct one is very limited and limiting and very telling. speaks volumes , really.

 

apparently this is a big favorite in berlin

if ya cant see the forest for the trees?

 

hoping ya can follow abstract thought

[Immortal4life]

Artful Dodger

http://redwing.hutman.net/~mreed/warriorshtm/artfuldodger.htm

Artful Dodger is a nimble and elusive Warrior. When strongly attacked he changes the subject with a diversionary counterattack. For example, if in a moment of pique his opponent refers to him to him as a "sonofabitch", Artful Dodger will not only demand a public apology for the insult to his own mother, but will castigate his opponent on behalf all mothers everywhere. Knowing full well that staying on topic works to his disadvantage, Artful Dodger will not allow himself to be pinned down.

[Vmarco]

Y'all do understand that the term "Tea Bagger" is intended to offend, right?

 

 

Many Tea Party folks prefer to be called Christocrats

http://www.examiner.com/article/religion-tea-party-politics-and-the-new-christocrats

[joeblast]

Y'all do understand that the term "Tea Bagger" is intended to offend, right? Not that I have a dog in that fight as I was never a member of the Tea Bag Party (or movement or whatever) and I believe the movement got highjacked early on by political players with the hidden agenda of defanging the movement by making it about more about social issues than about governmental reform. Regardless, I think it is in extremely poor taste to use that term in reference to another Tao Bum.

do you seriously think that term was naively utilized? or was it utilized quite on purpose?

 

the only people that refer to the tea party as "tea baggers" are those who think fiscal sanity is insane and somehow evil, and that individual interests somehow do not exist. I wonder if in an airplane incident whether they'd affix their oxygen mask before assisting others, or simply pass out believing one shouldnt have to take care of himself

 

funny they have no compunction over calling me an anti american destructor of liberty and wholesomeness, whereas I'll at least accept that their hearts just might be in the right place, even though their heads are up their asses in terms of how best to proceed.

[Green Tiger]

Just scan back over the thread and look for people using words like "purpose" or "reason" when they think they are presenting an evolutionary position. It's a really common slip, of course, but one that indicates a deep-seated "design" bias. Evolution has no place for "purpose."

 

Now I'm not suggesting that all those posters have hidden diety fixations , only that a few may want to examine their own belief structures (as I try to do frequently). Word choices are often not accidental.

 

 

 

Oooo . . I don't know if I even want to try to wade into this muck. No footing at all. Order us some golf shoes, otherwise we'll never get out of this place alive!

 

This is probably a bit off topic, but I was intrigued by the point in the conversation about 'purpose' in evolution. I think it is often assumed that evolution is totally chaotic and random, but that doesn't jive with me, nor did it jive with Alan Watts. Mr. Watts was of the opinion that evolution can't be totally blind and random because we (people) are intelligent. Since we are the ultimate evolutionary expression of the universe (so far as we know) it is probable that the universe itself is intelligent and, thus, evolution is intelligent.

 

Now. Tell me about those golf shoes, man!

[ralis]

do you seriously think that term was naively utilized? or was it utilized quite on purpose?

 

the only people that refer to the tea party as "tea baggers" are those who think fiscal sanity is insane and somehow evil, and that individual interests somehow do not exist. I wonder if in an airplane incident whether they'd affix their oxygen mask before assisting others, or simply pass out believing one shouldnt have to take care of himself

funny they have no compunction over calling me an anti american destructor of liberty and wholesomeness, whereas I'll at least accept that their hearts just might be in the right place, even though their heads are up their asses in terms of how best to proceed.

 

 

I imagine you would take the mask from your own mother if there were only one!

 

 

Right wing fiscal sanity at the expense of others. Your Tea Party wants to eliminate all social programs they deem unconstitutional. Programs such as Social Security, Medicare, FDA inspection stations, food stamps (40 million plus in the U.S. due in part to corporations shipping jobs overseas, 23% of all American children living in poverty) and eliminate funds for necessary infrastructure repair etc.

 

 

 

and that individual interests somehow do not exist

 

Just more Ayn Rand blather on the rugged individual who can do anything and is totally self reliant. A few may very well be. However, many in this world are lacking the mental and physical capacity to be contributors to society. Therefor, it is the responsibility of the society to provide for those who are unable to provide for themselves.

Edited May 30, 2012 by ralis

[ralis]

More hate speech from the religious right wing conservative Republicans. Everyday, more vitriol is spewed in the name of religion and right wing politics.

 

How can a Taoist even be associated with a political party that condones hate speech?

 

 

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2012/05/30/kansas-pastor-calls-on-u-s-government-to-kill-lgbt-people/

 

 

 

 

The pastor of New Hope Baptist Church in Seneca, Kansas says President Barack Obama has gone too far in supporting same sex marriage and it’s time for the U.S. government to begin killing gay men and lesbians.

 

“Terrorists are dangerous, the economy is a real and present danger,” Pastor Curtis Knapp told his congregation on Sunday. “But there is simply nothing other than the holocaust of the unborn which imperils the safety of our country or places our people in jeopardy as does the leader of the Western world publicly raising his fist at the heavens and declaring that the bedrock institution of society, ordained of God and meant to be protected by the state, is little more than a convention of convenience with the children of Sodom to transform the meaning of something, which is precious to Jesus Christ, and a living picture of his love for the church into a legally protected justification for perversion and a vehicle of hatred aimed directly at that love.”

 

Knapp went on to read from Leviticus 20: “If there is a man who lies with a male as those who lie with a woman, both of them have committed a detestable act; they shall surely be put to death.”

 

“They should be put to death,” Knapp declared. “‘Oh, so you’re saying we should go out and start killing them, no?’ — I’m saying the government should. They won’t, but they should.”

 

“You say, ‘Oh, I can’t believe you, you’re horrible. You’re a backwards neanderthal of a person.’ Is that what you’re calling scripture? Is God a neanderthal, backwards in his morality? Is it His word or not? If it’s His word, he commanded it. It’s His idea, not mine. And I’m not ashamed of it.”

 

“He said put them to death,” he continued. “Shall the church drag them in? No, I’m not say that. The church has not been given the power of the sort; the government has. But the government ought to [kill them]. You got a better idea? A better idea than God?”

 

Listen to Knapp’s entire 1-hour sermon on “The Curse of Homosexuality” here. http://www.sermonaudio.com/playpopup.asp?SID=527121350272

 

Calls to the New Hope Baptist Church were not returned by the time of publication.

 

This child was cheered for hate speech.

 

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2012/05/30/church-cheers-as-4-year-old-sings-aint-no-homos-gonna-make-it-to-heaven/

 

Edited May 31, 2012 by ralis

[Vmarco]

I imagine you would take the mask from your own mother if there were only one!

 

Right wing fiscal sanity at the expense of others. Your Tea Party wants to eliminate all social programs they deem unconstitutional. Programs such as Social Security, Medicare, FDA inspection stations, food stamps (40 million plus in the U.S. due in part to corporations shipping jobs overseas, 23% of all American children living in poverty) and eliminate funds for necessary infrastructure repair etc.

 

 

Ralis,...the delusions of these Tea Party folks is infinitely complex. Their denial and dishonesty boggles all reason.

 

The social welfare system had massive, down to the bare-bones, reforms in 1996,...however, Corporate Welfare was untouched, and billions in taxpayer-funded subsidies continue unchecked.

 

Then add the Trillions of dollars which tax-payers have to pay to subsidize Judeo-Christianity. "It is not just one tax that religious organizations are excused from paying, but an entire constellation of them. Clergy are exempt from federal taxes on housing and can opt out of Social Security and Medicare withholding. Religious employers are generally exempt from federal and state unemployment taxes, and in some states, religious publications are exempt from sales tax. Church benefit and retirement plans do not require the church employer to match its employees' contributions. Churches are automatically exempted from filing annual public informational reports on their financial status and activities, and donations made to churches are eligible for income tax deductions. And, of course, the two major tax breaks: church groups do not have to pay income tax and do not have to pay taxes on property which they own."

 

It's OK for the Tea Party folks to bitch about the most streamline social safety net on the planet,...but they won't talk about the real problems.

 

Repealing churches' tax exemption threatens no one's freedom of religion.

 

Churches are fundamentally unlike the other kinds of groups that usually declare not-for-profit status. Charities and educational institutions, for example, serve all people equally. However, churches do not. They are free to discriminate, and do discriminate, against people who do not share their beliefs (this is called the "ministerial exemption"). They can and do discriminate against people for being gay, for being women, for being unmarried, for their age, for having health problems, or for virtually any other reason. (A recent New York Times article, "Where Faith Abides, Employees Have Few Rights", gives more information on the liberties given to churches that would never be granted to any other employer.) At the very least, these groups should pay taxes if they intend to treat their employees in this way. Even better, this special treatment should end, and they should be held to the same anti-discrimination rules as any other business.

 

But no,...Tea Party Christocrats don't want fairness or liberty,...they want BIG Government intrusion in the lives of those that are not Tea Party Christocrats,...as proven by the over 40,000 new laws in 2012 alone,...much of which are intrusive Tea Party sponsored laws.

 

Church tax exemptions also tilt the playing field and violate the principles of the free market. Allowing churches to buy up as much land as they want, and hold it forever without paying taxes, stifles the ability of other people to make meaningful use of that property in the future and grants churches an unfair advantage when providing social services that compete with other businesses. Even worse, churches are also unfairly exempt from many licensing and regulation requirements that all other types of businesses must comply with. Churches are even exempt from taxes on side assets like parking lots.

 

The faith-based anti-Americanism of the Tea Party folks is so obvious. If they were really interested in their blather, Gary Johnson would be the Republican nominee,...not Vulture Capitalist Willard M Romney.

 

MrBlast and the Tea Party folks spewing their less government rhetoric, while in large part, sponsoring over 40,000 new laws in 2012, should be criminal,...but at the least is wholly dishonest.

 

V

Edited May 31, 2012 by Vmarco

[joeblast]

I imagine you would take the mask from your own mother if there were only one!

 

 

Right wing fiscal sanity at the expense of others. Your Tea Party wants to eliminate all social programs they deem unconstitutional. Programs such as Social Security, Medicare, FDA inspection stations, food stamps (40 million plus in the U.S. due in part to corporations shipping jobs overseas, 23% of all American children living in poverty) and eliminate funds for necessary infrastructure repair etc.

 

 

 

 

 

Just more Ayn Rand blather on the rugged individual who can do anything and is totally self reliant. A few may very well be. However, many in this world are lacking the mental and physical capacity to be contributors to society. Therefor, it is the responsibility of the society to provide for those who are unable to provide for themselves.

haha seriously? this is getting to be too much like the AGW threads where certain people latch on to certain tiny bits of information that have little effect and entirely ignore other simpler huge things right in their face that have a preponderance of effect, all to corral the story into a desired direction.

 

Ralis,...the delusions of these Tea Party folks is infinitely complex. Their denial and dishonesty boggles all reason.

 

The social welfare system had massive, down to the bare-bones, reforms in 1996,...however, Corporate Welfare was untouched, and billions in taxpayer-funded subsidies continue unchecked. I agree there's too much corporate welfare - and that's the problem with a lot of regulation, it is relatively harmless for a large entity to comply with, catastrophic in some cases for a tiny entity to comply with. Can and have gone on at length. And what, they "fixed welfare" in 1996 and its somehow "still perfect" and not claiming a steep cost curve? (even though it may pale in comparison to some other curves.)

 

Then add the Trillions of dollars which tax-payers have to pay to subsidize Judeo-Christianity. "It is not just one tax that religious organizations are excused from paying, but an entire constellation of them. Clergy are exempt from federal taxes on housing and can opt out of Social Security and Medicare withholding. Religious employers are generally exempt from federal and state unemployment taxes, and in some states, religious publications are exempt from sales tax. Church benefit and retirement plans do not require the church employer to match its employees' contributions. Churches are automatically exempted from filing annual public informational reports on their financial status and activities, and donations made to churches are eligible for income tax deductions. And, of course, the two major tax breaks: church groups do not have to pay income tax and do not have to pay taxes on property which they own."

 

It's OK for the Tea Party folks to bitch about the most streamline social safety net on the planet,...but they won't talk about the real problems.

 

Repealing churches' tax exemption threatens no one's freedom of religion.Now is "making clergy pay taxes" only for christians, or are you demanding that buddhist monks also do so?

 

Churches are fundamentally unlike the other kinds of groups that usually declare not-for-profit status. Charities and educational institutions, for example, serve all people equally. However, churches do not. They are free to discriminate, and do discriminate, against people who do not share their beliefs (this is called the "ministerial exemption"). They can and do discriminate against people for being gay, for being women, for being unmarried, for their age, for having health problems, or for virtually any other reason. (A recent New York Times article, "Where Faith Abides, Employees Have Few Rights", gives more information on the liberties given to churches that would never be granted to any other employer.) At the very least, these groups should pay taxes if they intend to treat their employees in this way. Even better, this special treatment should end, and they should be held to the same anti-discrimination rules as any other business.

 

But no,...Tea Party Christocrats don't want fairness or liberty,...they want BIG Government intrusion in the lives of those that are not Tea Party Christocrats,...as proven by the over 40,000 new laws in 2012 alone,...much of which are intrusive Tea Party sponsored laws.

 

Church tax exemptions also tilt the playing field and violate the principles of the free market. Allowing churches to buy up as much land as they want, and hold it forever without paying taxes, stifles the ability of other people to make meaningful use of that property in the future and grants churches an unfair advantage when providing social services that compete with other businesses. Even worse, churches are also unfairly exempt from many licensing and regulation requirements that all other types of businesses must comply with. Churches are even exempt from taxes on side assets like parking lots.

 

The faith-based anti-Americanism of the Tea Party folks is so obvious. If they were really interested in their blather, Gary Johnson would be the Republican nominee,...not Vulture Capitalist Willard M Romney.

 

MrBlast and the Tea Party folks spewing their less government rhetoric, while in large part, sponsoring over 40,000 new laws in 2012, should be criminal,...but at the least is wholly dishonest.

 

V

I peed in the Atlantic Ocean once when I was a child.

[Apech]

*** Moderator Message ***

 

Hello,

 

This is a moderator message ... but more of a reflection than anything. We already have a number of threads in Off Topic about American (or rather US) politics. I realise that what happens in the States affects all of us ... but I for one have a great deal of trouble working out what you guys are talking about.

 

The OP was about political ethics for Taoists and Buddhists ... which I would find interesting. For instance what would a purely Taoist state look like? Any chance discussing this sort of thing instead of Medicare and wotnot ... you've already done the US stuff to death several times.

 

This thread is in General Discussion which is supposed to be about spiritual paths.

 

Just asking.

 

Apech for Mod Team

 

*** Moderator Message ends ***