Post five statements you truly believe but expect most of the board to disagree with.

[OneCentStamp]

@Sterling_Archer

Huh? Book 5 or book 3? Book 6 isn’t even out yet and you’re declaring it unworthy of televising?

I was slightly disappointed with Book 4 and enormously disappointed with Book 5, especially given the massive wait times for each. I wouldn’t be surprised if the show catches up to the books before Martin finishes the next one, and at that point I would love it if the screenwriters went in whatever direction they thought best.

[HeyHomie]

@OneCentStamp

I was slightly disappointed with Book 4 and enormously disappointed with Book 5, especially given the massive wait times for each. I wouldn’t be surprised if the show catches up to the books before Martin finishes the next one, and at that point I would love it if the screenwriters went in whatever direction they thought best.

My understanding is that GRRM has given the HBO producers a general outline of where the story is going, on the off chance that he doesn’t live to complete Book 7.

[Chefguy]

@Amateur_Barbarian

The logical conclusion to this is that humanity should be exterminated and leave the Earth to the whales, the pine tree borer and the cockroach.

All in good time, but we seem to be hurrying it along.

[marshmallow]

1. Your favorite things suck; the things you hate are good. This should be the first rule of the internet.

2. Anti-natalism is more morally just than natalism.

3. Men display more negative traits than women. Much of civilization has been the domestication of male impulses. Science will ultimately solve this problem, and to show the duality of masculinity it will probably be from some pencil necked nerdy male scientist who wouldn’t hurt a fly.

4. Peaceful protest doesn’t change anything. Forget hanging the bankers from the lamp posts. Peaceful protestors can’t even block traffic anymore. The only reason to go to a protest is to pick up lib chicks.

5. People complain about the corruption of democracy. Bribery. Propaganda. Regulatory capture. Elite domination. But that is democracy.

@silenus

1. Breaking Bad, The Shield and The Wire weren’t that good. Neither is Game of Thrones.

What shows do you think are good? Not because I want to declare they too suck, or anything juvenile like that, I’m honestly curious if there’s something in common versus these you listed.

[OurLordPeace]

@Procrustus

4. The vast majority of Christians don’t actually believe the whole resurrection, deity of Jesus thing. They may like the “fellowship,” or “message” of the church, but they’re not buying the actual tenants of the faith. They are just too weak to admit it out loud.

In the spirit of mutual aid, I have to point out that tenants live in buildings, and are expected to obey the tenets of their leases.
So, OP, you want to resist commentary, but I’ve noticed that some of the “beliefs” put forth previously are actually not matters of belief, but errors of fact.

Anyway, here are mine:

1. Property is theft. This is distinct from possessions, and the theft is committed by capitalists, the state, and other organizations, against those whose real labor enables such property to produce wealth.
2. There is no such thing as the free market, because capitalists invariably collude with one another and with the state, leading to a very unfree situation.
3. The Beatles, Motown, and a great deal of other music says nothing to me about my life, and I don’t have to like it.
4. The United States has an extremely malignant role in world affairs, and usually has. Its citizens ought to hold their government accountable more often.
5. There’s no sense in being a religious moderate. Do you only “sort of” believe it? If a book is a holy book, then how could any of it be wrong? Would you eat a salad in which but one leaf has been tainted with salmonella? Put up or shut up.

[Ulfreida]

1. All professional sports are stupid wastes of time. Except maybe rodeo.
2. The human race is bent on successfully making the earth unliveable for their own species and most others, and nothing whatsoever is going to be done about it. On the contrary, short-sighted greed and animosity will win, and there will be enormous death of just about everything. This will occur within the next fifty to a hundred years.
3. Art, architecture, fiction and music in the modern age are almost entirely horrendously worthless piles of crap combining meaninglessness with ugliness in ways that defy comprehension as to why they were created.
4. Technology always destroys at least as much as it creates, and usually a lot more.
5. God exists. He’s real sad, but he’s seen it before. Also after and now.

[zoid]

@Der_Trihs

In random order:

Contrary to the old saying, malice is a more common motive than stupidity for bad behavior.

As a criticism of fiction, “Mary Sue” is almost always either nothing more than a way of bashing a work of fiction without having to openly admit one’s actual motives for doing so; or, it’s motivated by the conviction that art always has to be about grimness and suffering, despair, failure and corruption. There’s also a fairly strong dose of sexism thrown in, with female characters getting labeled “Mary Sue” when the same character would get called something like “cool” or badass" if they were male.

The only motive of significance behind opposition to abortion is hatred and sadism towards women.

Bush and/or Cheney knew that a major terrorist attack from Al Qaeda was probably coming before 9/11 and deliberately looked the other way in the hopes they could use it as an excuse to attack Iraq. And I doubt they even felt even a microsecond of guilt over the people who died then or afterwards.

Religion is almost certainly history’s greatest single evil; it definitely is in the top two or three. If it were to have never existed the world would be a far better place.

@Dale_Sams

Pish-posh. Felgercarb, horse-hockey. The nature of man far out-weighs the damage religion has wrought.

You two are going to get along swimmingly…

[zoid]

@Uniqueorn

2. There should be no interest earned on capital
3. Allergies, phobias and behavioural issues can be cured, often within one session

These are two of the stupidest fucking things posted in this thread, and that’s saying a LOT.

[Mr.Nylock]

I for one, am very glad to hear all the people post about the Beatles not being the best thing to ever happen to music.

[Guinastasia]

1. There’s nothing wrong with with owning a tv
2. Or using Facebook
3. Not all religious people are anti-science, bigoted, fundamentalists
4. Some trolls can be entertaining
5. The phrase “pansexual” is just a pretentious way of saying “bisexual”.

@Procrustus

4. The vast majority of Christians don’t actually believe the whole resurrection, deity of Jesus thing. They may like the “fellowship,” or “message” of the church, but they’re not buying the actual tenants of the faith. They are just too weak to admit it out loud.

This is merely the atheist equivalent of “atheists are just people who are mad at God.” Telling people “well, you don’t REALLY believe what you believe” is incredibly, ridiculously insulting. It’s like you can’t imagine anyone possibly having a different belief than you, so you convince yourself the other person is merely deluded, or defiant. It’s ridiculous.

[Mosier]

1. Kids today are better than when I was a kid.
2. Freedom doesn’t require democracy.
3. Some people found guilty of child abuse or similar crimes should be forced to submit to a sterilization procedure.
4. Cats are awful creatures.
5. We are literally at war with several terrorist organizations. The “War on Terror” should be treated just like any other war. People who are members of the organizations who consider themselves to be at war with the US should be treated just like enemy soldiers in a national army would be (which includes not torturing them, just like we shouldnt torture any other POW). Also, using drone strikes to kill them is perfectly valid. Nations that actively harbor them should also be considered hostile, and absolutely no consideration should be given to the sovereignty of such nations when the military is deciding how to attack the enemy they’re harboring.

[JohnT]

1. Kids today are better than when I was a kid.

As a corollary, I think the parents are far better. Especially the fathers.

[Procrustus]

@Guinastasia

This is merely the atheist equivalent of “atheists are just people who are mad at God.” Telling people “well, you don’t REALLY believe what you believe” is incredibly, ridiculously insulting. It’s like you can’t imagine anyone possibly having a different belief than you, so you convince yourself the other person is merely deluded, or defiant. It’s ridiculous.

That’s the point of this thread. I am 100% convinced that most Christians don’t honestly believe Jesus is God or rose from the dead. The rest of their religion gives them enough incentive, I suppose, to fake the other parts. I can “imagine” someone possibly having a different belief than me, but upon reflection, I reject that it’s the most likely senario.

[Blackberry]

@Guinastasia

5. The phrase “pansexual” is just a pretentious way of saying “bisexual”.

Okay, fine. I’ll just be a demisexual bisexual then. God.

[panache45]

I sure as hell am not gonna mention Ayn Rand in this thread.

[Boring_Username]

1. Not only should the child tax credit be reformed, but any “couple” or any two people bearing more than two children (three bearing three, etc or replacement-level) should be required to pay the government a fee based on the extra costs to society (e.g., carbon footprint) - regardless of how wealthy or poor the parents are themselves.

2. Animal charities should be illegal until every human on earth (that can be documented) is provided with a very basic level of sustenance.

3. Spanking your kids (within reason) should be legal.

4. Any person of child-bearing age receiving government assistance should be forced on birth control for the duration of their assistance. If they subsequently get off of assistance, have another child and request government assistance at a later time, they are then permanently sterilized.

5. Voters should be truly forced to live with the consequences of their choices. Those voting Democrat would pay a higher tax rate, but have free social services. Republicans pay minimal taxes but must pay a fee for their use of public services (fire, police, etc). Your vote is recorded when it is cast at the ballot on election day, sent to the IRS, and cannot be reversed until the next presidential election.

[Rick_Kitchen]

1. Peanut butter and bacon sandwiches are the greatest food ever, in the history of the world.

2. Peanut butter and dill pickle sandwiches are the second greatest food ever, in the history of the world.

3. 1939 was the greatest year for movies, ever.

4. Beer tastes nasty.

5. Diet Coke is better than regular Coke.

[jtur88]

6. John F. Kennedy, in 8 years, would have destroyed America and maybe the world, and we were saved by people who did what we were told Oswald did.
7. Dogs are made of meat…
8. US troops are not defending us against any credible risk to our liberty and way of life and probably never have…
9. "God Bless America " and “God Bless the USA” are not the national anthem and I don’t have to stand up when Kate Smith and Lee Greenwood sing them.
10. The Young Adult genre of books are not serious and enduring literature, and Sherman Alexie’s “The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian” is the worst piece of shit I’ve ever read.

[Blackberry]

@Boring_Username

2. Animal charities should be illegal until every human on earth (that can be documented) is provided with a very basic level of sustenance.

So then should all charities that don’t provide humans with basic sustenance also be illegal? No collecting xmas presents for poor kids?

[Leaper]

The problem with these kinds of threads is that it’s basically a license for conservatives and libertarians to list basic beliefs, since (they believe, whether correct or not) that this board leans left.