en-us https://www.intensedebate.com/users/769157 Comments by thehighlife https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/04/south-park-off-the-hook__trashed/#IDComment69974991 You know I’m happy that this question was brought up. Personally I find it really extremely irritating that Muslims have so much pull in what goes on. First of all it is ridiculous that South Park had to censor Muhammad when every other major religious figure was shown and made fun of. I understand Muhammad isn’t supposed to be shown but really that is a ridiculous thing in a ridiculous religion. Islam is bogus. Did anyone else know that Muhammad was in love with his son’s wife so he miraculously had a “revelation” from Allah that it was alright to marry his son’s wife and so he did? BOGUS! But these things are never brought up because if you say these things, then you are threatened by some extreme fundamentalist muslim group; much like the creators of South Park. The point of South Park is to provide satire on society. This is America. We have freedom of speech but for some reason we are never aloud to say anything for fear of being sued or in this case threatened by fundamentalists. It’s this very threatening and being overly sensitive about your bogus religion, muslims, that gives you guys such a bad stigma. Maybe if you stopped harassing people and bombing and killing innocent people that you simply don’t “agree” with, the rest of the world would stop hating you. Sure it’s only a few of you but a few has the history of representing the whole. A few Catholic priests who molest children give a bad name to all Catholics as well as catholic priests. I didn’t hear about South Park creators being threatened by radical Catholics when they made fun of Catholics. But noooo the Muslims get a little upset and all of a sudden there are threats and the latest episode is banned forever. I mean muslims need to calm the hell down and get over themselves. We all live in one world and we all have different beliefs. So if the west doesn’t live life according to your standards, well then get the hell over it. It isn’t your place to judge us and then cause us harm because you don’t like the way we live. Guess what, we don’t like the way you live. France is catching a bunch of heat for wanting to outlaw burkas…..hahahaha it’s ridiculous that they can’t do that in their own country which isn’t a professed muslim country. I’m just really getting sick of this political correctness regarding Islam and muslims because they will kill us if we say or do something they don’t like. Who do you people think you are? Do you think Allah will be proud that you murdered several thousand innocent Americans? Would Allah be proud that your women are oppressed and forced to cover their entire body? And do you really think that Allah has 72 virgins waiting for you to mate with; without your physical bodies?! I mean let’s just stop for a minute and consider these things shall we? Fri, 23 Apr 2010 19:54:35 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/04/south-park-off-the-hook__trashed/#IDComment69974991 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/04/what-about-the-men__trashed/#IDComment68421016 Men definitely need to conform to society the same way women do. Maybe not in the same way though. Men play a specific role in society that often gets over looked during these days of feminism and the demonization of men. Sure it’s a male dominated society however we must ask ourselves the question, would women have created all this wealth and industry in the world today? Women contribute but men are silently expected to keep it going. Men must conform to the expectations of our culture and society. As for the image concept of this idea, men definitely need to conform like women just not in the same ways. Men don’t get breast implants. But sometimes they get calf implants! Men need to keep themselves well-groomed, dressed appropriately, and behaved in the proper business attitude. And that is just for the professional world. In the social world, men need to keep themselves clean cut looking and well dressed if they want any chance of picking up girls. There seems to be a certain dress code for going to the bars. Nice shoes, jeans or slacks, and a collared button down shirt. This is what women look for in men. I once asked a bartender at indigo if she liked guys in button down shirts. I Figured girls wouldn’t like that because then all the guys look the same and fake. They are clearly just dressed to impress the girls. But the bartender said that she prefers guys in button down shirts because they look nice and groomed. No girl wants to go out with some schlub in sweatpants and a t-shirt with spaghetti sauce stains all over the front while wearing burkenstocks with white socks. Guys can’t have a shaggy beard and molester mustache if they want any chance of picking up girls. Guys can’t drive around in piece of shit cars that are dirty on the outside and filled with soda bottles, chip bags, and empty cigarette packs on the inside. These are all small things that women notice about men and use to judge them on their personality and potential as a boyfriend or husband. So yea women have to conform but they are doing that for themselves and other women. We all know that women dress to impress other women because men couldn’t care less about what a girl is wearing unless she is fat and wearing a belly shirt. Men only dress like they are pimps so that they can impress the girls. Men REALLY don’t care what other men are wearing. The most they will judge each other on is the quality of a suit and or tie. Who cares what we look like as long as we aren’t dirty. Fri, 16 Apr 2010 20:09:26 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/04/what-about-the-men__trashed/#IDComment68421016 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/04/what-if-we-got-rid-of-welfare__trashed/#IDComment65684417 I believe that we cannot just end welfare because far too many people in this country are dependent on it. However, I think there needs to be more regulation for it such as setting a plan for people to get off of welfare. The problem is that kids are born into it then they grow accustomed to it. They take after their parents who didn’t bother to get a job and just live off welfare. To me this is a major problem for this country. FDR started the welfare program in response to the Great Depression but did not bother to think of its ramifications in the future. This social program has helped to evolve the social mindset into one which depicts laziness and an expectation that we are owed something by our government. I guess somewhere along the road we stopped caring about how this country was formed. I believe that our forefathers were trying to escape government oppression and control. We now expect our government to hand us things without bothering to do anything in return. But oh wait, lets just have the people who DO work and fend for themselves pay higher taxes so that the lazier people can live off of their money. And then the lazy people have the audacity to be pissed off. Get off your asses and get a job. There are always menial jobs available but people don’t feel like doing them so they don’t then they complain. Now, there are some people who come across hard times and may need some government assistance. There should always be a safety net in this country however there shouldn’t be a hammock. Maybe you go on welfare with a plan that in 5-10 years you will secure a legitimate job. That is the way it should be. I’m really getting sick of working for minimum wage throughout college and paying taxes so that lazy people can benefit off of my tax money. It’s fuckin ass backwards and it’s getting a little old. As for the country falling apart, it already is because of these programs. Everyone wants to talk about the deficit and blame it all entirely on the Iraq war. Yes, that has a lot to do with it but let’s not forget the billions and billions of dollars a year being spent on stupid social programs that allow for laziness and not productivity and the groundwork for a future in this country. We love to compare ourselves to the great Roman Empire but that is a ridiculous claim. The Romans were far better at handling their business then us lazy uninterested Americans. Get a job, produce, and contribute to the cause of this great country from which you benefit. Sat, 3 Apr 2010 02:18:27 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/04/what-if-we-got-rid-of-welfare__trashed/#IDComment65684417 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/01/the-enlightened-west-knows-best__trashed/#IDComment64242163 Personally I agree with France’s dislike of Muslim women wearing burqas. While they may not be Muslim terrorists, the burqa is a symbol of fundamentalism in Islam as was mentioned in the video. There was the one Muslim guy who said wearing a burqa is not commanded in the Koran. Isn’t fundamentalism associated with living buy the Koran? So it makes no sense to use this as a claim to wear a burqa. As much as we may want to ignore it, it is no secret that wearing a burqa stems from oppression of insecure Muslim men. This “tradition” goes back a very long time….back to contexts that our contemporary mindsets cannot understand. It’s oppression, plain and simple. I believe that Muslim women are cultured to believe that a burqa will please Allah. They defend it out of fear. As for France being against burqas in public, what is the big deal? France is not America. France does not grant the same rights to citizens as America does. It’s a typical American habit to think that everyone should be like us. Then we make a big deal over the dealings of other countries. If France, which is NOT a Muslim nation, doesn’t want Muslim women walking around fully covered with only their eyes showing, then France can do whatever the hell they want. I say ban it. Especially in the world we live in today. Islam is associated with terrorism this day in age whether we like it or not. That is not going to change until Muslim extremists stop killing people in the name of Islam because those people don’t live their lives the way Muslims do. Get over yourselves! So the way it appears to the public is that burqas represent terrorism. If you don’t like that you can’t wear a burqa in a country that doesn’t want you to, then move away and go back to the middle east where burqas are welcome. Oh wait, women probably wouldn’t want to move back because then they may experience oppression again. A link?; I don’t know. Or maybe they don’t want to move back because they like the quality of life that western culture provides. If that’s the case then wearing a burqa would seem like some sort of blasphemy. No one in this world can have their cake and eat it too. We are forced to make decisions. If wearing a burqa is a “decision” as Muslim women claim, then they should choose to wear it in a place that allows it. It’s so silly that they think it is acceptable to walk around completely covered up in public in the name of a religion that is known for wanting to murder innocent people at any point in time! Who knows, they may have AK-47’S under those things. It would be naïve to think that they would never do that. Fri, 26 Mar 2010 20:01:27 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/01/the-enlightened-west-knows-best__trashed/#IDComment64242163 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/03/what-to-do-about-white-guilt__trashed/#IDComment63027136 ¬I am by no means a monster regarding my ideals however I can safely say that I feel absolutely zero guilt regarding my position in this country. I am a white male and sure I may fit into the stereotype that I am privileged and such but I find that to be a bogus argument. Yea I am white but my parents do not come from a rich background. My great grandparents came to America from Ireland with nothing and worked there way up through the system. My grandparents worked for what they had and so did my parents. I have been working since I was 16 and buy myself all of the material things I want. Any black citizen can do the same. Sure, the table may be a little slanted but when has anything in life ever been fair? I should not have to feel guilty because I am white. I and my family have worked for everything we have. I went to catholic school so maybe that is why I am privileged, but my parents gave up a lot to send me to catholic school. Black parents could give up stuff to send their children to private school if they REALLY wanted to. It all comes down to choice. Public education is available to the black community but I often hear horror stories from inner-city school teachers about how disruptive, disrespectful, and uninterested their black students are. That doesn’t apply to all black students but I have a sneaking suspicion that those students who do not bother to benefit from the opportunity of free education are the ones that grow up complaining about the “white man” keeping them down and all of their other trials and tribulations inflicted by white people. Ignorance is everywhere and its always easier as an ignorant person to blame all of your problems on someone else or another race. White people are certainly in the same category..it’s not a race thing, its an attitude thing. As for feeling guilty about Native Americans, yea I may feel a bit guilty but I had nothing to do with the genocide. I had zero descendents here when that took place. And why do we never talk about what a savage people native Americans were? They killed each other regularly through brutal practices and they ambushed and savagely murdered peaceful settlers. OH and how come Sam Richards conveniently forgets to mention the deals made between settlers and natives regarding land, food and knowledge? Its always ALL this land is stolen. YOU ARE WRONG SAM…that’s just easier to say when you are trying to manipulate an audience into being a bunch of sappy liberals who would rather feel guilty about something they did not do rather than appreciating the quality of life they experience. Fri, 19 Mar 2010 20:05:48 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/03/what-to-do-about-white-guilt__trashed/#IDComment63027136 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/02/when-do-we-do-or-say-something__trashed/#IDComment58894589 I agree that as Americans we will always say that its not our place. In fact I say that all the time throughout my life. My friend argues with his girlfriend and I don't say anything about it because its "not my place." However, when it comes to situations in the public realm, ones safety must come into account. The people that do not say anything regarding discrimination issue may not say anything simply because they do not like confrontation or do not want to run the risk of getting in a fight and getting hurt. Now, if that is their conviction, who are we to say that they have a responsibility to say or do something? No one in this country actually has an obligation to do ANYTHING except look out for themselves and their loved ones. Anyone else is just an act of kindness. I'm not by any means against sticking up for people but I am by all means sick of this notion that I have the responsibility to do so. I've never been in the position where I have been discriminated against because I am a white male, but I really quite honestly, and I don't believe anyone that doesn't agree with me, wouldn't expect innocent unrelated bystanders to take time out of their day and stand up for me and possibly put themselves in harms way. Instead of expecting that everyone should do so, we should start appreciating the small number of people that actually do. In class we were all so concerned about the 22 people that didn't say anything...really? I mean how many bleeding hearts are there in this class and world? Glass is half full I say. Thirteen people said something to the store clerk and that is a pretty good turn out I think. In an ideal utopia, we would all have healthcare, and food, and homes, and heat and every other luxury we "privileged" enjoy but hey guess what people its time to wake up and realize that no place on Earth is a utopia and its beginning to get a little old when people tell me how great it would be....its never gonna be. This is America. A place where people are born or people come and they learn how to take care of themselves and get by. Blatant discrimination is terribly obviously but its not like the store clerk was beating the lady with a whip. How bout we all stop being so freakin sensitive and just realize one thing.... this is a generational thing... once the baby boomer generation ceases to be involved in the work p;lace, then things will change. Its only logical. Sat, 27 Feb 2010 00:24:25 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/02/when-do-we-do-or-say-something__trashed/#IDComment58894589 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/02/lgbt-class-question-five__trashed/#IDComment57774638 I went right out in another class of mine and said I was against gay marriage. There is a gay kid in my class who did not take too kindly to that and then another girl told me I was ignorant. Now this is where I have a huge problem with this issue. Because I don't believe in gay marriage, I'm ignorant? Gay people are aloud to look at you like you have 2 heads when you say your against some of their rights but god forbid you look at them like they have two heads when they are walking down the street in pink leather pants with an obviously made up lisp in their speaking....stereotype? It sure is, but it's prevalent. Civil Unions are allowed in most states. These unions provide many of the same benefits that a marriage does...lets not forget people that many marriage benefits and tax breaks from the government are meant to alleviate the burdens of raising children. So then whats the solution, we have to give gay people children now? While studies may show that a child will not turn gay because of having two gay parents, its still possible that they will be more inclined to experiment...and lets not forget about the "making fun of" these adopted kids in school. It's like a fairytale world to believe that they wont be made fun of. As for the religion thing, I was raised Catholic. (I'm not a practicing Catholic) THE STATE has taken over the institution of marriage and then put its liberal ideals into it in an attempt to make available to everybody. Marriage is a sacred religious thing. Here's what should happen to make it fair. The U.S. stops signing off on marriage licenses and they start signing off on civil unions---these would apply to everybody. Vegas needs to stop calling it marriage and so do LGBT. If you want to get married, which by the way is reserved for a man and a woman according to the Bible which is where this comes from ANYWAY, then go to a church and get married. I’m not some sort of monster elitist straight white male…I believe in equal rights, I just don’t believe that everyone should get everything they want. Why does it HAVE to be called marriage for LGBT? I just have a hard time grasping this. I understand its just a word so why cant LGBT understand that what they are really fighting for is the rights and benefits not the word. And guess what, LGBT have rights. They aren’t thrown in jail for being gay. They can be gay in the military now. They can get civil unions in many states..which clearly shows that every state in the future will allow it. Sat, 20 Feb 2010 15:09:11 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/02/lgbt-class-question-five__trashed/#IDComment57774638 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/02/avatar-and-the-white-mans-burden__trashed/#IDComment55558344 Let’s not forget that the original “messiah” that the messiah complex stems from was Jesus. And as discussed Jesus was a Middle Eastern man. There is a non-white messiah for you. As for black and brown people not needing the white man to lead them, I have mixed reactions. On the one hand, you look at many industrialized Asian countries which thrive without the white man. But I must ask, would they have begun that industrialization themselves without the influence of white, therefore, western culture? What about all the parts of Africa which are essentially run down countries that DEPEND at times on the aid of the white man. Now it wouldn’t be soc 119 if I didn’t mention Haiti. Black brown it doesn’t matter. This is a country that suffers from severe corruption and was a terrible and unhealthy place to live prior to the earthquake. This idea is rarely brought up. It certainly isn’t the white man running that country. Now I know someone will say well the United States is corrupt. Of course it is. What government in the history of governing hasn’t been corrupt? But the United States, and other predominantly white nations such as Canada, Britain, Switzerland, Norway, Germany, seem to be able to get the whole healthy civil society thing right. I just fear that people lose track of the accomplishments of the “white man” in their attempt to discredit and derail the “white man.” America saved the day when it came to Haiti. So what if a political cartoon is made of America going to save the day in Haiti. Instead of Uncle Sam, it’s a black man, reflecting Obama. Everyone would be up in arms that the cartoon is racist in some form. Sound radical? I think not. Would American even be here today to save the day if it weren’t for the white man? I mean I just start to get tired of hearing people bashing white people for everything. I mean slavery was a terrible, awful thing in America. But Black people, let me ask one question, would you rather be living here, or back in an undeveloped country in Africa? I mean ACTUALLY. Sure there are trials and tribulations here as an African American. But why not think of ancestors that were slaves as heroes that put up with the worst in order to secure a future for their family, much like white people thank their ancestors for immigrating to America, which by the way, was no easy task. I’m not a monster. I just think if white people are displayed as the heroes, then it’s typically accurate because throughout history, white people often are the heroes. Sat, 6 Feb 2010 01:59:07 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/02/avatar-and-the-white-mans-burden__trashed/#IDComment55558344 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/01/last-name-begins-with-s__trashed/#IDComment54000109 beer Tue, 26 Jan 2010 23:26:51 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/01/last-name-begins-with-s__trashed/#IDComment54000109 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/01/is-that-negro-or-negra-harry__trashed/#IDComment53494204 My dad has a terrible habit of saying “negro.” I think it’s funny that you question why Harry Reid doesn’t have anyone to tell him that his language is archaic because I tell my dad every single time that regardless of his view on the word, it’s unacceptable in the society we live in today. It’s a shame to think that Reid’s peers do not correct him either, do they not know the times? Correct me if I am wrong, but are the Democrats not the ones that have the “bleeding hearts” that perpetuate all of this out of control political correctness? I would think they would know that “negro” is out of fashion. But at the same time, I suppose politicians contradict themselves day in and day out. Al Gore is a perfect example of this phenomenon. He spends his time telling us to consume less energy and go green however he lives in a home that is overly unfriendly to the environment. He also flies in his private jet as opposed to flying coach with the masses. I’m getting off track here however. The real issue is Reid. Should he step down? My views lean toward Republican ideals but I do not agree with the Republicans that he should step down. His stepping down would just keep the political game in motion, a motion that is not beneficial to society, but to the egos and careers of our elected officials. I believe a survey should be taken by the educated and contributing persons of our country and see what they have to say about Reid stepping down. Why is it always assumed that the politicians know best? As for this whole debate on sensitivity and Reid’s insensitivity, I think it’s a bunch of bologna. We live in a country where everyone is oh so concerned about everything and everyone else before themselves. Do we not have anything better to do but squabble over a couple of words uttered by an old white politician? I mean really, why are people so surprised? This type of thing happens daily in our personal lives. I hear racist jokes and remarks but I don’t go flying off the handle demanding that these people be reprimanded! I thought our country was built on the ideals that we are individuals who work hard; we are the home of the brave! But it seems that we have become the home of the whiners. As mentioned in class, language and words were just decided upon by some guy or girl. We put way too much stock and time into being offended by everything everyone says. I for one am tired of having to tip toe through conversations because I don’t want to hurt feelings. It is time that we start asking ourselves “Am I REALLY offended, or am I just pretending to be offended because I was told I’m supposed to be?” Sat, 23 Jan 2010 02:49:12 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/01/is-that-negro-or-negra-harry__trashed/#IDComment53494204