# 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:** 8
**Author:** ![D\_Odds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/d_odds/32/2882_2.png) [@D\_Odds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Odds)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2006, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/state-some-controversial-beliefs-that-you-have/377886/141 "2006-10-26T13:39:21Z")
Like **What Exit?** , I believe we should have a strong military. That military should be housed entirely within the U.S. (including proctectorates). No foreign bases. ---
**Author:** ![auntie\_em](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5e9695/32.png) [@auntie\_em](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/auntie_em)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2006, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/state-some-controversial-beliefs-that-you-have/377886/142 "2006-10-26T13:41:18Z")
I believe that kindness is infinitely more admirable than intellect. I believe that being overly stubborn is worse than being wrong. I believe that bad breath is a far greater social disgrace than farting in public. ---
**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 26, 2006, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/state-some-controversial-beliefs-that-you-have/377886/143 "2006-10-26T13:42:55Z")
[QUOTE=D\_Odds] Like **What Exit?** , I believe we should have a strong military. That military should be housed entirely within the U.S. (including proctectorates). No foreign bases. [/QUOTE] I would enjoy a separate thread on this subject alone. I believe foreign bases are a major part of a strong military. Especially Navy Bases. Let me know if we should start a GD or IMHO on this? Jim ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2006, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/state-some-controversial-beliefs-that-you-have/377886/144 "2006-10-26T14:14:28Z")
[QUOTE=auntie em] I believe that kindness is infinitely more admirable than intellect. I believe that being overly stubborn is worse than being wrong. I believe that bad breath is a far greater social disgrace than farting in public. [/QUOTE] You would just _love_ me. 😃 I’m nice but dumb and meek, I brush my teeth frequently and fart in public! ---
**Author:** ![FriarTed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/friarted/32/1052_2.png) [@FriarTed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FriarTed)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2006, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/state-some-controversial-beliefs-that-you-have/377886/145 "2006-10-26T14:25:06Z")
I believe everyone here will realize that Jesus Christ is Lord, hopefully happily so. I believe that American conservative politics, libertarian economics & Evangelical Christianity are the worst political, economic & religious ideologies except for everything else. I believe I ripped that last belief off of a quote by Winston Churchill. I believe that eventually someone will film Bram Stoker’s DRACULA and do it right. I believe the same about Ayn Rand’s ATLAS SHRUGGED but I am not expecting it about Angelina Jolie’s performance as Dagny Taggart. ---
**Author:** ![D\_Odds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/d_odds/32/2882_2.png) [@D\_Odds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Odds)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2006, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/state-some-controversial-beliefs-that-you-have/377886/146 "2006-10-26T14:25:39Z")
[QUOTE=What Exit?] I would enjoy a separate thread on this subject alone. I believe foreign bases are a major part of a strong military. Especially Navy Bases. Let me know if we should start a GD or IMHO on this? Jim [/QUOTE] If I have to start doing research during work hours to the “Cite” army, I’ll pack up my bags and go home. IMHO would be better. ---
**Author:** ![Cluricaun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/bb73d2/32.png) [@Cluricaun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cluricaun)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2006, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/state-some-controversial-beliefs-that-you-have/377886/147 "2006-10-26T14:27:18Z")
Some more: Some of the wisest things I’ve ever heard were spoken by standup comedians. More of them should run for public office. American politics needs to revert quickly back to the model I was taught in school. Anyone attempting to subvert these things or extend their powers should be thrown in prison. No more signing statements and the like. I think more government programs should be self funding in terms of monies collected by those groups should be used only by those groups, ala fishing and hunting license revenue should only be available to spend on DNR programs. Any public official who attempts the wholesale selling of our National Parks and Forests should be charged with treason. I think that any company that bids to work on roads and highways should be expected to submit a realistic timeline of completion at the time of that bid, and if they can’t keep it they should be prevented from obtaining another state/city contract for a minimum of 5 years. They should also be held accountable for the quality of the work performed. ---
**Author:** ![Zeriel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/58956e/32.png) [@Zeriel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeriel)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2006, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/state-some-controversial-beliefs-that-you-have/377886/148 "2006-10-26T14:29:25Z")
[QUOTE=Fiveyearlurker] I have little doubt that playing violent video games for hours on end inures one to violence and lowers any innate barrier one might have toward committing real violence. [/QUOTE] Funny, I have no doubt that for most of the population, violent video games and, to some extent, ANY simulated antisocial behavior reduces the urge to commit real violence etc. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2006, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/state-some-controversial-beliefs-that-you-have/377886/149 "2006-10-26T14:30:37Z")
[QUOTE=Tanglewood] [li] Terminally God-boggled fundamentalist Muslims, who loudly take to London’s streets declaiming against Western values with placards like “[Exterminate](http://www.theepochtimes.com/news_images/2006-2-5-natcartoon.jpg) those who slander Islam” should be permanently exiled from the UK.[/li][/QUOTE] You don’t understand. They’re only calling for extermination because they’re so angry at being called a religion of violence. ---
**Author:** ![auntie\_em](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5e9695/32.png) [@auntie\_em](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/auntie_em)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2006, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/state-some-controversial-beliefs-that-you-have/377886/150 "2006-10-26T14:31:00Z")
[QUOTE=Dung Beetle] You would just _love_ me. 😃 I’m nice but dumb and meek, I brush my teeth frequently and fart in public! [/QUOTE] You sound quite charming. Seriously. If you’d rather be sexy than smart, you and I are soulmates. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2006, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/state-some-controversial-beliefs-that-you-have/377886/151 "2006-10-26T14:40:39Z")
[QUOTE=MidnightRadio] I’m interested. [/QUOTE] My opinion is simply that children aren’t special, and people who have children aren’t special, and there shouldn’t be any special treatment for people who have children, because they are the vast majority and the default condition for adult humans. Children are just small, immature humans who need to be strictly controlled by their handlers when around other people so they can learn how to live in society. Not an extremely popular opinion anywhere, and one that I don’t feel free to express in very many places in our Cult of the Child society. Heck, I don’t feel free to express it _here_ - I expect an ass-handing for coming clean here. Did I win? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![dre2xl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/34f0e0/32.png) [@dre2xl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dre2xl)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2006, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/state-some-controversial-beliefs-that-you-have/377886/152 "2006-10-26T14:42:27Z")
I believe “just don’t feel like it” is no excuse for neglecting your partner’s sexual needs. I believe women need sex as much as men do. I believe the cruelty makes foie gras all the more tasty. I believe Skilling and Lay should have been executed, but also that some Enron workers were pretty foolish to not to pay more attention to diversification. ---
**Author:** ![Crowbar\_of\_Irony\_3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f08c70/32.png) [@Crowbar\_of\_Irony\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crowbar_of_Irony_3)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2006, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/state-some-controversial-beliefs-that-you-have/377886/153 "2006-10-26T14:47:58Z")
Christanity is actually simple stuff, but churches come up with al these “this is evil” and “these are evil” just to control people. ---
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2006, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/state-some-controversial-beliefs-that-you-have/377886/154 "2006-10-26T14:50:18Z")
> [@Nava](#): > > I believe that nobody can have responsibility unless they have power. That may just add up to people refusing to do anything at all in circumstances they can’t control. That scares me. > [@buttonjockey308](#): > > I believe that prosperity is not a birthright, but a privlege, earned by those who deserve it. IOW, you’re either a Calvinist or a status qujo apologist. What you’re saying is, in effect, “If you’re a white-collar criminal prick with a shitload of money and three palatial homes, you automatically deserve it, no questions. And if you’re a single mom with 5 kids who has to work the graveyard shift at Squall-Mart and live by a crackhouse, you deserve that, too.” > [@](#): > > I believe that if left unchecked, Fundamental Islam will be the downfall of western society. And Fundamentalist Christianity will be right in there pitching. > [@lokij](#): > > Christianity is in it’s death throes as a relevant force in the world. And all these newly-ascendant fundies are part of the problem – most all unwittingly, but quite a few cynically, having hidden old tribal war-gods in Jesus’ robes and begun praying to them. > [@matt\_mcl](#): > > I believe that there are scarcely any people with no moral sense whatever; these are sociopaths. Evil actions are in general caused by either blindness to the consequences of one’s acts upon others, or by failure to regard such consequences as being important due to a perception of lowly status of those harmed. I believe there are a lot more sociopaths than you do, and that they are some of the most resilient and adaptive survivalists on Earth. > [@Hung Mung](#): > > The concept of “fundamental human rights” is complete and utter bullshit. And harmful and/or useless to humanity? Put your money where your mouth is. > [@liberty3701](#): > > I believe New Jersey is the greatest state in the union. And you probably also think it has the best drivers, the most livable big cities, and the cleanest government. No? (Here’s a hint: _ **NO.** _) > [@vivalostwages](#): > > I believe that spending years building kids’ self-esteem does more harm than good, in the long run. So you believe shame and repressed anger are positive qualities that build strong adults? > [@dahfisheroo](#): > > I believe there is evil in the world, and it takes advantages of the weak, the willing and especially the wise. And the wise are both weaker and more willing than the simple believers in Moral Clarity? > [@Der Trihs](#): > > I want the American troops in Iraq to be slaughtered by the Iraqi resistance. Hey, I think the war is a shameful jack-off exercise myself, but _that just sucks._ > [@AHunter3](#): > > Oh, and aesthetically 99.9% of all pornographic material I’ve seen is about as erotic as a basket of old unwashed gym socks (a controversial belief can be an artistic preference or taste, right?) Who said that was controversial? That last brings me around to another of my Beliefs: Marketing has becomes such a powerful force that it now pretty much supports itself. Marketers no longer cater to public tastes so much as shape them to their own preconceptions and the parent company’s bottom line. When Big Business, Big Media, etc., says “We give the public what it wants,” they really mean, “We give the public what _we_ want.” ---
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2006, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/state-some-controversial-beliefs-that-you-have/377886/155 "2006-10-26T14:53:29Z")
> [@Gaudere of Doug](#): > > you’re either a Calvinist or a status qujo apologist. Status _quo_, natch. (The status qujo is the status quo’s evil canine partner.) ---
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2006, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/state-some-controversial-beliefs-that-you-have/377886/156 "2006-10-26T15:03:27Z")
[QUOTE=featherlou] My opinion is simply that children aren’t special, and people who have children aren’t special, and there shouldn’t be any special treatment for people who have children, because they are the vast majority and the default condition for adult humans. Children are just small, immature humans who need to be strictly controlled by their handlers when around other people so they can learn how to live in society. Not an extremely popular opinion anywhere, and one that I don’t feel free to express in very many places in our Cult of the Child society. Heck, I don’t feel free to express it _here_ - I expect an ass-handing for coming clean here. Did I win? 😃 [/QUOTE] I’ll meet you halfway. Yes, there is a Cult of the Child. You can, and have to, take them everywhere these days, and every allowance is expected to be made for them – much more than simple caring and courtesy would indicate. However. I notice a backlash festering amongst the childfree, and it makes me kind of sick, because I fully expect to remain on of their number. Call it the Cult of the Adult, if you like. This backlash potentially plays into the hands of cultural conservatives who would like to remake childhood into a routine of conformity and punishment on behalf of Elders and Betters, presumably because they hate psychology and think self-esteem is bullshit. I hope we don’t mkake that mistake. If we do, we’re going to raise even angrier and more self-righteous young people than ever. ---
**Author:** ![scr4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@scr4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scr4)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2006, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/state-some-controversial-beliefs-that-you-have/377886/157 "2006-10-26T15:03:31Z")
I believe the Honda Element is a good-looking car. ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2006, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/state-some-controversial-beliefs-that-you-have/377886/158 "2006-10-26T15:06:51Z")
[QUOTE=FriarTed] I believe everyone here will realize that Jesus Christ is Lord, hopefully happily so. [/QUOTE] Really? What gives you the idea he’s happy about it? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2006, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/state-some-controversial-beliefs-that-you-have/377886/159 "2006-10-26T15:23:03Z")
I believe the liberation of children will be the last final and most important liberation movement. Just as the question of the liberation of women didn’t quite reduce to simple black-and-white oppressor-and-victim analyses, that of the liberation of children will be even less reducible, and will be more complicated by several orders of magnitude. And just as the social movement feminism / womens’ liberation was essentially not revolutionary in the “violent overthrow” sense but did heavily involve “political overthrow” in elective offices, laws, and court decisions, that for the liberation of children will not be practical even in those terms, but will depend almost exclusively on “conceptual overthrow”, the changing of how people perceive and behave and interact. • In broad general terms, children will be treated “as equals” with dignity and rights, but the changes absolutely positively will not, can not, consist merely of keeping all the same laws, structures, conventions, societal roles, etc and then trying to make them all “age-neutral”. • Although the “Institution of Childhood” is more easily recognized and conceptualized as a social construct, the far-less-obvious _Institution of Adulthood_ will necessarily also be dismantled by this liberation. • Oppressions previously addressed such as sexism (/patriarchy), racism (/colonialism/caste), class, and other areas of institutionalized inequality will be better understood, and their remaining manifestations better addressed, as we come to understand the ways in which they are manifestations of the adult/child power relationship and how it is codified in social structures. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2006, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/state-some-controversial-beliefs-that-you-have/377886/160 "2006-10-26T15:38:11Z")
[QUOTE=scr4] I believe the Honda Element is a good-looking car. [/QUOTE] OK, now that’s just _sick_. 😃 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/state-some-controversial-beliefs-that-you-have/377886.md?page=7) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/state-some-controversial-beliefs-that-you-have/377886.md?page=9)