College loses 1/3 of faculty

Parent Cafe
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<p>Since Osama Bin Laden is such a threat, tis a good thing we are still looking for him and have set aside a group to do that…wait…no, we dismantled it, so guess he ain’t sucha threat after all</p>

<p>Just because one person is a bigger threat, does not mean someone else is not a threat at all…one does not have to negate the other, which seems to be the conservative mindset…</p>

<p>Our founding fathers saw and anticipated as best they could, the potentionl INTERNAL threats to our demcracy and set up safeguards…</p>

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<p>“Our founding fathers saw and anticipated as best they could, the potentionl INTERNAL threats to our demcracy and set up safeguards…”</p>

<p>Well said CGM: so, no reason to be hysterical. PHC will not end life as we know it.</p>

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<p>I will give an example- medicine, birth control, etc and tying in medical care to their religious beliefs and connecting it in government help to people in underdeveloped countries…to say, well, we will not give you any medicine if you even TALK about abortion, and condoms</p>

<p>A potential threat is saying that giving vacines to stop cervical cancer is morally wrong, because somehow it will encourage pre-marital sex</p>

<p>The first is killing people, the numbers I do not now. but it is horrid how we will deny aid because some clinic may discuss abortions, and to the some extent birth control, because of the pressure and from representatives themselves</p>

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<p>I haven’t suggested there’s a specifically Christian agenda to kill thousands of people. On the other hand, both George W. Bush and Bill Clinton have publicly described themselves as Christians; Clinton’s support of sanctions in Iraq contributed to the deaths of thousands of innocents; Bush’s decision to go to war there did the same.</p>

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<p>But, you see FS, as we have been observing, there are many in power who want to erode those safeguards…the current presidential powers are a good example, and since the President has chosen over 600 times that various laws he has signed do not apply to him and he does have to live by the laws of this land, those safeguards are eroding, so we must be vigilant and nothing wrong with hysteria…complaceny is much worse</p>

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<p>I disagree. They’re doing a terrific job that is currently in its early stages. They have made themselves the single most important voting bloc in the party that controls all three branches of the federal government. They have leaders influencing policy from tiny local school boards to the White House and everywhere in between. This is not some fringe movement; a majority of the members of the majority party in Congress owe their seats to this faction of voters, and they vote like it.</p>

<p>If you view the radical right agenda as destructive and poisonous to American values, as I do, then this is a serious issue that merits a great deal of attention and concern. </p>

<p>I view this political threat as so different from the terrorist threat that I don’t think paying attention to one distracts from the other; they need totally different kinds of responses. But I certainly don’t think that because we’ve got an international threat against us, we should give that 100% of our energy and just ignore domestic politics.</p>

<p>Here are just a few of the laws the radical right has brought about:</p>

<p>The gag rule in gynecology clinics
The Hyde Amendment
The abstinence-education provisions of the 1996 welfare reform bill
Legalized discrimination against gays in housng, employment, etc. in the majority of states, including in some cases a total ban on the right to adopt
The morning-after pill’s current unavailability over the counter
Consitutional bans on gay marriage in 18 states so far
All of the limits on the right to abortion in Pennsylvania that were approved in Casey and have spread to other states
The defeat of the Equal Rights Amendment</p>

<p>You may think these laws are good, bad, or not important, but there’s no question that the Ralph Reeds of the world have made a major impact on the shape of American law in a number of areas, and they show no signs of slowing down.</p>

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<p>FS, your criteria are not relevant (and neither are mine). What is more important is what the <em>world</em> sees: Bush started the Iraq war under false pretenses, has said that he believes he is doing God’s will (imagine yourself as a moderate Muslim for a moment), and thousands of Islamic innocents have died (in addition to Americans and other foreigners) as a result of his direct decisions and actions. We are being condemned because it turned out that the Iraq war had nothing to <em>do</em> with 9/11. Bush is a Christian saying he is doing God’s will, a country has been needlessly destroyed, and thousands have died on both sides (but many more Muslims).</p>

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<p>Vossron et al,</p>

<p>[How about if I just imagine that my family is from Iran…but then, they are.] </p>

<p>Herein lays the problem: To conflate Islamic terrorism with the foreign policies of the elected government of the United States and then further with Christian fundamentalism is quite a stretch and hardly deserving of any strained or nuanced analysis.
Stilll further, from my point of view, it is at best a rhetorical leap to conflate Islamic terrorism with the governments of the majority Islamic countries in which they fester. For instance, Vossron, you said

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<p>There is a difference that makes a difference here.</p>

<p>Islamic terrorism is an existential problem here in the US and in a good portion of the world. It could be said that in the USA it is actually a small problem compared to its “holy violence” in a big chunk of the world—the Philippines, Indonesia, Pakistan and India, Chechnya and Russia, amongst others. </p>

<p>Greybeard dodged this one…and if you can dodge a wrench, you can dodge a ball.</p>

<p>As to Hana’s concerns,
though I have great respect for her education and thinking, I find nothing much novel about her stated concerns at all, at least from a historical perspective. I’d guess there have been those who have seen the “end of democracy” and the “bill of rights” throughout US history. They tend to be as sensitive as a canary in a coal mine. And there have been greater threats throughout our history, than are posed now. There was a real crisis of impeachment just 30 years ago. Many of the sensitive wondered if the constitution would still hold. It did. The democracy abides them all. </p>

<p>It is, as far as I can see, regular old fashioned democracy at work even now. There is liberal/conservative, right/wrong and they by no means directly correlate to one another. Otherwise, why not just bet the farm and have a one party system, as the USSR did, and let the enlightened despots amongst us rule? I mean, let those who know what is “best for all” simply take control and “do the right thing.” The Democratic Party for instance seems to have everyone’s good at heart. Maybe the Republicans should just make money and have kids.</p>

<p>But, I believe, things are much more subtle than the conversation that allows no more than “bigots” and “libertarians” or, “oppressors” and “oppressed,” or rich and poor, or black and white. It requires a sense of humor, patience and a touch of humility when getting all ideological and up in each other’s face. For the time being, I favor humor; perhaps as time goes by, humility; still later, patience. </p>

<p>For what it’s worth, I opposed the war in Iraq—quite vocally. Still, I would prefer to be wrong on this one. I wish we all felt the same way…maybe I should be the despot?! Would I have to be a Democrat, I’m not much for protesting.</p>

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<p>When did I say they were novel? And why does it matter whether they are novel or not? The fact that a hostile force has repeatedly tried and failed to take over your country does not mean that you can just ignore this year’s attack and not worry about it because the democracy will take care of itself. They failed in the past because they were driven back by adequate action, and they will only be driven back this time if there’s adequate action. The democracy doesn’t just take care of itself – WE take care of it by getting involved. And if you asked the radical right about the threat posed by Christ-killing homobortionists like me, they’d tell you the same thing.</p>

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I would not have thought you would have so much in common with each other as you imply/state. I am no part of the Christian fundamentalist agenda, and yet, I do not consider them my opposite number.</p>

<p>Perhaps I am more moderate than advertised.</p>

<p>Nonetheless, as I said, I always respect your posts, Hanna. You typically write with authority and intelligence and I respect that.</p>

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<p>I find them roughly equivalent because they both believe they are doing God’s will, and they both are willing to kill to impose their way of life (democracy/theocracy) on the other. The RCFs and RMFs each believe their goals are noble, and accept seemingly unlimited collateral damage to attain them.</p>

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<p>Funding immorality is not and has never been a proper function of government.</p>

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<p>“and they both are willing to kill to impose their way of life (democracy/theocracy) on the other.”</p>

<p>I’m sorry you’re right, I forgot about all those suicide bombers coming out of the churches of the American Christian Right. And I hear they make some of the best improvised explosive devices in the world, as well as the most sophisticated car bombs. A friend of mine told me they celebrated for days when they blew up that night club in Bali, and since the train bombings in Spain went so swimmingly, they thought Mumbai at rush hour was the obvious next choice. Oh yeah, and how about when they mowed down all those heathen children in their heathen school in Chechnya? That was a real victory for Jesus!</p>

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<p>Christianity has a brutle and ugly history…and that history was made in the name of Jesus…and that should not be forgotten…there are people in this country that think certain others should die, that gays should die, that abortion doctors should die, that AIDS is God’s punishment, so don’t look for cures…the actions may not be obvious, but in many cases, the mindset is there</p>

<p>Often, harming others is done in insidious ways, and often, killing of freedoms, choices, lifestyle…what was that silly little line…oh yeah liberty or death</p>

<p>As for the bombings in India…gee…didn’t India just shot off some big ole rockets?</p>

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<p>What liberties have conservative Christians usurped thus far? Please enlighten me.</p>

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<p>They are trying to take away rights- birth control, science education, abortion, protections for gays, and if they have their way, church in government, laws, and biblical basis for leading this country…they have not been as sucessfull as they would have liked because people are vigilant, that does not mean the efforts have not been made or are not continuing to be made</p>

<p>Forcing a religion into government is taking away liberties…think that’s part of why our constitution was written the way it was…</p>

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<p>What mainstream politician wants to ban birth control?</p>

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<p>Not a right. </p>

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<p>Not a right. </p>

<p>Also, what is your idea of a “biblical basis” for leading this country?</p>

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<p>“Christianity has a brutle and ugly history…and that history was made in the name of Jesus…and that should not be forgotten…”</p>

<p>You are just bound and determined to equate Islamic Extremism with Christianity, are’nt you CGM? Interesting…If I ever painted Islam with the brush you just used to plaster Christianity, I feel sure you would have yelled fowl. Correct me if I’m wrong, but isn’t the current thrust of the discussion a comparison of the relative dangers of Worldwide Radical Islam and American Fundamentalist Christianity? Are you now wanting to make the discussion a Celebrity Death Match between all of Christianity and All of Islam? You can go there if you want, but I pass. </p>

<p>Sure, there are Fundamentalist Christian whack jobs that believe gays and abortion doctors should die, and that AIDS is God’s punishment, that’s why I’ve already acknowledged all those world-wide attacks they’ve carried out. Oh, and how could I have forgotten the ones they carried out right here on 9/11 attacks? When they pulled those off, they released video tapes gloating about how Jesus would reward them in Heaven with virgins and all the white milk they could drink. How very sick!</p>

<p>“As for the bombings in India…gee…didn’t India just shot off some big ole rockets?”</p>

<p>I’m sorry CGM, my puny mind just didn’t follow that one. That has to do with the Mumbai train bombings, how…?</p>

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<p>The Ten Commandents, sunshine…I am not talking about mainstream, you don’t get it…</p>

<p>but then obviouslly, you never will</p>

<p>It doesn’t take mainstream…look at what was tried in Kansas with Intelligent Design…it starts small, and grassroots level, and it takes a few people in state governmnet </p>

<p>When you have people trying to make laws so that gay people can not adopt children…when you have people wanting to cut funding to birth control (that is how it is banned, cutting funding, or allowing drugstores to not sell a prescribed drug)…when you have people saying that they don’t want to fund a vaccine for cervical cancer because it might promote premarital sex (against the bible) I see problems</p>

<p>The battle is not fought on giant battlefields…it is the constant chipping away…the sneaking in things…pushing things in publc classrooms, removing books from libraries…its not in your face. its throught the back door</p>

<p>And what do you mean not right…please do some research and open your eyes</p>

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<p>Okay, your post is riddled with foolishness, but I’d like to specifically address this issue.</p>

<p>You previously emphasized the importance of liberty. If a drug store decides not to sell a drug, is that not an excercise of an individual’s liberty?</p>