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Edited by Mrph1 on Nov 30th 2023 at 11:03:59 AM
Well, damn indeed.
But it would be interesting to test First Amendment laws, would the government take a stance in recognizing the rights of Satanists even if their tenets upsets the religious beliefs of another set of group. The First Amendment prevents the government from taking a side on this issue yet obviously coexistence is out of the question for Christians, and their only resort is government abuse.
So what will happen then?
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By recognizing that they're not actually enemies, I suppose. Like, Trump is our enemy, but most of his supporters are either victims of a con man or victims of the overly polarized nature of American politics. So calling attention to the fact that the 'left' and 'right' distinctions are mostly bullshit is a start.
But there's a tricky bit in there- the faction that hates both parties is the faction that actually got Trump elected. And there's a bunch of thorny issues of genuine problems being mixed up with a cocktail of anti-intellectualism and xenophobia out there.
I'm not going to pretend there's an easy answer. If there was an easy answer, the Clinton campaign would've done that, and we wouldn't be in this mess. But my broad strokes of an answer is 'unify the country. Makes both sides realize that Trump serves no one but himself'.
Discordianism
has what you need if you feel you can't get with the propaganda hurled at the Templars so people could take their stuff (basically, that's what Baphomet is). With the added benefit of having Jeremy Bentham as a stolen saint.
Because, of course.
I wouldn't say the distinctions between "left" and "right" are BS at all. The right wants to legislate women's use of bodies and take voting rights away from black folks, and that is the soft grassroots right as opposed to the super-right on top...the guys who want to build an imperial oligo-theocracy and make the American poor into neo-serfs beholden to banks.
See, though, the problem is that the 'right' and 'left' distinction, as it's applied to american politics, allows those things to be legitimate. "Yeah, they're not perfect, but at least they're part of our team. And if the people on the other team hate those things so much, maybe they're not so bad!"
Because suddenly everything on a spectrum. Which some stuff shouldn't be. 'Let's legalize serial killers!' isn't a right-wing or left-wing issue; it's an issue that doesn't belong in serious political discourse at all. But if the leaders of either party starts saying that, suddenly it's an argument that belongs to whichever wing that party is associated with.
Which you can see illustrated in stuff like Black voting rights. That's not a right-wing issue, not really. It's an issue that is currently associated with the party usually characterized as right-wing. And really, 'everyone should get to vote' should be an unassailable axiom of every major democratic party.
edited 3rd Dec '16 6:46:25 PM by Gilphon
Jon Stewart:
He brought up a conversation with another person who argued that “by saying that [Trump supporters] are not all racists, they are giving tacit support to a man of racist language.” Stewart then pointed out that many of Americans are complicit in exploitative and damaging systems, asking the person to pull out his iPhone.
“I was like, ‘Guess how those are made, guess who makes them?’” Stewart said. “’Oh yeah, but that’s ... ‘ What, what is it? It’s not different, we all do that. All of our shit stinks and getting beyond that takes incredible work.”
He didn’t let Trump off easy either, remarking that, as portrayed by Trump’s campaign, Hillary Clinton “was an unqualified Secretary of State because the way she handled classified material. His selection for Secretary of State will be David Petraeus, who pled guilty to mishandling classified material. He said she was unqualified because she gave a speech to Goldman Sachs. His Secretary of the Treasury is somebody from Goldman Sachs. We’re in post-accountability.”
“Let’s look out for the losers,” Stewart said. “Having somebody you agree with have greater control over the levers of power might be a comfort, but it’s not a solution. Unfortunately, I think our expectation now is, ‘Oh, great, one of our team is in charge. I don’t have to think about this anymore.’ And I think it’s never actually been the case.”
http://m.huffpost.com/us/entry/us_5840424ae4b0c68e047f25f2
edited 3rd Dec '16 8:05:37 PM by MadSkillz
That is a disturbing reductionist statement and is the ultimate in white Liberal Smugness.
By that Insane Troll Logic, the Civil Rights Movement was compromised because LBJ prosecuted JFK's Vietnam War and Bayard Rustin and other civil rights greats looked away from that to focus on their own struggle.
Honestly, I respect Jon less for saying that after Trump won. Saying it after a Hillary victory would have been correct - there are things that everyone has blood on their hands for, knowingly or not, and a lot of the exploitative and destructive systems of the world benefit Americans disproportionately. But saying it in response to Trump's critics makes it sound like he's saying 'well, guys, Hillary's no saint either'. No, she's not, but the time to point fingers on that is not after the fascists and neo-Nazis gain office.
It's been fun.Let's flip this:
Imagine if black people and other minorities had banded together and built enough of a coalition to elect a radical member of the Black Panther party to the Senate or House, or hell even governor (more far-fetched, but hear me out).
Do you honestly think the media would be like "No, all Black Panther voters aren't racist and radicals! They're just tired of the system and left behind economically by the elite!"
Give me a break
New Survey coming this weekend!Well African-Americans and POC always knew that liberals would be the first to betray them. It's what they've always done after all. Clinton did it with Sistah Souljah in the 90s and then Mass Incarceration and hijacking Reagan's "make America great again" which is never "let's bring back the 60s, the time when music was groovy and black is beautiful".
Things were different with Obama...he started out as a neoliberal and campaigned on economy and good governance and they tried to S. Souljah him with Jeremiah Wright which he expertly dealt with but then when the mass shootings happened, he really did try to raise attention and redress it and stood in solidarity with the real victims. They never forgave him for that. And Hillary had to embrace identity politics despite everything else she once did.
That's just the height of neoliberal jokes. Literally equating consumer products as a platform to legislate political morality.
I actually don't own Apple products anyway mostly because I hate Itunes.
In any case there is an actual consumer movement on the way to call attention to Apple and others to be careful about where this stuff is made.
Stewart supported Ralph Nader I believe and was sympathetic to Bernie Sanders so I think he like many liberal-leftist Americans are a little taken aback that the working class they thought they were speaking for were actually racist.
There are easy rebuttals to this of course. One: 40% of the working class are minorities, and they earn less and work harder. Two: Trump voters weren't necessarily working class has Slate has shown and revealed. Three: Voter Suppression. Four: the White working class really was racist and the sentiments people have had about it are dated.
TNC on twitter revealed some of the issues on the problem
. He wasn't referring to Stewart, he was talking about another article but what he sent is applicable.
"The notion that, say, racism is non-economic oppression is rather incredible."
I mean there's always a sense that economic issues or the working class are seen as white and serious problems, and racism is seen as some separate issue outside economics. That means when economics-first leftists or liberals get on soapbox they tend to look at so-called "identity politics" with quasi-patrician disdain. Ralph Nader famously did this when he referred to LGBT and women's issues as "gonadal politics" and Bernie Sanders said Planned Parenthood was part of the "establishment" just because they didn't endorse him (self-demonstrating why they didn't endorse him) you know the organization that is actually targeted for termination with extreme prejudice whose operatives were victims of domestic terrorism.
It's weird because you know the folks who had an economic determinist view of society and politics, the Communists...those guys put anti-racism on priority and yet these liberals and leftists who are trying to bring back social democracy and use Marxian phrases are unaware of that.
It seems this election has brought alternative groups out of the shadows everywhere. The alt-right...and somewhat less easy to take seriously, The Alt-Furries
.
They are Nazi Furries who love Donald Trump.
Yes. They are real.
edited 3rd Dec '16 8:47:23 PM by NickTheSwing

I don't see how that is similar. How is Satan-worship similar to KKK? Satan is not a racist, I mean historically he was just a guy who punished sinners, tempted the weak and lorded over hell...there was nothing racist about him. The KKK burns crosses and actively hunted down African-Americans and Jews, and immigrants. They see that as the "lord's work". Have none of us listened to The Rolling Stones and Sympathy for the Devil
As the Onion notes here
:
“The gay community has really flourished here, and I have to say, they’ve been great for the place,” said Nephirem the Malevolent, a 10,000-year-old, 70-foot-tall minotaur who has resided in hell since rising from the ashes of a smokeless flame. “At the end of the day, they’re just like anyone else. Everyone has the right to express their love for whomever they want. They don’t bother me in the slightest, and if anything, we in the Dark Lord’s Army encourage any and all public displays of affection between same-sex couples.”
“I think it’s great that they’ve carved out such a strong community for themselves here,” added the horned beast of ceaseless death and destruction. “I’m all for it.”
In stark contrast to Hell’s ongoing embrace of persecuted groups, sources confirmed that Heaven remains the most bigoted and intolerant place in the universe.