re: #177 myfriendwatson

Actually, I said the idea of it. And the fact is that they have successfully moved the center of debate to the right.

And I’m also talking about extremists in the Christian community who want the US to be a ‘Christian nation’, complete with ‘Christian’ laws, not unlike ‘Islamic republics’ like Iran.

RE: 178 “I’m sure his parents told him what to do, but it now appears that he’s free to live as he chooses. How awful for him.” Sorry, Slap, but I was in the evangelical movement into my late 20s and a Catholic into my 40s, so my parents didn’t ‘dictate’ my beliefs.

In fact, now no one dictates my beliefs except me. and if that isn’t the case with you, you’re the one I feel sorry for.

BTW, if anyone can show me an example of a benevolent religious state, either now or in the past, I’d be happy to change my opinion. The fact is they all have persecuted and continue to persecute people and groups who don’t agree with them, from the Roman presecution of Christians to the wars between the Catholics and Protestants, from Bloody Mary right through to Khameini. The religion doesn’t really matter, it’s all been the same story.