Guns statistics twisted
Dr Erik Steele’s March 30 column on firearms protection showed a great deal of bias against gun owners.
It has been said statistics can prove anything the user wishes, and this article is a case in point. Dr. Steele cites a study in which firearms misuse appears to outnumber justifiable use by a wide margin, but it conveniently neglects an important fact: In the majority of cases in which a gun is legally used to protect the user, no shots are ever fired. The mere threat of use is enough to send most thugs scampering off to seek an easier victim. This is not just common sense, it is a verifiable fact.
Dr. Steele’s article clearly stated that his numbers were based on actual shootings, which obviously leaves out huge numbers of justifiable gun uses where no shots were needed. He is using a specific section of the data to support his philosophical point of view while ignoring anything that doesn’t support it.
Furthermore, the recent attack in St. Johnsbury, Vt., and last year’s attack in Eastbrook show why it is important to be vigilant. Two similar stories, two very different outcomes. The armed homeowner in Eastbrook survived. Sadly, the teacher in Vermont did not.
If folks like Dr. Steele prefer to remain unarmed, that is certainly their choice. As for me and my family, we are quite prepared to meet these thugs head-on. I hope and pray we never need to.
Charles Koch
Milford
Ricochet argument
I’m glad that despite her intent, BDN columnist Amy Fried was able to so clearly make the case against Obama’s health plan. First she argues companies or organizations being able to decide what is covered is analogous to them telling employees how to spend their salary. She writes, “If employers have this right, your boss’s religious principles should be able to dictate how you spend your salary, restricting what food you buy and movies you watch.”
But to take this argument one step back, she is approving of the federal government doing this very thing to employers. The federal government is dictating to business owners how they spend their money on health care. The hypocrisy in her argument is blatant.
Furthermore if, as she argues, there is a financial benefit to requiring contraception coverage, what better reason is there for employers to prohibit their employees from spending their money in certain ways? Imagine if they could prevent them just from buying tobacco and alcohol. The cost in health care, lost wages and lost productivity due to these two items alone is far greater to everyone involved than pregnancy or abortion.
It’s a strawman argument to suggest opponents of this provision are opposed to worker freedom to obtain birth control and she knows it. What they are opposed to is the mandate that employers pay for it. Opponents believe that employees should be free to spend their salary any way they like, including on contraception and birth control.
Ian Shearer
Millinocket
Don’t crucify them
I read in the BDN that Pope Benedict went to Cuba and said Mass. During the homily he warned against those who would act against the teachings of Jesus and was quoted as saying that such people “close themselves up in their own truth and try to impose it on others.”
He went on to say that such sinners are driven by “irrationality and fanaticism” and that they were “like the blind scribes who, upon seeing Jesus beaten and bloody, cry out furiously, ‘Crucify him.’”
Homosexual people are being treated like Jesus and crucified by the Catholic Church. Use the words of the Pope as inspiration and accept them as a parable to teach the congregation that change is imminent and warranted. Let us pray to the Lord.
Patrick Quinn
Winterport
Fix reporting bill
LD 1633 was proposed to increase the punishment of not reporting a missing child within 24 hours to a class C crime. LD 1633, sponsored by Rep. Kim Olsen, was voted “ought not to pass” on March 14.
Those against LD 1633 had concerns regarding the 5th Amendment, special circumstances that may arise (divorced parents, etc.), and argued that this was “a solution looking for a problem.” I am writing to seek support from fellow Mainers in revising LD 1633.
Rep. Olsen said that the committee is seeking support from Attorney General William Schneider. It is important that residents take this opportunity and share support and concerns by writing to Schneider.
LD 1633 has the potential to positively affect children in Maine because the first 48 hours after a child goes missing are crucial. Statistics show that 74 percent of children abducted by strangers are murdered within the first three hours; it is imperative to act fast. Maine’s youth are the future of our state; LD 1633 vows to advocate for the safety of missing children and the future of Maine. We must do what we can to support the reconstruction of this bill.
Carlie James
Hermon
Pass mine bill
I am a longtime small-business partner in Aroostook County. I interact with a number of people every day. Some are small-business owners, some are working in a stable job and some are desperately looking for work, but every single one of us would see a net-positive from the passage of the bill to streamline the mining permitting process in Maine.
Bald Mountain is a site that has attracted interest all of my working career. This interest has recently increased because of the market conditions for the minerals in the deposit. We’re told that the mining project would put 300 people to work directly and another 600 indirectly, with more than $600 million dollars in employment income over the life of the project. I don’t need to tell you how much $600 million in local employment income would mean to the auto dealers, shop owners, restaurateurs, barbers and hundreds of others who run businesses in northern Maine.
I know this one piece of legislation and one project won’t be the silver bullet that lifts Aroostook County’s economic standing to the same level of southern Maine, but they will deliver a solid number of new, good-paying jobs and a very significant boost to our economy.
If Maine is truly “open for business,” then LD 1853 deserves the support of the Legislature to put people to work in Maine and Aroostook County.
Terry Kiser
Easton
Charles,
It’s never been a question of statistics. It’s always been about the second amendment, and we the citizens will never allow a change to that amendment. Even if we had a liberal president, congress, senate, and supreme court allat the same time Americans would never disarm. Peasants we will never be.
Ian,
Just another move of Obama towards agenda 21.
Patrick,
Praying for what you suggest is blasphamy.
What you call “blasphemy” those of us not deluded by superstitious dogma call “human decency.”
A simple question, but, is there evil in the world?
Ian: the Insurance companies would be required to list contraceptives on THEIR list of mandated coverages.
Agenda 21! What color helmets is the UN using this year as the UN Star Troopers invade out land?
Charles,
I think you will find that when it comes to guns, the opinions are quite different between those who put bullets into things (animals, people) than those whose job it is to take them out.
What about stab wounds and blunt force trauma?
I’ve never heard of a drive-by knifing.
Does riding on a horse count?
Personally, I’d much rather have bullets being pulled from violent thugs instead of innocent victims.
Oh stop it, you. It isn’t about keeping guns out of criminal hands, it’s about keeping guns out of everyone’s hands (except the government). Government hates competition.
Cyanide heap leach mining is a particularly harmful form of metals extraction. The chemicals and heavy metals extracted through the process are difficult to contain in the containment ponds that are often required. The liners that are meant to prevent seepage into ground water rarely work. As a result, this form of mining usually pollutes ground water. Also the mining itself creates real eyesores. Despite the bonds that mining companies are required to pay in other states where this sort of mining has taken place, and despite laws requiring them to clean up their sites, they rarely do. The public usually enjoys the privilege of paying for clean up which is a difficult, lengthy and costly project.
The mining process exposes rocks that react to water and sunlight by creating sulfuric acid which seeps into groundwater. Because ground water is polluted in the process, other people may find
that their own water has been polluted by the mines.
If you would like to find out more about cyanide heap leach mining and the impact it has on water and the communities near the mines , do a search on the Pegasus Mine in Montana; Pegasus and the Fort Belknap Indian Reservation; alternatives would also be Zortman Landuskey and Apollo gold mining.
The citizens of the state of Montana passed an initiative which went into law preventing cyanide leach mining techniques in the state. Maine lawmakers should not allow this type of mining process to take place in the state.
Other links are:
http://serc.carleton.edu/research_education/nativelands/ftbelknap/environmental.html
http://serc.carleton.edu/research_education/nativelands/ftbelknap/policy.html
http://phas-wsd.org/documents/Cyanide%20Leach%20Mining%20PPT.pdf
http://billingsgazette.com/news/state-and-regional/montana/article_481f7a99-969c-5c10-9234-25889d795c33.html
More input from a mining engineer..
http://bangor-launch.newspackstaging.com/2012/04/03/opinion/mining-track-record-brings-worries-for-maine/
Charles: Please provide these overwhelming “verifiable facts.” Oh, I forgot…the gun nuts are into rumor, innuendo, stereotypes, and anecdotes.
Are you saying that the teacher in VT would have been better off if she walked around all day armed? In school maybe? Yeah, nothing can go wrong there. Of course under your line of thinking her killers (in a two on one ambush) wouldn’t have had to strangle her…they just could have shot her in your world. As far as using the Eastbrook incident…Ummm, I’m not sure that one drug dealer shooting and killing a drug user is really the poster child for the America you seem to want. Oh yeah, that’s right…they were at his trailer in Eastbrook in the middle of the night to steal his baseball cards…..
Well in Maine over the past year or so I can think of two home invasions which were prevented because the homeowners were armed. One in Eddington and the other “Downeast”. I am not counting the one in Hermon as there is still a lot we do not know about that one.
There, two “verifiable facts” for yeah.
Every day in America 5 children shoot themselves or their friends using a parents loaded handgun for protection.
Source
http://www.thesurvivorsclub.org/extreme/surviving-accidents/accidental-shooting
Here is an interesting fact from your link:
“The number of accidental shooting deaths in the United States has been slowly declining for many years, although there was a slight jump in the number of deaths in 2008, the last year for which we have statistics.”
I found this information interesting also from another site:
Top 5 Causes of Accidental Death in the United States
5. Choking (Approximately 2,500 deaths per year) – Potential choking hazards include balloons, marshmallows, gooey gel candies, grapes, nuts, chewing gum, carrots, chunks of meat and peanut butter, apples, hard, round candies and small toys kids like to put in their mouths.
4. Fires (2,700 annual deaths) – Deaths from residential fires in the United States dropped to a five-year low in 2009, with 2,480, but a good chunk of them probably could have been avoided. Smoking is the cause behind some 450 of the fire deaths annually, according to the U.S. Fire Administration, while other “careless” causes result in another 400 deaths each year.
3. Falls (25,000 annual deaths) – In fact, falls are the leading cause of injury death for folks age 65 and older
2. Poisoning (39,000 annual deaths) – The number of deaths is up almost 400 percent in the past 20 years. Top culprits are opioid pain medications, such as oxycodone, hydrocodone and methadone, with cocaine and heroin ranked second and third. Alcohol poisoning exists, but its numbers are so comparatively low it barely makes a blip on the National Safety Council’s poisoning death chart.
1. Motor Vehicle Incidents (42,000 annual deaths) – Distracted driving is the No. 1 offender and young adults are the No. 1 offenders, with their fatal crash rate three times higher than any other age group.
“Honorable Mention” (Sarcasm intended)
2. Accidental Shootings (600 annual deaths) – Firearms are the second-leading cause of non-natural deaths for kids
1. Drowning (2,000 annual deaths) – Centers for Disease Control noting that drowning is the leading cause of injury death for children ages 1 to 4.
http://listosaur.com/miscellaneous/top-5-causes-of-accidental-death-in-the-united-states.html
How many kids die from any other conceivable way? Yes, kids dieing from gun negligence is terrible, but so is a kid dying from anything else.
WaituntilIfinishmyraygun: “Please provide these overwhelming “verifiable facts.” Oh, I forgot…the gun nuts are into rumor, innuendo, stereotypes, and anecdotes.”And in reply in him, you presented … two anecdotes. Thus doing exactly what he accused gun nuts of doing. Not much of a counter-argument.
Eddington Maine – “Maine homeowner shoots masked intruder in foot”
http://www.sunjournal.com/news/state/2012/01/08/maine-homeowner-shoots-masked-intruder-foot/1137677
Princeton Maine – “Princeton woman, 77, escorts armed intruder from home at gunpoint”
http://bangor-launch.newspackstaging.com/2009/06/15/news/princeton-woman-77-escorts-armed-intruder-from-home-at-gunpoint/
Here is another example from Pennsylvania -“85-year-old woman forces intruder to call cops – She holds would-be burglar at gunpoint until police arrive at her Pa. home”
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26294338/ns/us_news-weird_news/t/-year-old-woman-forces-intruder-call-cops/#.T3ywj9XwC8A
There are others….
Again, all anecdotes, proving yet again Waituntil’s point about the disingenuous way that gun nuts try to make a case against gun control.
Well Steve first you said it was “rumor, innuendo, stereotypes, and anecdotes” and now you are left with “anecdotes”. It seems that you can not handle facts when they are presented and resort to name calling in the hopes of diminishing the facts.
Nothing disingenuous about the argument. The articles present real people faced with real intruders where they prevented the intruder from carrying out whatever criminal intent they had. If you have difficulty understanding that….well that is not a problem I can help you with.
Just one last question, is a person that fights against the limiting of Freedom of Speech a “Free Speech Nut”?
Cling to your guns all you want, but do you really need to imply that it’s the victims fault(s) when they’re attacked?
Ahh but it IS partially the victim’s fault if they fail to take steps to defend themselves.
I know that is not P.C. but it is a fact none-the-less.
Not really. That’s like saying a woman is at fault if she wear a pink top and gets raped. Or if a homeowner gets robbed for not having alarm systems and booby traps.
It’s not our fault if someone else breaks the law. That’s a ridiculous assertion.
No it is not our fault if someone breaks the law. BUT it is our fault for failing to protect ourselves. Your analogy of the woman with the pink top is disingenuous and a lame attempt at getting support from that quarter. The correct analogy would be the woman who wears a pink top, and walks through a neighborhood where many rapes are known to occur, and she does so alone at night without any form of protection.
Sort of like driving 90 in an old car with bald tires no brakes, and failing to wear a seat belt.
No, not really. How is that a correct analogy? Owning a house and not keeping a gun a loaded gun by your bed is the same as walking through a lions den? Come on.
Analogies are like buttholes… Everybody has one, and some people get upset with how other folks use theirs.
What’s great about this country is that I don’t have to run my life as my neighbors think I should.
I’ve pretty much decided that you and I are darn close to perfect opposites. Good luck with your way.
Good luck with your shooting.
Takes practice, not luck. Go to a shooting range more often.
reread the letter,he never puts blame on the victim.
Gun owners are the brains of this country. Even if the government requires registration of firearms, over half will not follow through with it since most of the guns people own cannot be traced due to the fact it was bought from a friend for cash or in Uncle Henry’s. I would not mind registering the guns I own that can be traced to a sale, but I would never register guns that cannot be traced. That way, when the government someday orders people to turn over their firearms, I have a few aces in the hole. I don’t believe however that the government will attempt that since it would cause quite the civil war, AND the 2nd Amendment protects individual ownership of firearms. I do believe gun owners have nothing to worry about when it comes to firearm ownership. I understand a few gun owners are paranoid about that possibility, but it will never happen.
Remember New Orleans after Katrina.
Patrick Quinn–When was the last time the Catholic Church whipped you, or drove nails into your hands? You don’t need to attack the Catholic Church. Just stick to the positive–it’s a winnable issue on its own merits. No negative attack ads are needed.
http://www.nashvillescene.com/pitw/archives/2012/01/03/after-gay-teens-suicide-christian-right-backs-license-to-bully
And what were you saying?
Don’t act like religion hasn’t played a part in anti-gay bullying and sentiments — that is a ridiculous assertion and you obviously know it is dishonest to claim so.
Very well put. There is far more hostility and negativity coming from the side of christians in this matter.
Terry Kiser
” I know this one piece of legislation and one project won’t be the silver bullet that lifts Aroostook County’s economic standing to the same level of southern Maine,”
You are exactly right, but what this peice of legislation WILL do is expose the entrenched enviromental lobby for what it actually is guilty of;
Waging economic jihad on the rural areas of the state in order to further their agenda of depopulating the UTs and surrounding towns for their preservationist plans.
Yes, that’s what their agenda is… it isn’t safe drinking water and air, it is trying to depopulate large swaths of this country. In fact, they do it because they hate rural living which is why so many of them come to live in states like Maine with their large urban centers.
Charles Koch
The best way to handle Herr Steele is to ignore him. He laps up attention like a dog eating feces. He imagines himself an expert on every subject, but displayes a strong propensity to misquote, embellish, and as in this case use statistics which I can not find elsewhere.
Ian Shearer
“The mandate” contraceptive coverage is neither on employers nor employees, but on insurance carriers. If an insurer offers a health care plan, that plan must include contraceptive coverage. The insurance industry is regulated in many areas by the government.
Patrick Quinn
Help your self.. Do as you wish…. without me.
Carlie James
We have plenty of laws. legislation advanced to address a individual problem is more troublesome to me than no legislation at all. We do not have a plethora of unreported missing children in Maine. So far we have not even proven we have one such case.
Terry Kiser
The mining laws in Maine were enacted for a good reason. Mine owners were irresponsible and left mine sites open, failed to restore property after using it, and polluting air, water and soil.I suggest that before you advocate for changes in current legislation, you check out the second most economically disadvantaged State in the Union, West Virginia where mine operators have blown the tops off most of the mountains, turned lush green valleys into slag heaps, and failed to bring West Virginia’s citizens the positive benefits of wealth and health..
Patrick Gods word is abundantly clear that homosexuality is an abomination. How exactly would you pray? That perhaps God would change His mind? Not going to happen no matter how fervently you pray. Or perhaps you feel you can intimate Him like you try to do to the Christian here.
Isn’t that exactly what you pray for in times of sorrow, that your god will have a change of heart and things will work out for the best? If that can’t happen…if everything is just part of a plan that cannot be altered…then what’s the point of praying at all?
You ask a very profound question and one certainly worth discussing. Unfortunately it is next to impossible on a blog like this. Prayer is nothing more than simply talking to God. It doesn’t have to be any more profound than that. You certainly can not ask God to condone something He disapproves of anymore than you would go to an AA meeting and ask for a drink. The drink might make you temporaily happy but the reality is its the last thing you need. Here’s a portion from my daily devotion that I read this morning: I need to underscore a foundational fact: God’s goal is not to make sure you’re happy. No matter how hard it is for you to believe this, it’s time to do so. Life is not about your being comfortable and happy and successful and pain free. It’s about becoming the man or woman God has called you to be. Unfortunately, we will rarely hear that message proclaimed today. All the more reason for me to say it again: Life is not about you! It’s about God.
How can I say that with assurance? Because of Paul’s response: “Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me. Therefore I am well content with weaknesses, with insults, with distresses, with persecutions, with difficulties, for Christ’s sake; for when I am weak, then I am strong” (vv. 9–10). That’s it! He got it too. And he went with it for the rest of his days.
When you and I boast of our strengths, we get the credit, and we keep going under our own head of steam. But when we boast in what He is doing in the midst of our brokenness, inability, and inadequacy, Christ comes to the front. His strength comes to our rescue. He is honored…..
Mythology is NOT civil law.
Keep it up though… it makes me very happy.
One point that often comes up in these discussions but never seems to get answered is the disregard for certain Old Testiment laws. Christians get accused of cherry-picking what they want to observe and ignore. If certain laws are being ignored (you know the ones that always get brought up…eating shellfish, etc), aren’t christians treating them as no longer relevant, suggesting a “divine” change of heart?
Actually I have addressed that several times. It gets thrown out there so often in ignorance I no longer bother unless I feel the person sincerely wants to know. God gave Israel over 600 laws to live by, civil laws, eating of shellfish being one of them. The New Covenant ushered in by Jesus Christ voided the law as Jesus became the ultimate sacrifice for our sins. We as Jew or gentile are no longer required to live under the laws of the old testament. We now live under Gods grace. This in no way does away with Gods moral laws, those are unc hanging. Even though we are now under God’s grace it is not a license to live as we please with no regard to sin in our lives.
But nonetheless, previous laws were voided. You can see how we non-believers could regard that as an inconsistency. Perfection not so perfect. Which makes it difficult to accept the so-called laws regarding homosexuality.
But now you know. The choice now becomes yours, to accept Jesus Christ’s gift of salvation or reject it and spend eternity apart from God. That is by far the worst thing that could ever happen to someone. Leading a sinful lifestyle will ultimately get you there. “the wages of sin is death”. There is hope and forgiveness in the cross of Jesus Christ, no matter what you have done.
Being who you were born — who God created you to be — is not a choice. Being gay is not a choice. I’m straight, by the way, and that wasn’t a choice, either. And I disagree profoundly with what I regard as your misuse of Scripture.
You should know about misusing Scripture. You do it all the time. Picking and choosing while neglecting the rest is complete and total misuse and abuse of Scripture.
Then Christians should stop using the old testament laws to argue their points, if they are voided by the New Covenant. Can’t have it both ways.
What God considers immoral is still just as valid today. Not to be confused with the civil laws that applied to Israel. It is not the Christians that you see doing this, in fact it’s just the opposite. Homosexuality is clearly condemned in the New Testament.
Not as clear as you think.
First, Jesus himself says nothing in condemnation. He’s my teacher, guide, and companion. He tells us “Judge not, so that you will not be judged” (Matt. 7:1) and “He that is without sin, let him cast the first stone” (John 8:7) and “First take the log out of your own eye” (Luke 6:42).
And Paul? In Romans 1:26-27, he writes about men and women who “exchanged normal intercourse for one not normal.” First of all, this one verse is the only criticism of women having same-sex relations in the entire Bible, making it just about the smallest issue in the Bible.
Second, remember here the context — Paul’s main focus in this passage is not sex. When we read the whole passage, and not just the verse or two the fundamentalists quote out of context, it is clear that Paul is stating that all people stand on the same footing with God, and that all have fallen short. So you and I are on the same footing with God as the men and women you are judging.
Paul’s real concern in this passage is the fallen nature of all humans. Yet he does not use the word “sin” here. He waits until Romans 2:12, “All who have sinned without the law will also perish without the law, and all who have sinned under the la will be judged by the law.” Again, he is saying we are all on equal footing with God.
In 1 Corinthians 6:9 and 1 Timothy 1:10 Paul used the Greek words malakoi (“soft”) and arsenokoitai (“male-bed”). No one knows exactly what these words meant in the context of these two passages, either to Paul or to the people to whom he wrote. In other New Testament passages, malakoi (“soft”) refers to people who lacked self-discipline, and does not refer to sexuality. Arsenokoitai, “male-bed,” may refer to male prostitution or to the sexual exploitation of male minors. It seems clear that Paul is not condemning loving, mutual, adult, same-sex relationships in these passages.
Again, to me the first authority is Jesus himself. the Bible in general, and Jesus in particular, shows concern for people who were regarded as outcasts or were perceived to be different — the poor, women, lepers, Samaritans, etc. Jesus did not spend his ministry condemning sexual practices — but he did criticize self-righteous religious people who judged and condemned others.
I agree with you that for us as Christians, the Levitical laws are no longer in effect. They have been replaced by the law of love (Romans 10:4 “Christ is the end of the law” and 13:8-10 “love is the fulfilling of the law”; also Galatians 3:23-26 “before faith came we were confined under the law” and 5:14 “For the whole law is fulfilled in a word, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.'”).
But you are differentiating between “abominations” when Leviticus does not: Both eating shellfish and two men having sex are abominations according to Leviticus. You used the term “abomination” for two men having sex — so you are now saying that one abomination is okay, and another abomination is not?
And you are differentiating between the 600 commandments in a way that Paul does not. That is a very convenient theology, and NOT one that sounds very biblical to me.
Where did God say that homosexuality is an abomination? Oh, in that book of bronze age mythology that also says that eating lobster and bacon is an abomination? Yeah ….
Actually, modern scholars feel the translation was wrong in the first place, and that it has nothing to do with homosexuality. Of course, modern fundies freak out with their insane belief that the translations of the words of men are somehow the result of their invisible sky daddy.
Eating lobster (or any kind of shellfish) is an abomination according to Leviticus 11:12 (King James Version). So being gay is just as evil as eating lobster.
Your mythology is not our civil law. I am happy to see people like you who only use the mythology as the defense of your bigotry. See, it cannot be used as a defense for your views in court. As such, using it insures your ultimate loss on any topic of civil law.
I believe that the practice of homosexual acts is what is called a sin, not being a homosexual, just as having hetrosexual sexual congress outside of marrage is a sin.
Yes, Leviticus 20:13 (King James translation) says that if two men have sexual relations, it is an abomination. So let’s put that in the biblical context.
Leviticus 11:12 says that eating shellfish (that would include Maine lobster, and clam chowder) is an abomination. So two men having sex is as bad a thing as eating a lobster or a bowl of clam chowder!
Leviticus 11 and Deut. 14 tell us that pork/ham/bacon is “unclean” and so eating it is an abomination according to Leviticus 7:21. Have you ever eaten bacon, ham, or pork? Planning on having ham for Easter dinner? Remember, it’s an abomination.
Of course, many would agree with the Bible that eating bat or weasel is an abomination.
“Haughty eyes” (again KJV, “a proud look” in other translations) is an abomination according to Proverbs 6:16-17.
A woman wearing men’s pants is an abomination (Deut. 22:5). Hope you’ve never done that!
The love of money is an abomination, according to Luke 16:15. So being gay is as bad as … being Donald Trump.
By the way, Exodus 35:2 tells us to kill people who work on the Sabbath. Should we start at Wal*Mart on Sunday? Leviticus 20:10 tells us to kill people who commit adultery. Shall we start with Newt Gingrich, or to be bi-partisan, John Edwards?
So, once we put biblical abominations in context, we see that being gay is as bad as eating clam chowder, lobster, pork, ham or bacon, a woman wearing pants, or being Donald Trump!
Ian – good letter. Hypocrisy – yes, it gushes from the left.
Charles Koch – The anti-gun people will do or say anything to make their case. But, legal, trained, and responsible gun owners won’t fall for their lies and deceit. And we won’t let anyone take our right to own firearms away.
Ian Shearer – The contraceptive issue is nothing more than a political move by the left to stir up support for Obama. It’s election season, after all. Anyone with a brain knows that there are no plans to keep women from obtaining contraceptives. But, forcing providers that don’t believe it their use is a government overstepping it’s authority, and we will not stand idly by and let that happen. Next you know, the government will be forcing pro-life groups to fund abortion.
Patrick Quinn – Read the entire Bible. The homosexual lifestyle is a sin that can be turned away from (1 Corinthians 6:9-11). Comparing the treatment of homosexuals, or any other group on this planet, to the treatment of Christ is just wrong. Christ was perfect. We all fall short.
So you’re saying gay people deserve the treatment they recieve? Like being rounded up in the holocaust, subjected to McCarthy era witch hunts, labeled as molestors, denied legal rights, etc.?
Didn’t say that. You need to learn how to read what’s written.
Then clarify. If they choose to be gay, do they or don’t they deserve the treatment they have and continue to recieve?
It isn’t that they deserve the treatment they get, not at all. That’s ridiculous. This is about personal responsibility: I am not any more responsible for your choices than I am for my brother’s choices. It’s not genetic, it’s a choice.
My sister-in-law even has admitted to me that she wouldn’t be gay if she had “trusted men more.” But she was understandably a confused young girl, considering her childhood… Experiences. I really do love my sister-in-law, but she knows she wasn’t born like that.
But in this day and age, everyone wants a reason for their actions, and most of the time they don’t want to be the ones responsible for it. No, we’ll pawn it off on a chance-arrangement of atoms that seems to affect this region-thingy here, and connect it to that neuro-thingy over there, and call it a day! Much easier to believe you’re “born with it” if you have no control over it, allowing you to be comfortable with your actions.
The worst lie you could believe, is the one you tell yourself.
your sister-in-law is not gay, true gays do not choose.
great comment
What’s ironic is that you punctuate your comment implying that gays are just lying to themselves.
What then would you call a person, like yourself, who refuses to believe what science and the vast majority of gay people attests to? You’re the one who seems to be lying to yourself. You seek only information that affirms your believes. That’s pathetic and ridiculous.
And also, if you say someone chooses to be a certain way, yes, you are implying that they deserve the consequences due to their choice.
No response? How interesting.
While I agree with you on responsible firearms ownership; you add “trained”, which while a thing that should be part of responsible ownership, who determines the training needed? In order to cover legal issues of ownership does one have to be a lawyer? to cover first aid a physican? to cover firearms safety a firearms safety instructor?
Just like any government licence it can be, and does, become used tomake it impossible for some people to obtain the licence, fand irearms registration has lead to confication.
The laws passed in the late ’60s, especially the GCA 1968, has denied firearms ownership to a whole strata of citizen, the poor that are the most vunerable to crime.
Maybe the word “familiar” would work better. In order to be familiar, there has to be a bit of training involved. No one should buy a gun, or be allowed to buy a gun, if they know nothing about them. Most sheriff departments, and I believe many other law enforcement groups, provide free or low-cost gun training. A stint in the military also counts as training.
As far as the laws relating to guns, there are over 44,000 gun laws on the books, many of which restrict law-abiding citizens, not criminals. Seriously speaking, criminals couldn’t care less about laws, but, for some reason, lawmakers actually believe that their legislation will curb illegal guns. Legislators that think that way are, in one word, stupid.
If one with no firearms training is not allowed to purchase a firearm, how does one become familliar with it?
While in the USAF I was trained in the use of .38 revolvers, 1911 pistols, and M-16s, but I am unfamilliar with the 9MM pistol or the M-4 that is now in military use.
Somehow I suspect that if I wanted to get a CCL my military training would be counted as the raining required. I would still have to take the “Hunter Safety” classes, even if I had no intention to hunt.
There are some people that have no business owning a firearm……Down right scary…
For my CCL, my military ID was all I had to show to meet the requirements. Of course, I had to be fingerprinted and have a background check, too. But, that’s Florida, not Maine.
And you have the basic knowledge needed to handle just about any legal firearm. What I was mentioning is the every-day Joe that’s never even touched a gun that goes in to buy one for protection purposes, and ends up hurting or killing someone or himself (or herself). One should not drive a car without a driver’s license. One should not build your house without a contractor’s license. Heavy equipment operators should be trained and certified. Etc.
Tell me something EJ Parsons… If it’s truly something you choose, that
you can walk away from, tell us when you decided to say no to your
same-gender attractions.
Tell me something EJ Parsons… If it’s truly something you choose, that
you can walk away from, tell us when you decided to say no to your
same-gender attractions.
Tell me something EJ Parsons… If it’s truly something you choose, that you can walk away from, tell us when you decided to say no to your same-gender attractions.
With the help of God, you can walk away from anything.
That is not an answer to my question…
Tell us when god saved you from your same gender attractions.
Great news, now you may walk away from your ugly prejudices. Happy days ahead !
You didn’t answer the question.
Unless you’ve been attracted to men yourself, you have no idea whether it is possible to change your sexual orientation. So please answer the question.
Yes, read the entire Bible, and notice that while there are more than 31,100 verses, only about six or seven of them are actually about same-sex sexual behavior. And most of them are embedded in a Levitical “Holiness Code” that is otherwise abandoned by Christians.
So, first of all, it’s not among the Bible’s big issues. The Bible says far more in favor of slavery than it says against same-sex practices. And since we know that the Bible is wrong about slavery, we might take that into consideration.
Second, there is only one verse in the entire Bible — out of more than 31,100 — that speaks of women having sexual relations with other women. And that one verse is in the New Testament, so if you are Jewish and lesbian the Bible says nothing at all about that!
Third, Jesus himself says nothing against any sexual practices. I’ll go with what he says.
Fourth, the Bible says nothing against same-sex relationships. In fact, when it comes to David and Jonathan (David’s love for Jonathan was greater than his love for women, according to 2 Samuel 1:26), or Ruth and Naomi, such relationships are praised.
Patrick Quinn, Calie James: Good letters.
Carlie James
Using your logic the law should be changed to require the reporting of any child missing more than 3 hours. But that wouldn’t really help since 74% are already dead. We should make it ONE HOUR. I bet the police would just love all the calls and wasted time this would generate.
This was a comment in response to:
somainecoast 52 minutes ago in reply to cp444
One point that often comes up in these discussions but never seems to get answered is the disregard for certain Old Testiment laws. Christians get accused of cherry-picking what they want to observe and ignore. If certain laws are being ignored (you know the ones that always get brought up…eating shellfish, etc), aren’t christians treating them as no longer relevant, suggesting a “divine” change of heart?
Response:
Christ brought us a New Covenant. He repeated 9 of the 10 commandments, leaving out the one about keeping the Sabbath holy (maybe because He knew that we should worship every day). Christ also condemned the Pharisees and Scribes for their overboard writing and mis-translation of unnecessary laws and restrictions.
One interpretation, but many conservative Christians continue to selectively pronounce obsolete Old Testament “regs” as still in force, not acknowledging that they were written for another time, another, society, culture, etc.
That’s their problem. I prefer to use the Old Testament as primarily historical.
On the other hand, and I think you’ll agree, it seems that most of the references to the Old Testament come from the non-Christians in these threads.
The Old Testament/Hebrew Bible refernces on this page are in response to cp444 who used the term “abomination” in reference to same-sex sexual relations, a clear reference to the use of that term in the book of Leviticus. It is legitimate to respond to that remark, whether one is a Christian or not.
EJ… how do you feel then about the fact that our constitution directly violates one of the 10 commandments? In America, you can have whatever god you wish, and it’s just as protected as if it were Jehovah.
Just curious.
The one and only power that we, as humans, have is the power to choose. And the Constitution allows that choice. I don’t see that as a direct violation of the Ten Commandments. In fact, I’ve been told my many here that there is no mention of God in the Constitution, so an argument using the Constitution concerning God is and empty argument.
And the circle continues.
Actually, EJ, I agree with you. The Constitution does not mention God (you don’t have to be told that, as you can read it yourself) and you are correct that both God and the Constitution give us free will as far as religion is concerned. Every now and then I agree with something you say!
Maybe he left the one about the Sabbath out because he broke the Sabbath laws, evidence that he is not a biblical literalist.
Charles Koch – You gave one example of armed resistance with no shots fired. Is that it?
Terry Kiser said: “If Maine is truly “open for business,” then LD 1853 deserves the support of the Legislature to put people to work in Maine and Aroostook County.”
And putting even MORE people to work in later years cleaning up a superfund site. And in between, cleaning up the fish kills. This is a real jobs creator.
In the rush to take the ACA to task for the mandate most people have forgotten that the ACA bill established a committee to determine the most cost effective medications and practices and include them in the ACA coverage. Childhood immunization and women’s prescription contraceptives were two of the most cost effective items and would reduce overall medical costs especially among poor children and women. It seems hypocritical that churches, dedicated to standing up and protecting the poorest and least powerful in society are standing up for their dogma instead of their moral duty.
Dominum vobiscum, peace be with you.
If you could please show me in the New Testament, the Good News Bible, that is Matthew, Mark, Luke or John where Jesus acts intolerant or maybe bias against people who are homosexual; please prove the jurisdiction of your “irrationality and fanaticism”. I can’t seem to find Jesus acting in a bigoted way. Are there any Bishops out there?
If there was any type of gun control what do you suppose would have happened to this young woman and her baby?
http://abcnews.go.com/US/okla-woman-shoots-kills-intruder911-operators-shoot/story?id=15285605#.T3zPr79kuIg