# Great Debates **URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/c/great-debates/13.md?page=292 [Latest](https://boards.straightdope.com/latest.md) · [Categories](https://boards.straightdope.com/categories.md) · [Tags](https://boards.straightdope.com/tags.md) **Page:** 293 --- ## [Moral panic: the Satanic scapegoat](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/moral-panic-the-satanic-scapegoat/647467)
**Author:** [@Askthepizzaguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askthepizzaguy)\ **Replies:** 24\ **Last updated:** [January 26, 2013, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/moral-panic-the-satanic-scapegoat/647467 "2013-01-26T03:10:23Z")
Article about unwanted political support from “Satanists”, got me thinking about how ridiculous some people’s fears are. One of the more laughable boogeymen of all time: the threat of Satan and satanic influence. Othe… --- ## [Does “Shadism” and “Colorism” exist?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-shadism-and-colorism-exist/647637)
**Author:** [@TopTom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TopTom)\ **Replies:** 44\ **Last updated:** [January 25, 2013, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-shadism-and-colorism-exist/647637 "2013-01-25T21:09:54Z")
Does “Shadism” and “Colorism” exist? It is my understanding that “Shadism” and “Colorism” are forms of discrimination based on the lightness or darkness of one’s complexion. They appear to me to be relatively new terms… --- ## [Judge to Protester: Get Out Of Town By Sundown](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/judge-to-protester-get-out-of-town-by-sundown/648234)
**Author:** [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Replies:** 21\ **Last updated:** [January 25, 2013, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/judge-to-protester-get-out-of-town-by-sundown/648234 "2013-01-25T20:32:19Z")
OK, maybe not literally “by sundown.” But Rives Grogan was in fact banned from the city – Washington, DC, no less – by DC Judge Karen Howze: This order seems a bit overbroad to me, and thus on shaky constitutional gro… --- ## [People who Say the Moon Landing was Faked](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-say-the-moon-landing-was-faked/609636)
**Author:** [@GeddyClaypoolBurton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GeddyClaypoolBurton)\ **Replies:** 116\ **Last updated:** [January 25, 2013, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-say-the-moon-landing-was-faked/609636 "2013-01-25T17:47:39Z")
Consider the following scenario. A man who believes that the 1969 moon landing was faked tries to contact NASA and other space-related organizations and challenges them to debate with him on the issue. NASA and most of t… --- ## [What would be the downside of splitting up the big banks?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-be-the-downside-of-splitting-up-the-big-banks/647555)
**Author:** [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Replies:** 24\ **Last updated:** [January 25, 2013, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-be-the-downside-of-splitting-up-the-big-banks/647555 "2013-01-25T15:14:50Z")
To avoid “too big to fail” or “too important to prosecute”, I propose (for the purposes of this question) we pass a law that any financial services company bigger than X must split up into multiple companies smaller than… --- ## [Why is free market economics considered "right wing"?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-free-market-economics-considered-right-wing/646789)
**Author:** [@supery00n](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/supery00n)\ **Replies:** 112\ **Last updated:** [January 25, 2013, 12:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-free-market-economics-considered-right-wing/646789 "2013-01-25T12:41:04Z")
I’m not sure if this is an accurate observation, but it seems to me that advocates of free market economics, including: -less regulations -lower taxation -less government services -general opposition to unions are t… --- ## [Tragedy making faith stronger](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tragedy-making-faith-stronger/648074)
**Author:** [@CastleAnthrax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CastleAnthrax)\ **Replies:** 58\ **Last updated:** [January 25, 2013, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tragedy-making-faith-stronger/648074 "2013-01-25T01:17:34Z")
I was listening to a radio interview with a guy who was involved with the investigation of the recent mass murder in Newtown, CT. He was in the room when the bodies of the children were still cooling, and he helped in t… --- ## [Piers Morgan on Colbert said the British Cops did not carry guns?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/piers-morgan-on-colbert-said-the-british-cops-did-not-carry-guns/647514)
**Author:** [@janeslogin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/janeslogin)\ **Replies:** 109\ **Last updated:** [January 24, 2013, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/piers-morgan-on-colbert-said-the-british-cops-did-not-carry-guns/647514 "2013-01-24T18:52:34Z")
Did I hear it correctly Piers Morgan on Colbert said the British Cops did not carry guns? If our US cops did not carry guns I would feel comfortable with \*almost \*any gun control legislation. I see authorities with gun… --- ## [Why do you need a gun?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-you-need-a-gun/646873)
**Author:** [@Keeve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Keeve)\ **Replies:** 491\ **Last updated:** [January 24, 2013, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-you-need-a-gun/646873 "2013-01-24T18:24:40Z")
I’ve lived most of my life in densely populated Suburbia. No one I’ve ever known has ever mentioned that they own a gun, though that could be for reasons other than not owning one. Be that as it may, I have no one but th… --- ## [Christianity is irrational, but is being a Christian?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christianity-is-irrational-but-is-being-a-christian/647628)
**Author:** [@Human\_Action](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Human_Action)\ **Replies:** 223\ **Last updated:** [January 24, 2013, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christianity-is-irrational-but-is-being-a-christian/647628 "2013-01-24T13:25:04Z")
Spun off of this thread. I’m an atheist, of the sort that’s never been religious or spiritual at all. I live in a heavily Protestant area of Central Kentucky. In the above thread, (and elsewhere, of course) it has been… --- ## [Gentle anti-religious instruction in school](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gentle-anti-religious-instruction-in-school/646829)
**Author:** [@Simple\_Linctus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simple_Linctus)\ **Replies:** 49\ **Last updated:** [January 24, 2013, 12:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gentle-anti-religious-instruction-in-school/646829 "2013-01-24T12:31:52Z")
I’ll keep this broad; without commenting on the merits of this as such, what kinds of anti-religious\* information and general help towards encouraging rational thinking kids could be plausibly introdcued as part of schoo… --- ## [Is rape worse than murder?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-rape-worse-than-murder/487419)
**Author:** [@Agent\_Foxtrot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Agent_Foxtrot)\ **Replies:** 99\ **Last updated:** [January 24, 2013, 8:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-rape-worse-than-murder/487419 "2013-01-24T08:37:38Z")
In this thread in the Pit, a man serving time for raping a teenage girl is out of prison on pass, sees the mother of the daughter in the street, and taunts her. The mother responds by dousing him in combustibles and set… --- ## [Internment: Justified use of guns by citizens against the government?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/internment-justified-use-of-guns-by-citizens-against-the-government/647916)
**Author:** [@filmore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/filmore)\ **Replies:** 54\ **Last updated:** [January 24, 2013, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/internment-justified-use-of-guns-by-citizens-against-the-government/647916 "2013-01-24T03:23:32Z")
Back in 1942 over 100,000 Japanese were relocated from their homes into camps in the Japanese American internment. Would they have been justified in using their guns to resist relocation? It is interesting that the US … --- ## [No assault weapon used at Sandy Hook?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-assault-weapon-used-at-sandy-hook/648030)
**Author:** [@Whambulance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whambulance)\ **Replies:** 20\ **Last updated:** [January 24, 2013, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-assault-weapon-used-at-sandy-hook/648030 "2013-01-24T00:32:44Z")
I’ve missed a lot of televised news the last couple of weeks but I’m on a lot of friends email lists ranging from very liberal to very conservative - and I’m getting LOADS of conflicting information about this Sandy Hook… --- ## [Religious belieft - human rights case in the making?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/religious-belieft-human-rights-case-in-the-making/647589)
**Author:** [@Simple\_Linctus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simple_Linctus)\ **Replies:** 12\ **Last updated:** [January 23, 2013, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/religious-belieft-human-rights-case-in-the-making/647589 "2013-01-23T21:56:00Z")
There are a bunch of mental illnesses where the diagnostic criteria include things like “belief in x… except when as part of a religious belief”. It seems to me that a belief in x is by its nature a religious belief - y… --- ## [Had Safe, Effective Chemical Warfare Been Developed, Would WWI Been Such a Slaughter?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/had-safe-effective-chemical-warfare-been-developed-would-wwi-been-such-a-slaughter/647694)
**Author:** [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Replies:** 11\ **Last updated:** [January 23, 2013, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/had-safe-effective-chemical-warfare-been-developed-would-wwi-been-such-a-slaughter/647694 "2013-01-23T19:05:04Z")
AS I read it, the gases developed in WWI (chlorine, phosphine, arsine, mustard.etc.) were neither safe (for the users) or particularly effective. Chlorine tended to blow back to the German trenches, and most of these ga… --- ## [Is rape worse than murder?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-rape-worse-than-murder/646466)
**Author:** [@Laudenum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Laudenum)\ **Replies:** 46\ **Last updated:** [January 23, 2013, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-rape-worse-than-murder/646466 "2013-01-23T16:37:10Z")
Inspired by: http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=15866659&postcount=35 With respect to the poster above, this position strikes me as unthinking hysteria. Yet, this isn’t the first time I’ve come across … --- ## [The Truth About Barbara Graham](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-truth-about-barbara-graham/646473)
**Author:** [@Hottius\_Maximus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hottius_Maximus)\ **Replies:** 80\ **Last updated:** [January 23, 2013, 9:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-truth-about-barbara-graham/646473 "2013-01-23T09:03:44Z")
The movie “I Want To Live” tells the story of how an executed convict named Barbara Graham was actually innocent and tries to indict the justice system. However, after reading the facts on other websites, I really don’t… --- ## [Would South Korea exist without help from UN?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-south-korea-exist-without-help-from-un/648036)
**Author:** [@Qwertol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qwertol)\ **Replies:** 14\ **Last updated:** [January 23, 2013, 5:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-south-korea-exist-without-help-from-un/648036 "2013-01-23T05:17:49Z")
Would South Korea exist today if there was no intervention from United Nations (and US and UK)? BTW. How come UN was involved in Korea but not in Vietnam? --- ## [Could we have beaten the Nazis without the Soviets?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-we-have-beaten-the-nazis-without-the-soviets/628057)
**Author:** [@Mr.Kobayashi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Kobayashi)\ **Replies:** 40\ **Last updated:** [January 23, 2013, 3:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-we-have-beaten-the-nazis-without-the-soviets/628057 "2013-01-23T03:51:14Z")
A spin-off of this thread, where I ask if the Soviets could have managed it alone. Knocking the USSR in a hypothetical is harder than knocking out dear old England so feel free to pick holes, but I’m imagining the crux … --- ## [Opt-out organ donation](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/opt-out-organ-donation/647579)
**Author:** [@Isosleepy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isosleepy)\ **Replies:** 109\ **Last updated:** [January 23, 2013, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/opt-out-organ-donation/647579 "2013-01-23T01:27:20Z")
Are there any well-reasoned numbers on how many lives would be saved if the US went to an opt-out organ donation system like some other countries have? What are the commonly cited reasons not to do this? --- ## [What do you think can cause a fire phobia?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-can-cause-a-fire-phobia/648054)
**Author:** [@Steener122](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steener122)\ **Replies:** 0\ **Last updated:** [January 22, 2013, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-can-cause-a-fire-phobia/648054 "2013-01-22T23:21:34Z")
I’ve got what my fiancee calls “an insane fear” of fire. I’d call it a phobia. I do have a very unrealistic fear of all kinds of fire. It sounds stupid, even to me, but I don’t even like lighters. My parents have got pic… --- ## [US and inducing belief in God](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-and-inducing-belief-in-god/648016)
**Author:** [@doubleminus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doubleminus)\ **Replies:** 50\ **Last updated:** [January 22, 2013, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-and-inducing-belief-in-god/648016 "2013-01-22T22:12:59Z")
According to this Gallup poll, in 1967, 98% of Americans believed in God. In 2011, “only” 92%. Is this true ? If so, it seems that the US has the best system to induce belief. Could it be useful to have religion taught … --- ## [Gun registration](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gun-registration/647073)
**Author:** [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Replies:** 183\ **Last updated:** [January 22, 2013, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gun-registration/647073 "2013-01-22T21:42:16Z")
Sorry. Another gun thread. Background checks? Fine. No problem with that. I suspect that every person that buys a gun is on a list somewhere now. OK. I don’t understand the ‘anti-gun’ folks desire to put everyone … --- ## [Is there an identifiable "Anglo" culture?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-an-identifiable-anglo-culture/648002)
**Author:** [@Capt.Ridley\_s\_Shooting\_Party](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capt.Ridley_s_Shooting_Party)\ **Replies:** 5\ **Last updated:** [January 22, 2013, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-an-identifiable-anglo-culture/648002 "2013-01-22T18:17:52Z")
Is there an identifiable culture that the Anglosphere, the former colonies of Great Britain, share? Of course, we all share a language, but do we share any cultural traits much deeper than that? Why I ask: I saw the wo… --- ## [Why don’t people use the traditional definitions for the terms “Liberal” and “Conservative” as those](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-don-t-people-use-the-traditional-definitions-for-the-terms-liberal-and-conservative-as-those/646258)
**Author:** [@TopTom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TopTom)\ **Replies:** 33\ **Last updated:** [January 22, 2013, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-don-t-people-use-the-traditional-definitions-for-the-terms-liberal-and-conservative-as-those/646258 "2013-01-22T15:45:18Z")
Why don’t people use the traditional definitions for the terms “Liberal” and “Conservative” as those terms are defined in print dictionaries? The term “Liberal” is defined as someone who is generally in favor of liberty… --- ## [The Racist Roots of Gun Control](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-racist-roots-of-gun-control/645351)
**Author:** [@gunchris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gunchris)\ **Replies:** 155\ **Last updated:** [January 22, 2013, 9:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-racist-roots-of-gun-control/645351 "2013-01-22T09:12:49Z")
this part written by gunchris, the link provided is the article about the racist roots of gun control As a kid I used to wonder why the westerns I was so fond of always portrayed the white guy that sold guns to the Indi… --- ## [Why Isn't America Economically Competetive?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-isnt-america-economically-competetive/647768)
**Author:** [@LongLineRider](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LongLineRider)\ **Replies:** 85\ **Last updated:** [January 21, 2013, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-isnt-america-economically-competetive/647768 "2013-01-21T22:56:15Z")
I think the question that needs to be asked in order to restore our economy to a healthy footing would be: How can we once again make America competitive? It might help to answer the above by contemplating how we lost … --- ## [Is this phony debt ceiling 'crisis' a LIBOR manipulation-style scheme?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-phony-debt-ceiling-crisis-a-libor-manipulation-style-scheme/647351)
**Author:** [@Try2B\_Comprehensive](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Try2B_Comprehensive)\ **Replies:** 16\ **Last updated:** [January 21, 2013, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-phony-debt-ceiling-crisis-a-libor-manipulation-style-scheme/647351 "2013-01-21T22:00:36Z")
Clearly the GOP is running with that old adage, “No one ever lost money overestimating the stupidity of the American public.” Those who are paying attention understand that the debt ceiling needs to be raised because Con… --- ## [Defensive Gun Use: 2.5 Million or 2.5 per year?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/defensive-gun-use-2-5-million-or-2-5-per-year/646373)
**Author:** [@Tlon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tlon)\ **Replies:** 101\ **Last updated:** [January 21, 2013, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/defensive-gun-use-2-5-million-or-2-5-per-year/646373 "2013-01-21T18:27:43Z")
I did a search and didn’t see this particular question raised, at least not directly. Apologies if it’s a repeat debate and happy to have it deleted if someone could point me to a thread. While I do not mean to start a… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/c/great-debates/13.md?page=291) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/c/great-debates/13.md?page=293)