The Evangelical Universalist Forum

How To Live Under An Unqualified President by John Piper

QAZ said:

Well, first of all, the idea that we were formed in this country (USA) as a ‘Democracy’ would suggest you might need to go back to history class. Look up ‘Republic’ and see what you find.

Second of all, the crack about the mental health is exactly what folks on the left are doing. There is a insistence on near violent (or at least repulsively personal attack) response to anything that the opposite side is saying… You/they should be ashamed and I think there is an apology needed here. :unamused:

But you do what you think you need to do.

HFPZ - are you just trolling here? I would think that a moment’s reflection on your part would answer all those questions. And you’re a very smart HFPZ.

No, I am NOT trolling. We can even substitute a real person. Let’s take Doug Ernest, for example. He has his own blog at douglasernst.blog/. He’s an ex-Army, Republican, Roman Catholic and masters degree holder- in political science. And a very good writer. Suppose he gets a job, with the New York Times. And he writes a story, on the current Republican, health care bill. What happens to his story? How would it get changed or distorted? I want to understand the process, from an individual, reporter’s perspective.

Or, if we are talking philosophy…I want to understand this process, from an existential, phenomenological perspective.

Or pretend I am Curly, of the Three Stooges. Explain it, so that even I can understand it.

Walk me through it :exclamation: :confused:

QAZ said:

That is the problem. The spirit of civil society, as you speak of is the voice of political correctness. That is the very thing that a REPUBLIC form of government was designed to defend against. As much as you may not like the reality. :blush:

Can you give some examples of this political correctness, which you find harmful?

With the San Bernadino terrorists the husband was making bombs in his parents garage and some neighbors suspected this but didn’t report it because they were afraid of being labeled “Islamophobic.”

How about this one :question: :laughing:

This is a good summary if we are in the mood for 10 minutes’ reading.
riseof PC.pdf (1.7 MB)

With the San Bernadino terrorists the husband was making bombs in his parents garage and some neighbors suspected this but didn’t report it because they were afraid of being labeled “Islamophobic.”

That doesn’t show “political correctness” being an actual issue. Democratic public officials aren’t trying to outlaw “islamophobia”.

That wasn’t your question. It was can you show where PC was harmful ? Here people died because the neighbors were afraid of being labeled. I didn’t mention Democrats.

qaz there are hundreds of examples found with a simple google search. I don’t see why we have to do the work for you, really.

For instance, I googled ‘examples of political correctness’ and the first result was this:
infowars.com/19-shocking-ex … g-america/

Take some initiative and read those and then if you aren’t happy, read the other few hundred results.

Well, this forum thread is like the story, “Goldilocks and the 3 bears”.

Some like to sleep, in the papa bear bed (i.e. right wing) - which Goldilocks finds too hard.
Some like to sleep, in the mama bear bed (i.e. extreme left) - which Goldilocks finds too soft.

And she ends of sleeping, in the baby bear bed (i.e. somewhere in the middle - like I am). Which she finds just right.

And those taking the extreme bed positions - just keep on complaining :exclamation: :laughing:

and those taking the extreme bed positions - just keep on complaining :exclamation: :laughing:

Truth be told “unfair” is a leftist mantra! Part of the social justice movement. Not that i’m against social justice but the left has there own version.
Their vision is “equal outcome” whereas mine is “equal opportunity.”

BTW i’m laughing my “Ossoff.”

"Fake news has come to mean a lot of things these days. But the definition that the right and the left can both agree on is sites that just make up things for money. NPR pursued the “godfather” of some of these fake news sites and discovered that he’s a lefty who’s doing this to undermine conservatives.

The sites include NationalReport.net, USAToday.com.co, WashingtonPost.com.co. All the addresses linked to a single rented server inside Amazon Web Services. That meant they were all likely owned by the same company.

“The whole idea from the start was to build a site that could kind of infiltrate the echo chambers of the alt-right, publish blatantly fictional stories and then be able to publicly denounce those stories and point out the fact that they were fiction,” Coler says.

So we’ve got sites hosted by a company run by the owner of the Washington Post which are run by a guy whose stated goal is to plant fake news stories to undermine the right.

NPR eats this up with a jumbo spoon, but the underlying admission is that the fake news problem has the same source as the mainstream media’s fake news problem. Hostility to conservatives.

While the mainstream media pushes fake news to liberals, guys like this plant fake news on the right to sow chaos and undermine conservative news consumers. The fake news problem, from the top down, is a left-wing propaganda problem. " - frontpagemag.com/point/26706 … greenfield

While the mainstream media pushes fake news to liberals, guys like this plant fake news on the right to sow chaos and undermine conservative news consumers. The fake news problem, from the top down, is a left-wing propaganda problem. " - frontpagemag.com/point/26706 … greenfield

Definitely a left wing tact. I get these tweets almost daily with 90% of it being false, really “false news” is a better description and as you said it’s about the money! What does the bible say about “money?”

Fake news is like scams. Suppose i get a call, from the IRS. They say I owe some back taxes. They will take me away in handcuffs, if I don’t pay via debit card.

Well, I never heard of this. And the IRS normally sends several letters - by mail first.

Now I can’t find this IRS procedure, on either social media or a Google search. So it’s fake news. And costly too - if I send the phony IRS agent some money.

Now I read a supermarket tabloid story. It says Trump took a ride - in a UFO. Well, I don’t buy into it. But if ALL supermarket tabloids, were running variations of the same story. Guess what? I might say, it’s in the realm of possibility.

Same goes for a story, in the New York times, CNN, etc. If one station or newspaper runs it - it’s probably fake news. But if everybody runs it (including the international news sources - like the BBC). Guess what? It’s within the realm of possibility.

What I look at - is this. The number of news sources (both nationally and internationally), are reporting variations of the same story. Meaning they are approaching, a bell shaped curve. Which means that both liberal and conservative news bodies, should be fact checking it.

It’s now a part of my framework. Or my existential, phenomenological perspective.

If later some fact or aspect, renders the story incoherent - guess what? I alter my framework or my existential, phenomenological perspective - ever so slightly.

The funny thing about the truth is - it’s true.
Fake news is not news - it is lies. It’s often what someone wishes were the truth, what they feel MUST be the truth - but, even considering the oft-quoted ‘truth is a slippery concept’ (think Hillary) - what is true is what counts. Nowadays we have to work to get it.

Same goes for a story, in the New York times, CNN, etc. If one station or newspaper runs it - it’s probably fake news. But if everybody runs it (including the international news sources - like the BBC). Guess what? It’s within the realm of possibility.

Yes it is but not a slam dunk because they often just copy each other and ask questions later! This is a new behavior mode because of instant news, nobody wants to be left holding the chair!

Obamacare’s opacity was a deliberate strategy

Gruber made an argument that many of Obamacare’s critics have long made, including me. It’s that the law’s complex system of insurance regulation is a way of concealing from voters what Obamacare really is: a huge redistribution of wealth from the young and healthy to the old and unhealthy. In the video, Gruber points out that if Democrats had been honest about these facts, and that the law’s individual mandate is in effect a major tax hike, Obamacare would never have passed Congress.

“Mark [Pauly] made a couple of comments that I do want to take issue with, one about transparency in financing and the other is about moving from community rating to risk-rated subsidies. You can’t do it politically. You just literally cannot do it, okay, transparent financing…and also transparent spending.” Gruber said. “In terms of risk-rated subsidies, if you had a law which said that healthy people are going to pay in—you made explicit that healthy people pay in and sick people get money, it would not have passed, okay. Lack of transparency is a huge political advantage. And basically, call it the stupidity of the American voter or whatever, but basically that was really, really critical for the thing to pass…
-https://www.forbes.com/sites/theapothecary/2014/11/10/aca-architect-the-stupidity-of-the-american-voter-led-us-to-hide-obamacares-tax-hikes-and-subsidies-from-the-public/#161c8f047c05

Well, nothing is a slam dunk. But I will run with it. Same with ideas in theology, philosophy and science. If some piece of info comes,… to question my existential, phenomenological field of perception…or my intellectual framework - I’ll reevaluate it.

Take some of the theological ideas - presented here. And I am NOT talking about universalism. Maybe one of the far-out theologies presented here - is right. And those that aprpoach, the bell shaped curb - are wrong. I’m sure God will inform me, at the end of time. And God won’t fault me, foll following bell-shaped curb theologies…followed by the majority of mankind.

I just need to follow - the yellow, brick road.

And stay away from anything - that deviates me from my journey. :laughing: