# Anti-War Views (bullshit) **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [February 16, 2003, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-war-views-bullshit/155520 "2003-02-16T23:14:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Madkins](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ee59a6/32.png) [@Madkins](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Madkins)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2003, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-war-views-bullshit/155520/1 "2003-02-16T23:14:22Z")
I cant help but think that theese people protesting war are hurting more then helping. Ultimatly we are gonna go to war Ultimatly soldiers/civilans are gonna die there is no way around it. I think people should support rather than protest what there government does. I feel commited to the US government and will support their decision. So ask yourself if your anti-war…Why? why are hurting your country rather than supporting it. -Madkins ---
**Author:** ![Hank\_Fescue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/49beb7/32.png) [@Hank\_Fescue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hank_Fescue)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2003, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-war-views-bullshit/155520/2 "2003-02-16T23:20:13Z")
You liver will eaten by vultures in 5, 4, 3, 2,… ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2003, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-war-views-bullshit/155520/3 "2003-02-16T23:20:54Z")
I find I would much rather live in a country where annoying hippies can express dissent and rant about the bourgeoise than one in which mindless imbeciles support the actions of our leaders for no particular reason. ---
**Author:** ![hansel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/6bbea6/32.png) [@hansel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hansel)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2003, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-war-views-bullshit/155520/4 "2003-02-16T23:22:57Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Madkins \* > **Ultimatly we are gonna go to war Ultimatly soldiers/civilans are gonna die there is no way around it.** This is exactly the mindset that the anti-war protesters are protesting. ---
**Author:** ![SpaceGhostofArrakis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9fc348/32.png) [@SpaceGhostofArrakis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SpaceGhostofArrakis)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2003, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-war-views-bullshit/155520/5 "2003-02-16T23:23:23Z")
Yessiree, you sure are making a good case there, Maddykins. Where the Hell did i put my Chicken Pot Pie? ---
**Author:** ![Kaje](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f04885/32.png) [@Kaje](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kaje)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2003, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-war-views-bullshit/155520/6 "2003-02-16T23:24:14Z")
maybe in this case you are right that it’s inevitable, and maybe you aren’t… regardless, your stance is one of the dumber things i’ve heard all day… it is our responsibility to inform the government as to whether we agree or disagree with our actions… If we just went silently along with everything they said, we would be living in a totalitarian regime. If the govt said “we are going to kill all the minorities in this country… nothign will disuade us” would you be the first in line with the rope? “That example is outrageous” you say… Of course it is, but the point is you must make your opinions known, especially if you believe what the govt is doing is wrong. ---
**Author:** ![Madkins](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ee59a6/32.png) [@Madkins](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Madkins)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2003, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-war-views-bullshit/155520/7 "2003-02-16T23:24:44Z")
me too. im glad i can protest issues but when it is this emminent that we are going to war why show dissatisfaction. I chose Unity over Division. ---
**Author:** ![Zoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a4c791/32.png) [@Zoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zoe)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2003, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-war-views-bullshit/155520/8 "2003-02-16T23:25:34Z")
Madkins: > [@](#): > > I think people should support rather than protest what there government does. I think that is how the Holocaust began. Thomas Jefferson said, and I’m paraphrasing, that we have a **duty** to protest when we think our government is wrong. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2003, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-war-views-bullshit/155520/9 "2003-02-16T23:36:34Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Madkins \* > **I think people should support rather than protest what there government does.** And here was me thinking that the government existed to support the people… ---
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2003, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-war-views-bullshit/155520/10 "2003-02-16T23:43:56Z")
Uh oh. Zoe just Godwinized the thread. You know what that means? Madkins just won by default. Thanks a whole fucking lot, Zoe. You blew it. ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_of\_Sandwhich](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/91b2a8/32.png) [@Earl\_of\_Sandwhich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_of_Sandwhich)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2003, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-war-views-bullshit/155520/11 "2003-02-16T23:47:54Z")
What does “Godwinized” mean (I’m new here)? ---
**Author:** ![Lucki\_Chaarms](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/9de0a6/32.png) [@Lucki\_Chaarms](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucki_Chaarms)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2003, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-war-views-bullshit/155520/12 "2003-02-16T23:56:00Z")
“Godwinized” is a reference to Godwin’s Law, which states, to the best of my recollection: > [@](#): > > As the length of an internet message board thread increases, the probability of a comparison to Hitler or Nazism approaches one. These tactics are so widely used with no thought, and so detrimental to carrying on sustained, reasonable debate, that many people say that one who invokes these images to deride their opponent forfeits by default. LC ---
**Author:** ![gobear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8dc957/32.png) [@gobear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gobear)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2003, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-war-views-bullshit/155520/13 "2003-02-16T23:56:01Z")
The OP is absolutely crammed full of shit. I think that the anti-war lobby is woefully misinformed, but they have the right to speak their minds–that’s what this country is all about, after all–freedom. It’s the duty of good citizens to question their government. Hell, this nation was founded by revolution against authority and kicking off enslavement to the British crown, and every advance we have made from womens suffrage to racial integration has been made by struggle and protest. I will scold the hippie peaceniks, I will yell at them, I will argue with them, but I will also absolutely defend their right to be heard. If not, what the fuck are we defending? ---
**Author:** ![Reeder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Reeder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reeder)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2003, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-war-views-bullshit/155520/14 "2003-02-16T23:57:47Z")
> [@](#): > > “As a Usenet discussion grows longer, the probability of a comparison involving Nazis or Hitler approaches one.” There is a tradition in many groups that, once this occurs, that thread is over, and whoever mentioned the Nazis has automatically lost whatever argument was in progress. Godwin’s Law thus practically guarantees the existence of an upper bound on thread length in those groups. [http://c2.com/cgi/wiki?GodwinsLaw](http://c2.com/cgi/wiki?GodwinsLaw) ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2003, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-war-views-bullshit/155520/15 "2003-02-16T23:58:45Z")
Godwin’s law states that _“As a Usenet discussion grows longer, the probability of a comparison involving Nazis or Hitler approaches one”_ - this is commonly misinterpreted to mean that the end of a discussion is _caused_ by such a reference. ---
**Author:** ![Coldfire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a587f6/32.png) [@Coldfire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Coldfire)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2003, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-war-views-bullshit/155520/16 "2003-02-17T00:08:50Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by gobear \* > \*\*I will scold the hippie peaceniks, I will yell at them, I will argue with them, but I will also absolutely defend their right to be heard. If not, what the fuck are we defending? \*\* Another step might be to not call anyone opposed to a war on Iraq a “hippie peacenik”. I know I’m not American, but I’m not a hippie, and certainly not an all-out pacifist. Yet, I oppose a war at this stage, based on the information at my disposal. You choose the other option for the same reasons - doesn’t make you a bloodthirsty warmongerer, in my book. We all form our opinions from our own perspective, with a severe shortage of information. Time will tell. As for the OP: blindly following your government no matter what they do, because the country needs “unity”? No democracy needs unity, ever. It needs diversity, by default, to BE a democracy. Furthermore, assuming you’ve got all American noses in the same direction, there’s still this pesky matter of the rest of the world to deal with. It’s not a black and white issue, and trying to make it one only makes you look foolish. ---
**Author:** ![gobear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8dc957/32.png) [@gobear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gobear)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2003, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-war-views-bullshit/155520/17 "2003-02-17T00:13:28Z")
**Coldfire** , did you even bother to notice that the point of my posts was to defend freedom of dissent? ---
**Author:** ![Coldfire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a587f6/32.png) [@Coldfire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Coldfire)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2003, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-war-views-bullshit/155520/18 "2003-02-17T00:16:08Z")
I know, **gobear**. But why label those who disagree with you? They’re not one homogenous group of “hippies”. My second paragraph was aimed at the OP rather than you, in case that wasn’t clear. ---
**Author:** ![White\_Lightning](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f04885/32.png) [@White\_Lightning](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/White_Lightning)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2003, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-war-views-bullshit/155520/19 "2003-02-17T00:24:25Z")
My goodness. Reading this OP I was overwhelmed with the feeling that we _really_ didn’t need another of these blasted threads. But I was rewarded for persisting in reading the thread first by a belly laugh courtesy of **Lemur866** , and then by a post by **gobear** that I agree with almost entirely. **gobear** : Excellent point, and well expressed. ---
**Author:** ![wring](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/838e76/32.png) [@wring](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wring)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2003, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-war-views-bullshit/155520/20 "2003-02-17T00:26:36Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Coldfire \* > \*\*Another step might be to not call anyone opposed to a war on Iraq a “hippie peacenik”. I know I’m not American, but I’m not a hippie, and certainly not an all-out pacifist. Yet, I oppose a war at this stage, based on the information at my disposal. You choose the other option for the same reasons - doesn’t make you a bloodthirsty warmongerer, in my book. We all form our opinions from our own perspective, with a severe shortage of information. Time will tell. > \*\* what’s more, I would also point out that protesting and/or in disagreement for **this** war at **this** point, is not at all “not supporting” those in uniform. As a matter of fact, it’s my personal pov that this may in fact be more of a support of those in uniform, in that we would loathe to see them in harms way for insufficient cause. My dad was in WWII. there were clear cut reasons to be there. He’s absolutely opposed to this one. are you going to accuse him of being anit-men in uniform too? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-war-views-bullshit/155520.md?page=2)