Gun ownership poll

[Smarti5051]

Originally Posted by jingram058

When someone is known to be looking at, even engaging in violent rhetoric, and then vocally espousing white-supremacist vitriol

There are literally hundreds of thousands of these people engaging in this conduct daily, to various degrees. And, most of the time, there is nothing illegal in engaging in any of the activities above online. And, "white-supremacist vitriol" is only one extreme. There are plenty of extremes in this country and every year social media pushes folks closer to these extremes. For a government agency to make a personal visit to everyone that has a "negative thought" would only exacerbate the situation and bankrupt the country as we would have to increase these government agencies by 100-200x their current staffing.

[todeen]

Originally Posted by Smarti5051

There are plenty of extremes in this country and every year social media pushes folks closer to these extremes.

-- Anti-abortion (edited: those who stalk, threaten, and attack doctors)
-- Environmental terrorism (not as popular anymore)
-- Bundy ranchers who want to end public ownership of land
-- Antifa (but I haven't heard much from them in two years)
etc etc etc

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[Peter_Spaeth]

Being against abortion is "extreme"?

[BobbyStrawberry]

Originally Posted by Peter_Spaeth

Being against abortion is "extreme"?

As a personal view, no. In the US, though, as a country founded on and prizing the value of personal freedoms, outlawing it (and incentivizing citizens to spy on and report to the authorities their neighbors who are involved in it) is extreme. (Not to mention cruel, as those most harmed by such policies are the poor, who are less likely to be able to afford to travel for the procedure, or to financially support a child they forced by the state to have.)

[Peter_Spaeth]

Originally Posted by BobbyStrawberry

As a personal view, no. In the US, though, as a country founded on and prizing the value of personal freedoms, outlawing it (and incentivizing citizens to spy on and report to the authorities their neighbors who are involved in it) is extreme. (Not to mention cruel, as those most harmed by such policies are the poor, who are less likely to be able to afford to travel for the procedure, or to financially support a child they forced by the state to have.)

It would not be productive to debate it, but I disagree strongly that the vast majority of pro-life people are "extremists." I would acknowledge there are some whose tactics I don't particularly favor.

[BobbyStrawberry]

Originally Posted by Peter_Spaeth

It would not be productive to debate it, but I disagree strongly that the vast majority of pro-life people are "extremists." I would acknowledge there are some whose tactics I don't particularly favor.

Peter, that's not what I meant to imply. I view as extreme some of those "tactics"; one could easily come up with something "extreme" on the other side, too... Imagine if a "blue" state instituted universally available over-the-counter contraception for women beginning at age 12. This would, in my view, rightfully be viewed by many as "extreme".

In a way, this ties back to the issue of our country as a whole. Things are just so polarized, that "extreme" doesn't even have an agreed-upon definition anymore...

[Peter_Spaeth]

We are certainly polarized these days, but I think abortion always has been and will be a polarizing issue due to its nature, whether or not society as a whole is more or less polarized.

[todeen]

Originally Posted by BobbyStrawberry

As a personal view, no. In the US, though, as a country founded on and prizing the value of personal freedoms, outlawing it (and incentivizing citizens to spy on and report to the authorities their neighbors who are involved in it) is extreme. (Not to mention cruel, as those most harmed by such policies are the poor, who are less likely to be able to afford to travel for the procedure, or to financially support a child they forced by the state to have.)

Originally Posted by Peter_Spaeth

It would not be productive to debate it, but I disagree strongly that the vast majority of pro-life people are "extremists." I would acknowledge there are some whose tactics I don't particularly favor.

Originally Posted by vintagetoppsguy

Yes, haven't you been keeping up with social media? Those anti-abortionists are showing up at the homes of supreme court justices protesting and threatening them, making other terroristic threats if Roe vs. Wade is overturned, threatening churches, threatening that there will be "blood in the streets" and...oh, wait...that would be the ones in favor of abortion. My bad. Carry on.

I can see I opened a can of worms. What I meant with my post was to highlight extremes on both right and left. I don't condone violence. While I am actively religious, some efforts by some of my Christian brethren I deem damaging to Christianity. I disagreed with such close affiliation with Pres Trump. Those who were not religious and Democrat were very put off by this close connection. My sect of faith actively proselytes, and the four years of Trumps presidency I view as very negative years for any and all Christian sects. Now the possible overturning of Roe v Wade could further damage the Christian brand in the US as non-religious folk (an ever growing crowd in the USA) feel like religion is being shoved down their throat.

The sad events coming out with the sex abuse cover up with with Evangelical church I feel is seen as further hypocrisy to the same crowd. It makes me worried about tit-for-tat politics in the future that could negatively affect me.

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[vintagetoppsguy]

Originally Posted by Peter_Spaeth

Being against abortion is "extreme"?

Yes, haven't you been keeping up with social media? Those anti-abortionists are showing up at the homes of supreme court justices protesting and threatening them, making other terroristic threats if Roe vs. Wade is overturned, threatening churches, threatening that there will be "blood in the streets" and...oh, wait...that would be the ones in favor of abortion. My bad. Carry on.

[Peter_Spaeth]

Originally Posted by vintagetoppsguy

Yes, haven't you been keeping up with social media? Those anti-abortionists are showing up at the homes of supreme court justices protesting and threatening them, making other terroristic threats if Roe vs. Wade is overturned, threatening churches, threatening that there will be "blood in the streets" and...oh, wait...that would be the ones in favor of abortion. My bad. Carry on.

When it is overturned, David, when.

[todeen]

Originally Posted by Peter_Spaeth

Being against abortion is "extreme"?

No, not in and of itself. But there are anti-abortion extremists. They have stalked, threatened, and attacked doctors who perform abortions.

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[Peter_Spaeth]

Originally Posted by todeen

No, not in and of itself. But there are anti-abortion extremists. They have stalked, threatened, and attacked doctors who perform abortions.

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Fair enough, as I said I don't condone that and don't think it helps the cause. But I think that once the S Ct opinion is official, you'll see some pretty unpalatable stuff from the so-called "rights" advocates as well.

[todeen]

Originally Posted by Peter_Spaeth

Fair enough, as I said I don't condone that and don't think it helps the cause. But I think that once the S Ct opinion is official, you'll see some pretty unpalatable stuff from the so-called "rights" advocates as well.

Yes. I told my wife that since 2016, the political air and distrust feels ripe for an assassination. Those people who feel that the SCOTUS was stolen from Democrats could feel very victimized by Mitch McConnells stunt in 2015 that allowed a 3 judge flip of SCOTUS.

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