Anyone non-religious here? Please be nice!

[Reinbeau]

Quote:
Only if I get to have a cattle prod and no restrictions on who I use it upon.


Ultimately, it boils down to this - Live and let live. If you can't be clear on the how and provide valid support for your argument that it's hurting someone, let it be. Your right to swing your fist ends at my nose.

You have the freedom to say what ever you want in a public * forum, and the correlation to that freedom of speech is I have the freedom to point out you are wrong and even mock you if you offend me enough.


* my yard, my car, my store, my forums, etc... are not public forums. They are my playgrounds and I can kick you out if I see fit. It only violates your freedom of speech if the government prevents you, not if a private individual or corporation prevents you while you are on their property or using their belongings as your medium. Sorry, minor constitutional pet peeve.

No, actually, you don't have 'freedom of speech' on BYC, as covered here. You are allowed to post here provided you adhere to the rules. Mocking, talking down to or in any other way putting someone else down isn't allowed here on BYC.

 

[redux]

Quote:
Only if I get to have a cattle prod and no restrictions on who I use it upon.


Ultimately, it boils down to this - Live and let live. If you can't be clear on the how and provide valid support for your argument that it's hurting someone, let it be. Your right to swing your fist ends at my nose.

You have the freedom to say what ever you want in a public * forum, and the correlation to that freedom of speech is I have the freedom to point out you are wrong and even mock you if you offend me enough.


* my yard, my car, my store, my forums, etc... are not public forums. They are my playgrounds and I can kick you out if I see fit. It only violates your freedom of speech if the government prevents you, not if a private individual or corporation prevents you while you are on their property or using their belongings as your medium. Sorry, minor constitutional pet peeve.

No, actually, you don't have 'freedom of speech' on BYC, as covered here. You are allowed to post here provided you adhere to the rules. Mocking, talking down to or in any other way putting someone else down isn't allowed here on BYC.

I took the asterisk part to be sort of a disclaimer agreeing with exactly what you are saying - "my forum" is not a public venue. This forum is privately owned and so, is not by definition, a public forum. Or did I misunderstand this post?

 

[Reinbeau]

I'm sorry. Are you Prettiest Frog? Because that's who I was talking to, not you, Redux.

 

[redux]

Quote:
Oh, I know. I was just saying how I interpreted the post. Didn't mean to interfere.

 

[Rusty Hills Farm]

public * forum

I think the word "forum" is being taken too too literally in this case. I don't believe the poster is talking about just an internet forum, but is using the term in its broader sense. I found this definition that might be helpful (the bolding is mine):

Forums are classified as public or nonpublic.

A public forum, also called an open forum, is open to all expression that is protected under the First Amendment. Streets, parks, and sidewalks are considered open to public discourse by tradition and are designated as traditional public forums. The government creates a designated public forum when it intentionally opens a nontraditional forum for public discourse. Limited public forums, such as municipal meeting rooms, are nonpublic forums that have been specifically designated by the government as open to certain groups or topics. Traditional public forums cannot be changed to nonpublic forums by governments.

Public forums cannot be restricted based on content. But even public forums can be restricted as to the time, place and manner of speech. In the 1972 case Grayned v. Rockford, the Supreme Court found that "The nature of a place, 'the pattern of its normal activities, dictate the kinds of regulations of time, place, and manner that are reasonable.'" In determining what is reasonable, the Court stated that "[the] crucial question is whether the manner of expression is basically incompatible with the normal activity of a particular place at a particular time." Thus, protesters have the right to march in support of a cause, but not on a public beach during the middle of the day with bullhorns.

A nonpublic forum is not specially designated as open to public expression. For example, jails, public schools, and military bases are nonpublic forums (unless declared otherwise by the government). Such forums can be restricted based on the content of the speech, but not based on viewpoint. Thus, while the government could prohibit speeches related to abortion on a military base, it could not permit a pro-life speaker while denying a pro-choice speaker (or vice versa).

Regardless of the type of forum, any exclusion must be done on a viewpoint neutral basis. Exclusion based on the speaker’s viewpoint is unconstitutional.

Just trying to be helpful.

Rusty​

 

[EweSheep]

 

[deb1]

thaiturkey, I know that in many parts of the world life is not any better. I just do not think that morally we are any worse then our ancestors.

Do you have people who are overjoyed that the end of the world is coming where you are at? I have friends who talk with relish about the suffering that they will be spared at the coming rapture. Human society, in their eyes, is getting worse and less moral because that is what they believe will need to happen before their religious prophecies come true.

It sometimes frustrating to me to hear otherwise compassionate adults sound cheerful when they speak about escaping the suffering that they feel will be inflicted on the rest of the world.

 

[thaiturkey]

Quote:
Deb1, your post has more content when I click on 'Quote'. How odd. (Edit: It's all there now. Perhaps you were editing as I clicked!)

It's difficult to say whether or not we are better, worse or the same morally than our ancestors. Moral codes change with time and from one culture to another. How do we compare the Spanish Inquisition with the some of the horrors of today, for example? Human nature, the whole of nature in fact, has both good and bad.

I don't know anyone here, local or foreigner, who admits to giving a moment's thought to the end of the world or even believes that it will happen within his lifetime. Locals have too many issues connected with getting by each day. Perhaps most foreigners think that it's all bunkum or another media scare. If I here any comments about the state of the world it's about growing government interference in their lives or, in the case of locals, their government not caring about the needs of poorer people. Come to think of it, Western prophecies about the End Of Days haven't reached local people and, if the did hear about it, they would probably just laugh and get on with their lives.

The fact is, life is not fair and the world can be a very cruel place. We have choices. We can accept things that we cannot change and do the best we can. Another is to escape into a fantasy world of some faith that tells us the world is different from what it is, or we can focus on the next life without knowing if there is one. People who choose those paths lose the joys of experiencing many of the good things that are here for those who seek them. They have no reason to do good for others except to earn credits in their hoped for next life. Religious morals are, for some, no more than self-seeking actions.

If anyone relishes the thought that the world will come to an end and he will survive in some blissful state elsewhere while others suffer is both selfish and deluded. Perhaps they should take their own final solution and leave the rest of us alone.

 

[deb1]

thaiturkey, I am going to frighten you of ever traveling in the southeastern part of the USA, which would be a shame because most people here are very polite and kind hearted.

But there are a lot of people here who love Tim Lehaye's Left Behind books. My neighbor even said that the books were partly responsible for her becoming a Christian because of her fear over the rapture.

It sounds as if religious people are more logical where you are.

I bet that I was editing while you were writing a response.

 

[thaiturkey]

Quote:
I was just finishing a reply to you when we had a power cut. A sign, perhaps?

I have vacationed in Florida a few times and met some lovely people from northern snowbirds to beach restaurant staff. Even the oh-so-wealthy on the lawns of their second homes by the New River, Fort Lauderdale, waved as I sailed past. Not one of them was doing anything with camels and needles, by the way. I don't know much about the other SE States apart from what I have read in Bill Bryson's books.

Tim Lehay is new to me so I looked on Wiki. He seems a bit of a sad case. Are you telling me that people live their lives by some fictional works than he didn't even write himself? Is he saying that we will be judged by whatever we are doing at the moment the world ends? That, presumably means that I can do what I want provided I switch quickly to some good deed should I see a swarm of locusts, a river of molten lava or a tidal wave. Doesn't sit right with me.

The folk here aren't strong on logic but they have good intuition. If I explained the concept of the end of the world and described some of the people who expect to get to heaven they may well decide that they don't want to be with them. They are especially jolly today. Several sons in the local villages are becoming monks and that means parties starting from the crack of dawn.