# Stupid Republican idea of the day **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [March 26, 2009, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897 "2009-03-26T18:48:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1484
**Author:** ![TonySinclair](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/49beb7/32.png) [@TonySinclair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TonySinclair)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2016, 8:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/29662 "2016-06-19T08:08:44Z")
> [@t-bonham@scc.net](#): > > I don’t see that the survey you cited says that at all. > > Of all the religious groups reported in that survey, Muslims are the 2nd worst, with a strong majority still opposing marriage equality. Only the white evangelical protestants are worse. So you do see it. ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2016, 8:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/29663 "2016-06-19T08:08:49Z")
As usual, the Buddhists are the least problematic of the world’s major faiths, with Jews a close second. ---
**Author:** ![user\_hostile](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/user_hostile/32/474_2.png) [@user\_hostile](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/user_hostile)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2016, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/29664 "2016-06-19T15:43:31Z")
Careful with that broad brush there **adahar** , you might paint yourself in a corner. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2016, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/29665 "2016-06-19T16:52:41Z")
> [@t-bonham@scc.net](#): > > Of all the religious groups reported in that survey, Muslims are the 2nd worst, with a strong majority still opposing marriage equality. Only the white evangelical protestants are worse. That’s exactly the point - even though the majority of American Muslims oppose gay marriage (and honestly, 42% in favor was a higher number than I expected), they’re _still_ more supportive of it as a group than are the Christian evangelicals in the GOP who are claiming to be the true defenders of LBGT people. ---
**Author:** ![Kobal2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kobal2/32/20_2.png) [@Kobal2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kobal2)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2016, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/29666 "2016-06-19T18:09:50Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > That’s exactly the point - even though the majority of American Muslims oppose gay marriage (and honestly, 42% in favor was a higher number than I expected), they’re _still_ more supportive of it as a group than are the Christian evangelicals in the GOP who are claiming to be the true defenders of LBGT people. Not to mention there’s like 5 Muslims in the entire US. Quite a few more rabid evangelicals. ---
**Author:** ![MacCat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maccat/32/216_2.png) [@MacCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MacCat)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2016, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/29667 "2016-06-19T18:39:35Z")
> [@Kobal2](#): > > Not to mention there’s like 5 Muslims in the entire US. 5? There must be _ **HUNDREDS!** _ :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2016, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/29668 "2016-06-19T19:27:02Z")
Snopes has delivered [an epic smackdown](http://www.snopes.com/2016/06/19/failed-daily-caller-writer-throws-temper-tantrum-about-being-debunked-by-snopes-com/) to a Daily Caller columnist who attempted to smear one of their writers for repeatedly debunking him. > [@](#): > > TL;DR version: One Daily Caller “writer,” tired of seeing his slanted and factually-challenged output debunked here at [snopes.com](http://snopes.com) (such as his misleading reporting about Washington state schools teaching transgenderism to kindergarten students and a DHS subcommittee report on violent extremism) attempted to shoot the messenger (a common logical fallacy). Instead of acknowledging and correcting his mistakes, he tried to deflect attention from them by attacking the person who had the temerity to point them out, our own Kim LaCapria. > > Usually we don’t bother responding to such blather (our long-established reputation as the Internet’s oldest fact-checking site speaks for itself), but this instance provided an opportunity to deliver an informative object lesson on bad reporting (and the importance of fact-checking) too good to pass up… > > I realize this is quite possibly a novel idea to the Daily Caller writer, but here at [snopes.com](http://snopes.com) we employ fact-checkers and editors who review and amend (as necessary) everything we publish to ensure its fairness and accuracy rather than just allowing our writers to pass off biased, opinionated, slanted, skewed, and unethically partisan work as genuine news reporting. > > Perhaps some Daily Caller writers could give that approach a try sometime. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2016, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/29669 "2016-06-19T19:52:20Z")
Snope snap! ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2016, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/29670 "2016-06-19T23:12:52Z")
> [@Kobal2](#): > > Not to mention there’s like 5 Muslims in the entire US. Quite a few more rabid evangelicals. Maybe only 5 Muslims in the entire United States, but 40% of those are members of Congress! (Keith Ellison and André Carson). ---
**Author:** ![Gorsnak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gorsnak/32/7587_2.png) [@Gorsnak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gorsnak)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2016, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/29671 "2016-06-20T00:53:24Z")
> [@Senegoid](#): > > Maybe only 5 Muslims in the entire United States, but 40% of those are members of Congress! (Keith Ellison and André Carson). Yeah right, like I’m going to believe that. Neither of those guys is even named Muhammad. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2016, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/29672 "2016-06-20T01:03:15Z")
> [@Gorsnak](#): > > Yeah right, like I’m going to believe that. Neither of those guys is even named Muhammad. How do you know? Maybe that’s their secret. Did you know that very few people are aware that Obama’s middle name is HUSSEIN? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Rick\_Kitchen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rick_kitchen/32/522_2.png) [@Rick\_Kitchen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick_Kitchen)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2016, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/29673 "2016-06-20T03:00:04Z")
Fox: [Gay journalists like Anderson Cooper are biased](https://www.rawstory.com/2016/06/fox-host-anderson-cooper-choked-up-after-orlando-shooting-because-gay-journalists-are-biased/). Unlike the white conservatives on Fox. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2016, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/29674 "2016-06-20T03:16:41Z")
> [@Gorsnak](#): > > Yeah right, like I’m going to believe that. Neither of those guys is even named Muhammad. The Hon. Keith Ellison, (D-Minn.) is a Lutheran Muslim, a subset of Islam that is more bland, but less exciting. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2016, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/29675 "2016-06-20T03:25:06Z")
As I said to my pastor after a trip to a mosque and an explanation of Islam, “They’re closer to us than Mormons.” ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2016, 5:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/29676 "2016-06-20T05:48:45Z")
> [@user\_hostile](#): > > Careful with that broad brush there **adahar** , you might paint yourself in a corner. When referring to groups and possessing actual data, there’s nothing wrong with generalizations. Are you suggesting the poll shouldn’t have been taken at all, lest it paint the particular religious groups with a broad brush? ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2016, 10:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/29677 "2016-06-20T10:14:09Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > As usual, the Buddhists are the least problematic of the world’s major faiths, with Jews a close second. In the US, perhaps, but the [Rohingya](http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2016/05/rohingya-refugee-hunted-mob-myanmar-160522172852047.html) [and others](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buddhism_and_violence)may have a different view on that ---
**Author:** ![TonySinclair](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/49beb7/32.png) [@TonySinclair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TonySinclair)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2016, 10:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/29678 "2016-06-20T10:59:25Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > > [@](#): > > > > As usual, the Buddhists are the least problematic of the world’s major faiths, with Jews a close second. > > When referring to groups and possessing actual data, there’s nothing wrong with generalizations. Your “actual data” was a survey on opposition to gay marriage. If I’m not mistaken, the only Presidents who have publically supported gay marriage are Clinton, Obama, and GHW Bush. Based on that actual data, would you say that they are the three least problematic Presidents the US has had? ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2016, 11:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/29679 "2016-06-20T11:00:30Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > As usual, the Buddhists are the least problematic of the world’s major faiths, with Jews a close second. Or at least, the people who self-identify as such **in the US** tend to be disproportionately aligned with liberal democratic values. (As other posters have been quick to point out when we’re talking about US Muslims.) Elsewhere in the world, no Buddhist-majority country has legal same-sex marriage, and several of them criminalize same-sex sexual behavior. The only Jewish-majority country, Israel, also doesn’t permit same-sex marriage (though they do recognize same-sex marriages performed in other countries). > [@adaher](#): > > When referring to groups and possessing actual data, there’s nothing wrong with generalizations. So I presume that given this additional actual data, you’re okay with modifying your position to say that (at least with regard to LGBT rights) the Buddhists are **not** “the least problematic of the world’s major faiths”, given that many Christian-majority countries (as of recent years) are much farther along with recognizing LGBT rights than Buddhist-majority countries are. This is the problem with such silly broad-brush generalizations: as soon as you’re confronted with specific factual detail, you have to go back and erase or modify most of your brushstrokes. ---
**Author:** ![Kobal2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kobal2/32/20_2.png) [@Kobal2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kobal2)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2016, 1:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/29680 "2016-06-20T13:04:20Z")
[QUOTE=Senegoid] Maybe only 5 Muslims in the entire United States, but 40% of those are members of Congress! (Keith Ellison and André Carson). [/QUOTE] Well, granted, still it doesn’t seem fair to tar the other 3 just because a pair of rogues share their religion. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2016, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/29681 "2016-06-20T20:15:07Z")
> [@elucidator](#): > > The Hon. Keith Ellison, (D-Minn.) is a Lutheran Muslim, a subset of Islam that is more bland, but less exciting. Yes, they fast all day during Ramadan, then gorge on a gormet lutefisk & lefsa banquet! 🙂 Actually, Keith was a good catholic boy until he converted during college. And remember what famous Jesuit St. Francis Xavier said: > [@](#): > > “Give me the child until he is seven and I’ll give you the man” . [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897.md?page=1483) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897.md?page=1485)