Totally agree! My nephew went to a Lutheran High School, there team name was the Crusaders. I always was bothered by this, if anyone would know what the crusades were about they would and then they choose to celebrate this, yes, very Extremist!

@Ktcyan Ignorance + Arrogance = Stupidity add celebration to that mix is just plain horror.

@Ktcyan lol. Didn't Germany make life difficult for a lot of Lutherans resulting in them fleeing to America and other countries?

@uuberdude Trojans eh! Is that what the coaches wore?

Preach it, Sister! the bible is such god-awful chicanery, cobbled together 'writings' transcribed from the oral stories, told for entertainment (the more gory and astonishing, probably the better the tithing) all patriarchal, male-domineering.. Constantine, King James, mangled even the original questionable texts more, to manipulate the theology and the poor believers.. a pox on mythology..

"Religous morality" is an oxymoron. Theists claim that morality comes from god because they don't know what morality actually is. They are actually Amoral. What they have in morality's place is religious indoctrination. You can tell the difference because they will accept things in the Bible that are morally reprehensible. They don't have enough morality, for example, to find anything wrong with the Bible saying that its OK to beat your slaves to death as long as it takes more than 48 hours for them to die from the beating.

EXODUS 21:20
20 “Anyone who beats their male or female slave with a rod must be punished if the slave dies as a direct result, 21 but they are not to be punished if the slave recovers after a day or two, since the slave is their property.

An interesting book dealing with this would be " The power and the glory " by Graham Greene. Set in Mexico in the 30`s when the catholic church was being persecuted by the left wing govt. It puts the hero as a deeply flawed priest and his nemesis a good atheist. Greene a convert to Catholicism was censured by the church at the time.

All of the devout Christians I know say the Jews are going to hell as they don’t accept Jesus as they’re savior. I’ve always had major problems with that as I’m very pro Israel and that one was of the major contributing factors in my turning away from Christianity. I also have a lot of problems with religion as there’s very little or no scientific proof for the existence of what’s in the Bible or Koran except the Bible or Koran themselves.

Thank you for your perspective, Lewellyn. Of course, we don't all abhor all Christians, at least I don't think so. As I've mentioned, I have had, and still have some very good friends whom I greatly respect, who claim Christianity as their faith; and others of different faiths. You appear to be a very good person. But throughout history, acts in the name of god/gods/religion have done, I think in the opinion of most here, far more harm than good. And there is still no solid evidence that it's based upon anything more than mythology. Faith is not evidence.

Thank you Lewellyn3. I can see that you put a LOT of thought and effort into your reply. But if I actually believe the Bible to be truth I would have to become a Satanist just to remain moral.

Satan's Only crime was to think that he could do a better job than "god". Based on the Bible the Joker from Batman could do a better job. In fact there's a comic where the Joker becomes god and his behavior isn't nearly as crazy. I am completely baffled at how any rational person could read the Bible and conclude that "god is good" or that he can be trusted for anything.

As for "God's covenant"...

@Trajan6, those people telling you that are IGNORANT. You can throw that scripture I gave you in their faces and PROVE to them they're wrong! I think the root anti-Semitism, I really do. How can anyone claim that after reading those passages! It frustrates me to no end, too, how the Church is allowing this false doctrine to be preached!!!

@Condor5 You're right! Evil has been done in the name of religion, absolutely. And we're not past that. Christians have to be ever watchful to ensure we don't get sucked into another mission of hate towards another scapegoat. I worked as a Lutheran Ministries shopper for refugees yrs ago in NC - when the refugees fled Kosovo to the Macedonian border. Clinton brought some of them here. Anyway, I took them shopping to teach them how to determine what is the best buy for their money and how to cook some of our vegetables that they'd never seen. Some didn't even know what a measuring cup was. Anyway, one girl told me that someone said something unkind to her about "foreigners coming over to take our jobs". I told her, "In the 60s, people predicted blacks would steal our jobs and put whites out of work if they got equal rights; they didn't. Then, in the 70s, when we brought the Montanyards over from Vietnam, THEY were going to put whites out of work; they didnt. When Haitians came, they were going to steal our jobs; they didn't. And a few yrs ago, it was the Lost Boys from Africa. They didn't either. Just be patient, and soon someone else will come to America and it won't be you anymore." We get over one prejudice and pick up another! Humans! We never learn.

I am a Christian not because of what I've read in any book or what I've been taught. I believe because I've experienced three events in my life that were impossible to explain with reason or science. Other people were always with me, and these event were in three different places with different people. I've researched them and can find nothing. All I have are the experiences. At each time, I was in crisis and each time I was comforted. So now, I have no choice but to believe that there is a God, something greater out there. Faith is believing in the unseen. That's all faith is. I still have no explanations. I've come to the point that I don't care. Very little frightens me now. Forgive me, I don't want to sound preachy, just relating why I have faith. Its not because what I experienced made sense; its because it DIDN'T.

Wow, @Lewellyn3, you are extremely well-versed, steeped in the mythology.. you present the sanest case (while still acknowledging the truism that it's your faith) I've never read as much scriptural verbage as today here in your comment - even after a few unfortunate sermons on days when I got shlepped off to a church (the theatrics are just lame, but I suppose to tRumpians, it's enough to keep 'em happy) kudos, a believer with a true awareness of the faith over fact element of it all..

@Lewellyn3 Here's what Martin Luther the founder of the Protestant Reformation said about the Jews. You can draw a straight line between this and the %#@&ing Holocaust!

What shall we Christians do with this rejected and condemned people, the Jews? Since they live among us, we dare not tolerate their conduct, now that we are aware of their lying and reviling and blaspheming. If we do, we become sharers in their lies, cursing and blasphemy. Thus we cannot extinguish the unquenchable fire of divine wrath, of which the prophets speak, nor can we convert the Jews. With prayer and the fear of God we must practice a sharp mercy to see whether we might save at least a few from the glowing flames. We dare not avenge ourselves. Vengeance a thousand times worse than we could wish them already has them by the throat. I shall give you my sincere advice:

First to set fire to their synagogues or schools and to bury and cover with dirt whatever will not burn, so that no man will ever again see a stone or cinder of them. This is to be done in honor of our Lord and of Christendom, so that God might see that we are Christians, and do not condone or knowingly tolerate such public lying, cursing, and blaspheming of his Son and of his Christians. For whatever we tolerated in the past unknowingly ­ and I myself was unaware of it ­ will be pardoned by God. But if we, now that we are informed, were to protect and shield such a house for the Jews, existing right before our very nose, in which they lie about, blaspheme, curse, vilify, and defame Christ and us (as was heard above), it would be the same as if we were doing all this and even worse ourselves, as we very well know.

Second, I advise that their houses also be razed and destroyed. For they pursue in them the same aims as in their synagogues. Instead they might be lodged under a roof or in a barn, like the gypsies. This will bring home to them that they are not masters in our country, as they boast, but that they are living in exile and in captivity, as they incessantly wail and lament about us before God.

Third, I advise that all their prayer books and Talmudic writings, in which such idolatry, lies, cursing and blasphemy are taught, be taken from them. (remainder omitted)

Fourth, I advise that their rabbis be forbidden to teach henceforth on pain of loss of life and limb. For they have justly forfeited the right to such an office by holding the poor Jews captive with the saying of Moses (Deuteronomy 17 [:10 ff.]) in which he commands them to obey their teachers on penalty of death, although Moses clearly adds: "what they teach you in accord with the law of the Lord." Those villains ignore that. They wantonly employ the poor people's obedience contrary to the law of the Lord and infuse them with this poison, cursing, and blasphemy. In the same way the pope also held us captive with the declaration in Matthew 16 {:18], "You are Peter," etc, inducing us to believe all the lies and deceptions that issued from his devilish mind. He did not teach in accord with the word of God, and therefore he forfeited the right to teach.

Fifth, I advise that safe­conduct on the highways be abolished completely for the Jews. For they have no business in the countryside, since they are not lords, officials, tradesmen, or the like. Let they stay at home. (...remainder omitted).

Sixth, I advise that usury be prohibited to them, and that all cash and treasure of silver and gold be taken from them and put aside for safekeeping. The reason for such a measure is that, as said above, they have no other means of earning a livelihood than usury, and by it they have stolen and robbed from us all they possess. Such money should now be used in no other way than the following: Whenever a Jew is sincerely converted, he should be handed one hundred, two hundred, or three hundred florins, as personal circumstances may suggest. With this he could set himself up in some occupation for the support of his poor wife and children, and the maintenance of the old or feeble. For such evil gains are cursed if they are not put to use with God's blessing in a good and worthy cause.

Seventh, I commend putting a flail, an ax, a hoe, a spade, a distaff, or a spindle into the hands of young, strong Jews and Jewesses and letting them earn their bread in the sweat of their brow, as was imposed on the children of Adam (Gen 3[:19]}. For it is not fitting that they should let us accursed Goyim toil in the sweat of our faces while they, the holy people, idle away their time behind the stove, feasting and farting, and on top of all, boasting blasphemously of their lordship over the Christians by means of our sweat. No, one should toss out these lazy rogues by the seat of their pants.

But what will happen even if we do burn down the Jews' synagogues and forbid them publicly to praise God, to pray, to teach, to utter God's name? They will still keep doing it in secret. If we know that they are doing this in secret, it is the same as if they were doing it publicly. for our knowledge of their secret doings and our toleration of them implies that they are not secret after all and thus our conscience is encumbered with it before God.

Accordingly, it must and dare not be considered a trifling matter but a most serious one to seek counsel against this and to save our souls from the Jews, that is, from the devil and from eternal death. My advice, as I said earlier, is:

First, that their synagogues be burned down, and that all who are able toss in sulphur and pitch; it would be good if someone could also throw in some hellfire. That would demonstrate to God our serious resolve and be evidence to all the world that it was in ignorance that we tolerated such houses, in which the Jews have reviled God, our dear Creator and Father, and his Son most shamefully up till now but that we have now given them their due reward.

I wish and I ask that our rulers who have Jewish subjects exercise a sharp mercy toward these wretched people, as suggested above, to see whether this might not help (though it is doubtful). They must act like a good physician who, when gangrene has set in, proceeds without mercy to cut, saw, and burn flesh, veins, bone, and marrow. Such a procedure must also be followed in this instance. Burn down their synagogues, forbid all that I enumerated earlier, force them to work, and deal harshly with them, as Moses did in the wilderness, slaying three thousand lest the whole people perish. They surely do not know what they are doing; moreover, as people possessed, they do not wish to know it, hear it, or learn it. There it would be wrong to be merciful and confirm them in their conduct. If this does not help we must drive them out like mad dogs, so that we do not become partakers of their abominable blasphemy and all their other vices and thus merit God's wrath and be damned with them. I have done my duty. Now let everyone see to his. I am exonerated. "

My essay, I hope, will furnish a Christian (who in any case has no desire to become a Jew) with enough material not only to defend himself against the blind, venomous Jews, but also to become the foe of the Jews' malice, lying, and cursing, and to understand not only that their belief is false but that they are surely possessed by all devils. May Christ, our dear Lord, convert them mercifully and preserve us steadfastly and immovably in the knowledge of him, which is eternal life. Amen.

@MarqG...yes, I've read all of this in a book on the man. Disgusting individual! That's why I'll never be Lutheran. He was a very cruel man.

Wow! Where do these people come up with these things?!?! I would risk guessing they would say god told them. I have never understood why anyone would follow a god who wants them to hate and destroy. I guess some people desperately need to have someone be less than them...

@Lewellyn3 Thank you for the summation of horror experienced in your family. I recently noticed that 60+ years after the war's end a memorial has finally been erected in memory of the many Roma tortured and executed in the camps. I also note that the Polish parliament has recently enacted law recognizing the Polish people also murdered in the camps.

I was a post war child in the north of England. My town sheltered many refugees including Poles. The world was now supposedly free of the threat of German expansion and the thousand year Reich. Or was it. I now read that useful Germans were snapped up by America and Russia. Inhumanely obtained medical experimental research papers were eagerly stolen. I also read of evidence that Hitler and a number of other high ranking officers ended their days in comfort in Argentina. Then in the '50's the cold War started, shortly to be followed by the Korean War. More fodder for the political bandstand and hubris....was it religiously driven.. Probably if we had been taken in by Billy Graham....

About 8 years ago I moved south for climate more beneficial to my health. It worked. What I did not realize however was the religiosity and xenophobia of a people whose ancestors most certainly contributed to the genocide of Australian First Nations People whose land was simply stolen because they were not recognized as human beings until about 1976. Today the statistics tell the grim story of the greatest %age of population in goal, deaths in custody,alcohol and drug abuse... The list goes on but is it due to christianity or simple whiteman "see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil?" Someone once suggested to me that I should never attribute to malice that capable of attribution to stupidity. Did you learn Professor Cipolla's 5 laws of human stupidity? [en.m.wikipedia.org]

IMO one of the finest humans to come out of WWII abomination was the Lutheran Pastor Martin Niemöller who spent years incarcerated in the concentration camps - he is credited with writing:
First they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Socialist.

Then they came for the Trade Unionists, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Trade Unionist.

Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Jew.

Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me.

[ushmm.org]

However returning to your question. As stated I, an admitted agnostic moved to God fearing country - a sea of farming citizens many millionaires from the major religions of Catholic, Protestant and Lutheran all protecting each other. I had never encountered anything like it before and like you am now taking pause to reflect on some of the arrogant, unlawful behaviour and intolerance of its members. I am likewise still needing therapy after two years of police incompetence, perjury and magisterial denial of justice because of a very sick woman employed by a local council. The police even supplied me with a confidential psychiatric report on the woman prepared by her unobjective psychiatrist tasked with getting her workers compensation insurance for events that I had reported to her employer 4 years previously. The report merely confirmed my opinion from 4 years previously.

My only opinion is that you must do whatever is best for you.

As I always say "may the companions of Health, Peace and Fulfilment travel with you

There's enough material in the Bible that people can pretty much construct any point of view that they want. What the Bible can not do, and cannot be found anywhere else, is to prove that any such person as Jesus ever actually lived or provide a single piece of evidence for god that cannot be explained away by better secular reasoning. The so called "god inspired" ramblings of Genesis don't add up to a grain of sand compared to the Hubble photographs,

@Benthoven...this is exactly what I've found in my research too. I didn't pick up on JJohnsanti-semeticism, though. I'll have to read it again. There are more and more discoveries since the Dead Sea Scrolls, with many translations found. I've had to get a new Bible because mine has all the incorrect translations. Wasn't there a book titled The Jesus Manifesto? I think I read something called that.

@MarqG Actually, there are reports of Jesus's existence: Josephus Flavius and a document found recently, dated around 50 a.d. Alas, my memory is bad...let me look that up and get back with you. Two others that recorded Jesus's execution was Point and Tacitus, two Roman politicians who lived at that time.

@Lewellyn3 Don't you find it odd that such a profound character as Jesus can only be found in a Single (ONE) contemporary historical paragraph? Tacitus wrote around 200 AD. Unless he was 170 years old he was Not an eye witness. And google doesn't have any reference to anyone named "Point" so I can't tell you about him. As for Josephus read it and weep.

[QUOTE] [worldfuturefund.org]

When discussing the alleged existence of Jesus Christ, one piece of "evidence" that frequently gets mentioned is the account of Flavius Josephus, the famed Jewish general and historian who lived from 37 to 100 C.E. In Josephus's Antiquities of the Jews there is a notorious passage regarding Christ called the "Testimonium Flavium."

"Now, there was about this time, Jesus, a wise man, if it be lawful to call him a man, for he was a doer of wonderful works,--a teacher of such men as receive the truth with pleasure. He drew over to him both many of the Jews, and many of the Gentiles. He was [the] Christ; and when Pilate, at the suggestion of the principal men amongst us, had condemned him to the cross, those that loved him at the first did not forsake him, for he appeared to them alive again the third day, as the divine prophets had foretold these and ten thousand other wonderful things concerning him; and the tribe of Christians, so named from him, are not extinct at this day." (Whitson, 379).

This brief piece of evidence which supposedly contributed the best "proof" of Jesus's existence has actually been proven to be a fraud. It has been demonstrated continuously over the centuries that "Testamonium Flavium" was a forgery manufactured by the Catholic Church, and was inserted into Josephus's works. The Testamonium Flavium account is so thoroughly refuted, that biblical scholars since the 19th century have refused to refer to it, unless to mention its false nature. [/QUOTE]

BTW there's not even evidence from Paul's writing that he believe Jesus lived on the Earth. His writing indicates that he believed Jesus lived in the sky!

And that "census" requiring Jews to return to the land of their ancestors is a farce. Not only is there No evidence for such a huge migration but it would have been logistically impossible for that many people to be transported individually over such great distances. As an army? Sure. But with everyone running around in different directions? No way. and would have been utterly pointless anyway. Why bother? Its nothing more than a fictional plot point so Jesus, a fictional Nazarene, could be born in Bethlehem.

Don't be so gullible. Put your money back in your purse and stop worrying about going to Hell. Christians LIE!

@MarqG. No, Mark I don't think its odd. If the Catholic church could bury all traces of the female pope, if the Egyptians could destroy al) evidence of their female÷ pharoah and their only monotheistic pharoah, then it's possible that the Romans or Pharisees could erase any trace of Jesus.

@Lewellyn3 Biased much? There is a TON of evidence pointing in the direction that the story of Jesus is complete fiction. For one Paul appears to have thought Jesus lived in the sky and not on Earth at all. The story is a standard "hero's journey" tale and actually contains word for word passages from older stories. And none of it makes the least bit of sense. But you go ahead and cling to one forged paragraph and making excuses. Its not like you really want the truth anyway.

It sounds like the bias is yours. Just because you don't like Jesus, is no reason to treat research and data the way Christians treat research and data. You're exhibiting the same bias as fundamentalists do every day, only this time it's "your" side and therefore okay. If you choose to "believe" that Jesus didn't exist, that's fine, but don't try to make it sound scientific. I'm not convinced that YOU want the truth either. It sounds like you're firmly ensconced in your bias. Scholars differ on who he was, what he said, how he interacted with the Jewish elite, but they all agree that he existed. If this is too much for you, then stick to other topics.

@MarqG Mark,because of my earlier experiences I have searched for Truth constantly, I still do. For you to tell me what I want is unfair.....you don't know what I want. I can hear the hurt, bitterness, hatred, and, yes, BIAS,in your words against Christianity. And I understand it, for I lost all faith and belief as a teen. But I returned to a healthier faith for me after years and years of studying the old myths, legends, various religions and manners of the Jews. I learned that our Bible was corrupted by writings and additions to texts - to defend Kings' greed, love of war, and carnality. If you attacked a village and slaughtered everyone, without mercy, just tell everybody that "the Lord commanded", and you'd be in the clear - directing your scribe to write it down in the annals you plan to pass down your line. I studied and doubted.Until I witnessed an incident that backed me into a corner , unable to explain. Over time, I've found the faith system I'm comfortable with. But I never evangelize or try to convince others to believe as I do.

And you have found the faith system that works for you,and I respect that. I've never asked you to go my way. I believe we have to search to find our own path. I've never called your ideas stupid, for they have much validity I would never tell you that you don't want to find Truth just because I disagree with you.I've experienced some beautiful moments with people I don't agree with.

When I was in China, a Buddhist monk told me of "the Blessing of the Children " a rite performed on each child at birth. Orphans never got a blessing.My girls wanted it because they'd seen other children with their parents perform it. So, I said yes. It would be the last ethnic ceremony my children would experience from their culture. We came the next day, took the incense sticks given us to say a prayer to Buddha, a prayer which the mother leads.So, I prayed to Buddha for my children. My God would know what I truly believed. The ceremony continued, the temple filled with temple bells and chanting monks - many of them singing through tears. I could tell they really believed in their Buddha. Their earnest prayers moved me greatly. And it was beautiful! Although I didn't believe in it, it was beautiful, probably one of the most meaningful worship experiences I've had. And in that moment, I realized that although our faiths were different, we were seeking the same things - but in two different languages.

This is what I feel for all of you here, Marq. It seems like we're worlds apart, but we want the same things, hope for the same things. We're just speaking different languages. And for that reason, I will never tell you my belief is right and yours is wrong. Peace, brother.

Coming from parents of mixed faith who opted not to influence their children in either direction I would say that I was born completely unaware that the subject even existed. I wouldn't call that being "born Atheist" because I was not even aware that I was not convinced. I think atheism requires that awareness. But I was fortunate that, despite having attended a few different churches with friends and such, I wasn't presented with the "Good News" until I was mature enough and capable to reason my way through it.

@RavenCT.....I fear of that happening too.....which is exactly why I don't want the 2nd Amendment destroyed. We'd have no way to fight back.

I hear that argument a lot. People say to me all the time, "There are good Christians who would never do that..." But my response is, "That's a discussion you should be having with other Christians. It has nothing to do with me. You all have to come together and decide what a "Christian" really is."

I think that people are who they are... People are assholes AND Christian. People are assholes AND Atheist/Agnostic. People are kind AND Christian... Kind AND Atheist/Agnostic. So there's no need to defend any of those positions based on how people act. The real challenge is that the bible is a weapon... it can be used for good OR evil. It can be used to justify good OR evil.

Rather than saying that "there are good and bad Christians..." I personally would like to just take away the religion altogether and say, there are good and bad people. This will allow us to work out what bad people look like, and how to deal with them.

@Benthoven I'm sorry, but to what "argument" are you referring? Not sure I understand.

That there are good Christians... that there are people in the church who would never do such a thing...

@Benthoven it's not an argument, it's a fact, as far as I'm concerned.

It's like I said, people are assholes AND Christian, or they're kind AND they're Christian. The religion is just something they tack on to the end. So it makes no sense to defend them as "there are good Christians." Of course they are. But it has nothing to do with Christianity.

@Benthoven where did I say it had anything to do with their being Christians? I think your arguing for the sake of argument.

You said, "That said, I have known, and know, many good people who claim to be Christians, and of a certainty would never countenance such travesties as you have described above." And I merely responded.

It appears that you've taken this to be much more than I intended it. I was simply pointing out that we're who we are first... then Christian. That's all I was saying.

@Benthoven you said, specifically, that what I said made no sense. By whose standards? Am I not allowed to point out that I have good friends who I think are good people that happen to be Christian? My original response was not directed at you.

So I want back and reread my comments, and at no point did I say that. Like I said, I think you took this way too personal, and it wasn't meant to be so.

@Benthoven I quote you, "So it makes no sense to defend..." ; your words, in your 2nd response to me.

NO! I said... "So it makes no sense to defend THEM as "there are good Christians." Of course they are. But it has nothing to do with Christianity." And it was the third comment, and I would hope you would have read the comment in its entirety.

It's clear to me that you want to be offended by my comment, and that's your right to be so. But it looks like you're working pretty hard to give yourself an excuse and misquoting me to do it. Like I said... you've taken my comments way too personal, and I don't think it's worth it for me to try... once again... to explain my position which, to be honest, is pretty straight forward.

@Benthoven ok, 3rd response, same difference, but the words are there "makes no sense". So, that's you setting yourself as the arbiter of what's sensibe and what is not sensible. What offends me is people who misrepresent then criticize my words, which is exactly what you did. Now we're done.

I must confess that I don't know the exact date of Hitler's remark. However,

[QUOTE]
[independent.co.uk]

UN indicted Adolf Hitler for war crimes before his death, secret documents reveal
A month before his death 'the commission had endorsed at least seven separate indictments against him for war crimes'[/QUOTE]

As the joke goes, "If we had known what we were being chosen for we'd have declined." And, trust me, conservative christians will have No problem doing whatever their religious leaders tell them is necessary during what they believe is

[QUOTE]
[jw.org]

The battle of Armageddon refers to the final war between human governments and God. These governments and their supporters oppose God even now by refusing to submit to his rulership. (Psalm 2:2) The battle of Armageddon will bring human rulership to an end.—Daniel 2:44..

Who will fight at Armageddon? Jesus Christ will lead a heavenly army to victory over God’s enemies. (Revelation 19:11-16, 19-21) These enemies include those who oppose God’s authority and who treat God with contempt.—Ezekiel 39:7.
[/QUOTE]

Wanna bet on whether that will include unconverted Jews?

As for whether or not Trump is like Hitler...

[QUOTE] [usnews.com]

THE ISSUE OF WHETHER Donald Trump is mentally ill has been much debated since the beginning of his campaign. We believe that this debate misses the point. The critical question is not whether the president is mentally ill, but whether he is dangerous.

This is what we outline in "The Dangerous Case of Donald Trump: 27 Psychiatrists and Mental Health Experts Assess a President." One does not have to be "mentally ill," as both law and psychiatry define it, in order to be dangerous.

[SNIP]

Why do we consider Trump to be dangerous? Among the numerous reasons, here are just a few:

He is on public record as having advised his followers that they could always assassinate his political rival, Hillary Clinton, if she were elected president, or, at the very least, throw her in prison. ("Lock her up! Lock her up!" ) In his words, "If she gets to pick her judges, nothing you can do, folks. Although the Second Amendment people – maybe there is, I don't know." The only reasonable interpretation of this reference to guns and gun-owners is that it refers to assassination, since that is what you do if you are employing guns against a political rival.

He repeatedly urged his followers at political rallies to attack protesters. For example: "I'd like to punch him in the face, I'll tell you." "I love the old days. You know what they used to do to guys like that when they were in a place like this? They'd be carried out on a stretcher, folks." "Just knock the hell out of them. I will pay for the legal fees, I promise you." In fact, his only complaint was that his followers were not being violent enough, even after they had already assaulted protesters at his campaign rallies.

He boasted that he was above the law, and could always get away with whatever violence he committed, as when he said, "I could stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody, and I wouldn't lose voters." This level of audacity and entitlement is precisely what enables violence perpetrators to violate the rights of others to begin with, and is an alarming sign.

He boasted about his ability to assault women sexually because of his celebrity and power. He was recorded saying about them, "I just start kissing them. It's like a magnet. ... I don't even wait. And when you're a star they let you do it. You can do anything. Grab 'em by the pussy." In our research, we found that sexual assault was just as harmful as physical assault in the sense of serving as a means of overpowering, terrifying and humiliating its victims, in order to enable the perpetrator to feel powerful and grandiose.

Finally, and by far the most dangerous characteristic of all, he has asked (and is still asking) what the point of having thermonuclear weapons is if we cannot use them. For example, in an interview with Chris Matthews on MSNBC, Trump said, "Somebody hits us within ISIS, you wouldn't fight back with a nuke?" His more recent threats ("fire and fury" ) against North Korea, and the mockery of diplomacy as an alternative, do not suggest any change in his attitude toward the technology that represents the most significant current threat to the continued survival of the human species.
[]/QUOTE

The biggest difference between Hitler and Trump is that Hitler wasn't a complete fucking idiot.

"If Trump were anything like Hitler you’d already be dead."
It took Hitler many years to gain the power he had and the conditions in Germany were right at the time for such thing to happen. If we were to see another crash like 2008 Trump and his friend Putin could usurp a lot of irrational power and many would follow them anywhere.

@Ktcyan Obama was a lot more of a tyrant than Trump as he imposed many regulations without congressional authority which cost this country billions of dollars for little or no gain. Trump on the other hand has tried to go through Congress on most everything he’s done and has did away with most of Obama’s stupid illegal regulations. Comparing Trump with Hitler is idiotic!

@Trajan61 Obama admits that he is a moderate Republican. But today's Republicans are so far gone that moderation looks extreme to them. When you watch a football game from the 5 yard line anything passed the 35 yard line looks extreme.

Prior to America's entry to the war conservatives Liked Hitler. In fact they made efforts to turn the USA to fascism. Conservatives had to be dragged kicking and screaming into WW II. And they are still happy to march in the streets beside them. In fact the march in Charlottesville was called "Unite the Right". You people are dangerous. In fact you'll probably end up destroying this country like you did Germany.

@MarqG Those psychiatrists have never observed Trump in person to evaluate him. Since they were quoted in that book, several of them have lost their license, because the APA deems it highly unethical to analyze a person who hasn't been seen in person.

And where is the proof he said all those things? I went to a Trump rally once and he NEVER told people to attack the protesters. He said it was their right to protest. I did hear the grab em by the pussy comment, but the conversation before he said that was he and the interviewer exchanging a lot of braggadocio. Men's locker room talk.

I knew Trump in the 80s and worked for him a few times, alone in his office, planning music for his parties. I must have been a damn dog because he never grabbed my pussy. Kissed me on the mouth once, but he kissed EVERYBODY on the mouth, even men. Ironically, all the people talking about him now were at his parties, snoozing, kissing, and rubbing up against him: the Clintons, the Gores, Barbara Walters, the Iacocas, the Gates. They acted like he was their best friend - until he ran for POTUS. Suddenly, he was dangerous.

A LOT of his comments are tongue in cheek. He doesn't mean them. But the ONE FAULT I picked up on is that he talks too much. He loves to talk, and you can't get away from him.

On election night, after he was named the winner, I listened in shock as Bob Costas on NBC News vowed that "from now on, until we run Donald Trump out of office, I will dedicate every waking hour to destroying him." And that's all he's done and the rest of the media. They've actually NEGLECTED other more newsworthy items to discuss Trump's two scoops, Trump's white truck, Russia, Russia, Russia.

I question EVERYTHING, always have. I have to hear it first hand before I believe stuff. And its so obvious to me that they're trying to destroy him. The person they make him out to be isn't the person I worked with.

And Hitler? Oh, yes he WAS stupid! Because if Hitler TRULY wanted world power, he would have worked to turn Russia and the U.S. against each other, instead of killing the Jews. If he's done that, he very well may have won the war.

@Lewellyn3 Hitler also said it didn't matter if Germany won the war or not because he had converted the children of his enemies to his philosophy. He was talking about those who became Trump supporters. If the South had won its war for slavery they would No doubt have sided with Germany. That's who they are. They Still march with Nazis.

As for the things Trump said that you didn't hear that's what YouTube is for sweetie. Though you're clearly too far gone to really care. You'll cling to any kind of mindless crap from the right while refusing to believe your own eyes and ears.

@MarqG Your the one who is spouting mindless stuff from the left!

@MarqG I see your point, but not ALL the South are racist and March with Nazis. My parents supported King . My dad hired the first black at Lockheed, and we had a cross burned on our front yard! People shot our Windows out one night while my sister I cowered under the bed! That is the one thing I'm proud about concerning my parents, that they stood up to racism. I'm fairly certain I'll do the same because I've been told by several people who have known me for years that I'm the most stubborn, determined person they know, lol!

@MarqG I'll investigate YouTube. To be honest, I don't get on there very much, but I'll check it out. As far as cling to any mindless crap, you don't know me, so I'll let that slide. Anyway, I'm on here, aren't i? If I weren't willing to consider the other side, I don't think I would.

@Lewellyn3 I had a Mexican man that work for me for 28 years her on the cattle ranch and he was a great employee with the cattle. I still have another one who’s been here over 15 years.

@Trajan61 [QUOTE] Your the one who is spouting mindless stuff from the left! [/QUOTE]

No it only Appears to be mindless because you lack the intelligence to understand it. Conservatives take pride in their own stupidity. That's why they attack educators and scientists.

Medical science using brain scans actually show conservatives actually have smaller anterior singulet cortexes. That's the higher thinking region of the brain. Conservatives rely more on their amygdalas. That's the "lizard" portion of the brain where emotions come from.

Science is not sure whether conservatives are born with defective brains causing them to become conservatives or if their brains simply don't develop because conservatives don't use them. Either way its the same result.

@Lewellyn3 He kissed everyone on the lips and that makes it okay?
Actually appalled.

I believe the last batch the pope forgave was 4100.

So you don't think a President telling his followers to commit illegal acts of violence is anything to worry about huh?

@MarqG oh brother. Yeah, context means nothing, right? Y'all are so gullible.

@Taijiguy The last time conservatives got this excited about a Presidential candidate they elected a guy who allowed the worst attack on US soil since the British burned the White House. He also crashed the economy but conservatives blamed the guy who cleaned up the mess. Wait till you see what this piece of shit is gonna do. Here's a clue for you: He just transferred more than a Trillion dollars from the middle class to the ultra rich. You're in for a Very rude awakening.

Here's your sign:

Dunning–Kruger effect - Wikipedia
[en.wikipedia.org]
In the field of psychology, the Dunning–Kruger effect is a cognitive bias wherein people of low ability suffer from illusory superiority, mistakenly assessing their cognitive ability as greater than it is. The cognitive bias of illusory superiority derives from the metacognitive inability of low-ability persons to recognize their own ...
?Illusory superiority · ?Ig Nobel Prize · ?Peter principle · ?Metacognition

@MarqG rofl!!! I absolutely love your Duning-Kruger reference. Especially given how so Goddamned always I see leftists talking about how intellectually superior they are to conservatives.
For the record, I have no love for Trump, and didn't even vote for him. But I find those of you who hate him so much to be fantastic sources of humor. Especially your reference. I guess you didn't notice that you, yourself, in posting that, were eluding to your own intellectual superiority? I swear I'm screenshotting this.

@Taijiguy Screenshot this too while you're at it.

WORST 10 STATES PUBLIC SCHOOL RANKING
Louisiana, New Mexico, West Virginia, Mississippi, Arkansas, Alaska, Alabama, Oregon, Tennessee, Arizona, Nevada, Hawaii

TOP 10 STATES PUBLIC SCHOOL RANKING
Massachusetts, New Jersey, New Hampshire, Wisconsin, Vermont, Virginia, Minnesota, Connecticut, Iowa, Main

TOP 10 STATES FOR HEALTH CARE
Hawaii, Massachusettes, Minnesota, New Hampshire, Iowa, Vermont, Rhode Island, New Jersey, Washington, California.

10 WORST STATES FOR HEALTH CARE
Louisiana, Mississippi, Alaska, Arkansas, North Carolina, Georgia, South Carolina, Alabama, Florida, Nevada

And now let's look at why everything conservatives touch turns to shit:

[QUOTE]
[psychologytoday.com]

Peering inside the brain with MRI scans, researchers at University College London found that self-described conservative students had a larger amygdala than liberals. The amygdala is an almond-shaped structure deep in the brain that is active during states of fear and anxiety. Liberals had more gray matter at least in the anterior cingulate cortex, a region of the brain that helps people cope with complexity. The results are not that surprising as they fit in with conclusions from [more than 90] other studies.
[/QUOTE]

Here are 4 more.

[QUOTE]
[psp.sagepub.com]
LOW EFFORT THOUGHT PROMOTES POLITICAL CONSERVATISM
Scott Eidelman eidelman@uark.edu/'
Christian S. Crandall
Jeffrey A. Goodman
John C. Blanchar

ABSTRACT
The authors test the hypothesis that low-effort thought promotes political conservatism.

In Study 1, alcohol intoxication was measured among bar patrons; as blood alcohol level increased, so did political conservatism (controlling for sex, education, and political identification).

In Study 2, participants under cognitive load reported more conservative attitudes than their no-load counterparts.

In Study 3, time pressure increased participants’ endorsement of conservative terms.

In Study 4, participants considering political terms in a cursory manner endorsed conservative terms more than those asked to cogitate; an indicator of effortful thought (recognition memory) partially mediated the relationship between processing effort and conservatism.

Together these data suggest that political conservatism may be a process consequence of low-effort thought; when effortful, deliberate thought is disengaged, endorsement of conservative ideology increases.
[/QUOTE]

In yet another study, American neuroscientist and director of the Human Neuroimaging Lab and Computational Psychiatry Unit at the Virginia Tech, P. Read Montague and his coauthors wrote that their results "invite the provocative claim that neural responses to nonpolitical stimuli (like contaminated food or physical threats) should be highly predictive of abstract political opinions (like attitudes toward gun control and abortion)." Indeed, watching the brain's reaction to a single disgusting image was sufficient to guess each subject's political orientation. Montague said in the press release, "I haven't seen such clean predictive results in any other functional imaging experiments in our lab or others."

Again we find the overdeveloped conservative amygdala (fear center) overwhelm their atrophied anterior cerebral cortex (higher thinking region). It's interesting to see how all these diverse studies (more than 90 of them) all tie together and support each other.

Y'see, Taijiguy, it's one thing to toss around mindless insults the way you conservatives do. With your overgrown fear center and your atrophied higher thinking region. But what I tell people like you is not a baseless and cheap insult. It's a WELL DOCUMENTED MEDICAL FACT!

Conservatism is mental illness.

Liberals engage their anterior singulet cortex to properly understand problems so they can figure out proper solutions. That is the "nuanced thinking" that liberals do that conservatives find so disturbing.

Conservatives don't use the higher thinking region of their brains. Instead they rely on their amygdala, aka lizard brains, and react without thinking. When conservatives talk about a "gut feeling telling them what is right" that is their lizard brain at work. Hence your difficulties. And your results!

As it says above, there have been more than 90 studies on this topic, and they ALL say the same thing. Conservative brains simply do not function correctly. That's why they're conservatives. They have put so little thought into their beliefs that the higher thinking regions of their brains have actually atrophied!

Liberals could think more like conservatives. But we don't want to stay drunk all of the time.

@MarqG Well, the good news for me is, I'm an independent, which makes me smarter than any of you. Since we're self promoting our intellectual superiority :
An alternative theory, originally proposed by Hans Eysenck, is that higher intelligence is associated with avoidance of extreme political views in general. Hence, more intelligent people are thought to be moderate/centrist in their political views. The argument is that more extreme views, whether right-wing or left-wing, tend to be associated with dogmatism and rigidity, which are more appealing to less intelligent people. A recent proponent of this view is Rinderman who argued that more intelligent people tend to have civic values that lead them to support political systems they believe will foster education and the growth of knowledge (Rindermann, Flores-Mendoza, & Woodley, 2012). Hence, according to this view, intelligent people tend to believe that moderate/centrist parties are more likely to promote their particular social interests compared to more clearly left or right parties. In support of this, Rinderman et al. cite findings from Great Britain and Brazil showing that people who expressed support for centrist parties (including centre-right and centre-left) had higher average IQ’s compared to those who supported more clearly left or right parties.
So, "nanner nanner"

@MarqG and, for the record, the difference between you and me is I would never really suggest that any persons intellect could be determined by their political affiliation. I know absolute geniuses on both sides and the middle. I also know some absolute dolts in all ranges of the political spectrum.
The observations I've made is, that overwhelmingly, liberals proclaim their intellectual superiority far more than any other group I've ever seen in my 58 years. You posted that Duning-Kruger statement, so draw your own conclusions.

@Taijiguy You might not suggest that a person's intellect can be determined by their political affiliation but more than 90 peer reviewed scientific studies (some including brain scans) show Exactly that. In case you glossed over those studies they show conservative brains to have hypertrophied fear centers and atrophied higher thinking regions while liberals are the opposite.

As for your centrist parties they are the ones who throw elections to people like George "I ignored 50+ warnings about 9/11, started a $7 Trillion war against the wrong country, and crashed the US economy" Bush and Donald "I transferred more than $1 Trillion from the middle class to the ultra rich" Trump.

Moderates are also responsible for HRC stealing the nomination and losing (a slam dunk election) to an idiot as well as Bill "I put 2 million Americans in for profit prisons' Clinton and Barack "I'm really a moderate Republican" Obama.

Those who stand for nothing will fall for anything.

@Taijiguy I am beginning to think you are trolling.

@RavenCT I'm sure you do. An outspoken independent who doesn't strictly adhere to any specific party line ideas and can't stand echo chambers? Yes, I'm sure I baffle the hell out of most people. I not only accept that, I relish it.

@Taijiguy No that's not it.

The story of the Scorpion and the Crocodile

Once upon a time, a Scorpion wanted to cross the river. We all know Scorpions cannot swim, and will drown in water. A lazy Crocodile was surfing along the river bank. The Scorpion called to the Crocodile, "Hey, Crokie, give me a lift across the river!" "No way, Jose!" replied the wise Crocodile! "Why?" asked the Scorpion. "Well, everybody knows, Scorpions sting people, and it is poisonous!" shot back the Crocodile! "Oh, no! No!" said the Scorpion, who was anxious to cross the river. "Everybody knows that Scorpions are afraid of water, and we cannot swim and we will drown!" replied the Scorpion, "Why would I do such a stupid thing!". The Crocodile thought for a while, and realized it was true! "He will die, if he stings me!" He thought! So he asked the Scorpion to hop on his back. Half-way across the river, the Crocodile felt the deadly painful sting from the Scorpion. His last words, "Hey, why did you do that?" "Sorry, I just couldn't help it, I am a Scorpion!" replied the Scorpion as he drowns in the water.