The ITT List
Monday Nov 29, 2004 9:07 pm
Moral Values Debate on ‘Meet the Press’
Jerry Falwell, Al Sharpton, the president of the Southern Baptist Convention and Jim Wallis all debated moral values on Meet the Press this weekend.
A few primo quotes from Jerry Falwell courtesy of Signal vs. Noise:
"I wouldn't vote for my mother if she were pro-choice."
"I'm just trying -- I'm trying to do what Martin Luther King did."
"Give the little babies the right to vote." [on abortion]
The Southern Baptist guy went on to say this:
"We're not against women working outside the home unless the husband believes that it's not the right choice."
Thank god for Jim Wallis. He tried to rise above the typical abortion debate hyperbole:
"Pro-life and pro-choice people could unite together around working on teenage pregnancy, adoption reform, supporting low-income women.?? When you support them economically, the abortion rate falls.?? The abortion rate is way too high in America."
The moral values debate frequently degenerates into either abortion or gay marriage. And on abortion it's the baby killers vs. the women haters. It's refreshing to hear someone approach the issue with rhetoric that isn't just appealing to the extremes. Rev. Wallis's quote appeals to far more people looking for genuine moral leadership instead of the typical hyperbole.
A few primo quotes from Jerry Falwell courtesy of Signal vs. Noise:
"I wouldn't vote for my mother if she were pro-choice."
"I'm just trying -- I'm trying to do what Martin Luther King did."
"Give the little babies the right to vote." [on abortion]
The Southern Baptist guy went on to say this:
"We're not against women working outside the home unless the husband believes that it's not the right choice."
Thank god for Jim Wallis. He tried to rise above the typical abortion debate hyperbole:
"Pro-life and pro-choice people could unite together around working on teenage pregnancy, adoption reform, supporting low-income women.?? When you support them economically, the abortion rate falls.?? The abortion rate is way too high in America."
The moral values debate frequently degenerates into either abortion or gay marriage. And on abortion it's the baby killers vs. the women haters. It's refreshing to hear someone approach the issue with rhetoric that isn't just appealing to the extremes. Rev. Wallis's quote appeals to far more people looking for genuine moral leadership instead of the typical hyperbole.
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The US is so backwards socially, it’s incredible. We tend to forget it because they are so advanced technologically. Heh.
Yeah, the US is the worst country, except for all the rest. Consider yourself lucky if you are fortunate enough to live here. If not, you really should plan a visit. It is a warm and friendly place with much natural glory.
Note to Mikhail - the reason the US is so advanced technically is that its population is very VERY intelligent, especially when compared to the rest of the world. This is due to a number of factors: our native curiosity, a political/economic system that encourages innovation, the best university system on the planet, and the fact so many people - especially smart people - want to immigrate here.
Actually, I’m in Canada and am not envious of the US. I’d move to Europe or Scandinavia before the US too.
But I never said that it was a bad place all around. Just in many aspects such as socially.
What the hell was Jerry Falwell doing in a debate on moral values? Sometimes I think he wants the Old Testament to replace the US Constitution. Do any of you really “revere” these so-called “Reverends”? What’s to admire? They have rhetorical gifts, a touch o’ the blarney. They move your emotions with the way they speak. That should make you suspicious, not reverent.
The moral debate is a sham and is really about the big business of religion.
A note about the duh post - Mr. Duh is correct. Americans in general are pretty intelligent. Only problem is their ignorance of world history, politics, other cultures and other viewpoints which their poor education system and the mainstream media doesn’t cover. Having been to universities in the U.S and in Europe I can definitely say that America has nothing over the Europeans when it comes to education. No one envies America or wants to go there except the economically disadvantaged, like the Mexicans, Cubans, and other opressed populations of the planet. Many Europeans just come to America to invest in real estate or buy bargains with the strong Euro.
A new poll showed that nearly one half of the U.S. population believes that human beings did not evolve, but instead were created by God within the last 10,000 years, while only one third believe that the theory of evolution is accurate. [Gallup] Half the people are still living in the Childhood of Man. They sort of have a thing or two in common with Muslim fundamentalists.
I liked Jerry Falwell’s quote: “I wouldn’t vote for my mother if she was pro-choice.”
Which is true. If she was pro-choice, Jerry would never have been born.
Though it is a nice little dream to think about a world in which Jerry Falwell had never been born, I think what we have here is a false choice argument. My Mom is pro-choice and well, apparently I was born. In fact my Mom had 2 children and 0 abortions. My wife is also pro choice. She has had 1 child and 0 abortions.
Let’s not confuse being pro-choice with being pro-abortion.
Mikhail, every nation has its share of puritans and we’ve got ours. Being technologically advanced has more to do with a generally strong work ethic (harkens back to the Puritans) and an inclination to seek solutions to problems and has very little to do with what you regard as being “socially backwards.”
I don’t know why anyone would be surprised about Falwell’s views as he is a conservative. By definition, conservatives cling to the past (conserving values/traditions/habits, both the outdated and timeless). Their world view is tied to the past. They are not forward thinkers (that would be antithetical because you can’t both move forward and reach backwards at the same time) so a concept like evolution or individuality (yes, even for WOMEN!) is simply out of their realm of conception.
The abortion rate for industrialized countries is 25 percent. The abortion rate in this country is 21 percent. So the US already has a lower abortion rate. What we do have is a very high teen-age pregnancy rate.
On another note, the anti-choice fanatics also want to ban contraceptives. So it’s really not about the “unborn” - it’s about rescinding womens rights, which we always knew was the real issue here.
Hey, let’s just ban people from having sex altogether. That sounds like a really good idea.
Who ever said that americans were intelligent? Do you think that’s correct? Have you been to the mall recently?
Personally I think most people, globally, are pretty dull. Let’s all come together - without nationalist banter - and embrace our collective mediocrity!
In closing, I quote George Carlin:
“Think of how stupid the average person is, and then realize that half of them are stupider than that.”
Ha ha ha! I love George Carlin.
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