# Great Debates **URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/c/great-debates/13.md?page=296 [Latest](https://boards.straightdope.com/latest.md) · [Categories](https://boards.straightdope.com/categories.md) · [Tags](https://boards.straightdope.com/tags.md) **Page:** 297 --- ## [Is God real?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-god-real/645750)
**Author:** [@Ishmael\_Jankem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ishmael_Jankem)\ **Replies:** 142\ **Last updated:** [January 3, 2013, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-god-real/645750 "2013-01-03T22:55:01Z")
I believe He is. What do you think? --- ## [Feinstein Proposing Specifics: New Gun Control Bill](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/feinstein-proposing-specifics-new-gun-control-bill/645298)
**Author:** [@Debaser](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Debaser)\ **Replies:** 340\ **Last updated:** [January 3, 2013, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/feinstein-proposing-specifics-new-gun-control-bill/645298 "2013-01-03T20:56:44Z")
The drudge report is linking to Nancy Pelosi’s web page, which has a specific proposal for gun control. Pelosi’s Senate Web Site I haven’t seen anything on the board yet, so we can use this thread to discuss the merits… --- ## [Should executions be performed in the same way the murderer did it?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-executions-be-performed-in-the-same-way-the-murderer-did-it/645429)
**Author:** [@supery00n](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/supery00n)\ **Replies:** 40\ **Last updated:** [January 3, 2013, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-executions-be-performed-in-the-same-way-the-murderer-did-it/645429 "2013-01-03T17:42:57Z")
I heard on the news for a second time that someone pushed someone else onto the New York subway track. If the perpetrators are caught, should they be punished in like manner, by being thrown in front of some train (in a … --- ## [PA Gov Corbett bringing lawsuit against NCAA over Penn State/Sandusky ruling](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pa-gov-corbett-bringing-lawsuit-against-ncaa-over-penn-state-sandusky-ruling/645865)
**Author:** [@H3Knuckles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/H3Knuckles)\ **Replies:** 22\ **Last updated:** [January 3, 2013, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pa-gov-corbett-bringing-lawsuit-against-ncaa-over-penn-state-sandusky-ruling/645865 "2013-01-03T15:55:39Z")
Sorry if the title isn’t clear. I was surprised no one had posted about this yet. Here’s some links about the story: Philly Inquirer, CBS News, NBC news In a nutshell, and as I understand it, they are intending to bring… --- ## [Should David Gregory be charged with violating DC's ban on high capacity gun magazines?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-david-gregory-be-charged-with-violating-dcs-ban-on-high-capacity-gun-magazines/645299)
**Author:** [@Nars\_Glinley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nars_Glinley)\ **Replies:** 64\ **Last updated:** [January 3, 2013, 1:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-david-gregory-be-charged-with-violating-dcs-ban-on-high-capacity-gun-magazines/645299 "2013-01-03T13:09:49Z")
Story here. On “Meet the Press”, correspondent David Gregory help what appeared to be a 30 round magazine and stated: According to the article above, prior to its airing, NBC asked the DC police about the legality of … --- ## [Young Earth creationism religious belief......disbelief](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/young-earth-creationism-religious-belief-disbelief/645338)
**Author:** [@HaneyFace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HaneyFace)\ **Replies:** 22\ **Last updated:** [January 3, 2013, 4:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/young-earth-creationism-religious-belief-disbelief/645338 "2013-01-03T04:24:39Z")
So in an effort to further understand the idea that the earth is between 5700 yrs. to 1000 yrs. old I would like to present a question that I am unable to solve without help from all of you. Is it possible that the eart… --- ## [Warrantless wiretapping extended by Senate with Obama's blessing](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/warrantless-wiretapping-extended-by-senate-with-obamas-blessing/645409)
**Author:** [@lavenderviolet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lavenderviolet)\ **Replies:** 60\ **Last updated:** [January 3, 2013, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/warrantless-wiretapping-extended-by-senate-with-obamas-blessing/645409 "2013-01-03T00:12:59Z")
Yet another example of the encroachment of authoritarianism in the name of protecting freedom. --- ## [How Did Republicans/Democrats Switch?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-republicans-democrats-switch/645086)
**Author:** [@nemenku](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nemenku)\ **Replies:** 25\ **Last updated:** [January 2, 2013, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-republicans-democrats-switch/645086 "2013-01-02T20:32:51Z")
I’ve been doing some reading about the Ku Klux Klan and the Civil Rights movement. It’s my understanding that the KKK was originally formed by returning Confederate soldiers, serving the interests of the Democratic Part… --- ## [The Gun Debate itself: a synthesis](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-gun-debate-itself-a-synthesis/644739)
**Author:** [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Replies:** 105\ **Last updated:** [January 2, 2013, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-gun-debate-itself-a-synthesis/644739 "2013-01-02T20:00:14Z")
I’ve gotten pretty burned out on following the current gun debate. I think at this point all sides are pretty much argued out and there’s probably little new to say. After reading all the posts pro- and anti- firearm, I … --- ## [When, if ever, is it acceptable to blame an entire group of people for the actions of one?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-if-ever-is-it-acceptable-to-blame-an-entire-group-of-people-for-the-actions-of-one/645631)
**Author:** [@UsernameTaken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UsernameTaken)\ **Replies:** 24\ **Last updated:** [January 1, 2013, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-if-ever-is-it-acceptable-to-blame-an-entire-group-of-people-for-the-actions-of-one/645631 "2013-01-01T23:26:35Z")
While I have familiarized myself with the rules of this board, I must apologize in advance for any errors or faux pas I may make in this post-I am new to the Straight Dope. I do not believe this is a redundant topic, but… --- ## [Why are Americans...what's the technical term...dumb as shit?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-americans-whats-the-technical-term-dumb-as-shit/643756)
**Author:** [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Replies:** 96\ **Last updated:** [January 1, 2013, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-americans-whats-the-technical-term-dumb-as-shit/643756 "2013-01-01T20:40:08Z")
Studies consistently show America lags behind most of the developed world in math, reading and the sciences. That means we are only ahead of countries that haven’t enough resources to actually build schools. A casual l… --- ## [Xmas and the First Amendment](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xmas-and-the-first-amendment/644973)
**Author:** [@SCAdian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SCAdian)\ **Replies:** 202\ **Last updated:** [January 1, 2013, 4:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xmas-and-the-first-amendment/644973 "2013-01-01T04:43:56Z")
The First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States: \[QUOTE=US Constitution\] Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freed… --- ## [Michael Moore: It's the guns -- but, we all know, it's not really the guns](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michael-moore-its-the-guns-but-we-all-know-its-not-really-the-guns/645066)
**Author:** [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Replies:** 151\ **Last updated:** [December 30, 2012, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michael-moore-its-the-guns-but-we-all-know-its-not-really-the-guns/645066 "2012-12-30T15:57:47Z")
Writing in HuffPo: Makes sense to me. What other explanation – or solution – could there be? --- ## [Gun Control doesn't work... Except for when it does](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gun-control-doesnt-work-except-for-when-it-does/645135)
**Author:** [@John\_Stamos\_Left\_Ear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Stamos_Left_Ear)\ **Replies:** 139\ **Last updated:** [December 30, 2012, 8:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gun-control-doesnt-work-except-for-when-it-does/645135 "2012-12-30T08:15:01Z")
The argument that many gun rights advocates have is that gun control doesn’t work, that people won’t be deterred from committing crimes (“If guns are outlawed only outlaws will have guns,” they say in bumper sticker spea… --- ## [Robert Bork died. What's his Legacy?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/robert-bork-died-whats-his-legacy/644543)
**Author:** [@bup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bup)\ **Replies:** 64\ **Last updated:** [December 29, 2012, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/robert-bork-died-whats-his-legacy/644543 "2012-12-29T17:33:51Z")
Robert Bork, as everyone knows, was nominated for the Supreme Court in 1987, and was rejected by the senate. Did his hearing, which brought a lot of attention to the Supreme Court nomination process, ultimately help or … --- ## [If not gun control, then what?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-not-gun-control-then-what/645388)
**Author:** [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Replies:** 54\ **Last updated:** [December 29, 2012, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-not-gun-control-then-what/645388 "2012-12-29T17:04:39Z")
An argument I’ve encountered in various forms in recent gun-control threads is that firearms are only an implement and banning/controlling them will not get at the root causes of violent crime in America; people who use … --- ## [Standing Up to Persecution...Is It Courageous or Is It Fear.](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/standing-up-to-persecution-is-it-courageous-or-is-it-fear/644929)
**Author:** [@pchaos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pchaos)\ **Replies:** 65\ **Last updated:** [December 29, 2012, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/standing-up-to-persecution-is-it-courageous-or-is-it-fear/644929 "2012-12-29T15:14:16Z")
Religious wars are still being fought around the globe. But let’s go back in time…in the early 1600’s in Japan…Christian missionaries arrived in Japan and started converting the Japanese to Christianity. Because the Po… --- ## [I survived... beyond and back](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-survived-beyond-and-back/566836)
**Author:** [@mike\_ahndembroak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mike_ahndembroak)\ **Replies:** 308\ **Last updated:** [December 29, 2012, 6:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-survived-beyond-and-back/566836 "2012-12-29T06:54:04Z")
I imagine a few of you have seen this show on the bio channel, it deals with stories of people who have clinically died and come back to life. While there stories have some things in common ( bright beautiful light, an … --- ## [Is Gun Control The Answer to the One Percent's Prayers?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-gun-control-the-answer-to-the-one-percents-prayers/645330)
**Author:** [@Evil\_Captor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Captor)\ **Replies:** 51\ **Last updated:** [December 29, 2012, 4:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-gun-control-the-answer-to-the-one-percents-prayers/645330 "2012-12-29T04:23:41Z")
As we all\* know, the one percent is currently looting the middle class and controlling more and more of the wealth in the US. This is the A Number One Most Important issue to the wealthy plutocrats (the Koch Brothers, Sh… --- ## [Actually guns do kill people, in the nontrivial sense that cars cause accidents](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actually-guns-do-kill-people-in-the-nontrivial-sense-that-cars-cause-accidents/645295)
**Author:** [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Replies:** 50\ **Last updated:** [December 28, 2012, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actually-guns-do-kill-people-in-the-nontrivial-sense-that-cars-cause-accidents/645295 "2012-12-28T23:23:38Z")
Because some technologies take on a kind of life of their own. If you get behind the wheel of a car, you somehow – have you never noticed? – become part of a symbiotic/composite organism of car-and-driver, with its own … --- ## [Conviction rates for rape should be low, efforts to raise them are inherently unjust](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conviction-rates-for-rape-should-be-low-efforts-to-raise-them-are-inherently-unjust/643630)
**Author:** [@blindboyard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blindboyard)\ **Replies:** 109\ **Last updated:** [December 28, 2012, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conviction-rates-for-rape-should-be-low-efforts-to-raise-them-are-inherently-unjust/643630 "2012-12-28T19:48:32Z")
As the saying goes, it’s better for a hundred guilty men to go free than for a single innocent man to be punished. After all, we can’t stop violent crime, but we can refrain from victimising people ourselves, though soci… --- ## [Extraterrestrial and Intelligent Life Prediction](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/extraterrestrial-and-intelligent-life-prediction/644550)
**Author:** [@chargerrich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chargerrich)\ **Replies:** 58\ **Last updated:** [December 28, 2012, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/extraterrestrial-and-intelligent-life-prediction/644550 "2012-12-28T19:23:58Z")
Two simple questions that I am eager to hear opinions on: Yes or No - Do you believe that intelligent civilization(s) exist ANYWHERE else in the Universe? If Yes - When do you believe humans will make contact with … --- ## [Only 75 years until the end of the world...SDMB, the world NEEDS you!!](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/only-75-years-until-the-end-of-the-world-sdmb-the-world-needs-you/644811)
**Author:** [@XT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XT)\ **Replies:** 26\ **Last updated:** [December 28, 2012, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/only-75-years-until-the-end-of-the-world-sdmb-the-world-needs-you/644811 "2012-12-28T14:56:16Z")
Getting tired of talking about gun control, so thought I’d try and get the best (and worst) minds on the board engaged in saving humanity. Scientists have discovered that a neutron star is headed towards our solar syste… --- ## [Armed school personnel](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/armed-school-personnel/644301)
**Author:** [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Replies:** 128\ **Last updated:** [December 28, 2012, 4:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/armed-school-personnel/644301 "2012-12-28T04:46:29Z")
Yes, we have a zillion gun threads already, but I wanted to focus on one specific debate here. In debating what to do to safeguard our children at school, the majority of posters have come up with two solutions: limit gu… --- ## [Liberal vs. Conservative Generosity](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/liberal-vs-conservative-generosity/644924)
**Author:** [@Hottius\_Maximus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hottius_Maximus)\ **Replies:** 65\ **Last updated:** [December 27, 2012, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/liberal-vs-conservative-generosity/644924 "2012-12-27T21:20:40Z")
I am really curious about something, and I would like FACTS here please from people of either the left or right side of the spectrum. Okay so the stereotype is that conservatives generally favor the rich and are unsympa… --- ## [Rape isn't just a women's issue, and women commit rape too](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rape-isnt-just-a-womens-issue-and-women-commit-rape-too/644649)
**Author:** [@blindboyard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blindboyard)\ **Replies:** 73\ **Last updated:** [December 27, 2012, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rape-isnt-just-a-womens-issue-and-women-commit-rape-too/644649 "2012-12-27T20:28:40Z")
It came up in the recent rape threads, where it was something of a hijack, someone pointed out that MRAs object to envelopment (women raping with their vaginas) not being counted, some people said rape was a primarily wo… --- ## [Who was Jesus’ real biological father?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-jesus-real-biological-father/17262)
**Author:** [@toecutter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/toecutter)\ **Replies:** 84\ **Last updated:** [December 27, 2012, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-jesus-real-biological-father/17262 "2012-12-27T14:16:59Z")
Let us assume: … there really was a man called Jesus. … the timeframe of his existence is roughly correct … the characters around this central figure are as stated in the bible. … we suspend purely theological argument… --- ## [Why is the 1st Amendment absolute and people want to limit the 2nd Amendment?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-1st-amendment-absolute-and-people-want-to-limit-the-2nd-amendment/645017)
**Author:** [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Replies:** 50\ **Last updated:** [December 27, 2012, 12:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-1st-amendment-absolute-and-people-want-to-limit-the-2nd-amendment/645017 "2012-12-27T12:41:00Z")
A friend at work brought this up at work today. The press is attacking the NRA for its unyielding position. Saying they lost an opportunity. Yet we tolerate all sorts of 1st Amendment abuses. A-holes burning our flag, N… --- ## [Say that there really is an omnipotent God and an afterlife. Is it best that we don't know?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/say-that-there-really-is-an-omnipotent-god-and-an-afterlife-is-it-best-that-we-dont-know/643257)
**Author:** [@Koxinga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Koxinga)\ **Replies:** 72\ **Last updated:** [December 27, 2012, 8:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/say-that-there-really-is-an-omnipotent-god-and-an-afterlife-is-it-best-that-we-dont-know/643257 "2012-12-27T08:02:43Z")
Imagine that God is real, that he created everything and knows everything, and is immeasurably good and superior in every way to everything we’ve ever known. And he has provided an afterlife for some or all of us. In th… --- ## [let's ban all cars! no. but we SHOULD do SOMEthing.](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-ban-all-cars-no-but-we-should-do-something/644580)
**Author:** [@Ramanujan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ramanujan)\ **Replies:** 113\ **Last updated:** [December 27, 2012, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-ban-all-cars-no-but-we-should-do-something/644580 "2012-12-27T00:09:12Z")
in the wake of the sandy hook tragedy, a lot of pro-gun folks were setting up the “well why don’t we ban all cars, then?” straw man. the common response to them is that there is no call to ban all firearms, or just don’… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/c/great-debates/13.md?page=295) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/c/great-debates/13.md?page=297)