The Bucknuts Hot Spot

To be fair, religion has, at different times, both advanced and hindered human-kind. It's not all bad and there is a lot of religion in this country that is helping it. For example, President Obama. He says he is a religious man and seems to live by it.

No progressives are begrudging the rich for all their money, we say more power to them. What we don't like is when they game the system by putting all their money made here in the U.S. in phony businesses in the Caymans that amount to no more than a post office box. Then they take their tax-free money and buy elections and members of congress to rig the system so they can make even more money and ship money and jobs overseas. They pour billions of dollars into republican pockets to induce them to lie to idiots like you who believe everything they say. And all it takes is around 50% believing their crap to plunge this country into another eight years like we had from 2001 to 2009. Just when we're almost out of the huge hole Bush put us in.

Lose your job and see who comes to your rescue. If you think Republicans give a rat's ass about you after they have your vote there's very little hope for you.

Rich people do not pay their fair share. When a guy like Romney has millions sitting in the Caymans and Switzerland that money draws interest. The interest is the money we are talking about, not the deposits. The interest is his source of income - tax free. Then even the capital gains income he does declare is taxed at a lower rate than even someone with a $25,000 income. I have to pay taxes on the money I withdraw from my 403B account, why should some get away with paying nothing?
In my opinion, we all should go back to the tax rates under Clinton. When Bush bought the 2000 election by giving the greatest surplus in history away he began a death-spiral which is just now being slowed down. You can pretend Obama is the cause of the troubles we are in now, but that is all you can say. I can't imagine any of you would give an iota of credit to Obama for stopping and reversing the recession - that would help him get re-elected. To elect one of the GOP clowns now running would be to restart the downward spiral. Then it would be quite possible the world as we know it would come to an end.

What's amazing is that Republican leaders have gotten away with attracting ignorant members by making the conversation about race, guns, gays, religion, abortion, birth control, anti-taxes, anti-union, drilling, etc. - none of which will produce jobs. You can't see they are hiding behind all these fringe issues and ignoring the real issues because they know they have no solutions for job creation and they vote no on everything that will create jobs just to defeat a president. And you have bought into it hook, line, and sinker. The Republican base are nothing more than brain-washed zombies. And their leaders in Washington are being lead around on leashes by billionaires - who will be expecting a return on their investments. You have heard of Haliburton, haven't you?

BTW, next time you drive on a highway or bridge that needs repair think about the GOP congressmen who keep screaming no to anything and everything proposed to create jobs. It's pathetic.

And please name one piece of jobs legislation presented by Republicans besides lowering taxes on the "Job Creators." You can't. But you sure as hell can cite Limbaugh and Hannity bigotry when it comes to blacks, Hispanics, gays, or abortion. The "Jobs Creators" had 8 years under Bush to create jobs. All we saw was job loss.

The founding fathers were not all that religious. Many of them were fairly pragmatic in their beliefs.

"I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just." Thomas Jefferson

Yeah really.. I was getting use to that global warming last week..This weekend we must be cooling.. And for you McCauge all I can say is.. Keystone pipeline !!!! Thousands of jobs created and lowering gas prices but Obama has made it political and he wants those enviromentalist votes come Nov. dont he :) By the way most if not all our founding fathers were religious look it up dingle berry.. Even Thomas Jefferson.. God Bless you

Everybody said they were "religious" in the 18th Century, because it was not smart to be otherwise. Christians weren't as tolerant then as you guys are today... They hunted people down because their neighbors said they were witches... stuff like that doesn't happen today... since you guys are so mild-mannered and caring.....

Yours truly,
Dingle Berry

Really? An atheiestisc lib telling us that Obummer is leading from the Bible??

Really, you are numbnutted.

My not being convinced the Bible is absolute doesn't mean I haven't read it or understand it. I've got a pretty good understanding of scripture and I think the you's of the world need some help.

What did you all learn in grade school in Ohio? (or did you learn it?) Did not a glacier once cover most of that region? Then, due to global warming and climate change the glacier melted and whoa, Ohio was formed, the Ohio River, and the Great Lakes. Oh, and do not forget the Appalachian Mountains. How long ago did that occur? I was at the Climate Change confernce in Durban, South Africa. There was some really neat stuff there for sure, but I can not say I agree with those who continue to push the cause for Climate Change as man-made. The discussions were about how much money everyone was going to get and who would give money. Now you get taxed for carbon admissions (especially in Africa) and where does that money go? Anyone know? Some of you argue about the rich and thier abuses, but there are some people getting rich off of climate change. Here is the real problem: Mix politics with anything and you have a potential problem. The problem here is mixing politics with Science. It is hard for us to do good science with polticians looking over our backs. The data is still not conclusive so the money being gained from the governments will be misused because there is not agreement on the cause and/or any solutions. Skepticism is a part of doing good science, so please do not relegate skeptics to being political (though that can happen for either side) or nutcases (there may be some on either side) for that only allows for bad science to prevail. You all in the US have observed a mild winter but parts of Europe were not so lucky.

OK I can not take this blog too much more. Is there any education in the U.S.? There are so many on here who are so caught up in politics they can not even talk about science straighforward. BucksinWA you have me wondering. You say the US is behind in math and science, I may suggest you add history to that list. I took your challenge to see if there is truth in your statements. One being: "The religious right doesn't acknowledge the Scientific Revolution from the 1600's yet." The truth is that religious institutions and religious people, that includes Christianity and Evangelicals, has long been in the lead and involved in scientific research. If you care to find out the truth please read here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Christian_thinkers_in_science

It took me all of 5 minutes to find this link (even on the slow internet in Africa) if you care to use the modern technology to your advantage. I simply ask you to scroll down the list of scientists and see their involvement with science "from the 1600's." This is certianly not an exhaustive list. You will find older names like Isaac Newton (I assume you would know this one) or current one like John T. Houghton (serves on the IPCC UN panel for Climate Change working as "Christians in Science"). I do not want to offend anyone but I am concerned about what people say to make politcal points minus what is really the truth, especially as it relates to facts, or to science itself.

I would also take issue with any science being valid that has liberals (all on the left I assume) all on one side and conservatives (all on the right I assume) all on the other side based on your statement: "The right doesn't oppose the concept of climate change on a scientific basis." Just what does left and right have to do with scientific research? You have just moved your topic of climate change into the realm of politics.

Christians and evangelicals have never been in the lead in scientific research. Throughout history religious leaders have heavily influenced both monarchies and dictatorships in stifling any and all progressive innovation or invention. Anyone with a new idea, movement, or discovery was branded by the clergy and power brokers as being a witch or a heretic, etc. Historically, religious leaders have been responsible for imprisonings, stonings, hangings, beheadings, burnings, banishings, witch hunts, murderous wars and crusades, massive book burnings, and defaming of anyone who threatened their grip on power. That is what religions were created for, to scare and control the masses. It has always been thus. All one need do is look at repressive countries around the world today to see who is leading them, and are reluctant to give up power.
It is my opinion and mine alone that repressive governments catering to religious leaders have held the world back at least 200 years. Think of all the great scientists and innovators who were persecuted and rebuked to the point that some of their ideas were not even accepted until after they were dead. Further, imagine how many were killed, imprisoned, or banished for life before their ideas were ever known to the public. It is logical to assume that many brilliant ideas were never allowed to be presented, perhaps the greatest discovery in all of history. But we will never know. Had all those ideas and innovations been accepted at their inception, scientific discovery would have flourished and been accelerated exponentially. Succeeding discoveries would have occurred earlier, thus increasing the speed of mankind's development. It is quite possible there would never have been a Dark Ages due to better health information. Such extended times during which civilization tended to regress would not have happened and science and discovery would have moved along at an even more rapid pace while spurring even greater innovation. Thus, brilliant scientists like Galileo and Newton would have had even more known information upon which to build their ideas. Today we could possibly be experiencing routine space travel throughout the Solar System and beyond or, having cured all known diseases, be harvesting the ocean floor in vast colonies. Your iPhone would be a relic.
You can scoff at this theory, but take a look at who is keeping an open mind to new and more advanced ideas and theories and who it is that is continually trying to repress them. It is not progressives who are holding up progress. That only leaves conservatives. If all we had throughout history were conservative governments we would still be driving the horse and buggy.

"The human mind treats a new idea the way the body treats a strange protein; it rejects it." Biologist P.B. Medawar

By the way, most great scientists were probably religious. However, I doubt few if any of them would come down on the side of creationism. But many of them would have had second thoughts as the guillotine was falling.

McCague said----Everybody said they were "religious" in the 18th Century, because it was not smart to be otherwise. Christians weren't as tolerant then as you guys are today... They hunted people down because their neighbors said they were witches... stuff like that doesn't happen today... since you guys are so mild-mannered and caring.....

Non-Christians (muslims) are hunting and killing people today because they are Christians. "Stuff like that doesn't happen today"?? Are you serious? What narrow minded, closed enviroment do you come from?

Apparently you believe Hitler and the Soviets were progressive and thus allowed personal freedoms. My argument is that throughout history conservative governments and religions have held us back. It is also logical to assume that many repressive governments were not religious. It could also be argued that despotic people like Hiitler had an axe to grind with what they perceived as repressive religions - whether true or not - and they used it in their arguments. Progressives are open to change and "progress." Conservatives do not like change to occur so rapidly, they want to take a measured and "conservative" approach. It is a matter of how each of us sees life. The cumulative effects of conservative policy are that they stifle independent thinking and innovation.
This my opinion only.