# State some controversial beliefs that you have. **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [October 25, 2006, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/state-some-controversial-beliefs-that-you-have/377886 "2006-10-25T20:13:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 21
**Author:** ![Hypnagogic\_Jerk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hypnagogic_jerk/32/4252_2.png) [@Hypnagogic\_Jerk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypnagogic_Jerk)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2006, 6:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/state-some-controversial-beliefs-that-you-have/377886/401 "2006-10-29T06:56:10Z")
[QUOTE=gum] May I ask why? I’m honestly curious. Don’t you like hair? Or different hair-colors/styles? [/quote] It’s kind of hard to explain why. I just think it looks good. It probably doesn’t look good on _everyone_, though, but I’d say it does work for that lady whose picture I linked to. And I’ve seen many other women who also looked pretty good with a headscarf. Also, from time to time I see young women wearing a scarf that covers part of their hair. Usually it’s red, as in [this picture](http://www.bigfoto.com/sites/galery/people/girl-headscarf-73g.jpg), and to me it gives them a sort of “hippie” appearance. I also like these. I guess I just like head coverings. > [@](#): > > I think everyone should work until they’re 50, get 20 years of rest, with a good pension - and then get softly euthanised. Believe me, I see your point. This said, I don’t think anyone has or should have the power to do such a thing. > [@matt\_mcl](#): > > I believe that the biggest conceptual threat to the functioning of our democracy is the belief that all politicians are liars and are in it purely for personal aggrandizement. If we assume this from the get-go (as opposed to discerning it in individual cases), there’s no incentive to hold politicians accountable for anything (“Of course he lied; he’s a politician”) or work for change (“What’s the point of voting? They’ll just be liars anyway”). Actually, I think a lot of people in power encourage this view, because it promotes the status quo. I really do agree with you there. When I was a teenager, I really believed that “politicians’ promises” were obviously not supposed to be kept, and that everyone knew that. Politicians just ran around saying shit and no one should care since they didn’t mean it. Now, while I do realise that often politicians don’t or can’t follow on their promises, most of the time, what is found in their platforms really is what they intend to do. The different parties’ platforms really are different, since they really will do different things when in power. This said, as a politician yourself, I don’t think you can deny that to gain power in the political “game”, you have to be ready to make deals or do things that aren’t always entirely honourable. It’s like in business, it’s hard to raise to the top if you’re an idealist. ---
**Author:** ![Nancarrow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c37758/32.png) [@Nancarrow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nancarrow)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2006, 12:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/state-some-controversial-beliefs-that-you-have/377886/402 "2006-10-29T12:23:43Z")
[QUOTE=Leaper] What about (4) are not addicted to drugs or alcohol? That’s a major reason why I don’t give out to panhandlers. [/QUOTE] I’d have thought that was covered by (1). ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2006, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/state-some-controversial-beliefs-that-you-have/377886/403 "2006-10-29T13:33:48Z")
- I believe that Christianity is the greatest force of good and evil in the world. Those that follow the teachings of Jesus sincerely, committing themselves to pacifism and serving their fellow man, are the greatest force for good. Those that think that mumbling a few words makes them “saved” and entitled to use their religion as an excuse for everything from going to war to oppression of women and homosexuals is the greatest force for evil. - I believe that American overreaction to 9/11 leading to the Iraq War, the Patriot Act, elimination of habeus corpus, and the sanctioning of torture will go down as the darkest period in US history. - I believe that George Bush is not evil, he is a delusional psychopath. - I believe that Dick Cheney is the most vile and evil person ever to hold government office. - I believe that unless the Democratic Party reclaims at least one house of Congress, the US is going to spiral downward into a one-party dictatorship. - I believe that libertarians are actually closet Republicans who don’t want the responsibilty of actually governing. - I believe that there are two kinds of people- those that live in Michigan and those who are unlucky. - I believe the designated hitter and the alumimum bat are tools of Satan. - I believe the new clock rules in college football are a joke. - I believe the Big Ten conference is the king of all college conferences. - I believe the NRA makes a boatload of money exploiting the paranoia and gullibility of its members by constructing threats to legitimate gun ownership that do not exist. - I believe that Don Cherry is the god of men’s fashion. ---
**Author:** ![Lissa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/85f322/32.png) [@Lissa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lissa)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2006, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/state-some-controversial-beliefs-that-you-have/377886/404 "2006-10-29T14:11:11Z")
[QUOTE=Larry Borgia] **Li’l Pluck** , If I’m reading your posts corrrectly, you’re gay, Jewish, and black. Wow. That’s gotta be interesting. [/QUOTE] And atheist. How one reconciles that situation I do not know. ---
**Author:** ![Helen\_s\_Eidolon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/8edcca/32.png) [@Helen\_s\_Eidolon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Helen_s_Eidolon)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2006, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/state-some-controversial-beliefs-that-you-have/377886/405 "2006-10-29T14:24:32Z")
Well, then, I guess I can add one more controversial belief: you don’t have to believe in God to be Jewish. ---
**Author:** ![matt\_mcl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@matt\_mcl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt_mcl)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2006, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/state-some-controversial-beliefs-that-you-have/377886/406 "2006-10-29T15:30:01Z")
[QUOTE=severus] This said, as a politician yourself, I don’t think you can deny that to gain power in the political “game”, you have to be ready to make deals or do things that aren’t always entirely honourable. It’s like in business, it’s hard to raise to the top if you’re an idealist. [/QUOTE] I guess I never saw what good the power would do me, if I had to give up on the good things I wanted to do with it. Nevertheless, I know a number of people that I’d be prepared to say confidently are truly principled and honourable and who are in positions of power. (You’ll never guess which party I tend to find them in. 🆒 ) ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2006, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/state-some-controversial-beliefs-that-you-have/377886/407 "2006-10-29T15:30:34Z")
[QUOTE=BobLibDem\* I believe that American overreaction to 9/11 leading to the Iraq War, the Patriot Act, elimination of habeus corpus, and the sanctioning of torture will go down as the darkest period in US history.[/quote] Bob, meet the peculiar institution. Peculiar institution, Bob. > [@](#): > > - I believe that Dick Cheney is the most vile and evil person ever to hold government office. Bob, meet Hitler… Daniel ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2006, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/state-some-controversial-beliefs-that-you-have/377886/408 "2006-10-29T15:34:23Z")
[QUOTE=Left Hand of Dorkness] [QUOTE=BobLibDem] - I believe that Dick Cheney is the most vile and evil person ever to hold government office. [/QUOTE] Bob, meet Hitler… Daniel [/QUOTE] I interpreted that as meaning American Office. Otherwise as much as I hate Cheney, the list of more evil is fairly long. ---
**Author:** ![fisha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/da6949/32.png) [@fisha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fisha)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2006, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/state-some-controversial-beliefs-that-you-have/377886/409 "2006-10-29T15:44:55Z")
:Oncoming castigation: I actually like Dick Cheney. I like his humor, I like his smarts, I like the way he operates. For a politician, he ain’t half bad. Please don’t try to persuade me otherwise, if I still like him after all this time, there is nothing you can say to change that. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2006, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/state-some-controversial-beliefs-that-you-have/377886/410 "2006-10-29T16:56:56Z")
[QUOTE=What Exit?] I interpreted that as meaning American Office. Otherwise as much as I hate Cheney, the list of more evil is fairly long. [/QUOTE] Yes, American office. And at 600,000 Iraqi dead, Cheney is up to a decihitler. ---
**Author:** ![Li\_l\_Pluck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ee59a6/32.png) [@Li\_l\_Pluck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Li_l_Pluck)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2006, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/state-some-controversial-beliefs-that-you-have/377886/411 "2006-10-29T16:58:57Z")
[QUOTE=Larry Borgia] **Li’l Pluck** , If I’m reading your posts corrrectly, you’re gay, Jewish, and black. Wow. That’s gotta be interesting. [/QUOTE] Yep. And I gotta tell ya, I am never bored. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![matt\_mcl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@matt\_mcl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt_mcl)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2006, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/state-some-controversial-beliefs-that-you-have/377886/412 "2006-10-29T17:02:44Z")
- Women (and men) lie about having survived sexual assault far, far, far less often than the default reaction to a sexual assault survivor would suggest. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2006, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/state-some-controversial-beliefs-that-you-have/377886/413 "2006-10-29T17:13:07Z")
[QUOTE=BobLibDem] Yes, American office. And at 600,000 Iraqi dead, Cheney is up to a decihitler. [/QUOTE] I think you underestimated Hitler’s death toll. It is not just the Holocaust, it is also the millions that died in war. I am additionally trying to determine if Cheney needs to be held accountable for the large numbers of Iraqis killed because two branches of Islam cannot tolerate each other. Man I hate the guy, but putting all 600,000 on his ledger seems unfair. However, I do think he is the most morally corrupt and evil person to hold American office in my lifetime. I am reticent to give him this dishonor when I think of the Trail of Tears and some Southern Governors that were members of the KKK. Jim ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2006, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/state-some-controversial-beliefs-that-you-have/377886/414 "2006-10-29T17:27:46Z")
[QUOTE=What Exit?] I think you underestimated Hitler’s death toll. It is not just the Holocaust, it is also the millions that died in war. I am additionally trying to determine if Cheney needs to be held accountable for the large numbers of Iraqis killed because two branches of Islam cannot tolerate each other. Man I hate the guy, but putting all 600,000 on his ledger seems unfair. However, I do think he is the most morally corrupt and evil person to hold American office in my lifetime. I am reticent to give him this dishonor when I think of the Trail of Tears and some Southern Governors that were members of the KKK. Jim [/QUOTE] But the only thing that kept the Iraqi Islamic factions from killing each other was Hussein. Cheney and his puppet removed the only semblence of order in that country and the chaos is directly attributable to them. ---
**Author:** ![Li\_l\_Pluck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ee59a6/32.png) [@Li\_l\_Pluck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Li_l_Pluck)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2006, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/state-some-controversial-beliefs-that-you-have/377886/415 "2006-10-29T17:37:34Z")
[QUOTE=Lissa] And atheist. How one reconciles that situation I do not know. [/QUOTE] Correct–and atheist. As to how one reconciles my situation, \*\*Helen’s Eidolon \*\* correctly pointed out that one doesn’t have to believe in god in order to be Jewish (thanks, BTW), but I’d like to provide an elucidating story. Tradition has it that, one day, a heathen went befor Rabbi Hillel (a first-century Jewish sage) and asked him to explain the essence of Judaism while standing on one foot. Hillel said to him, “That which is hateful to you, do not do unto others. This is the essence of Judaism. The rest is commentary; now go and study.” And that, in a nutshell, is how I can be a Jew (a kippah-wearing one, at that) and an atheist. Judaism doesn’t demand that I believe in god. It does demand, however, that I orient myself towards ethical behavior and the repair of a broken world (which is broken precisely because people have oriented themselves _away_ from ethical behavior). Dopers who are familiar with the different branches of Judasim will probably surmise that I am a Reconstructionist Jew. You would be correct. I hope this helps to clear things up at least a little bit. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![matt\_mcl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@matt\_mcl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt_mcl)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2006, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/state-some-controversial-beliefs-that-you-have/377886/416 "2006-10-29T17:48:28Z")
- I believe that we should not necessarily do unto others as we would have them do unto us, as their tastes may be different. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2006, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/state-some-controversial-beliefs-that-you-have/377886/417 "2006-10-29T17:54:09Z")
[QUOTE=BobLibDem] But the only thing that kept the Iraqi Islamic factions from killing each other was Hussein. Cheney and his puppet removed the only semblence of order in that country and the chaos is directly attributable to them. [/QUOTE] I really try to be fair to everyone in judgements, but I really hate Cheney. So I will agree with you and leave it at that. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![The\_Flying\_Dutchman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/9fc348/32.png) [@The\_Flying\_Dutchman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Flying_Dutchman)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2006, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/state-some-controversial-beliefs-that-you-have/377886/418 "2006-10-29T18:12:59Z")
[QUOTE=matt\_mcl] Nevertheless, I know a number of people that I’d be prepared to say confidently are truly principled and honourable and who are in positions of power. (You’ll never guess which party I tend to find them in. 🆒 ) [/QUOTE] We’ll never guess, eh ? Hint #1…people who are in positions of power Lets do 20 questions. Are these people of the party in question east of Alberta and west of Ontario ? ---
**Author:** ![Lissa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/85f322/32.png) [@Lissa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lissa)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2006, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/state-some-controversial-beliefs-that-you-have/377886/419 "2006-10-29T18:22:41Z")
[QUOTE=Li’l Pluck] And that, in a nutshell, is how I can be a Jew (a kippah-wearing one, at that) and an atheist. Judaism doesn’t demand that I believe in god. It does demand, however, that I orient myself towards ethical behavior and the repair of a broken world (which is broken precisely because people have oriented themselves _away_ from ethical behavior). [/QUOTE] I like that. I wish I could be a Jew. ---
**Author:** ![Li\_l\_Pluck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ee59a6/32.png) [@Li\_l\_Pluck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Li_l_Pluck)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2006, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/state-some-controversial-beliefs-that-you-have/377886/420 "2006-10-29T18:34:21Z")
[QUOTE=matt\_mcl] - I believe that we should not necessarily do unto others as we would have them do unto us, as their tastes may be different. [/QUOTE] I don’t mean to be obtuse or anything like that–and I’m not even sure that your post was in response to my post (though I think it was)–but could you elaborate, please? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/state-some-controversial-beliefs-that-you-have/377886.md?page=20) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/state-some-controversial-beliefs-that-you-have/377886.md?page=22)