Quote:
Originally posted by
Dreamtimer
There are many who make the case that the moral degradation is a symptom (rather than cause) of decline of empire.
It could be. Moral degradation was either way quite abundantly present in the ancient Roman Empire. Others on the other hand believe that it's bound to eras rather than to empires. The French call it
"fin de siècle" — the end of the century, with the expectation that the world is going to come to an end and that therefore people are indulging in decadence because they think they've got nothing left to lose.
Quote:
Originally posted by
Dreamtimer
The coupling of pedophilia with homosexuality blurs things terribly, which is why it's done so much. The two are not the same. If aberrant people want to glom onto gay rights to defend their own pedophilia we need to be vigilant and call it what it is.
I suspect that this collation stems from the Roman Catholic Church. They believe that sexual orientation is determined only later in life — as opposed to that it is genetically determined — and that homosexuality and pedophilia are stages that one goes through on the evolutionary path to becoming a heterosexual adult.
There was actually a high-ranking official of the Roman Catholic Church who stated the above out loud on television somewhere in the past decade, when the circumference of the pedophilia scandals within the church started reaching the mainstream news. There was a lot of angry reaction to that, especially from gay people.
Quote:
Originally posted by
Dreamtimer
This is one of the reasons we need real and strong science. It tells us straight out that children aren't made for sex and it's wrong to force it on them. Period. It also tells us how stupid racism and sexism are. I could go on. Take a look at who is undermining science in society 'cause it ain't the liberals where I come from.
True. And in the USA more than in any country, the conservatives — read: the hardline Republicans — are the ones most opposed to scientific development. Donald Trump built his entire campaign on how cool it is to be stupid. That should tell anyone enough. ;)
Quote:
Originally posted by
Dreamtimer
We can have social standards and we still need laws because we haven't figured out how to weed out the sociopaths yet. But it's sociopaths who want to demonize and scapegoat so they can keep on doing their stuff behind the scenes.
Correct. Divide and conquer, and regulate the good people so that the bad people can go underground.
Quote:
Originally posted by
Dreamtimer
I don't see the gay marches or women' marches as anything more than people saying "Hey! We're fed up with being treated like shit and second class citizens. We're sick and tired of being ignored, pandered to and swept under the rug. We matter."
Look up Matthew Shepard. He was brutalized. People had tremendous prejudices around AIDS to the point that they were afraid to talk to hemophiliacs. Those prejudices cause just as much moral degradation as anything.
Yes, but I maintain that we must look at what unites us, as opposed to looking at what sets us apart from everyone else. Identity is a good thing. Sense of self is a good thing. But we're never going to get anywhere as a global civilization if we keep on focusing on our differences, whether it's through vilification or through promotion.
Unity is the key word here.