Texas Governor Greg Abbott, of God’s Own Party, claimed “We need to restore God in our communities. If we do that, we will be able to reduce crime in this region.”
Unlike a lot of other fantasies espoused by the religious Right this one is easily fact checked. Of course, some people prefer faith to facts and when facts contradict their faith—which tends to be the case—they just ignore the facts.
One thing we know is public opinion polls show which states are populated by the most religious people and the least religious people. Gallup surveyed thousands of people…
When the first plane crashed into the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001 it was early morning in New York City, but afternoon in Johannesburg.
That day Sean had gone off to Investec where he worked and I was home, I’d periodically take the short walk to the adjacent property where my business was located and check in on things and then go back to the house to work on various projects.
Sean’s office had television monitors all around the office tuned in to various news channels — keeping up on what was happening was important to the business…
By Dr. William J. Robinson (1867–1936)
In light of the new authoritarian legislation in Texas, offering financial rewards to people for snitching on anyone having an abortion to the Texas theocracy I thought we should read some of what Dr. William Robinson wrote in 1932 regarding government nationalizng the uteruses of all women.
The law against abortion should be repealed, first, because it is a vicious, injurious law; and, second, because it is a futile, unworkable law. It has a good deal in common with our prohibition law. Prohibition has not stopped drinking, but it has increased the price of…
Not long ago I read a discussion of the differences between negative duties and rights, with those of positive duties and rights. A negative right is the right to NOT have something happen to you. So, a right to life, liberty and property means others are not morally permitted to act in a manner that threatens or harms your rights. It prevents them from doing things to you.
Negative rights inflict negative duties, so you are obliged to NOT do something that violates the rights of others. …
Introduction: The article below, by Dr. William J. Robison, though published in 1913, is quite consistent with modern libertarianism and he uses the term libertarian to describe the philosophical conflict between science-based medicine and quackery. He argued quacks pushing fraudulent “medicine” were invoking freedom as a justification for bilking people out of their money, and sometimes their lives. One of the modern versions of this libertarian debate said people are free to act as they wish provided they do not violate the equal rights of others. …
FiveThirtyEight looked at the phenomenon of so-called Generation Z voters who are socially liberal but voting Republican.
They note this generation is “liberal on a number of key social issues.”
In a nutshell they contend “most of them break with the mainstream of the Republican Party on many social and cultural issues, but solidly agree with the GOP’s stances on the economy.” In other words the are “more likely to take what they call ‘libertarian’ approaches to social issues like same-sex marriage.” The reason they stay Republicans is mainly economic issues. …
Why did the German people acquiesce to Nazism? Why did so many of the population willingly turn in Jews or dissidents to the Gestapo or the police?
Most people, who have any knowledge of the topic, assume it was terror—the Nazis intimidated people. But Hitler himself, after 10 years in power, said “One can not rule by force alone.”
In reality the Nazis were often terrified by public opinion. When people expressed outrage at the involuntary euthanasia of those deemed retarded or mentally ill the National Socialist regime backed down. When the White Rose students were caught the Nazis rushed…
Some self-righteous douche got on the subway in New York City proudly flouting mask requirements. It quickly became apparent he didn’t care about anyone’s rights and that his view is “freedom” is something he has but not others and they should pay the price for his stupidity.
Ryan Bartel is 27 but looks much older, while acting significantly younger, more in the range of a petulant 5-year-old. He got right up in the face of an elderly woman who was sitting and wearing a mask. Not wearing a mask on the subway can be fined if caught.
The older woman…
“If life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness are inalienable rights in the individual, and government is based upon that inalienability, then it must follow as a legitimate sequence that the functions of that government are to guard and protect the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, to the end that every person may have the most perfect exercise of them. And the most perfect exercise of such rights is only attained when every individual is not only fully protected in his rights, but also strictly restrained to the exercise of them within his own sphere, and…
Below are two maps; the first shows the US counties with the most evangelical Christians.. The second shows the current death rates from Covid in each. What you see is a large degree of overlap. Deaths are much more common in states where evangelicals are more common.
