2A second amendment gun culture conversation
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By Ryan McMillan

I’ve come to believe that a person who considers homosexual behavior a sin can still support gay rights. Likewise, he can abstain from drugs, while contending for another’s right to use them, and never himself own a firearm, but advocate for those who do.

These can exist without contradiction, although at first glance they may seem not to. However, our personal choices don’t need to align with the personal choices of our neighbors in order for us to value our neighbors’ liberty to choose.

It is our shared American value of liberty that enables our peaceful coexistence with those who think and act differently. We can rejoice that, in contradistinction to many brutal regimes and nations of times past and present, a great number of our countrymen still value liberty, limited government, self-reliance, equal rights under the law, and toleration of diverse personal beliefs and habits, save for when those infringe on the rights of others.

One example that illustrates the beauty of our system is the very fact that we have two vociferous sides of a gun rights debate. On the other hand, imagine taking a position on a topic that stood starkly against that of the Soviet regime in the early 20th century. You’d be snatched out of your house, shipped to a forced labor camp, beaten through 16- to 20-hour workdays in subzero temperatures, and possibly left to die — all for your dissenting viewpoint.

Our country has come a long way in the last 200 years, from ending slavery, to drastically reducing poverty, to winning the Cold War, to liberating homosexuals. Unlike Vladimir Lenin, America’s founders realized that opposition was good, and sanctioned a multiparty system within which ideological positions could find homes and be regularly pitted against each other in debate.

One noteworthy example of such debate occurred in 2016, when the now-famous YouTube journalist David Rubin, a professed liberal, had an “ah-ha” moment while contending on his show with conservative African-American Larry Elder. The topic was systemic racism in America and Dave found that he couldn’t defend his claims about it when Larry challenged him.

We tend to get caught up in our own ideological groups and refuse to engage with people we disagree with. Why? Well, because it’s hard.

In Dave’s own words: “Larry proceeded to beat me senseless with facts.” This single discussion with Larry changed what Dave believed about the subject and, afterward, Dave began approaching cultural issues in a different way.

Perhaps counterintuitively, the experience put Dave’s brilliance on display by way of the humility and integrity he demonstrated in publicly admitting defeat. Moreover, Dave continues to cite this clash with Larry as his point of awakening from ideological slumber. And while he still identifies as a classical liberal, Dave is loved by conservatives for his willingness to listen, understand, and sometimes even agree. In this way, he has bridged a gap between reasonable liberals and conservatives.

Go figure: a gay, liberal journalist from New York City is now a confidant of the right. That’s progress.

When asked what will bring us together as a nation, Tim Pool responded, “integration.” This sounds a little simple on its face, but it’s far from it once you understand what Tim has been through to arrive at his conclusion. Through his experiences covering some of the most controversial and even dangerous cultural events, Tim has come to realize that our beliefs actually align much more with those of others than we may think.

We tend to get caught up in our own ideological groups and refuse to engage with people we disagree with. Why? Well, because it’s hard. It’s hard work to listen to someone who has a different view than we do, and admitting we might be wrong can be painful and emotionally draining — especially if we’ve held to certain views for decades. But it pays to remember that the simple act of listening to people who differ from us can change the world.

Imagine, for a moment, any American subculture responding to its opposition with listening, instead of retaliation. Can we challenge ourselves to get outside of our comfort zones and talk to the people with whom we most emphatically disagree? Can we talk with them about why they believe guns should be banned, and about other beliefs they hold that fly in the face of our own? And if we first listen, how might our adversaries respond? Is it possible they’ll listen in return?

The recent riots have caused a lot of tension and turmoil in our country, but they’ve also created an opportunity for 2A supporters, seeing that most adults have by now given at least some thought to how they would protect themselves and their families against an angry and violent antifa-led mob.

Antifa, an organization that believes it is justified in using violence against its political enemies to accomplish its ideological goals, has openly called for violence against American civilians during the proceedings of the past six weeks. While the increase in gun sales stemming from coronavirus hoarding was largely a consumer overreaction, it’s hard to say the increase stemming from antifa threatening suburban America is anything but illegitimate. And it’s also a great segue into conversations with our neighbors about guns.

Some people believe they know more than they really do. They’re afraid to be wrong, and they lack the self-esteem and confidence to seek out other points of view.

When it comes to examples of crossing an ideological aisle for the good of others, Daryl Davis’s story probably takes the cake. A Black man, Davis infiltrated the KKK and convinced 200 Klansmen to leave the Klan.

To be sure, the Klan was among the last organizations Davis would have wanted to associate with, but he put his hatred for it aside in order to focus on the individuals within it. And what he found was that most of the Klansmen just needed integration with those they’d sworn to hate, along with some mentorship.

It isn’t just that some people are evil. It’s more complicated than that. Some people believe they know more than they really do. They’re afraid to be wrong, and they lack the self-esteem and confidence to seek out other points of view.

They get indoctrinated into a cultural system that makes them feel included and educated, but without truly understanding the injustices that system may be perpetrating against others. Oftentimes, their system teaches that people or groups who don’t agree with them need to be destroyed.

But the good news is that there is hope, at least for some of them. Hatred is not an incurable disease; it’s simply a byproduct of insecurity and ignorance.

Violence escalates violence. However, it’s easy enough to defend against physical violence when you’re well-armed and well-trained. The harder thing is to defend against the “violence” of opposing ideas, and yet the marketplace of ideas is where the true battles are fought and won.

As Second Amendment supporters, we need to be armed with guns to protect ourselves from criminals and government tyranny. But even more so, we need to arm ourselves with emotional intelligence and courage to fight the ideological war, which we’ll have to win one difficult conversation at a time.

 

Ryan McMillan is the owner and CEO of Grayboe and Reactor

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161 COMMENTS

  1. Freedom is not just for straight, gun owning republicans. It’s for everybody. Which is why the BOR is about INDIVIDUAL and not group rights. This is a gun site. So we focus on guns here. But freedom covers a lot more.

    If one persons rights are violated that makes all the laws violating that one persons rights null and void. And it’s not just gun rights. Adam and Steve should have the right to get married. Or Adam, Steve and Eve.

    In my personal case I live in an area of CA where I cannot open or concealed carry, legally. Every pol and law enforcement officer involved in this violation of my civil and human rights should face punishment for this transgression.

    In an ideal world. And no, Chris T, if Adam and Steve do not support my right to own a gun does not make their rights null and void, either. We all have these rights.

    • I assume you are referring to me.

      Adam and Steve are standing on the necks of law abiding potential gun owners. I know it’s not P/C to say that. And it’s not P/C to say it’s gay lawmakers who are writing anti-civil rights legislation. And voting to take away the civil rights of american citizens.

      You’re only allow to stay white christian republicans who have sex in the missionary position, with the lights turned out, are the ones causing all the problems.
      But its straight people who are passing constitutional carry.

      btw
      It was the Log Cabin republicans who were the first white people I heard say. “black people should have guns to protect themselves” And it was the Log Cabin republicans who had rocks and glass bottle thrown at them in pride parades.

      And it was the pot legalization crowd who said, “if we can just make pot legal. There will be no reason for black pot dealers to have guns”.

      It would be nice if the sexual liberated would not only stay out of everyone else bedroom. And they should stay out of the rest of the rooms in your home as well. And the sexually liberated should stay out of the classroom as well.

      If you can’t bring yourself to hold a person accountable regardless of their sexual orientation, their skin color, where they came from. Their political affiliation.
      Then you are part of the problem.

        • The stake in the heart for gun control is the fact that gun control is rooted in racism and genocide. Therefore gun control is a racist and nazi based agenda and has no place in America.

        • correction.
          It would be nice if the sexual liberated would stay out of everyone else bedroom.
          Also the, self described, sexual liberated, are socialist progressive in their political orientation.
          And yes there are sexually liberated people who really to do support Liberty. It’s just that they shut up about what they do in their own bedroom. Read “Liberal Fascism”. Hitler was a socialist progressive as well. And he was a vegetarian.

          Like the nazi vegetarians of today.

    • Would Adam, Steve and Eve support Jeff having Ruth, Sally, Mary, June, Evelyn, Lauren, Tina, Tiffany, Margot, Jenniffer, Marilyn, and Joan?
      Have they passed any laws making polygamy legal in california yet?

      • yes, i think so. and here’s why:
        eve is a wallflower, objectionless. ruth is a heavy hipted gal, fiercely competitive softball player who loves her serb boys. sally thinks aids occurs when sperm meets feces, but she’s as nice and loyal as the day is long. mary needs some action, real estate is not fulfilling enough, not many women as consevative as she. june has a wandering eye, likes a strong martini and men named doug. evelyn is a modified dog. lauren’s fun girl days are behind her, time to let herself go while redecorating the baby’s room and marinating some flank steak. tina used to be known as rick and is surrounded by deadnaming and pronoun gaffes. tiffany waved her attributes around until the owners son was hooked, a solid gold dig. margot ruins weddings with her adderol adiction and pseudo tourettes. jenniffer doesn’t spell her name correctly, wants one more cigarette. marilyn loves firemen and motorcycles. and when big joan sets up, her hands are too small.
        all told, a likely group of recipients.

    • They can get married civilly. There should be no laws regarding marriage at all. Civilly it is a contract. Contract among yourselves as you see fit.

      But they have no right to force a church to host their ceremony, force a minister to perform it, force a baker to bake for it, or force any private institution to recognize it once performed.

      I guess you guys in CA need a big OC Pride parade every year in every major CA city until you get your rights restored.

      • I have always believed that people who support gay marriage are hypocrite pigs. Because they never have supported polygamy. And it’s still illegal in blue states. They’re the same ones who support the Welfare Industrial Complex.

        Replacing father with a government check. And replacing his guns with the guns of a big city police department. They like government support for single mothers with 5 kids from 5 different men. The three L’s like being in other people’s bedrooms.

    • I don’t care if you are gay or use drugs that’s your damned business. You can be any from any background or ethnic group and you can still be an American. The only thing I don’t like are communists. Funny thing is, 99% of the people in Russia, China and North Korea feel the same way. Lets not join that group.

  2. Another unicorn worship piece. We are well beyond the quaint notion that everyone believes people who hold differing views are gracious people. The type of contradiction discussed here was predicated on a rarity – two honest about themselves individuals comparing ideas, meditating on the engagement, and evaluating their own biases.

    Today, anyone opposing the positions of another is reprehensible, bigoted, of low character, and best to be eliminated for holding unrighteous principles. The two major factions cannot co-exist because their beliefs require the extinction of the other.

    While generally termed to be “politics”, we are engaged in a struggle of moralities, which is unquestionably superior, and which deserves only derision. Which morality will prevail, and which will be annihilated.

        • “Yes! Who gives a rat’s ass about “sin”?”

          Without a universally accepted and honored set of characteristics that identify one as completely virtuous, “sin” is merely an opinion established and enforced by “the majority”. Change the majority, and opinions of “sin” change. The “natural order” is whatever the powerful and forceful say it is; the privilege of the victors.

    • No, only leftists want to eliminate their adversaries. The rest of us want to be left alone to live our lives without unconstitutional restrictions. Me, personally, I also add under God. Now, when leftists think they can come to eliminate me (or more likely, send someone else to do their dirty work because they’re cowards) then they’ll reap the whirlwind. Right now people are being polite and tolerating the bs that’s going on. That time will end and the leftists will be put in their place. Have a nice day! 😉 Don’t confuse our politeness for weakness.

      • “Political tags – such as royalist, communist, democrat, populist, fascist, liberal, conservative and so forth – are never basic criteria. The human race divides politically into those who want people controlled and those who have no such desire. The former are idealists acting from highest motives for the greatest good of the greatest number. The latter are surly curmudgeons, suspicious and lacking in altruism. But they are more comfortable neighbors than the other sort.” – Robert A. Heinlein, The Notebooks of Lazarus Long

        • “Of all tyrannies, a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victim may be the most oppressive. It may be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron’s cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated, but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end for they do so with the approval of their own conscience.”

          ~ C. S. Lewis

        • “Of all tyrannies, a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victim may be the most oppressive. It may be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron’s cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated, but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end for they do so with the approval of their own conscience.”

          ~ C. S. Lewis”

          Oh, do come along LOD. Appealing to the wisdom of the ancients is so yesteryear, and over. It’s a new day, a bright new future, a brave new world, a chance to escape the cocoon and chains of OFWGs.

          Wisdom is a trap; it requires you to have the mental skill to think.

      • “That time will end and the leftists will be put in their place. ”

        “They” have no shame. You can only put someone in their place if they accept you are correct (the power, the authority). The whole attempted coup against the existing system proves “they” will not accept being put in their place. “They” have not accepted their place anywhere in the world. The culture has changed from accepting a societal norm, to demanding no restraint on the most base of instincts.

        • There are enough Americans who won’t tolerate their country going to the communist tyrants. Americans are born free and many are not sheep who will easily give up that freedom. Paul said it in Galatians 5:1a – It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. – Freedom to do the right thing. The U.S.A. is the only place that has ever existed where we have this type of freedom.

        • “There are enough Americans who won’t tolerate their country going to the communist tyrants.”

          Where have they been? Where/what is the bright red line that will result in push back that relegates the leftists to the trash heap of history? Eight years of Obamaism, and four years of attempting to erase an election are not enough? What will it take?

          I am not talking about a narrow victory, a 50% + one, a near even split of the voters. That is not push back; merely stasis. The totalitarianism of Covid-19 response has not caused mass elected official recalls. There have been no flood the streets demonstrations of refusals to genuflect to “science” that has been wrong at every turn (and continues so). The leftists/radicals figured out that local politics is just as important as national elections. What they cannot achieve nationally, they are quite successful at achieving locally.

          What is the event that will wake this supposed sleeping giant of American values? Without a vision, the people perish. I see no “vision” that inspires, energizes the giant.

        • Spoken like a true defeatist. You keep asking questions, but where are you in all of it? You want answers? You might want to get involved locally yourself.

        • “Spoken like a true defeatist. You keep asking questions, but where are you in all of it? You want answers? You might want to get involved locally yourself.”

          People keep talking about how there will be a great awakening, an uprising, among some amorphous group that is being patient, but they are coiling to strike back. Yet….

          No one can identify how many people being patient would actually strike back. No one can identify the tripwire for striking back. No one can explain why, after the last twelve years, even after Waco and Ruby Ridge, this patient cohort has taken no real, effective action. No one can describe the vision for how the response will unfold; how it will be organized. Voting and donating aren’t changing anything of significance (not talking about pro-gun legislation, but rescue the nation legislation).

          Bottom line: the absence of evidence is not evidence. Talking about how the silent majority is just waiting for the trigger moment is simply unhelpful and uninspiring; a waste of time.

        • There will never be a bright red line. The line is a lie.

          It’s a lie we tell ourselves to excuse the fact that we may not actually dare to fight. It’s a lie exploited by our enemies to sow fear, uncertainty, and doubt — and to provide cover for machinations which will always, by design, be murky and encroaching, but definitely not bright and red.

          No bright red line will appear when it’s time to start taking action. It only appears in hindsight, long after decisive action was taken; and it’s often drawn in blood.

        • “No bright red line will appear when it’s time to start taking action. It only appears in hindsight, long after decisive action was taken;”

          Or not.

          We long ago passed the point where the founders put an end to tyranny, and did precisely nothing. Talk about the coming end of patience is a warm blanket we use to comfort ourselves that “one day, just not today.” Storm and fury, signifying nothing.

          While we wait, the mountain becomes more insurmountable. The “patient” people are either hopelessly out numbered, or satisfyingly complacent. There may be sufficient numbers to stop a leftist presidential candidate this year (then what?), but insufficient, either in numbers or concern, to politically obliterate the tyrants below president. We are where Franklin warned us about.

        • leftists are shameable. at least that’s how i interpret the sulking and silence after shaming them. such easily exposed hypocrisy leaves simple minds conflicted.
          of course, these are the followers, not the braintrust.
          when the encroachment too far has been reached, it may be too late to legally make corrections. but many will be made.

        • “leftists are shameable.”

          Yes, in the instance, individually. ln a crowd, as a mob, their every action is just and beyond reproach. Else, we would not be where we are.

        • to sam I am
          “No one can explain why, after the last twelve years, even after Waco and Ruby Ridge, this patient cohort has taken no real, effective action.”

          Timothy McVeigh, a self described atheist, was the reaction to WACO and Ruby Ridge. It’s just that many “so called supporters of Liberty” don’t want to admit that. You don’t have to support what he did. But to ignore what motivated him is just being a dishonest supporter of Liberty.

          Making Liberty, like making sausage, is not very comfortable to watch. Most people who support wars never fight in one. And they have no idea just what it take to win a war.

        • “Timothy McVeigh, a self described atheist, was the reaction to WACO and Ruby Ridge. It’s just that many “so called supporters of Liberty” don’t want to admit that. You don’t have to support what he did. But to ignore what motivated him is just being a dishonest supporter of Liberty.”

          McVeigh was the entirety of the “patient” cohort? The sole and final example of the “patient” ones running out of patience? The event was 25 years ago; there were no followers. Waco did not even have an effect on elections of the day.

        • Sam I Am,

          The Silent Majority in our nation will endure conditions until they are insufferable. Then they will act. While many things are wrong right now, life is not insufferable for the masses.

          I believe Thomas Jefferson’s words in our nations’ Declaration of Independence succinctly characterize everything in regard to your question:

          Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience [has shown], that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.

          Our nation is inching ever closer to the “red line” of government despotism that finally compels the Silent Majority to, “… throw off such government and provide new guards for their future security.”

        • “Our nation is inching ever closer to the “red line” of government despotism that finally compels the Silent Majority to, “… throw off such government and provide new guards for their future security.” ”

          Research all you can find on the Waco massacre, then ask yourself why the despotism of government was allowed to stand unaddressed. Just what was the compelling government interest that justified assaulting an assembly of people who had firearms and children in close proximity?

        • Sam I Am,

          The primary reason that the masses did not “rise up” at the conclusion of the massacre at the Branch Davidian compound in Waco, Texas, was due to two factors:
          1) Meager, poor, and inaccurate information
          2) Life was significantly less insufferable

          At the time, all we thought we knew was:
          1) The residents of the Branch Davidian compound were evil and violent doomsday cultists.
          2) Those whack-jobs were amassing firearms in order to lay waste to our nation.
          3) Those whack-jobs offensively gunned down law enforcement officers.
          4) Those whack-jobs set themselves on fire.

          While the Branch Davidian organization was indeed a cult, it took years to learn that they were not violent nor evil doomsday adherents, that they were amassing firearms because they rightly expected government to attack them in violation of their right to freely exercise religion, that they only started shooting at ATF agents after ATF agents unrighteously (and possibly unlawfully) attempted to disarm and arrest them, and that government agents set the compound on fire.

          And even at that, only a tiny fraction of the populace ever actually learned these details.

          That is why the government targeting/attack of the Branch Davidians did not kick off Civil War II. Something that is much more widespread that cannot be spun as neutralizing crazy violent doomsday cultists will set the populace in motion. Look back at what happened at the Bundy ranch in Nevada a few years ago for a preview of what will happen if government really gets out of hand. (Note: I personally believe that hundreds of people showed up because fedzilla declared the First Amendment null-and-void near the Bundy ranch.)

        • “While the Branch Davidian organization was indeed a cult, it took years to learn that they were not violent nor evil doomsday adherents,…”

          I was in Fort Worth at the time. TV reports had interviews with LE in Waco, who said Koresh would come in to talk to the feds, if the locals made the phone call. Local LE had never had a complaint, or bad dealings with the Branch Davidians. The feds had their assault plans and equipment in place, and told the local LE to stay out of it.

          Then we had Ruby Ridge, and Bundy. Looks like the “silent majority” will remain silent so long as the feds only launch one massacre at a time, in unassociated locations, incidents not bunched together in time.

          I just don’t think “the people” have the stomach for armed conflict with government. We are way beyond what the founders would tolerate, and just flapping our jaws to no avail. Better to spend time in rallies and political campaigns….and stop identifying ourselves as insurrectionists-in-waiting.

    • I believe that most liberals cannot live with conservatives because they will not allow someone to disagree with them, that is also the quickest way to set them off. Guns are just one example of a freedom and belief that most liberals cannot abide by. Others are the constitution and our republic. I do believe the Texican said it succinctly when he said “do not mistake our politeness for weakness.”

      • “I do believe the Texican said it succinctly when he said “do not mistake our politeness for weakness.” ”

        We would be foolish to believe the caution represents truth. It is a great-sounding mantra, but to date, after twelve concentrated years of Demoradicals attempting to destroy the nation, it is difficult to believe “politeness” explains the supine response of normal people.

        • I don’t think it is “politeness”. Many quotes around “no one hates war more than warriors”. I was not military, but MANY in my family were. I had friends, and even a roommate, in college who were going on the GI Bill after ‘Nam. Been around enough damaged warriors to know the truth of those quotes.

          America lost well over 600,000 soldiers in the Civil War, and there are no accurate counts on the number of civilian deaths (although the estimates are horrifying). I believe the side of liberty will prevail, if it comes to trying cases – but it will be the very definition of a “Phyrric victory”. Many will die, many times more than that will suffer.

          There is a reason a “last resort” is a “last” resort. If it comes to trying cases with the authoritarian Left, if I get to the point where I think we are at the “last resort”? The killing won’t stop until they are dead. I don’t like the idea of killing people, even if they (as they used to say in the Old West) “needed killin'”. Does not make me happy. Which is why, if it comes down to that??? I’m gong to be fighting with a SERIOUS mad on. And my hate for the people who forced me to that will burn with the heat of a thousand suns.

          “Don’t make me angry. You wouldn’t like me when I’m angry.” They ignore this at their ultimate peril.

        • “Don’t make me angry. You wouldn’t like me when I’m angry.” They ignore this at their ultimate peril.”

          I understand the thought, but look around. Do you actually think the founders would have put up with this, under their own creation? The founders were pretty much in agreement of where “the line” was drawn. Today, we have 327 million ideas about where “the line” is, and no leaders. The first revolution was not a mindless mob lacking goals other than to wreck and burn that which they opposed.

    • The people who have said ‘Live and let live”. Have never really believed that. They are the ones who want to stop you from homeschooling your children. They want to confiscate your guns.
      They, the Left, want to control the people they don’t like.

      • “They, the Left, want to control the people they don’t like.”

        Indeed. What is the point of having power if you can’t abuse it?

    • We are at the same place in history that every successful society has come to. That place where great wealth can be had with little effort. This place generally leads a people to depravity and a sense of moral superiority becuase noone truly knows suffering. Don’t worry, slavery for everyone not part of the elite is the next place this people will find itself. Liberty will be lost because so few wish to retain it. We’ve replaced actual Freedom with “free to be myself” which usually means some form of insanity or other without being committed. We’ve allowed people to call evil good and good evil for more than a generation now. There will be blood…

      • “There will be blood…”

        Your analysis is quite insightful, but at the last sentence, agreement broke down. There will be no armed counter-revolution, for the very reasons you cited. This nation will not disappear in a glorious blast of revolt, but with a whimper of puzzlement.

        • After reading to this point, I’m going to do something I don’t usually do and agree 99% with Sam. That 1% is the chance that something will change. Myself for instance, I have decided that I will not succumb and I will not kowtow to all of the bullshit going on. I’ve already been hounded by the mob and told them to fuck off, and me being the little peon I am, they did. No headlines to grab, you see. Until the point I die, I’m going to live however I want and I will push for the nation to be restored to an earlier time, before Cancel Culture and snowflakes and all these horrible encroachments on our rights as Citizens. And I’m young, so that’s a long time I hope. And I’ll either lose and become a criminal, or win and we’ll finally get our way, or not make a damn bit of difference one way or another and be satisfied I lived on my terms.

          Maybe enough of us will feel that way and eventually something will happen to send us back how we were. My money is on option 3.

        • ‘Until the point I die, I’m going to live however I want and I will push for the nation to be restored to an earlier time, before Cancel Culture and snowflakes and all these horrible encroachments on our rights as Citizens.”

          Great sentiment, and kudos to you.

        • “Thanks Sam, I appreciate you taking the time to say that! Have a great day.”

          Happy to be here.

          Grateful for the opportunity

          Proud to serve.

  3. I think this sums up the majority of problems in our society today. There are plenty of things I don’t like about other people. But I’m not going to March down the street against them, because I believe that it’s their choice to think the way they do, just as it is mine to think my way. The issue has become that now you are considered morally evil for having a different viewpoint, and you are just WRONG. Just leave me be and you’re free to think you’re way. Unfortunately I don’t think this modern way of thought will change any time soon.

  4. I can live and let live.
    They cant.
    Apparently my cucking to their bullshit is “society” and my not cucking is anarchy.
    So it goes.

  5. Well written piece full of emotional intelligence about ideological warfare. The bottom line is whose side are you on? There is no debate. Either you are on God’s side or you are not. It’s black and white, no grey areas. No, this is not racist, it is a battle between Truth and Lies. If you know the Truth you will be set free from the trials and tribulations of emotionalism. Why do many who are enlighten steer free from controversy? Because they are instructed not to debate with a fool, it is counterproductive.
    Yes our constitutional republic has granted us life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. And if that takes you down the path of lies and sin so be it, it’s your choice. However, “We the People” have the civic responsibility to maintain a government which supports the freedom to choose, unless it violates the Commandments of the Creator of the Universe. It has been researched at length that citizenry with a core desire to obey the rule of law is essential for the preservation of this Republic, so that peace and tranquility can prevail. Now organizational members of BLM, Antifa, NFAC, MS-13, etc., are basically self-admitted professors of Marxist doctrine whose primary objective is to destroy this nation. There is no place for them under law and order. However, under Marxist doctrine there is a class of people called “useful Idiots”. These are those who have submitted to emotional manipulation of the organizations to be fools and tools for purposes most don’t even understand. The real tragedy in this, is the organizational members themselves who are just useful idiots on a spiritual scale which they don’t understand. Our founding fathers divine guidance wrote our constitution. The 1A allows us to search for and find the Truth, The 2A says that as “We the People” we are the vessels under authority responsible to the Creator for the leader we choose to administrate government. As such the citizenry are the men under authority who do not have to turn their cheek when confronted by evil but to defend ourselves. (Ro13:1-8) It is all about whose side are you on. QED

    • Sorry, a block of text consisting of run-on sentences, with no para breaks is too dense to follow. You might have something here, but the formatting is impenetrable. Wish it weren’t so.

      • Well written piece full of emotional intelligence about ideological warfare. The bottom line is whose side are you on? There is no debate. Either you are on God’s side or you are not. It’s black and white, no grey areas. The battle is between Truth and Lies. If you know Truth, you will be set free from the trials and tribulations of emotionalism.
        Why do many who are enlighten steer free from controversy? Because they are instructed not to debate with a fool, it is counterproductive.
        Yes our constitutional republic has granted us life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. And if that takes you down the path of lies and sin so be it, it’s your choice. However, “We the People” have civic responsibility to maintain a government supporting these freedoms, unless it violates Commandments of the Creator of the Universe. It has been researched at length that citizenry with a core desire to obey the rule of law is essential for the preservation of this Republic.
        Now organizational members of BLM, Antifa, NFAC, MS-13, etc., are basically self-admitted professors of Marxist doctrine. Their primary objective is to destroy this nation. There is no place for them under law and order. However, under Marxist doctrine there is a class of people called “useful Idiots”. These are those who have submitted to emotional manipulation by the organizations making them fools and tools. They are used for purposes most don’t even understand. The real tragedy is the organizational members themselves are also useful idiots on a spiritual level. Even they don’t understand.
        Our founding fathers divine guidance wrote our constitution. The 1A allows us to search for and find the Truth. The 2A says “We the People” are men under authority responsible to the Creator for those we elect to administer. We do not have to turn their cheek when confronted by evil. We are God’s servants’ agents of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer, as a matter of conscience. (Ro13:1-6) It is all about whose side are you on. QED

        • Interesting. Haven’t seen that happen with mine, or many others. Wonder what the deal is? Many are losing their text completely, and many don’t see replies back to them. Is it a phone vs. computer thing?

    • “Either you are on God’s side or you are not.”

      Well crap! Some say there are over 32,000 versions of Christianity. Even if you limit it to those whose membership exceeds 200,000 you get this list:

      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Christian_denominations_by_number_of_members

      That’s enough to make your head explode 🤯

      Maybe, just maybe Friedrich Nietzsche was right:

      “The word ‘Christianity’ is already a misunderstanding – in reality there has been only one Christian, and he died on the Cross.“

        • yeah, darn those christians and all their hospitals and food banks and soup kitchens and income assistance programs and free counseling and, and, and…

      • Jason:

        So what’s wrong with a diverse bunch that rally around a couple central tenets? Isn’t that what we celebrate about the Bill of Rights and Constitution–a diverse bunch that rallies around a couple central tenets? We celebrate a bunch of individuals, at a large family reunion, that all have different ideas but agree on a couple main points. Would you prefer that Christianity, or the U.S. of A., or you and your extended family, were a bunch of automatons that march in lockstep like those poor saps in the North Korean military parades? Looking “at” instead of “along” and talking out of both corners of your mouth…

        • ‘So what’s wrong with a diverse bunch that rally around a couple central tenets?”

          Your funny. 😂

          Is that really the story you think history tells?

    • I think Lenin noted the useful fools would be among the first to be purged because they will be smart enough to know the revolution has betrayed its ideals.

    • What a load of bull. There is no god and never has been, that has no effect on freedom or justice. Truth is still truth and lies are still lies. Feel free to follow the salesmen of your particular superstition, that is one of your rights. Just don’t pretend that willfully believing an obvious lie is somehow necessary to understanding truth.

      • LarryinTX,

        Disclaimer: I am not trolling you nor trying to bust your chops. Neither am I trying to convince you that God exists.

        Do you realize that you must be all-knowing to categorically state with authority/credibility that there is no God? Why? Because you must have knowledge of ALL things in existence in order to say with authority that something does not exist.

        I mention that in good faith … pun intended! In all seriousness, we need to have good debate and reasoning skills to win the culture war over firearm ownership. And in that vein, I encourage you to hone your skills, starting with advancing claims from solid positions of evidence. Note that evidence can only support claims that something exists. Along the same lines, it is extremely difficult to support claims of the absence of something, since there is no evidence of something that does not exist. Saying it another way, “You cannot prove a negative.”

        I leave you with a simple Mathematics analogy: someone claims that the number 220 is in a set of numbers. The only way that you can claim with authority that 220 is not in that set of numbers is if you know for certain all the numbers in that set — and that 220 is not one of them. So it is with absolute claims that there is no God — you must know for certain everything in existence in order to claim with certainty that there is no God among everything in existence.

        Of course we all know for a fact that you do not know everything in existence (proof: you have no idea which red object is within three feet of me as I type this). Therefore, you have no authority nor credibility when you state that something (God in this case) does not exist. Do you see what I did there? I claimed something (that you do not know everything in existence) and I provided evidence of that claim (that you cannot name the red object which is within three feet of me as I type this). I encourage you to do the same if you want to be effective at educating people.

        • It’s a knife with your hubby’s blood on it!

          I think you’ll find, if there is another civil war, that there is no god at least not the one purported by religion. Many if not most involved in war start as good and faithful people until confronted with man’s inhumanity to man on such a massive scale. It’s then that they know the lie that is religion. If a god existed as portrayed in religion, such things would not be allowed to happen. I don’t claim to know whether such a being exists, I simply claim that if it does exist it doesn’t give a shit what we do or it is amused by us.

      • Don’t be so certain. I’m only in my 30s yet I’m routinely called a boomer online, probably by people older then me, simply because I’m not a leftist. I’m technically an older mellenial yet to the younger mellenials and some gen Xers I must be 75 year old man because I explain the evils of Marxism to them. I will say there is a substantial but quiet group of people around my age who are as anti left as Barry Goldwater, but we simply aren’t loud. We’re too busy at work to be constantly trolling online like young liberals or retired liberals who can make their presence seem much larger then it really is.

      • Black conservative writer Thomas Sowell thinks the 1950’s were a very good time for black folks.
        Back then black people could get their machine guns mailed directly to their homes. Including the ammunition. It was much easier since most white owned gun stores would not sell to a black customer. Also the traditional black family was very strong and numerous across the black population. I now wonder if this is why the white Liberals hate the 1950’s so much?

        White liberals really do like the welfare industrial complex they helped create in the 1960’s. They also really do like the gun control they passed in the 1960’s as well. That is when they banned the mail order delivery of guns to your home.

        • to southern cross
          The murder of JFK was just the excuse. They had publicly stated as far back as the 1920’s the need to stop mail order guns. The reason was “to save the blacks” from all the gun violence.

        • Actually, banning mail order guns, just like automatic weapons, was spurred by the war between the various white gangs in New York and Chicago, along with middle America bank robbery cruise terrorizing the Midwest.

          No one talked about the dangers to or from the blacks, it was all about Al Capone, Bugsy Siegel, legs diamond, machine gun Kelly, Pretty boy Floyd, Bonnie and Clyde.

          There was no shortage of White, Christian, American gangsters and thugs making the 20s roar.

        • to miner49er

          You really do need to get out and read some history. Do some research on the racist history of gun control in this country. Here let me help you.

          1. from 1993
          The Racist Roots of Gun Control
          https://www.firearmsandliberty.com/cramer.racism.html

          2. From 1995
          “Gun Control and Economic Discrimination: The Melting-Point Case-in-Point”
          This is a PDF file. You don’t need to download it to read it.

          https://scholarlycommons.law.northwestern.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=6828&context=jclc

          from page 799:
          “Tennessee Senator John K. Shields introduced a bill in the
          United States Congress to prohibit the shipment of pistols through
          the mails and by common carrier in interstate commerce.238 The report supporting the bill that Senator Shields inserted into the Congressional Record asked: “Can not we, the dominant race, upon whom depends the enforcement of the law, so enforce the law that we will prevent the colored people from preying upon each other?

  6. This all sounds great in an article. And for some of it I can get on board. However, ethics and morals are not rights. If I think being gay is a sin, how can I, in good faith also support gay rights? I also disagree with the drug scenario as well. I will not hate anyone due to their behavior, but I will not condone it. Jesus was a huge advocate of impartial love, forgiveness and equality, but He still did not condone the behavior. Rights are for the individual freedom of every human, however, we have the best Constitution. Also, our Bill of Rights are just that. Individual, however, the 9th deals with states as well as individuals. The due process clause and other rights within the constitution and certain amendments also include privacy presumption and liberty. The SCOTUS has spent hundreds of years trying to get it right. But states and even districts have diluted our rights and the powers to be have allowed it. This article talks about individuals accepting others lifestyles and such, but the point that should be addressed is what we have lost as Americans with all this in-fighting. Racism is real, and it will ever go away. Discrimination and prejudice is alive and well too. Our rights have been trampled upon since day one. My gun rights don’t stop where someone else’s feelings begin. I don’t run form homosexuals, and their opinion on my color, religion or gun ownership is none of their business. As my opinion, albeit silent, needs to be kept to myself as well. The politics in this day and age are a joke, and are fuel for hate in every corner of the country. I am no expert, just have read a few books, I believe that when people stop feeling so much and start thinking we will be better off. I don’t owe anyone anything, not for past present or future issues. And no one owes me anything either. I am entitled by my creator to live, be left alone and within legal parameters do what I want that makes me happy.

  7. oh isee mine was deleted….ok I guess although this is a private rag how the 1st amendment is trampled here.

      • probably did, guess the snowflakes monitoring are the same for fakebook….I guess censorship is alive and well on this rag. I did type Jesus in my comment.

        • Mine have gone into the black hole before and came out hours later which I notice yours did too.
          If you stay on the same page and just refresh the waiting approval note stays. If you leave the page and come back it and your post are gone.Later if not a violent screed they reappear whenever someone gets around to releasing them.
          If could have been any word besides Jesus that did it.
          I once was tripped up by a site for using the word assume. It apparently saw the first 3 letters and blanked the word out. We had fun after that seeing which normal words were forbidden.

  8. I enjoy watching “Fleccas Talks”. He goes to a lot of gay marches and rallies, and just destroys these people and their hypocrisies with a smile. They don’t even get it. His pro-gun ones are hilarious, and will also make you sick to your stomach at the same time. Seriously, spend a day binge watching him. It’s worth it. Like a mild version of Stephen Crowder… which is a good thing.

    • I also enjoy “Fleccas Talks”. He shows that the so called tolerant. Are not really very tolerant at all.
      Which is why YouTube has demonetized him.

      • And many others along with him. Social media is heavily involved in the left’s extreme hindrance of the 1st Amendment. Fleccas Talks and Louder with Crowder constantly debunk the “hate speech” myth. That alone is enough to piss them off and remove their “platform”. Fleccas always interviews people on campuses like berkley and other southern cali majority communist campuses where a small minority of right leaning individuals go, for debate (something the left avoids), and their general thought process is that they should be allowed to say what they want (protest) but the ones they are protesting should not be able to say what they want. Now that’s equality? I mean, you can easily find the same people on the right, but they exist in their own bubbles of sheltered safety or very small and rare extremist groups. As soon as they come out, the media involves them as a majority. When the extremists on the left come out on a daily basis, they are just good decent people who want to have a political discourse… lol. Not falling for it. The tolerance they preach is non existent.

  9. Interesting stuff. This harks back to the Jesuits prosecution of ideas through debate, conflict and finally integration once the dust settles. Unfortunately, this process has been conducted under the guidance of wealthy bankers for centuries, resulting in all of history’s recent wars, creating riches for the arms industries, and misery for everyone else. And it got away from them in the Communist sphere, where living nightmare conditions prevail. The “dialectic” became rigid propaganda, deviation punishable by elimination from society. The modern American arms industry holds politicians hostage, and therefore the public. There is not even discussion allowed over this stranglehold. However on an individual scale, the foresight of the Founding Father’s protects the Republic, and allows Joe Public the hard won right to armed personal defense. This should never be sacrificed in the name of social “justice”. Keep your politicians honest, if this is even possible. Vote early, vote often.

    • “The modern American arms industry holds politicians hostage”

      How exactly? Money from the arms industry lobby are nothing compared to what pharma, insurance, banking or agricultural lobbies ‘invest’ into politicians.

  10. It’s a culture war, not a culture debate. In wars, cultures, nations and die. I’d prefer if it wasn’t my culture, my nation or my life.

    You do you. I’ll stay armed and alert.

  11. “ our countrymen still value liberty, limited government, self-reliance, equal rights under the law,”

    Now, now. Can’t go thinking that way. According to the Smithsonian’s latest exhibit on how bad it is being white, you, are a racist if you believe…

    “ things like hard work, being on time, cause and effect, “rational thinking,” respect for authority, politeness — all these things, according to the museum, are manifestations of “whiteness.”

    • Being on time is racist?
      So C.P.T. is real then?
      Interesting strategy to combat racism by declaring racist stereotypes to be true.

      • I get the sense it’s more responsible behavior is weird and stereotypical white behavior. Like a lot of class based Hollywood movies for the 80-90’s come to think of it.

    • I wonder what the manifestations of “blackness” are. Laziness, being late, “irrational thinking,” lack of respect, rudeness, families with ten kids by eleven different baby daddies . . . ?

      I mean, if “whiteness” is bad and blackness is good, then “blackness” should be the opposite of whiteness, no?

        • “found the racist”

          Nope. When you create a list of characteristics that have been successful cultural virtues for millennia, and claim they are evidence of white supremacy, than the only logical conclusion is that the opposite values are to be preferred. Notice how the Dims have recreated segregation?

    • “According to the Smithsonian’s latest exhibit on how bad it is being white, you, are a racist if you believe…”

      Link, Tom?

      Please?

    • Well damn I remember commenting on waiting to hear that would be a thing and missed it already being in place. So is it pretty much if you are responsible and take care of your and your family’s future you are being white?

    • Interesting, Tom, I confess to the crime of being white, at least usually, and I do believe in all those things deemed signs of “whiteness”. It would be more interesting to hear someone *not* white explaining what is wrong with being similarly white regardless of your skin color. What, for example, is the supposed benefit of not being on time?

      • ‘What, for example, is the supposed benefit of not being on time?”

        1. lack of anxiety of being late
        2. lack of stress and frustration (upsetting your calm) due to the uncertainties of travel times between locations
        3. more time to attend to self
        4. being in the right mood (centered) is more important than being present for the benefit of others
        5. time itself is a fantasy, there is only “now”, which you should be allowed to explore based on your individual interests; time is a white concept, used to enforce arbitrary controls over POC

        • “one has the same amount of time no matter when you arrive.”

          True, but being late is simply a re-prioritization of my time from some obligation to what I want to do for myself. I am not the least concerned that my re-prioritization provided no benefit to whomever is inconvenienced by my being late. Me first, everyone else can sit on it.

          (you do realize that my comment was just mimicking woke culture, right?)

        • “Time is nature’s little trick to keep everything from happening all at once.”

          I like that !!

  12. Oh LORD help me…tying morality into the 2nd Amendment. You want a gun get one. If you’re a marxist lowlife I’m fine with you being unarmed. Don’t pretend your happy “marriage” is a norm now. It never was until quite recently(by ONE vote). One unelected judge does not dstermine right & wrong. GOD does. HE is unchanged,immutable,omnipotent and transcends time & space. This world is rapidly approaching the return of JESUS CHRIST. And HE won’t be a babe in a manger…get ready.

    • “One unelected judge does not dstermine right & wrong. GOD does.”

      Well, no. Here in the United States of America, the constitution is our governing document and it grants powers to judges and legislators who makes the laws.

      And there is no mention of this God you speak of in the United States Constitution.

      • What do you care? You hate the constitution, you’ve repeatedly railed against it, asserting its white supremacy and calling it “outdated”. If you had it your way, you’d wipe your ass with it then set it on fire.

        • “If you had it your way, you’d wipe your ass with it then set it on fire.”

          There is one interpretation of your statement that might work out quite nicely.

        • “ you’ve repeatedly railed against it, asserting its white supremacy and calling it “outdated”.”

          Nope, more fake news, you are lying about my statements.

          I have never railed against the constitution, I have never asserted it was white supremacy and I have never called it outdated.

          Does it make you feel good to bear false witness?

      • “And there is no mention of this God you speak of in the United States Constitution.”

        Didn’t need to be. The writers declared prior who gave us these rights, and the Constitution simply provides a framework for the system of government that was set up in fulfillment of that Declaration.

        “WHEN in the Course of human Events, it becomes necessary for one People to dissolve the Political Bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the Powers of the Earth, the separate and equal Station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them, a decent Respect to the Opinions of Mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the Separation.

        “WE hold these Truths to be self-evident, that all Men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights…”

        So, if you are going to reject that Creator who endowed us with rights, then what is the basis for your claim to those rights? If you had no Creator, who was their declared Creator, then there were no rights endowed to you, and nothing that flows from those rights (e.g., the freedoms enumerated in Bill of Rights) is legitimately yours. It’s a package deal, dude.

    • Wow! I have spent my life refusing to be any kind of authority on the subject, but even I can tell you that god has changed radically, extremely, just in the past 5000 years, never mind the previous 10 million or 5 billion. Claiming that god is forever unchanging is simply childish silliness, destroys your own arguments.

  13. The secret is to hold beliefs while minding ones business and respecting a common framework everything is based on for 250 years.

    Statists can’t accept that.

    • One side is busy dismantling the “common framework” you speak of. An they’re succeeding. It is to the point where neither side cannot agree on the meanings of words, indeed, or even reality. There is no convincing anyone on either side. This will not end well.

    • We tend to think the Golden Rule is a Christian concept. It’s not.
      Multiple societies and religions share this philosophy. Unfortunately, the godless secular humanists among us tend to lack empathy, deny God, and believe political ideologies can create the “perfect man” or the “perfect society”.
      God says the meek shall inherit the Earth. The bullies who sow the wind will reap their own reward in this life, or the next. Meekness should never be mistaken for quiet submission. This is what The Lord leaves unspoken because it’s for the discerning mind to understand.

      • The USSR tried to create their vision of perfection known as “The New Soviet Man”.

        What they got was the polar opposite “Homo Sovieticus”.

        There is something about the system that brings out the worst in people. The harshness, pettiness, vindictiveness, and cruelty must be necessary for the good of the cause.

  14. If you are attending a football game during the NFL’s week one, please take a knee for the “black national anthem” and stand for America’s national anthem. It’s free speech, right?

  15. We’re way way way beyond convincing ANYONE using ideas. One side doesn’t want to hear it, the other is tired of being cancelled, belittled, scorned, and on the rare occasion, shot. Likewise, there are some things I won’t accept (I won’t list them; this comment will get cancelled). I don’t care what “scientific” studies say (if they are “scientific”). One side of the debate has stepped outside the bounds of observablye reality. They are literally insane, and would pass a law against gravity, thinking it would work.

  16. Bring back freedom of association. Yes, people have the right to behave as they wish. Likewise, I have a right to not hire, not rent to, not serve, and not live among people who’s behavior I find objectionable. I do not need to justify this right. It is God given. Just like I, as a property owner, can exclude firearms from my property if I wish, it does not effect the wider right of people bearing arms.

    • I agree completely, and would add that if you prohibit firearms I will ignore that prohibition regularly and completely, until you find a way to enforce it. Rights are rights, I do not need to justify that action, either.

  17. Last week a lady was shot dead after she said all lives matter. That might not be the reason why but it is awful suspicious. These people are not fooling around, they are serious that they want to change the fabric of this country.

    I saw where a class with required reading in a college that states if you are conservative you are a racist, no exceptions. In Seattle all whites are required to take a class that has the curriculum that states the white race is racist and supremist.

    One side of this equation is now pushing ideas that even I would have scoffed at a year ago. It is time to be vigilant.

  18. Ahh, the “enlightened centrist” once again comes out of the woodwork to preach unity and that we’re not actually that different. Grow up. Nobody who has been paying even the slightest modicum of attention over the last 4 years or so (and long before that, but Trumps election REALLY kicked it into overdrive) can seriously believe that we’d all be best friends if we just “put aside our differences”. That’s like saying an advocate of FGM isn’t really an awful person, they just have different beliefs and we can all coexist if we try. Tell me, how do you peacefully co exist with a powerful group that genuinely believes we are all genocidal subhuman scum who deserve to die (that’s what a Nazi is, after all, and you know how they love to call us Nazis)

    • Th… That sounds like something a nazi would say 😉

      *Starts yelling nazi repetitively through the bullhorn, while walking away.

  19. This article is really quite silly, and more than that, it is a great example of why conservative values are losing the cultural war. Your not going to reason with a jihadi and change his core beliefs any more than a jihadi is going to reason with you and change yours, but your saying we can still be good neighbors? That’s funny. 🤣

    Egypt, Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, Rome, Great Britain, the United States of America. (And that’s just some from the ‘west” – let’s not forget Imperial Japan, Dynastic China, the Ottoman Empire, the Mayan, the Aztec… just to name a few) Civilizations churn. This will end in blood. It always does. The only question is when.

    P.S. the only rights you really have are the ones you are willing and able to defend. I thought that was obvious.

  20. Here’s the thing about freedom: your rights end where mine begin; mine end where yours begin.

    We’ve let that line get blurred to extinction.

    Here’s how it should work: you don’t get to know or say what I do in my bedroom. I don’t get to know or say what you do in yours.

    What people do with their genitals and consenting adults is nobody else’s business. Never should have been. No reason for it to be. You got no business in anyone else’s pants. Most people learn that before kindergarden.

    You don’t get to know or say what I keep in my gun safe. I don’t get to know or say what you keep in yours.

    What kind of car I buy, job I take, gun I carry, movies I watch, or anything else about my personal life is nobody else’s business unless I invite them in. Otherwise I have the right to tell them to go away.

    The new left isn’t having any of that “freedom” stuff or disengagement. They want to force you to engage then dictate everything about your personal life and beliefs. They don’t recognize personal property or rights of any kind unless it is their right to aggress against you and your town, city and country. That is a very big problem.

    Fortunately, we have a mechanism already in place to do that. Vote them all out of office. Every last one. Send them packing and bring in some folks who actually believe in the rule of law and public safety.

    Get all of your friends and their friends together and vote this November. You literally hold the future in your hands.

    • “your rights end where mine begin; mine end where yours begin.”

      You are absolutely correct.

      This is at the root of the mask debate.

      In the midst of this pandemic, with 65,000 people testing positive each day for the deadly virus that’s already killed 130K, we should follow the healthcare professionals guidelines.

      When unmasked people walk around, huffing and puffing out pathogens that can make others terribly sick or dead, a mask is the minimum we can ask.

      No shirt, no shoes, no mask, no service. All for the same reason, to prevent the spread of disease.

      • Which healthcare professionals? Plenty on both sides of the argument. Plenty all across the world on both sides of the argument. The problem is scaling, not the infection rate. Hospitals have NEVER been setup to get a wave of more than a “usual” amount. And the other problem is the lies. Lies about masks to begin with, lies about infectious rates and kill rates… overall, 130k compared to an 80k flu season last winter… still, not as bad as they want you to believe. And honestly, how can you believe that? How can you believe any number put together like that? It’s like election polling, but worse. I know for a fact that states include people living out of state because they are have a residency in said state… so if you have 4 residencies across the US, and get COVID, there is 4 states with a +1. Their list of symptoms range the same as every flu symptom even. Look, when it first started, yea, I was worried… knowing what we know now, I’ll suck it up and recover from a cough rather than live in fear. And no, the no shirt, no shoes rule has nothing to do with spreading disease. It started because hippies were undesirable patrons. Do you ever really do any research? Or you just go off headlines? C’mon man. The fear mongering is eating your guts, if you ever had any.

      • A private business can certainly do such a thing, but refuse service based on their own religious beliefs? Then they must be jailed.

        But, I’d be willing to bet the farm if those shop owners were Muslims, you wouldn’t say a goddamned word, would you? Yeah. Thought so. I think maybe I’ll just pretend to become Muslim, I know enough about it do so, then you lefties couldn’t stop me from doing anything 🤣

        • If muslims are smashing monuments its bad. But if atheists smash monuments its good. The three L logic.

        • Sorry to disappoint you, but I think Muslims are as deluded as Christians or any other seemingly sane person who evidences belief in things for which they have no good evidence.

          And regarding monuments, the only ones I want to see come down are the ones commemorating traitors who committed violent, armed insurrection against America.

          I could care less about Columbus, his depredations occurred well before the United States of America existed but I can completely understand why native peoples think he is the very devil himself.

          Same is true for conquistadors like Onate, there is no question that an evil, greedy slave master like him should not be memorialized anywhere in America.

          But I can tell you, the traitors of the confederacy who broke their oath to uphold the Constitution are much more to be reviled and despised than any of the early exploiters.

        • to miner 49er
          You and atheists like you can rationalize it any way you want to. But you folks are just like the muslim taliban. People like you have never support the 1st amendment.

          1. Frederick Douglass statue torn down on anniversary of great speech

          https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/jul/06/frederick-douglass-statue-torn-down-rochester-new-york-anniversary-july-4-speech

          2. Catholic churches and religious statues across the country were the target of vandalism, terrorism, and potential arson this last week as tensions concerning the removal of historical statues continue to rise.

          https://thefederalist.com/2020/07/14/catholic-churches-and-statues-burned-vandalized-in-string-of-targeted-attacks/

      • I don’t see what masks have to do with this discussion, but if you insist…

        The Chinese virus will spread and sooner or later we will all get it. There is no way to avoid it. The whole lockdown, physical (not social) distancing, masks etc. are meant only to slow down the process, so the medical system is not overwhelmed. Hospitals are empty and lay off personnel.

        The statistics about covid 19 deaths are intentionally blown up by counting anyone who dies of any cause, if he shows “covid like” symptoms, or tests positively. Even if you fall off a cliff or are 95 years old cancer patient with two weeks life prognoses, if you have shortness of breath, congratulations – you are counted as Covid death.

        Once again, if you are afraid of dying of this not very deadly virus, YOU lock yourself in a oxygen tent or wear a spacesuit. I have stuff to do and business to take care of.

        • “Hospitals are empty and lay off personnel.”

          Hospitals are empty? Do you really hold that belief? Fascinating.

          “Hospitalizations across the state have been ticking upward, with nearly 1,700 patients admitted in the past seven days compared with 1,200 the previous week. Five hospitals in the St. Petersburg area were out of intensive care unit beds, officials said. Miami’s Baptist Hospital had only four of its 88 ICU beds available.

          “If we continue to increase at the pace we have been, we won’t have enough ventilators, enough rooms,” said Dr. David De La Zerda, ICU medical director and pulmonologist at Miami’s Jackson Memorial Hospital.

          Officials in Texas also reported hospitals are in danger of being overwhelmed. Hospitalizations statewide surged past 8,000 for the first time over the weekend, a more than fourfold increase in the past month. Houston officials said intensive care units there have exceeded capacity.

          Along the border with Mexico, two severely ill patients were flown hundreds of miles north to Dallas and San Antonio because hospitals in the Rio Grande Valley were full.

          In Arizona, the number of people hospitalized with COVID-19 topped 3,200, a new high, and hospitals statewide were at 89% capacity. Confirmed cases surpassed 100,000, and more than half of those infected, or over 62,000, are under 44 years old, state health officials said.

          As cases surge across the state, Katie Cameron said it appears some of her neighbors in Phoenix are in denial. The mother of two said she’s seen people tearing down caution tape meant to keep them off playground equipment in parks, large groups gathering to socialize and — most concerning — very few masks.”

          I’m not sure where you are, but here in America the professionals are concerned.

          And for all you young folks who just don’t give a hoot, I have some news for you:

          “more than half of those infected, or over 62,000, are under 44 years old, state health officials said”

          When the survivors leave the hospital, they’ll have a pre-existing condition. And now that Trump is removing protections for pre-existing conditions, none of those young people will be able to buy health insurance.

        • let it run it’s course.
          what you suggest would alow carriers to cancel everyone.
          begone.

        • What complete bunk. Two hospital ships with 1000 beds each, plus millions spent on the Javits center with 2500 more beds, spent HUGE taxpayer dollars like it was water, and the total patients in ALL THREE was under 200. Cuomo demanded *30,000* ventilators, never more than 1700 in use at one time, and 88% of those put on a ventilator DIED, why bother? This has been a SCAM, pure and simple, and “confirmed cases” is a ridiculous joke, NYC has fewer than twice the cases of Texas, but over 11 times the deaths. Get over Covid, time to go back to work.

        • “This has been a SCAM, pure and simple, and “confirmed cases” is a ridiculous joke, NYC has fewer than twice the cases of Texas, but over 11 times the deaths. Get over Covid, time to go back to work.”

          Hear, hear !!

        • Time to get back to work you say?

          Well, it looks like there may be a few job openings in Texas, hospitalization seems to be a growth business!

          The Texas Tribune › 2020/07/14Web resultsTexas hospitals are running out of drugs, beds, ventilators and even staff | The …

          Houston Public Media › newsWeb resultsTexas Hospitals Head Towards Full Capacity Due To COVID-19 Uptick …

          Rural Texas hospitals running short on beds, ventilators and drugs.1 day ago

          Number of ICU hospital beds in Texas drops below 10%.2 days ago

      • “When unmasked people walk around, huffing and puffing out pathogens that can make others terribly sick or dead, a mask is the minimum we can ask.”

        So, according to your logic, all who are unmasked are vectors of the virus? Or perhaps you’re referring to smokers? I s’pose I’d go along with the smoker bit, except you’d have to cut a hole in it for the butt, so what would be the point of the mask? I think you’re confused.

  21. The people who said you should stop fighting the culture wars. Are and have always been anti-civil rights.
    They say you can’t block an abortion clinic entrance. But you can block the entrance to a military recruiting center.

    They say you can burn the american flag. But they will put you in prison for burning a gay flag.
    Libertarians Liberals and the Left have never supported the 1st amendment. Currently people are being arrested trying to attend church services. I don’t see “the traditional” fighters of civil rights working to defend the civil rights of white christians. Or white jews. Or anyone who wants to attend religious services.

    Rioters can destroy your property. But if they destroy the property of the Seattle mayor you get arrested.
    It all depends on who’s ox is gored.

    I have never felt uncomfortable speaking up for my civil rights. The most anti civil rights people I know. I grew up around in California. Senator Sam Hayakawa called California “the most racist state the union”. He said that at my HS in 1979. The year I graduated. As an american of japanese decent, I think he knows what he is talking about. The California Gov, a republican, ordered the removal of american citizens from his state. And the ACLU supported him and Presidential order 9066. Ordering the internment of japanese americans. Three months later, german and Italian americans were order to be placed in internment camps as well. But they leave that part out of the history books.

    I guest having over 20,000 white people losing their civil rights and everything they owned, is just not worth talking about. Or its a way to make people feel guilty, because they only bring up the Nisei being locked up. They say this is “proof” the country is racist.

    All aspects of the culture wars need to be fought. It’s our right as american citizens to do so. Its our 1st amendment right to do so. At least for now.

  22. The original meaning of meek was a trained warhorse or a skilled swordsman who keeps his sword sheathed. So the modern 2A carrier who shows judgement and “power under control” is the perfect example of who will inherit the earth !

    • “meek (adj.)
      late 12c., mēk, “gentle or mild of temper; forbearing under injury or annoyance; humble, unassuming;” of a woman, “modest,” from a Scandinavian source such as Old Norse mjukr “soft, pliant, gentle,” from Proto-Germanic *meukaz (source also of Gothic muka-modei “humility,” Dutch muik “soft”), a word of uncertain origin, perhaps from PIE *meug- “slippery, slimy.” In the Bible, it translates Latin mansuetus from Vulgate (for which see mansuetude). Sense of “submissive, obedient, docile” is from c. 1300.”

  23. The traditional exercise of liberties and rights postulates that the individual is free to exercise their liberties and rights as long as that exercise does not deny, conflict with, or abrogate any other individual’s liberties and rights. Hence, “Live and let Live”. This works well until you have a person or group of persons who wants to impose a particular set of ideas and controls on everyone else. There can be various motivations, the enumeration of which is irrelevant. The only relevant concern is these persons’ intention to impose their will on others. This is the crux of the conflict we have in the United States today.

    It cannot be resolved with “reasonable discussion”. It cannot be resolved by being tolerant of an intolerant, controlling ideology. It takes advantage of America’s Constitutionally protected rights to use lies and perversions of facts to extend its control over as many people as possible. It is deliberate, methodical and intentional in its pursuit of absolute control over everyone.

    The conflict we face today is not purely ideological {e.g. Left v. Right, Liberal vs. Conservative, et cetera}. Rather, it is about the fundamental mechanics of the exercise of individual and community liberties and rights. We are, therefore, in a fight that is more elemental than ideological. It is about whether we will accept the advent of absolute rule by a self-appointed ruling elite, or restore/retain the original American concept of government by the consent of free individuals gathering into and establishing a mutually beneficial political structure whereby they can govern themselves in a representative democracy [aka a Republic] and live as freely and peacefully as possible.

    To that end, we must decide what we will accept. We are not fighting about what other people think. We are fighting about what other people are doing and propose to do. We have been tolerant and respectful for decades and that has brought us to a point in time where a small group of radical ideologues is imposing a lie-based, factually ignorant and utterly destructive tyranny upon us. It is no longer time to debate the niceties of who believes what. It is time to decide what we will tolerate, or not, and act accordingly.

    “The moral authority of freedom is greater than any act(law) put in place by Man.” Prof. Davarian Baldwin Trinity College In reference to Harriet Tubman’s refusal to obey The Fugitive Slaves Act of 1850 and continue her work with the Underground Railroad.

    The moral authority of freedom bids us to allow others to think what they will, but forbids their imposition of their will upon us by force of action, social pressure, or legislation.

  24. Virtually no “right” preceded by “x,” where x is a demographic, is a right. A general right to liberty may be violated by prohibition of homosexual relationships, but for the past thirty years “gay rights” has meant “forcing people to think what they’re told,” and there’s no right to that.

  25. What a load of crap in these comments.

    Bottom line: if you give up on intellectual and moral persuasion and skulk around waiting for a silent majority to violently suppress the left, you’ve already lost.

    Use the 1A to protect the 2A. Support lobbying groups who support the ideas you stand for. Send money to the best candidates. Vote. Bring others who are like minded to vote. Rally. Buy more guns and ammo.

    Money talks. Bull$hit walks. So start talking and quit pining for a violent push back that we should all pray will never be needed.

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