# Great Debates **URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/c/great-debates/13.md?page=384 [Latest](https://boards.straightdope.com/latest.md) · [Categories](https://boards.straightdope.com/categories.md) · [Tags](https://boards.straightdope.com/tags.md) **Page:** 385 --- ## [New poll: Majority of Americans support legalising gay marriage](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-poll-majority-of-americans-support-legalising-gay-marriage/582736)
**Author:** [@leander](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/leander)\ **Replies:** 201\ **Last updated:** [June 5, 2011, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-poll-majority-of-americans-support-legalising-gay-marriage/582736 "2011-06-05T14:03:39Z")
Some very interesting (and IMO fantastic) news: New poll: Majority of Americans support legalising gay marriage Here is a tracking graph since 1996(.gif file) Sadly, this view is not changing amongst Republicans: S… --- ## [Should the US Have a 40-Hr. Week/8 Hr. Day?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-the-us-have-a-40-hr-week-8-hr-day/581613)
**Author:** [@Jim\_B](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jim_B)\ **Replies:** 122\ **Last updated:** [June 5, 2011, 6:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-the-us-have-a-40-hr-week-8-hr-day/581613 "2011-06-05T06:11:48Z")
To be perfectly blunt: Should the US have a legally mandatory 40 hr. week/8 hour day? In Europe (and I presume most other modern industrialized nations) they have reasonable limitations on work hours. Don’t worry, they’… --- ## [Is Conception The Most Moral Act Possible](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-conception-the-most-moral-act-possible/583701)
**Author:** [@Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qin_Shi_Huangdi)\ **Replies:** 99\ **Last updated:** [June 5, 2011, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-conception-the-most-moral-act-possible/583701 "2011-06-05T02:39:48Z")
Here is the logic: if murder as in the unprovoked taking of human life is one of the eviliest things a person can do would not conceiving a human life, being its exact opposite, be one of the most moral acts possible? Wo… --- ## [What do righties have against the ACLU?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-righties-have-against-the-aclu/444257)
**Author:** [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Replies:** 436\ **Last updated:** [June 4, 2011, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-righties-have-against-the-aclu/444257 "2011-06-04T23:06:28Z")
In this thread about a Muslim civil rights case in a prison, a couple of posters have offered up a couple of snarky comments about the ACLU and implied that it is in some way anti-Christian or in some other way unsavory. … --- ## [Honduran president signs deal allowing Zelaya to return](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/honduran-president-signs-deal-allowing-zelaya-to-return/582910)
**Author:** [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Replies:** 20\ **Last updated:** [June 4, 2011, 6:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/honduran-president-signs-deal-allowing-zelaya-to-return/582910 "2011-06-04T06:18:40Z")
Remember Manuel Zelaya? Former President of Honduras, forced out in a military coup in 2009 and sent into exile – the Obama Admin condemned it but did nothing. (While many Dopers at the time defended the coup in GD, or… --- ## [If not the Green Line, then what line should be the Israel-Palestine border?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-not-the-green-line-then-what-line-should-be-the-israel-palestine-border/582805)
**Author:** [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Replies:** 261\ **Last updated:** [June 4, 2011, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-not-the-green-line-then-what-line-should-be-the-israel-palestine-border/582805 "2011-06-04T02:27:51Z")
(Couldn’t get any straight answer to this in this thread, so here goes.) There are 350,000 Israeli settlers in the West Bank, not counting East Jerusalem (210,000 Israeli settlers live there). (Map here – Israeli settl… --- ## [Is there such a thing as a "Good Doctor"?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-such-a-thing-as-a-good-doctor/583689)
**Author:** [@Simplicio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simplicio)\ **Replies:** 36\ **Last updated:** [June 4, 2011, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-such-a-thing-as-a-good-doctor/583689 "2011-06-04T01:49:51Z")
The idea that there are widely divergent health-outcomes that depend on the doctor that you see, and that people who see “good doctors” will live while those who don’t mind as well start planning their funeral seems pret… --- ## [Interchangeable carbon blobs. Only 1% generate any wealth.](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/interchangeable-carbon-blobs-only-1-generate-any-wealth/581976)
**Author:** [@Le\_Jacquelope](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Le_Jacquelope)\ **Replies:** 180\ **Last updated:** [June 3, 2011, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/interchangeable-carbon-blobs-only-1-generate-any-wealth/581976 "2011-06-03T19:47:34Z")
For those who believe that workers are by and large expendable and that only 1 out of 100 people ever generate wealth, there seems to be no answer to some basic questions about this: How can you manufacture much of any… --- ## [Is a severely depreciated Dollar the end of the world?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-a-severely-depreciated-dollar-the-end-of-the-world/582610)
**Author:** [@Le\_Jacquelope](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Le_Jacquelope)\ **Replies:** 33\ **Last updated:** [June 3, 2011, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-a-severely-depreciated-dollar-the-end-of-the-world/582610 "2011-06-03T19:02:26Z")
Depreciated currencies has resulted (or correlated with, for those who are in denial) in at least 3 of the BRIC group of nationsskyrocketing out of poverty. We all know that a severely devalued US dollar means skyrocket… --- ## [Consent to sex while unconscious](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/consent-to-sex-while-unconscious/583576)
**Author:** [@blindboyard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blindboyard)\ **Replies:** 158\ **Last updated:** [June 3, 2011, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/consent-to-sex-while-unconscious/583576 "2011-06-03T17:58:20Z")
The sex is while unconscious, the consent is from the period of consciousness before unconsciousness. This case, from Canada. From the Supreme Court, no less. The man and the woman, according to the Supreme Court Judge… --- ## [You're the POTUS. A nuclear first strike is inbound. Do you authorise the second strike?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-the-potus-a-nuclear-first-strike-is-inbound-do-you-authorise-the-second-strike/583579)
**Author:** [@Mr.Kobayashi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Kobayashi)\ **Replies:** 135\ **Last updated:** [June 3, 2011, 1:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-the-potus-a-nuclear-first-strike-is-inbound-do-you-authorise-the-second-strike/583579 "2011-06-03T13:07:56Z")
Second strike being the return nuclear launch upon a detected first strike, the bread and butter of the MAD doctrine which arguably kept the world intact throughout the Cold War. Here’s the scenario. You’re the pres, sh… --- ## [Peter Yastrow: We're on the verge of an even worse Great Depression...](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/peter-yastrow-were-on-the-verge-of-an-even-worse-great-depression/584041)
**Author:** [@Leaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaper)\ **Replies:** 30\ **Last updated:** [June 3, 2011, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/peter-yastrow-were-on-the-verge-of-an-even-worse-great-depression/584041 "2011-06-03T03:57:44Z")
Or so he argues here. Because fraud is mentioned as a key reason why things, in the writer’s opinion, are so bad, liberal sources like the ol’ Daily Kos have been happy to jump in with their own supporting quotes and su… --- ## [Germany: nuclear power trendsetter?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/germany-nuclear-power-trendsetter/583784)
**Author:** [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Replies:** 61\ **Last updated:** [June 2, 2011, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/germany-nuclear-power-trendsetter/583784 "2011-06-02T18:53:37Z")
\[ \](http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/E/EU\_GERMANY\_NUCLEAR\_POWER?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2011-05-30-15-15-15) Will Germany serve as an international trendsetter? Or will this only put Germany f… --- ## [Are the Pakistani militants changing? If so, what does it mean?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-the-pakistani-militants-changing-if-so-what-does-it-mean/583103)
**Author:** [@Darth\_Ayebaw](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darth_Ayebaw)\ **Replies:** 9\ **Last updated:** [June 2, 2011, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-the-pakistani-militants-changing-if-so-what-does-it-mean/583103 "2011-06-02T17:57:06Z")
Well organized, well trained, supplied with perfect intelligence, and able to hold their own against Pakistan’s best. Granted, I don’t keep up to the day to day attacks occurring in Pakistan, but this was a significant… --- ## ["Live a good life", with or without Gods- quote of Marcus Aurelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/live-a-good-life-with-or-without-gods-quote-of-marcus-aurelius/582080)
**Author:** [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Replies:** 37\ **Last updated:** [June 2, 2011, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/live-a-good-life-with-or-without-gods-quote-of-marcus-aurelius/582080 "2011-06-02T13:50:35Z")
“Live a good life. If there are gods and they are just, then they will not care how devout you have been, but will welcome you based on the virtues you have lived by. If there are gods, but unjust, then you should not wa… --- ## [Does God Exist?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-god-exist/583982)
**Author:** [@Bastian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bastian)\ **Replies:** 1\ **Last updated:** [June 1, 2011, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-god-exist/583982 "2011-06-01T18:05:39Z")
I’d like to invite any who are interested to comment here or visit \[\[link removed\]\] and post your thoughts. If you choose to contribute to the conversation at CC, please refrain from using vulgar language. Moderator: … --- ## [What is love?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-love/583785)
**Author:** [@spunkymuzicnote](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/spunkymuzicnote)\ **Replies:** 34\ **Last updated:** [June 1, 2011, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-love/583785 "2011-06-01T17:25:34Z")
What is this feeling people talk about called love? I mean, I have people I care about, my family and friends, but the word “love” escapes me. I don’t identify anything to it. I find I can only echo it when someone else … --- ## [How will data caps affect the digital economy?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-will-data-caps-affect-the-digital-economy/583904)
**Author:** [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Replies:** 15\ **Last updated:** [June 1, 2011, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-will-data-caps-affect-the-digital-economy/583904 "2011-06-01T16:48:54Z")
Are data caps going to kill the digital economy? More and more, ISPs are introducing data caps as well as bandwidth restrictions. 10 or 15 or 25 GB a mont… --- ## [Libertarian Nations](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/libertarian-nations/582992)
**Author:** [@KGJIII](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KGJIII)\ **Replies:** 178\ **Last updated:** [June 1, 2011, 8:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/libertarian-nations/582992 "2011-06-01T08:03:11Z")
Have any nations flourished with a libertarian form of government for a period of time? --- ## [What is the importance of vocabulary on human knowledge?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-importance-of-vocabulary-on-human-knowledge/582250)
**Author:** [@Philosophile](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Philosophile)\ **Replies:** 30\ **Last updated:** [June 1, 2011, 5:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-importance-of-vocabulary-on-human-knowledge/582250 "2011-06-01T05:42:35Z")
How would you evaluate the claim that “Vocabulary not only communicates knowledge, but actually shapes what we can know” ? Many languages have prospered and all are actively evolving. Any examples of vocabulary that som… --- ## [Accept one stereotype, accept them all: True or False](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/accept-one-stereotype-accept-them-all-true-or-false/583770)
**Author:** [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)\ **Replies:** 61\ **Last updated:** [June 1, 2011, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/accept-one-stereotype-accept-them-all-true-or-false/583770 "2011-06-01T00:59:47Z")
I’ve been thinking about this idea ever sense I scolded Argent in this thread. To summarize, he said something to the effect that Jews are brainy and ambitious, and I responded that if you accept those stereotypes to be… --- ## [Let's talk about Dr. Weston A. Price and his theories](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-about-dr-weston-a-price-and-his-theories/529447)
**Author:** [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Replies:** 17\ **Last updated:** [May 31, 2011, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-about-dr-weston-a-price-and-his-theories/529447 "2011-05-31T20:17:10Z")
http://www.westonaprice.org/ A friend at work mentioned this guy the other day, and started to lecture on how our eating habits are bad, raw milk is good for you, soy is poisonous, etc. Thankfully, we were working an… --- ## ["A guy called Vasili Arkhipov saved the world." and WWIII.](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-guy-called-vasili-arkhipov-saved-the-world-and-wwiii/583557)
**Author:** [@Darth\_Ayebaw](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darth_Ayebaw)\ **Replies:** 18\ **Last updated:** [May 31, 2011, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-guy-called-vasili-arkhipov-saved-the-world-and-wwiii/583557 "2011-05-31T18:44:45Z")
He was a minority, going against the captain. In the end he was successful, but I want this topic to assume he went along with it, and a nuclear weapon was used. Given that, what would have happened next (based on stat… --- ## [Is life, avareged over all humans, a net positive or negative?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-life-avareged-over-all-humans-a-net-positive-or-negative/583692)
**Author:** [@Polerius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polerius)\ **Replies:** 36\ **Last updated:** [May 31, 2011, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-life-avareged-over-all-humans-a-net-positive-or-negative/583692 "2011-05-31T18:44:35Z")
Do you think that life, taking into account the experiences of all humans in the world (all the people who are successful, healthy, happy, etc, and all the people who are depressed, die from horrible diseases, suffer chr… --- ## [Will the Dems successfully use the GOP's stance on Medicare against them?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-the-dems-successfully-use-the-gops-stance-on-medicare-against-them/578611)
**Author:** [@joebuck20](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/joebuck20)\ **Replies:** 113\ **Last updated:** [May 31, 2011, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-the-dems-successfully-use-the-gops-stance-on-medicare-against-them/578611 "2011-05-31T15:17:36Z")
For those of you who may be unaware, the House yesterday passed a budget that would turn Medicare into a voucher system for those currently under 55. Only four Republicans voted against it. Several commentators have sta… --- ## [English/Welsh courts are completely out of control, r.e. injunctions](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/english-welsh-courts-are-completely-out-of-control-r-e-injunctions/583680)
**Author:** [@Capt.Ridley\_s\_Shooting\_Party](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capt.Ridley_s_Shooting_Party)\ **Replies:** 10\ **Last updated:** [May 31, 2011, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/english-welsh-courts-are-completely-out-of-control-r-e-injunctions/583680 "2011-05-31T14:46:32Z")
As if so-called judge-created super-injunctions weren’t bad enough there’s apparently now such thing as a hyper-injunction which: This hyper-injunction was ordered against an individual who wished to leak the fact that… --- ## [Christians. You Love Jesus? Why?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christians-you-love-jesus-why/581851)
**Author:** [@The\_Flying\_Dutchman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Flying_Dutchman)\ **Replies:** 70\ **Last updated:** [May 31, 2011, 12:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christians-you-love-jesus-why/581851 "2011-05-31T12:25:43Z")
Now that you’ve explained why, would you still love him if you received irrefutable proof that the New Testament authors misrepresented his divinity ? That Jesus isn’t God ? Assume He’s still watching you from heaven lik… --- ## [Why not "demand-side economics"?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-not-demand-side-economics/545790)
**Author:** [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Replies:** 100\ **Last updated:** [May 31, 2011, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-not-demand-side-economics/545790 "2011-05-31T03:12:23Z")
Again I am tossing in a debate idea in the hopes that I will become more enlightened about this issue. We hear a lot about “supply side economics”, but I rarely hear a peep about its converse. Wasn’t it Henry Ford I wh… --- ## [Jose Guerena - Gross incompetence or murder?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jose-guerena-gross-incompetence-or-murder/583742)
**Author:** [@Aversin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aversin)\ **Replies:** 0\ **Last updated:** [May 30, 2011, 10:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jose-guerena-gross-incompetence-or-murder/583742 "2011-05-30T10:18:35Z")
http://www.kgun9.com/story/14629449/family-of-tucson-man-killed-by-swat-hires-attorney?clienttype=printable Video from the APC Earlier this month Jose Guerena was killed by police in his home while they were attemptin… --- ## [Are vows of religious mendicancy immoral?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-vows-of-religious-mendicancy-immoral/583618)
**Author:** [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Replies:** 16\ **Last updated:** [May 29, 2011, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-vows-of-religious-mendicancy-immoral/583618 "2011-05-29T18:42:29Z")
There are mendicant orders in several religions: Christianity, Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam. The basic idea is that members of the religious order take a vow to remain poor and only live off of the charity of other people. … [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/c/great-debates/13.md?page=383) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/c/great-debates/13.md?page=385)