(Inspired by some of the gun threads on this board.)
Are there any causes or topics you find yourself unwilling to support because the “face” of the cause is so off-putting?
Alaskan hockey moms.
Animal rights. It’s hard to separate the general movement from the bundle of crazy that is PETA.
Not exactly, but a Swedish bone marrow donor registry has a horrible writing error in its name, and the fact that I cringe every time I see it is at least part of the reason I haven’t signed up.
I’m not so pleased that Richard Dawkins has appointed himself spokesman for all atheists everywhere - really he’s just replaced one kind of zealotry for another and comes across as intolerant as the people he attacks.
Immigration reform and better border control make a lot of sense. The inarticulate, misbegotten sons of bitches in camo T-shirts that always seem to be on the TV or message boards advocating them? Not so much.
I’m not sure where I stand on the issue of abortion, but the militancy on either side of the issue makes me reluctant to take a stand either way.
Sofis can you describe the spelling error (and translate it into English)?
Well, you can’t make that particular error in English. The problem is that there is a space in the name where there shouldn’t be one; it has to do with how one forms compound nouns. It has a similar stature to apostrophe misuse in English, in that it’s frequently held up as an indication that the Swedish language is going to shit and soon we’ll be communicating in grunts and gestures, etc. And both errors make me twitch in much the same way :).
The name of the organisation is “Tobias Registret”, which I suppose could be translated as “Tobias the Registry”. The corrected version is “Tobiasregistret” (“the Tobias Registry”). It’s unsurprisingly named after a guy who died because of lack of a suitable bone marrow donor.
Fun fact: the corrected name gets six times as many hits on Google as the non-corrected version (and google suggests the corrected version if you search for the uncorrected).
If Greenpeace didn’t spend so much of their advertising on animals that are “cute” (e.g. baby seals) and concentrated on endangered species, I might be inclined to support them. Seals are in no way endangered. If you oppose killing them, then you should join PETA.
The ShamWow. That guy just drives me crazy but I want to try the damn towels!
Okay, I’ll jump in on the animal rights stuff. PETA is my primary objection. The 19 year old college freshman who is stridently militant in their views of the “holocaust” at Tyson Farms also get my goat (ha!) and make me tune out much sympathy towards the cause.
MeanJoe - Who is nice to sweet fuzzy-wuzzy widdle animals… and ugly ones too like cows.
No one’s yet mentioned Macintosh computers?
Good one 
Very true for me.
I find the face of the conservative party in the UK to be awful. There doesn’t seem to be as many truly reptilian individuals at the forefront of the party these days, but fatuous children of priviledge are as prevalent as ever. I can see how my viewpoint is sort of ridiculous, as both parties in the UK are centrist and actually quite closely aligned on key issues. It doesn’t make much sense to dismiss one political party out of hand in this context. But I just cannot stand to listen to David Cameron on any subject at all - I find him an extremely polarising figure on issues that are not in fact divergent at all.
I suspect this is more due to the fact that you are Canadian and enjoy the sweet sweet taste of seal blubber too much.
I won’t say “animal rights”, but better care and compassion toward animals. PETA, ALF and their ilk make me want to vomit. I support better care and most definitely a lot less callous attitude toward the animal world. But they’re just fucking loons who didn’t get enough attention as children.
Immigration. Look, it’s not “racist” to want to keep our border secure and limit the amount of immigration into this country. It’s not racist to want to round up illegals and deport them to their home countries. Of course, I think part of the problem here is not the proponents (for the most part), but the opponents and their grip on the media. I don’t give a flying fuck where they came from, if there are millions here illegally, we SHOULD be doing something about it.
It’s annoying isn’t it? He’ll make some very sensible speech or rational point and you can’t help but think “I want to agree with you, but you’re such a knob, so I can’t”.
As a Christian, I hate to say it, but Christianity by and large would be better off and a lot more attractive if about 9 out of every 10 people who are Christians would just shut the fuck up about it.
Another vote for PETA.
Don’t bother; they’re garbage. The demonstrations in the commercial are all trick editing.
In Australia the head of the Greens Party is a very taupe bloke of late middle age and horribly bland dress-sense. His public speaking efforts are enough to make old-growth forests wilt with boredom and endangered species put THEMSELVES on the extinct list rather than have to endure his intelligent but oh-so-dull diatribes.
Even his name oozes mediocrity and beige….Bob Brown fer’ gawdsakes.
The only somewhat ‘colourful’ thing about Brown is that he’s gay…in orientation if not in nature.
Here, have a look for yourselves.http://www.abc.net.au/reslib/200710/r191895_723618.jpg I’d go Green if it wasn’t for Brown. 
I highly doubt I’m the only foreigner in Japan who goes :rolleyes: every time Debito decides to open his big yap.
On the other hand, the field of ‘Gaijin rights in Japan’ is narrow enough that I could easily be a spokesfigure. Hell, within my local community, that’s exactly what I try to do.