OT: What is wrong with America?

Simple really Tai Fu, America is morally bankrupt. Spiritially this nation is hurting. God has been banned from the schools, but condoms and secret abortions are encouraged. I am NOT a bible thumper, but too many people are SPIRITIALLY lost in this nation. Its really that simple; but white liberals will see to it that everyone goes to hell with them :(

Lunar

tai fu wrote:

"Lunar" is right. America has been under assault from evil for decades and has largely surrendered. It's going to hell in a handbasket faster and faster every year. In 2010 America intends to cede its autonomy to an unelected, unaccountable "North American" government. RIP freedom.

But there are other forces at work here too. Although perhaps not a factor in this recent string of school shootings, almost every school shooting by students has involved kids under the influence of antidepressant drugs. One savvy independent researcher studying this found that Kip Kinkel, the kid who shot up my high school alma mater, was taking antidepressants that ACTUALLY WORSENED HIS VIOLENT TENDENCIES. This of course has all been covered up by the pharmaceutical/political powers that be--bad for business you know!

I love this country but it's full of rot right now. It's not just the Bush Administration that's in a state of denial. Most Americans are living in a fantasy that no longer exists. Occasionally something like

+McG+

snipped-for-privacy@juno.com wrote:

Do the math. It's a very small percentage. Of course that doesn't make it ok and is no consolation to the people affected by it.

Phil

I agree with the other comments about moral bankruptcy, though I do not necessarily connect morality with spirituality. In terms of these shootings - when a human or any other animal is beset on all sides with forces it cannot comprehend or predict, it lashes out.

In earlier, more tyrannical societies, you basically did what the kings men told you. In some cases, there was even a way to appeal to the king directly. But either way, the results (no matter how harsh) were simple an understandable.

Now flash forward a few centuries. We have the illusion of freedom, but our lives are minutely controlled by a government and corporations we cannot see or comprehend. Worse, decisions are conditional, arbitrary, and capricious. And, unless we can buy into the system with our own lawyers, irrevocable.

Some of us can work the system and/or tolerate it; an increasing number cannot. So they go literally insane.

A very small example: I made my usual electronic payment to my cable TV company last month. For some reason this one wasn't processed correctly, and was refused as the equivalent of "insufficient funds." with a $25 fee. I demonstrated that all the numbers were correct, plenty of money in the bank, etc. to no result. If it doesn't go through for ANY reason, my fault or not, even a technical error at their end - I pay.

There is a REASON we have more guards and metal detectors at our family court than the criminal courthouse across the street....

I am going to disagree with all you folks.

My theory? 1) Consequences, and a distinct lack thereof.

Used to be if a guy ran his mouth, somebody punched him. Now he has a "disorder", and if he gets a well deserved black eye he sues.

If a kid was a brat, he got spanked, or sent to his room, or "something". Now he gets a pat on the head and a pill.

If you killed somebody, you took a seat on ol' sparky. Now you get years of bullshit. Just look at the nonsense surrounding the Brian Nichols trial. He shot a judge and others in front of dozens of witnesses...what is there to discuss?

and 2) Too many people. Too many people trying to do too many things in too short a time. Hurry hurry, stress stress. Courtesy is the first casualty. And hey, if you run over somebody in your big SUV while you rush too and fro, it's no big deal since there are no consequences, remember?

It ain't religion, it ain't faith, it ain't spirituality, or a lack of any of these that are causing our problems. WE are causing our problems.

My opinion, FWIW, is that America's most serious enemies are not foreign, but here within the US. This would be individuals or groups that try to stifle thought. I am reluctant to use the word PC because I think that trivializes the problem. In America, there appears to be a "correct" way to think. Certain ideas are not to be considered or written about. Hate crimes and hate speech are nothing more than efforts to control thought. I could elaborate on all this a bit more, but I'm sure some of you know what I am talking about.

FWIW, I agree. A good book on the subject of the sort of nutbag that commits these acts is "Anatomy of Motive" by John Douglas, formerly a profiler with the FBI.

Kevin OClassen

My dear wife worked for many years in the Mental Health field. When I was venting about the incident in Lancaster County she said something like this. Our basic problem is that we think everybody will act like a normal, reasonable man. The people who commit these horrendous crimes are neither normal nor reasonable. It is nearly impossible for normal reasonable people like ourselves to even begin to comprehend how their minds work. We make jokes about hearing voices in our head or some such thing, but for these people it's reality. One of the reasons that shrinks are so likely to go off the deep end themselves is because they are trying to get their heads around the thought processes of lunatics. They ain't reasonable, folks. They are nucking futs. There are no sound-bite one-size-fits-all answers like "put God back in the classroom" or "get rid of guns" or "bring back the daeth penalty." All of these things might work with normal, reasonable people. For loonies, they are just another excuse. "God told me to do it" is a pretty common excuse the whackos will offer up. And for the otherwise normal sociopath, simple deterrance is no deterrant. The death penalty keeps honest, law abiding citizens honest. For a crook or a sociopath, its just the cost of doing business. No, I don't have a solution. If I did I would definitely share it with you. All I can do is pray for a little more enlightenment and a little more peace.

Bill Sullivan

"Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety." - Benjamin Franklin

"How many observe Christ's birthday! How few, his precepts! O! 'tis easier to keep Holidays than Commandments." - Benjamin Franklin

tai fu wrote:

There is some evidence to this. When a society loses the ability to believe in something bigger than itself, it loses hope.

(Snipped)

I agree. My tirade tries to explain whey they're nuts; yours explains why they act on it. Both apply.

Tweak, well said.

Cool. Group hug?

;-)

Thanks. I'm running for office next week on a platform of a hickory switch for every kid's behind, one free "punch a jerk" card (per annum, there are lot of jerks out there needin' a punching) and free housing in Montana.

....and lifetime of free beer.

Ted Novak TRA#5512 IEAS#75

Uhhhh, no. Buy your own beer, ya galdang socialist. The free housing is just to get people to move "there" away from "here".

;-)

But but but...Montana's nice!

Ted Novak TRA#5512 IEAS#75

I sometimes think we have too many rules protecting the jerks. We certainly could use more leeway when it comes to justified assualt...er, attitude adjustment.

Then I wonder if maybe the guys going postal are the ones who've been constrained by the rules too long and then just blow up. Not that they're acting in a beneficial way when they do. But it's a thought.

If I wasn't afraid of getting jailed and losing my job, there are quite a few people out there who might have learned some valuable lessons while I was extracting teeth from them :) Not to mention the clowns whose rear bumpers would now have some dents and dings in them. However, I promise that if I ever go postal, I won't be taking it out on Amish school children. Slow people in the fast lane maybe, but not somebody's kids.

Doug

Everyone? Everyone in America thinks they gotta shoot someone? Doesn't that idiotic statement rate right up there with all Muslims are terrorists?

But to answer your question, what makes such statements "seem" true is sensationalism by the blood thirsty news media. It's also what helps other like minded maniacs see something like a school shooting as a solution.

Dave

He's making a list, and checking it twice...